Eat Cake for Breakfast: Banana and Sour Cream Pancakes

If you've looked at some of my other posts, you know I am OBSESSED with breakfast. For some reason I just love everything about it. From eggs bennie to french toast and everything in between, I haven't met a breakfast I didn't love and want to recreate over and over again. 

These pancakes are a delicious creation that came from being out of a lot of stuff but still wanting a delicious breakky. I only had one egg, no regular milk, no greek yogurt etc but I did have sour cream and a very, very ripe banana. My husband and I love to make incredible dishes out of whatever we happen to have in the house. It saves us a lot of money since we don't do last minute or daily grocery shopping trips, and we discover a lot of flavors we wouldn't have otherwise thought of. 

As you can see I couldn't even wait to try these before taking the picture ;)

So I say get creative in your kitchen, and if you make something amazing and out of the ordinary let me know so I can try it too!

Banana and Sour Cream Pancakes

Ingredients

• One very ripe banana
• One egg
• 1 C flour (I used ⅓ cup coconut flour and ⅔ cup self rising)
• 1 ¼ TSP baking powder (if you didn't use self-rising flour)
• ¼ TSP salt (again, only if you didn't use self-rising flour)
• ¼ C sour cream ( or greek yogurt, they are very similar)
• ¼-½ C milk (since I used coconut flour I needed a lot more milk than if I had used plain flour alone. I also used cashew and almond milk instead of cows. Add your milk slowly until you get the consistency you need.)
• ¼ TSP vanilla
• Butter or oil for the pan

Directions

1. Beat egg, sour cream and banana together
2. Combine dry ingredients (if you didn't use self-rising flour)
3. Add dry ingredient/s to banana mixture. Beat together until just mixed.
4. Slowly add your milk and continue beating. Once the batter has reached a slightly runny consistency stop adding your milk.
5. Add vanilla and beat once more.
6. Heat up your pan to medium heat
7. Spray with oil or melt butter
8. Pour approximately ¼ cup of batter into the pan
9. Cook about 3-4 minutes or until bubbles begin to form (if you don't use mainly plain flour you will not get bubbles so watch your pancake carefully!)
10. Flip and cook the other side (These pancakes will not get the drier consistency of normal pancakes because of the banana and sour cream. They should be creamy but not gritty. If they're gritty they aren't done!)
11. Add fruit, yogurt, nuts, toasted coconut or whatever other topping you like 
12. Enjoy!

-Dr. P

Bacon Popcorn Toffee

I love bacon... and popcorn... and toffee. Naturally, they belong together in a sweet, salty and utterly delicious combination. Right?!? 

This recipe is super easy, requires minimal time, ingredients and efforts. The hardest part is watching so you don't burn your toffee and then not eating the entire pan of goodies!

If you love salty, caramel sweets then this recipe is definitely for you!

You will need

Toffee:
1 stick of butter
¼ cup sugar
1 TSP salt

2-3 strips of thick cut bacon
1/4 cup unpopped popcorn

Directions

1. Chop bacon into thin strips.
2. Cook bacon in a deep pot until just crispy. Remove from the pot, but leave the grease to pop the popcorn in! (a bit decadent, I know. You could always use butter or coconut oil but if you're already making a treat like this why not go all out.)
3. Pop popcorn in the bacon grease, remove unpopped kernels.
4. Mix sugar, butter and salt in a deep pan, stirring occasionally until butter has melted.
5. Once butter has melted and the mixture boils, turn the heat down to medium-low and keep an eye on your mixture until it turns a dark amber color. (Taste frequently so you don't over heat. It can get bitter when overcooked. We like our caramel just a touch bitter, but many people prefer just plain, sweet, creamy, caramel.)
6. Take the toffee off of the heat
7. Spread bacon and popcorn onto baking paper on a cookie sheet. Pour toffee over the top. Sprinkle with  bit more salt.
8. Place in the freezer to set.
   
   
   
   
   

Eat. Savor. Enjoy

-Dr. P

Super simple beer bread recipe

We don't eat a ton of bread, but I do love me some carbs. I had a pumpkin beer that I didn't finish the other night (shame on me) and we saved it to use later on. I'm so glad I did! We decided to make some beer bread. It is so simple, takes only 5 minutes to prepare and an hour to bake AND I didn't even need a loaf pan. Great success. It's hearty, delicious, and holds up well. You could even mix it all in the loaf pan if you wanted to eliminate mess.

We used this amazing bread fresh out of the oven with butter and starfruit preserves and then again this morning under avocado and Pumpkin Eggs Bennie and it worked wonderfully. It got super crunchy on the outside when I toasted it. Yum!

You will need

• 3 Cups of Flour ( I used whole wheat and did not sift it. I did do some reading though, and sifting is recommended. You can also use self-rising flour
• 3 ½ teaspoons of baking powder ( you don't need this if you use self-rising!)
• 1 teaspoon of salt ( you also don't need salt if you use self-rising flour)
• 3-4 Tablespoons Sugar (4 makes a very sweet bread!)
• 1 ½ cups of beer ( I used a pumpkin beer, but any kind should do)
• 2 Tablespoons of melted butter ( I used this on top for a very crunchy crust, but you can add it into the dough also for an all around softer loaf)

Directions

I used my kitchenmaid stand mixer with the dough hook attachment but hands or a wooden spoon would also work!

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Combine all dry ingredients
3. Mix in beer
4. Knead if you desire
5. Shape dough ( if you're using a loaf pan you don't have to worry as much, but I just free formed a round loaf and it came out great)
6. Drizzle butter over the top if you didn't incorporate it into the dough
7. Bake approximately one hour. 

Enjoy!

-Dr. P

Beer for breakfast?!? Well... beer infused crepes for breakfast!

Pumpkin Beer Crepes with Apple Pie Filling? YES PLEASE

I never make crepes because I always figured they were too difficult. I discovered this morning, through a lot of trial and error, that they aren't difficult but they are specific to your cookware and your stovetop. They are also DELICIOUS, so I persevered through this recipe, and found the recipe itself is awesome but you may want to make some extra batter to play around with before you serve the final product. 
We love Sam Adams beer in this house, and the fall mix pack has pumpkin beer in it. I knew I wanted to make an apple pie filling, and decided to amp up the flavors of the crepe with some pumpkin beer. I also didn't have any milk in the house, so I substituted with beer and condensed milk and I was glad I did!

Before you begin, keep in mind this recipe works best if you have 30-60 minutes to rest your batter in the fridge, and  I've read that it works even better if you rest it over night. With that being said, let's make some crepes!

You will need:

(This recipe yielded 12 small crepes for me, so probably 6-8 larger ones if you used a larger pan.)

Crepes:

• 1 cup flour
• ¾ Cup Water
• ¼ cup beer
• 2 Eggs
• 1 TBSP condensed milk (you could omit this if you used milk where I used water!)
• Pinch of salt

Apple Filling and Topping:

• 1-2 paper thin sliced apples ( I used my Cuisinart food processor and it worked like a dream)
• Cinnamon powder to taste ( I used a few pinches in the apples, a few more in the yogurt  and then sprinkled some on top of the finished, stuffed crepes)
• Cinnamon Stick
• 1 TSP Grated Ginger
• 1 TBSP brown sugar
• ½ Cup Yogurt (I used Greek)
• Honey

Steps

Crepes and Apple Filling

1. Combine flour, eggs, salt, water and beer until thoroughly mixed. (You don't want any lumps in this mixture! The batter should be very runny.)
   
2. Set batter aside to rest.
3. Heat a sauce pan with a little butter: add apples, cinnamon stick, grated ginger and sugar.
4. Once the mixture begins to brown, add a small amount of water and increase heat to caramelize.
5. Once the water has evaporated, turn the heat down to low and allow the apples to soak up the flavor of the cinnamon and ginger.
6. Combine greek yogurt with cinnamon and a few TSPs honey (depending on how sweet you want this) in a small bowl and set aside
7. Retrieve your crepe batter and stir through to ensure all lumps are gone.
8. Heat a skillet to medium heat, add butter or oil ( this is important even if you have a non-stick pan! You will get dry, chalky crepes and no one wants that. )
9. Pour a small amount of batter into the pan, quickly swirling to coat the pan before the crepe begins to cook.
10. Cook 2-3 minutes per side, or until edges brown and crepe can be flipped.
11. Wipe out your pan between crepes ( also really important) and melt new oil or butter.
12. Fill crepes with cinnamon yogurt and apples and roll one side in to the center (over your filling) and continue to roll until the final edge is tucked under.
13. Top with extra yogurt and some sprinkles of cinnamon.
14. Optional topping: If you have apple butter at home, combine that with some greek yogurt and top your crepes. Its delicious!

Enjoy!

-Dr. P.

Vanilla Coconut French Toastlets with Toasted Walnut and Coconut Dust

We try to eat healthy during the week... but on Saturday mornings all bets are off. This weekend I had some gorgeous, chewy French bread to use and I knew just what to do.

French Toast! 

I love French toast. It was a weekend staple in my house growing up, using Wonderbread and that awful pretend maple syrup. Luckily, I have grown-up and so has my childhood Wonderbread French Toast!

For this beautiful, brunch-worthy breakfast you will need:

• A loaf of french bread, or something similarly round
• 2 eggs
• ¼ Cup of milk (I used almond, but you can use whatever you like or have on hand)
• ¼ TSP Pure vanilla extract (more or less depending on your taste)
• ¼ TSP Pure coconut extract (more or less depending on your taste)
• ¼ TSP  cinnamon (more or less depending on your taste)
• ¼ TSP grated Fresh nutmeg (more or less depending on your taste)
• 4 TBSP Unsweetend coconut flakes, divided
• ¼ Cup Walnut Pieces
• Coconut oil (Or butter) for the pan

Steps

1. Slice bread into discs, slightly less than two-fingers thick (not very precise but I'm terrible with eyeballing measurements. If you cut them too thick the inside will not soak up the batter and it will stay too bready.)
2. Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla extract, coconut extract, 2 TBSP coconut flakes, cinnamon and nutmeg all together in a bowl big enough to fit your discs into.
3. Dip discs into batter, allowing a few minutes for the first side to soak it up. Then flip and repeat on the second side. (You can test the absorption by gently poking the center of the discs, if they take a while to bounce back, they have absorbed lots of batter. If not, allow longer soak.)
4. Pre-heat pan to medium heat, add coconut oil (or butter). (You can test the pan's readiness by dropping a few droplets of water onto the pan; if they crackle you're good to go!)
5. Add discs to pan, cooking on each side 3-4 minutes, or until the batter has turned golden brown and the edges begin to crisp! (We cook ours an extra 1-2 minutes on each side after the initial flip to get them extra crsipy and ensure the centers are cooked through.)
6. Toast remaining coconut flakes and walnuts in a frying pan on low-medium heat util coconut flakes begin to brown. 
7. Process toasted coconut and walnuts in a food processor until the mixture becomes a dust.
8. Serve discs while hot, sprinkling dust on top. Serve with warm maple syrup, although these are so good alone they don't even need any help!

Remember to tag me on instagram (@DrParko121314) if you make these! 

Enjoy!

-Dr. P

The EASIEST most delicious pasta.... ever... seriously!

My grandmother is German. Growing up we would always bake together, she would teach me the German words for things, and she would make some of the most incredible meals I've ever had. For Christmas, she cooks this incredible pasta dish with stroganoff (yes, I know stroganoff isn't German but Russian, she makes it anyway because it is delicious). The noodles, called spätzle, are so easy to make if you have the right tools, plus it takes no time at all! Its endlessly better than boxed pasta, super rustic looking, and sooooooo good. For my bridal shower, my grandmother bought me a spätzle maker, because the first time she met my husband (when we were newly dating) was on Christmas, and he stood in the kitchen and made spätzle like a boss, impressing the hell out of her. She then told me I could keep him, which I did <3.... BUT I digress! 

  I am the proud owner of a spätzle maker, and because of how easy it is to use, we use it every few weeks. Below is the recipe I've been using to make Grandma's spätzle. I hope you try it sometime!

You will need

• 5 eggs
• Sparkling water (depending on how large your eggs are will determine how much water... I suggest keeping a bottle on hand OR if you have a Soda Stream or something like it just make a bottle in that machine. We LOVE our Soda Stream because we have sparkling water on demand!- this is not a paid advertisement, just my thoughts on my Soda Stream)
• 4.5 cups of flour
• Stand mixer, hand mixer or just an old-fashioned whisk and wooden spoon! (If you use your stand mixer, you will use the whisk to incorporate the ingredients and then the flat paddle attachment to beat the air in. Similarly, you will need to use a big spoon if you use a hand mixer that does not have a paddle attachment)
• Spätzle maker (I have this one, which also doubles as a potato ricer. I love it because it is easy to use and clean. They also make pot lids that you can feed the dough through and you can even cut it by hand if you are that ambitious. I figure if a spätzle maker is good enough for Grandma its good enough for me!)
• a few pinches of salt
• 1 TBSP butter

Steps

1. Put a LARGE pot on to boil with VERY salty water... we're talking ocean-salty.
2. Begin to melt the butter into a saucepan to brown it (I don't burn mine because I don't care for burnt butter, but if you like burnt butter then go for it!)
3. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. (If you don't you will get lumps in your pasta and that's just not nice!)
4. Beat the eggs in using your whisk attachment.
5. Once incorporated, begin to slowly pour small amounts of sparkling water into your dough while running the whisk. (I like thick noodles, so I stop when the dough starts to drip slowly off the spoon, but if you want thinner noodles you can always add more water, even after you start cooking the noodles!)
6. Once you have reached the desired consistency, add salt and begin to beat the dough in round motions from under the dough (bottom of the bowl) back to the top to get some air into it, either using a large spoon or the paddle attachment on a high speed. (It is like you are trying to flip the dough over from its base.)  
7. When your water has reached a rolling boil, pour ½-1 C dough into your desired apparatus(Spätzle maker for me)to get your noodles into the boiling water.  
8. When the noodles float, they are done! (You can remove them with a slotted spoon or ladle and place them into a bowl, adding a small amount of your brown butter to each batch you place in the bowl.)
9. We like to throw batches into the brown-butter frying pan before serving them to get some added crispiness and to deepen the flavor of the butter.

You can serve this dish with whatever you like. We usually do a stroganoff (look for the recipe this week) but they are just as good with some butter and salt served alongside veggies.You can be super decadent and add some cheese to the dish, which is also really tasty.

If you make this delightful German dish, be sure to tag me on instagram @DrParko121314

~Guten Appetit~

-Dr. P

Egg clouds just reinvented breakfast!

I love taking fantastic recipes other people are creating, and seeing how I can incorporate my own favorite flavors into them. This week I have been obsessed with Egg Clouds! 

For those of you who know what the delicious dessert Pavlova is, this is like the breakfast version of that light and airy, yet crispy treat.

Egg clouds are super simple and present beautifully. They would be perfect to impress brunch guests, or to surprise someone special on their birthday or with breakfast in bed. I adapted my version from Hostthetoast.com ( a blog I am loving, a lot). They did theirs in yummy looking Ciabatta bread, but we didn't have any bread and I wasn't waiting not one single second longer to make these. So I proceeded bread-less!

The great part about these is that you could fold in cheese, veggies, ham, or any topping you would put into an omelette and mix up the kind of egg cloud you cooked every time!

You will need

• The number of eggs you want to cook (these puff up and although I can usually eat two eggs for breakfast, I typically only make it through one of these bad boys)
• Any additions you want to add: (Hostthetoast.com used mozzarella and hot sauce. I've recently used Basil, Oregano and morel mushroom cheddar and it was sooooooo good. I'm planning on using zucchini next!)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Toast or Asparagus or something tasty to soak up the egg yolk (if you desire! My husband likes to tear off the sides of the cloud and dip the fluffy whites into the runny yolks)
• Baking Tray
• Tin foil or Baking Paper (If you use tinfoil be sure to lightly grease it!)
• Hand or stand mixer (You could use a whisk if you're a kitchen badass and your arms can handle it!)

Steps

1. Preheat oven between 350-400 F. If your oven runs hot like mine keep the temperature on the lower side so you don't scorch the egg whites.
2. Separate yolks and whites cleanly, and place yolks aside without breaking (I LOVE the water bottle trick for this. Take an empty water bottle and squeeze gently, place the opening over the yolk and slowly release the bottle. Voila! It sucks up the eggs yolk neatly and you don't have to buy a separator or use your hands.)
3. Whip whites in a very clean bowl, using very clean mixer blades, until peaks form. You want the peaks to be hard enough to maintain their shape when you place the mixture on the baking tray.
4. Fold in your toppings carefully so you don't deflate the whites. Season as desired.
5. Scoop "clouds" gently onto your baking tray, focusing on getting some height so you can make a little hole for your yolk. 
6. Using a spoon, dig a small space for your yolk, ensuring there are no breaks in your whites to allow yolk to escape and break. Don't dig too far down towards the tray. You want to be able to enjoy all of the gooey goodness later!
7. Bake @ desired temperature for about 6-7 minutes or until the the tops of the whites turn slightly golden.
8. Take the tray out of the oven, and carefully add the yolks into the holes you made before.
9. Bake for another 6-7 minutes, or until the whites have set.

Serve immediately and enjoy :)

If you make these be sure to post to Instagram and tag me @DrParko121314