Maple Bacon Pan-Cake

So many great things about this dish…. It’s easy, it’s fast, it’s cheap, it’s something different and it’s good! It’s got the sweet/salty thing going on and what’s better than that?

This hot and tasty breakfast dish came to me from allrecipes.com about two months ago. I clipped it together with all the other recipes I’ve printed off myriad recipe sites that I one day mean to make – but this one called to me way more than any of the others. I mean, the thought of bacon and maple syrup together was enough to make me print it in the first place, but those things nestled in a hot, oven baked pan-cake – with cheese no less…finally this past Sunday I could ignore it no longer!

I must admit – I changed things up just a titch…I had ‘Hormel Real Bacon Pieces’ on hand so I used those instead of cooking up actual, raw bacon – which I didn’t have. I don’t think it made one bit of difference with the exception of it being faster and easier than if I’d had fried up the bacon myself. Also, the original recipe calls for cheese in it as well as on it – but I didn’t want my daughter to freak out about the se cheese before she had a chance to like this dish, so I left it off the top. She never knew it was inside and even though I figured I’d tell her afterward, I thought, “why?” Because I want her to continue to like it! Matter of fact, she asked me to use sausage next time in place of the bacon……done ;-)

Mapley-Bacony Pan-Cake

Ingredients:
8 oz/ 1 cup bacon (REAL bacon ‘bits’ NOT ‘Bacos! Or actual cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces) - divided
1 cup baking mix – like Bisquik
¾ cup cheddar cheese – shredded
½ cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
2 T white sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
Additional maple syrup for drizzling

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees and spray a 9” pie plate with non-stick cooking spray. Cook and crumble/chop bacon if necessary. Mix all ingredients – save for 1/3 of the bacon – in nixing bowl until combined. Pour into pie dish and bake on middle rack of oven for 12 minutes. Sprinkle top of pancake with remaining 1/3 cup bacon and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes or until puffed and very light golden brown. Meanwhile, warm the additional maple syrup. Serve ‘pan-cake’ hot drizzled with hot maple syrup.

Simple-Ly Perfect Sunday Mornings

(*Note* - the font is all screwy today! Can't get it all the same! I know it probably doesn;t mater to you...but this is me we're talking about! ;-) - okay...on with the show...

Don’t you love Sunday mornings? With the exception of peeping through heavy lids and realizing, “Ahhhhh….it’s Saturday”, Sunday mornings are very hard to beat. From the moment I open my eyes, I know that a quiet house, a hot pot of coffee and the Sunday paper will soon be all mine as I curl up in my favorite corner or the couch donning fuzzy slipper socks with a cozy blanket draped across my lap.

The other nice thing about Sunday mornings….breakfast. Saturday’s don’t get much breakfast, if any ‘cuz there’s stuff to do – gotta get ready for the day and head out on those errands or dig into the house cleaning. But Sundays cal for something extra….something hot and savory, maybe a special sweet from time to time - even it’s as simple as a couple of egg whites and toast, there IS breakfast that MUST be had.

This past Sunday I cut up and cooked 6 slices of thick-sliced bacon and tossed it’s chewy, smoky goodness into fluffy, barely creamy, scrambled eggs. I added a little sliced green onion for a bit freshness and an extra crisp, English muffin toasted just-so. Simple, hot, full of flavor and delicious.

A perfect, cozy breakfast to crown my perfect, cozy, Sunday morning,

Thoroughly enjoy each and every one of your mornings :-)

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For......Scones!

OMG….this is my new favorite scone – orange-cranberry. The flavor of these scones is so incredible….delightfully orange, but not over-powering and the slight tartness/chewiness of the cranberries….OMG…just let me say, Yum!

These orange-cranberry scones are SO DAMN GOOD and truly look and taste like they came from a first class bakery. I originally got the recipe from a poster on the Tasty Kitchen blog site (Godchild of The Pioneer Woman blog). The only change I made was to totally cover the top of the scones with large-granule decorating sugar. I mean encrusted them! I adore a crunchy, sweet top on a scone plus...it’s makes them so pretty! They actually sparkle!

I made these scones for the first time for Father’s Day this past June. But because the hubs isn’t 100% a ‘sweets’ kinda guy, I also made these….

Bacon-Cheddar-Onion Scones!

These were also super good…and especially nice with coffee if you happen to drink your java kinda sweet (I use ½ packet of Spenda and a little fat free hazelnut creamer). I’ve come to find that I’m not a huge fan of the ‘sweet food/sweet coffee combo’. I once had a pumpkin scone with a pumpkin latte from Starbucks and afterward I thought I’d die – like, for reals! Anyway….

This recipe originally came from Ina Garten – her Cheddar Dill scones. But I changed it up by omitting the dill (I like dill, but wasn’t nuts about it being in a breakfast scone) and adding cooked, chopped bacon and sliced green onions. These were savory and bacony – really good. But where I could eat one after another of the orange-cranberry (not that I did!)…these scones…no way. They’re more like a little meal in one flaky – yet slightly heavy and very filling – triangle. Eating two of these would be like eating two omelets – and that’d be crazy! ;-)

Both of these scones are super easy to make. And they’re so warm and homey…they’re perfect for a cozy, fall, weekend morning. Store leftovers in an airtight container or freezer-type bag so you can eat them throughout the week or take one to work each day for your morning break! They are Deeeeee-licious!

Orange-Cranberry Scones

Ingredients:

2 cups All-purpose Flour

7 teaspoons Granulated Sugar

2 teaspoons Baking Powder

½ teaspoons Salt

⅓ teaspoons Baking Soda

1 Tablespoon Grated Orange Peel

⅓ cups Cold Butter

1 cup Dried Cranberries

¼ cups Orange Juice

¼ cup Half-and-Half Cream

1 whole Egg

1 Tablespoon Milk

¼ cup large-granule, decorator sugar

Glaze:

½ cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Orange Juice

Directions:

Sift together flour, 7 teaspoons sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Stir in grated orange peel. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs; set aside. In a small bowl, combine dried cranberries, orange juice, cream and egg. Add to the flour mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. On a floured surface, gently knead 6-8 times. Pat dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut into 10 wedges. Separate wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Brush with milk; sprinkle with decorator sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Glaze:

Combine powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon orange juice. Brush glaze over scones and give one more dousing of decorator sugar if desired.

Bacon-Cheddar-Onion Scones

Ingredients:

4 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, divided

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

3/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced

4 extra-large eggs, beaten lightly

1 cup cold heavy cream

1/2 pound extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

6 - 8 slices cooked, chopped bacon

1/3 cup sliced green onions

1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water or milk, for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Combine 4 cups of flour, the baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and, using a pastry blender or two forks, incorporate butter into flour mixture until butter is the size of small peas. Mix the eggs and heavy cream and quickly add them to the flour-and-butter mixture. Combine until just blended. Toss together the cheddar, bacon and onions, and 1 tablespoon of flour and add them to the dough.. Mix until they are just incorporated. Do not over mix.
Dump the dough onto a well-floured surface and knead it for 1 minute, until the cheese, bacon and onion are well distributed. Roll or pat the dough into a 3/4-inch thick disc. Cut into 6 or 8 ‘pie-wedge’ triangles. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 20 to 25 minutes, until the outside is crusty and the inside is fully baked.