There’s nothing I love more than waking up in the morning knowing that I have something delicious waiting in the kitchen for breakfast. After a week filled with oatmeal and cereal, I wanted something else to start my day. I decided to make a Blueberry-Lemon Bread figuring it was just what I needed. Simple, tasty, slather it with some melted butter and enjoy a cup of tea and it’s the perfect start to any day, in my book. Plus, I just love the blueberry/lemon combo!

Blueberry-Lemon Bread (makes 1 loaf)

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• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• zest from 1 medium lemon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1.5 cups fresh blueberries
• 1 packet of Sugar in the Raw (for topping, optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) combine eggs and sugar. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk gently until all ingredients are nicely incorporated.

In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking powder. Now, in batches, slowly begin to incorporate the flour mixture into the egg mixture, making sure to blend between each pour.

Lightly toss the blueberries in flour to prevent them from sinking while they bread bakes.

And carefully fold them, using a spatula, into the batter.

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan (5×12 works). I topped the batter with a packet of raw sugar just to add some extra crunch and texture to the top of the bread.

Bake for an hour or until the bread is nicely browned or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I love a simple baked good, especially for breakfast. And this would also be a great bread to wrap up all pretty to bring if you’re someone’s house guest or to just have around your own house if you have people visiting. It’s so quick. It took only about 15 minutes to prep, then just baking time. Plus, my apartment smelled like pure delight. I couldn’t help myself and had three slices with butter right when it came out of the oven. Ooof.

Speaking of delicious baked goods. A couple weeks ago, while I was at Paper Source, I met a gentleman named Carltaro, the owner of Baby Sistah Cookies. This chance encounter pretty much happened based on the simple fact that I’m just nosy. I saw Carltaro and his wife looking at treat bags and ribbon, so naturally I asked what they were working on. He ended up telling me all about his company, how people can order them from his website, what types of cookies he bakes, etc.

The next part of the conversation is where I obviously got excited. He asked me if he could bring me some of these special treats to try out. Long story short, I was out to dinner with my friend Rebecca last weekend, when I saw that he emailed me about dropping the cookies off. I wrote back, said I was at dinner in Washington Square, and about 40 minutes later, he appeared at the restaurant with a bag filled with cookies. Definitely a “You know you’re a food blogger when…” kind of moment. He baked me a special nut-free batch and another batch for Sues. He even made us each our own sweet potato cookie that had a delicious frosting on top. It was more like a cake. And I loved it. It reminded me of my grandmother’s sweet potato pie, which struck a cord and brought back all kinds of memories

There was also a lemon glazed shortbread cookie with a creamy lemon icing that I couldn’t walk away from and the ginger molasses cookies are my new everything!

The “motto” of the company is “gourmet taste with a family touch”. These cookies aren’t pretentious. They taste real but fantastically homemade which, to me, is the whole appeal!

For the Boston readers, word on the street is these cookies are on sale at the newish Render Coffee Bar in the South End! For all of you out-of-towners, you can purchase the cookies online at www.babysistahcookies.com.

[Chels]

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I enjoy cinnamon buns so much that I often fear I will turn into a cinnamon bun. Which obviously wouldn’t be a good thing. Especially since I need to fit into a wedding dress in approximately 5.5 months. But during the holidays, we don’t count calories and we indulge to the fullest extent. Or maybe that’s just me. Then again, I also count shopping as one of the best kinds of exercise (you’ve got power walking for cardio and bag-holding for strength training). Anyway, all of this especially holds true ON Christmas. As a blogger, however, I’m required to develop the recipes well before the actual Christmas holiday. And due to my moral values, I cannot let food go to waste.

Ever since I made the Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning a couple years ago, they have become the epitome of Christmas to me. But this year, I wanted to try something a little different. A little more Christmassy, if you will. I feel like the name of these may be a bit deceiving… After all they don’t look like gingerbread. But ginger rolls? That just doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it? The gingery zing to these will truly put you in the holiday spirit… And the butter and sugar will make your day even brighter. You’re welcome.

Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls (makes about 16 rolls):
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• 2 C whole milk
• 1/2 C vegetable/canola oil
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 packet yeast (2 1/4 t)
• 4 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 T salt
• 1/2 t ground ginger

Filling:

• 1 1/2 sticks butter
• 1 C brown sugar
• 2 T ground ginger
• 1/4 C white sugar

(Eggnog glaze recipe below)

(pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)

Start by heating the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Let it get hot, but don’t let it boil. Then take the pot off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Pour the mixture into a large bowl and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let sit for one minute.

Add 4 cups of flour and mix together until just combined.

Then cover with a dishtowel, sit in a warm spot, and let rise for about an hour.

Remove the towel and add baking powder, baking soda, salt, 1/2 t ginger, and remaining 1/2 cup of flour.

Stir to combine.

If you’re tired and want to go to bed… Or need to go out and finish your Christmas shopping, you can stick this dough in the fridge for up to 3 days. And if you haven’t started your Christmas shopping, you only have about 3 days to go, so you might need to do just that.

Otherwise you can start rolling the dough out now.

Roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 24×12 inches. If you don’t have that much space, you can always cut the dough into two halves and do this in two batches.

Melt your 1 1/2 sticks butter and pour almost all of it over the dough (saving about 1/4 C). You will make a mess. The butter will flow onto the floor. But there are worse problems to have in life. Like the fact that you haven’t started your Christmas shopping yet.

Now, generously sprinkle the brown sugar, white sugar, and ground ginger over the butter.

Time to roll the dough! Start at the end farthest from you and roll the dough tightly toward you. Pinch seams together.

Cut the dough into 1 1/2-inch slices with a sharp knife.

You’ll likely need 2 baking dishes for these rolls. Be careful not to overcrowd the dishes. Pour the remaining butter on the bottom of the dishes.

Now, cover the dishes with a dish towel and wait for them to rise AGAIN. But this time only for 20 minutes.

See how they already rose a bit and moved closer together?

Pop them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

While the rolls are in the oven, whip up your eggnog glaze.

Eggnog Glaze:

• 1/2 C eggnog
• 1 C powdered sugar

Whisk the eggnog and the powdered sugar together. And it’s done!

Take your beautiful gingerbread rolls out of the oven.

Pour the eggnog glaze over the top. And indulge!

Almost just like a cinnamon roll… But gingery!

Perhaps you prefer your gingerbread in the shape of tiny men. But I think rolled up with lots of butter and sugar in pastry form is better than any little man you’ll ever find. Let’s face it- these are basically cinnamon rolls with a ginger zing instead of the cinnamon. Yum!

I’m a ginger fiend, so I can see myself making these any time of year. But… I’m trying not to. Mainly because of that wedding dress issue. But once I’m through with June, it’s gingerbread rolls all day every day! Just kidding… Kind of

But for this week, indulge. After all, Christmas only comes once a year. And your family and friends will absolutely love you if you serve these up for breakfast on December 25. Maybe with a side of bacon.

What do you have for breakfast on Christmas morning?

[Sues]

When you get an extra hour on a Sunday, what do you do with it? Make brunch, of course. And then quickly realize that that extra hour is most definitely not worth the fact that it’s now pitch black out at 4:00 p.m. The least they could do is give us an extra hour every weekend until spring. Unfortunately, I suppose that has the potential to mess the days and the nights up big time. Oh well, at least you can get a brunch out of it.

The fact that my grocery store now sells Cabot Vanilla Greek Yogurt makes me insanely happy. And when it’s on sale, I’m even more giddy. I could easily incorporate it into every meal of the day and knew I had to try to utilize it in my pancakes for Sunday brunch. I was going to make banana pancakes but wasn’t sure how the bananas would react with the yogurt, so I decided to make a maple banana sauce to pour over the pancakes instead.

Vanilla Yogurt Pancakes with Banana Maple Sauce (serves 2-3):
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• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 C vanilla Greek yogurt (I used Cabot’s low fat)
• 1/4 C skim milk
• 1 T butter
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 1/3 C maple syrup

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, egg and milk.

Now, pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir.

Using about 1/4 C of batter for each pancake, spoon batter onto a griddle or frying pan over medium heat. Cook for about a minute before flipping over and cooking until pancake starts to brown.

Repeat with all the batter.

While the pancakes are cooking, start on the banana maple sauce.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the bananas in. cook for about 2-3 minutes, until they start browning.

Pour in the maple syrup and boil for 2 more minutes, until the mixture thickens.

My mixture may have thickened a bit too much and the banana maple sauce didn’t have quite the pretty picture effect I was hoping for.

But that’s OK, because it was still delicious! Serve the pancakes in a stack with banana maple sauce poured over the top.

The pancakes made with Greek yogurt were definitely dense pancakes, so don’t make these if you only like light and airy! I loved them because they were cakey and moist and very, very filling. I also loved that I didn’t need to add any sugar because the flavor of the vanilla Cabot was so perfect.

And the banana maple sauce added the most wonderful touch of caramelized mapley sweetness. Perfect for a cool and sunny fall morning when you have an extra hour you just don’t know what to do with. Not that I’m exactly lacking on finding things to do with my weekends. Le sigh, could I have 5 more days off to get everything done, please?

Really, I’d so much rather be brunching than getting another hour of sleep, anyway.

In other completely awesome news, congratulations to one of our favorite people in the world (and one of my bridesmaids!), Katie, on her engagement! I’m pretty sure I yelled in the grocery store when she called me and I’m so incredibly excited for her and Paul to get married. I love love!! Especially when it’s between two completely genuine, amazing people.

What did you do with your extra hour? Or did you barely notice it at all?

[Sues]

I did a ‘lil Google search and it appears David Lebovitz has had the same cake vs. bread confusion. Now I don’t feel so bad. Why is it called banana bread when really, come on, we all know it’s cake?

So, yes I guess I’d have to call this a sandwich bread. But I don’t recommend making a sandwich out of it, unless that sandwich is peanut butter, fluff, butter, jelly, or Nutella. Turkey and mayo wouldn’t be so hot. Though, perhaps you’d beg to differ.

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bread (makes 2 loaves):
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• 5 1/2 – 6 1/2 C all-purpose flour (you could use half whole wheat if you want)
• 1 1/2 T yeast  
• 2 T sugar
• 1 T cinnamon
• 2 eggs (lightly beaten), plus 1 egg for egg wash
• 2 C warm water
• 1 1/2 T vegetable or canola oil, plus 2 t
• 2 t salt
• 1 1/2 C chocolate chips

(Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees)

I decided to use the Nestle dark chocolate chips we got in our swag bags at BlogHer Food. Because what’s the only thing better than chocolate? Dark chocolate.

And of course my very favorite cinnamon IN THE WORLD from Penzeys. You really can taste the difference.

Combine two cups of the flour, yeast, sugar, and cinnamon in a medium bowl (I did this all in the bowl of my stand mixer).

And whisk together.

Add the eggs, water, and 1.5 T oil, and beat well. Let sit for a few minutes, so the yeast can activate (unless your yeast is instant).

Now add in the salt and remaining flour. I started by adding 5 1/2 C of flour. As I kneaded it, I determined that I needed more (it was super sticky), so kept adding more in. I used almost 6 1/2 C total.

Using the dough hook on your mixer, knead the dough for about 7-10 minutes. If you don’t have a mixer, lightly flour a surface and use your hands to knead. While the dough is kneading, add in the chocolate chips.

Now, place your dough in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a dishcloth and put in a warm location for about an hour, or until doubled in size.

Ooh lala. There’s nothing like the site of dough rising. It seriously NEVER gets old for me.

I realized that whenever I’m waiting for dough to rise, I think about this book:

I mentioned it on Twitter today and only one person responded to me. Leading me to believe not everyone read the Amelia Bedelia books?? Or else, I’m the only one who was so obsessed with them that I practically have them memorized. But you see, Amelia Bedelia took everything literally. So when she got instructions to let the dough rise, she tied it to the light with string and rose it to the ceiling. What? When you’re six, that’s awesomely funny. Still kind of is.

Anyway, put a teaspoon of remaining oil in each of your loaf pans. And divide the dough into two portions and fit into the pans.

I made one loaf in my Farberware baking pan and another in my Le Creuset stoneware loaf pan that Chels got me for my birthday. Love it!

Cut a few slits across the top of the dough with a sharp knife and cover again. Let rise for another hour and your dough should double in size again.

Woo hoo!

Now, brush the tops with an egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten).

And pop in the oven to bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Your house will smell like cinnamon and you’ll realize once again that homemade bread is so much more rewarding than storebought.

Thank goodness I’m smarter than Amelia Bedelia and figured out how to make bread rise

The bread ended up being nice and crusty just like I wanted. And I’ve done enough experimentation now to know that it goes perfectly well with both peanut butter and butter smeared across the top. Trust me, LOTS of experimentation was involved.

Technically, you don’t need to put anything on this bread. It has the slight hint of cinnamon with the delightfully sharp bite of dark chocolate scattered throughout. When you toast the bread, the chocolate chips melt a bit, making it absolutely decadent.

But it’s still bread. Not cake. Really.

Of course, the great thing about making two loaves is that you can freeze one and chow down on the other right away.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the cinnamon raisin combination. But chocolate and raisin? Way better.

Scarlet Threads Giveaway Winner!

The winner of our Scarlet Threads apron giveaway is Susan from Savoring Thyme in the Kitchen. Congrats, Susan, and I’ll contact you ASAP, so Lexi can send your apron right out

What would you call chocolate chip bread that’s actual bread and not cake? I want all your insight!

[Sues]

The other day while I was working, I got to talking to the newest member of the team, Katrina. We were discussing breakfast food and she started to talk about this great mango chicken sausage omelet she made for breakfast recently. Nosy little me obviously had to ask 23 questions about said omelet so I could get a vivid picture of it and make my own version If you’re not familiar with Trader Joe’s mango chicken sausage, get familiar with it! Because this in an omelet is what dreams are made of. Especially on a Sunday following the best concert of my life. More on the concert later today!

Mango Chicken Sausage Omelet (Serves 2)
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• 4 eggs, whisked
• 2 mango chicken sausages, casings removed
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• potato, I used Trader Joe’s “teeny tiny” potatoes and used a handful, sliced
• 2 tablespoons chives, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Heat olive oil in large pan and saute sausage, crumbling it into smaller bits using a spatula. Cook until browned, about 6 minutes then transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Now, add potato, red pepper, and onion to the pan. Add some more olive oil if you think it’s needed, too! Season with salt and pepper.

Transfer potato mixture to a bowl and mix in the crumbled sausage.

Add this mixture directly to your whisked eggs and gently combine all.

Now, I’m no omelet expert. At all. So I always end up sort of guessing my way through. Sometimes the omelet breaks in half (or fifths!), sometimes it looks like a hot mess, but one thing I can guarantee is that, looks aside, they most definitely always taste good. And I’m not serving them to the Queen so I guess in my case, taste is what matters One thing I do knows is that it takes some time to perfect an omelet.

Pour half of the egg mixture into a lightly oiled skillet, and sprinkle in some chives and some sharp cheddar cheese. Cook, lifting edges to allow the uncooked egg run underneath. Continue to gently shake skillet to prevent the egg from sticking. Repeat with remaining egg mixture to prepare the second omelet.

Fold omelet and serve. I enjoy my omelets a little bit runny on the inside and nicely browned on the outside.

I served them with bacon, a side of fresh blueberries, and a glass of orange juice.

There’s nothing better than a quick and hearty weekend breakfast. The mango sausage in an omelet was such a great idea especially when since it’s covered in ooey gooey cheddar cheese and crunchy peppers and onions.

And every Sunday deserves this kind of breakfast!

What’s your ideal Sunday breakfast?

[Chels]

If you know me, you know I have a special place in my heart for s’mores. Really, I do. I think it’s one of the best flavor combinations in the world and I would love to recreate those flavors a million different ways. When the idea of s’mores pancakes crossed my mind, I realized it could be pretty perfect. Graham cracker pancakes, marshmallow fluff, and chocolate sauce. Simple, yet beyond satisfying.

I made my own marshmallow fluff for this recipe because a) it’s the easiest thing ever and b) store-bought Fluff scares me. I’m totally going to be one of those moms who lets their kids eat junk food, but only if it’s junk food I make myself. They’ll be like “mommy, can I have an Oreo cookie?” And I’ll be all, “Sure, honey; just give me an hour in the kitchen and your Oreo cookie will be ready.” But at least we’ll always have marshmallow fluff in the refrigerator. Yes, refrigerator because it doesn’t have all those shelf-stable preservatives that the store-bought stuff has.

S’mores Pancakes (serves 2 hungry or greedy people):
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Marshmallow fluff:

• 2 egg whites
• 1 C corn syrup
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1 T vanilla
• 1/4 t cream of tartar

Because I’ve made marshmallows before, I knew I could make fluff. Because really, all marshmallows are are fluff with gelatin. Making the fluff is a lot easier and less messy than going all the way with the marshmallow (you know what I mean).

In the bowl of a standing mixture beat together the egg whites, corn syrup, and salt on high speed for 4-5 minutes until it thickens quite a bit. Your mixture will have started clear, but after beating, it will turn bright white… like fluff!

Now, simply mix in the powdered sugar, vanilla, and cream of tartar on low speed, until combined.

See? Easy. And it looks exactly like what you’d buy in the store.

You can make this ahead of time and pop it in the fridge. It should stay fine in your fridge for about 10 days and if you’re making it for these pancakes, you’ll have a couple cups extra, for lots of peanut butter and fluff sandwiches. Or just plain fluff on everything.

Next, I started making the graham cracker pancakes. Which are basically the same as regular pancakes, but with graham cracker crumbs.

Graham Cracker Pancakes:

• 1 C flour
• 1 T sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 3/4 C graham cracker crumbs (about 8 crackers)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 T butter, melted
• 1 1/4 C milk (I used light vanilla soy, but any kind should do)

Take about 8 graham crackers, put them in a plastic bag, and whack them with something like a meat tenderizer, until they’re in fine crumbs.

Now, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and graham cracker crumbs until well combined.

Add whisked egg, melted butter, and milk into the flour mixture and mix until blended.

Heat a griddle or pan at medium heat and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Pour a couple tablespoons of batter onto the griddle and let cook about a minute on each side.

They’ll be pretty light and fluffy, thought the graham crackers give them a little extra denseness.

And well, if you’re going to make s’mores (in any form) you need chocolate. I made a super simple sauce with a Hershey’s bar because if you’re making s’mores, you need to use Hershey’s chocolate.

Chocolate topping:

• 1 bar Hershey’s Milk Chocolate

Just break the chocolate up and put the chocolate in a double broiler (or in a saucepan over another saucepan of boiling water) and stir it until melted.

Really, my photos aren’t all that pretty. And I probably should have made these pancakes a second time before posting about them. But, to be honest, these pancakes are a once a year sort of meal. As tasty as they were, they’re as decadent as anything and after eating a plate-full, the pancakes and I need a little time apart. I think they understand

You can arrange these any way you want. I started by spreading the marshmallow fluff on the top of one pancake.

Then I put the second pancake on top.

I put a little chocolate sauce on top of that.

And then repeated, with another pancake, more fluff, a fourth pancake, and more chocolate. It’s messy. But a beautiful sort of mess.

I was going to put a fifth pancake on top to sandwich the whole shebang together, but frankly, it had to end somewhere. And I think that somewhere was here.

I think Chris thought I was crazy for serving graham cracker pancakes covered in marshmallow and chocolate for dinner, but he didn’t try to stop me. We’ve both had rough weeks, we haven’t been able to get to the grocery store, and a little chocolate and fluff has never hurt a soul. If anything, it helped us. In fact, I think we’re both a little happier this morning.

And when I saw Chris take a bite of the Hershey’s chocolate bar I left on the plate for decoration, I knew I was totally justified in my dinner choice. There is never enough chocolate.

Make these for brunch or dinner or simply for the best afternoon snack ever.

They’ll cure a bad day or simply a bad second and make you feel like a kid again. Bonus points for the fact that you don’t even need a campfire or marshmallow roasting stick to make them.

Speaking of, have you ever seen this video of Martha Stewart making marshmallow roasting sticks? Watch it. It’s fantastically wonderful.

What’s your favorite not-really-dinner meal to have for dinner?

[Sues]

It’s true. Ever since I started drinking coffee in high school (yes, I was an early adopter!), I’ve been drinking it black. Why? Because that’s how mom and dad always did it. Drinking coffee black means that the coffee needs to be good coffee because I don’t use cream or sugar to cover up the taste. I’ve always been a fan of Stabucks, but never order their flavored coffees because I can’t stand the sickeningly sweet syrups. But now? Starbucks has a line of Natural Fusions coffees. The natural ingredients are ground right in. Have you tried them yet?

When I was asked if I wanted to host a Mother’s Day brunch with Natural Fusions coffee, I jumped at the chance. They sent me plenty of samples of their Natural Fusions flavors in caramel, cinnamon, and vanilla and believe me, I tried them all! I’m a major coffee fiend.

The whole family came to my apartment for Mother’s Day brunch and my sister and I prepared a delicious spread. When the guests arrived at my apartment, we served cups of Starbucks Natural Fusions caramel coffee.

Caramel is a coffee flavor I’m not used to having and I loved the subtle hints of flavor without being over-powering. Everyone else was raving about it, too. By the way, my entire family drinks coffee black now. Including my sister’s husband and my fiance. It’s contagious

I’m that girl at brunch who has a ton of glasses in front of me. I need my coffee, a glass of water and, of course, a cocktail! My mom loves St-Germain, so my sister and I decided to make this Elderflower Champagne Cocktail. Great choice! Champagne to celebrate, mint for added flavor, and St-Germain to top it off with a cucumber slice on top.

For an entree we made Real Simple’s Asparagus and Soft Eggs on Toast. This dish was awesome, but upon reflection, it was a bit difficult to make for 6 people and have ready all at once… and still hot! The eggs were soft-boiled, but poached would have been much easier since peeling the shells off was a pain! Also, it was my first time making soft-boiled eggs.

Though a casserole that’s easy to put together and throw in the oven would have been easier, this certainly was delicious!

My sister made a coffee cake, with actual coffee! She used the Starbucks Natural Fusions cinnamon flavor. It was super moist and all-around awesome. Better than any typical coffee cake I’ve ever had!

And pretty, too!

If you know my family, you know we always have to have bacon at brunch! And we added in some maple sausage, too.

And, of course, a great big fruit salad.

*Some* members of my family are really hard to photograph in “normal” poses. Trust me, I tried.

I ended up making 2 huge pots of the Starbucks Natural Fusion coffee, most of which we ended up drinking before even sitting down for brunch. The 6 of us are big coffee drinkers!

The guest of honor!

Though this coffee cake was kind of like a guest of honor, too.

I can honestly say my mom and I have always had a pretty fabulous relationship. For some reason, I never really went through a rebellious stage and for the most part, we always got along. These days, I can happily say my mom is one of my very best friends!

I feel so lucky to have my family living so close in proximity…. and just plain being so close. Do we look alike?! Growing up, people seemed to either think my sister and I were twins or that we looked nothing alike.

Again, happy Mother’s Day! It was so fun having my family over for brunch to celebrate. And, of course, thank to Starbucks who provided all of the Natural Fusions coffee and compensated me for the brunch groceries. As you know, all opinions on this blog are my own and I would never say I like something just because I’m being compensated

Ooh and the day before Mother’s Day brunch, Chels and I went to visit our friend Julie and her beautiful little baby. Chels brought the rum cake and I brought these coffee cake muffins I made with the caramel Starbucks coffee. Caramel in coffee cake? Delicious!

Now for the fun part…

Giveaway!

Are you a coffee lover? If so, you NEED to try Starbucks Natural Fusions. You can buy it in stores… or you can enter our giveaway and win a prize-pack to try all three flavors of Natural Fusions. All you have to do to enter is tell me, how do you drink your coffee? Black? Cream? Sugar? I want to know!

For extra entries, tweet about our giveaway (we’re at @wearenotmartha) and/or fan us on Facebook!

Make sure you leave an extra comment for each way you enter! You have until Friday, May 13 at 11:59 p.m. to enter.

Good luck!

[Sues]

Iced Oatmeal-Applesauce Cookies (makes 2 1/2 dozen cookies)
Adapted from Martha Stewart
Print this recipe!

This is a quick one!

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup “regular” raisins

For Glaze:
• 1 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Add butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer.

Mix on a low speed until all ingredients are combined.

Add your egg and applesauce and mix until well-incorporated, about 2-3 minutes.

Next, add the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and the raisins.

Using an ice cream scoop, drop the dough onto a parchment paper-lined or greased baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes until the edges start to brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

If you’re making the glaze to go over, simply whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together and drizzle over the completely cooled cookies.

My favorite part about these? Knowing full-well that most of them will be consumed for breakfast. You know, because there’s oatmeal in them it means you can have them any time of the day. Duh! Another great idea? For dessert tonight, my roommate crumbled one of these cookies into a little bowl of Greek yogurt that she had in the FREEZER. Hello, frozen Greek yogurt, why didn’t I think of that? An idea that I am most definitely trying. And stealing.

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Since we’re on the topic of baked goods I thought now would be a great time to talk about one of the most delicious rum cakes I’ve had in a very long time. I think the last time I had one was when I was in the Bahamas a few years back and I had a Tortuga rum cake, which basically tastes like a Caribbean island in every bite. So, when we were contacted by Island Treasures Gourmet asking if we’d like to sample their Vanilla Rum Cake ($24.95), I jumped on that email so quickly I didn’t know what hit me. Free rum cake?! Sign me up, please and thank you!

This rum cake was mind-blowingly delicious. I could smell the rum as I opened the box. And I hate the word “moist” and find it only acceptable to use when describing a baked good. This cake was soooo moist it almost melted in your fingertips.

I sure as heck knew I wouldn’t be able to control myself if I had an entire rum cake sitting in my house, so I divided it in half, arranged slices on a platter, and brought it to our friend Julie’s house last Saturday to share. Whenever I talk about sharing I think of our elementary school “slogan” which was “Sharing is caring at Sanborn School!”. Still, to this day, I can’t get it out of my head.

I’m a huge fan of giving food as gifts for any occasion and with summer approaching (hopefully soon!) I think one of these rum cakes would be perfect to bring as a hostess gift or if you’re planning on staying at someone’s beach house as a “thank you”! They will love you and invite you over all the time. I promise.

[Chels]

Jelly doughnuts doughnuts are much easier to make than I previously thought they would be. And it was actually kind of amazing to drop them in the hot oil and see them puff up into doughnut-looking shapes. This is one of those recipes I had fun with… even though all the waiting was excruciating!

In other news, Chris and I spent an entire day cleaning our apartment (it’s not big, but man we have a lot of stuff!) and the clean kitchen has made cooking and baking so much more fun! I cleaned absolutely everything out of the cabinets and shelves and re-organized all of it. We even figured out a way to give me a whole free stretch of counter! Which will hereby be known as by dough rolling counter

We fit all the appliances into one corner and while they take up some space, it’s so worth it to me to be able to have my KitchenAid AND blender ready to use at all times.

If you lack kitchen counter space, I highly recommend a butcher block. It’s saved my life many times. Though it thinks there are households out there who actually only have four bottles of wine. Ha!

My cookbooks are now organized and half of that top shelf is stocked with tea. We have A LOT of tea. We have a bit of a tea obsession. Chris says we can’t buy more tea until we make our way through some of this, but we’ll see how long I can last without buying more…

I also cleaned out the whole pantry, so I can actually find what I’m looking for when I need it. Like those eight bags of chocolate chips.

My favorite part of the reorganization project might be that I now have a whole cabinet shelf devoted to cupcake making and decorating. Clearly an absolute necessity to me.

Sorry, I’m just a little bit proud of the new organized space And it’s so true that having open clean space makes being in the kitchen so much more enjoyable. That’s probably partly why I had such a craving to make doughnuts! So, on with them.

Just a note before I start- I used all-purpose flour and mixed it with vital wheat gluten. This makes for a more elastic dough, which is perfect for doughnuts. If you have white bread flour instead of all-purpose, you can use that and leave out the extra gluten. If you just have all-purpose flour, I think it would be OK, but the doughnut probably won’t be as chewy as you want it to be. Whole Foods has vital wheat gluten in case you’re wondering.

Jelly Doughnuts (makes 12):
Print this recipe!

• 4 C all-purpose flour
• 3 T vital wheat gluten
• 1 t salt
• 2.5 t dry active yeast (1 packet)
• 1 C lukewarm milk
• 2 T sugar
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• Vegetable oil
• 1 C seedless jelly or jam of choice (I recommend red raspberry or strawberry)
• Cinnamon and sugar for rolling doughnuts

Combine the 4 C of flour, 3 T vital wheat gluten, and salt. Whisk together.

In a small bowl, stir together the yeast, 2 T sugar, and 2 T of the lukewarm milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes, until it gets a bit foamy.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the flour mixture, yeast, and the rest of the milk. Also add the eggs and butter.

Mix the ingredients into a soft, but not sticky, dough.

Then pop your dough hook onto your mixer and knead the dough for about 2 minutes. If you don’t have a dough hook, you can put the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it until it’s smooth and elastic.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl.

Cover the bowl with a towel and place it in a warm place. Let it rise for about 2 hours.

It should just about double in size.

Now, punch down the dough and place it on a lightly floured surface, kneading a bit.

With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to be about a 1/2-inch thick. Yay for my dough rolling counter!

Cut out 3-4-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter or whatever tool you have. My largest biscuit cutter was still a bit too small, so I used a drinking glass. It worked well You might need to gather the scraps and re-roll the dough to get all the rounds you can.

Lightly flour a baking sheet and place the rounds at least a 1/2 inch apart.

Cover with a towel and let them rest in a warm place for about 20 minutes, to rise a bit more.

Now you’re ready to heat your oil!

Heat about 2-3 inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees.

Put a couple of the rounds in at a time and fry on each side for about 2 minutes, until golden and puffy.

To be honest, I was skeptical about putting these flat dough rounds into oil and having them turn into doughnuts. But they poufed right up! It was kind of awesome.

Make sure you use a slotted spoon to lift your doughnuts out of the oil.

And place them right into a cinnamon/sugar mixture. I started with about 1/2 cup of sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon. After making my way through half the doughnuts, I added another 1/2 cup sugar and teaspoon cinnamon.

Once the doughnuts are cooled a bit, it’s time to fill them! I filled a pastry bag with the jam and then fit the tip into the doughnut and piped the jam in.

It was tough to tell exactly how much jam I was putting in, so for some of the doughnuts, I went back in added more. I like a lot of jelly in my jelly doughnuts!

And then it was finally time to relieve my craving. Jelly doughnuts, fried not baked, were all mine.

I’m pretty certain I measure all jelly doughnuts on standards set by Dunkin’ Donuts, the doughnuts (donuts? whatever) I grew up with. And I have to say, these were incredibly similar. However, I’m happy to say they weren’t greasy at all! But unlike the baked doughnuts, they were light and airy and weren’t cakey. Yay!

I love you baked doughnuts, but when I have a craving for the real deal, I want the real deal. I also love these new placemats my mom got me from Kohl’s this weekend (along with some super cute items from Lauren Conrad’s collection. Uh, I know I’m 28, but I LOVE Lauren Conrad’s designs for Kohl’s).

Mmm. I really need to plan a brunch party ASAP because I need a good excuse to make these doughnuts again. Next up? I think I’m going to need to try Boston creme doughnuts. Similar concept.

See all the nooks and crannies? Now, that’s a doughnut!

If you make these, be aware that they really are best the day you make them. They weren’t bad the next day, but by the third day, the doughnuts were definitely a bit stale and the sugar was dissolving off. But seriously, these shouldn’t last over a day in your house! They’re most fabulous when they’re still a little bit warm

A nice clean apartment and a plate full of jelly doughnuts? I’m a very happy girl! And now that I’ve tackled jelly doughnuts, I’m almost feeling confident enough to confront the pain au chocolat I’ve been dreaming about…

What have you been craving lately?

[Sues]

Not only because she probably knows more about me than anyone. Or because she listens to me vent about everything. Or because she just gets me and still loves me, hehe.

But also because she always lets me know when she tries a really great recipe. It always comes back to the food, kids

Katie and I were on the phone as I was rambling on about how I have a surplus of lemons in my kitchen and really need to put them to use. She then told me she had just made really “yummy” Tuscan Lemon Muffins from the latest issue of Cooking Light. I asked her what made them “Tuscan” and she began to list the ingredients; olive oil and ricotta cheese being two of them. I was intrigued. And immediately hopped back in my car to pick up a small container of ricotta to see how these little babies would come out.

Tuscan Lemon Muffins (makes 12 muffins):
Adapted from Cooking Light
Print this Recipe!

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar (aka sugar in the raw)

Here’s what you do:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

And in the well, add the ricotta, water, olive oil, lemon rind, lemon juice, and egg.

Mix them all together until everything is nicely combined. This batter was so light and fluffy I kind of just wanted to… I dunno what I wanted to do but it was just a nice batter

Place muffin-cup liners in your muffin pan.

And using an ice cream scoop drop the batter in the muffin-cups.

Sprinkle with a bit of sugar in the raw. Once baked, the sugar adds the perfect sweet little crunch to the muffin. Mmm, sugar.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clear. Let the muffins cool for about 5 minutes in the pan on a wire rack.

I’m a big fan of having homemade muffins in my kitchen at all times in case I don’t have time to make a proper breakfast. I mean, who am I kidding, it’s also kind of nice to hit snooze a couple extra times knowing that breakfast is already waiting Especially when it’s moist, airy, lemony muffins.

Muffins are especially good to just toss in your purse (in a ziplock bag, of course!). I find I always have random bursts of hunger so I like to keep food on me at all times. Never know what you’ll find in my purse! I actually found an unopened cheese stick in there recently. Woops! And another fun fact. When Sues and I were in our early 20s (eww, I don’t like how that sounds!) she may or may not have packed snacks in her purse for me when we went out on weekends. Apparently when I’m hungry I let everyone know about it. Seriously. Without Katie and Sues I’d be a hot mess. And a hungry one at that.

And no one likes a hungry hot mess.

[Chels]