Gluten-free Corn Fritters

My grandmother was a great cook. Nothing especially fancy but the sort of homemade, stick to your ribs, oh-so-tasty fare that grandmothers are renowned for.

Her jam tarts in particular were spectacular!

But it was her corn fritters that seem to have stuck in my mind most clearly.

I had gone with her and friend for a week's stay on Tangalooma, a family-friendly resort on an island about an hour's boat trip away. We were in a downstairs garden apartment with a small kitchen where we could cook for ourselves and not have to eat out all the time.

I can so vividly remember coming in from the beach all wet and sandy to the smell of corn fritters frying and then burning my tongue eating them as soon as they came out of the pan.

There's just something about that combination of sweet and salty, crispy fried outside and soft fluffy middle that I can't resist!

These days no one in my family apppreciates a corn fritter quite as much as I do but they are a family favourite nonetheless.

You can think of these as a savoury pancake and top them any way you like.

I shared on Facebook during the week that I had leftover fritters topped with some smoked trout and sauerkraut (haha I just realised as I wrote it down that it rhymes!) for lunch the next day.

My kids also love them topped with crispy bacon and maple syrup. SO good!

Gluten-free Corn Fritters

2 cups gluten free plain flour
3 ts gluten free baking powder
1/2 ts salt
2 eggs
1 x 400g tin corn, drained
3/4 cup rice milk
Oil for shallow frying (Olive oil, coconut oil or ghee is great for these)

Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and whisk together. Add the eggs, corn and milk and fold together with a spatula until well combined. (You may need slightly more or less milk than this, it seems to vary with every batch and probably depends also how well drained your corn is).

Preheat your frying pan over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to generously cover the base of the pan. When it starts to shimmer you are ready to fry.

Dollop spoonfuls of mixture into the pan and flatten out slightly. Fry for about 3 minutes then flip and fry on the other side until crisp, golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from the pan and place onto a wire rack over a baking tray. This ensures the fritters stay crisp on the bottom (nothing worse than a soggy bottom!)

Repeat with remaining mixture.

Makes approximately 16.

Are there any foods you feel really nostalgic about from your childhood?

Let me know below!

Susan

Sage and Apple Fritters (SRC)

There are some food combinations that just work - think peanut butter and chocolate, tomato and basil, lemon and blueberries to name just a few.

Well, you can now officially add sage, apple and maple syrup to that list.

Because WOW. So yummy!

This isn't my invention, though. Credit must go to Helen from Casa Costello, whose blog I was assigned for this month's Secret Recipe Club.

Helen had my blog back in May and made my Thumbprint cookies, and I remember then flicking through her recipes and looking forward to getting her blog sometime.

Helen is from the UK and mum to 3 girls. She is a self-described 'massive foodie' and has been working with food and cakes since she was since 16.

Speaking of cakes, Helen is also a fantastic cake decorator and shares lots of her creations on her #BakeoftheWeek challenge. My boys particularly liked this Police Car Cake. Gorgeous isn't it?

When it came to choosing a recipe I took ages to decide, but I knew I wanted something pretty simple and of course, it had to be gluten and dairy free (or easy to convert). I loved the sound of Helen's Walnut and honey granola and Scrambled eggs with style. And this Lemon Frangipane Pie looks fabulous.

In the end though these Apple fritters with sage were calling my name. I've never used sage in this way before. Typically I only use it in stuffing at Christmas time. Which probably explains why it was so hard to find at the shops right now, no one else uses it much either!

My husband eventually found a little pot of sage that Mr 7 immediately took outside and replanted into a bigger pot. It's still very young but we got enough off it for this recipe and 2 perfect little leaves for garnish.

I've always loved fritters, especially tuna and corn fritters, but the rest of family doesn't share my same level of enthusiasm.

That may have changed with this recipe!

Apple, sage and maple syrup are a match made in heaven.

I made only a few changes to the recipe to suit our way of eating - using gluten free flour, non-dairy milk and frying in coconut oil. I also reduced the sugar and am glad I did because between the apples and maple syrup I found them very sweet!

All 3 of my boys loved these and were literally licking their plates clean. Mr fussy-5 even ate an extra sage leaf (covered with maple syrup) and declared it 'really yummy.' So huge for him to eat something green voluntarily even if he did have to smother it in syrup!

These would be perfect for a weekend brunch and will definitely be on the menu at our place again.

Sage and Apple Fritters
Adapted from Apple fritters with and without sage

2 large red apples
125g gluten free plain flour
1 ts baking powder
1/2 ts salt
1/2 ts cinnamon
2 ts rapadura sugar (or sweetener of choice)
150ml rice milk
1 large egg
6 sage leaves
coconut oil for frying

In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar.

Peel the apples and chop into very small pieces. Add them to the dry ingredients and toss to combine.

In a small jug beat together the milk and egg together then pour into the flour and apples and mix well. Finely chop the sage leaves and stir through.

Melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a large heavy-based frypan over medium heat.

Dollop in spoonfuls of mixture and flatten out into pancake shapes.

Cook until gold brown then flip and cook on the other side until cooked through.

Remove and place on a rack while you cook the remaining fritters.

Serve with a drizzle of maple syrup.

Makes 10 fritters.

Thanks for a great recipe Helen! I will definitely be making these again.

An InLinkz Link-up

Coconut Flour Pancakes (SRC)

It's Secret Recipe Club time!

For those who don't know, each month SRC members are assigned a blog in secret from which to choose and prepare a recipe. Then we all post on the same day and have fun working out who had who!

This month I was assigned the blog Dessert Before Dinner by Stephanie. Stephanie recently moved to LA with her husband and cat and she loves making bread and ice cream. Just like me she used to make lots of desserts but after she got married she focussed more on main meals and 'real food.' Stephanie had my blog for SRC last month so it was fun to have a look around her site this month!

Here are just a few of her recipes that caught my eye:

Lemon Caper Quinoa Patties, Coconut Flour Pancakes, Apple Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Coconut Milk Kanten, Coconut Flour Cake with Fudge Frosting, and Cinnamon Lime Panna Cotta just to name a few!

Given that I am off both gluten and dairy at the moment, and have a pantry full of coconut products, I had to go with Stephanie's coconut flour pancakes.

I make pancakes at least once a week for the kids, and sometimes for my lunch as a treat while I'm studying. I have made coconut flour pancakes before but this recipe was a little different, using dried coconut and some spices.

Stephanie says the recipe serves 2 for breakfast, but I got just 4 perfect little pancakes from the mixture which would be a hearty serve for 1 around here!

These were reminiscent of the oatmeal pancakes I've made for brunch previously, with the shredded coconut giving a similar chewy texture to the oats. So if you are newly off gluten and want something substantial for breakfast, these pancakes not only taste great they will keep you full until lunchtime.

Coconut Flour Pancakes
Recipe from: Dessert Before Dinner

2 eggs
2 tbs milk (almond or coconut would be good)
1 ts honey
2 tbs coconut flour
2 tbs shredded coconut
1/8 ts bicarb soda
1/8 ts cinnamon
1/8 ts nutmeg

Heat up a frypan over medium heat.

In a small bowl mix together the eggs, milk, honey, bicarb and spices. Add the coconut flour and shredded coconut and mix until just combined.

Grease the pan with a little coconut oil and dollop in 4 spoonfuls of mixture, flattening each out into a pancake.

Fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

Serve with maple syrup and strawberries.

Thanks for a great recipe Stephanie!

An InLinkz Link-up

My Bircher Muesli

Our kids have swimming at 8am every Sunday morning. Yep, we must be crazy! Actually it's not so bad. The classes are a little quieter at that time and let's be honest with young kids it's not like we ever get a sleep in!

Breakfast is important every day but on Sundays it's especially important as it has to be quick, easy and nourishing to give the boys lots of energy for their swim.

One of our favourites is bircher muesli aka overnight oats. Everyone has their own version of bircher muesli and this is mine. Unlike most others it does not include yoghurt or fruit juice, instead it has rice milk with cinnamon, red apple and raw honey for sweetness.

Adding seeds is a great way to increase the nutritional value - the sunflower seeds are a great source of vitamin E, magnesium and selenium, pumpkin seeds are especially high in zinc and chia seeds provide fibre, protein and omega 3s.  Oh and they taste great too!

This is a great alternative to cereal or porridge and the possible variations are endless.

My Bircher Muesli

2 cups rolled oats
4 cups rice milk
1 ts cinnamon
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup chia seeds
1 red apple, grated (per person)
raw honey to serve

Place the oats, milk cinnamon and seeds into a large bowl and stir to combine. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, serve up into bowls and top with grated apple and a drizzle of honey.

Enjoy!

Serves 4-6

My Sweet Corn Pancakes

One of the very few vegetables my Mr 5 will eat (and I'm not counting chips as a vegetable because he won't touch homemade ones) is corn on the cob. But there is absolutely no way he will eat a muffin, pancake or anything else with pieces of corn in it.

I adore corn fritters with their sweet and savoury flavour and packed with herbs. But I accept that those won't get eaten and sometimes you have to compromise. I came up with these sweet corn pancakes and was delighted to see them gobbled up without a pause.

The secret is processing the corn with the eggs and milk to form a completely smooth puree. The small amount of coconut sugar enhances the sweetness but you could leave that out, add 1/2 ts salt and make them savoury instead. They would be delicious served with avocado and smoked salmon.

Hope your fussy eaters enjoy these as much as mine!

My Sweet Corn Pancakes

1 x 425g tin corn kernels, drained and rinsed
4 eggs
200ml rice milk*
2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
3 ts baking powder
2 ts coconut sugar
pinch salt
oil or ghee for frying

Place the corn kernels into the food processor and blitz until chopped. Add the eggs and milk and process for 30 seconds or so, scraping down the sides if you need to, until the mixture is completely smooth.

Add the dry ingredients and process until just combined. Use a spatula to scrap the sides and mix through an extra flour. * Add an extra tbs or so of milk if you feel the batter is too thick at this stage as all flours differ.

Heat a large frypan over medium heat and add the oil or ghee.

Once hot, place heaped tablespoons of mixture into the pan (I can fit 4 at a time) and cook for approximately 3 minutes each side.

Remove to a plate and keep warm as you repeat with the remaining mixture.

Serve with butter, syrup and crispy bacon.

Makes around 16 pancakes.

Fluffy Father's Day Pancakes

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads!!! I hope you are all being spoilt this morning.

My hubby missed out on breakfast in bed this morning as we have to be up early and all pitch in to be ready for swimming at 8am. BUT I did make him a yummy breakfast. Apologies for the terrible photo, it was very dark and very early!

These were some of the lightest and fluffiest pancakes I've made, which you can't always say about pancakes made without wheat flour and buttermilk (I've made some real duds over the years believe me!).  Hubby and the kids LOVED them and they were the perfect start to Father's Day.

Hope you're having a great weekend :)

Fluffy Father's Day Pancakes

2 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1 tbs aluminium free baking powder
1 tbs coconut sugar
pinch salt
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla extract
270ml can Ayam coconut milk
1/2 -2/3 cup rice milk (or any  milk you like)
maple syrup and banana to serve
coconut oil for cooking

Place a large pan over medium heat.

In a large bowl place the flour, baking powder, coconut sugar and salt and whisk together. In a jug or small bowl, mix the eggs, vanilla, coconut milk and 1/2 cup of the milk together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until only just combined. The batter should be thick but if it is too thick and sticky add more milk, a little at a time until it is smooth and spoonable.

Drop some coconut oil into the pan and swirl to coat. Place spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan (I can fit 4 pancakes in my 10 inch pan). Cook until bubbles appear on the surface then turn and cook for another 2 minutes or so until golden brown and cooked through.

Place directly onto serving plates and top with sliced banana and a generous drizzle of maple syrup.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato, Bacon and Egg Bake (Dairy Free)

We go through lots of eggs in this house, at least 2-3 dozen or more if I'm doing lots of baking. We love them boiled, scrambled and fried. Turned into omelettes, quiches, custard and french toast.

A quick flick through an old Woman's Weekly cookbook called Cheap & Cheerful and I came across a Kumara, Bacon and Egg Bake. We had everything on hand it was such an easy and delicious dinner! Itwas somewhere between a quiche and a frittata and would work really well if you happened to have some leftover steamed veggies in the fridge already. I used sweet potato and regular potatoes but really you could use anything you have.

We had this for dinner but I think it would be a perfect brunch dish, especially as it could be prepared ahead of time and then popped in the oven at the last minute.

Sweet Potato, Bacon and Egg Bake
Adapted from Cheap & Cheerful (Australian Woman's Weekly, ACP Books, p50-51)

1 large sweet potato (about 500g)
2 large potaotes (about 500g)
5 bacon rashers (about 350g)
8 eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used rice milk)
1 ts ground cumin
2 tbs nutritional yeast

Chop the sweet potatoes and potatoes into a 2-3cm dice and steam until just tender and then set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees / 160 degrees fan-forced. Grease a baking dish ( mine was 20 x 26 cm) with olive oil.

Roughly chop the bacon and fry it in a pan over medium heat until just starting to crisp up. Sprinkle over the cumin and toss to combine. Spread the potatoes over the base of the baking dish and scatter the bacon over the top.

Whisk together the eggs, milk and nutritional yeast in a medium bowl and then pour over the potatoes and bacon. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve warm or hot with a green salad.

Coconut Bread

Move over banana bread there's a new kid in town!

When this coconut bread popped up in my facebook feed from Smitten Kitchen I had no idea it would lead me back to a blog I used to read religiously (The Wednesday Chef) and from there to renowned Aussie chef Bill Granger who is famous for this recipe.

We've been on a real coconut kick lately and eat it in some form every day be it coconut milk on my muesli, coconut flour in some muffins or coconut oil in a stir fry.  This bread is a celebration of coconut and while I knew my husband wouldn't be particularly keen, the rest of us would love it and I was not disappointed.

I did make a few substitutions (of course) but I think I have stayed pretty true to the original recipe. It makes a huge (10 x 5) loaf which is pretty tasty warm from the oven but is absolutely sensational toasted and spread with lots of butter and a drizzle of syrup.

I was intending on serving a slice of this topped with homemade mango sorbet for my mother in law's birthday but in the end we had a piece of this for afternoon tea and saved the mango sorbet for a few days later when we weren't quite so full from our dinner of takeaway Chinese food.

It is the perfect breakfast or brunch bread and is really substantial without being too heavy. I loved it.

If you like coconut and are getting sick of the same old banana bread, this is the one for you!

I chose to use the recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly just so I wouldn't have to do any of the conversions.

Coconut Bread
Slightly adapted from AWW

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 cup wholemeal plain flour
2 ts baking powder
2 ts cinnamon
150g shredded coconut (I used coconut flakes which I blitzed in the food processor to make finer)
300ml milk (I used almond and coconut milk)
2 eggs
1 ts vanilla
1/2 cup rice malt syrup
75 g melted butter
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line a large loaf tin (mine was 10 x 5 even though the original said 8.5 x 5) and set aside.

Place the dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir together. Make a well in the middle.

Place the liquid ingredients into a large and whisk well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the well and mix until only just combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave for 5 minutes before turning out of the tin. Serve warm or slice and freeze to be thawed and toasted later.

Serves 10-12.

Bacon and Egg Pie

I am very lucky that my boys have a great relationship with their nanna (my mother in law). She is always happy to watch them when we need her to and has them over for a 2 night sleepover every holidays. I'm also lucky that she doesn't give them too many treats but they still come home telling me all about the yummy things they ate for dinner.

One of Oscar's favourite meals from Nanna's house has been bacon and egg pie, so I decided to make it for him at home too. A quick google search led me to this recipe from Taste which looked easy and tasty and we even had all the ingredients already.

The original recipe for this includes sun-dried tomatoes in the filling, but we prefer to serve it with a big dollop of homemade relish or chutney. This pie can be served warm or cold and is brilliant for feeding a crowd if you are having friends around for brunch. Oh and its perfect for the lunchbox too as it doesn't need to be reheated.

There's a reason why classic recipes like this are still popular - they are delicious!!!

Bacon and Egg Pie
Adapted from Taste

Pastry:
1 1/2 cups (225g) plain flour
1 3/4 cups (265g) self-raising flour
220g cold butter, chopped
1/2 cup (125ml) iced water

Filling:
450g bacon, rind removed and chopped roughly
12 eggs
1/2 cup milk
pepper
pinch nutmeg

2 tbs milk, extra

To make the pastry, place the flours into the food processor and blitz for a few seconds to remove any lumps. Add the butter and pulse until combined into a chunky breadcrumb. Add the water and pulse a few times or until it starts to clump together. Squeeze a small amount in your hand and if it comes together it is ready. If you feel you need more water add just a teaspoon or so at time because you can't take it back out!

Divide the dough into 2 portions, making one a little bigger than the other. Shape each piece into a disc then cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/350 F and grease a deep-sided 17 x 26 cm baking dish.

Roll out the larger of the pastry discs into a rectangle large enough to line the base and sides of the baking dish. Line the dish with pastry and trim the edges.

Scatter half the bacon over the pastry then crack 6 eggs over the top. Cover with remaining bacon then 4 more eggs. Beat the remaining 2 eggs with the milk and nutmeg then pour over the top.

Roll out the remaining pastry into a rectangle large enough to fit the top of the dish. Lay over the filling then fold the edges in to seal. Brush the top with the extra milk and then bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Serve warm or cold.
Serves 8-10

Sweet Potato Pancakes

While I am a very keen meal-planner, I tend not to plan anything much for Friday and Saturday nights. Sometimes we have leftovers and sometimes I just try to use up whatever odds and ends are left in the fridge before we do the grocery shopping on the weekend. We also often have breakfast for dinner (aka dinner) with pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs and the like.

When we happened to have a large sweet potato that was fast approaching it's use-by, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to try out these sweet potato pancakes that I found on Weelicious a few months ago.

They are a little more time consuming than regular pancakes in that you need to steam and puree the sweet potato first but if you happened to have leftover vegetables from dinner that would make it really easy.

I was amazed at how much my kids loved these. Even my notoriously picky Mr 4 devoured them - in fact he ate 7! The recipe made 16 and I was expecting my husband and I to be able to have some but nope, my 3 boys gobbled up all 16 in record time.

If you don't have sweet potato then pumpkin, carrot or swede would also work brilliantly.

The pancakes have a very soft texture, to the point  you might be wondering if they are actually cooked. They are! Check out the original post and all the comments for more info on that.

Easy Sweet Potato Pancakes
Adapted from Weelicious

1 cup spelt flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup coconut milk
3/4 cup rice milk
1 tablespoon rice malt syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 cup sweet potato puree

Place the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients until smooth

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Don’t overmix.

Heat a large pan over medium heat and add a little butter or coconut oil.

Pour large spoonfuls of the mixture into the pan, making as many pancakes as will fit, and cook for 2-3 minutes before flipping and cooking for a further minute or so until cooked through and golden brown.

Makes 16 pancakes. Serve with butter and rice malt syrup.

Spiced Apple French Toast (SRC)

This month for Secret Recipe Club I was lucky enough to be assigned Couscous and Consciousness by Sue. I've long admired Sue's gorgeous blog and it is packed with clean, beautiful food. Sue practises and teaches yoga, eats a mainly vegetarian diet and cooks from scratch using local and sustainable ingredients. I was really spoilt for choice this month and in fact I had a really hard time choosing what to make!

We're not quite in stone fruit season yet so her Crisp Pork Belly with Sweet Peach Salsa will have to wait until closer to Christmas. The Felafel with Tahini Flatbread looked like a great twist on something we make pretty often. And next time I'm baking for a crowd I will definitely be trying out her Chocolate Beetroot Cake.

In the end though I couldn't go past this simple but amazing Spiced Apple French Toast. I mean, what could be better for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast than that? In her post Sue says her ideal morning involves getting up at 10 and then heading back to bed with a cup of tea and a stack of cookbooks. Sounds like bliss! On the Sunday morning that I made this I was up at 5.15am to study before the kids got up and cooked to the sounds of cartoons on TV. Still bliss but a little less relaxing than Sue's morning!

Spiced Apple French Toast 
Slightly adapted from Couscous and Consciousness

2 slices day old bread
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used rice milk)
1/2 ts vanilla extract
butter for frying
2 red apples, cored and sliced thickly
50g butter
2 tbs rice malt syrup (or brown sugar, honey etc)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
a handful of raisins

In a wide shallow dish, place the eggs, milk and vanilla extract and beat together with a fork until combined. Add the sliced bread and leave to soak, turning halfway through while you prepare the apples.

In a shallow frying pan over medium heat, melt the butter, and as soon as it starts to sizzle add the syrup and cinnamon and allow to bubble away for a minute or so. Add the apples and raisins and saute for 5 to 10 minutes, until the apples are tender but not collapsing. Remove from pan and set aside.

Return the pan to the heat, add some extra butter and once sizzling, add the bread to the pan. Cook until golden on one side, then flip over and cook the other side.

Remove the French toast to a serving platter, and spoon the warm, caramelised apples and raisins over the top. Serve immediately.

Serves 2

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Father's Day!

It's Father's Day here in Australia so I wanted to give a shout out to all the Dads and Grandpas on this important day. And a special mention of course goes to my wonderful husband who at this moment is off at the chemist with Oscar and Charlie buying medicine for me. I've been sick for a week now and still feeling lousy. Despite that I made Eggs Benedict for him to have breakfast in bed this morning.

My version of Eggs Benedict includes a toasted English muffin topped with freshly sliced ham, spinach sauteed with garlic, a wedge of omelette (the only way my husband eats eggs), hollandaise sauce and a scattering of chives on top. Yum!

I also have a gorgeous chocolate and strawberry dessert planned for tonight which I will post about later in the week.

Have a great day Dads!

Sweet Berry Fougasse (Baking with Julia)

Another choose your own adventure week at Baking with Julia, with a choice of Blueberry Muffins or Sweet Berry Fougasse. I was all set to make the muffins but then I actually read the other recipe and was intrigued.

So what is a fougasse? It turns out to be a sweet foccacia, this one topped with berries and a crumbly streusal topping. Sounds yummy right? I figured it would make a wonderful breakfast, so I made it for Fathers' Day on Sunday and it was a big hit.

I have made foccacia many times but had never rested the dough in the fridge for 24 hours first as per this recipe, so wasn't sure what to expect. I have to say I'm not sure it really made a big difference, apart from the yeasty smell of the fermentation turning my stomach a little (if you're not preggo maybe you wouldn't even notice that though!)

All 3 of my taste testers really enjoyed these warm from the oven, and after a quick microwave they were still really good the next day, although the streusel had lost some of its crispiness.

If you would like to bake your own Sweet Berry Fougasse (and you really should) you will find the recipe here.

Spiced Apple Baked French Toast (Secret Recipe Club)

My blogging has been a bit sporadic lately but there is no way I would miss the Secret Recipe Club! This month I was assigned A Cook's Quest by Jenn. She and I seem to have a very similar outlook on food and what we like to feed our families. I love that there was a good mix of healthy and not-so-healthy recipes. Everything in moderation!

We love Mexican food around here so my first pick from Jenn's blog was going to be her Mexican Lasagne. But then I saw her Apple and Spice Baked French Toast and couldn't go past it!

Breakfast here tends to be pretty straight forward - lots of porridge, muesli and toast. On weekends we might do pancakes or bacon and eggs but that's about it. One of my favourite desserts is bread and butter pudding and this baked french toast is pretty much the same thing with the addition of apples and spices. Love it.

Spiced Apple Baked French Toast
Adapted very slightly from A Cook's Quest

1 loaf French bread
8 large eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup cream
1 cup sugar, divided (I used dextrose to cut down on the fructose)
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
6 Granny Smith apples
2 tablespoons butter
Cream and maple syrup to serve

Grease a 9 x 13 inch glass pan with butter. Slice the bread into 1 inch slices and place in the dish, packing the pieces quite tightly together.

In separate bowl, use a whisk to beat together the eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, milk, cream and vanilla. Pour one-half of this mixture over bread.

Peel, core and thinly slice the apples and layer them over the top of the bread to cover. Pour the leftover milk mixture evenly over the apples.

In a small bowl mix the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the spices and sprinkle evenly over the top of apples. Dot with small pieces of butter, cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/ 160 degrees fan-forced. Uncover the dish and bake for 1 hour. It should be risen and browned and smell amazing. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

To serve, slice into squares (and if you're feeling really indulgent drizzle with maple syrup and cream). Be prepared not to be hungry for the rest of the day!

We LOVED this. It was a bit like having dessert for breakfast so in future we will definitely be saving it for special occasions like birthdays or Easter!

I actually made only about 2/3 of this recipe and it made a huge amount which we ate over a couple of days. Half the recipe would be plenty for most families. My favourite bit would have been the sweet and spicy apples on top. Could not get enough! Next time I will layer some apple slices in amongst the bread and also add some spices into the custard mixture to really boost the flavour. Thanks for a great recipe Jenn!

Pumpkin Spice Waffles

Brinner (aka breakfast for dinner) has become a regular feature on our weekly meal plan. And why not?! This week I decided to make waffles, and having a lot of pumpkin to use up, went searching for pumpkin waffles. I think I've said it before but pumpkin based sweet dishes really aren't popular in Australia which is such a shame as they're so good!

I actually felt great about the boys having these for dinner. They're dairy free, low in sugar, use wholemeal flour, eggs for protein and of course pumpkin for veggies. Topped with a little crispy bacon and a generous slug of maple syrup they were the perfect dinner for all of us. You could of course leave off the bacon to make them vego.

Pumpkin Spice Waffles
Adapted from Food.com

1 cup plain flour
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 ts baking powder
1/2 ts bicarb soda
Pinch salt
2 tbs brown sugar
3 ts cinnamon
1 ts ginger
1/8 ts ground cloves
1/8 ts nutmeg
3 eggs
2 tbs melted butter (I used nuttelex)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used oat milk)
3/4 cup mashed pumpkin
Maple syrup to serve

Preheat waffle maker.

Combine the all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, milk, pumpkin and melted butter. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and mix well to combine.

Place 1/3 cup mixture into the waffle maker at a time and cook until firm and crispy, about 2 1/2 minutes. Keep warm in a low oven until ready to serve.

Makes 8 waffles.

We will definitely be making these again!

Oaty Pancakes with Strawberries

I am the early riser in the family. Morning is my favourite time of the day and my alarm goes off at 5.30am every day. When the mood strikes I get up and exercise, or I'll just have a cup of tea and enjoy some peace and quiet, mentally preparing myself for another busy day with my 2 little people.

After yet another long week of illness in the food.baby household a yummy Sunday breakfast was definitely in order so that's what I spent my early morning doing.

Usually after having a breakfast of pancakes made with white flour and loads of sugar I will crash a few hours later, starving and with a headache. Recently though I've been making simple changes to our diet, swapping white rice for brown, always buying wholemeal or multigrain bread, reduced fat cheese and the like. So my challenge was to make some pancakes that the kids would actually eat while still being pretty healthy.

Oats are my breakfast of choice most days so that's what I used here and I was really happy with how these turned out. The batch of 12 disappeared in record time and with the strawberries on top it was the perfect start to our Sunday!

Oaty Pancakes with Strawberries
Makes 12 pancakes, serves 4.

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tbs sugar
1 ts vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup almond milk (or whatever milk you like)
1 punnet of strawberries
1 tbs orange juice
1 tbs maple syrup

Wash, de-stem and halve the strawberries and place them in a bowl. Pour over the orange juice and maple syrup and toss well to combine. Leave to macerate while you make the pancakes.

In a large mixing bowl stir together the flour, oats and sugar. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla and mix until well combined.

Lightly grease a large fry pan with butter and cook pancakes over medium heat 4 at a time (or whatever will fit in your pan). You should get 12 pancakes from this mix. Cook on the first side until you see lots of bubbles start to form then slip over and cook until golden brown. Continue with the remaining batches.

Serve warm with a big spoonful of strawberries and syrup. Yum!

TWD BWJ - Pecan Sticky Buns

You can probably tell from the photo that my sticky buns aren't quite as 'sticky' as they should be. That's because I could feel my arteries clogging just reading this week's recipes and decided to cut the butter somewhat.

I made the brioche but didn't laminate it and I used just a tablespoon of butter in the topping for each tray of buns. The results were absolutely delicious so I can only imagine how amazing the original version would have been!

I've never made brioche before and was really pleased with how it turned out. I'm already planning on making more and turning it into french toast one weekend. Yum!

Overall these were wonderful. I don't regret cutting the butter out because now I don't feel so guilty sneaking one for afternoon tea :)

Our hosts this week are Lynn of Eat Drink Man Woman Dogs Cat and Nicole of Cookies on Friday. They'll have the recipes up and you can decide whether I made the right decision to go low(er) fat with these!

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

Apple crumble is one of the easiest and tastiest things you can make for a quick dessert. And of course the bonus is that it makes a great breakfast the next day! 

Rather than make a standard apple crumble or crisp, I was inspired by Dorie Greenspan's version as we just happened to have one last lonely pack of frozen cranberries leftover from Christmas.

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours, p422

Topping

3/4 cup plain flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

1 ts cinnamon

1 ts ground ginger

125g butter, chopped into small pieces

Filling

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped into a fine dice

1 cup frozen cranberries

1/2 cup sultanas

1/3 cup sugar

1 tbs plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Spray a 1.8 litre baking dish with oil and set aside.

To make the topping, combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs and is clumping together.

To prepare the filling, combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish.

Spread the topping evenly over the fruit filling and bake for approx 1 hour or until the top is a deep golden brown and the fruit is bubbling up around the edges. Allow to cool slightly before serving with ice-cream or custard. Enjoy the leftovers (if there are any!) for breakfast the next morning.

Serves 6-8.

This was really, really good! Such a shame we can only buy frozen cranberries for a few weeks a year because they add such a special quality to things like this. Definitely a winner.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Toasted Almond Scones

Oh how I love a good scone! Unfortunately I've never been that good at making them. I just don't have the touch. Seeking to remedy the situation this time I made these scones in the food processor and ... success!

I made a few changes to the recipe (as always) subbing in wholemeal flour, low fat milk instead of cream and using whole raw almonds with the skin on. Oh and leaving out the almond essence because that stuff is evil.

I wasn't intending to mix the dough in the processor but seeing I had to grind the nuts in there anyway it seemed easier to just switch to the dough blade and not dirty another bowl. A few quick pulses and the dough came together.

The taste test ...

Wow. Seriously good. Moist, nutty and really moreish. I ate mine warm from the oven with a smear of butter and a big drizzle of golden syrup. Mmmmmmmm.

Thanks to Mike of Living Out West for helping me to finally make good scones! You can find the recipe on Mike's blog under today's date.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Maple and Fruit Bread Pudding

I know I've said it before but I'll say it again ... I LOVE bread pudding! It is just about the most comforting food you could ever eat and after the week we've had, a little comfort eating is definitely required.

Oscar came home from daycare last Monday with a fever and by the next day was just downright miserable and refusing to eat or drink. By Thursday he was diagnosed with tonsilitis. By Friday he was covered in a rash which is either rubella or roseola. Being sick at any time sucks but when you're not even 2 and can't tell anyone what hurts or what you need to feel better must be just horrible. While he is on the mend now we still have a week of quarantine at home missing out on all the fun stuff like swimming, daycare, music and playgroup that we normally go to.

The remedy? Bread pudding for breakfast!

While I love bread pudding I don't love bourbon and wanted to make it child-friendly in any case. I pretty much completely changed Dorie's recipe but I was inspired by it. A big thanks to Sharon of Simply Southern for choosing it this week.

For my Maple and Fruitbread Pudding I used the following ingredients but followed Dorie's method of preparation and baking.

250g fruit bread (mine was homemade and packed with dried fruit and mixed spice)
4 eggs
3 cups reduced fat milk
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 ts cinnamon
1 ts vanilla extract

The taste test ...

The youngest and sickest taste tester gave this a big "yum yum!" I have to agree. Absolutely delicious. A little sweet for everyday but perfect for a special breakfast or dessert.

For the real deal aka Bourbon Bread Pudding make sure you visit Sharon of Simply Southern.