Amish-Style Baked Oatmeal

This is comfort-food breakfast to be sure. We first encountered this after running a 10k Turkey Trot in Lancaster County, PA. It was a chilly day for a run, and when we finished this was waiting for us, warm and filling the little fellowship hall with the scent of fresh-from-the-oven oatmeal cookies. That's basically what this is: oatmeal cookies for breakfast. Dig in.

Fiber Rich Muffins

Yes, these take white flour, but the multi-grain cereal makes up for that.  These are so tasty that you will need to remind people that they are rather high in fiber, before someone inadvertently eats four at once.... Yes, that happened.

Basic Pancakes

 (My Grand Sous Chef)

This is the basic pancake recipe that I have used for the past 26 years or so.  So very simple that buying a mix is almost pointless.  With variations on the recipe you can have any number of flavors, from fruit and nuts, to sweet potato or pumpkin.  Throw in the optional ingredients or keep it simple, these pancakes make a terrific breakfast— or whichever meal you choose!

Pecan Granola

My daughter Kate sent this recipe to me.  It was one of the first things that she made in the kitchen of the first real home that she has moved into since she started college years ago and rented mere rooms (for the most part) to live in.  She is now delighting in setting up a home, and the smell of this granola roasting in the oven made her new place feel all the more "homey."  This particular recipe for granola came from our dear friend, Wanita, for whose friendship I am so grateful to the Lord.

Serve this with yogurt and fresh fruit for a wonderful breakfast. 

Cranberry Orange Muffins

I found these delightful muffins on Pinterest when I was looking for ways to use up the stockpile of cranberries left in the freezer after the holidays.  The original recipe was great, but a bit thin on cranberries.  I want a berry in every bite!  So I adjusted here and there and ended up with just what I was dreaming of in a cranberry orange muffin.  You could use fresh cranberries- before stockpiling them in the freezer, or, if using frozen, take them out to thaw slightly before adding them to the batter.  That way the batter won’t become a frozen lump as you try to spoon it into the muffin tins.

Apple Butter Muffins

These muffins are a delightful tribute to Autumn.  I first had these over 20 years ago, sitting on the back porch of my new friend, Tonya Lucas, drinking mugs of warm tea—or was it coffee?—wearing comfy sweaters and surrounded by the crisp air and fall colors in the trees around the yard.  We were only beginning to know one another back then, and now our then-toddler girls are grown into beautiful young women and our little boys are no longer playing make-believe but are fine young men, living the lives into which the Lord has led them.  How has so much time passed?  I still think of you every time I make these, Tonya Dear.

Sweet Potato Muffins

Simply because these will likely be breakfast tomorrow, and have become my favorite breakfast muffin since I found the recipe in Runner's World magazine a couple of years ago, I'll post this up now.  I've increased the amount of sweet potato to keep the muffins moist, and topped them with cane sugar for a delightful crunch.  Bake several sweet potatoes at once, ahead of time, and refrigerate or freeze until you're ready to bake them up into these wonderful, good-for-you, perfect-before-a-morning-run, muffins. 

The BEST Blueberry Muffins

These have been a breakfast standard for long years now... since we lived in Harrisville, PA and only had two children, now that I think about it!

½ C butter, room temperature

1 C sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

2 C blueberries, fresh or frozen

2 C flour

½ C milk

1 T sugar mixed with ½ tsp. nutmeg or cinnamon

Using a hand or stand mixer, beat butter in a medium-sized bowl until creamy.  Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add vanilla, baking powder and salt.  Fold in half the flour, then half the milk, adding remaining flour and milk in same fashion.  Fold in blueberries.  Scoop batter into 12 prepared muffin cups.  Sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar mixture.  Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes (may take slightly longer if using frozen blueberries).  Allow to cool before removing from muffin pan.

Pumpkin version: Same as above, with the following additions/ adjustments:

* add 1/2 C Pumpkin puree, after eggs

* add 1/4 C flour

* add "pumpkin spices": 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. cloves

* adjust milk to 1/3 C.