I think you may know, or even if you don’t, I like to make breakfast. I usually make it on the weekends for the fam.  In my humble opinion breakfast is the most fun meal of the day. Who doesn’t like a meal that has so many dishes that are almost like dessert.

One of my favorite “breakfasts (desserts)” is monkey bread. This monkey bread isn’t one of the canned biscuits or frozen rolls recipes. This is the real deal. Full on tasty bread balls covered in gooey cinnamony goodness.

Yes, you have to make a yeast dough, but don’t fret, its easy! Only problem with this recipe is that its hard to find time to make it in the morning. So took a idea from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and put it in the fridge after I make them in to sugary balls of goodness and deposit them into the bundt pan. This allows for a slow rise, and in the morning the next day I take it out a little early and let them warm up on the counter. Pop it in the oven and you are good to go. Trust me it works and cuts down on the hassle of making something like this in the morning!

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Monkey Bread

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Dough

• 4 T. unsalted butter , divided, 2 tablespoons softened and 2 tablespoons melted
• 1 C. milk , warm (about 110 degrees)
• 1/3 C. water , warm (about 110 degrees)
• 1/4 C. granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 t. rapid-rise yeast (or instant)
• 3 1/4 C. all-purpose flour, plus extra for work surface
• 2 t. table salt

Brown Sugar Coating

• 1 C. packed light brown sugar
• 2 t. ground cinnamon
• 8 T. unsalted butter (1 stick), melted

Awesome Icing

• 3 T. Butter
• 1 C. Powdered Sugar
• 3/4 t. Vanilla Extract
• 2-3 T. Hot Water

Directions

1. For the dough: Adjust oven rack to medium-low position and heat oven to 200 degrees. When oven reaches 200 degrees, turn it off. Butter Bundt pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter. Set aside.
2. In large measuring cup, mix together milk, water, melted butter, sugar, and yeast. Mix flour and salt in standing mixer fitted with dough hook, (see below for instructions without a mixer.) Turn machine to low and slowly add milk mixture. After dough comes together, increase speed to medium and mix until dough is shiny and smooth, 6 to 7 minutes. Turn dough onto lightly floured counter and knead briefly to form smooth, round ball. Coat large bowl with nonstick cooking spray. Place dough in bowl and coat surface of dough with cooking spray. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in warm oven until dough doubles in size, 50 to 60 minutes.
3. For the sugar coating: While dough is rising, mix brown sugar and cinnamon together in bowl. Place melted butter in second bowl. Set aside.
4. To form the bread: Gently remove dough from bowl, and pat into rough 8-inch square. Using bench scraper or knife, cut dough into 64 pieces.
5. Roll each dough piece into ball. Working one at a time, dip balls in melted butter, allowing excess butter to drip back into bowl. Roll in brown sugar mixture, then layer balls in Bundt pan, staggering seams where dough balls meet as you build layers.
6. Cover Bundt pan tightly with plastic wrap and place in turned-off oven until dough balls are puffy and have risen 1 to 2 inches from top of pan, 50 to 70 minutes.
7. Remove pan from oven and heat oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap pan and bake until top is deep brown and caramel begins to bubble around edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then turn out on platter and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.
8. For the Icing: Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla and hot water. You may need to add a little more water or a little more powdered sugar depending on your desired consistency. Drizzle on warm monkey bread. Note: This makes a little more than what you need to drizzle on top. I use it as a dip for the monkey bread.

This is the best, moist cornbread you will ever have. The soaking of the cornmeal before mixing it in with the other ingredients is brilliant. This softens the cornmeal and allows the cornbread to be so soft. If you like a sweeter cornbread this one is good, just reduce the sugar if you like a less sweet cornbread. Trust me you will love this cornbread.

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Moistiest Cornbread Evar

Courtesy of All Recipes

• 1 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 2 1/2 c. milk
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 1 c. white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a small bowl, combine cornmeal and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. Grease a 9×13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the cornmeal mixture, eggs and oil until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the cornbread comes out clean.

Holy crap these are good. They are a little bit of work but they are totally worth it. My wife found these at My Kitchen Cafe and I have to give her mad props for a great find. I have made them quite a few times. Next time I make them I am going to try them with frozen raspberries, I feel they are that versatile. Enjoy!

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Lemon Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Lemon-Sugar Topping Ingredients

• 1/3 C. sugar
• Zest from one lemon

Muffins Ingredients

• 2 cups frozen blueberries (or 2 cups fresh)
• 1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. For the topping, stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.
2. For the muffins, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse one cup frozen berries under cold water and spread on a double layer of paper towels to dry well. Bring remaining one cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour – don’t overmix. This is the key to moist and tender muffins.
4. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide the batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill the cups). Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a skewer (or a chopstick), gently swirl the berry filling into the batter using a figure eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.
5. Bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm, 17-18 minutes. Cool muffins in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and serve warm.

To me banana bread was something that someone else brought over to the house or gave us for a gift. For some reason my mom didn’t ever make quick breads such as banana bread or zucchini bread (at least I don’t remember her making them). Thus the quick bread was somewhat of a mystery to me and so i thought it was hard to make them. Although I found out later that these elusive breads were insanely easy to make, especially with the help of a good Kitchenaid mixer.

It’s not very often that there are old bananas at my house. We love ourselves some bananas, but when there are I like to make banana bread. I stumbled upon this recipe in my journeys through the recipes interwebs and it has become my defacto recipe for banana bread.

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Crazy Good Banana Bread

Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 2 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1/2 C. butter (1 Stick)
• 3/4 C. brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 C. mashed overripe bananas (about 5 medium bananas)
• 1 C. dark or semisweet chocolate chips (optional)
• 1/2 t. cinnamon (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9×5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.

My Wife’s Dad makes some mean breakfasts. He is always making pancakes, waffles or some other goodness. I tried replicating them but he’s the kind of guy that doesn’t measure, its all by feel and sight and for me that doesn’t cut it when it comes to “baking”. My attempts to replicate his biscuits were always in vain. So I decided to search for a recipe I could call my own, but I had one main criteria: It had to be made with butter.

A lot of recipes I found were made with shortening. To me shortening is tasteless and gross. If I want to bake something I want it to have some flavor. What about butter flavored shortening you might ask? Well its the same stuff as above but with fake butter flavor, and that’s not tastyliciousness. Finally I found this one on Epicurious.com and I must say everyone at my house is in love, even the Wife.

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Best Buttermilk Biscuits

Courtesy of Epicurious.com

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• Rounded 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon milk or cream for brushing biscuits

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425. Sift all dry ingredients together.
2. Cut butter into dry ingredients using a pastry cutter or whatever floats your boat, until they are pea sized.
3. Add buttermilk and mix into dry ingredients. I do it with a fork until it starts to make a ball.
4. Turn dough out on floured surface. Fold dough over and over about 6 times to make “layers” (this will make them flaky). Roll out onto clean surface about 1/2-3/4 in. thick.
5. Using a cookie cutter or whatever you can find cut out the biscuits and put them on a slightly oiled cookie sheet. Brush tops with milk.
6. Bake for 15-20 min depending on how golden brown you want them. Enjoy!

I was looking for a good focaccia bread recipe to go with my High Desert Pizza Focaccia Sandwich, but never found what i was looking for. That is until I found this recipe. I am pretty particular when it comes to recipes and the focaccia bread recipes I found in the past just didn’t sit well with me for one reason or another. I even tried one from Michael Chiarello from the Food Network and to tell you the truth it wasn’t good at all.

Oh by the way I went and bought a rosemary bush for $4.50 at Lowes. Way cheaper than the package you would buy at the grocery store and its pretty much a never ending supply. I wouldn’t omit the rosemary if I were you.

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Rosemary Focaccia Bread

Adapted and slightly modified from stephencooks.com

Ingredients

• 5 C. Flour (I use bread flour for everything but all purpose is good)
• 4 t. Active dry yeast
• 2 t. Sugar
• 2 t. Salt (I use Kosher)
• 4 T. Fresh rosemary, chopped (leave some coarsely chopped for the top)
• 1/2 C. Olive oil + more for baking
• 1 3/4 C. Warm water (about 105 – 110º)
• Plenty of coarse salt (I use the coarse setting on my Costco Sea Salt grinder)
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tsp water

Directions

1. Place the flour, yeast, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and half the rosemary (if using) in the food processor bowl. Process in a few bursts to mix. With the processor running, slowly add 1 cup of the water, then the 1/2 cup olive oil and finally the remaining 3/4 cup water. Process until the dough coalesces into a ball and starts riding around on the blade. Turn out on a floured board and knead a few strokes. Dough should be relatively stiff but still pliable. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place ’til doubled, about 1-1/2 hour.
2. Place the baking stone in the oven and preheat to 450º. Punch the dough down, divide into 2 balls and flatten each ball to a disk about 8 – 10 ” in diameter. Place on a corn-meal covered board or peel, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1/2 hour.
3. When the dough has finished the second rising, use your forefinger to poke deep dimples all over the loaf, about 1-1/2″ apart. Drizzle olive oil over the loaves filling up the dimples as you go, scatter on the remaining rosemary and the coarse salt and slide them onto the stone. Bake 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375º and bake 20 – 25 minutes more, until the bread is a nice dark golden brown. Two minutes before the bread is done, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with more coarse salt and if you want more rosemary (as you brush it with the eggwash some of the rosemary on the top will fall off).
4. Allow to cool on a rack for 5 – 10 minutes before serving.