Pumpkin-Apple Muffins with streusel topping transport me to Amish country

I had some fresh pumpkin left from yesterday’s dish; I also still had p-u-l-l-en-ty of fresh apples. So I tippy-typed an Internet search to find something that would combine the two.

Up turned a website, www.bbonline.com (Bed & Breakfast Inns Online), that listed the most memorable recipes of B&B’s nationwide. I loved it. Where can you find better, more original cooking than in a good ole B&B? I had to try some of their ideas.

This particular recipe, Pumpkin-Apple Muffins, was presented by Fields of Home Guest House and Cabins in Millersburg (Holmes County), OH. After reading this recipe and the promo about the inn ("Enjoy log-cabin comfort, quiet country fields, and flower gardens in the heart of Amish Country!”) I was ready to throw my toothbrush in a travel bag and head out driving for there. If you’ve ever spent any time in Amish Country, you know the meals make memories to linger the rest of your life. Sounded delightful!

But since traveling there wasn’t possible, my next-best option was to enjoy these muffins, which I proceeded to do. Simple recipe with the chopped apple folded in (Hubby did this part. He enjoyed himself so much over the weekend with his cooking spree when I was under the weather, he volunteered for more. Is he the perfect Hubby, or what?)

Well, these muffins turned out to be absolute sweethearts. The apple bits tucked into the spicy pumpkin batter were just exceptionally yummy. Then to top it all with that divine streusel—what can I say? This was a great Internet find. I’m depositing at least half of them into my airtight container to preserve in the fridge for Thanksgiving-week breakfasts. Apple and pumpkin will make a healthy start to the morning. And the rest? Hubby is already seeing to putting them away.

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

3 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 cup canned pumpkin (I used fresh pumpkin puree)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 chopped peeled apple

1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients, then insert the moist ingredients. Stir together until dry ingredients are just moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased muffin cups almost full. For streusel topping combine 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Over each muffin sprinkle 1 heaping teaspoon of topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before you remove to a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.

Oodles of syrupy pecans get weekend morning moving with this delectable French toast

This past Saturday morning called for a power breakfast that was needed to keep us pumped for a LO-O-O-O-NG day of errands. Time away to visit son and family out West had been terrific, but now we were back to get-serious time in terms of putting our lives here back in order.

Part of that re-entry involved catching up on those unavoidable tasks that pile up when we’re out of pocket. Wal-Mart, grocery, a little pre-Easter prep, etc., all awaited; some of those required Hubby’s presence. Fortify him well, I reasoned, so he’s a willing accomplice to all the “Honey-Do”s that lie ahead.

After the breakfast I hatched up, Hubby might well have been primed to say yes to diamonds and pearls (I didn’t try, mind you, but I could have.) Breakfast consisted of none other than a dish temptingly titled Praline-Pecan French Toast, adapted from a recipe out of a recent Southern Living magazine that featured old Southern standbys with a new twist. The recipe’s tagline read, “A short-order breakfast special gets an easy hands-off finish in the oven.”

I have to admit, this dish doesn’t look very promising when it’s baking. I had to keep peeking at it through the oven-door window and kept murmuring, “Southern Living, I don’t know about this . . ..” From top-side up it simply resembled a bunch of wheat-bread scraps stirred around in a bread bag and shaken out into a 13-inch-by-9-inch glass pan.

After I pulled the baked item from the oven, however, I turned the bread slices onto a dish with their bottom sides flipped over. During the cooking the bread had been baking in a pool of melted butter, brown sugar, sugar-free maple syrup, and broken pecans. Overnight the bread had soaked in a mixture of egg substitute, skim milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. Once turned out onto its serving dish the pecan mixture in which it had baked became a crumbly, golden, nut topping that crowned the browned French toast. The broken nuts, saved from a previous pecan harvest from our pecan trees, had cooked up crisp and sweet. I sprinkled on a little powdered sugar, a requisite for any French toast. Then I summoned Hubby for the breakfast of his dreams.

Not one extra dab of syrup was needed for this breakfast delight, fit for a king (or the king of my house, anyway). Sure did make the errands that stretched out ahead look an awful lot sweeter.

Praline-Pecan French Toast

8-10 torn slices (day-old) whole-wheat bread

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar (or brown-sugar substitute)

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup

3/4 cup chopped pecans

4 large eggs (or 1 cup egg substitute, lightly beaten)

1 cup skim milk

2 tablespoons granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir together brown sugar and next two ingredients; pour into a lightly greased 13-inch-by-9-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle broken pecans over brown-sugar mixture in baking dish. Whisk together eggs and next 4 ingredients. Arrange torn bread pieces over pecans; pour egg mixture over bread. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 8 hours or overnight. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake bread 35 to 37 minutes or until golden brown. Turn out, pecan-side up, into individual serving dishes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve immediately. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

We loved this great homemade granola—a breakfast must-have!

Last week a faithful blog reader wrote to ask whether I had a homemade granola recipe and if so, would I please share it with her?

I SO had a granola recipe—the "how-to’s” of the best homemade granola I've ever tasted—but it had escaped me. Recently I've wished to have it back and began thinking of which file might be bearing it, but I didn't have the first clue about where to turn.

Fortunately that very day we were headed up across the Red River to Ardmore for Hubby's follow-up eye exam for his emergency eye surgery that he undergone around Christmas time, so we dropped into the building of the Chickasaw Nutrition Services, the source of so many of my recipes posted on this blog. Of course the folks there efficiently had "Homemade Granola" file and cheerfully produced another copy of it for me.

Now I not only could email it to my friend, I could mix up a big batch for this past weekend’s breakfasts and reprint it in my blog. Total delight!

These recipe instructions call for a cup of pecans, which, as I've mentioned, we have amply stored away from our last year's pecan crop. The recipe called for 3/4 cup raisins, but I divided it to put in half dried cranberries with half of the regular raisins. I loved the way the cranberries flavored the oatmeal mixture. In serving it, I topped it all with blueberries from the deepfreeze. What a wonderful Saturday-morning treat!

In an airtight container I stored the rest of the mixture, which makes 16 1/2-cup servings. We are loving it. I know you will, too.

Homemade Granola

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup dry milk

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

5 cups oatmeal

1/2 cup raisins

pinch of salt (or salt substitute)

1 cup pecans, chopped

Mix brown sugar, oil, and honey in a saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. Combine dry ingredients in a large cake pan. Pour sugar mixture over dry mixture; mix well. Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Let cool in pan. Store in airtight container. Serve with skim milk; fruit optional.

A waffle "smoothie"? Try this blueberry-studded breakfast treat and sample for yourself.

Special events call for special breakfasts. Our grown-up child and her baby child—that cute little grandboy—were here for a sleepover while her hubby was out-of-pocket on business. I wanted her to wake up to some good smells emanating from the kitchen and a special memory of home.

I had a recipe that piqued my curiosity—Blender Cornmeal Blueberry Waffles—that I borrowed last year from Quick Cooking magazine but never had prepared. Waffle batter from a blender—what difference would that make? I soon found out. Into the blender canister went all the batter ingredients, including cornmeal (which brought that extra touch of fiber). After the blending some plump blueberries were folded in and the mixture poured onto the griddle.

I've never tasted such a smooth, tender waffle—crispy on the outside, light and fluffy in its interior. Blueberries added color and health. Prepared with all the substitutions and served with sugar-free syrup, it provided a guilt-free breakfast. Plus it gave our special guest—our once-little girl who became a lovely, grown girl—a taste of Mom’s cooking and some special pampering before she had to run home as responsibilities called there.

Blender Cornmeal Blueberry Waffles

1 egg (or egg substitiute)

3/4 cups fat-free milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoons cornmeal

2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar (or sugar substitute)

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

3/4 to 1 cup blueberries

Preheat waffle maker. Blend all in blender until just mixed. Fold in blueberries (do not blend in blender but fold in gently). Pour 3/4 cup batter onto griddle. Bake. Serve with sugar-free syrup. Makes 3 servings.

Is your week slightly upside down with busyness? This upside-down apple cake makes a great, quick Thanksgiving-week breakfast

We all know about pineapple upside-down cakes, but here's a new wrinkle—an apple upside-down cake. In my recipes that call for fresh apples was this little gem called Spiced Apple Cake that sounded just perfect for the Thanksgiving season. Although Spiced Apple Cake probably was designed to be a dessert, we ended up dining on it for breakfast for several mornings in the past few days. Looking for a great breakfast item to serve company who still might be in your house for the holidays? You can't beat this one.

One-and-a-half cups of peeled apple slices (any variety) go on the bottom of a nonstick pan that has had butter melted in it and sugar sprinkled over the apples. Then spray the sides with nonfat cooking spray. Trust me—this preparation is sufficient to guarantee that the cake will turn out of its pan without hassle—even in a pan that's not of the nonstick variety (the kind I had on hand to use, by the way). When the dessert emerged from the oven, I approached the removal of it with great trepidation, but I let it cool for about five minutes, ran a spatula around the edges, and used the spatula to dig underneath the cake a little to be sure all was loosened. Holding my breath I turned it over on a cake plate and voila! a perfect unfurling of a perfect cake, with all the apple topping in place!

Family Circle magazine of a few years back gets credit for this delightful recipe, which recommends serving it slightly warm with whipped cream. Fat-free whipped topping for us, of course, although without that on hand, we used Hubby's fat-free vanilla yogurt instead. Divine! Boy, were we sorry when this little upside-down dish was gone—good to the very last crumb.

Spiced Apple Cake

11 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups packed dark-brown sugar (can use brown-sugar substitute)

1 1/2 cups peeled apple slices, any variety

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 eggs (or egg substitute)

2/3 cup milk (we use skim milk)

whipped cream, if desired (or fat-free whipped topping)

Place 3 tablespoons of the butter in a 9-inch round nonstick cake pan. Coat sides of pan with nonstick cooking spray. Place pan in oven while heating the oven to 325 degrees. When butter is melted, remove pan from oven. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of the sugar. Carefully fan apple slices, overlapping in pan. Sift flour, baking powder, cloves, allspice, and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Set aside. In a large bowl beat remaining 8 tablespoons butter and remaining 1 cup sugar until sooth. Beat in eggs. Add half the flour mixture, then milk, then remaining flour. Beat until smooth. Pour into pan. Bake cake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until pick inserted in center comes out clean. Run a think knife around cake; invert onto a plate. Remove pan; replace any apple slices stuck to pan. Serve slightly warm with whipped cream, fat-free topping, or nonfat vanilla yogurt.