Breakfast

Huevos Rancheros Bake // Recipe

8 · Feb 27, 2014 · 11 Comments

// huevos rancheros bake recipe //

I’ve become obsessed with eggs lately. I love how versatile they are, I love how they taste when dressed up, I especially love how they are easy on the grocery budget. I have started making egg dishes a couple of nights a week because they are EASY, inexpensive and the family is still getting a great source of protein without the more expensive meat or poultry options.

As a kid my Mom would make Huevos Rancheros every once in a while and I LOVED it. The flavor combinations are fantastic. A typical huevos rancheros recipe has some type of tomato based salsa, fried or poached eggs, tortilla and sometimes cheese on top. This version is a bit different. It still has eggs and salsa, but I took some liberties when it comes to the tortilla and the cooking method.

The other night we hosted a taco dinner with some family and we ended up with some left over spanish rice. I tend to over do it at times and we had rice for an army. I had just made a couple of packages of Old El Paso Mexican Rice and added a can of Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes to the pot when I cooked up the rice. You’ll have to adjust the liquid a bit, but it sure makes a lovely mexican rice!

Anyway… I had a bit of left over rice and thought… I could use this as a base for a lovely baked egg dish! That’s how the recipe development started. I wanted something easy to throw together using some simple taco night left overs. You know those side dishes that we never know what to do with after taco night! Here is how I layered my egg dish…

The first layer is the leftover mexican rice, the second layer is just a can of rinsed black beans or refried beans, or any bean dish that you may have left over. Then a layer of your favorite salsa, we like Pace Chunky Salsa, then top with an egg and some salt & pepper. Super simple and a GREAT way to use up those leftovers!

Before I placed it in the oven I topped it off with some shredded cheddar cheese and some green onion a perfect way to add a little kick to the dish. After they finished baking, we let them cool for a few minutes and then dove right in. My husband and I had to do a double take. The addition of the egg to these simple ingredients made for a lovely meal, it tasted amazing!! I was thrilled to have a dish that came together so fast, not to mention a dish that the whole family loves and that uses up those pesky taco night left overs… It’s PERFECT! Here’s the full recipe with all the specifics…

Huevos Rancheros Bake

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

25 mins

An easy weeknight dinner that capitalizes on those pesky taco night leftovers.

Author: Heather Thoming

Recipe type: Easy Weeknight Dinner

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: 4

Ingredients

baking spray
2 cups mexican rice
1 cup black beans
1 cup salsa
4 eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
¼ cup sliced green onion
salt & pepper

Instructions

For this recipe you can use a number of different baking dishes. You can bake the egg dish in a small baking dish, small oven safe ramekins or even a large muffin tin. Whatever you have on hand really. I've used each method and they all work great.
Preheat the oven to 350˚ and prepare your baking dish or dishes with non-stick baking spray.
Start with the rice layer on the bottom. Smooth it out and add the beans on top of the rice. Then add a nice layer of salsa. At this point, place the dish or dishes in to the oven for 10 minutes to bring up to temperature before added your eggs.
Remove from oven and add your eggs, salt, pepper, cheese and green onion and place back in the oven for an additional 6-10 minutes or until the whites of the eggs have set. You may need to turn in the oven once to promote even baking.
Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes, but serve not to long after it comes out of the oven.

Cinnamon Roll Donuts

1 · Feb 17, 2014 · 6 Comments

Cinnamon Roll Donuts // Let’s start this post with a little back story. You can’t just jump straight into a post titled cinnamon roll donuts without knowing a little about where this crazy idea came from… A few weeks ago we were talking to our four year old asking him what type of cake he would like for his birthday. His answer surprised both me and his dad when he replied, “I think I’ll go with a dozen donuts instead of cake this year.”

Um… donuts?! That sent me searching the web for the best donuts in Utah and I came up with a few awesome suggestions. We started our quest for the perfect donut and made it through several great bakeries before my little guy decided on a winner. On the drive home I started to think of how a donut is made… Most are risen dough that are deep fried and coated with glaze. A lot like a cinnamon roll… And THAT is when I decided to test out this idea. Deep. Fried. Cinnamon rolls.

Cinnamon Roll Donut Recipe

1 batch of your favorite cinnamon roll recipe, risen
oil for frying
your favorite frosting

Directions

Heat your oil over medium heat.

Place one or two rolls into your hot oil. Cook for one minute, or until browned, flip and cook an additional minute.

Drain on a wire rack. Toss in cinnamon and sugar or dip in your favorite glaze.

Is that delicious looking, or what? If you wanted to get super crazy you could try this recipe with bacon pieces added to your sweet roll… or maybe even blueberries. They aren’t a typical donut flavor, definitely not good for you, but oh so worth making once… or twice.

I can’t stress enough how careful you should be when working with hot oil. Burns and fires are not something I want to see happen with anyone!

Like this recipe? Check out these others from One Sweet Appetite:

Orange Sweet Rolls // Cinnamon Rolls // Chunky Monkey Pancakes

Thumbprint Scone Recipe

2 · Feb 12, 2014 · Leave a Comment

// Jam Thumbprint Scone Recipe from WhipperBerry //

So… funny story. I apparently live under a rock. Not to long ago, I was thinking about fun ways to incorporate my favorite Smucker's Orchard's Finest® jams into some tasty baked goods, and a light bulb hit me… What about thumbprint scones, rather than thumbprint cookies. Many people love to add jam to their scones, why not bake it right in? I thought I was brilliant, no one else has even come up with this out of this world idea before. Like I said, apparently I live under a rock, because yes… Many other people have made thumbprint scones, including Starbucks. Wah, wah…

Ok, so maybe I'm a little late to the party, but don't you worry… This may be the BEST jam thumbprint scone recipe you will EVER find!! I took some of them over to my neighbor and she called me the next day… "Heather, I have to confess I ate 3 out of the 4 of those scones… they were aaaaamazing!"

Seriously, melt in your mouth good!

The inspiration for this recipe comes from Ree, The Pioneer Woman's new "The Pioneer Woman Cook's, A Year of Holidays" cookbook. She has a basic Perfect Cream Scone recipe that is a great scone base recipe. I made a few modifications to it to make it into the perfect jam thumbprint scone recipe and the rest is history! Here's how you make them

Thumbprint Scone Recipe

3 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon for sprinkling on top of the cut scones before baking

4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup berry compound butter (or two sticks of regular butter)

1 cup heavy cream

1 egg

1 jar of Smucker's Orchard's Finest ® Jam

Baking Instructions

Preheat oven to 350˚

About an hour before you want to begin the baking process place your butter in the freezer. For this recipe, I love to use my berry compound butter which I keep in the freezer. It adds even more berry flavor to the scones, but it's not a deal breaker. If you want to use regular butter it won't be a big deal. Just make sure the butter is frozen before you begin the mixing process.

In a large bowl combine your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Instead of sifting the dry ingredients together, I use a wire whisk and whisk the ingredients to fully combine them and break-up any clumps.

Remove the butter from the freezer and using a cheese grater, I grate the frozen butter into the flour mixture using the largest grater option. This is a fabulous trick that I learned and it works like a CHARM! No more needing to cut the butter into the dry mixture and the butter is the perfect size, texture and temperature.

Use a wooden spoon and stir the butter into the dry ingredients. Measure out your cream and add the egg. Whisk the egg into the cream and slowly combine into the dry ingredients and butter mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Combine just until the mixture comes together and be careful to not over mix.

Pour mixture out onto a lightly floured surface and press together into a flat round disk. Roll out until the dough is roughly 1 1/2 inches thick. Using a round biscuit cutter, cut the scones out and place on a parchment lined baking pan. Sprinkle the unbaked scones with a little bit of sugar and place in a 350˚ oven for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and using the back of a spoon (or your thumb, it's a little hot for me, so I opt to use the spoon. But, for the purists out there, you are more than welcome to use your thumb.) press down the center of the scone. Add roughly a tablespoon of your favorite Orchard's Finest® Jam. For this round, I used their cherry, raspberry and triple berry jams…

Place the scones back in the oven for an additional 3-5 minutes or until the scones are LIGHTLY browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes. These are best slightly cooled right out of the oven or within a few hours of baking. They have a nice crisp exterior and a creamy, light fluffy texture in the middle that just melts in your mouth. You can store in an air tight container for a few days. However, you will loose the light crisp of the outer texture. But, they are fabulous either way!

Yields 15-18 scones

When I was out at the Smucker's headquarters a few months I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Richard Smucker and I asked him, out of all of his jams and jellies which one is his favorite. He said at that moment his favorite was the Orchard's Finest® Red Tart Cherry and I would have to say that one is my favorite as well. I love how it has whole cherries in there and it's PERFECT for the thumbprint scones…

Look at those cherries!!

Give this recipe a go and let me know what you think. What will be your flavor of choice?

Disclaimer // This is NOT a sponsored post… I just love Smucker's!

Lemon Blueberry Donuts with a Twist

13 · Jan 20, 2014 · 3 Comments

// Lemon Blueberry Donuts //

Have you been intimidated with the thought of making fresh donuts at home?

Yep… me too. It just seemed like one of those goodies that was best left to Mr. Dunkin or the all mighty Crispy Kreme. Not any more…

A few years ago our family went on a winter hayride with a bunch of friends with the promise of fresh donuts and hot chocolate to follow the little trip. When we returned home after the cold outing I was shocked to find that they indeed were making fresh donuts, but nothing like anything I had ever seen before. They were taking canned Pillsbury® biscuit dough and frying it up to make donuts. Eureka! They were simple and fabulous!

I was reminded of that night the other day when I was at the market and saw some blueberry Pillsbury biscuits in the dairy case. I thought, wouldn't a blueberry biscuit "donut" with a lemon glaze be just divine? I immediately had to run home and give it a try. The results were astounding. My family loved them! The girls thought they were the best of both worlds. They were like a donut and muffin all in one. I loved how easy they were to make and clean-up after… plus I was elevated to rock star status for the morning. Yea, that counts!

Here is how you can become a rock star in your house too…

Lemon Blueberry Donut Recipe

1 16.3 oz can of Pillsbury® Grands® Homestyle refrigerated Blueberry Biscuits

4 cups canola oil (more or less depending on the size of your pot. You need to have the oil at least 2 inches deep.)

1 lemon

2 cups powdered sugar

a pinch of salt

Directions

Place large heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat. Pour in oil until it is about 2 inches deep. Let oil heat up until it is about 350˚. While waiting for the oil to heat, open biscuit can and separate all eight biscuits. Using a large pastry tip cut a hole into your "donut."

Keep the "holes" and fry them up along with the donut rings. Carefully place the donuts one or two at a time into the hot oil. Do not let them sit on the bottom of the pot, they will burn easily that way. Use a slotted spoon to kind of float them in the oil for a few seconds to seal the dough before you let it float on it's own.

Keep and eye on your oil temperature and don't let it get too hot. Let the donuts cook for a minute or two on the first side and then carefully flip the donuts when they are a nice golden brown…

Once the donuts are golden brown on the other side after a minute or two, remove from the pot and place on a paper towel to collect extra oil. Let cool.

In a small bowl add the juice of one lemon and the powdered sugar and salt. Mix together well until it has the consistency of thin glue. Place a donut in the glaze and using a straw, chop stick or butter knife, grab the donut out of the glaze by grabbing it through the hole, and place on a cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining donuts and donut holes.

Let the glaze dry for a few minutes, then… ENJOY!!

For sure… The easiest donut you will EVER make!!

Breakfast

Cinnamon Roll Donut Recipe

Directions

Thumbprint Scone Recipe

Baking Instructions

Lemon Blueberry Donut Recipe

Directions

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