Breakfast Casserole

Busy Mama Recipes


This casserole is so easy.  I put it together the night before and bake it in the morning to save time.  I have brunch with my parents every Sunday, and everyone always loves this.  The adults and kids eat it, and usually there are no leftovers.  I constantly get asked for this "Breakfast Lasagna" recipe:-)

It's pretty hard to mess up, and you can make it with anything you have.  My favorite is ham, which we had leftover from Thanksgiving, but you could make it with any meat.  Breakfast sausage is really good in it too.

In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer:

3 potatoes, shredded and tossed with 2 tbs Wildtree Smoky Bacon Flavor Grapeseed Oil***
1 cup cheddar cheese
2-3 cups cooked meat (cubed ham, bacon, or breakfast sausage works great)
1/2 white onion, diced
1/2 cup spinach or kale
3 Roma tomatoes, sliced thin
12 eggs whisked with 1/4 cup heavy cream and 1 tbs Wildtree Onion and Chive Blend
1 cup cheddar cheese for the top

*** I have used frozen tater tots- the kids love it!

Wildtree Onion and Chive Blend- buy it here.

Layer everything, in the order above, in the dish. bake at 375 for one hour, covered.  Uncover and bake for another 15 to brown the top.

Wildtree Smoky Bacon Flavor Grapeseed Oil- buy it here.

Salted Caramel Mocha Scones

Holy crap.  I could eat these all day.  Salted Caramel anything is delicious but when you add chocolate it's a foodgasm.

I used dark, bittersweet chocolate (It is 80% cocoa and very lightly sweetened).  If you use a sweeter chocolate I would use less sugar or it may be a bit too sweet. You could also mix the two if you wanted.

Scones

2 cups unsifted, all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar

6 tbs plus

1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup plus 3 tbs heavy whipping cream, divided
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat Oven to 425.

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until combined.  In a food processor, or in a large bowl using a pastry cutter, add the butter and pulse until it looks like crumbs.  Add 2/3 cup whipping cream and chocolate chips and mix until well combined.  

Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 10 times.  Form the dough into a  1 inch thick circle and cut into eight pieces, like a pie.  

Arrange them on a baking sheet and brush with the remaining heavy cream.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

Caramel Frosting

1 cup caramel (I used caramel squares from the grocery store, unsalted and not flavored.  I used about 14 squares but it will vary depending on the kid you use).

1 tbs unsalted butter

On a double boiler, melt the caramel squares with the butter.  Whisk constantly to prevent sticking.  When the scones are cool enough to handle but the caramel is still warm and not set, dip the tops of the scones in the caramel.  You could also spoon the mixture onto the scones, making sure to completely cover the top.  

Topping

3 tbs course sea salt

1 tsp sugar

3 tbs dark chocolate chunks, chopped very finely (Next time I'm going to grate it with my microplane zester so it's nore like chocolate shavings).

Sprinkle the salt mixture over the scones before the caramel completely cools. 

Raspberry White Chocolate Scones

Breakfast Win!

Mom Points!

These are so easy, too.  And a switch up from everything Cranberry and orange right now.  I'm making these Chrsitmas morning:-)

Ingredients

2 cups unsifted, all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar

6 tbs plus 1 tbs unsalted butter, divided

1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2/3 cup plus 3 tbs heavy whipping cream, divided
1 cup plus 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, divided

1/2 cup fresh or frozen, unsweetened raspberries *See note below

Preheat Oven to 425.

If you are using fresh raspberries, wash them well and cut each in half.  If you use frozen, put them into a colander and wash with cold water, then run water over them until the juice below them runs clear.  then lay them out on paper towels and pat them dry.  Set them aside.  If you skip this process, the scones will turn pink and may be too juicy, so they won't have the right consistency. 

Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder until combined.  In a food processor, or in a large bowl using a pastry cutter, add 6 tablespoons of butter and pulse until it looks like crumbs.  Add 2/3 cup whipping cream and 1 cup of white chocolate chips and mix until well combined.  Add the raspberries last and mix as little as possible.  If you were using a food processor, I would transfer the dough to a bowl and mix with a spoon to prevent the berries from falling apart. 

Roll dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 10 times.  Form the dough into a  1 inch thick circle and cut into eight pieces, like a pie.  

Arrange them on a baking sheet and brush with the remaining heavy cream.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.

In the meantime, on a double boiler, melt the remaining white chocolate with the remaining butter.  Whisk constantly to prevent sticking.  Drizzle over the scones after they are out of the oven.

Enjoy! 

Cranberry Orange Mini Scones with a Creamy Ginger Glaze

Busy Mama Recipes



Every Sunday I have brunch with my family, and tomorrow it's my turn to host. I made a practice run with a recipe today and loved it. Knox has deemed them "the most yummy cookie", so I think they'll be acceptable at tomorrow's get together.  Plus, the combination of cranberry, nutmeg, orange, and ginger are perfect for this time of year. 

Scones

2 cups ap flour, unsifted
1/4 cup sugar

2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp salt (omit if you use salted butter)
1 tsp baking powder
6 tablespoons butter
1 pinch nutmeg
2/3 cup heavy whipping cream plus 2 tablespoons for brushing
Zest of one orange * Learn how to zest an orange without making the recipe bitter
1 cup Craisins (or dried, lightly sweetened cranberries)

Preheat Oven to 425.

In a food processor, combine the flour, sugars, nutmeg, salt, and baking powder and pulse a couple of times. Add the orange zest and butter and pulse until it looks like small crumbs. Then add the cream and mix until it is well incorporated.

Next, on a lightly floured surface, dump out the crumbly dough. Add the berries and knead with your hands until its very well mixed ( about one minute). Divide the dough in half, and form each half into a one inch thick circle, then cut into eight pieces (like a tiny pie).

Arrange them on the baking sheet and paint with the remaining heavy cream.

Bake for about 12 minutes, or until they're golden brown on top. After they cool, spoon the glaze (recipe below) evenly over each one. Make sure to refrigerate the leftovers (if there are any;-))

Creamy Ginger Glaze

1 tbs orange juice (fresh squeezed from the orange you zested earlier)

1 tbs heavy cream

1/2 tbs ground ginger

2 cups confectioners sugar

Whisk together in a small bowl until smooth.  This glaze should be very thick.  Since it contains milk it should be refrigerated if not eaten.

Coffee Creamer Without the Crap

Update 11/12/2013:  First, I want to say thank you to all of my readers and followers!  This recipe has had over 1000 views in less than a year and hundreds of repins on Pinterest.  I couldn't be happier!  Thank you:-)  I also wanted to add a few holiday recipes to the blog and decided to update this one with Egg Nog Creamer.  I made it this morning, and it was fabulous.  It tasted so much better than the kind at the store.  The recipe variation is at the very bottom of the list..  

Busy Mama Recipes




I was making coffee at my house this morning, wishing I had an espresso machine. Oh well, Santa is forgiven... this year... ;-)

When I worked at Allyson's Kitchen, I drank a ton of coffee each day. I worked long days cooking, catering, cooking classes, etc and we had an espresso machine. So why not? I had the most amazing drinks there. Part of the reason was our house made coffee creamer.

We made different kinds depending on the season. They all turned out great. They are very easy and don't have all of the chemicals that the store bought creamer does.

I always used equal parts dairy and sweetened condensed milk. Working for a restaurant we had access to different sizes of condensed milk. The only ones in the grocery store are 14 ounces, but it works.  Most of the time the other milk was whole milk. But using half and half, 1%, non fat, soy, whatever will also work. Just depends on your preference. Also, some flavored milks or other milk, like coconut milk, can give a very yummy flavor.

I like my coffee not so sweet. If you like sweeter, you can add a sugar or simple syrup to your creamer (or stevia, whatever your preference). You can also buy the bottle of flavored syrup (like the kind they use at coffee shops) and add a little of that to your creamer.

Basic Sweet Cream:
14oz sweetened condensed milk
14oz milk of your choice

Mix together well and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week.

More variations include:

Coconut Creamer: use coconut milk or add 1 teaspoon coconut extract

Vanilla: add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste. You could also use vanilla soy milk.

Mexican Mocha: add cinnamon and a little cocoa powder

Almond Joy: add cocoa powder, almond extract, and use coconut milk (or coconut extract and almond milk)

Cherry Almond: cherry syrup and almond milk

Black Forrest: cocoa powder and cherry syrup

Vanilla Honey: add vanilla bean paste and local honey. Add cinnamon too- this is one of my favorites.

Raspberry White Chocolate: raspberry flavoring and some white chocolate powder or melted white chocolate. I would suggest not adding sugar to this one.

Hazelnut: add hazelnut extract

Snickers: hazelnut extract, caramel or caramel flavor, and cocoa powder

Peppermint mocha: peppermint extract and cocoa powder

Creme de Menthe: add spearmint extract

Salted Caramel: add caramel sauce or flavor and sprinkle sea salt and sugar on top.

French Vanilla: add hazelnut extract and vanilla bean paste

Pumpkin Spice (my favorite): on stove top, heat up 1/8 cup pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), 14oz sweet condensed milk, 2tbs brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Mix well. It will turn out like a thick sauce. Add that sauce to 14oz of milk and mix well. You may choose to add more milk because this is one of the sweeter recipes.

Italian Sweet Creme: add vanilla and almond extract
EggNog: Use eggnog for the milk and add nutmeg to the top