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!

Cranberry Coffee Cake

Here is the recipe for the other part of our Christmas breakfast (still no picture). My grandmother frequently prepared this for us while we were there for Christmas break. I love it, so I was excited when I finally came across her recipe. Like I mentioned yesterday, she had an extensive recipe collection. It's hardcore. Seriously. I went through the sections for breakfast and breads before I realized there was actually a coffee cake section. Legit, right? This can easily be made ahead and frozen. You can do a 9x13 or two 8x8 pans, depending on what you want to do. Enjoy!

Cranberry Coffee Cake

Grease pan(s).
 
Bottom Layer
     2 cups whole cranberries
     1/2 cup sugar
     1/2 cup nuts
Mix together and place in bottom of pan;

Mix:
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2/3 cup oil or 1 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla

Pour over cranberries. Let stand 1 hour. 

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour or until done. (There is a note to reduce the heat to 300 if you're using a Pyrex dish.)

Warm Quinoa Cranberry Salad with Butternut Squash

I came across this yummy recipe on Pinterest one day.  Great find.  While, I'm sure it's technically more of a fall dish, we happened to have everything needed to make this tasty dish.  Kind of.  I realized after I started that I had dried cherries, not cranberries.  However, I don't think it really made a huge difference.  It was still scrumptious.  Other than using cherries, the only thing I really changed from the original recipe is not adding butter...which I just totally forgot about.  Also, I simplified the whole butternut squash cubing process buy using the frozen, already cubed kind, from Sunflower Markets.  The family thought it was pretty great too.  The only "problem" was my brother wished I had made some kind of meat too.  I explained to him that it was Monday, and, therefore, meatless.  In reality, I just wasn't up to also cooking meat.  Oh well.  Here you go:

Warm Quinoa Cranberry Salad with Butternut Squash

Ingredients: 

1  c quinoa

2  c vegetable or chicken broth (low-sodium)

1  bag frozen, cubed butternut squash 

1/2  medium red onion, thinly sliced or diced

1/2  c dried cranberries (or cherries)

1  sprig of rosemary & a sprinkle of sage

2  tbsp EVOO

1/2  tsp salt

1   tbsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Cook quinoa in pot with broth over high heat.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer.  Leave on stove for about 25 minutes or until broth is absorbed, stirring occasionally.  

Meanwhile, throw everything else into your Pampered chef steam-in-the-microwave thing.  Toss it around for a bit.  Cook it in the microwave until the butternut squash is cooked through and the onions are tender.  If you don't have a nifty steamer thing, you can bake it in the oven at 425.  

Once everything is done, mix the butternut squash mixture with the quinoa and add the apple cider vinegar.  Stir.  Serve.  Enjoy!