Copycat "Cracker Barrel" Buttermilk Pancakes

Last week I made this copycat "Cracker Barrel" recipe from food.com.  These pancakes were so good!  Much like the ones from Cracker Barrel.  The whole family liked them a lot, so it is definitely going to be my go-to recipe for pancakes from now on.


"Cracker Barrel" Buttermilk Pancakes
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt ( heaping)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk
oil (for cooking) or butter ( for cooking) butter
Pancake syrup, for serving

DIRECTIONS Mix all ingredients together until incorporated, but do not over mix. Heat a griddle or non stick pan under med. - med. high heat, and grease with a little butter or oil (more if you like a crispy edge). Drop batter using a 1/4 cup measuring cup onto hot pan. Once the bottom side is golden, flip and brown remaining side. Serve with pancake syrup and butter, if desired.
Pin It Now!

Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins

This recipe is adapted from one I found on the back of the Gluten Free Krusteaz Flour bag.  I haven't found any gluten free dessert/snack that I really like, mostly because I've probably not gotten used to it, yet.  However, these actually taste pretty good and are moist.  I figure if you've been used to eating gluten free foods such as this, you will like it.

I didn't use the recipe as originally listed because a friend had made them with organic coconut palm sugar and I had some, so wanted to do the same.  But then, I also didn't have any yogurt, which it called for, so I substituted sour cream.  I think sour cream is better, since it doesn't add sugar to the recipe like yogurt would.  The original recipe also called for lemon zest. I didn't have any, but was excited to use my Young Living Essential Lemon Oil in a recipe! It's made from freeze dried lemon rinds!

GF Blueberry Muffins

(This recipe is doubled from original Krusteaz recipe.  The original ingredients are list after my own.)

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 cup organic coconut palm sugar (Original recipe: regular white sugar)
2 eggs
3 cups Krusteaz Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups sour cream (Original recipe: plain yogurt)
2 - 4 drops Young Living Essential Lemon Oil (Original recipe: 4 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest)
2 cups fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons raw sugar (for topping)
1 cup milk (Original recipe calls for no milk at all and says batter will be stiff.  It would be very stiff. I don't see how it would bake into muffins, actually!  If you use regular sugar, you may not need as much)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.  In medium bowl, combine butter, sugar and egg.  Add GF flour, baking power, soda, sour cream and lemon oil. Stir until well blended. Gently fold in berries.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, sprinkle tips with raw sugar. Bake 20-26 minutes or until light brown.

Pin It Now!

Breakfast Quesadillas

You can make almost anything into a quesadilla, I suppose!  Yesterday I made my 16-year-old a "Breakfast Skillet" (posted recently) with eggs, real bacon bits, and cheese. I made it with four eggs, knowing he'd only eat two, so I could use the left-overs in a burrito. Instead, I turned it into a breakfast quesadilla! 

In a small skillet over medium heat, melt a pat of butter.  

Put down one medium sized flour tortilla, shredded cheddar cheese....

add the leftover mixture...

...add a little more cheese to "glue" the tortillas in place....

....then top with another flour tortilla.

Turn when browned and brown on the other side. Cute into four or more pieces.  Eat and enjoy! Pin It Now!

Fun Pancakes for Kids

(cheapskateprincess.com)

There's nothing more fun for kids than eating fun food!  This Mr. Potato Head pancake looks extra-fun to eat!  

(littlenummies.net)

This owl pancake is cute! Kiwis and strawberries trim out the face, feathers, and feet.

I made these puppy dog pancakes several years ago. They were so much fun to make, but our kids thought they were even more fun to eat!  Find the recipe HERE.

When food looks fun, children especially enjoy eating!  It doesn't have to be fancy, but  just take a little more time in preparing or presenting. That makes all the difference!

Pin It Now!

Breakfast Skillet

My 16-year-old son is a football player, so he needs a lot of protein and calories to get through the rigorous practices and games.  I especially want him to have a good breakfast, as carbs seem to make him a little "foggy-brained".  It's not good to have a foggy brain at school, or any time, for that matter!!  

So I came up with something that is quick, easy, and packed with protein: Breakfast Skillet.  I think Denny's restaurant used to advertise something like it.

Breakfast Skillet

1/2 tablespoon butter

3 eggs

Dash of salt

Dash of pepper

2 tablespoons milk

Real bacon bits OR cooked sausage OR chopped ham

Cheddar Cheese

Melt butter in small skillet over medium heat.  Break eggs into skillet and add milk.  Stir.  Cook on medium until eggs are done, stirring often.  Add meat and cheese.  Stir until warmed.  Serve.

Of course, if you want to you can serve this in a tortilla or on toast, but it's perfectly tasty just out of the skillet.  And serving out of the skillet is one less serving plate to wash!

Pin It Now!

Pioneer Woman's Waffles

Guess what?  I followed another recipe exactly! I know! I can't believe it, either! What's happening to me??? :)

And, another thing...It's a Pioneer Woman recipe. I may become a PW junkie.  No...I don't think so, but I at least have found a few recipes of things that actually sound like I know all of the ingredients and can find in our rural area of Oklahoma.

On a side note, and a little bit of info about the house the Pioneer Woman lives in now. Would you believe that I've actually been there?  I stayed in that house (it was a lodge at that time) and my aunt's family owned it and lived in the house on the ranch. She and my uncle were married at her home (not the lodge) and I was the flower girl. I vaguely remember the place, but only that it had pretty green hills (they may have been small bumps, but for this flat land, SW Oklahoma girl, they were hills. Maybe even mountains :). )  Aren't you glad you found out that tidbit of info?

So, the recipe I made was waffles.  And I cooked them on a cute little heart-shaped waffle iron! And they really are delicious, even for me, a non-waffle fan.  My husband and two of our children really, really like waffles, so they were excited!

PIONEER WOMAN'S WAFFLES

2 cups All-purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 cup Sugar
1-1/2 cup Milk
2 whole Egg Yolks
1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoonVanilla Extract
1 stick (1/2 Cup) Salted Butter, Melted
4 whole Egg Whites

Preheat the waffle iron to the regular setting.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, 2 egg yolks, and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients and very gently stir until halfway combined. Pour in the melted butter and continue mixing very gently until combined.

In a separate bowl using mixer, beat the egg whites with a whisk until stiff. Slowly fold them into the batter, stopping short of mixing them all the way through.

Scoop the batter into your waffle iron in batches and cook according to its directions (lean toward being a little deep golden and crisp!) Remove and serve immediately.
Pin It Now!

Sausage Muffins

I haven't made these myself, yet, but have had people (that I trust! :) say that they are really good!  You can just kind of tell that they would be by what is in them.

SAUSAGE MUFFINS

1 cup of Bisquick
1 pound cooked sausage
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup of shredded Cheddar cheese

Grease muffin tin.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In medium bowl, combine ingredients. Mix well.  Divide batter into the muffin tin wells. Bake for about 20 minutes.
Pin It Now!

Homemade Waffles

A few of my children really like waffles. This morning, after a special request was made yesterday from one of the boys, I got up early to make waffles.  I doubled this recipe, letting the boys eat their breakfast, but then froze the rest to be quick breakfast meals for the next month or two.  I freeze them in the "Lock 'n Lock" storage containers, which are great. (If you haven't seen them, they are worth getting. Food lasts so much longer in these containers!)

Homemade Waffles

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white sugar (I used 2)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth. Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

To reheat frozen waffles, heat oven to 250 degrees and bake for 5-8 minutes, then turn over and heat for another 5 minutes or until hot and crisp on top.

Pin It Now!

Cinnamon Roll Biscuit Bake

Sunday morning breakfast at our house used to always be about cinnamon rolls - from Pillsbury canned to homemade.  But over the years, the tradition has waned.  Obviously it's not the healthiest of breakfasts, but also because the kids grew tired of the same old, same old.....

This past Sunday, with our oldest child having just left for college, I kind of wanted the "old" back.  A special memory of Sunday mornings....in the hustle and bustle getting ready for Bible class and worship.

I flattened a can of Grands biscuits into a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.  Spread tub "Move Over Butter" over the top (a couple of tablespoons), sprinkled it with a few tablespoons of sugar.....

....and topped it with cinnamon.

The biscuit dish baked for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

For a sweet glaze, I used a cup or so of powdered sugar, a tablespoon or two of milk, and a few tablespoons of real Mexican vanilla.  Always good to use that stuff :).

I poured the glaze over the biscuit bake and served it up to my hungry boys! Only one isn't a big fan of the dish, because of it's "soft" texture.  If you have a "texture" sensitive boy or girl.....maybe just bake it a little longer to toughen up the bread.  Or, do like I did and offer him cereal :).

For an impromptu dish, it was quite a hit! The rest disappeared throughout the day....as in-between snacks and dessert. 

Pin It Now!

Banana Bread Bars

There's a recipe that's been going around Facebook for months....maybe even a year....that looks delicious!  I kept thinking I would make it some day, but haven't yet.  However, a friend did make them last week and said they were SUPER!  So, since she thought they were great, I was pretty sure I would think they were great and decided to pass it on to YOU!  You're welcome :).

I'm not sure of the original poster of this recipe, but thank you to whoever you are!!

Ingredients:

Banana Bread Bars:

1 ½ cups sugar

1 cup sour cream
½ cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 ¾ cups (3 or 4) ripe bananas, mashed
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Browned Butter Frosting:

½ cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
about 3 tablespoons milk or half and half

Instructions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour 10x15 jelly roll pan. Beat first four ingredients until creamy. Blend in bananas and vanilla for one minute. Add dry ingredients and blend for one minute. Stir in nuts and spread in pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Cool slighty until warm but not hot and frost with Browned Butter Frosting (recipe below).

For the Browned Butter Frosting:

Heat butter in saucepan over medium heat past the melting point until it is boiling and a delicate brown. Remove from the heat and immediately add the remaining ingredients. This should be thicker than a glaze and thinner than frosting. Using a spatula smooth over the top of the Monkey Squares immediately. The frosting will be easier to spread once it's on the warm bread.
Pin It Now!

Big Buttery Biscuits

This recipe originally came from the J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits recipe I have posted on here from Allrecipes.com.  It's a great recipe.  However, every time I made it, I needed to reduce the milk in it and the last time I made them....a few days ago....I didn't have any shortening, so used butter.  We all liked them even better!  So, here is my new recipe - with less milk, butter, and also I use more sugar than he originally had.  This recipe is a double batch, so makes about 18 biscuits.

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons white sugar
2/3 cup butter
1 1/2 cup milk (Adjust as needed - may need a little less or a little more.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.  Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

Pin It Now!

Biscuit Pancakes - Well, of Course!

Monday morning I decided to make my kiddos a big breakfast with homemade biscuits.  I don't make a "big" one that often, so they were really excited! Well, it became the biggest disaster!  The bottom element on my oven went out while the biscuits were in the oven, so I ended up cooking some in a little toaster oven. 

I decided to cook the rest of the biscuits like a pancake - but in butter. They were really good!  However, the gravy that I tried to make with almond milk (because I ran out of regular milk), was not!  Maybe it could be, but it sure wasn't that day!

My husband fixed the oven. It ended up not being the element, but just a problem with the wires. I can't imagine why since the oven is as old as I am!! Haha!  Anyway, a few days later I made biscuits again....and they turned out well.  Really well!  YAY!  (Recipe is on here: JP's Big Daddy Biscuits.  Or search for them on allrecipes.com.)

Pin It Now!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

This recipe is from "Texas Recipes"...a group on Facebook.  THESE WERE DELICIOUS!!!  Mine weren't as pretty as this picture, but I'm pretty sure it's because I didn't have stick butter, but a whipped buttermilk substitute.  I assure you that as long as they taste good, no one will care what they look like - unless you're at a food show or restaurant (maybe)!!  It was voted on by their followers to be the "Most Popular Recipe of 2012".  I know why!
Pancakes:
4 cups all-purpose flour
8 tsps baking powder
2 tsp. salt
4 cups milk
4 tbsps vegetable oil
4 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cinnamon Filling
1 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Cream Cheese Glaze
1/2 cup butter
4 oz. cream cheese
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

To make the Cinnamon Filling:
Mix the three ingredients together. Place in a disposable piping bag and snip the end off or put in a Ziploc bag and snip the corner off.


To make the Pancakes:
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl. Stir them together until everything is moistened leaving a few lumps.

Heat your griddle to exactly 325 degrees. You don't want these too cook too quickly, and you won't want your cinnamon to burn.

Make desired size pancake on greased griddle and then using the piping bag and starting at the center of the pancake, create a cinnamon swirl. Wait until the pancake has lots of bubble before you try to turn it. You will find that when you turn it the cinnamon swirl will melt. The cinnamon will melt out and create the craters which the cream cheese glaze will fill.

To make the Cream Cheese Glaze:
In a microwave safe bowl melt the butter and cream cheese and then stir together. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a little milk if needed to make
it a glaze consistency.
Place pancake on plate, then cover with cream cheese glaze.
Pin It Now!

Pumpkin Pancakes with Caramel-Pecan Sauce

(*Note - This is a post from a few years ago.  I'm posting it again because they sound really, really good!  Too bad I already ate Cherrios :(.  Ha ha!)

This weekend I attended the 30th Annual Ladies' Fall Retreat at Quartz Mountain Christian Camp near Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. Now, when you think of camp food, many of you might not think of "good" food; however, at QMCC, the food for the ladies' retreat isn't just good - it's great!

For breakfast this morning there were four choices of pancakes: plain, chocolate chip (or maybe M & M), blueberry, and pumpkin. There was regular syrup available, plus blueberry syrup, and then a special caramel pecan sauce. That caramel pecan sauce was sooooo good on top of the pumpkin pancakes.

PUMPKIN PANCAKES
2 cups Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix (my favorite brand!)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 cups cold water
1/2 cup canned pumpkin

In medium bowl, stir together pancake mix, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice. Add water and canned pumpkin. Stir with a whisk until blended. Pour slightly less than ¼ cup batter per pancake onto lightly greased and preheated 375°F griddle (medium heat). Cook 1-1 ¼ minutes per side, turning only once.

CARAMEL-PECAN SAUCE
1 cup caramel topping
1 cup shredded coconut (optional)
1 cup pecans (roasted, if desired)
a splash of milk

In a small saucepan on medium heat, toast nuts and coconut until lightly browned. Stir in caramel. Bring back to a simmer, remove from heat and add milk while stirring. Let sit while you make the pancakes and the sauce will thicken a bit.

I asked the "chefs" about the pancakes and they told me the ingredients. I found this recipe on the Krusteaz website to share with you. I didn't even notice the coconut in the sauce and others didn't either. In fact, many of us were surprised that it was even there! It would be fine to leave it out if you didn't want to use it. Enjoy!


Pin It Now!

Breakfast Pitas

Posted by Lori:

This morning I tried something new for breakfast for the kids.  I scrambled eggs, added some chopped up already-cooked bacon, and a little bit of cheddar cheese....and filled 1/2 of a whole wheat-flax pita pocket with the mixture.

The Breakfast Pita was a big hit with all of them, except the youngest who doesn't like eggs.  As I displayed them on the little plates and began serving them, the oldest son said, "Mom, this looks like something from a fancy restaurant!".  I'd say this new breakfast was a success!  Hooray!
Pin It Now!

Back to School Breakfast Ideas

Posted by Lori:

Every year, on the first day of school, our PTO provides breakfast for the school.  We are a small school, with three main buildings for grades K-12 all on one campus, so the breakfast is taken to those three places.  This year I had many who volunteered to help with the breakfast!  The teachers and staff are always very appreciative of the meal and snack on it during the day, as well.

The PTO also serves breakfast at the end of school, during Teacher Appreciation Week.

I thought I would share with you some of the items I have made in the past for the meal.  This year I just handled the parfaits because my oven element was out!  Not great timing, but better than Thanksgiving when it went out before :).

Breakfast Pizza
Back to School Breakfast Dish
Bisquick Breakfast Pizza
Cinnamon Biscuit Muffins
Very Berry Breakfast Parfait
J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits
Breakfast Muffin Cups

Other items that are often brought for the meal: donuts, cinnamon rolls, muffins, juice, fruit.

I thought I had posted another parfait, but apparently haven't yet.  Layer vanilla yogurt, granola (our Walmart stores sell a Canadian Valley Honey & Oat granola that is great), blueberries, and strawberries.  It is a favorite of the teachers, and I actually just tried to copy the yogurt parfaits that McDonald's sells.

The breakfast casseroles are also something I usually make for my own children on the first day back to school.  It's not something I want them to eat all of the time, but just ever so often as a special morning treat to tie them over until lunch time.

What do you serve for "Back to School"?
Pin It Now!

Special Ingredient Pancakes

Posted by Lori:

While we were at camp this summer, I told my brother-in-law, Ken, that the best pancakes I had ever eaten were some he had made for our youth group trip to Colorado nine years ago.  I assumed it was because they were cooked on an open fire and also because he used Krusteaz brand pancake mix.  When I mentioned that mix, he replied, "Oh, no! I wouldn't ever have "just" used a pancake mix.  I would have added something else to it."  I was thinking....."well, of COURSE he would have! (ha ha.....because everything he makes is delicious and never just "normal". :)

So.....here's his special recipe, just for YOU:

1 cup pancake mix
1/4 cup yellow cake mix

Make pancakes as directed on package and enjoy!!  How easy is that?!

Thanks, Ken!
Pin It Now!

Crepes

Posted by Lori:

We celebrated one of my son's 16th birthday Friday night and had a lot of family members and friends come for the event.  A few stayed until Saturday.....my parents and Caleb.  Caleb asked if he could make crepes for us for Saturday morning.  Of course we said yes!  We always welcome anyone who would like to cook for us! :)  I think I may have made crepes once.....in high school home ec class, but that's been a looooonnnngggg time!

The crepes were DELICIOUS!!  The whole family agreed!

Crepes

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

1/4 t. salt

2 tablespoons butter 

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs.  Gradually add in the milk and water stirring to combine.  Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat.  Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle using approximately 1/2 cup for each crepe.  Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes until the bottom is light brown.  Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side.  Serve hot with desired fillings.

For fillings, we had Nutella, strawberries, kiwi, bananas, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and whipped topping. My daughter got the fillings ready to go in the crepes, then enjoyed making a few of them to show you (and for us to eat).

This is before rolling up the crepe like a taco or enchilada.  Such an elegant, but easy recipe!

Not sure this one was able to roll up, but it sure is pretty!

And finally, my daughter thought it would be neat to make cut-out shapes with the crepes.  See the two stars at the front of the plate.  A red, white and blue (with Nutella drizzled across the top) for a Patriotic crepe.

Thanks for the great recipe, Caleb!  

Pin It Now!

Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

Posted by Lori:


I'm posting this because my father-in-law was the BEST cinnamon roll maker in our family.  He passed away last Thursday and so I made these for the family.  They're not homemade and can in NO WAY compare to his, but they're a pretty good substitute.....and a lot less work, for sure.  (To read my devotional blog post about Charlie, please read HERE.)

Our traditional Sunday morning breakfast (for the kids, anyway) is cinnamon rolls. However, up until this point they've been the canned variety. It's just a quick breakfast before we head out the door for Bible class and worship. This recipe for "Yummy Cinnamon Rolls" was sent to me by Mom several months ago. She got it in an email from a friend. I forgot about the recipe until a few days ago when I was cleaning out my email inbox and found it. I decided to try them and they were great! In fact, we may say "good-bye" to canned cinnamon rolls forever!

YUMMY CINNAMON ROLLS

1 package Rhodes Cinnamon Rolls (discard icing or find another use for it...maybe just eat it - ha ha!)
1 stick of real butter
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
Nuts, if desired

Combine butter, ice cream, sugar and brown sugar in pan and bring to a boil. Let cool. Put cinnamon rolls in 9 X 13 baking pan and pour mixture over the rolls. Put in cold oven overnight and let rise. In the morning preheat oven to 325 degrees (remove rolls before preheating!) Bake for 30 minutes. Serve from pan or invert on serving tray.

I've made homemade cinnamon rolls, but only do it a few times a year. My father-in-law is the cinnamon roll expert in my family! I'm grateful for this new Sunday morning YUMMY CINNAMON ROLL recipe. It's easy and delicious!

Pin It Now!

Breakfast Pizza

Posted by Lori:
Breakfast pizza is one of my kid's favorite breakfast dishes. It's quick and easy, but very filling.

BREAKFAST PIZZA

1 can Grands biscuits
1 t. butter or margarine
8 eggs 
1/4 cup milk
Salt, if desired
10 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (I like to use the already cooked bacon slices for this recipe because it's so convenient)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Grease 15 inch pizza pan. Flatten each biscuit and place on pizza pan, sealing the seams to create the pizza crust. Melt butter in skillet with medium-high heat. Scramble eggs with milk and salt (I do one "shake" per 2 eggs) until done. Spread eggs evenly on top of biscuit crust. Top with crumbled bacon and cheddar cheese. Cook at 375 degrees for 20 minutes or until edge of crust is slightly browned.

This recipe can easily be adapted according to what your family likes. You and your family might like adding green chilies or onions to the eggs while cooking. Maybe you would like mushrooms or bell peppers as a topping. My kiddos like it fairly plain.

I usually use bacon as the meat topping, but you can use ham or sausage. I take this pizza to the teachers and school staff during Teacher Appreciation Week and on the first day of school breakfast our PTO serves each year. It's interesting that the bacon pizza is consistantly the most popular each time. 

Pin It Now!