Category: Breakfast

Breakfast Burritos for #BrunchWeek

This post is sponsored in conjunction with #BrunchWeek. I received product samples from sponsor companies to aid in the creation of the #Brunchweek recipes. All opinions are mine alone.

Before I start telling you about my new favorite entree to serve for brunch, I want to remind you that there’s also an awesome giveaway. Our generous sponsors have created some amazing prize packs, and I’m hoping that one of the Books n’ Cooks readers wins one of them. Check out the details and enter to win here.

So I wasn’t kidding about when I said that today’s post is my current favorite main course to serve for brunches. I first made these burritos in December, for a holiday brunch with a set of good friends. They received rave reviews from all of the attendees. And my hubby and I enjoyed the leftovers – frozen and reheated – for quick but flavorful breakfasts after the holiday season was over.

While the burritos I made in December were wonderful, I took the original recipe and tweaked it slightly, mostly skipping the bacon to make it vegetarian (and frankly, to cut prep time) and increasing the amount of eggs, for a nice hearty burrito. This recipe does make a huge batch, which makes it perfect for feeding a crowd or for freezing for quick weekday morning breakfasts. (Directions for freezing and reheating included below.)

I hope you enjoy my first recipe this #BrunchWeek. Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to check out over 3 dozen fabulous brunch recipes.

Breakfast Burritos

Adapted from RecipeTin Eats

Makes 16 Burritos

Ingredients for the Vegetable-Bean Filling:

  • cooking spray
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1-14 oz. can stewed tomatoes
  • 1-14 oz. can low-sodium black beans, rinsed
  • 1 8-oz. can tomato sauce
  • 2 tsp. paprika
  • 2 tsp. cumin
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for the Enchiladas:

  • 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
  • 24 large eggs
  • kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 c. shredded Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar Cheese, or other favorite cheddar cheese
  • 16-8 inch flour tortillas

Optional Toppings:

Make the Vegetable-Bean Filling: Heat a large skillet, coated in cooking spray, over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and bell pepper, sauteeing until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, breaking up the strewed tomatoes into small pieces. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool while you make the eggs.

Make the Eggs: In a large bowl, season eggs with salt and pepper. Whisk.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter, allowing to melt. Add eggs to skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally until eggs reach your desired doneness. (I prefer eggs to be fairly dry, but I know others prefer scrambled eggs more watery. Eggs will continue to cook a bit in pan, and again in the oven.) Remove pan from heat.

Assemble & Bake the Enchiladas: Spray two 9×13″ Pyrex or other dishes with cooking spray. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400F, while assembling the enchiladas.

Lay tortillas on a clean work space. Place 2 generous tablespoons (I used the tablespoons that came with my everyday silverware set) of vegetable-bean mixture onto tortilla, spreading to cover. Top with two generous tablespoons of eggs. Roll tightly and place seam-side down in prepared dishes. Repeat until fillings are gone.

Sprinkle with 2-3 cups of shredded cheese. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until cheese is melted and enchiladas are starting to brown.

Serve hot, topped with salsa and/or fresh avocado.

To Freeze: Make and cook enchiladas all the way through. Allow cooked enchiladas to cool. Place enchiladas individually on a piece of wax paper. Roll and tuck ends. Place wrapped enchiladas in a freezer bag and freeze until serving.

Enchiladas can be microwaved straight from freezer (remove wax paper), but they heat quicker when they are allowed to defrost for 30-60 minutes (basically the amount of time it takes me to get to work. 🙂 )


Take a look at what the #BrunchWeek Bloggers are creating today!
BrunchWeek Beverages:
Homemade Orange Julius from A Day in the Life on the Farm
Kimchi Bloody Mary from kimchi MOM
Mimosa Bar from Love and Confections

BrunchWeek Egg Dishes:
Asparagus & Pancetta Frittata from The Chef Next Door
Breakfast Burritos from Books n’ Cooks
Chilaquiles from The Redhead Baker
Coddled Eggs with Bacon and Cheddar from Family Around the Table
Eggs Benedict Breakfast Tacos from The Spiffy Cookie
Parmesan Polenta Brunch Bowl with Asparagus and Sausage from Cooking with Carlee
Put an Egg on it Mac and Cheese from Sew You Think You Can Cook
Smashed Sweet Potato Rosti with Butter Poached Egg from Nik Snacks
Smoked Eggs over Asparagus from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Spinach Baked Eggs with Habanero Cheddar from Sweet Beginnings

BrunchWeek Breads, Grains and Pastries:
Apple Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread from Pink Cake Plate
Apple Crumble Bread from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Apple, Sausage & Cheddar Oven Pancake from Wholistic Woman
Cheddar Asparagus Breakfast Tarts from It Bakes Me Happy
Cinnamon Roll Oatmeal from Big Bear’s Wife
Cinnamon Roll Pizza from Palatable Pastime
Best Dutch Baby Pancake Recipe from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
English Raisin Scones with Apple Jam from The Crumby Cupcake
Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls from Gluten Free Crumbley
Strawberry Lemonade Muffins from An Edible Mosaic
Strawberry Rolls with Orange Icing from The Nifty Foodie
Tiramisu French Toast from Brunch-n-Bites
Twisted Star Cinnamon Rolls from Amy’s Cooking Adventures

BrunchWeek Main Dishes:
Biscuits and Gravy Bubble Up from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
Cheesy Bacon Chile Rellenos from Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
Country Fried Steak & Eggs with Habanero Cheddar Gravy from Forking Up
Homemade Chicken Sausage & Egg Stromboli from Hardly a Goddess
Spinach, Artichoke and Asparagus Strata from Cooking in Stilettos
Ultimate Cheddar Grits Bowl from The Barbee Housewife
Veggie Loaded Breakfast Enchiladas from Sarcastic Cooking

BrunchWeek Fruits, Vegetables and Sides:
Apple and Creamy Ricotta Crepes from From Gate to Plate
Apple Cheddar Bites with Honey and Pepper from Feeding Big
Spring Asparagus Salad from Girl Abroad
Sweet Pea Sipper from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Thai Asparagus Slaw from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner

BrunchWeek Desserts:
Baltimore Peach Cake from Cookaholic Wife
Mandarin Orange Bundt Cake from My Catholic Kitchen

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Vanilla Cardamom Scones

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When I was in high school, I took my first trip abroad. It was a special trip – just me and my grandmother. She took me to London where we had the most amazing time. We saw the castles and museums. We accidentally arrived to see the opening of Parliament and ended up seeing the queen (my teenage mind was BLOWN!).

One of the highlights of that trip was shopping at Harrod’s – which my grandmother and great aunt used to rave about – and staying for high tea. There, I fell in love with the wonderful tradition of mid-afternoon tea, dainty little finger sandwiches, and sweet breads, pastries, and cookies.

I’ve been to England a handful of times since that amazing trip with my grandmother, but never had tea at Harrod’s again. But whenever I do go, I make sure scones and clotted cream are part of every trip. I have yet to find a clotted cream that lives up to my memories of that tea at Harrod’s, but I do love recreating scones at home. They’re a wonderful addition to an afternoon tea, but most frequently, I serve them with homemade jam for breakfast when we have overnight guests.

Homemade scones are so incredibly easy to make, and unlike many that you find in stores and shops, the texture is quite soft.

vanilla-cardamom-cream-scones

Want more scone recipes? Try my bacon, cheddar & chive scones or my cranberry walnut scones.

Vanilla Cardamom Scones

Adapted from Savory Simple

Makes 12 Scones

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together:

  • 3 c. all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbs. granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbs. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. cardamom

Using two forks or a pastry cutter, cut in

  • 12 Tbs. cold unsalted butter

until mixture is crumbly. Finally, fold in:

  • 1 c. half-and-half
  • 1 Tbs. vanilla paste

Mixture will just start to come together, but will remain very crumbly. With clean hands, knead dough until it comes together. Divide in half and form into two 7-inch rounds. Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Slice each round into 6 pieces. Brush tops with

  • 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted

Bake for 10-12 minutes, until tops are golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on baking sheet for a few minutes.

Serve hot or warm.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days.

vanilla-cardamom-scones

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes #SundaySupper

When I would tell family and friends how picky my daughter was, they wouldn’t believe me. They had to witness her gagging – before the food even touched her lips – before they realized I wasn’t exaggerating.

Miss. Hazelnut is now three and a half and there’s been a lot of improvement. We have a variety of techniques that, when combined, have improved her eating immensely. We shamelessly bribe her with lolly pops for trying something new. We take a hard line and will sit at the dinner table for an hour until she tries <insert this new item> before finish the meal. We put sprinkles on pretty much any breakfast food so that she’ll eat it. We have learned to describe or prepare things in ways that appeal to her silly side. But honestly, as she’s gotten older and seen her parents, brother, and friends eating other things, she’s just gotten more amenable to trying new things on her own.

The one place we’re still lacking, though, is veggies. The fights about trying a vegetable are much more fierce and even once she tries the veggie, she often doesn’t like it and may even make herself gap (TBD if that’s real opinion or her stubborn streak). Any time I can hide a vegetable in something I know she’ll eat, I call it a win. These “orange” pancakes were one of the more recent wins. I appealed to her silly side with the orange color, and her sweet tooth with chocolate chips (with her plate topped with rainbow sprinkles). But I don’t feel too bad because  know that there’s whole grain and pumpkin mixed in with the extra sugar we added. These pancakes are light on spice to appeal to her palate (feel free to bump up the cinnamon for a more sophisticated palate) and froze well for breakfasts throughout the week.

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My daughter is still just a bit to young to have sleepovers regularly, but every once and a while, when we share a sitter with friends, Miss. Hazelnut spends the night with her best friend. I can’t wait for her to have planned slumber parties at our house, so that the girls can stay up late gabbing and rise in the morning with an extra special breakfast. I can’t wait to make these pancakes for her and her friends, and am excited to try some of the other slumber party favorites that the #SundaySupper tastemakers have dreamed up.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Pancakes

By Books n’ Cooks

Ingredients:

  • 4 Tbs. whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. table salt
  • 3 Tbs. sugar
  • 1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/4 c. pumpkin puree
  • Cooking spray

Preheat an electric frying pan or skillet to 300F (medium-low on a stove top)

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and chocolate chips.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla and pumpkin puree. Add to the flour mixture and with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, stir to combine.

Spray frying pan or skillet with cooking spray. Ladle out pancake batter into prepared pan. (Each of my pancakes used a scant 1/4 cup of better). Cook untouched until edges and center starts to set. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes to finish cooking.

Serve hot with maple syrup or other desired topping.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! Now I’m off to bookmark and Pin other great recipes for my daughters next sleepover. Thanks to Marion at Life Tastes Good for hosting this week’s #SundaySupper Sleepover Favorites event!

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Sunday Supper MovementJoin the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board.
Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

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Cranberry Orange Muffins for #BrunchWeek

BW Logo 2016

Today, #BrunchWeek comes to an end. If you haven’t entered to win one of the prize packs provided by our amazing sponsors, I encourage you to visit this post and do so – and quick! The giveaway ends today! I think you can tell from the photo below, there are some seriously awesome prizes being offered, and I’d be thrilled if one of my readers won one of them.

Prize_Collage

For the final day of Brunch Week, I wanted to make something healthy for those of you who are looking for not only great brunch recipes but who need quick, easy breakfasts that are convenient for someone constantly on the go. Muffins work for both. This particular recipe is one of the healthier ones I’ve made, using a combination of whole wheat all-purpose flour, cake flour, and ground oats. It has a sweet orange muffin with bursts of bright cranberries. Serve it for brunch, or make it on a weekend to grab on your way out to work during the week. Either way, enjoy!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

By Books n’ Cooks

Ingredients:

  • cooking spray
  • 1 c. old-fashioned oats
  • 1/2 c. whole wheat all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 c. cake flour
  • 1/3 c. Dixie Crystals granulated sugar
  • 1/3 c. light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp. salt
  • 1 heaping c. frozen cranberries, halved
  • 2 tsp. Nielsen-Massey orange extract
  • 1/3 c. unsweetened apple sauce
  • 3/4 c. milk (I used 2%)
  • 1 large egg white

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Pulse oats in a food processor until finely ground. Transfer to a medium bowl and add all-purpose flour, cake flour, both sugars, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gently whisk to combine. Fold in cranberries, just so that they’re coated in the dry mixture (to prevent sticking together).

In a separate, small bowl, gently whisk apple sauce, milk, and egg white. Use a spatula to fold wet mixture into dry mixture until just barely combined. Use an ice cream scoop to portion into prepared muffin pan, filling each cup until 3/4 full.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Disclaimer: Thank you to #BrunchWeek Sponsors: Red Star Yeast, Dixie Crystals, Cabot Cheese, Vidalia Onion Committee, Sage Fruits, Nielsen-Massey, KitchenIQ, and Le Creuset for providing the prizes free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #BrunchWeek. All opinions are my own.

Be sure to check out the last of the #BrunchWeek recipes, below.

Cranberry Orange Muffins Prep
Nesting measuring spoons from KitchenIQ.
Cranberry Orange Muffins_Pint

BrunchWeek Beverages:

BrunchWeek Breads, Grains and Pastries:

BrunchWeek Fruits, Vegetables and Sides:

BrunchWeek Main Dishes:

BrunchWeek Desserts:

Fruit Salad (Two Ways) with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette #BrunchWeek

BW Logo 2016Since having kids a couple of years ago, brunch has become one of my favorite times to host friends. It’s not just that it doesn’t get in the way of early afternoon nap time. It’s that brunch is (for me and my family) one of the easiest, most stress-free times to entertain. I find it’s easy to put together an impressive menu with very little effort. I’ve got it down to a science. Literally. With this formula, I can’t go wrong:

Egg dish + grain/carby side side + fruit dish

With this formula, I’ve got an easy, filling, balanced meal. Frittatas and quiches are my favorite egg dishes. I’ll frequently pair that with a fresh scone or muffin, or even homemade granola (served with yogurt) and then round off the meal with a serving of fresh fruit.

Today, I created two varieties of fruit salad, both of which are tossed with a light poppy seed vinaigrette. In the first, I jazz up some berries, grapes, and kiwi with a little fresh mint and in the other, I let the brightness of sweet Breeze apples (a new variety that originated in New Zealand, but is currently being grown in Washington State and introduced to US markets by Sage Fruit) and grapes shine through. Both were wonderful, but feel free to use your favorite in season fruit.

Do you have a standard menu or formula for brunch entertaining?

As a reminder, our amazing sponsors have generously donated some wonderful prizes. Visit here to learn more about our sponsors and enter to win one of the the awesome prizes they so generously provided.

Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Make Ahead: Vinaigrette and fruit salad may be made ahead of time, but don’t mix until just before serving, so that the fruit doesn’t get soggy.

Fruit Salad (Two Ways) with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

By Books n’ Cooks

Serves 5-6

Ingredients for the Salad:

  • 5-6 c. fruit, sliced into roughly 1-inch pieces (I used a mix of strawberries, raspberries, kiwi, and grapes)
  • 3 Tbs. fresh mint, coarsely chopped

or

  • 2 Breeze apples, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1-2 c. red seedless grapes
  • 1 c. mixed berries (I used raspberries and blackberries)

or

  • Your favorite mix of fresh fruit

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette:

  • 1/4 c. vegetable oil
  • 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
  • zest of 1/2 a lemon
  • 2 Tbs. honey
  • 1 Tbs. poppy seeds

Apple Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

Gently toss fruit and mint to mix. Set aside, or refrigerate until just before serving.

To make the vinaigrette, combine all ingredients in a jar and shake well (or, combine in a bowl or measuring cup and whisk well). Refrigerate until just before serving.

Add half of the vinaigrette to the fruit salad and toss to coat. Add more as desired. (I used only half of the vinaigrette for the 5-6 cups of fruit.)

Disclaimer: Thank you to #BrunchWeek Sponsors: Red Star Yeast, Dixie Crystals, Cabot Cheese, Vidalia Onion Committee, Sage Fruits, Nielsen-Massey, KitchenIQ, and Le Creuset for providing the prizes free of charge. These companies also provided the bloggers with samples and product to use for #BrunchWeek. All opinions are my own.

Fruit Salad with Poppy Seed Vinaigrette for Brunch Week

Don’t forget to check out today’s other #BrunchWeek recipes, listed below.

BrunchWeek Beverages:

BrunchWeek Breads, Grains and Pastries:

BrunchWeek Fruits, Vegetables and Sides:

BrunchWeek Egg Dishes:

BrunchWeek Main Dishes:

BrunchWeek Desserts: