Last week must have been my most bangin’ week that I’ve had in a while. I was busy when there was something to do, and was relaxed when there was nothing to do. The house is cleaner, my demeanor is happy-go-lucky and open, and better still, I’m sleeping. Last night was my longest sleep yet: nine-something hours.
It’s weird, though. I figured that this awesome way of looking at the world would give me more time to blog, but the somethings in my life (i.e. working two jobs part-time equaling thirty-two hours, cleaning, exercising, hanging out with people) have kept me plenty occupied. In retrospect, I think this blog was my outlet from stressing out and losing it last semester, an escape through recipe writing and reaching out to those who visit Meals With Morri with stories of my day-to-day life. But after this week, I know when I am free to cook just for the sake of cooking, and following up with a post.
This particular post on my take of breakfast bakes has been two plus weeks in the making, if only because I wasn’t sure if I wanted each recipe to have its own post or do like I did with my various socca versions in “The Socca Chronicles”. After my stagnation of not blogging much of anything, the photos on my camera were adding up and I was getting overwhelmed with the idea of having to do so many over a short amount of time. In my something-nothing philosophy, that kind of thinking just wasn’t kosher.
One post it was then.
My first ever “breakfast bake” (if I could call it that) on this blog was significantly different than what they look like today. They’ve transformed based on how they are cooked and in what, and I am truly digging my oven-safe soup bowls to do the job I wanted. They’ve varied in flours, liquids, fruits, leavening agents, and fats. Some of them have been amazing while others, well, not so much. I wasn’t partial to baking powder, only because of wanting to avoid cornstarch (or starches in general to keep the bakes whole-grain), and used equal measurements baking soda and cream of tartar instead. At the moment I’m only using baking soda, not as highly rising a product but delicious all the same.
By the way, the following recipes were baked in a preheated soup bowl at 350ºF for 30 or so minutes. Butter and coconut oil were used for greasing the pan just before adding the batter, though I’m using coconut oil currently. Oh, and all of the batters were made the night before and placed in the fridge to “set”.
By the way, the following recipes were baked in a preheated soup bowl at 350ºF for 30 or so minutes. Butter and coconut oil were used for greasing the pan just before adding the batter, though I’m using coconut oil currently. Oh, and all of the batters were made the night before and placed in the fridge to “set”.
The first is similar to the breakfast bake I had almost every day during the boyfriend's and my ski trip. It was made with 60 g of garbanzo bean flour, 90 g water, one egg, salt, baking soda and half a Granny Smith apple, so I just rolled with calling it a “socca bake”. But I started to realize that my tummy could only handle so many beans in a day, so I tried it with buckwheat flour and groats.
Spiced Apple Buckwheat Bake30 g Raw buckwheat groats, whole30 g Buckwheat flour90 ml Filtered water5 ml Unrefined apple cider vinegar1 Large egg1/4 tsp. Sea salt1/2 tsp. Cinnamon1/4 tsp. Allspice1/4 tsp. Nutmeg1/4 tsp. Bourbon vanilla extract1/4 tsp. Baking soda1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into small chunks1 – 2 tsp. Butter, for greasingCombine everything into a mixing bowl (except for the leavening agents, the apple, and the butter) and let it sit in the fridge overnight.Preheat the oven to 350ºF with a small oven-safe soup bowl (or ramekin) in the center.Add the leavening agent and apple chunks into the batter and let it sit on the counter until the oven is heated.Melt the butter in the hot bowl and swish around the bottom as well as the edges and then pour in the batter.Bake for 30 minutes (or until you press the top in the very middle as does not give way).
I cut mine so it resembled a puffy sandwich and put a little peanut butter love in the middle.
Over the next few recipes I fell in love with cream cheese and wanted to use it in a few of my breakfast bakes as well as topping them with it.
Strawberry Dream Breakfast Bake60 g Buckwheat flour6 g Buckwheat groats90 ml Filtered water1 Large egg1/4 tsp. Sea salt1/8 tsp. Bourbon vanilla extractStevia, to taste30 g Cream cheese140 g Strawberries, cut into small chunks (if frozen, put in the fridge to thaw overnight)1/4 tsp. Baking soda1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar1 – 2 tsp. Butter, for greasingLike the “Spiced Apple BB” recipe above, mix together all but the cream cheese, strawberries, leavening agents, and butter to sit in the fridge overnight.Preheat the oven to 350ºF with a small oven-safe soup bowl (or ramekin) in the center.Add the leavening agent, the cream cheese in small patches, and strawberry chunks into the batter and let it sit on the counter until the oven is heated.Melt the butter in the hot bowl and swish around the bottom as well as the edges and then pour in the batter.Bake for 30 minutes or until done.
I think I would have liked it more if there was a little more stevia in the mix, but it was very satisfying nonetheless.
While I’m on the cream cheese track, I made one with cream cheese, coconut flour, and pureed berries for a cheesecake breakfast bake sort of thing. It looked darling until it sank. And there needs to be a different flour; the coconut gave it a weird texture.
Moving on.
I started craving the lemon poppy combination, and thought about making a breakfast oatmeal cookie with the two flavors. But I found that quinoa flour and garbanzo bean flour were simply made to be together, and deliciousness ensued.
Lemon Poppy Bake with Sweet Poppy Cream Cheese Spread30 g Garbanzo bean flour28 g Quinoa flour120 ml Filtered water12 ml Orange juice1 Large egg1/4 tsp. Grated lemon zest4 g Poppy seeds1/8 tsp. Bourbon vanilla extractStevia, to taste1/4 tsp. Baking soda1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar1 – 2 tsp. Coconut oil
Sweet Poppy Cream Cheese Spread15 g Cream cheese1/8 – 1/4 tsp. Poppy seedsStevia, to taste
With this recipe, you can combine all of the ingredients with the exception to the leavening agents and coconut oil and bake as instructed above. I particularly enjoyed this one because it was something different, and quinoa flour has been neglected for much too long in this house.
Along with using the typical dry ingredients for the “flour" component, I also tried out pumpkin and sweet potato for a change of pace. Both bakes were significantly softer and creamier than the others, and resembled very much like a baked pudding or spoon bread.
Pumpkin Pudding Bake60 g Garbanzo bean flour183 g Pumpkin puree90 ml Filtered water1 Egg1/4 tsp. Sea salt1/4 tsp. Bourbon vanilla extract1/2 tsp. Cinnamon1/4 tsp. Nutmeg1/4 tsp. AllspiceDash of Powdered sageStevia, to taste1/4 tsp. Baking soda1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar
Finally, in an attempt to keep the Winter Wonderland Spirit alive (since it only became cold enough to snow as of Friday), I thought of some of the recipes I didn’t get to make in December, like gingerbread cutout cookies and other recipes associated with the holidays. But I did have fresh ginger root on hand. And I did have some odds and ends that reminded me of ornaments, trees, and lights…
Gingerbread Bake with a Touch of Currant
30 g Buckwheat flour28 g Buckwheat groats, coarsely ground in a spice blender120 ml Filtered water1 Large egg1 tsp. Orange juice1/4 tsp. Grated lemon rind6 g Finely grated fresh ginger5 g Fresh ginger, cut into very small cubes (you can also use candied ginger in its place)15 g Dried currants5 g Unsweetened baking chocolate, finely ground in a spice blender1/4 tsp. Sea salt1/4 tsp. Cracked pepper1/4 tsp. Cinnamon1/4 tsp. Allspice1/8 tsp. Bourbon vanilla extract1/8 tsp. Nutmeg7 g Honey (or 1 pureed prune, as I had done)1/4 tsp. Baking soda1/4 tsp. Cream of tartar1 – 2 tsp. Coconut oil
Just like with the "Lemon Poppy Bake" and the "Pumpkin Pudding Bake" you combine all of the ingredients except the last three to sit in the fridge overnight. And just when you are preheated the oven you add the leavening agents, and then put the coconut oil into the hot pan ahead of the batter.
So there you have it: five breakfast bake recipes with an additional two mentioned in passing (one of those passing fancies being a flop). I learned a lot about how leavening agents differ, and the glories of cream cheese were only just realized. There were many I didn’t photograph simply because I was up at such a ridiculous hour and my brain was fuzzy with fatigue and hunger, but I have one of the recipes written down and one still in the thought process, both of which need to be tinkered with.
It’s official: January is definitely Breakfast Bake Month for the year 2012. Don't get me wrong; that’s just dandy. I do, however, intend on the last week of this month having other recipes besides breakfast bakes. Cookies maybe. Or something with whole grain quinoa in it.
We'll just have to wait and see.
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