Pumpkin Scones with White Chocolate Cinnamon Glaze...

Snuggle by the fire, heat up some coffee or cocoa and enjoy a healthy version of a sweet Fall treat!

This recipe has less sugar and fat that most scones so you can can keep off the pounds this holiday season.

Pumpkin Scone with White Chocolate Cinnamon Glaze

Place dry mixture into Kitchen Aid.

Add chilled butter chunks.

Can mash with the back of a fork instead.

Mix until it resembles a course meal.

Combine wet ingredients.

Stir wet ingredients.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry.

Mix only until the mixture comes together in a dough ball.

Pat with your hands into a circle, using as little flour as possible.

Cut into evenly sized triangles.

Bake until they puff and slightly crack on the top.

Moist and yet still fluffy.

White Chocolate Cinnamon Glaze

Drizzle glaze over each scone and let it run down the sides.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Scones with White Chocolate Cinnamon Glaze

Author: Brenna Bowers

Serving: 8-10

Ingredients:

1 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 tablespoons honey

1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

3 Tablespoons half-and-half

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

Glaze:

¼ cup white chocolate chips

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

3 Tablespoons milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees (F). Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

In a kitchen aid bowl, add both flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Place the chilled butter chucks into the dry mixture and mix until it resembles a coarse meal and the butter pieces are the size of corn kernels.

In a small bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and pour into the dry mixture. Fold, stirring as little as possible just until the dough comes together.

Place the dough onto the counter and form it into a 7 inch circle (about ¼ inch thick) by patting it with your hands (use a small amount of flour if the dough is sticking to your hands or the counter).  Cut into 8 to 10 triangles and place on prepared baking sheet, leaving a ½ inch gap for the scones to rise as they bake.  Bake for 12-14 minutes and then remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Glaze:

In a small bowl, melt the white chocolate chips (in 30 second increments to prevent burning). Stir in the vanilla, cinnamon and milk.  Drizzle with a spoon over each scone and allow to dry before serving or storing in an airtight container.

Prepare in advance: Can be made 2-3 days in advance and either stored air tight in

Cornmeal Flax Seeded Waffles...

Start off your day with a healthy breakfast by making this waffle recipe! Now I must warn you, these are not your average waffles! They are light and rich in flavor and not heavy laden with sugar. So top this wonderful waffle with fresh fruit and syrup/honey. Now get into the kitchen and whip up a batch of your own so you too can talk about how good healthy waffles can be!

Cornmeal Flax Seeded Waffles (Brenna)

Author: Brenna Bowers

Makes: 10-12 waffles

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

¾ cup yellow cornmeal (fine grind)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 Tablespoons brown sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup ground flax seed

3 large eggs

2 cups buttermilk (Tip 1)

4 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (flour through flax seed) and stir to combine.

In another bowl whisk the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add the flour mixture all at once and whisk just until combined (Tip 2).

Preheat the waffle iron and spray it with oil (or grease it with oil on a paper towel). Place about 1/3 cup of batter into the hot waffle iron (depending on the size of your waffle iron) and cook until the waffle is slightly golden brown (2-3 minutes).

Serve with fresh berries and honey/syrup.

Tip 1: If you have run out of buttermilk, don’t fret because I have a substitute for that! For every one cup of milk add 1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice. Let the mixture sit for about 5-10 minutes (it will begin to curdle….foam), stir and use as directed above.

Tip 2: Never overbeat waffle (or pancake) batter! This will make your product come out flat and chewy (opposite of what we want!). So just stir the batter a little bit and leave the small lumps….they will be just fine in there and you will never know once you place the batter into the hot griddle.

Put S'MORE Pumpkin Pancakes on the campfire!

Friends and I can always find ways to spice up the typical campfire breakfast...

So next time you plan on taking a camping trip don't skimp on breakfast.

Get the campfire a'blazing, mallow the sticks, and prepare the pumpkin pancake batter!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes topped with a roasted Marshmallow

Place the cast iron skillet over the red embers and cook slowly!

It's nothing fancy....this is camping!

This is the best part of camping!

S'MORE Pumpkin Pancakes

Author: Brenna Bowers

Makes: 4-5 servings

Ingredients:

1 box Trader Joe's Pumpkin Pancake Mix (Pumpkin Pancake Mix)

2 Tablespoons softened butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg

½ cup chocolate chips

1 bag large marshmallows (because you will want to eat all the extras!)

syrup

Special tools needed on the camp fire:

Cast iron skillet

Oil spray

Spatula

Mixing bowl

Mixing spoon

Hot pad (to remove skillet from the flame)

Don’t forget plates and forks too!

Directions:

Light your camp fire. Allow the coals to cool down to just red hot embers.

Place the cast iron skillet on top of the grill or red embers.

In your mixing bowl, combine the pancake mix, butter, milk and egg. Stir until just combined (a few lumps are ok!)

Spray the skillet with oil spray.

Spoon the pancake mixture on the hot griddle and sprinkle with chocolate chips.

In the mean time, have you friends/ kids roast the marshmallows on a stick until golden brown.

Once the pancakes are cooked through on either side serve up with a toasted marshmallow and syrup!

Brenna Bowers Scrumptious Scones Cooking Class (April 2011)

Through trial and error, I have finally created a recipe that I find to be "the perfect scone". It is soft, moist and just the right balance of sweetness with the berries. It has taken quite a few tries to prefect this recipe but now I am happy to share it with YOU! So follow the instructions closely, bake with time and love and you are bound to be satisfied!

I taught this Sconce Class on a warm sunny day in San Diego to eight women! We had fun in the kitchen as the class was hands on so that confidence in the kitchen would be built. Cooking is an experience and such a joy once you give it a try!

Moist and delicate Blueberry Scones made by the class!!!!!!

Prepared for class

Measuring out ingredients

Getting your hands into the mixture is part of the fun of this class!

Shaping the dough to add the blueberries

Slicing the scones to form their desired shape and size

Notice how the blueberries are dispersed among the entire scone.

The final product with Vanilla Bean Glaze

Make these and enjoy with friends and family!

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What do you get when you cross Peanut Butter with Breakfast?

Today as I was browsing my favorite website, Tastespotting - a site that is every foodies dream! It is filled with will photographed pictures of food and links you straight to the blog for the recipe...what more could you want?

While scrolling through the pictures, I ran across a picture of a new phenomenon....Peanut Butter Pancakes! I have not had then chance to test this recipe myself but I wanted to share it with my peanut butter loving friends.

Peanut Butter Pancakes

from the blog of This Homemade Life: http://thishomemadelife.com/?p=335

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup flour

2 Tablespoon granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup milk, dairy or non-dairy

1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

In small bowl or measuring cup, stir together the milk and peanut butter til smooth.  Add to the dry ingredients and beat just until a batter is formed.  Do not over beat.

Lightly oil a nonstick saute pan or griddle over medium heat.  Spoon the batter by 1/4 cupfuls inot the pan.  Cook until golden brown on both sides.  Serve immediately.

*I did not oil or use butter for my griddle, it’s non-stick and worked fine without it.*

For those of you who test this recipe, be sure to let me know how they turn out and where adjustments can be made!

SunnySideUp Breakfast Egg Burrito....

A fabulous breakfast burrito that is quick, easy, delicious and best of all a balanced meal to start off your great day!

SunnySideUp Breakfast Egg Burrito

Author:  Brenna Bowers

Makes: 1 Burrito

Ingredients:

1 tsp butter

2 Tbs white onion, chopped or sliced

1 small clove garlic, minced

1 small roasted red bell pepper in oil, drained and chopped (found at Trader Joes in a jar) ½ cup ¼ cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1 whole wheat tortilla

2 Tbs cheddar cheese, shredded

¼ of an avocado, sliced

1 egg

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Turn on the heat to medium-low and add the butter into a small sauté pan. Once the butter is melted, sauté the onion for about 2-4 minutes, stirring once in a while and continuing to cook until translucent. Add in the garlic, roasted red bell pepper and spinach; sautéing until the spinach wilts down (about 1-2 minutes) and stir every so often.

Sprinkle the cheese onto the tortilla and place it in the microwave for about 40 seconds- just long enough to melt the cheese. Slice the avocado and place it onto the tortilla with the melted cheese. Place the sautéed veggies on the tortilla as well.

In the sauté pan (just used for the veggies), carefully crack the egg into the pan (not breaking the yolk) and sprinkle with salt and pepper to season. Allow the egg to cook low and slow until the egg white turns opaque (when the egg white turns from transparent to solid white and the yolk is still runny, it is ready). Place the SunnySideUp egg on the tortilla and wrap it up like a burrito. 

Eat up and start your day right!

Fall Inspired Muffins...

The smell of sweet spices, pumpkin, and apples wafted through my apartment as the perfect day began with baking muffins for breakfast. 

Streusel and Spice Pumpkin Apple Muffins

A moist muffin with a strong flavor of pumpkin and hint of apple…delicious!

Author: Brenna Bowers

Makes: 18 muffins

 

Muffin Batter and Streusel Topping 

 

Batter is ready, time to fill the muffin cups...

   

 Filled two-thirds full, Generously add the crumble topping

 Before baking...

 After baking!

 The Finished product!!!

 

Streusel and Spice Pumpkin Apple Muffins

A moist muffin with a strong flavor of pumpkin and hint of apple…delicious!

Author: Brenna Bowers

Makes: 18 muffins

Ingredients:

Muffins:
1 1/2  cups all-purpose flour or whole wheat
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/4 cups of canned pumpkin
½ cup vegetable oil (3 oz)
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup green apple, peeled, cored, and chopped into small pieces (1 large apple)

Streusel Topping:
4 Tbs flour
8 Tbs brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces

Directions:

For the muffins, in a large bowl, combine and sift together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon.  In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined (Tip 1). Fold in apple pieces (Tip 2).

For the streusel topping, in a small bowl combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter pieces in with a fork or your fingertips until the mixture resembles a coarse meal.

Fill a muffin tin with muffin cups and then spoon in the batter (about two-thirds full) and sprinkle generously with the streusel topping mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes * or until a toothpick insert comes out clean.

Tip 1: You never want to over-mix muffin batter. If you stir too much, the muffins will not rise properly coming out rather flat and unrisen. Stir just enough to combine the dry and wet ingredients and incorporate all the ingredients and then place the batter into the muffin cups.

Tip 2: “Folding” ingredients means you are using a spatula to just turn the batter so the apples get dispersed in the batter but you are not using a stirring motion. The purpose is to keep the structure of the batter without over beating.

*There is nothing worse than dry muffins so if you are not sure if they are done, if anything pull them from the oven. I say Gooey is always better than dry and crumbly.