My husband is not a big sweets person, but he loves coffee and likes anything that he can sit and eat while drinking a cup. Coffee cake is something he requests at least once a month, which I’m always happy to make for him. This time, instead of one big cake for just us, I made a couple dozen individual coffee cake muffins that he could take to work and share with coworkers. They were a pretty big hit, so I was told!

For a different look, I used 5-inch square pieces of parchment paper instead of cupcake liners. All I did was place a parchment-paper square over the cupcake tin, press down with a drinking glass to make an indentation, then scoop the batter into the parchment paper liners. It’s deceptively easy for such a pretty look.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Use a small bowl to make the streusel topping by mixing together 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1 cup of chopped pecans, 2 teaspoons of cinnamon,1/4 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 4 cups of all-purpose flour, 4 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together 1 cup of softened butter and 2 cups of sugar until pale and fluffy, about two to three minutes. Beat in 4 eggs, 2 cups of sour cream and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Fold the flour mixture into the butter mixture until evenly blended; do not over mix.

Line a muffin tin with cupcake liners (or use parchment paper squares like I did!). Fill each cup halfway with batter. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of streusel over each of the batter-cups, then fill the tins the rest of the way with batter. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons of streusel over each muffin. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Makes two dozen muffins.

There aren’t very many rainy days in Southern California, but when there are, it’s nice to indulge in the weather by baking for breakfast. Today has been wet and gloomy, so it’s the perfect day for a recipe straight out of a place known for gray weather: England.

Toad in the hole has a funny name, but it’s basically just a baked pancake studded with sausage links. Like a pancake, serve it with warm maple syrup, or even fruit preserves or apple sauce.

Toad in the Hole

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. In a skillet, fry 12 pork sausage links until they are cooked, but not browned completely. Remove the links from the skillet, and pour the grease into a pie plate. Place the links in the pie plate.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir in 2 eggs and 1 cup of milk until thoroughly mixed. Pour the mixture over the sausages.

Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and puffy. Serve warm. As the toad in the hole cools, it will crack and deflate a little.

Looking for something filling but light, we came across this recipe for Greek Shrimp with Feta. It has many bright flavors going on, so it’s nice to eat with something plain, like rice. We used brown rice this time, which added a slightly nutty, chewy texture. We also ate it with some hummus and pita, because we couldn’t help ourselves (we love hummus!).

Greek Shrimp with Feta

adapted from MediterrAsian.com

In a large oven-proof frying pan, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add 1 finely diced onion and 1 finely diced green bell pepper, and sauté for five minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add 2 thinly sliced scallions and 3 cloves of minced garlic, and sauté for another two minutes. Add one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup of white wine, 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, 1 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Add 12 uncooked deveined shrimp, 2 Tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley and 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and simmer, covered, for three minutes. Remove from heat, and sprinkle 2-1/2 ounces (about 1/4 cup) of feta cheese over the top. Place the pan in a hot oven set to the “broiler” setting, and let broil for 2 minutes, or until the cheese browns a little. Serve with rice.

We’ve been in a bit of a breakfast rut lately. Oatmeal is great and healthy, but after two weeks straight, it can get kind of boring. The same with cold cereal. Eggs are awesome, but we don’t always have time to futz with a pan in the morning before we dash off to work. We were looking for something nutritious, portable and tasty to solve our breakfast dilemma.

The solution? Bran muffins! These healthful gems are loaded with whole wheat, flax seed and bran, but they aren’t as dense as you’d think they’d be for all the fiber packed in ‘em. These muffins are super soft and moist, even a day or two after baking them.  We like plain bran muffins, but you can add raisins, dried cranberries, chopped nuts or whatever you like. These muffins, drizzled with a bit of honey, make us feel like we’ve fallen in love with breakfast again.

Soft and Moist Buttermilk Bran Flax Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin pan or spray it with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk 1 cup of wheat bran, 2/3 cup of all-purpose white flour, 2/3 cup of whole-wheat flour, 1/4 cup of flax seeds, 1 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/8 teaspoon of salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 1/4 cup of buttermilk, 1/2 cup of sugar, 4 ounces of apple sauce (we used one of those single-serving apple sauce cups), 1 large egg, 1 1/2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract until everything is combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan about 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a center muffin comes out clean.

We had another food-themed day at work, and this time it was Mexican food. Being half Mexican, it took us 0.0025 seconds to think of two dozen savory Mexican dishes to make and bring. But we wanted to bring a dessert. Since other people were already bringing Mexican wedding cookies and arroz con leche (rice pudding), and since we had already made delicious Dulce de Leche Bars for another occasion, we decided on Mojito Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting. It was a good choice, because they were terrific!

Yes, these cupcakes do contain a little alcohol (rum, in the cake and the glaze), but it’s very little and just gives it flavor. You could probably substitute rum with something else, or just leave it out entirely.

Mojito Cupcakes with Lime Cream Cheese Frosting

For the cake:

Place a rack in the center of the oven, and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place paper cupcake liners in a 12-cup muffin tin, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of buttermilk, 1 Tablespoon of rum (we used Captain Morgan’s Spice Rum) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together 3 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1 teaspoon of salt.

In a large bowl with a hand mixer or with a stand mixer, mix together 1 cup of room-temperature butter and 2 cups of sugar. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the speed to low, and add 4 large eggs one at a time. Scrape down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix well. Add half of the buttermilk mixture and mix for another minute. Add another third of the dry ingredients and mix until combined. Add the remainder of the buttermilk mixture, and mix for another minute until combined. Add the remainder of the dry ingredients  and mix for a minute until the batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure that everything is incorporated.

Fill the cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake the cupcakes for 25 minutes, then test for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cupcakes. If it comes out clean, they’re done. If not, bake for another 5 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before poking holes in them with a skewer or toothpick. Spoon the rum syrup (recipe below) over the warm cupcakes and let them soak it up. Let them cool completely before frosting (recipe also below).

For the rum syrup:

In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of water and 1/4 cup of butter over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. When the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat. Carefully add 1/4 cup of rum and mix until incorporated. Add the zest of 1 lime and 3 sprigs of fresh mint, and let the syrup infuse for 5 minutes before spooning over the cupcakes. Let the syrup cool on the cupcakes completely before frosting.

For the frosting: In a large bowl with a hand mixer, blend together 8 ounces of cream cheese, 2 cups of confectioners sugar, 1 Tablespoon of lime juice and a couple of drops of green food coloring (if desired). Mix until well blended. Smooth on cooled cupcakes.

We are all about comfort food, and there is nothing quite as comforting as French onion soup. This is officially our favorite French onion soup recipe, and the key to it is to bake the onions in the oven for more time than you would think is necessary. The onions will change very little in color during baking, and you might begin to wonder why you’re even bothering, but it’s all a part of the (very slow) caramelization process. Patience on your part will yield a robustly oniony, deeply flavored soup.

French Onion Soup

adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Adjust the oven rack to the bottom position and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray the inside of a 7-quart (or larger) Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot with cooking spray. Place 3 tablespoons of butter (cut into pieces), 6 large yellow onions (halved, then cut into 1/4 inch slices) and 1 teaspoon of salt into the pot. Cook, covered, for 1 hour. Remove the pot from the oven and stir the onions, scraping the sides and bottom of the pot. Return the pot to the oven with the lid slightly ajar and continue to cook until the onions are soft and golden, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring the onions after 1 hour. Remove the pot from the oven and place on the stove over high heat. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom and sides of the pot, until the moisture evaporates and the onions brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the bottom of the pot is coated in a brown crust, about 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup of water, scraping the bottom to loosen any dark crust that accumulates. Cook another 6 to 8 minutes, until the water has evaporated and another dark crust has formed. Repeat the process 2 or 3 more times, until the onions are very dark brown.

Stir in 4 cups of chicken broth, 2 cups of water, 6 sprigs of thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a dash of pepper, scraping up any bit that have crusted on the bottom of the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Discard the herbs, then season with salt and pepper to taste.

For the croutons: Arrange a baguette sliced into 1/2-inch slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake in a 400-degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the bread is dry and crispy. Set aside.

To serve: Adjust the oven rack about 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler. Ladle the soup into oven-proof mugs about 3/4 of the way full, and place pieces of crispy baguette on the top, making sure not to overlap the bread. Sprinkle the tops with about 1 ounce of shredded Gruyere cheese. Broil until the cheese is melted and bubbly at the edges, about 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

These popovers, in all their cinnamon and nutmeg splendor, will make your kitchen smell like the holidays. Can we help it that after making these, we now have Christmas songs in our head … in September? It’s all these Cinnamon Popovers’ fault. It’s also pretty neat to see a blob of batter go into the oven and come out a pock-marked biscuit with a gigantic crater in it. It’s like a science experiment!

Cinnamon Popovers

Adjust the oven rack to the lowest position and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place an empty 12-muffin tin in the oven to heat while you make the batter.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup of whole milk, 3 large eggs and 1 tablespoon of melted butter until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients all at once, and stir together lightly, just until blended. There will be small lumps of dry ingredients still in the batter, and that’s OK. The less you stir, the taller your popovers will be.

Remove the muffin tin from the oven, and spray it with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Fill each muffin cup halfway with batter, and return it immediately to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes without opening the oven door. Then, lower the oven to 350 degrees F and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the popovers are a rich brown color. Serve warm with honey, butter or jam.

Tip: You can make the batter ahead of time and refrigerate it up to four days. Bring it to room temperature before pouring the batter into the muffin cups.

For all of our talk in our last post about not being able to wait until fall, this fruit salad is making us happy that there is just a little bit of summer left to go.  Sweet strawberries, juicy watermelon, super-ripe cantaloupe and kiwi — yes, yes, yes and oh yes. The kicker: diced mint, lime juice and a touch of honey. These three things take this fruit salad from chunks of fruit to something radiant.  We’ve been eating this all Labor Day weekend with a spoonful or two of vanilla yogurt on the side.

Mint Fruit Salad

In a large bowl, mix together 15 quartered strawberries, 1/2 a cantaloupe cut into 3/4-inch chunks (seeds removed), 2 cups of watermelon cut into 3/4-inch chunks (seeds removed), and 6 kiwi cut into 3/4-inch chunks.

In a small bowl, whisk together 3 tablespoons of honey, 3 tablespoons of lime juice, 1 teaspoon of lime zest and 3 tablespoons of diced fresh mint leaves. Pour over the fruit and mix gently with a large spoon or your hands. Serve immediately or chilled.

There are only so many pancakes two people can eat. The maple syrup bottle has sat in our cupboard staring at us for many months now, waiting for us to pull out the hotcake griddle. It finally became too much — we had to give into its thick, sweet, amber-colored pleading. We didn’t use our maple syrup for pancakes, but instead as the star in these crumbly, delicate maple pecan shortbread cookies.

Maple syrup makes us think of cool, fall-like weather, and frankly, fall can’t get here fast enough for us. Let’s just think of these as pre-fall celebration cookies.

Maple Pecan Shortbread Cookies

adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe

In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 3/4 cups of flour and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir in 3/4 cup chopped pecans and set aside. In a large bowl, cream together 2 sticks (1 cup) of room-temperature butter and 3/4 cup of sugar until smooth and light. Add 1/4 cup of pure maple syrup, 1 large egg yolk, and 1/4 teaspoon of maple or vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Gradually add flour mixture and beat until just combined; the dough should be smooth and pliable. Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut out rounds using a two-inch cookie cutter and place one inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with 1 beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar (turbinado for a coarse look; table sugar for a light glaze). Place a pecan in the center of each cookie, if desired. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden around the edges. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Around these parts, we love quiche. It’s simple, nourishing, quick and always delicious. And you have to love a meal that allows you to empty your refrigerator into a crust, add some eggs and pop it in the oven.

We used our standby, never-fail single crust recipe, which we’ve adapted from Joy the Baker. The result is an unbelievably flaky and buttery crust that requires absolutely no rolling, pulling, prodding or anything mentally taxing. We like good, easy things like that.

Mushroom and Bacon Quiche

For the crust:

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour, 3/4 teaspoons of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of baking powder. With a cheese grater, grate 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of frozen butter directly into the bowl. Add 1 tablespoon of cream cheese. With your fingers, combine the ingredients until the butter looks like small pebbles in the flour. In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of milk. Add this all at once to the flour and butter mixture. With your fingers or a fork, combine the ingredients until all the flour is introduced into the liquid. The dough will look rough and shaggy. Dump the dough into a 9-inch pie pan, and press it down as evenly as you can on the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Place in the freezer while you get the quiche filling ready.

For the quiche filling:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Dice 3 slices of bacon into 1/2-inch pieces. Add the bacon to a large pot and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon pieces (but keep the fat in the pot) and place them on a paper-towel-lined plate to drain. In the pot with the bacon fat, saute 3/4 cup of chopped mushrooms and 1 thinly sliced small onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Add 3/4 cup of frozen peas and saute 3 more minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk 6 eggs with 2 cups of milk. Add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and stir until incorporated. Stir in the bacon pieces and the mushroom-onion-peas mixture. Pour the quiche filling into your unbaked, chilled crust, spreading it so it’s even. If desired, arrange thin slices of cherry tomatoes on the top. Place the quiche in preheated oven, on the center rack, and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cut into wedges and serve warm. Quiche can also be refrigerated and eaten cold.