A Berry Happy Breakfast - Part 2 - Berry Bread.

Bread. Berries. Breakfast.

Need I say more?

No, but I will - this is me after all and I don't think I've ever written a short post. 

This is the second recipe from my berry haul at the weekend, of course not including the not insubstantial amount of blueberries I ate on the way home.... ahem.  And my second entry to the Breakfast Club, ran by FussFreeFlavours and hosted by Simply Food.  Told you I like berries!

When I look at this recipe I think it's more of a cake than a bread, but to eat bread for breakfast makes me feel better than if I scoff cake first thing (mentally that is, not necessarily physically!). It doesn't have much sugar in it, the berries are sweet enough - and it's perfect for those berries that have seen better days. In fact, my major berry haul went bad quite quickly (well the strawberries and blackberries did, raspberries are still perfection in a punnet) which I guess is why they were so cheap - another reason to not feel guilty for eating cake bread for breakfast! I feel a list coming on.

There is no yeast in this recipe either, but I don't believe you need yeast to make a cake bread (See bacon and cheese bread here). What do you think?

To be fair, it's irrelevant; it was gorgeous for breakfast with a cup of string tea and yes, I'll admit it, I dunked. Who wouldn't? It was still warm and slathered with salted butter, which ended up creating a little film on my tea. Sounds gross. It wasn't. I guess the guilt factor evens out the health factor of A Berry Happy Breakfast - Part 1. Everything in moderation I say!

So, enjoy baking this cake bread... then please, please enjoy eating, guilt free as a Sunday morning treat (or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday....)

Look at that. A short post after all.

Berry Bread

Breakfast Berry Bread... Cake... Bread.
Whatever!

• 250g plain flour
• 150g vanilla sugar (or add the seeds of 1 pod)
• 200g chopped nuts (I used walnuts and pecans, very roughly chopped)
• 2.5 tsp baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 40g butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 200ml milk
• 150g mixed berries, chopped to the size of a raspberry if needs be.

1. Pre heat the oven to 180 and line a loaf tin (min is approx 8" long).

2. In a bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients to combine.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly whisk all the wet ingredients with a fork before pouring into the dry ingredients and mixing until combined.

4. Stir in the berries.

5. Bake in the oven for 50 - 60 minutes until a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean

6. Eat warm


OK, I realise this second to last instruction makes it a cake. I give in.

Enjoy anyway!

It's a Berry Happy Breakfast! Part 1 of 3 - Berry Breakfast Trifle

One of the best thing I've found about blogging are the Events and Challenges other bloggers have devised (and I may do my own one day - who knows!?) because they challenge you to try new things and blog about recipes you wouldn't normally blog about. And that's why FussFreeFlavours Breakfast Club challenge is one I look forward to - My brekkies are generally boring - and when I saw that this months host 'Simply Food' had chosen Berries for their theme, I jumped with joy. I love 'em!

Juicy, tender, sweet, in season, and most excitingly, LOCAL! Best of all this adds up to CHEAP! Sadly, this also meant I went a bit mad at the grocers at the weekend and bought:

• 3 punnets of juicy, shiny red strawberries, 
• 2 large punnets of dusky dark pink raspberries, 
• 3 punnets of juicy blackberries 
• 2 punnets of blueberries. 

That's a lot of berry goodness.  And how much did I pay!? Well, if I'd have been in Sainsburys, I would have closed my eyes at the check out and just handed over my credit card. But no need with my local grocer, as the whole lot came to a very tidy £6.50! That won't get you far in Sainsbury's I tell thee.

As I walked home (feeling rather sumg... again), I began to think about recipes as I picked away at my purchases, munching my way home. There would be a lot of berry goodness in my kitchen that afternoon (hence why this post is Part 1 of 3)!

I'll save the other two for later in the week, but I planned a gorgeous breakfast for hubs and I of Berry Breakfast Trifle followed by Blueberry Pancakes.

I got home and unpacked my shopping, planning to make the pancake batter to rest overnight and... oh dear.   I'd eaten ALL of the blueberries (except a sorry looking few left in the punnet that I quickly wolfed down when I saw them - does anyone else feel sorry for foods left behind so have to gobble them immediately? Or is it just an excuse for gluttony?).

I digress. But the pancake idea fell as flat as a.. well a pancake.  So, we are left with just a Berry Breakfast Trifle.  Not a bad consolation prize bad though - it was a real treat and a half, a healthy one at that. Perfect for healthy breakfasts that look like you've put a lot effort into - they look great. The only downside I can see to these gorgeous breakfast treats is that you can't make them in advance - if you do, you get gooey granola, and no one wants gooey granola.

This recipe uses my Gorgeously Good Granola (available for sale on Etsy too, I'll have you know!), so make a big batch and it'll last you the week (or just buy some of mine - yum!)

Berry Breakfast Trifle

Berry Breakfast Trifle

• One big handful of Granola per person (do you like my precision here?)
• Selection of juicy berries, large ones chopped. (I used raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. Sadly not blueberries).
• A large pot of natural yoghurt (you'll need 150g-200g per person
• Drizzle of honey

1. In a large glass (I used a chunky wine glass, but squat tumblers would looks fantastic), put roughly 2cm of granola in the bottom. Top with yoghurt (just a small dollop) and sprinkle generously with berries.

2. Continue to layer until you have filled the glass, finishing with yoghurt, and topping with more berries, a sprinkling of granola and a drizzle of yoghurt.

And that's it! I feel a fraud calling this a recipe; let's go with an assembly, an idea to create a filling, impressive low fuss, low fat, full flavour brekkie.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Courgette Breakfast Muffins

For the first time, I have decided to take part in Fuss Free Flavours Breakfast Club, mainly because this is the first time I've come across it.  This month, #11, has a theme of 'Vegetarian and Savoury', as set by Green Gourmet Giraffe. An interesting one for me as my ideal breakfasts are either a stonking great big bacon buttie smothered in butter and tomato ketchup, or blueberry pancakes covered, drenched in fact, in maple syrup. But I do like a challenge.

So I got to thinking.  I've found my self pondering veggie and savoury breakfasts at all hours of the day (obsessive?  Moi?), but finding a problem with each idea. I thought about (and tried - oh the things we do for our blogs!) soft boiled eggs with early British asparagus dippers - but that's hardly a recipe; cheesy french toast with vine roasted tomatoes - but I couldn't have this without parma ham; Sweet potato rosti with roasted tomatoes - likewise, but bacon; Baked eggs with spicy tomato - but Green Gourmet Giraffe isn't keen on eggs so it didnt seem fair.

If I'm on the move, a croissant or blueberry muffin is my weapon of choice for breakfast, so I started thinking about savoury muffins. If I'm going to think about and create a new recipe, it has to be something my family will also want to eat, and they are fully fledged carnivores.  With this in mind, it had to suit both sides of the fence. I had a route around in my fridge and, to my delight found the right ingredients for these light yet filling muffins, that I'm sure contain one of your 5-a-day (wishful thinking?) and would be delicious on their own, with smoked salmon, with bacon or, in the case of the Breakfast Club Theme, a swipe of cream cheese and a sprinkling of black pepper.


Enough to turn me veggie?  Well, it's turned me savoury in the mornings and that's no mean feat.

Cheesy Courgette Breakfast Scones

• 220g plain flour
• 1.1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 60g butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 250ml milk
• 1 medium courgette, about 200g, grated
• 80g grated cheddar cheese
• 30g grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180 and wipe a none stick muffin tray with a slick of oil. (I tried this recipe lining the muffin tin with paper cases, as per the picture, and without. The mixture sticks to the paper so don't do it now!)

2. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbinate of soda and salt in a bowl.

3. In a separate, larger bowl, lightly whisk the egg then mix in the melted butter, milk, and courgette until combined.

4. Stir in the flour and mix until just combined but still lumpy and finally stir in the cheeses and herbs.

5. Spoon into the cake tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool slightly and eat warm. These can be warmed through another day and can be refrigerated.

I've frozen a few and will let you know how they are once defrosted and warmed through.

Enjoy!

Gorgeously Good Granola

Breakfast, for me, is the best meal of the day - the first morsel of food to pass my lips is one to behold. My husband and I make a point to have breakfast together everyday - even if it is standing up in the kitchen, so can be one of the most sociable meals, too. It's when your house comes alive from the stillness of the night; when you feed your friends bacon sandwiches after feeding them wine the night before; when the smell of coffee awakens the senses, the sight freshly squeezed orange awakens the eyes, and the crunch of granola awakens the taste buds.

Erm, hang on.  Granola? Dry, bland, rabbit food, I hear you cry? How about Delicious? No? Well, read on.

My husband swears by this granola, eaten like other cereals at breakfast with milk, will see him through to lunchtime without reaching for the biscuit tin. He swears this is how he lost weight. For me, with a dollop of yoghurt and some fresh fruit, it's the perfect start to a summer morning. For my friend at work, by the handful to stop afternoon munchies.

This granola works wonders for a gorgeous breakfast with no artificial colours, flavours or annoying adverts and, best of all, you can completely customise it. Pecans, sure! Dried Blueberries, why not!? Chocolate drops? Well, everyone deserves a little (a lot?) of what they fancy. It's so good in fact, that I've put it up for sale in Bloggers Bake For Hope Bake Sale (well, it is delicious. That and the fact that a lot of the people taking part are in the USA and I needed something I could ship!).  The sale goes live on 4th May and lasts until 6th May. This, taken from the Bloggers Bake for Hope blog:

All items will appear on this blog at 12:01 (EST) on Wednesday, May 4th. If you would like to bid on an item, leave a comment with the dollar amount you would like to bid. All bidding will start at $15.

So, give it a go, tell me if you like it or not and what combination of ingredients you used. If you can't be bothered to get your bake on, then just bid on this item.

So, to the flavour combinations. The basic recipe will stay the same, but the nuts, seeds and dried fruits can be tailored to your taste. My favourite combination is in the recipe below, but chop and change to suit yourself and your loved ones. It does cost a little to buy everything you need the first time you make this, but you get so much from the ingredients, it does work out so much cheaper than buying ready made granola, not to mention tastier and healthier.

I've no idea where this recipe came from. I've been using it for years and adapted it to my taste. Thank you to whoever inspired this recipe (and sorry I cant acknowledge you!)

Granola

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 120ml maple syrup
• 300g rolled oats (invest in the rolled oats - a little more expensive but make all the difference).
• 140g seeds (I use 50g sunflower, 50g pumpkin and 40g sesame, or a bag of mixed seeds is cheaper and just as nice).
• 100g nuts (I like use a mixture of flaked almonds, whole macademias and chopped pecans, but I generally go for whatever is in the house at the time)
• 100g dried fruits (for me, a combinations of raisins, dried blueberries and dried cranberries).
• 50g dessicated coconut

1. Pre-heat your oven to 140 degrees celcius

2. In a large bowl, measure out the vegetable oil, honey, vanilla and maple syrup 

Quick Tip - measure out the oil first, then the honey will slip right off the spoon and into the bowl. It's a little bit sexy when it does that!. 


3. Add the oats, seeds and nuts and mix until combined. Spread onto two baking sheets and bake for 12 minutes, until going slightly golden.

4. Remove from the oven and mix in the dried fruits and coconut (note, if you are using chocolate, add once the granola has been taken from the oven and is cool). Return to the over for a final 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and place in an airtight container.


Quick Tip - when you remove from the oven, place the baked granola into a different tray to cool. This will stop it sticking as the melting sugar won't bond with the hot tray. If you don't do this, don't worry - you can scrape it off the tray with out detriment to the granola).


Breakfast - the best meal of the day - Enjoy!