Cranberry Breakfast Cake

We had a potluck breakfast of sorts at work last week, so I made this cranberry breakfast cake inspired by a post by Averie Cooks on Pinterest. The original recipe is described as being a mix between a blueberry muffin and pancake. I think it's just more of a quick-bread that looks more like a cake. But still tasty. And moist. It's the perfect, easy breakfast for a crowd. I elected to use cranberries instead of blueberries. Makes it more Christmas-y. But if you're not into some tartness, stick with the blueberries. You may also half the recipe if you're just making it for the family, and use an 8x8 baking dish.

Cranberry Breakfast Cake

2 cups AP flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

2/3 cup sour cream or full-fat Greek yogurt

6 TBSP vegetable oil or unsweetened applesauce

2 tsp vanilla 

1 package fresh cranberries

Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

• Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare a 9x13 baking dish.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients.
• Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding gently with a spatula until just combined. Don't worry about the lumps! You don't want to over mix.
• Gently fold in the cranberries.
• Pour the batter into the baking dish and bake until done. Watch the cake, not the timer. I covered mine at 30 minutes with foil to prevent the top from getting too dark. It was about another 30 minutes before it was done. Keep it in there long enough that a toothpick will come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
• Let it cool before serving. You may top it off with a dusting of powdered sugar, or get fancy and make some kind of glaze.

Enjoy!

Good Tidings and Great Joy

…Yes, I did steal the title of Sarah Palin's most recent book. It's too hard to come up with your very own catchy Christmas-y blog title. There's a reason I didn't go into some kind of writing. 

I love this time of year! I like to pick out presents. I REALLY like to wrap them. And, of course, I love to give them. I love the lights and the decorations. Thank goodness for pre-lit artificial trees. I mean, first off, it's impossible to perfectly string lights onto a tree. Second, a real tree would look real dead by December 25th…at least if I'm the one responsible for it. I can keep the tiny humans alive, but not so much any kind of plant. Obviously, there's some great music. I love setting my ringtone to TSO "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo." The baking of obscene quantities of cookies is quite fun. Then there's all the parties and the food. December is pretty fantastic.  

The absolute one (okay two) things that drive me crazy when Christmas comes--Elf on the Shelf and the Christmas shoes song. Also, the hippopotamus song. EOS has already invaded my Facebook & Pinterest feeds. It's just creepy. It's like the Christmas version of a clown. Not cool. Really, how can you not be creeped out by this? 

Things I'd like to do this season? I'm hoping I actually get a chance this year to drive around and see some lights. Maybe hit up the Chickasha Festival of Light, which I've never been to. Also, I want to go skating on one of the outdoor rinks. We'll see if it actually happens.   

This week has been kind of weird. I usually try to work 3 nights in a row, so I can be on a semi-normal schedule for part of the week. But I worked Sunday & Tuesday night, and I'm on again Friday…then on call through the weekend. It's been kind of nice though! I've been able to do some things I don't normally get to. I got to go out & eat a real meal with a friend one night (I hardly ever eat meals anymore…I snack all the time…like a small child). And, bonus, there turned out to be some live jazz band music happening. Score. I'd like to do some fun things tonight, but the weather could be problematic. 

I hope you all are having a fantastic week! Stay warm!