Biscuits and Gravy

Make cream biscuits using previous recipe - https://www.nickandalonakitchen.com/2025/01/cream-buiscuits.html

Then make the gravy as here. :) 

Goes together fabulously! And pretty quick to make - breakfast in under 30 minutes with minimal ingredients

 

Ingredients:

1 lb country sausage 

2 cups milk

1/4 cup flour 

salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Add sausage to frying pan, breaking it up. Cook, while stirring for about 5-6 minutes until cooked. 

2. Add in 1/4 cup flour and stir to coat. 

3. Slowly pour in 2 cups milk and bring to a boil. Cook for a few minutes until thickened!

4. ENJOY! 

What we liked:

So quick, easy, delicious. 

What we didn't like:

it is gone too fast!!! 

What Kaspian thought about it:

loved it. 

Next time:

make more!

Blueberry Muffins

These are absolutely glorious and taste better than coffee shop ones!

This was a great way to use up blueberries. The kids tend to either love blueberries and eat them all at once, and then, the next time you buy them - they won't touch them. This is a good way to use them and create a great breakfast item that is quick. These are pretty crumbly though. 

Original Recipe: https://www.culinaryhill.com/blueberry-muffins/

Ingredients:

Batter: 

2 cups  flour

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

0.5 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 stick butter, melted

0.5 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups blueberries

Topping: 

0.25 cups flour

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp sugar

0.25 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsps cold butter 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

2. Line a muffin tin - we made 12 regular muffins with cupcake liners 

3. In a bowl combine 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and 0.5 teaspoon salt. Mix. 

4. In a stand mixer bowl, whisk eggs. Add the half a cup of melted butter, milk, and vanilla until combined. 

5. By spoonfulls add in the dry flour mixture until mixed in. 

6. Turn off mixer and add in the blueberries.

For the topping, in a small bowl combine all ingredients and use hands or a fork to stir in together until coarsely lumpy. Place in freezer for a few minutes. 

7. While the topping is in the freezer, fill the muffin cups. 

8. Add topping to each muffin 

9.  Bake 18 to 22 minutes. 

What we liked:

It was great! 

What we didn't like:

Nothing. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

It was a nice change from banana nut muffins

Next time:

Brioche Toast with Apple Creme Anglaise

Astrid and Alona went to the Dallas Arboretum last Thanksgiving week (2021). The day they were there, was chef demonstration and tasting day! They watched Chef Isabel (We think!) prepare an Apple Creme Anglaise with brioche toast.  It has taken a few months for the Dallas Arboretum to finally post the recipe, but they did and we made it and it is pretty amazing. Although tedious, it is well worth it. 

Brioche Toast with Apple Creme Anglaise

Lightly Toasted Brioche in a Cast Iron Pan

Anglaise with Rum Apples

Creme Anglaise

Egg yolks 

Milk cooking

Apples to be mixed with Rum!

Ingredients:

1 loaf of Brioche Toast

2 eggs + a tad of cream, mixed to dip the brioche in to toast

2 apples, chopped into cubes or so - we used gala

1 - 1.5 cup of milk

0.5 cups of heavy cream, or so

6 egg yolks

1/4 cup of sugar - or so - you can change to taste

1/2 cup of rum

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Chop the apples

2. Place apples into a small pan, pour rum over them and cook until softened and alcohol has cooked out. Do not be alarmed if alcohol flambes (similar to bananas foster). 

3. Stir in Vanilla to apples

4. While apples are cooking, you can whisk together the sugar, egg yolks and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Use a bowl that is heat resistant. 

5. Bring milk and cream to a boil. 

6. Very slowly ladle the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks while constantly whisking to temper the eggs. Do this until about half of the milk mixture remains. 

7. Now, slowly, pour the tempered egg mixture back into the milk pan, whisking constantly. If it begins to boil, lower the heat. 

8. Cook, stirring continuously, until the creme Anglaise begins to thicken. 

9. Turn off the heat and stir in the rum apples. 

10. Quickly dip the brioche toast pieces into egg or egg and cream and fry on a cast iron pan for just 20-30 seconds per side. 

11. Serve brioche toast with ladled apple anglaise on top. 

What we liked:

It is amazing. 

What we didn't like:

It is time consuming! And you have egg whites left over. 

What Kaspian, Astrid and Orion thought about it:

They absolutely LOVED it. 

Next time:

No changes, maybe make more!

German Pancake with Apples

We saw this recipe and it looked quick, easy and yummy! It was. The first recipe we made used a WHOLE stick of butter and turned out a bit too oily. We lost that recipe and made it a second time from a different recipe with it being even more yummy. We totally forgot to sprinkle the powder sugar on it though, that would make it only even better.
It is great for a weekend morning breakfast with either syrup or jam. Alona likes it with lingon berry preserves. The dough is yummy and flaky and the apples add an extra crunch and flavor to it. You could probably make it with other berries such as blueberries as well.

Here's the original recipe, although we added about half a cup of sugar to the dough because we didn't make the buttermilk syrup. You should adjust the sugar content to taste:

https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/german-pancake

Attempt 2

 The below pictures are from the first attempt, with WAY too much butter in our opinion.

Ingredients:

6 large eggs
1 cup WHOLE milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 apples cut up into slices..or smaller, if you like
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Directions:

1. Heat up oven to 400F
2. Combine eggs, milk, flour, salt and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth.
3. Melt butter and pour into a large baking dish. Spread apple slices evenly on the bottom.
4. Pour the batter over the apple slices.
5. Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes until golden brown. The apples will float up to the top and the sides of the "pancake" will fluff up.
6. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
7. Serve with syrup or jam. 

What we liked:

So quick and easy to make and it just bakes. Everyone gets a hot piece at the same time too. 

What we didn't like:

We didn't like the amount of sugar in the original recipe...so we changed it :) 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked it. Although, he was suspicious of the apple pieces. 

Next time:

No changes. Keep this modified recipe

Belgian Waffles

This Belgian Waffle recipe is extremely delicious! We normally have waffles left over for Kaspian for breakfasts in the morning before school, but after making this recipe, none were left! These turned out sweet, perfect texture and would be wonderful with some whipped cream!

Here is the original recipe: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/true-belgian-waffles

Ready to eat!

Belgian Waffle Stack

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 large eggs, separated
1-1/2 cups milk
1 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Sliced fresh strawberries or syrup or whipped cream (or all of them!)

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar and baking powder.
2. In another bowl, lightly beat egg yolks. Add milk, butter and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until combined.
3. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; fold into batter.
4. Bake in a preheated waffle iron according to manufacturer's directions until golden brown. Serve with strawberries or syrup or whipped cream.

What we liked:

These were delicious!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, they are great, and worth the additional work!

What Kaspian thought about it:

He loved the waffles, he also loved making them! Astrid also enjoyed them. 

Next time:

No changes. 

Strawberry Pancakes

This is the most reasonable amount of pancakes we have ever made. 1 cup of flour, makes about 8 pancakes, which, we still had about 3 left over but that's a lot more reasonable than a large leftover amount. The pancakes turned out fluffy, yummy and went perfect with whipped cream!

Here's the original recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/84892/strawberry-vanilla-pancakes/

Served!

On the griddle!

Pancake Batter

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Whipped Cream

Maple Syrup 

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
2. Pour in the milk, oil, egg and vanilla, and mix until well blended.
3. Stir in the strawberries.
4. Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat, and coat with butter or cooking spray. Pour batter into desired size of pancakes. Flip with a spatula when bubbles appear in the center. Cook until golden brown on the other side.

What we liked:

Soo good! And the most reasonable amount we have ever made!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He preferred a bean burrito instead 

Next time:

No changes needed!

Pecan Sticky Bread

After our last attempt at a failed pecan cinnamon roll recipe, we really wanted to make one that was actually good. So we got yeast, prepared in advance and started this recipe the night before. It turned out MUCH better. The bread is really good. Although, the addition of the butter into the dough after it's already mixed is odd. Next time, we will add the butter in prior to adding the flour. This will make it much easier to mix. With adding the butter into the bread after the flour was incorporated required a lot more flour addition to actually make a work-able dough. Also, we add the nuts and syrup inside the bread and on top of it. That works much better than on the bottom and the nuts inside are a really nice treat. The recipe calls for a bundt cake pan, but we don't actually have one, so we ended up just making 2 rolls and baking them side by side in a glass dish. That worked well, except we forgot to coat the bottom with oil, so the syrup that made it to the bottom kind of stuck there, but even with that, it was good. The rolls cut easily and tasted great.
Here is the original recipe: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/pecan-sticky-wedges

Sticky Pecan Bread piece!

Just out of the oven

Next morning - risen bread

2 Bread rolls  

1 Roll 

Inside the roll

Ingredients:

1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
12.4 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 3/4 cups), divided
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and divided
Cooking spray
1 cup packed dark brown sugar, divided
3 tablespoons light-colored corn syrup
2 tablespoons mild honey
2/3 cup chopped pecans
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Combine yeast and warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer; let stand 5 minutes or until foamy. Add granulated sugar, milk, vanilla, salt, and eggs; beat at low speed until well combined (about 1 minute).

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 1/4 cup flour to yeast mixture; beat at low speed 1 minute. Add 2 1/4 cups flour; beat at low speed until a soft dough forms. Change paddle to dough hook; beat at medium speed 8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Add 4 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating at low speed until combined after each addition and scraping sides, if necessary. Scrape dough onto a work surface sprinkled with remaining 1/4 cup flour (dough will be sticky). Knead 1 minute or until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray. Cover and place in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size.

3. Combine 3 tablespoons butter, 2/3 cup brown sugar, corn syrup, and honey in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring just until butter melts. Boil 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Pour syrup into a 12-cup Bundt pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle nuts evenly over syrup. Cool completely.

4. Combine remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.

5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently press dough into a 16 x 12-inch rectangle. Melt 1 tablespoon butter. Brush surface of dough with melted butter. Sprinkle brown sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly over dough. Beginning at short side, roll up dough, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal. Carefully lift roll, and fit into prepared pan. Pinch ends together. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill overnight.

6. Preheat oven to 350°.

7. Remove pan from refrigerator. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake at 350° for 28 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and dry. Cool in pan 4 minutes on a wire rack. Place a plate upside down on top of pan; invert onto plate. Let cool slightly before cutting.

What we liked:

Tastes delicious the next morning

What we didn't like:

Overly long preparation to make dough. Incorporate the butter BEFORE adding the flour. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the bread, but the pecans were suspicious. He said "I don't like nuts, I don't like deez things." as he picked them off and threw them away. 

Next time:

Add butter before the flour. Do not forget to spray coat the pan!

Cinnamon Pecan Rolls

We made these, because the recipe we really wanted to make was to have a 12 hour dough chilling time. These were not very good. Definitely stick to a yeast recipe and take the extra time to prepare them beforehand. Here's the original recipe: https://www.cuisinart.com/recipes/breakfast/844.html. The sugar filling never melted - it would have been better off to make a syrup first, then fill the buns with a syrup. The bread was too hard and biscuit-y tasting, not something you want in your breakfast bun. We made these last Saturday, but didn't get around to posting until today. We hope to make better ones tomorrow.

Cooked rolls

Rolled out dough

Ingredients:

¾ cup packed light brown sugar
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon table salt
½ cup toasted, chopped pecans
¾ cup whole milk
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature, plus 1 tablespoon for brushing
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2½ cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons whole milk
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly coat an 8-inch round cake pan with non-stick cooking spray. Reserve. Prepare the pecan filling. In a small bowl, mix the first 4 ingredients together with a fork, reserve. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, butter, egg and vanilla. It is important that all of the liquid ingredients are room temperature. Reserve. In the bowl of the Cuisinart Hand Stand Mixer, add the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Fitted with the flat beaters, mix on speed 2 until combined, about 10 seconds. With motor running, slowly add the liquid ingredients. Gradually raise to speed 4 and mix until well combined, about 30 seconds. Mix for an additional 15 seconds. Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead a few times. Roll dough into a 12x9-inch rectangle. Sprinkle the reserved pecan filling on dough, leaving a ½-inch border. Carefully roll dough, starting from the bottom and working away from you, into a tight log. Cut into 8 equal pieces and place into the prepared baking pan; brush tops with the melted butter. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until firm and golden in color. While cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare the glaze. Place the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla to a small bowl. Using the hand mixer off of the unit, fitted with the chef’s whisk attachment, whisk on speed 3 until well mixed with no lumps. Reserve until ready to use. Note, you may have to whisk again right before using to smooth out the icing. Let the cinnamon pecan rolls cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack. Spoon the reserved icing over warm rolls. 

What we liked:

Pecans, and the idea of making these without waiting for 12 hours.

What we didn't like:

Rolls were too hard, sugar was too grainy. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

Didn't warrant his attention.

Next time:

Use a better recipe with a yeast base. 

Blinchiki

Blini are a traditional Russian dish. They are very versatile and can be made either sweet or savory depending on the fillings you choose to use. You can also not use any fillings and just eat them plain!
We made them this morning and had a quick breakfast with honey-filled blinis.
The "dough" mixture for them is VERY watery, but this helps them spread on the pan. It is important that the pan be hot as this allows them to cook better. We don't make these very often, so we are not very good at making them perfectly round, but ideally they are crepe-round bread circles.

Rolled with honey

Watery "dough" mixture

Flipped blin!

Flipped blin!

Cooked blinis

Ingredients:

2 cups milk
3 eggs
2 cups flour
1-2 tablespoons sugar (more if you want them sweeter)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 to 1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons butter
butter for coating the done blinis (optional)

Directions:

1. Whisk together 3 eggs and 1 cup milk, sugar and salt.
2. Add in flour, sift in if possible -this helps to get rid of clumps
3. Add the rest of the milk and mix. The consistency of this dough should be fairly watery. Add 1/2 cup of hot water.
4. Let stand 15-20 minutes.
5. Heat up a pan - a cast iron or a pan that will heat up hotter will work best. Add butter to melt.
6. Using a ladle (we had to use 3 different ones to find the perfect ladle), pour in either half or a full ladle of the dough mixture - depending on your ladle size, swirl pan to coat.
7. Cook until sides start to dry and the bottom turns golden. A good indication to flip, is the blin stops bubbling. Flip, cook until the other side is cooked.
8. Place on a plate and put butter on the top. Stack them up!
9. Eat as is, or roll them up with honey, sour cream, meat, jam, nutella - anything you want!

What we liked:

Quick to make. Fun and delicious. They are light and fluffy and tasty and go with ANYTHING. 

What we didn't like:

We are still getting used to our new pan and we don't make them often enough, so sometimes getting the right dough consistency takes a couple of sample tries of thinning out the dough with hot water. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was too busy to pay attention to them this time, but he LOVES eating them at Babushka's house. 

Next time:

Add a meat filling!

Breakfast Mini Omlette Bakes

Saturday, we made these really easy and delicious breakfast sausage bakes. These are very versatile, and can be adapted by switching out sausage for bacon or adding any other veggies that you prefer in your breakfast. These can be made in either a full sized muffin pan or a mini one.

Breakfast bake 

Out of the oven

Just before baking

With sausage and cheese

Cheese!

Blood Orange/Orange Juice mix

Ingredients:

1 can Pillsbury Crescent Dough
6 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons cooked breakfast sausage
2 eggs
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
cooking oil spray 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.
2. Whisk together the eggs, heavy cream and salt and pepper.
3. Pinch the crescent dough triangles together, and instead cut out 6 square pieces.
4. Spray the muffin pan with oil and put the 6 pieces of crescent dough into 6 muffin spaces. The square edges will stick out of them, that's okay.
5. Add a teaspoon of shredded cheese, then cooked breakfast sausage to each spot.
6. Divide the egg/heavy cream mixture evenly among the 6 bakes. Top with more cheese if desired. Top with chives.
7. Bake for 17-20 minutes until middle is not runny.

What we liked:

Very easy and tastes delicious and filling! We also had blood orange juice left over from the blood orange souffles, and added to regular orange juice made for an impressive drink, and was much sweeter than just regular orange juice. 

What we didn't like:

We made these in mini muffin pans before, this was the first time we made them in the larger muffin pans and we like them better as the larger ones. Although the bite size ones are pretty, it's hard to put much filling into them. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He did not like the chives on the top. He is not a fan of "green things" in his food. Odd, as green is his favorite color. 

Next time:

No change, they were great!