Recipes: Breakfast Bonanza

I try between one and three new recipes - everything from main courses and side dishes to breakfast baked goods and desserts - every week. Roughly 75% of the recipes aren't tasty enough to earn a spot in our regular rotation, but the remaining quarter or so, those that at least three out of the four of us enjoy, are bookmarked so that 1) we can make them again, and 2) I can share them with all of you.

I haven't done a recipe post in nearly a year, so I have at least two - maybe three - posts highlighting close to 30 tried-and-true recipes waiting in the queue. I hope you come across something in one of them that you and your family will enjoy!

Breakfast Bonanza
I've recently gone on something of a kick when it comes to breakfast (or breakfast for dinner, one of our favorite meals) foods. On a busy night, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, and a baked treat really hit the spot!

Note: I use these pans when I bake cookies and scones, roast veggies, etc. They are without a doubt the best pans I have ever owned and I will never buy another kind of baking sheet or roasting pan. One of my favorite features of these pans is that you never need to grease or butter them, or line them with parchment paper or baking mats. Instead of listing in the "adaptations" section of each recipe that I didn't grease the pan or use parchment paper, I'll just tell you now that no matter what the recipe says, when I use these pans I don't prep them in any way.

1. Pumpkin Scones
Adaptations: I omitted the honey simply because I forgot about it, and I skipped the pumpkin icing.
Comments: We all loved this scone, and none of us missed the forgotten honey or purposely omitted pumpkin icing. This recipe will certainly end up with a place in our regular breakfast/breakfast-for-dinner rotation.

2. Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones
Adaptations: None.
Comments: I guess it's the whole wheat flour that makes this recipe "skinny"…these scones don't taste skinny though - yum!

3. Cranberry Orange Scones
Adaptations: I left out the orange peel, not because I wanted to, but because I found myself out of oranges and unwilling to postpone baking these scones. I also skipped the orange butter.
Comments: At the risk of sounding like a broken record, these scones went over tremendously with all four Ferri. Even Hallie, who doesn't usually like "things" (like craisins, raisins, etc.) in her baked goods, ate an entire scone.

4. Edna Mae's Sour Cream Pancakes
Adaptations: I added a mashed (previously frozen but thawed) banana, just as I always do when I make pancakes.
Comments: I stopped buying prepared baking and pancake mixes a few months ago, and since then I've been searching for a pancake recipe that went over as well with my kids as did Jiffy Mix and Biscuick pancakes. After striking out three or four times, I finally hit a home run with these light, fluffy pancakes.

5. Banana Oat Muffins
Adaptations: None.
Comments: My kids didn't rave about this recipe, but it was an overall hit when I baked a double batch (the recipe only makes 12-13 muffins) for Will to take to school for snack in early May. His teachers emailed me that afternoon and begged me for the recipe, which I of course shared…and I then baked a double batch for Will to take to school for snack every week for the remainder of the school year. (This recipe uses between four and six bananas for every 12 muffins, so baking these muffins really cleared the frozen bananas out of my freezer.)

6. Skinny Peanut Butter, Chocolate, and Banana Muffins
Adaptions: I substituted sun butter for peanut butter, quick-cooking oats for old fashioned oats, and semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate chips. I also didn't measure my mashed banana. I simply pulled a banana out of the freezer, thawed it in the microwave, and tossed it in the bowl.
Comments: I didn't like that I had to use my food processor to make oat flour (just another appliance to wash), but the end result was worth it!

7. Blueberry Power Muffins
Adaptations: Instead of two cups of all-purpose flour, I used one cup of all-purpose flour and one cup of whole wheat flour. I also used nonfat plain yogurt instead of either of the yogurt options listed in the recipe.
Comments: Hallie and I had been engaged in a seemingly-unending quest for the perfect blueberry muffin (she wanted "yummy like Starbucks", and I wanted "healthy unlike Starbucks") until we came across this recipe. It was an all-around hit!

I have a few friends coming over for a casual brunch on Friday and can't decide which of these recipes to make. Scones? Muffins? Decisions, decisions…

That about wraps up breakfast foods - next week or the week after that I'll share my recent favorite main and sides dishes!