Want to Try This: Blueberry Overnight French Toast

I found this recipe on http://www.busykidshappymom.org/ while browsing another topic today.  It loos delicious and super easy, I definitely want to try this when I get back!

12 slices day old French bread (1 inch thick)
5 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup packed brown sugar, (divided into 3/4 cup and 1/4 cup portions)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

optional:  1 cup chopped pecans

Arrange bread in a greased 13x9 inch baking dish.  In a bowl, combine the eggs, milk, 3/4 cup brown sugar, vanilla; pour over bread.  Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Combine butter and remaining 1/4 cup sugar; drizzle over the top.  Bake, uncovered, at 400 for 25 minutes.  Sprinkle with blueberries.  Bake 10 minutes longer or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Serves:  6-8

Cool 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with syrup on the side (optional)

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Mocha Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Photo from All Recipes, see URLin the post.
I was too lazy to upload my own pic tonight.  :-p

I had some aging bananas sitting around, but I wasn't really feeling like banana bread, so I Googled around a little for something different, and found this recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/mocha-chocolate-chip-banana-muffins/

Now I'm not usually big on mocha flavored foods, so I was a little apprehensive on this one, but I figured it was worth a shot.  I was pleasantly surprised by how the coffee added just a little distinct flavor to the muffins.  It wasn't overpowering at all, but gave it a really different and delicious twist on the whole banana/chocolate combination.

The original recipe called for a lot of fat and sugar, in my opinion, so I made some modifications.

The original recipe:

1 cup margarine
 1 1/4 cups white sugar
 1 egg
 3 ripe bananas
 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1 teaspoon baking soda
 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

What I actually used:

1/3 cup margarine
 3/4 cups white sugar
 1 egg
 2 ripe bananas
 1 tablespoon instant coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tablespoon water (I used Turkish coffee)
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1 teaspoon baking soda
 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Despite cutting back half the butter and almost half the sugar, they tasted delicious.  It still made 18 muffins too.  Not too bad, and the kids really enjoyed them too (bonus!).  :-)

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My favorite pancake recipe

Who doesn't like pancakes?  When I was growing up, we always made bisquick pancakes, but I've always made them from a recipe in my cook book.  Recently, I found this recipe on All Recipes and I love how light and fluffy they are.  It beats the pants off of my cookbook recipe!















The ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Again, pretty simple, mix the dry ingredients, then the wet, then mix together and throw on a griddle.  The boys and I like to add in our own special touch though - chocolate chips.  :-)

These are famously popular in my household

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