Baked eggs were something that did not appeal to me for a long time - not because I don’t like eggs, but because the cooking method seemed somewhat unnecessary to me. It only takes a few minutes to scramble or fry some eggs; oven cooking takes longer and you need to allow for the oven to preheat, as well. Poached eggs take about the same time to make as eggs baked in the oven, but not all baked eggs use a water bath and there is still a longer setup time.

I was told that the point of baked eggs was the presentation. The eggs come out looking beautiful in their individual ramekins and are easy to serve. This is true and is the point that got me to try my hand at baking eggs in the first place. It turns out that there is one other big advantage to baking eggs that was not mentioned to me: customizability.

Baked eggs are very easy to make once your oven is hot. Just crack the eggs into a greased ramekin, add a bit of milk and bake until done. Since they’re single servings, you can add any flavorings you wish and make each dish unique. You can layer salsa at the bottom of the cup, or line the ramekin with a tortilla before baking. Cooked spinach is a good base, too. You can add in a piece of cooked bacon or ham, as well as any vegetables that you might ordinarily add into an omelette or other egg dish. For the eggs pictured here, I added some chopped chives, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. One of the two ramekins also has a piece of ham in it.

I like to use two egg whites and one whole egg in my ramekins (healthy, right?), but most 6-oz ramekins will comfortably hold two whole eggs if you prefer. I noted a range of baking times in the recipe below. A 10 minute time will give you very soft eggs, while 15 minutes should give you eggs that have a quite firm consistency. Cook to your desired doneness and take note of the time so you know exactly when to pull the eggs out of the oven for next time.

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I used to love watching Disney cartoons as a kid and Donald Duck’s were always my favorite. Things always went awry for Donald, no matter what activity he was participating in. One of my favorite Donald cartoons (perhaps a predictor for things to come) involved cooking. It’s a 1941 cartoon called Chef Donald.

Donald is sitting at home putting together his book of recipe clippings when his favorite radio program comes on the air: The Mother Mallard Recipe program. Old Mother Mallard reads out a recipe for her Delicious Golden Brown Waffles and Donald, eager to cook some up for himself, assembles the ingredients as she reads them out. Unfortunately, he ends up substituting rubber cement for the required baking powder and the waffles turn out… less-than-perfect, to put it mildly.

The thing that really appealed to me in the cartoon was how thick and delicious the batter looked while Donald mixed it up. Since the whole recipe was read out in the cartoon, I decided to give it a try and see how it really turned out.

It was a fun project! My batter was not as thick as the cartoon batter - but then again, it didn’t have any rubber cement in it either. It was still pleasantly thick and the waffles did cook up well. The batter is very simple, with few ingredients and a mild flavor. Since it doesn’t have much fat in it, the waffles don’t stay as crispy as long as their higher-fat counterparts, but still taste delicious with syrup and fresh fruit. Since the waffles themselves aren’t sweet, they could also be used for savory applications.

I’ve included the original version of the recipe and my slightly tweaked (i.e. no rubber cement) version below.

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Classic, buttery scones are delicious when served with a side of lemon curd and these breakfast pastry scrolls are a takeoff on that favorite. The scrolls start with a tender, butter-rich dough that is rolled out and spread with lemon curd and sweetened, shredded coconut. Rolled up and baked, the finished pastries are kind of like the cinnamon bun version of a scone - only, with lemon and coconut instead of cinnamon. Ok, so the comparison is a stretch, but at least it gives you a jumping off point.

I am a big fan of the dough used to make these scrolls. It is easy to make and easy to work with, and the fact that it isn’t overly rich (only 1/2 cup butter for 3 cups of flour) makes me more likely to use it on a regular basis, while I might shy away from using puff pastry in all my breakfast time treats. The dough is quite plain and, while it does have a nice buttery taste to it, is not a standout on its own when it comes to flavor. This plainness makes it highly adaptable. I’ve used it to make nutella scrolls before, but you could spread the dough with cheese, herb butter or any other number of savory things, as well.

The scroll dough stays surprisingly light during baking, and fresh out of the oven these pastries have a lovely combination of slightly crisp-tender dough, silky lemon filling and bold, chewy coconut. They’re best served when they’re fresh out of the oven, or just cooled. After they have been stored for a while, the pastry tends to soften up because of the moisture content of the lemon curd. The scrolls are still tasty, but much softer overall the day after they’re made. Fortunately, the recipe is quite quick and doesn’t require much work time if you do want to whip up a batch in the morning.

I used some of my favorite light lemon curd to make these pastries, although you can substitute in a store bought lemon curd or the full-fat variety if you prefer.

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Bran muffins are usually made with wheat bran. It’s relatively low in fat and calories, while being very high in fiber. It also has a decent amount of protein. All these make it a good choice for a filling and healthy muffin. The only problem is that wheat bran isn’t exactly the most flavorful ingredient out there, so bran muffins aren’t always the breakfast of choice for muffin-fans. In place of wheat bran, you can use oat bran. It is higher in fat and calories than wheat bran (approx. double each amount, although still not a particularly a high-fat or high-calorie food), but much higher in protein. I find that it is just as filling, if not moreso, and gives me a better energy boost than wheat bran - plus, it simply has a more interesting flavor. Oat bran has a finer texture than wheat bran and tastes just like regular rolled oatmeal.

So, I used oat bran in this batch of bran muffins and ended up with a finished product that was fairly healthy (compared to the cupcake-type of muffins), filling and tasted almost exactly like a chewy oatmeal raising cookie. I added ground flaxseed to mine and ended up using a non-dairy rice milk for this batch, though any milk can be used. Overall, the muffins had a good texture - sturdy, but not tough - and were good both plain and with butter. The moisture in the muffins comes both from applesauce and from honey, although the oatmeal cookie-inspired spices dominate the flavor of the muffin. Feel free to cut back on the sugar a little bit if you have a preference for not-very-sweet-muffins for breakfast.

As is the case with most bran muffins, they get more moist when stored overnight in an airtight container. I like to make these in the afternoon or evening, then cool them and put them away for breakfast the next day.

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Lemon curd is a thick and custardy combination of lemon juice, sugar, eggs and butter. It typically has a silky smooth texture and a bright, zesty flavor. It goes well with scones - especially as a contrast to buttery clotted cream - and is often used as a cake filling, tart filling or as a sauce or side for other desserts. For a citrus lover, few things are tastier.

Lemon curd tastes so good that it’s hard to stop at only a few bites. Unfortunately, the rich consistency of lemon curd primarily comes from fat and, although the zest of the lemon makes the curd taste lighter, most versions are far from health food and you really shouldn’t overindulge - especially if you’re serving the curd alongside butter and cream-based traditional scones, as well.

In Chocolate and the Art of Low Fat Desserts (sadly out of print, but often available used), Alice Medrich includes a recipe for a lightened up lemon curd that is absolutely fantastic. I’ve been making it for years and, happily, don’t feel too bad if I eat half the batch in one go. The curd has a silky smooth texture and great lemon flavor. In fact, it is much brighter than many lemon curds I’ve had. The recipe is easy to make as long as you have one or two fresh lemons around. I’ve also adapted it to make lime curd before with great success. (more…)

These scones weren’t winners in any Pillsbury Bake-Off competition, but still have a tie-in to the contest (like my other recipes this week). They were made with a recipe that I was working on for that last Pillsbury Bake Off competition, the one that Anna won. Although I met the criteria for ingredients, it may not have been “original” enough to become a finalist recipe. Did you know that they compare entered recipes to a huge library of recipes that have been entered in the past to check for originality?

While this may not be a winning recipe, it’s still a very good one. The scones are perfect for spring with the bright flavors of strawberries and orange. The scones are a bit more moist than what I’ll call a “traditional”, plain scone thanks to the addition of yogurt. They also keep a bit better than some other scones, making them ideal for serving at a large brunch or party when you can’t eat then right out of the oven.

Since I was trying to use contest-approved ingredients when I wrote the recipe, I originally used both frozen strawberries and orange-flavored yogurt. Plain and vanilla yogurt are in my fridge much more often than orange is, and a good - possible better - substitution is to use either plain or vanilla yogurt with some fresh orange zest mixed in to it. This will give the orange flavor a bit of a boost and should make the scones much brighter than the orange-flavored yogurt did.

If you can find fresh strawberries - they’re in season right now - you can easily chop some up and use those in the scones. If not, frozen strawberries will work well. They don’t need to be thawed before using, as long as you are able to give them a quick chop with a sharp knife before stirring them in.

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