Scotch eggs have always been one of my favorites, particularly at the Renaissance Faire, and I don’t know why it never occurred to me to try to make this sooner! They were a great addition to Christmas brunch. Don’t make the same mistake I did and hard boil the eggs – these are baked, so they will be cooking longer, and the texture of the yolk was a bit off because hard boiled became VERY hard boiled. 😉 Consider 8-10 minutes for this.
We ended up doing brunch for Christmas Day this year instead of the usual Prime Rib (that was Christmas Eve). Of all the things we made, I think these muffins were the absolute best. They were great for breakfast as leftovers, and also as dessert! This was a Pioneer Woman recipe, and the only thing I changed was to use 1:1 gluten free flour. I did skip the glazel, because I didn’t think it needed it, but if you would like an extra pop of sweet, there’s your ticket! Make sure the ingredients are room temperature for this one.
Is there anyone who doesn’t like bagels?! Probably not. Does anyone love gluten-free bagels…probably not! Alas, I’m here to tell you, they’re just not that good from the gluten free freezer. …and then I made them from scratch. And holy SMOKES were they good! Now, I say this as someone from Connecticut, and our food was generally very influence by NYC – which means incredible bagels. I was absolutely thrilled with these, and Shawn really like them too. They’re one of those foods you couldn’t tell was gluten-free. They don’t last long, so you have to eat them fast, but this was one of my very happiest baking/cooking moments, knowing I could reproduce a bagel ALMOST as good as back home. I used honey to boil the bagels, and I got the original recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes.
It has never really crossed my mind to make breakfast sausage from scratch, but why not? We make our own jerky. This didn’t seem like such a leap, and as staying away from all things cured is a necessity, it was worth a try. We loved this! Next time, I would be more careful to flatten the patties so they’re easier with sandwiches. We got this recipe from I Am Baker, and while I personally would up the pepper all around, I would suggest not changing a thing the first time you make this – it’s delicious as is, and you can see what works for you as far as seasonings once you’ve tried it.
After mentioning the mini frittatas to Shawn, he suggested we also try these bacon, egg, and cheese cups – we had a bunch of Amish bacon lying around that obviously needed to do something amazing. 😉  These were great!  And tiny, so you can have a couple for breakfast without feeling tooooo guilty.  There’s no real recipe for this, but below is how we did it.
With a few days off this week, I’m trying to stock up on some freezable, quick breakfast items. Â I am not a huge fan of breakfast, and it needs to be small and light if it’s going to happen. Â Shawn is on his bike so early that something portable is a huge plus. Â I saw these little guys on some Buzzfeed post and tried to mock them up – they were pretty good! Â But I should have greased the muffin tin a bit better – huge, stuck mess. Â I would make more of these for sure, though. Â Quick and very filling for breakfast.
I’ve coveted a Kitchen Aid mixer for many years, and my amazing boyfriend Shawn got one for me for Christmas this year!  Excited is an understatement!  I had already done all my Christmas cookie baking, so I had to think of something else to do (oh jeez, poor me 😉 ) and we decided on coffee cake…it made a nice after dinner snack later in the evening.  I’m still stunned over the ease of baking with the Kitchen Aid!  This recipe came from one of my favorite baking sites, Joy of Baking, and I combined her coffee cake with a streusel recipe I had on hand.  It was my first time making coffee cake and we like it a lot!
We decided to go all out for Christmas day, and made this breakfast strata. Â It’s one I’ve made before for brunches, etc. and it was even better this time with some minor changes (changes included below – this originally came from Cooking Light – just a bit less milk and a bit more cheese). Â A great holiday morning lunch or brunch item, and the ingredients can be combined the night before and baked in the morning for some make-ahead convenience.
So I really love anything wrapped in biscuit or crescent dough as an appetizer. This was a simple one (they all are, really…even when you make your own dough, which I did not this time) that was pretty tasty – next time I might add some spinach or some other green veggie for color. It’s not really even a recipe, but it is a great appetizer for a potluck…you could probably even use this for a brunch. It’s very flexible and very much to taste.
First meal of Mostly Meatless March! We had a ton of eggs in the fridge and I was not feeling creative, so this is what happened. Inspired by a recipe on Chow, I made it with mostly egg whites to make it a little more low cal. Frittatas are one of my favorites for the versatility and clean out the fridge ability. It was quite good, and a nice start to being Vegetarian for a month (well, Pescetarian). The leftovers will make a great breakfast!
Om nom nom! 