Breakfast

You probably don’t know this about me, but my favorite meal of the day is breakfast. Yet, I almost never make it at home. And with the exception of Saturdays, I usually eat the same boring things over and over again every day.

I love breakfast because it’s an anything-goes type of meal. You can have something salty (Hello, bacon, egg, and cheese!) or something sweet (Maple syrup! What other meal allows you to start with something sweet?) or something both salty and sweet (Chicken with waffles! French toast with sausage!). Whenever I attempt to make these at home, however, I waste so much time shopping and prepping that I end up filling up on bread and butter in between and can’t enjoy fully what I’ve made. 

I have tried to do the shopping the day before to speed up the process, but no one wants to roll out of bed on a Sunday and start cooking right away. So I figured what if I did the prep work and just baked something in the morning like a casserole? The casserole was great, but between preheating and baking I still wasted an hour and more. Well, what if I had something great to snack on while I baked? Something that I could bake the night before, and eat the second I woke up. That’s where these two breads come in. Bake them, wrap them, and they are just as moist and delicious the next morning (if not more). If you want, you can toast them under the broiler for a minute and slather butter on top, too. The cranberry bread is tart and holds jam really well. The banana bread is the most decadent breakfast bread ever. Seriously, if you love Nutella, you will not be able to resist a second or third helping. And your whole house will smell like bananas. Actually, as I’m typing this, I’m going to go get another slice. And you, you should just bake these tonight and have them ready for breakfast on Thanksgiving. One more reason to be thankful.
Cranberry Bread

 

 

 

Cranberry Bread: Adapted from Cranberry Hazelnut Recipe from Real Simple

I increased the amount of vanilla extract for more flavor, used lemon zest instead of orange to make it more tart, and decreased the amount of hazelnuts.

CLICK FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE HERE

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup hazelnuts
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the hazelnuts on dry frying pan. Toast over medium-low heat, tossing them with a wooden spoon and shaking the pan, until they brown for 4-5 minutes. While they are still warm, spread them on a clean dish towel and rub them to remove the skins (discard the skins); coarsely chop.


2. Butter a loaf pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, beat together the butter, milk, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla with an electric mixer until it's smooth. Add the flour mixture in 2 additions and mix until just combined (do not overmix). Fold in the hazelnuts and cranberries.


3. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center at the highest point comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes (tent with foil if the top browns too quickly). Cool in the pan for 30 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.


4. Run a knife through all the edges. Invert a plate on top of the pan, and flip it. The bread should come out on the plate very easily.

Store: Wrap the bread in shrink wrap, and then aluminum foil and keep at a cool dry place. The cake will still be moist, or you can slice and toast it in the oven for a few minutes.


Banana-Pecan-Nutella Bread

 

 

 

 

 

I know I'm biased since I have a known addiction to Nutella, but seriously, whoever tested this loved this bread. Normally banana bread is really dry, but I have been using Katie Lee's recipe with buttermilk in the batter for a long time and it is so moist. Nutella takes her recipe to a whole new level.

Nutella Swirled Banana-Pecan Bread

Adapted from Katie Lee's Banana Bread Recipe and Banana Nutella Bread Recipe from Lemons and Anchovies

CLICK FOR A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS RECIPE HERE

• 2 cups  all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2cup buttermilk
• 3 medium bananas, mashed (make sure the bananas are very ripe, or the cake will be too dry. Buy them a couple days in advance, and keep them on the counter wrapped in a paper or plastic bag. About half of it should be blackened. I mash with a potato masher)
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup Nutella

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a loaf pan with butter. Spread the pecans on dry frying pan. Toast over medium-low heat, tossing them with a wooden spoon and shaking the pan, until they brown for 5-6 minutes. Coarsely chop.

2. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar and eggs with an electric mixer until the sugar is incorporated. Add oil and vanilla until well combined. Alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk in three additions. Do not overmix! This is extremely important, if you overmix, the cake will be a crumbly mess. Only mix until just combined. Gently fold in the bananas.

3. Pour half of the batter into the loaf pan. Spoon half of the nutella on top, swirl it in the batter with a toothpick or butter knife. Spread the rest of the batter on top, and spoon the remaning nutella. Swirl it in the batter again. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the thickest part comes out clean. Let the bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Carefully turn out the loaf to finish cooling on a wire rack.

4. Run a knife through all the edges. Invert a plate on top of the pan, and flip it. The bread should come out on the plate very easily.