Blueberry Banana Pancakes

Some Sundays after church, Mark likes to make pancakes. Now, he is a standard no frills kind of guy, while I like to mix things up a bit. So he has his plain pancakes, and I usually add something to mine.
This morning he actually went wild and added fresh blueberries to his. Of course, I tossed a lil extra in mine- some cornmeal, a little bit of flax seed, a small amount of oats and a mashed banana.
Top with butter and maybe some syrup and dig in!!

DB Danish Redux

I made my second danish braid today and it DID come out better than the first. I wasn't so anxious this time I guess. I took the dough from the freezer last night , and when thawed I formed my braid and filled it with this cream cheese filling -
12 oz cream cheese
1/3 cups sugar
1 egg
plus a little raspberry jelly down the middle. I let it rise in the fridge overnight and baked this morning. Much better the second time around!

Danish Braid a la Daring Bakers

I'm going to start out by saying right off that baking with yeast is not my favorite thing to do. Oh I have made bread in a bread machine with no problem. But this recipe for the June challenge, chosen by our hosts, Kelly of Sass and Veracity and Ben of What's Cooking started out scary because you do not proof the yeast. And it appears to be a recipe that requires patience, of which I have none. This recipe calls for making a dough, laminated with a butter block. No, I have not had the pleasure before.
I made my danish on a Saturday and baked it for a Sunday breakfast. I made the dough recipe as written. It gave me a chance to try my mortar and pestle that my friend Kim picked up for me during an Ikea trip. I opened the cardamon pods and tried to crush the seeds but couldn't get them fine enough so I used my coffee grinder first and then used the mortar and pestle. I didn't have an orange left in my fridge like I thought, so I used water and orange extract instead of orange juice and zest. I had a little fun incorporating the butter into the dough, because it actually seemed to come together like it was supposed to! I did sneek little unbaked bits and it seemed tasty enough.
For my filling I used 8 oz of cream cheese, 1 egg and 1/2 cup sugar. Next time if I fill with cream cheese I will double the filling as it seemed not enough for our tastes.
I think I may have voodooed the dough into not rising to my satisfaction or maybe I was hasty and baked too soon. I also think my dough could have used more flavoring, but maybe more filling would help. I have the second slab of danish dough in my freezer to try again later. I'l try to be more patient!
Daring Bakers are such a fun group. Always something to learn and stretch our cooking skills. Anyway, you can find the long recipe at the hosts' blogs.

Impossible Bacon Pie

This recipe has been one of my family's standards ever since the kids were little. Impossible pies were quite popular back in the 80's and with good reason. They are really quick and easy to make and it takes little effort to put a comforting meal on the table. The basis of the pies is Bisquick, but feel free to use your favorite baking mix. There are many "Impossible" recipes to choose from, some are main dish, some are dessert.
This is a good recipe for any meal of the day; we serve it mostly at dinner.

Impossible Bacon Pie
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 10 inch quiche pan or pie plate with cooking spray.

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
12 strips crisped bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup onion or green onion
Layer these 3 items in the pie plate.

1 cup Baking mix
2 cups milk
4 eggs
1/8 t salt
1/8 t pepper
Whisk these 5 items together in a bowl till well blended and pour over the ingredients in the pie plate. Place in oven and bake for 35-43 minutes. Remove from oven and let set for 5 minutes, then serve.

Sweet Corn Muffins

If you live in the Cleveland area, you may know Al "Bubba" Baker. Bubba used to play football wonderfully for the Cleveland Browns back in the 70's-early 80s. He owns a very popular restaurant in the western suburb of Avon, Bubba's Q. Bubba and his wife, Sabrina, are great people (Bubba is quite a character) and serve some fine barbeque.
One of the yummy things they serve is sweet cornbread muffins. Mark likes them so much, that I came up with a similar recipe.

Sweet Corn Muffins

1 cup flour
1 cup yellow corn meal (I prefer Aunt Jemina's)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp white sugar
4 tsp brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Mix dry ingredients together, add the liquids and mix until blended. Pour into muffin pans. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Makes 36 mini muffins.
This can be cooked as regular muffins or cornbread- adjust baking times accordingly.

Gorilla Bread

I love to look for recipes - this stemming from my longtime addiction to cookbooks. Luckily for me and my wallet, my local library is just a block away. At the moment I have in my possession Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics which actually contains 2 cookbooks-The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons Too. I like some of her recipes for baked goods, but not so much for the entrees I've tried.
I guess the reason I like Paula is that she seems to take some shortcuts or quick changes, and sometimes we are all pressed for time but still wanna make something. I made her Gorilla Bread before Christmas one morning when everyone was home. The recipe says to put the cream cheese inside and wrap the roll around it- I found it even easier to just pry the flaky layers apart, slap the cream cheese on, put the rolls back together, then complete the recipe. I also cut back a little on the sugar and used pecans instead of walnuts. It was a good and quick (last minute) special breakfast when served with fresh fruit alongside.

Gorilla Bread Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated biscuits (10 count)
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon. In a saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar over low heat, stirring well; set aside. Cut the cream cheese into 20 equal cubes. Press the biscuits out with your fingers and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon sugar. Place a cube of cream cheese in the center of each biscuit, wrapping and sealing the dough around the cream cheese. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the nuts into the bottom of the bundt pan. Place half of the prepared biscuits in the pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, pour half of the melted butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle on 1/2 cup of nuts. Layer the remaining biscuits on top, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar, pour the remaining butter mixture over the biscuits, and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes. Place a plate on top and invert.