Triple-Berry French Toast Casserole

Every time I make this, I remember that it is actually easier than most breakfasts.  And even though the word "sugar" pops up many times in this recipe, I think it's probably healthier than regular French toast with syrup.  

First of all, it's baked instead of butter-fried on a griddle (which is how I make regular French toast).  It's got whole lot of whole berries--healthy, right?  And after we dust it with powdered sugar at the end, we don't add whipped cream or syrup or anything else--it's good with just a light sprinkle.  

Caveat: I let everyone dust their own, because it's so fun to use the powdered sugar wand . . . and they don't understand the word "lightly"--so maybe only my French toast feels slightly-healthier-than-regular-French-toast.

Maybe I am just justifying how often I want to make this breakfast, because no matter how you slice it (but you should slice it into 1-inch cubes), it's DELICIOUS.  And if you make more than one pan, it's an easy way to feed all your company.

Mini Thumbprint Jam Scones

I fell in love with this recipe when I read about the baker Alice Currah in a beautiful magazine called Where Women Cook (which was a delightful birthday gift from my BFF, Cori, whose own scrumptious recipes are sprinkled throughout this blog).

Okay, true confession . . . maybe I liked the article about Alice, but drooled like a French Mastiff when I saw the delectable photos of the scones in said magazine.  See for yourself:

I knew these would be the perfect dessert to add to my "summer harvest" spread when I hosted book club at the beginning of August.

Summer harvest book club fare . . .
I love cooking for the ladies I love!

And guess what?  Everyone liked them more than rhubarb-raspberry pie made with rhubarb and raspberries I harvested that day, more than huckleberry buckle made with HOURS OF MY LIFE that I spent picking tiny-but-precious huckleberries, and even more than the apple pie made with three types of heirloom early-ripening apples (Red Astraiken, Carroll, and Goodland) that I picked from my dad's orchard just three days before book club and peeled and cut by hand because each apple is too uniquely shaped and sized for the peeler-corer-slicer.

That's how good these scones are.

I used my mom's Nanking Cherry jam/syrup (I make jam, but add a little extra water so it's more like a really thick syrup) as the jam in these scones, and that combination of cherries and almond glaze is so heavenly (this from someone who does not like cherry ANYTHING).  But I think it would also be perfectly delectable with raspberry or strawberry jam.

The recipe said to cut the disks into fourths, but I
cut them into sixths and I think they were perfect

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

It stopped raining just for book club!
The scones were the first dessert to disappear.
{PS- I like how you can see Brenda working
on the book club binder in the background}

I thought a cute retro fox was the perfect clipart to compliment this quintessential British confection . . .

Oat & Cranberry Muffins

I think maybe the reason I like muffins so much is because they are like cake, but without cake guilt.  My friend, Cori, has been teasing me about my muffin addiction. She claims that she went through a "muffin phase" when she had small children, and thinks that it is something that will pass for me.

I don't think so.

I do so adore muffins. Doesn't the word "muffin" itself make you think of happy times? (With the notable exception of "muffin-top", which is slightly more apt than "spare tire" or "love handles"). Muffins are pretty much the perfect food, and baking muffins is not only relaxing for me, it also makes my house smell like heaven. Plus, I can always hide a couple and save them for midnight forays.  Or freeze a whole bunch and have one or two every morning for a week with my oatmeal.

I realize I am waxing whimsical . . . but that's what delicious home-baked foodstuffs do to me.

{As part of her muffin-heckling, Cori sent me a link to a funny little muffin website called muffinfilms. Truman loves number 8: "Feed Me" the best, while I prefer the slightly macabre number 6: The Muffin Tree.}

If you know me, you know that gifts are my love language.  So when my Aunt Kristie sent me this book out of the blue (about four years ago) it was the most delightful surprise!  I think of her every time I use it and it is one of my all-time favorite gifts.

One of my favorite recipes from the book is my cream and spice muffins--especially on a cold day, they are delicious with hot cocoa.

But I just discovered this healthy gem: oat and cranberry muffins.  The first time I made them, I didn't have any dried cranberries, so I used one cup of my precious frozen huckleberries.  And I used five-grain cereal instead of plain rolled oats.  DELISH.  Even though they are healthy!

Cori may make fun, but she still gave me
my favorite SQUARE muffin pan

The five-grain makes the muffins nice and chewy, but they are still moist and flavorful thanks to the kefir and huckleberries.

I finally bought some dried cranberries, and the muffins turned out beautifully.  They taste great, too.  (TIP: If you have ever wondered how to get a muffin out of its wrapper without leaving half the muffin stuck, just let them cool--then the wrappers peel all the way off).

Before going into the oven

Out of the oven and ready to eat

My favorite way to have any muffin:
buttered and dipped in honey-sweetened Cream O' Wheat

Huckleberry Cream Muffins

If you've never had huckleberries . . . I'm sorry. Just know that blueberries, which I do love and which you can substitute for huckleberries, pale in comparison. These muffins are in my top five favorite.

When I made these this morning, I had about a cup of very thick kefir (Click here for my What is Kefir? post) to use in place of a cup of the sour cream.  I did happen to have another cup of sour cream, but if I hadn't, I would have just used milk.  I've used kefir + milk several times and, though it makes the batter slightly less thick, it still makes a delicious muffin.

Want some kefir of your own?  Come on over and I'll give you some!

Huckleberries . . . mmmmmm.  They are so packed with flavor
that you use half as many as you would blueberries.

My friend Cori gave me this square muffin pan that she bought at Orson Gygi--don't be jealous!  It's one of my favorite cooking accoutrements . . . the shape is fun, of course, but the pan itself is so well-made and heavy duty.

I love this recipe because it makes so many muffins.  Today I got 33 muffins, and plan to freeze at least a dozen, so I can thaw a few whenever I need a little something extra to go with my oatmeal or Cream o' Wheat.

Blueberry Buckle

Best breakfast cake ever.  And if you have huckleberries instead of blueberries, so much the better.  I sometimes use butter instead of shortening for the cake, but you can't go wrong either way.  It's also great as a warm dessert with vanilla ice cream.