When Mother Nature Gives You Snow, Bake Bread

All this cold weather makes me crave warm, comforting foods. Lately I've been craving a quick bread of some sort. I didn't have enough bananas, so banana bread was out. I really didn't want applesauce bread nor did I want to shred carrots for carrot bread. I was looking through Quick Bread Winners from Betty Crocker that Anj had given me when I found Glazed Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf. I didn't want any glaze, but the loaf alone sounded good. Plus it uses basic ingredients. Well, almost basic. It calls for buttermilk baking mix (aka Bisquick), but you can make your own. I honestly think you don't need the extra sugar and calories from the glaze, but I'll attach the recipe for those who have a really sweet tooth. It calls for raisins, but feel free to use nuts. I was going to use walnuts, but I forgot.

Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf



3 cups buttermilk baking mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins or nuts

Glaze (optional)
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp butter
3/4 tsp vanilla
2-3 tsp hot water

1. Heat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan.

2. Beat baking mix, sugar, flour, egg, and milk on low speed of mixer 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in raisins/nuts. In a separate bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon. Pour 1/3 of the batter (2/3 cup) into pan. Sprinkle layer with 3 Tbsp cinnamon mixture. Repeat 2 more times.

3. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool completely before drizzling with glaze.

4. Glaze: Beat sugar, butter, vanilla, and water until smooth consistency. Drizzle on bread when cool.

Source: Quick Bread Winners from Betty Crocker, 1985 p.61

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Bundt Pans - Not Just For Dessert

I love my bundt pan, but I hardly use it. When I came across two recipes by Bisquick, I had to make them during Christmas break. The best part is that they are dinner recipes. Score! So far, I only made the Hidden Sloppy Joes. The variation is called Hidden Reuben, so maybe I'll try that when I'm on spring break. The original recipe called for condensed chicken gumbo soup, but canned soup is unhealthy, so I searched Recipe Zaar and adjusted the filling a bit. The filling was so amazing, I'm never going to use Manwich again! The filling is a tad on the sweet side (in a good way), so if you are oversensitive to sweet stuff (like my mom), you may not enjoy it as much.

In case you seem a bit disoriented, the "cake" in the picture is flat-side up. It rolled over on its side and wouldn't stay LOL

Hidden Sloppy Joes




1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp prepared mustard
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp vinegar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cups baking mix, such as Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp butter, softened
2 eggs

1. Cook and stir ground beef, onion, and garlic until beef is brown; drain grease. Pat down beef to remove remaining grease. Stir in ketchup, mustard, sugar, vinegar, and Worcestershire sauce. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

2. Heat oven to 375F. Grease bundt cake pan. Mix baking mix, milk, butter, and eggs. Beat 30 seconds. Spread 2 cups of batter in bottom and up sides and center of pan. Spoon beef mixture onto center of batter. Drop remaining batter about 1/2 inch apart on top. Bake until light brown and firm, 25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes; then invert onto serving plate.

Makes 6-8 servings (depending on how big you cut the pieces)

Source: "The Best of Bisquick from Betty Crocker," 1983 p. 16

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A Nice, Warm Breakfast

What better way to start a snowy, weekend morning than with a warm breakfast? I decided these past two weekends, I would make pancakes. I've never made pancakes before *gasp* My family usually buys the frozen kind, and if we were to make them homemade, my dad would make them. Just like I never learned how to make scrambled eggs (I don't like egg yolk, so I would never make them for myself anyway). I used the recipe on the back of the Bisquick box (which I bought on sale with a coupon for $1) and made eight pancakes each time (to last me all weekend). For those of who not familiar with Bisquick, it's pancake and baking mix in a box. It's typically made up of dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, etc.

The first weekend, I made chocolate chip pancakes. So good you don't need to add butter or syrup. Two things I learned - always make sure your burner is level (3 out of 4 are crooked on our stove) and never, EVER put water in the hot skillet right after the last pancake is finished. I always do that everytime I make dinner so it is easier clean up later. Let's just say there was so much steam/smoke I was this close to setting off the smoke alarm *cough* I posted below Bisquick's recipe. When I run out of Bisquick, I'll be looking at pancakes totally from scratch.

The second weekend (yesterday) I made gingerbread pancakes. I've been craving gingerbread ever since the holiday season started. I didn't think these had enough gingerbread flavor, but then again I didn't have cloves to add. If I can find a reasonably-priced bottle of cloves, I'll have to try this recipe again. If you make this with cloves, let me know how it tastes.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes




1 cup Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips (feel free to use nuts, raisins, blueberries, etc.)

In a bowl, mix together Bisquick, milk, and egg. Fold in chocolate chips. In a heated skillet, pour 1/4 cup batter in a circular motion. Pancake is ready to flip when bubbles form on the surface. Repeat until batter is gone. Makes 8 pancakes.

Source: Back of Bisquick box


Gingerbread Pancakes




2/3 tablespoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup Bisquick
1/8 cup molasses
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
Powdered sugar, for dusting

In a bowl, mix together Bisquick and spices. Add milk, molasses, and egg. Let chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes. In a heated skillet, pour 1/4 cup batter in a circular motion. Pancake is ready to flip when bubbles form on the surface. Repeat until batter is gone. Dust with powdered sugar. Makes 8 pancakes.

Source: Recipe Zaar

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