Breakfast | Eat Your Heart Out

Apple Dumplings

March 17, 2013 by Stephie 5 Comments

When I get a recipe in my head, there’s no resting until I make it happen.

These apple dumplings came about in exactly that way: I found myself, somewhat out of the blue, with a craving for apple dumplings. And to top it off, I just knew I could do better than using canned biscuit dough or questionable soda in making them.

You’ve probably already guessed where this is going: I had to drop everything and make these dumplings a reality. Are they better than any recipe using canned biscuits and soda? You bet. Are they still just as easy? Absolutely.

These gorgeous dumplings will make a fantastic dessert (or even brunch item!) for your family this Easter.

Head on over to Food Fanatic for the recipe!

Filed Under: Desserts Tagged With: Apples, Baked goods, Breakfast, Dessert, Food Fanatic, Fruit

Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread

February 25, 2013 by Stephie 7 Comments

I am writing this post instead of watching the Oscars.

I can’t handle missing an episode of The Bachelor (I mean, could you?), but I haven’t seen enough of the nominated movies to make watching the Oscars really worth my while.

I am choosing not to contemplate too much on what this might mean about my priorities.

Before February comes to a close, I wanted to share another delicious way for you to utilize some of your sourdough starter. While our last recipe utilized some cultivated yeast in conjunction with our starter, this recipe uses only the sourdough to leaven the bread. This method produces a much more pronounced sourdough “tang” (which will, of course, get stronger as your starter ages), though it also significantly increases the time that your bread will need to properly rise.

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Filed Under: Breads Tagged With: Baked goods, Bread, Breakfast, sourdough

Brown Sugar Fig Pop Tarts

February 4, 2013 by Stephie 24 Comments

Remember how I quit my job last week? And did so without having another job lined up?

By the end of the week, I had not one, but two job offers.

Now, neither of these job offers were likely to make me a millionaire. One was a front-of-house bakery job, the other a barista position at Starbucks.

But the point is this: God provides.

In case you’re wondering, I ended up going with the Starbucks job – yes, I know it is shocking that I passed up a job in a bakery, but I couldn’t discount the fact that Starbucks was offering me slightly higher pay and benefits. Not to mention that the manager and I simply clicked - I am looking forward to working for someone who really seems to want me there.

Do I know if this is where I want to be forever and ever, amen? I honestly have no idea. But I am certainly going to take this opportunity to see, and to figure out what it is that I really want to be doing. The more I ponder on it, however, the more I feel something inside of me whispering me toward food and writing.

I am going to stop thinking about my very expensive college degree. I am going to stop wondering what my former classmates will think when they find out that the girl who graduated at the top of the class is working as a barista. I’m going to let go of all of the ideas I have had about what my life is supposed to look like right now. I am opening up my life to new possibilities, and to finding out what makes me truly, deeply happy.

And what made me truly, deeply happy the other day was pulling together a pastry dough, filling it with fig butter and brown sugar, and baking up these pop tarts to absolute perfection.

I don’t say this often, but I will say it now: I personally think that these are some of the best things I have ever made.

I never particularly cared much for iced pop tarts as a kid, so instead of icing these, I opted to give them a light egg wash and an additional sprinkle of brown sugar, making them 100% perfectly toast-able for a lovely morning treat.

Don’t let the number of steps fool you – these aren’t as hard as they seem. And if you are truly, deeply petrified of making your own pastry, you could use a bought pie crust in lieu of the provided recipe (though I certainly encourage you to face your fears and give it a try – you’ll be glad you did!).

Oh wait…you wanted to serve these warm from the oven? For dessert? Then they’re not pop tarts at all – they’re hand pies!

Because, really, it’s all in how you choose to look at it.

Recipe inspired by Smitten Kitchen, though the pastry was (fairly heavily) adapted from my Thick and Crusty Chicken Pot Pie.

Recipe for fig butter.

Brown Sugar Fig Pop Tarts

Yield: 9 pop tarts

Ingredients

For the pastry:

3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into chunks
½ cup shortening
1 large egg
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk

For the filling:

1 egg yolk + 2 tablespoons water
Fig butter
Brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment; set aside.
Make your pastry: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and sugar. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the cold butter and the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the buttermilk and egg. Pour over the flour mixture and, using a fork, stir to combine just until the dry ingredients are moistened. The mixture will be very crumbly.
Turn the dough onto a flour-lined surface. Knead the dough very gently – just a couple of times – to bring it together, then divide in half. Roll each half into a 13×9-inch rectangle – you can use a ruler to measure, or you can cheat (like I did) and use a 13×9-inch pan to check for size and cut around. Trim around the edges of the rectangle so that you have clean, straight edges (again, the pan comes in handy here), and cut each rectangle into thirds in both directions, giving you 9 equal-sized rectangles from each larger rectangle (18 total small rectangles).
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and water. Brush 9 of the pieces with the egg wash, then spoon on about 2 teaspoons of fig butter. Sprinkle the fig butter with a small amount of brown sugar – maybe ½ teaspoon for each piece. Top with one of the remaining dough pieces, pressing along the edges slightly. Using a fork, crimp along the edges of each tart and poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape.
Place the tarts on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with some of the remaining egg wash, then sprinkle with a bit more brown sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.
Store cooled pop tarts in a zip-top bag for up to 3 days. To reheat, toast in a toaster set to the medium setting.

Notes

I suspect that these would freeze quite well, though I have not tried it myself. To do so, freeze unbaked tarts on the lined baking sheet, then transfer to a zip-top bag. Bake straight from the freezer, adding extra time to the baking time.

Filed Under: Breakfast Tagged With: Baked goods, Breakfast, Figs, Fruit

Maple Granola with Pomegranate and Honeyed Greek Yogurt

January 9, 2013 by Stephie 12 Comments

This is the time of year when I start to feel a little sorry for myself whenever I walk through the produce section at the grocery store.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy citrus and apples as much as anyone else, but I always still miss the beautiful fruits of summer.

But the one piece of winter produce that I just can’t get enough of? Pomegranates. They’re just so beautiful, bright and fun.

So when my friends over at Chobani sent me a case of their 2% and 0% plain Greek yogurt, I knew I wanted to use it with some of those beautiful pomegranates I’ve been obsessing over.

Tangy, honeyed Greek yogurt. Sweet and crunch maple granola. Bright, tart pomegranate. That’s a breakfast that will make you feel good without feeling like you’ve over-indulged.

Ps – Did you know that there’s a super-simple trick for seeding pomegranates without making an enormous mess? Quarter the pomegranate. Fill a bowl with cold water. Then seed the pomegranate quarters under the water. The seeds will fall to the bottom while the pith floats to the top. So easy!

Granola adapted from White Jacket Required.

Maple Granola with Pomegranate and Honeyed Greek Yogurt

Yield: About 6 cups of granola

Ingredients

For the granola:

1 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups rolled oats
½ cup chopped pecans
½ cup ground flax seed
½ cup slivered almonds
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Sprinkle of sea salt

For the rest:

1 6-ounce container plain Greek yogurt (low or non-fat)
2 tablespoons honey
Seeds of 1 large pomegranate

Instructions

Make the granola:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a large baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup and coconut oil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla and set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the rest of the granola ingredients. Drizzle with the hot syrup mixture and stir well to coat.
Spread granola on the prepared baking sheet and bake, stirring every 5-7 minutes, until the granola is golden, about 20 minutes. Let cool and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Assemble:

Combine the Greek yogurt with 1-2 tablespoons of honey, or to taste. Top with some of the granola and the pomegranate seeds.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Snacks Tagged With: Almonds, Breakfast, Gluten-free, granola, Greek yogurt, Healthy, Oats, Pecans, Snacks, Vegetarian

Treats for Santa: Date Bread

December 5, 2012 by Stephie 16 Comments

This week should really be called “Retro Family Recipes Week” here on Eat Your Heart Out. Earlier this week I shared a recipe for fruitcake cookies – which has been surprisingly well-received, considering the fact that I was afraid the word “fruitcake” might scare off a lot of you. Today I am sharing another old family favorite: date bread.

As with most of my family recipes, this one has a bit of a back story. Apparently this recipe was given to my great-grandmother by a woman who was a professional cook. Now, here’s the thing: she told my great-grandmother that she would only give her the recipe if she promised to keep it a secret.

…whoops.

I’ll admit, I’m taking a risk of my great-grandmother coming back to haunt me by sharing this one with the internet, but I really think this is a great recipe, and one that you should have in your repertoire, especially at the holidays. Much like the fruitcake cookies, this is one of those breads that is good one on day one, better one on day two, and just downright awesome on day three – which means that it is the perfect bread to either make ahead for breakfast or give away to friends and loved ones.

Also…my great-grandmother would have been 112 this year…so I’m guessing that probably means the woman she got the recipe from probably isn’t still around either…which means I’m safe to share, right? (Too depressing? Sorry. Eat a piece of bread and you’ll feel better.)

Date Bread

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

¾ cup brown sugar
1 egg, divided
1 cup pitted, chopped dates
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ cup boiling water
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups flour
¾ cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8×4 or 9×5-inch loaf pan; set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the dates, baking soda and boiling water. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl, cream brown sugar with the egg yolk. Add the cooled date mixture; stir to combine. Add salt, flour and pecans.
Whip the egg white to stiff peaks; gently fold into batter. Sprinkle baking powder over the batter and fold to combine. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan before turning out onto a cooling rack. Prior to serving, dust the top with powdered sugar, if desired.
Will last for several days, well wrapped, at room temperature. (Or freeze for a few months.)