COOK: Sausage Cheddar Muffins

I had been wanting to try a savory breakfast muffin for quite a while but wasn't sure how they would go over with everyone.  Berea said she wasn't sure about them, but KC was all for anything with sausage and eggs so I decided to try it.  Berea was home when I made them the first time and I asked her to just try a bite, she ate the whole thing and decided she loved them, KC agreed when he had his for breakfast the next day.

These are easy to make, and they freeze well, so I suggest making a double, or triple batch and popping the extras in the freezer, then you can just take out a few for breakfast and pop them in the microwave for about 1 minute and they are just as good as when they first come out of the oven!

I used basic breakfast sausage, but I'm excited to try with spicy sausage, or the sage sausage.  If you like sweet I bet the maple sausage would be yummy too!

As I was writing this I started thinking about the different cheeses or mixtures of cheese I could use, I'll update you on anything I try.

I'm going to try these with whole wheat flour next time, if it works I'll update the recipe.

Sausage Cheddar Muffins

Ingredients:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour 

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Cup Milk

1/3 Cup Unsalted Butter (melted)

2 Eggs (slightly beaten)

1 Cup Breakfast Sausage (cooked, crumbled, and drained)

1 1/2 Cups Cheddar Cheese (shredded)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease 12 muffin cups, or use liners. (I prefer to make these in liners, the cheese tends to stick to the sides of the cup, even in a well greased cup.)

As with most muffin recipes it's best to use a bowl and a wooden spoon, if you use a mixer you can over mix them leading to flat and tough muffins.

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, garlic, and onion.  

Add in your milk and melted butter and mix well.  Add your eggs and mix until everything is incorporated, it's okay to have some lumps.  

Fold in the sausage and cheese, until just incorporated.  

Fill muffin cups to about 3/4 full.  Bake for 20-23 minutes, let cool 10 minutes and then remove from the pan and let cool fully on a baking rack.  They can be kept in a plastic container in the fridge for a week, or in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to two months.

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COOK: The Best Banana Bread

Say that three times fast!

Quick breads are probably one of the easiest things to bake, they are easy, delicious, and make great gifts!

For years I always used the same banana bread recipe my mother had used, from the Betty Crocker Cookbook.  One day I had over ripe bananas and had promised the kiddos banana bread, only to realize I didn't have enough milk, and of course it was nasty and snowing outside and I didn't feel like packing the kiddos into their car seats just to go get milk.  Having made other quick breads for years I figured I could probably figure something out, and on that day, about 6 years, ago the best banana bread was born!

Berea has always enjoyed helping me cook and bake, and now if I have bananas in the house she usually asks if she can make the banana bread, she also really enjoys making odd faces when I try to take pictures also!

The Best Banana Bread

Ingredients:

4-5 Bananas (over ripe is easiest, but any kind works)

1/2 Cup Unsalted Butter (melted)

3/4 Cup Sugar

1 Egg (slightly beaten)

2 teaspoons Vanilla

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 Cups Flour (You can use white, or wheat, or a mixture of both)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease a 4" x 8" loaf pan.  (You can use three 3" x 6" pans instead, just make sure you check then loaves after about 40 minutes of baking.)

Put all of the bananas into a large mixing bowl and smash, I prefer to use a potato masher.  If you bananas were fresh mash longer, until little to no lumps show.  Pour in melted butter and mix with a wooden spoon.  Add sugar, egg (make sure the butter has cooled a bit, you don't want to end up with partially cooked egg!), vanilla, baking soda, and salt.  Mix well.

Add in flour and mix until everything is wet, and there aren't any large lumps.  

Note: You can add 1 cup of chopped nuts or chocolate chips, I like adding almonds, KC prefers when I make it with chapped pecans.   The kiddos love chocolate chips. 

Pour into loaf pan, bake for 55 minutes.  Bread is done when a clean butter knife, inserted into the middle, comes out clean.  Let cool about 5 minutes and then flip onto a baking rack to cool.  

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