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Eggnog French Toast Bake

03.12.2012 71 Comments

I really have to confess that I don’t much care for Eggnog. But, to be fair, I guess I’ve never really had a great version of it.

I’m open to suggestions if you have any.

I does make an excellent coffee cream, and a great ingredient in desserts. Plus, it just tastes like Christmas when you bake a pan of french toast with it, with the added bonus of making your house smell amazing.

This is the perfect make ahead breakfast for Holiday guests. It takes about 5 minutes to put together, cover it and let it sit over night and in the morning all you have to do is throw it (figuratively, of course) in the oven and sit back and watch the wonder and amazement on the faces of your guest that you pull off something so tasty without even breaking a sweat.

But, you really should wait until you have guests or you will eat the entire pan all by yourself with your dog eyeing the pan and judging you the entire time.

 

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Chocolate Stout Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tsp espresso powder
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 12 ounces (about 2 2/3 cups, chopped) good quality dark chocolate (60% cocao)
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter (cut into cubes)
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • 1/2 cup Chocolate Stout
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • Makes 18 to 20

Directions

  1. In a bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, espresso powder, and sugar, mix until well combined. Set aside
  2. In a microwave safe bowl add the chocolate, the butter and the oil. Microwave on high for 20 seconds, stir and repeat until melted. Don't over heat or the chocolate will seize. Add the beer and stir.
  3. Add the eggs to the chocolate and stir until well combined.
  4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, some lumps are OK.
  5. Cover and refrigerate until the dough as has set, about 3 hours and up to 36. Overnight refrigeration is recommended.
  6. Preheat oven to 350. Place powdered sugar in a small bowl.
  7. Using a cookie dough scoop, make balls just a bit smaller than golf balls, roll into shape with your hands. Place dough balls into powdered sugar, roll until well coated.
  8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, add cookie balls
  9. Bake cookies at 350 for 8-11 minutes or until the edges have set but the center is still a bit soft. Don't over-bake or the cookies will be dry and crumbly.
https://domesticfits.com/egg-nog-french-toast-bake/

 

Skinny Baked Potato Soup 210 Calories

24.09.2012 21 Comments

 

Raise your hand if you ate way to much this weekend.

I finally found pie pumpkins in my city wide search and participated in hours of pumpkin glutton. Those posts will be up later, but I needed a bit of a pumpkin detox before jumping back in for more. I have no plans to stop my fall pumpkin worship, but I needed a break.

I am also preparing for October Unprocessed. Have you taken the challenge? I signed up. Andrew of Eating Rules has asked if we could all go just one month without eating processed foods. I did it last year and found that it was both easier and more challenging that I had thought. What is processed food? That’s quite the debate, but it gets you thinking. It was, more than anything, a great reminder to read every single label on every single package I buy. Why am I buying a jam with ingredients I don’t recognize when I can just buy the one with only two: Strawberries, sugar.

Why don’t I just buy my bread from the baker down the street, with his 4 ingredients rather than the  package from across the country with 17 ingredients?

More produce, less cans, no Doritos. You can do it.

There is no fixed answer to the question, "What is unprocessed?" but the simple answer is: do you have (or could you have) all of those ingredients in your kitchen and could a person reasonably make it themselves.

For instance, I have lots of friends who are home brewers and they make beer themselves. So that makes beer OK to have, it passes the Kitchen Test. If you could reasonably assume you COULD make it, it’s OK.

However, I have no idea how to pronounce half of the ingredients in Oreos, I don’t have those in my kitchen, I could not make that product, with those exact ingredients, so sorry, no Oreos for me. For more in depth answer to the questions, you can read this.

The best thing about this challenge, is that it gets us thinking. About what we eat, who we "vote for" with the dollars we spend, and what we are training our bodies to crave.

And if you can’t go a month with eating just real whole food, then why not? Why is that hard for you?

I encourage you sign up, even if you know you can’t be perfect. Can you do Unprocessed Wednesday Night Dinners? Sign up and give it a try. It will get you thinking about what you’re eating, and what you are feeding your family.

This soup recipe could even be debated (although it is not yet October). While some ingredients easily pass the kitchen test, it reminds you to read the labels on the brands of sour cream and cheese you buy. Some will only have three or four easily recognized ingredients while some brands will have several more. It’s just about being mindful of what you buy.

 

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Beer Pretzel Bread Bowls & Oktoberfest

Ingredients

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1 packet of dry active yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/4 cup wheat beer
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • water
  • 1/3 cup baking soda
  • 3 tbs melted butter
  • 2 tbs coarse salt

Directions

    (Makes 4 bread bowls or 8 dinner rolls. Bread bowls are fairly small and only hold about a cup of soup each.)
  1. Add flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachement. Stir to combine.
  2. In a microwave safe bowl, add the beer. Microwave for 20 seconds, test temperature and repeat until the beer reaches 110 degrees (if the beer is too hot, it will kill the yeast). Sprinkle the beer with the yeast and wait for it to foam (this is called proofing the yeast, if it doesn't foam the yeast is bad).
  3. Pour the beer into the bowl and stir at a low speed until well combined, turn the speed up to medium until the dough gathers around the hook and is smooth.
  4. Oil a large bowl with olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, form into a ball and place in prepared bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to sit in a warm, dry area until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.
  5. Remove the dough from the bowl, knead on a light flowed surface until smooth, about 2 minutes. Break into 4 equal pieces (you can also make 8 dinner roll size portions) form into balls. Cover balls with plastic wrap, allow to sit until doubled in size, about 20 mintes.
  6. Preheat oven to 375.
  7. Fill a large pot with water, making sure there is room for it bubble up without spilling over, but deep enough for the large dough balls. Bring water to a boil, add the baking soda. Cut an X into the top of each bread ball. Place gently in the baking soda water and cook, turning once, for about 30 seconds. Remove from water and place on a baking sheet covered with a Silpat, or sprayed with cooking spray, cut side up. Repeat for all bread balls.
  8. Brush liberally with melted butter, sprinkle with salt.
  9. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes, or until a dark golden brown in color.
https://domesticfits.com/skinny-baked-potato-soup-210-calories/