Breakfast on the Go!

I talked in an earlier post about not being a full breakfast in the morning kind of girl. But, especially in winter, I find you should have an option to get something in your stomach on the way out the door. This is why I have numerous muffin and bread recipes. On a night where I want to destress from work or on the weekend or even on a snow day, I can totally dig getting into baking mode, often doing multiple recipes so I have choices when I’m on the way out the door.

In this vein, I give you two muffin recipes that should catch anyone’s taste buds.

Ham ‘n’ Cheddar Cups

Ingredients:

2 c. flour     1/4 c. sugar     2 tsp. baking powder     1 tsp. salt     1/4 tsp. pepper

6 eggs     1 c. milk     1/2 lb. fully cooked ham     1/2 lb. cheddar cheese shredded

1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crumbled     1 small onion, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and milk.
2. Stir in dry ingredients until well mixed.
3. Stir in ham, cheese, bacon and onion.
4. Fill well greased muffin cups 3/4 full.
5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
6. Yields about 20 cups. Paper lined muffin cups are not recommended for this recipe.

Pint Size PB & J Muffins

Ingredients:

1 c. flour     1 tsp. baking powder     1/2 tsp. baking soda     1/8 tsp. salt

1/2 c. brown sugar     1/2 c. vanilla low fat yogurt     1 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. peanut butter     2 egg whites     2 tbsp. your favorite jelly

Directions:

1. Combine first 4 ingredients and make a well in the center of the mixture.
2. Combine sugar and next 4 ingredients – beat on low until blended.
3. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
4. Spoon batter in 24 miniature muffin cups coated with cooking spray (1/2 full).
5. Top each with 1/4 tsp. jelly and top with remaining batter.
6. Bake at 400 for 12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
7. Yields about 24 minis – if you use a regular muffin tin, it will be more like 12.

You’ll find when I flip my entries from cooking to baking that I do not tend to provide as many short cuts or diversions from the recipe at hand. There’s a pretty simple reason for this – baking is far more scientific than cooking.  If you add too much flour or not enough sugar, often times you’ll end up with something fairly inedible. With cooking you do run some of that same risk but there are many ways to counteract a mistake along the way or, in fact, your “mistake” might turn into something even better!

As always, have fun!