Almond Butter Pancakes

I got some almond butter, but I'd never used almond butter before so I didn't really know what to do with it. But I do love pancakes. So I thought I'd try using almond butter as a key ingredient in pancakes. It's delicious. You should try it!

Sweet Crepes with Summer Fruits

  Crepes are a very thin pancake that are super simple to make and a great weekend breakfast or brunch.

Peach Raspberry Pancakes

Light and fluffy pancakes make a fantastic breakfast on a relaxing weekend morning. Raspberries and peaches are a fresh, healthy, and easy topping.

Fruit 'n Nut Muffins

Berries, apple, almond, and oats combine beautifully into these moist and delicious sugar-free muffins.

Mixed Berry French Toast Bake

This Mixed Berry French Toast Bake is a breakfast or brunch the whole family will love.

Chocolate and Strawberry Loaf

Chocolate and Strawberry (well, any berry) is a match made in heaven, and this Chocolate and Strawberry Bread gives you a nice big slice of that heaven.

Cinnamon Bun Mug Cake

Breakfast, or and easy snack to go with your morning tea or coffee is just two minutes away with this  simple Cinnamon Bun in a Mug!

Valentine's Day Sweet Treats

When I think of Valentine's Day I think sweet treats - especially chocolate and berries, so here is my collection of perfect sweet breakfasts, desserts, and gifts for your Valentine.

Strawberry Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

I love having oatmeal for breakfast - it's so quick, easy, and adaptable. This is my go-to recipe when I'm craving an early morning chocolate hit.

Caramel, Apple, and Almond Pancakes

These caramel, apple, and almond buttermilk pancakes are quick and easy to prepare and make for a great family breakfast or brunch on a cool Sunday morning.

Steak and Egg Sandwich

During my short stay in Argentina, I noticed that they add scrambled egg to everything. Go anywhere selling food and you'll find french fries topped with egg, hot dogs with egg, grilled steak with egg... 

On a few occasions at a few different places I ordered a steak sandwich. Everyone knows Argentina for its steak so I had to make the most of it, right? On each occasion, the sandwich was also loaded full of scrambled egg. It tastes AMAZING!

Mixed Berry Pancakes

You all know by now that pancakes are my absolute favorite breakfast/brunch food. So here is another lovely pancake combination - Mixed berries!

Buttermilk Waffles

Since the weekend is almost upon us, I think a brunch recipe is in order. Here is my super simple recipe for buttermilk waffles.

I don't make waffles very often at all. When I do I always think "we really need to do these more often because they are amazing!" I think I need to remember that.

Waffles are not a common thing in New Zealand. Cafes here are very big on breakfast menus. Most of these menus, however, don't include waffles. Thankfully, a decent waffle iron can be brought at most electronic and department stores for a very reasonable price.

Strawberries are finally becoming available in supermarkets here now and I am going crazy with them. I topped these buttermilk waffles with strawberries and maple syrup. Delicious.

Buttermilk Waffles

Serves 6

1 1/2 Cups plain flour

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

120 g (4.2 oz) butter, melted

1/3 Cup sugar

1 1/2 Cup buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp ground cinnamon

To serve:

Chopped fresh strawberries (or any in season fruit)
Maple Syrup

1. Turn your waffle iron on to heat and also preheat your oven to the lowest setting.

2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, butter, buttermilk, sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mix this gently into the dry ingredients.

3. Make each waffle using about 1/3 cup of batter. Once done, transfer to the oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. 

4. Serve topped with fruit and maple syrup. 

Blackberry Slice

Every weekend before we do our weekly grocery shopping, I ask my honey "what kind of thing would you like me to make you for breakfast this week?" This time, the answer was "something with blackberries."

Here's my something with blackberries: A simple blackberry slice.

As well as being easy to make, this slice makes a fantastic snack (especially to go with a cup of tea!) and a easy, on the go breakfast. It contains fruit as a main ingredient, so I say we can call it breakfast. This would also make a lovely dessert, served warm with cream or ice cream.

Lemon and Ricotta Pancakes

In my opinion, nothing beats a big breakfast of pancakes on a Sunday morning. Since I want to make pancakes all the time, I also always want to try out new ways of making them. This time it was lemon and ricotta with raspberries. My new favorite.

These pancakes had the perfect balance between the sweetness of the pancake and the sour lemon. They were light and fluffy, and I just wish I had more!

Baked Bean French Toast Sandwiches

We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Can you think of a better way to kick start your day than with French Toast stuffed with baked beans, cheese, and bacon?

This baked bean French toast is not only delicious but is made with very little fuss and time, making this recipe perfect for a lazy Sunday brunch.

These easy breakfast sandwiches have been featured on TODAY.com for National Sandwich Day 2014. Check out their post for this and 8 other outrageous sandwiches here.

Baked Bean French Toast

Serves 4

8 Slices bread (I used ciabatta)
3 eggs
1/2 Cup milk
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
420 g (14 oz) tin of baked beans
4 slices of cheese (I used Edam)
100 g (3.5 oz) Diced ham or bacon

1. Beat the eggs together with the milk and nutmeg.

2. Heat the baked beans slightly in a saucepan or the microwave until just warm. Spread some of the baked beans over 4 of the slices of bread, top with a slice of cheese, diced ham, and finish with the other slices of bread.

3.  Melt a knob of butter in a large fry pan over a medium heat. Dip the sandwiches into the egg mixture, ensuring both sides are well coated.

4. Place the sandwiches into the fry pan and fry for about 4 minutes on each side, or until golden in color and the filling is hot.

Chicken, Bacon, and Spinach Quiche

There's just something about quiche that I really love. Maybe it's the fact that you can eat it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Or maybe it's that it's so incredibly easy to make. Or maybe it's just the cheesey, eggy deliciousness?

To be completely honest, I didn't come up with the ingredient combination in this quiche. That credit goes to Emmet, who came up with this in the middle of the store. 

I absolutely LOVED this quiche, this is definitely my new favorite quiche. It keeps exceptionally well too. It will last in the fridge for a few days.

Chicken, Bacon, and Spinach Quiche

Serves 6

Short Crust Pastry (homemade or store brought)
4 eggs
1 Cup trim milk
1/2 Cup reduced fat cream
1/2 Cup self raising flour
150 g (5.5 oz) chicken, cooked and shredded
6 rashers streaky bacon, diced
1 onion, finely diced
1 Cup spinach leaves, roughly chopped
1 Cup grated cheese (I use Edam)
salt and pepper to season.

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F) and grease a quiche or pie dish. Roll the pastry into the dish (you can blind bake if you like!).

2. Whisk the eggs, milk, cream, and flour together in a large bowl. Heat a dash of oil in a fry pan and fry the bacon and onion for a few minutes.

3. Add the chicken, bacon, onion, spinach, and cheese to the bowl with the egg mixture and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Pour over the prepared pastry and bake for 45 minutes, until the quiche is cooked through.

5. Serve warm or cold for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Leftovers make a fantastic lunch the next day :)

Nuts and Seeds Granola

If, like me, you love to have a something set aside to grab for a quick and easy breakfast then it is well worth making up a batch of your own granola at the weekend to see you through the week.

Once you have made and enjoyed your own granola you'll never be happy with anything store brought again!

Nuts and Seeds Granola

Makes approximately 14 1/2 Cup servings

3 Cups rolled oats
1/4 Cup chia seeds
2/3 Cup desiccated coconut
3/4 Cup pumpkin seeds
3/4 Cup sunflower seeds
3/4 Cup pecans, chopped
1 Cup slivered almonds
3 Tbsp Sunflower or canola oil
2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 Cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 200C (400F) Combine the oats, seeds, and nuts together in a large bowl. Combine the oil, vanilla, and honey together in a small bowl.

2. Pour the honey mixture over the oat mixture and coat the oat mixture very well in the liquid mixture.

3. Pour into a large roasting dish and bake for about 20 minutes, until the granola is golden, stir the mixture every 5 minutes.

4. Allow to cool completely before storing in a airtight container. The granola will keep for a few weeks.

Snickers Buttermilk Pancakes

Here in Dunedin we have an amazing cafe that serves the fluffiest, most delicious pancakes you will ever eat. Well, actually their whole menu is fantastic but the pancakes are just something extra special, no where else even compares. As well as their normal pancake menu they do a 'pancake of the month', last month the star was Snickers Pancakes.

As soon as I saw this on the menu I was sold. Pancakes with caramel, peanuts, chocolate, and whipped cream. What could be more perfect?

Unfortunately the month had to end and we had to wave goodbye to the most delicious pancake flavor ever invented. So what did I do? Made my own version right away of course!

Snickers Buttermilk Pancakes

Makes 10

2 Cups plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 Cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

To serve:

Whipped cream (sweetened with vanilla extract and icing sugar)
Salted caramel
chocolate sauce (recipe below, store brought is absolutely fine too!)
chopped peanuts

Salted Caramel:

1 Cup Sugar
90 g butter, chopped
1/2 Cup cream
1 tsp salt

Salted Caramel:

1. Heat the sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium-low heat, stirring constantly until the sugar is melted. Add the butter and stir for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, and allow to sit for a minute or two.

2. VERY slowly drizzle in the cream, stirring as you do so. Return to a very gentle heat and boil for about 1 minute.

3. Remove from the heat and stir in the salt. Cool, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Microwave before use to allow a pouring consistency.

Pancakes: 

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, vanilla, buttermilk, and butter in another.

2. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until everything is combined.

3. Heat some butter in a large fry pan and cook pancakes using 1/3 of a cup of mixture for each one. Cook on one side until bubbles start to appear around the edges, then flip and cook on the other side.

4. Once each pancake is cooked, place it in the oven on a low heat to keep warm while you make the others.

5. Top the pancakes with chocolate and caramel sauces, peanuts, and whipped cream.

Ham and Cheese Quiche

Quiche is an easy weeknight meal that can be thrown together in no time and using whatever you have laying around in your fridge. The leftovers keep well and can be eaten hot or cold. But my favorite thing about this recipe? It makes a perfect breakfast, lunch, OR dinner!

I originally posted this recipe back in April, but I remade it (yet again...) over the weekend for some much needed photography updates. It's looking a million times better now! 

Ham and Cheese Quiche

Serves 4-6

Short Crust Pastry (store brought is also fine!), blind baked and cooled
4 Eggs
1 Cup trim milk
1/2 Cup cream
1/2 Cup self raising flour
200 g (7 oz) ham (or bacon), chopped
1 Onion, finely diced
1 Cup grated cheese (I used Edam)
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease a quiche pan. Roll out the pastry and line the base and sides of the pan with the pastry.

2. Heat a dash of oil in a fry pan over a medium-high heat. Fry the onion and ham until the bacon is cooked to your liking.

3. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, and flour.  Add the ham, onion, and cheese. Mix well and season with salt and pepper to suit your tastes.

4. Pour the mixture over the prepared base and bake for 45 minutes.