Monkey Muffins

I think the photos speak for themselves on this recipe. These little babies are so good. How could they not be? They are basically sugar, butter, cinnamon and biscuit dough baked to perfection, covered in sweetened condensed milk. Plus there is no mixing. Just dump everything in a muffin tin and you're good to go. Does it get any better than that? 
Haha, but in all seriousness, you can't go wrong with these! I brought them to a brinner (breakfast for dinner) party once and they were gone in about 5 minutes. They were a hit! And I think Luke asks me to make them at least once every 2 weeks (I don't make them that often, don't worry!). They are much simpler and much less time consuming to make than cinnamon rolls but they taste pretty similar. And we use Pillsbury's "Simply Biscuits" to cut out the trans fat. Enjoy! 

Monkey Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 can Refrigerated Biscuit Dough, Cut Into Thirds
• Butter
• Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Vanilla
• Sweetened, Condensed Milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Add 1/2 teaspoon butter to muffin tins. Sprinkle in 1 tsp sugar and 1/4 tsp cinnamon.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Place three into each muffin tin.

Top with 1/2 teaspoon butter. Sprinkle on 1/3 tsp sugar and a dash of cinnamon and vanilla (just a drop or 2).

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbly.

Remove from oven and immediately drizzle plenty of sweetened condensed milk over the top of each one. Be generous! Allow rolls to sit for a little while to absorb sweet, sticky milk.

Adapted from: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/12/monkey-muffins/

Cheese and Onion Petite Quiche

Happy Easter everyone! I've got a tasty recipe that is perfect for Easter brunch or specialty appetizer. It is rich, delicious bite size quiche that is sure to be a crowd pleaser! Luke and I love those frozen petite quiche from the grocery store and we think I came pretty close to replicating them. The original recipe called for Gruyere cheese, but I'm a poor college student and can't afford $15 (FIFTEEN DOLLAR!!!) cheese, so I substituted it for Vermont cheddar. I thought the results were great, but if you can afford it, you might want to try the Gruyere. This recipe's filling is also very versatile. Adding broccoli, spinach, or bacon would be very easy and give them a bit more color and variety. Enjoy!


I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with friends and family, remembering the awesome work that Jesus did on the cross for us nearly 2000 years ago. This was my favorite verse from a song we sung at church this morning, which sums it up nicely :-)


"And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ" (from the song In Christ Alone)




Cheese and Onion Petite Quiche 

• 2 9″ ready made pie crust
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Medium Onions, halved and finely sliced
• 2 Eggs
• 1 1/4 cups Heavy Cream
• 2/3 cup Vermont Cheddar Cheese, coarsely grated, divided in half

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Roll out pie crust and cut into 2 1/2" round circles. Press into greased mini muffin tin.

Beat the eggs in a bowl, then gradually add the cream. Stir in the onions and half the cheese, then season with salt and pepper. Carefully fill each muffin cup with about a tablespoon of batter. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese, then bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden.

Adapted from: http://www.mycookinghut.com/2008/11/01/cheese-onion-quiche/

Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Muffins with a Kick

I really love breakfast foods but I am not a fan of getting up early. That's why I tend to only make them on the weekends, then it doesn't matter if we have a late breakfast! This weekend I made these savory muffins with some left over bacon that needed to be used up. They were perfect for a quick morning breakfast, and I had all of the ingredients on hand (yay!). I did think that the recipe was a little heavy handed with the black pepper, I might half it next time. They are not very spicy, but have a little kick. I think these would also be good as a dinner side, served with some garlic herb butter.

Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Muffins with a Kick

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (we used sharp)
• 8 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled 
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large bowl, beat the egg, milk and oil together.  Stir in the bacon crumbles and shredded cheddar cheese.

Add the dry ingredients, stirring as you go, incorporating just until blended.

Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked all the way through. Cool for 5 minutes and remove from the muffin pan, placing on a wire rack to cool. Best served when warm.

Adapted from: http://dineanddish.net/2012/02/bacon-and-cheese-breakfast-muffins-with-a-kick/

Strawberry Muffins

One morning this weekend, I woke up early and knew I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. So I got up and decided to make Luke breakfast. I found some strawberries in the back of the fridge that needed to be used up soon (I hate wasting food) and remembered this recipe. They turned out so moist and yummy. These are not super sweet which we like because we are generally not fans of really sweet things for breakfast. Although  I will get a craving for a Krispy Kreme occasionally! We had these with cold glasses of chocolate milk, which was the perfect combination!

Strawberry Muffins

yields 9 muffins

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup chopped strawberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Line muffin tin with paper liners. 

In a small bowl, combine oil, milk, egg, and vanilla. Beat lightly. 

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Toss in chopped strawberries and stir to coat with flour. Pour in milk mixture and stir together.

Fill muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

Adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/strawberry-muffins/

Mexican Cornbread

Growing up, every Christmas morning my mom made this recipe for breakfast. She got this recipe from a fellow student when she and my dad were in Texas for X-ray school. Ever since, it's become a family tradition! When Luke and I went down to Rolla Christmas morning my mom had made this, and boy was it good! Luke had been asking when we were going to make this at least twice a week ever since then. So we finally made it and it turned out great! It's more of a casserole type dish than traditional cornbread so we had it as our main course for dinner the other night. It is crispy on the outside, and moist and flavorful on the inside! If you don't like spicy foods you can use regular sausage rather than the "hot" sausage we used. Or if you like really spicy things you could add some diced chili peppers. Our version is sort of a medium heat I guess!


Speaking of Christmas, I already bought my first present for Luke, am I crazy? I was worried I would forget about it by next Christmas, ha! Cheers!


Mexican Cornbread


Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 lb. hot sausage
• 1 box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 - 16 oz. can creamed corn
• 10 oz grated cheddar cheese
• 1 can Rotel, partially drained

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Cook the onion and sausage in a skillet until the meat is browned. Drain excess fat and set aside. 

In a bowl, mix the Jiffy, egg, milk, creamed corn, cheese, and Rotel. 

Fold in the onion and sausage.

Pour into greased 13x9 inch pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Cut and serve. 

Savory Bacon and Egg Cupcakes

These are full of tasty breakfast goodness and they're cupcakes?! Get outta town! 
I found this recipe on pinterest and I am so glad I did! They did require a bit of prep work, but they were definitely worth it. I used the "Simply" biscuits to make this recipe because they do not have trans fat in them like many of the others. Kinda silly I know because then we top them with bacon and eggs, but hey, every little bit helps! Luke loved them, not a big surprise there. They are definitely not something we'll be eating all the time, but every now and then you need a little bacon!


Bacon and Egg Cupcakes


Ingredients

• 1 can Pillsbury Simply buttermilk biscuits
• 10 eggs
• 10 pieces of bacon
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Begin cooking the  bacon in a skillet over medium heat. Cook for about 4 minutes, flipping once. You want the bacon to be cooked but not crispy.

While the bacon is cooking, spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Divide the biscuits and place one in each muffin cup. Press the dough up the sides of the cup.

Once the bacon is done and has cooled off, cut each strip in half.   Place the two halves in the muffin cups, like so.

Crack an egg into each cup.

And sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with cheese. 

 Serve and enjoy!

Adapted from: http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/bacon-and-egg-savory-cupcakes/1465ef49-f723-4458-ac60-a2b2d965b5d0

Homemade Apple Cinnamon Pop-Tarts with Cinnamon Glaze

After making the French Silk Pie, I still had one refrigerated pie crust left, so I decided to try my hand at making homemade pop-tarts. I had a couple of apples in the fridge, so I though a cinnamon apple filling would be perfect! The filling is similar to what you would find in an apple pie, except the apples are cut more finely. While it's not the healthiest breakfast, it sure did taste good! With Valentine's Day coming up, I think it would be cute to use heart shaped cookie cutters to cut the pie crust. Then you'd have heart shaped pop-tarts to share!


Homemade Apple Cinnamon Pop-Tarts with Cinnamon Icing
Yields 4 poptarts


Ingredients

• 1 refrigerated pie crust
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Melt the butter over high heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the apples and stir until they just start to soften, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the sugar and continue stirring for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the sugar has melted and mixed with the apples. Remove from the heat and transfer the apple mixture to a bowl. Cool for 30 minutes. Add the egg, cinnamon, salt, and flour to the apples and mix with a spatula until they are thoroughly and evenly incorporated. Cool completely before using.

As the mixture cools, roll the pie crust out on a flat surface. Using a pizza cutter, cut in half. Next, cut each half into four sections as evenly as possible. 

Put a few spoonfuls of apple in the center of half of the cut dough.  Place the sections without filling on top. Gently press the edges together using fork. 

Bake for 22-24 minutes, or until golden brown.

To make the glaze, whisk the powdered sugar, water, and cinnamon together. Drizzle over the cooked pop-tarts.

Adapted from:http://bunsinmyoven.com/2011/04/27/homemade-apple-pie-pop-tarts/