These breakfast muffins may not look very appealing, but they’re tasty, easy to make, and great on-the-go snacks or breakfast. Also, if you use coconut flour instead of all purpose flour, you’ll be adding fiber and eating gluten free. I have my old housemate to thank for introducing me to cooking with coconut flour and for sharing this recipe.
I’ve tried numerous recipes in search of my favourite banana bread. Recently, I found one that was exactly what I was looking for. This is Ed’s favourite recipe too. In the past, he has always dutifully taste-tested my banana bread with the disclaimer that he isn’t a big banana bread fan. But when I gave him the rest of this loaf to take home to his family, he ate it all before he arrived. 
This banana bread is moist, soft, and it holds together without being heavy or dense. It has great banana flavour and a handful of chocolate chips makes a wonderful variation. My preference is to use only enough chocolate to add a subtle sweetness and depth so as not to overpower the bananas. I know I’ve accomplished this when people have to ask if there’s chocolate in it.
If you prefer a softer, fluffier banana bread, this recipe by my little mochi is excellent too. I use it whenever I have sour cream or yogurt that needs to get used up.
This gluten free (easily made dairy free) waffles recipe blew us away. I never thought I’d say this, but I prefer it over all of the gluten-filled waffle recipes that I’ve tried (and I’ve tried several). They are unbelievably light and airy on the inside (as long as you don’t overfill your waffle maker with batter) and delicately crispy on the outside. Furthermore, this is a very easy recipe; you don’t need a blender (I don’t recommend using an electric mixer either), and the batter doesn’t need to rest first. I recommend doubling the recipe and freezing the leftover cooked waffles. You can toast them until crispy straight from the freezer for a quick and delicious breakfast. Also, you could make these ahead of time if you’re entertaining a lot of people.
Homemade Waffle Mix and Gift Idea: Make a large batch of homemade waffle mix by whisking together all of the dry ingredients (use granulated sugar instead of liquid sweetener) and store it in an airtight container. Then every time you want to make a batch of waffles, simply measure out 2 cups + 2 tablespoons of your waffle mix and add the wet ingredients as per the recipe below. You could even turn this into a gift. Put your homemade waffle mix in a cellophane bag, tie it with a pretty ribbon and attach the recipe and instructions. Just make sure that the recipient owns a waffle maker if you’re not also gifting them with one.
I really like muffins but I avoid buying them because they’re deceivingly high in calories from fat and sugar. Since muffins are convenient for breakfast, I decided to make healthy muffins. Besides containing a lot of fiber, health-benefiting sweeteners (molasses, cane syrup, honey) are used over the typical white or brown sugars. Vital wheat gluten and buttermilk give these muffins a soft and moist texture. Bursts of fresh fruit help too, but feel free to substitute with raisins, dried cranberries, or chocolate chips. These are freezer friendly, so you’re not resigned to eating healthily every day for two weeks. (Photo of the cranberry orange bran muffins are at the bottom of this post.)
I had some roasted mini potatoes leftover (recipe here) so I made a one skillet breakfast of eggs with bacon and potatoes. The great thing about one skillet breakfasts is you can use whatever meat or vegetables you happen to have on hand. Read the rest of this entry »
I have been searching for my favourite pancake recipe for a few years now. I’m usually indifferent to pancakes because most of them are too fluffy, too airy, or too cakey for my taste. I prefer pancakes that are soft and thin with a slightly chewy texture.
For a volunteering event, Ed and I went to the Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area Sugar Bush, Kingston, ON, where I bought a bottle of medium maple syrup for motivation to test more pancake recipes. (By the way, their maple syrup is my new favourite, because of its subtle maple flavour and sweetness.) I tried more than 15 different recipes before I found two that I liked. The first one is my favourite standard pancake recipe. Add chocolate chips, mashed ripened bananas, blueberries, etc. The second one has a slightly chewy texture and a fun twist that kids will love. It was inspired by the McDonald’s hotcakes recipe.
I was very excited to learn (from Nigella Lawson) that cooked pancakes can be frozen and then reheated in the toaster for quick breakfasts.
Photo above: The sap from maple trees is collected in these buckets.
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