Blueberry Cobbler Bars

I've probably mentioned before that I'm a 'see what I can make with what I have on hand' kind of baker. I've had some culinary home runs, and few strikes. There was also the day that I couldn't convince myself, the Hubs, or my toddler girls that the chewy, flavorless mass of bananas, oats, and raisins was a cookie. It really was awful. 

Today, I found ingredients to make what I'm calling Blueberry Cobbler Bars. Not so sweet that I'd consider it a desert (though give me another try or two and I'll remedy that), but sweet enough that you can consider it a 'treat' for breakfast. And really, served warm, they didn't really hold up as bars very well. 

There's two separate recipe lists, but they're almost the same ingredients. 

For the base:

4c quick oats

2/3 c brown sugar

2 sticks melted butter

3 tbsp cinnamon

Mix and press into a sprayed 9x13 pan. I prefer glass always. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. 

While this is baking, mix your topping. 

Filling:

21 oz can pie filling, any flavor will work. I used blueberry. 

Spread the pie filling onto the baked base. 

Topping:

2c quick oats

1/3 c brown sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon 

2 c milk

1/2 c flour

Let soak for 10 minutes or so, mostly to let some of the milk absorb into the oats to soften them. 

Pour the topping mix onto the blueberry layer. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour. Your main method to test if it's done will be the jiggle test. :)  Shake your pan and if the center jiggles, keep baking!

Serve warm or cold, maybe even with some heavy cream or whipped cream for a sweet treat! 

       (yes, I'm aware it says Mama Doe Days, that was my previous blog name, but I just didn't love the title as much :)

Glazed Cinnamon Croissants

After 2 nights of almost no sleep (thank you G3), I was hoping to get away with something nice and easy for breakfast for my two older fawns. Cereal? No. Oatmeal? No. Toast? No. 

Now, don't start thinking that I'm some sort of cook-to-order mom who takes requests every morning. Most mornings, it's 'this is what you are eating or you can wait till lunch'. 

No, I'm not a mean mom either. Since I was very young, I have not been a breakfast eater, something I seem to have passed on to my kids. So, if they don't want to eat a particular something, it's usually not because they don't like what I want them to eat, it's because they just aren't in the mood for breakfast. 

This morning however, even in my 'I have a 4 month old' zombie stupor, I decided to get creative and bake something. G1 had asked for cinnamon rolls, but I didn't have any on hand. So, I grabbed a tube of croissant rolls I had in the fridge. 

I can bake most things from scratch. Yeast Breads are not one that I've felt brave enough to try yet, so pre-made it is!

Spray your pan with butter flavored spray... A good dose, almost pooling on the pan (I'll explain why in a second). 

Unroll the croissant rolls onto the pan so the bottom has a good coating of the butter flavored spray. 

Spray the butter flavored spray onto the unrolled croissants. *You can use actual melted butter for this, but the spray is easier, faster, and has no calories.  

Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the unrolled croissants. How much to use is your call. I use quite a bit! I'm kind of addicted to cinnamon!

Roll up the croissants as usual, starting at the fat side. 

Bake for 12 minutes at 375 (or however long the baking instructions say for whichever brand you are using). 

When they come out, they'll have a dark crisp crust to them... Similar to the ones you'd buy at a bakery. This is what that pooled butter spray does to them. Instead of coming out white and super soft (almost doughy in my opinion) like they usually do, you have a much more 'ritzy' look to your rolls. It's also flakier!

Mix together powdered sugar and milk to make a glaze for them. Start with 1/2 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tbsp of milk. Mix it up. You may have to add more sugar or milk, depending on what consistency you like. In the end, for mine, when I lifted the fork out of the glaze, it coated the fork nicely, but still slowly dripped off. 

The thickness of your glaze is, again, personal preference, but, you don't want it to be too thin or the milk will absorb into your rolls, making them soggy. 

Use your fork to drizzle the glaze over your rolls. Go ahead and give them a good coating!! 

Enjoy them! G1 did...  G2 still hasn't decided if she's going to eat breakfast this morning. 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I love sweet breads. Cinnamon, Amish Friendship, Zucchini, and even Banana Bread. That last one makes me laugh a little at myself, because I don't care for bananas much, or banana flavored anything at all. 

But, I do try to make sweet breads as often as I can. They aren't too hard, you can easily make several loaves at once, and, wrapped in a little plastic wrap and foil, they freeze great! 

So, in an effort for even more variety, I decided to sweeten the deal even more! 

I grabbed this tried and true recipe http://www.simplyrecipes.com/m/recipes/banana_bread/  and added my own twist. 

You will need:

3 or 4 ripe bananas (I always use 4)

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy

1/4 cup of cocoa powder

Mix all the ingredients together. Sometimes I really blend up the bananas. Sometimes I hand mash them, then hand mix the rest to leave big banana chunks. I find that the bread with the banana chunks tends to be a dryer bread, but it has nice little banana surprises (for the banana lovers) throughout. 

Spray a bread loaf pan with non-stick spray. I prefer the butter flavored spray for some added flavor to the crust. 

Pour your batter in till the loaf is 1/2-3/4 full. This batter rises quite a bit as it bakes, so make sure you have enough space above the pan. Too close to the top of the oven or another baking rack and you're in trouble! 

Bake for an hour at 350 degrees. 

When the top of the loaf has deep cracks in it, it should be done, but feel free to double check by sticking a knife in the center. 

I tip it out of the baking pan and put it on a cooling rack or cutting board right away to prevent over baking.... Plus, then I can taste test it! 

I love this with cream cheese, peanut butter or butter spread on it, but it's great plain too!!! 

Fry Bread for Breakfast

Last night, I posted about making some Fry Bread to have with our dinner. You can find our method to make it here:

Fry Bread

So, surprisingly, we had a few of them left over. I'd put them in a ziplock tub, but really wasn't sure how they would keep. I'd guessed they'd get soggy some how, but they were pretty much just as perfect as they were last night!

I needed something quick for breakfast since G3 would soon be awake and hungry herself! I grabbed a piece of fry bread and spread a good dose of cream cheese on it. Wow! It was delicious! 

Not super sweet, so in the future, either a flavored cream cheese or some jam on top of the cream cheese might be an option!