Cinnamon Sugar Waffles with Cinnamon Peanut Butter Maple Drizzle

Over the past couple of months, we've gone from a pancake family to a waffle family. (It would probably sound more impressive to say we've gone from a 5K family to a marathon family, but...we'd rather eat waffles than run.)


Once I discovered that leftover waffles taste so much better reheated than pancakes do, they've become a staple breakfast around here. Freeze the leftovers, pop them in at 350° oven, bake for 10 minutes. Perfect.


Cinnamon-sugar toast is such a comfort food for me...we had it so many mornings growing up and it really reminds me of my mom. That's one of the many reasons I love Land O' Lakes® Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread. It spreads beautifully right from the fridge and brings back lots of childhood memories.


I decided to use the spread to make Cinnamon Sugar Waffles. You'll really get a triple shot of it as the it's in the waffle batter, spread on the warm waffles, and in the cinnamon peanut butter maple drizzle. Do NOT skip the drizzle. Oh my gosh.


This recipe makes about 9-10 nice, thick waffles. Once they come off of the waffle iron, you'll put them in a 200° oven while you cook up the rest. This way, everyone can eat at the same time, and the time in the oven also helps to crisp them up a little bit.



Cinnamon Sugar Buttermilk Waffles 
 {makes 9-10 large waffles}

Waffles
2 eggs
1/4 cup Land O’ Lakes® Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread
3 TBSP light brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 & 3/4 cup buttermilk
1 & 3/4 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Cinnamon Peanut Butter Maple Drizzle 
 2 TBSP Land O’ Lakes® Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup

For topping
Land O’ Lakes Cinnamon® Sugar Butter Spread
powdered sugar
cinnamon sugar

Preheat oven to 200. Coat a waffle iron with vegetable oil and heat.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs well. Whisk in the Land O’ Lakes® Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread and brown sugar until well mixed. Add in the vegetable oil, vanilla, and buttermilk; whisk until combined. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the mixture the wet ingredients, whisking just until combined.

Scoop the batter onto the heated waffle iron and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. Once cooked, place directly on the rack of the warmed oven. Re-coat waffle iron, if necessary, and continue cooking the waffles.


Once the waffles are cooked, make the drizzle. Melt the Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread with the peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Stir in the maple syrup until combined. Keep warm. Remove waffles from the oven. Spread with Cinnamon Sugar Butter Spread. Spoon the drizzle over the top and sprinkle on powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar.

Ah, these could almost make me into a morning person.

*Disclosure: Bake at 350 has partnered with Land O’Lakes for an exclusive endorsement of Land O Lakes® Butter for their Kitchen Conversations blogger program. This blog post is sponsored by Land O’Lakes.

Ginger Carrot Bread

Guys, this bread is SO easy to put together. Even though it's carrot bread, there's no grating of carrots!!!


It's made with carrot juice! The juice makes the bread such a pretty orange!


The bread is flavored with a double shot of ginger...both ground and crystallized. The ginger adds just enough spice, but it's not heavy like a gingerbread.

Eat this warm from the oven with butter. Toast it for breakfast. Serve cold and slathered with cream cheese. Eat it plain. Just EAT IT! However you eat it, you're going to love it.


Plus, carrots! I love getting my servings of vegetables this way! ;)


Ginger Carrot Bread
{makes 2}

3 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 & 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 TBSP vanilla extract
2 cups carrot juice
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger
1 cup chopped toasted pecans

Great two 8x4" loaf pans. Preheat oven to 350.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, ground ginger, and salt together. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, and carrot juice together until well combined.


Add in the flour mixture, whisking again, just until incorporated. Fold in the chopped crystallized ginger and pecans.

Divide into the prepared pans and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaves comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Run a thin knife along the sides of the pans and invert to remove from the pans. Continue to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

{Adapted from Everyday Food, 2004}



Carrot bread. You need some in your life. 

These aren't your mama's blueberry pancakes...

You guys, I just couldn't title this blog post the title of the recipe. It's too long. It's also probably bordering on obnoxiously long, BUT...you need the full description.


I present to you:

Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes with Healthy Grain Clusters and a Cinnamon Greek Yogurt Drizzle

See?


Here's what you need to know. These are NOT your mama's (or your local diner's or your grocery store's) blueberry pancakes. THESE pancakes are flat-out scrumptious and worthy of a 14-word name. Golden, fluffy, sweet, crunchy, tangy...*sigh*

I'd say 5 mornings out of 7, my breakfast is a KIND Bar. If you've never had a KIND bar, stock up when you're at the store. I'm partial to (obsessed with) the Dark Chocolate Cherry Cashew Bars.

I do try to make a more substantial breakfast for kiddo, though. I'll make pancakes, waffles,...bacon quesadillas (yes, you can put anything in a quesadilla).


When KIND contacted me, I was so thrilled since we're such huge fans of their products, and I was also excited to try their Healthy Grains Clusters.

The clusters are a better kind of granola. I usually find granola heavy and overcooked for my taste. KIND Healthy Grains Clusters are light and toasty...totally addicting. Made not just with oats, but with millet, quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat. I'm sold.


For this recipe, I used the Vanilla Blueberry Clusters with Flax Seeds. I couldn't stop eating it straight from the bag. I can see this being my go-to afternoon snack from now on...and one I can feel good about.

Will you promise me that you'll make these pancakes?
They're like a taste explosion. The warm blueberries, the buttermilk, the hearty grains are topped with a simple and delicious cinnamon Greek yogurt drizzle that just makes for a dreamy breakfast. (Keep the maple syrup for another day...you don't need it.)



Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes with Healthy Grain Clusters and a Cinnamon Greek Yogurt Drizzle
{makes 8-9 pancakes}

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 TBSP packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 TBSP salted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup fresh blueberries, plus more for topping
1/2 cup KIND Vanilla Blueberry Clusters with Flax, plus more for topping

For the drizzle:
7 ounces plain 2% Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 TBSP agave

Whisk the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg until fluffy, about 1 minute. Whisk in the buttermilk, melted butter, and vanilla until combined. Stir in the flour mixture, just until combined. Fold in the blueberries.


Let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes. Heat a non-stick griddle to 350.

In a small bowl, combine the Greek yogurt, cinnamon, and agave to make the drizzle. Place in a piping bag or large zip-top bag.

Pour the batter onto the hot griddle by the 1/4 cup. Add 1 TBSP Vanilla Blueberry Clusters to the top of each pancake. Add just a spoonful more of batter on top. (Don't worry about covering all of the clusters.)

Cook a few minutes, until the edges look done, then flip to cook the other side. Cook for a couple more minutes, until done.

Transfer to a plate. Snip the tip of the drizzle bag and drizzle generously over the pancakes. (Alternately, serve the pancakes with a small bowl of the drizzle on the side.) Sprinkle on more Vanilla Blueberry Clusters and fresh blueberries.

Good morning, good morning to YOU!

*This post was sponsored by KIND Snacks. I created this recipe using their Healthy Grains Clusters and truly love both the product and the recipe. Opinions and recipe are my own.

In tribute to Mr. Ferrero, King of Nutella

You may have heard that Michele Ferrero, father of Nutella, passed away on Valentine's Day. Fitting since, via Nutella, he really was a valentine to us all. ♥


Apparently, Mr. Ferrero's father began combining hazelnuts and chocolate during World War II when cocoa was in short supply and hazelnuts were plentiful. His son, Michele, was credited for making the mixture more spreadable and coining the name Nutella in 1964. (Same year Mr. E was born...it was a good year.)


In tribute, I thought I'd revisit one of my favorite Nutella concoctions here on the blog, Nutella-Filled Banana Muffins. Maybe they're one of my favorites because the dose of Nutella is in its pure form...not mixed, not baked...the perfect dose of chocolate-hazelnut goodness. It makes these the best banana muffins ever.


Nutella at breakfast makes any morning a good morning.
(You can quote me on that.)


Here's the low-down:  the mashed bananas keep the muffins soft and moist, the salted butter and kosher salt give a double-shot of salty to the sweet, the nutmeg & cloves add just a bit of spice and interest, and the Nutella?  Well, it pushes the delicious factor over the top.


Want to make them?  Yes, yes you do.  Here's how...

Nutella-filled Banana Muffins

2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 medium bananas, mashed
1/3 cup milk
2/3 cup Nutella

instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Line 12 regular size muffin tins with liners and lightly spray with cooking spray (this will keep the muffins from pulling away with the liners).  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.


{Don't you love freshly grated nutmeg?  If you never tried it, do.  you don't even need a fancy-schmancy microplane....the small holes on your grater will do.}

With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.  Beat in the egg, mashed banana, and milk.  Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.

With a silicone spatula, gently stir the dry ingredients into the wet.  Divide the batter into the 12 muffins tins.  Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.


Place on a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, remove from the tin to cool completely.


Meanwhile, spoon the Nutella into a pastry bag fitted with a large tip. (I used a Wilton 4B.) Once the muffins are cooled, poke the tip into the center of each muffin.  Fill until you see the muffin expand a bit and, while squeezing, pull the tip up and out of the muffin.

DEVOUR.

*this recipe first appeared on the blog in 2012 and has become a family favorite. 

Thank you, Mr. Ferrero! ♥ 

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Chocolate Banana Muffins with Cookie Dough Streusel Topping

You know those recipes printed inside food product boxes? When I was single, fresh-out-of-college gal, and learning-to-cook, newly-married-gal, those recipes were my go-to recipes. I think I ripped every product box open and read every recipe on the inside. Sometimes there would be more than one recipe! Gold mine!!!


These days, I feel like I have so many recipes I want to try, a gazillion (approximately) cookbooks, my mom's old recipes, creating recipes of my own...and let's be honest here, a whole lot of Kind Bars for breakfast and taco nights for dinner...that I just don't look at those brand packaging recipes any more. (THAT was one long sentence. Sorry.)


As I was tossing yet another empty butter box, a recipe inside caught my eye. Whew...saved it right before it hit the trash can. Chocolate Banana Streusel Muffins.

Here's the original recipe...I found it on the Land O' Lakes website.


This morning, no school, which means: extra time to make muffins for breakfast. Yay!

I made a couple of small changes to the recipe. The original recipe gets all of the chocolate from the streusel itself. I wanted the muffins to be chocolate, too. Also, as I was making the streusel, it occurred to me...this is no ORDINARY streusel, this is COOKIE DOUGH streusel.  It's a wonder any ended up on the muffins at all.


Don't worry as you're scooping the batter into the muffin cups. It doesn't look like enough, but the streusel will fill up the rest.

I liked these best at room temperature, so even if you don't have a leisurely morning in which to make them, whip them up the night before. You'll feel like a rock star serving these to the kids at 6am.

Chocolate Banana Muffins with Cookie Dough Streusel Topping

{adapted from Land O' Lakes}

for the streusel
1/2 unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
pinch kosher salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

for the muffins
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
3 TBSP Dutch-process cocoa
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffins tins with paper liners.

Make the streusel: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and pinch salt. Cube the butter and add to the bowl. Stir, then use your fingers to distribute throughout, until the butter is broken up and combined. Stir in the chocolate chips, pressing the mixture together into small clumps. (Not all of the mixture will clump together.) Set aside.


Make the batter: In a small bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the mashed bananas, egg, and vanilla. Add in the flour/cocoa mixture and beat on low just until combined.


Scoop batter into the prepared muffins tins. Top with the streusel.

Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire cooling rack.
(I thought these were BEST at room temperature, but who am I to stop you from eating one warm?)


Cookie dough streusel? Let's make this happen.

*I do have a partnership with Land O' Lakes, but this was not a sponsored post...just a happy coincidence.*

Biscoff Coffee Cake with Biscoff Crumb Topping

Cake for breakfast?  Don't mind if I do. 

There's no coffee in coffee cake...it's meant to GO WITH coffee.  (Apparently, there is an internet controversy about this.) You know, I might just start slipping the word "coffee" into every cake title to make cake for breakfast more acceptable: Devil's Food Coffee Cake,  Carrot Coffee Cake, Red Velvet Coffee Cake...y'all, I think I'm onto something here.


THIS cake is a Biscoff Coffee Cake.  I hope that you are familiar with Biscoff.  Biscoff cookies are the crunchy, cinnamon, completely additive cookies you get on Delta Airlines.  When I was a flight attendant, you can bet I was gobbling up as many packets of those in the galley as I possibly could during each flight. (Job perk.)  Biscoff Spread is creamy like peanut butter and made from crushed Biscoff cookies.  Oh yeah.

Katrina Bahl from the blog, In Katrina's Kitchen, has just published her first book:
The Biscoff Cookie & Spread Cookbook: Irresistible Cupcakes, Cookies, Confections, and More

Yes, Katrina loves Biscoff, but she also has a son who has a peanut allergy.  I can't imagine how scary that is.  Katrina was determined that he not miss out on homemade childhood sweets, and the tradition of candy-making that she formed with her family making Buckeyes each year.


The Biscoff Cookie & Spread Cookbook contains incredible recipes (beautifully photographed, too) that you'll enjoy whether you're baking for someone with a peanut allergy or not.

Would this book not make the cutest Christmas gift with a jar of Biscoff Spread, and a cute little red spatula???
(Note to all of my friends: forget you just read that.) 

Let's get back to this coffee cake.  A friend of kiddo's spent the weekend with us and I just knew I wanted to make this for them.  Verdict: it was a huge hit.  The cake itself is moist and spiced with Biscoff Spread baked right in.  And then the crumb topping....oh my word.  I love a good, GENEROUS crumb topping, don't you?


(You'll need some Biscoff crumbs.  I thought you guys might get a kick out of our Texas Tough ziptop bags...or do they make every state?  I'm trying to picture "Wisconsin Tough.") ;)

 

Biscoff Coffee Cake with Biscoff Crumb Topping

{used with permission from The Biscoff Cookie & Spread Cookbook}

for the topping:
2 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup crushed Biscoff cookies
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, melted

for the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup Creamy Biscoff Spread
1 & 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup Greek yogurt

for the topping:

Combine the flour with the crushed Biscoff Cookies.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir in the melted butter, then add the flour mixture.  Stir with a fork until large crumbs form.  Place in the refrigerator while preparing the cake.

for the cake:
Preheat oven to 350.  Line a 9x13" pan with foil, leaving at least 1" overhang over the sides.  Spray with nonstick spray (I used Crisco).

Whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.  In a large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, Biscoff Spread, and brown sugar for two minutes until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and vanilla until incorporated.


Add the Greek yogurt and dry ingredients alternately in 3 parts until incorporated.  Scoop the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.  Sprinkle with the crumb topping.

Bake for 30-35 minutes (mine took 45) until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean.  (If the topping is getting too brown while baking, cover loosely with foil.)

I served the cake warm.


Cake for breakfast.  It's a good thing.

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