Cinnamon Sugar Donuts

 Sometime ago, I think it was in ... late February?  I don't know.  But my parents and Kaitlin were gone to Arizona to pick up the new boat.  So I was a little lonely.  But Kevin and his roommates were having a yard sale.  So I thought I'd be nice and make them some donuts to munch on.


By the way, go get yourself a donut pan asap!

I found this recipe on www.bunsinmyoven.com and decided they sounded good. Needless to say, they were a hit at the yard sale.

Baked Donuts
Ingredients
for the donuts:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup buttermilk (or make your own with milk and vinegar)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs butter, melted

for the topping:
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325F degrees.  Lightly spray a donut pan with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, and melted butter until well combined.
4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
5. Fill your donut pan 3/4 full and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the donuts spring back when touched.  Allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.
6. To make the topping, mix together the sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl.
7. Dunk each donut into the melted butter to completely coat and then swirl around in the cinnamon sugar to coat.

Bun In My Oven

Zucchini Bread

It's that time of the year when zucchini is everywhere and it's super inexpensive.  And well, I love zucchini.  So why not try to make a few different zucchini bread recipes?


I made 2 recipes.  This one and this healthier one.  They were both very yummy!  And I've got more zucchini to use up.

What's YOUR favorite zucchini recipe?

Holiday Breakfast Casserole

A while back for our Tuesday Night Dinner group we decided to do "Breakfast for Dinner".  My favorite!  So I made a breakfast casserole.  You know, one of those that you make the night before and let set in the fridge?  The recipe was found on a Sunday morning paper insert, that I then altered a little.

Ingredients:
12 oz. breakfast sausage (bulk or links)*
6 English muffins, cut into 1" cubes**
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
12 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 cup bacon bits

Instructions:

1. Cook sausage according to package directions.  Cool slightly.  If links, cut into 1/4" slices.
2. In a greased 9x13" baking dish, layer half the English muffin cubes and half the cooked sausage.  Repeat layers.  Drizzle with butter and top with cheese, onion, and red pepper.
3. In a large bowl, combine the eggs, milk, salt and pepper.  Pour over casserole.  Sprinkle with bacon.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Uncover and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Makes 12 servings.

Alterations:

• *I'm cheap frugal and bought bulk sausage instead of links.
• **I'm cheap frugal and bought white bread instead of English muffins.
• For one of the casseroles (I made 2), after the sausage was cooked I added some sliced mushrooms and sauteed them a little.

Sweet Potato Bread

The turkey is unstuff, unlike the full bellies.  Leftovers are put away and eaten again the next day.  But what about those 6 cups of leftover mashed sweet potatoes?  Me, well, I could eat it all the time.  Until I was sick of it, then I couldn't.

So why not make use of the leftovers that seem to grow and not disappear.  Enter:  Sweet Potato Bread.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup water
1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I opted no for the nuts)

Instructions:

1. Combine sugar and oil; beat well.  Add eggs and beat.  Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water.  Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts.
2. Pour batter into greased 9x5" loaf pan (or 2 small loaf pans).  Bake at 350F (175C) for about one hour.

When doubling recipe, don't forget to double all the ingredients.  Oops, I missed doubling the eggs, and maybe possibly the water too.

For the real recipe and additional reviews, go here.

Zucchini Bread

Mid-last week I decided that it was time to use some of the zucchini I picked out of my garden.  It wasn't dinner time, so no zucchini dish needed; but I had wanted to make zucchini bread.  Honestly, that's one of the reasons why I planted the little $.80 plant, to have zucchini to make bread.  So Colleen (my future sister-in-law) helped and we went to town! 

Well, not literally went to town.  I had everything we needed. 

I took a loaf to work and a loaf to my parent's house.  The loaf at work was gone by 10am.  I had to call my mom and tell her to make sure she saved some for Colleen to try.  So good!  I was even told that someday I'll make somebody very happy with my culinary skills.

I found the recipe at tastykitchen.com. 

Zucchini Bread
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:
3 whole eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbs vanilla
2 cups loosely packed grated zucchini (do not peel)
2 cups flour
1 tbs cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cups chopped walnuts

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs.  Add sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla.  Beat mixture until thick and frothy.
2. Stir in zucchini (do not peel it).  Sift and add the rest of the ingredients.
3. Pour mixture into two floured loaf pans.  Bake at 350F for 1 hour.  Insert cake tester in center until it comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and place on rack until it completely cools.

*I used 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce.  Totally good, you can't tell there was a partial substitute.

Graham Cracker Cereal

Who here likes graham crackers, butter, and milk? Who has ever put those 3 ingredients together? Oh, ME!

Graham Cracker Cereal is a long standing family "recipe". I don't know who started it or when, but I love them.

Ingredients:

Graham Crackers
Milk
Butter

Instructions:
1. Break graham crackers in half and put in bowl. Place a sliver of butter on top. Heat milk in microwave about 1 minute.
2. Pour warm milk on top of butter/graham crackers.
3. Enjoy!

Note to self: Low fat graham crackers do not work well with this. Stick to the full fat yummy crackers.

Pumpkin Muffins

I'm all about simple recipes. Quick and easy. For that reason, I love Semi-Homemade by Sandra Lee on the Food Network. This is not one of her recipes, but it's simple enough to be!

Are you ready for this simplicity...?
Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
15 oz. canned pumpkin
1 cup water (optional)

Instructions:
Mix ingredients and pour into prepared muffin tins. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

The water makes them more doughy, softer. I personally like them better without the water.

For those of you on Weight Watchers, they are only 1 to 2 points each!!!