Cranberry French Toast Casserole

This is a Thanksgiving breakfast tradition at our house--my husband requests it each year as the half-time menu for his beloved Turkey Bowl. It's nice because most of us don't get enough carbs or cream in the main Thanksgiving meal!

*14 slices white bread

*1 8-oz package cream cheese

*1 c. dried cranberries

*1 TBSP. sugar, optional if using sweetened cranberries

*8 eggs

*2 c. milk

*1/2 c. maple syrup

*1/2 tsp. cinnamon, divided

Cut bread into 3/4-inch cubes. Arrange half of the bread in a single layer in a greased 13x9x2-inch baking dish. Cut the cream cheese into 1/2-inch cubes. Arrange on top of bread in dish . Combine cranberries and sugar and then sprinkle over bread and cream cheese.

Top with the remaining bread cubes.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, maple syrup and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon, and pour evenly over bread mixture in pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Cover with foil and chill overnight. In the morning remove from fridge and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Bake, covered, in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 20 minutes. Let stand about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with maple syrup.

Cranberry Orange Mini Muffins

This is a yummy muffin for breakfast or brunch. They were easy to make and my kids thought they were eating cupcakes because of the sweetness, so I didn't tell them I got them out of the healthy living section of our newspaper.

*1 c. dried sweetened cranberries

*1/2 c. boiling water

*1 c. whole-wheat flour

*1 c. all-purpose flour

*1 tsp. baking powder

*1/2 tsp. baking soda

*1/4 tsp. salt

*2 egg whites

*1/4 c. canola oil

*2/3 c. orange juice

*grated zest of 1 orange

*3/4 c. sugar

Place cranberries in a small deep bowl; pour boiling water over cranberries and stir to coat. Set aside and allow cranberries to plump, about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line mini muffin pans with paper baking cups or spray cups with nonstick cooking spray. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside. Combine egg whites, oil, juice and zest in a medium mixing bowl. Add sugar and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients and mix just until flour is moistened. Drain cranberries (if you're making this for little kids, I suggest chopping the cranberries a little bit smaller) and add, stirring just until blended. Do not overmix. Fill miniature muffin cups about 3/4 full of batter. Bake 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow to stand 10 minutes then remove to a rack. Serve warm. Makes 36 muffins.

Pumpkin Spice Belgian Waffles

A couple weeks ago I got to run away to spend an extended weekend in Manhattan. One of the best meals I ate was brunch at Sarabeth's where I thoroughly enjoyed my pumpkin Belgian waffle (and some 3-pepper home fried potatoes and lemon ricotta pancakes I mooched off the plates of my friends). But I digress, the waffle was amazing and I've been wanting to make them since I got home. Since we were able to enjoy a lazy (not to mention cold, windy and rainy) Sunday morning with no place to go, I made these for the family. My man gave them 5 stars and asked that these be a regular on on weekend breakfast rotation. The flavor was very similar to Sarabeth's, but the texture of these were much lighter and fluffier (hubby said texture was a cross between a good pancake and French toast).

*1 1/2 c. flour
*3 tsp. baking powder
*1 tsp. cinnamon
*1 tsp. nutmeg
*1 tsp. ginger
*pinch of salt
*2 eggs
*1/4 c. brown sugar
*1 c. pumpkin puree
*1 2/3 c. milk
*4 TBSP. butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk and butter. Fold liquids into dry ingredients to combine. Pour into waffle maker and bake as per waffle maker instructions. We did ours in our Belgian waffle maker, but they took a bit longer to cook than the light indicated. I think these would work very well in a regular waffle maker as well. Sarabeth served mine with sour cream (don't worry, I substituted whipped cream), raisins and roasted pumpkin seeds, and fresh honey. I think you could dress these up any way you'd like.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Pound Cake

I got this recipe from my MIL. It was a yummy cake and I think it could make for an excellent addition to a brunch menu...or dessert.
*1, 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
*1/2 c. vegetable oil
*1 18 oz. yellow butter cake mix
*1 (3 oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
*4 eggs, beaten
*2 tsp. vanilla extract
*2 c. fresh blueberries
*powdered sugar, optional

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly spray Bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with flour.
Combine cream cheese and oil in a medium bowl, beat with a mixer at high speed until smooth and creamy. Add cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Fold in blueberries and spoon into Bundt pan.
Bake 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick tests clean. Cool in cake pan on wire rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar to serve. Serves 16.

Strawberry Rosemary Scones

I've got loads of rosemary growing in the backyard, so I've been keeping an eye for recipes to use it. I flagged this one and decided to make it when my neighbor brought over some fresh strawberry-apricot jam.

*2 c. flour
*1/2 c. sugar
*2 tsp. baking powder
*1 TBSP. fresh chopped rosemary
*1/4 tsp. fine sea salt
*6 TBSP. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
*1 c. heavy cream
*1/3 c. strawberry jam

Move oven rack to center and preheat oven to 375. In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, rosemary, salt and butter until it resembles coarse meal.
Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir cream in until dough forms. On a floured surface, roll out to 1/2 inch thick. Use a 3" cookie cutter (heart) to cut out. (I used heart and flower cutters and thought the flowers were very cute. I also have no idea how to measure a cookie cutter because the flower one I thought was 3" and it would have only made about 10, as it was I made 7 flowers and 8 about 2" hearts). Re-roll and re-cut any scraps. Place scones on parchment lined baking sheet and use a finger or spoon to make indentations in the center of each. Spoon 1/2 tsp. jam into the indentation. Bake 18-20 minutes. Cool on baking rack for 30 minutes. Drizzle with glaze and let set 30 minutes.Glaze: 1/4 c. lemon juice, 2 c. powdered sugar, 1-2 TBSP. water. Whisk to combine.