Slow Cooker Berry Bread Pudding

I took a chance during Hurricane Sandy to make a slow cooker meal on Monday!  Luckily I never lost power and I was able to make this slow cooker berry bread pudding.  I really liked this bread pudding but it was a little bit watery when I made it.  Next time I will probably use a little less milk and see how it turns out.   This is such a simple recipe and perfect when you don't want to bake something.  I have eaten this berry bread pudding for dessert and even breakfast already.  It's delicious!  Happy Halloween everyone! 

Slow Cooker Berry Bread Pudding

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 package of Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (I used King’s brand, 12 count.)

2 ½ - 3 cups vanilla soy milk (You may use regular milk.)

4 eggs

¼ cup butter, melted

½ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ - 3 cups berries (I used diced strawberries and blueberries.)

Directions

Tear sweet rolls into bite size cubes; I tore each sweet roll into 4 pieces.

Spray slow cooker with non stick cooking spray.  Place half the cube rolls into the bottom of the slow cooker.   Top with half the berries.

In a large bowl, whisk together butter, soymilk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.

Pour half the mixture over the bread cubes and berries.  Press bread down to ensure the mixture is being absorbed by the bread.

Layer with remaining bread cubes and berries.  Pour remaining mixture on top.  Press bread down gently.  (Optional – sprinkle some additional sugar on top.)

Cover and cook on low for 3-4  hours.  Turn on high for the last 30 minutes and leave the lid cracked up to let the steam escape.

It will be done when a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.   

Berry Cake

I had some extra strawberries and blueberries to use up and this berry cake turned out wonderful!  I adapted this berry cake recipe from Martha Stewart's Strawberry Cake (original recipe here).  The cake is light and moist.  One of the online Martha Stewart reviewers said it tastes like a cross between an angel food cake and a buttery pound cake, which is exactly right!  I couldn't have described it any better.   I will definitely be making this cake again and again.  You could serve this berry cake as is or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.  Enjoy!

Berry Cake

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

1 ½ cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 egg

½ cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ pound strawberries, hulled and halved

½ pound blueberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.   Grease a 10 inch pie plate with butter.

In a bowl, whisk together (or sift) flour, baking powder and salt.

In a stand mixer, on medium-high speed, beat together butter and 1 cup sugar until pale and fluffy.  On medium-low speed, mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.

On low speed, slowly add in flour mixture about ½ cup at a time.  You may need to use a spatula to scrape sides of bowl down.  

Pour batter into buttered pie plate.  Arrange strawberries and blueberries on top.  Place strawberries cut side down.  Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries.  

Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce temperature to 325 degrees F.  Bake for additional 60 minutes until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch.  

Allow cake to cool in pie plate.  Store cake at room temperature loosely covered for up to 2 days or refrigerate.

Pizza Dough 2

I haven't made pizza in awhile and I wanted to tweak the pizza dough recipe I typically use.  This dough came out well and was great for making a thinner crust too.  I was able to roll out half the dough to make a pizza the size of my large baking sheet.  I froze the other half of the pizza dough to use another time.  You can freeze any leftover dough in a freezer safe plastic bag.  Just defrost in the fridge the night before and the pizza dough will be ready by the time its dinner time.  I made a veggie pizza with this dough, and I will share that recipe tomorrow.

 

Pizza Dough 2

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 ¼ teaspoons yeast

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)

½ teaspoon sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together the warm water and yeast.  Set aside for about 10 minutes, it will get foamy.  Stir in sugar, olive oil and salt.

In a stand mixer with dough attachment, add in flour and yeast mixture.  Mix on low to medium speed until a ball of dough forms, about 5 minutes.

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Grease a large bowl with olive oil and place the dough in it. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, 1 to 2 hours.

Punch down the dough with your hand.   

Turn the dough out onto a surface dusted with flour.   Halve dough and roll out with a floured rolling pin.

Makes 2 pizzas.

Simple Berry Cobbler

This is truly a simple berry cobbler recipe.  I loved this berry cobbler, it is such a warm and inviting dish.  I served it with a scoop of TJ's frozen vanilla greek fat free yogurt.  It was delicious and is the perfect contract between sweet and tart.  You could also serve it with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, but I was trying to be somewhat healthy.  This simple berry cobbler is great as a dessert or even breakfast.  Enjoy!

Simple Berry Cobbler

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups blueberries

2 cups strawberries, diced (same size as blueberries)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a 9x13 inch baking dish, add butter and place in oven while preheating so butter melts.

In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Whisk dry ingredients together. 

Next, add in sugars and milk.  Whisk together until a batter forms and there are no more lumps.

Pour batter in the baking dish with the melted butter.  There is no need to stir the butter, it will come up around the batter and that is fine.

Top batter with the blueberries and strawberries.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, until top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  (It took me about 55 minutes to bake.)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

I cannot get enough of pumpkin these days, and I have already made pumpkin cupcakes.  Since I made banana bread earlier, I adapted the recipe for this pumpkin chocolate chip bread.  This bread is moist, delicious and full of pumpkiny goodness!  Is pumpkiny even a word? LOL  This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is perfect for breakfast and I had a slice today with my morning latte.  I also shared the bread with some of my coworkers and everyone enjoyed it.  It is nice that I get to share my baked goods at work because I should not be eating it all myself!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

¾ cup pumpkin

4 tablespoons butter, melted (I microwave in a bowl for about 45 seconds.)

½ cup white sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt, flour and cinnamon.

In another bowl, combine pumpkin, butter, sugars, egg and vanilla.

Combine the wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

One Bowl Banana Bread

This one bowl banana bread recipe is my go-to recipe for years now.  It is so easy to make and turns out delicious each time.  Cleanup is a breeze since you only need to use one bowl and I just mix everything by hand.  I honestly don't even remember where I got this recipe from but I still have it written on a piece of note paper that I keep in my recipes box.  I have used this same recipe to make muffins too, you would just reduce the bake time to about 15 to 20 minutes.  Enjoy!

One Bowl Banana Bread

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/3 cup butter, melted (I microwave in a bowl for about 45 seconds.)

¾ cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 ½ cup flour

½ cup chocolate chips (Optional but I almost always add it in!)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, mash peeled bananas with a fork.

Mix in butter, sugar, egg and vanilla.  

Next, add in baking soda, salt and flour.

Stir in chocolate chips if adding.

Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for one hour or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Eggless Waffles

Easy like Sunday morning...with Eggless Waffles!  I finally received my waffle plates for my Cuisinart Griddler.  I have been wanting to make my own waffles for awhile now and I finally caved in and bought the waffle plates.  Its actually great since I don't need another appliance to make waffles, I just have to switch out the plates.  I was finally ready to make waffles but then realized I had no eggs.  Major fail on my part!  I realized I didn't get to go to the farmers market last Tuesday due to torrential rain and I usually buy my eggs from an Amish farmer.  So instead I did some online research and realized there were plenty of recipes for waffles with no eggs.  These Eggless Waffles turned out great and I couldn't even taste a difference. 

  

Eggless Waffles

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons sugar

2 cups milk (I used organic lowfat 1% milk.)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons melted butter

Optional Ingredients

2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I added this to half the batter.)

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder and sugar.

Add in the remaining ingredients - milk, vegetable oil, water, vanilla and melted butter.

Whisk together until batter is mixed, it will be slightly lumpy. (Optional ingredient, add in chocolate chips last.)

Spray waffle maker with non-stick spray.  Once heated and ready, I used a ¼ measuring cup of batter for each waffle.  Let cook for about 3 to 4 minutes depending on your waffle maker instructions.

Serve warm with butter and/or maple syrup.

 Mmm.....I love Sunday morning waffles!

Buddy likes to sleep in on Sundays...or everyday!