Belle Papier {pretty paper}

Every Saturday morning we have a hot breakfast. It is one of the only days of the week where we can all eat breakfast together and the kids always enjoy it. Sometimes it is pancakes, sometimes French Toast, bacon and eggs is a popular favorite, but this morning it was waffles. I always love Donkey’s quote and accent from Shrek, “And in the morning, we’re making waffles!” I think that it is all in how he says it! My daughter and I whipped up some waffles this morning with some raspberry sauce and some real maple syrup….what a treat! I thought that I’d share my recipe with you this morning.

Recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flower

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1.5 cups milk

2 eggs, separated

2 tablespoons butter or margerine, melted

1. Preheat wafflemaker, beat egg white until stiff, but not dry, Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and creamy.
3. Continue beating adding milk
4. Mix dry ingredietns together and gradually add to milk and egg mixture: beat until smooth.
5. Fold in stiffly beaten egg white and melted butter
6. Add 1/2 cup batter to preheated waffle iron. Bake until golden, about 3 minutes.
7. Enjoy!

For my large family, I make this recipe 1.5 times the amount.

I’m cooking up a little something sweet…in the kitchen as well as at my stamping desk. We were out of lunch box goodies this morning so I whipped up a little coffee cake treat to send with them to school. It is a good morning when you have laundry on and baking in the oven by 7:10! I got this recipe from my SIL Robin and it is oh, so, yummy! Stay tuned for the sweet little papercraft project I’m working on later today.

 Choco Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon EACH baking powder & baking soda

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, 1 egg together. Mix well. Beat in 2nd egg and vanilla. Add flour, baking powder, soda and sour cream. Beat to mix. Stir in chocolate chips. Turn into greased 9 x 13 pan.

Topping: Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 2 teaspoons cocoa and 1/4 cup butter together until crumbly. Stir in 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup nuts if desired.  Sprinkle over top of batter. Bake in 350° oven for 45 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

This recipe is great for making ahead and can be frozen. I made mine in two 8″ round pans. They cook a little quicker this way (adjust time accordingly) an d you can freeze one of them easily. Not that that would ever happen with this large a family! To make it look as good as it tastes…I just take a few extra seconds to sprinkle it with icing sugar and drizzle the top with chocolate sauce.

With St. Patrick’s Day just around the corner, I thought I’d share my recipe for Wheaten Bread with you. My mom is from Belfast Northern Ireland and I grew up eating Wheaten Bread made by my mom and my Nany (her mother). Wheaten bread is a quick bread made with whole wheat flour, white flour, buttermilk and a few other ingredients. It is so good with strawberry jam or cheese and so easy to make. My husband came home with a cool brand new mixer/blender combo yesterday and I just had to try it out last night. LOVE it! I can tell I’ll be doing LOTS of baking now!

Wheaten Bread Recipe

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups white all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 rounded teaspoons baking powder

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 cup 2% milk

Mix all ingredients together and spoon into greased and floured 9×5 loaf pan. Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes. I love to double this recipe. It freezes well, although I hardly need to with this large of a family. Enjoy!