My Dad’s birthday was this past weekend and whenever I think about my Dad I think about waffles. Or maybe it’s whenever I think about waffles I think about my Dad. Either way, this morning we’re doing Triple Berry Waffles in honor of my Dad.

Now, not to make it confusing, but we’re doing triple berries two ways. The first way is that we are using three types of berries. I went with a classic strawberry, blueberry and raspberry combination. The second way is that we are using the berries three different ways in this recipe. We have berries in the waffle batter, we have fresh berries on the waffles and then we have a berry sauce drizzled on top! So they’re really like Double Triple Berry Waffles, but that doesn’t make much sense so Triple Berry Waffles it is. Have I confused you yet? I hope not, I’m just really excited about all these berries!

I used my Perfect Buttermilk Waffles as the base before loading them with the strawberries and blueberries. I used raspberries for the sauce only, but you could substitute raspberries for some of the strawberries or blueberries that are inside the waffle batter or fresh on top.

As always, if you don’t have a waffle maker you could thin the batter with a little milk and make them into pancakes, but waffles are so fun! So definitely think about getting a waffle maker if you don’t have one. This is the one we have.

In addition to the Perfect Buttermilk Waffles and the Churro Waffles with Raspberry Sauce, I also have a recipe for savory waffles. Remember the Cheddar Scallion Waffles I made into an epic eggs benedict? Yum! I need to make that one again soon! If you’re in the mood for something sweet this week though I highly recommend these Triple Berry Waffles that are bursting with fresh berry flavor and were inspired by my Dad. Do waffles make you think of anyone special? Other than Donkey from Shrek, of course!

Triple Berry Waffles

 

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Yield: 8-10 waffles and ¾ cup raspberry sauce

Ingredients

for the waffles

• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled in a medium mixing bowl
• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1½ cups buttermilk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup chopped fresh strawberries, plus more for topping
• ½ cup blueberries, plus more for topping

for the raspberry sauce

• 12 ounces frozen unsweetened raspberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon lemon juice

Directions

for the waffles

1. Turn on the waffle iron to get it hot and spray with nonstick cooking spray, depending on manufacturer’s instructions.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine then create a well in the center for the liquid ingredients.
3. Add the eggs to the cooled butter mixing bowl and beat until frothy. Add the buttermilk and vanilla extract. Beat again until well-combined.
4. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the well in the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. The buttermilk and leavening will create a batter full of air bubbles. Lightly fold in the chopped strawberries and blueberries.
5. Pour the batter onto your waffle iron in batches and cook according to manufacturer’s instructions. If working in batches, let waffles rest on a cooling rack after they are cooked, or place them directly on the rack of your oven or toaster oven on a low heat to stay warm. Top with the raspberry sauce, fresh berries and whipped cream.

for the raspberry sauce

1. Thaw the raspberries in the microwave or on the stovetop. Once thawed, place a fine mesh strainer over a small saucepan. Press the raspberries through the strainer by pressing with the back of a spoon. Scoop the seeds off the strainer as needed. When all the raspberries have been pushed through and left only the seeds, all the sugar and lemon juice to the sauce pan. Heat over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the raspberry sauce is heated through. Serve warm.

Notes

If you don’t have buttermilk handy, you can use the following substitution. Put 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill the measuring cup with milk (I use skim, any milk-fat percentage should work) until it equals 1½ cups. Let sit for 5 minutes before using in the recipe.

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I was on Foodgawker the other month and I came across a recipe concept that blew my mind – a sheet pan breakfast! Basically, you bake the potatoes and eggs in the oven and voila – breakfast! I love breakfast casseroles, but they can get really heavy with all the cheese and dairy. There’s so many different combinations you could come up with for a sheet pan breakfast, but ever since I made those Beet Donuts with a Brown Butter Strawberry Rhubarb Glaze I’ve had beets on my mind. I decided to go with a root vegetable base of roasted Yukon gold potatoes, sweet potatoes and beets. Those get roasted with plenty of seasoning and sliced onion for some additional flavor. When they are almost done, you create little pockets for the eggs, crack them right on the sheet pan then let them bake to their desired done-ness.

I love runny eggs and I’m slowly getting Matt on the runny egg train as well, but you can cook yours longer if you like the middles firm. I topped it all off with some avocado slices because there’s nothing more satisfying to me in the morning than an avocado smothered in runny yolk – see case in point here. Add in the roasted potatoes and beets and I was in pure breakfast heaven.

This dish is great for company because you can get everyone eggs without having to stand over the stove, but we saved the other half for ourselves and had it the next day for breakfast. It reheated perfectly in the microwave and the yolks were still runny.

I think I’ll be making this again really soon, but this time as breakfast for dinner. Have you ever made a sheet pan breakfast? I’m already brainstorming new combinations like potato, cheddar, scallion and bacon or eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes and prosciutto – yum!

Sheet Pan Breakfast

 

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Yield: 3-4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound yellow thin skin potatoes
• 2 small sweet potatoes
• 1 red beet
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 small onion
• 6-8 large eggs
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Chopped fresh parsley, for topping

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a half sheet baking pan with nonstick aluminum foil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. Scrub and dry the potatoes and sweet potatoes. Leaving the skins on, cube the potatoes. Peel the beets. Cut the beets into a small dice; they take longer to cook than the potatoes so you want them smaller so they will be done at the same time. Toss the cut potatoes and beets with the olive oil, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper then place evenly on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake the potatoes and beets for 20 minutes. While the potatoes are baking, halve and slice the onion. After the potatoes and beets have cooked for 20 minutes, toss them then place the onion slices on top then put back in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the oven and make room for the eggs. I made a little pocket for each egg. If you are using nonstick cooking spray you might want to spray a little into each pocket before putting in the egg. Carefully crack an egg into each pocket then season the eggs with a little salt and pepper. Bake for 3 minutes, or until the eggs are your desired done-ness. Top with the avocado slices and chopped parsley, serve.

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I hope you all had a great 4th of July! I’m not going to waste any time here because your July is about to be off to an amazing start. That is because I am sharing this muffin recipe with you. Now I know I’ve been sharing the Food Network Magazine’s Muffin of the Month recipes in order with you, but I have to skip ahead to the August muffins. Don’t worry, I will share the July ones next month. The August muffins for the Food Network Magazine’s Muffin of the Month are these Blueberry Nectarine Muffins and, damn, they are glorious!

I thought it would be impossible to top the June S’mores Muffins because they were the perfect rendition of s’mores in muffin form complete with gooey chocolate and oozing crispy marshmallow. Now, these didn’t necessarily top the S’mores Muffins because, well, chocolate, but they definitely met the raised muffin standard.

These were the first muffins I’ve made so far from the Food Network Magazine article that came out looking picture perfect in my opinion. But I’m all about taste over here and these muffins had everyone doing a little happy dance. Quickly followed by grabbing a second one. As I mentioned last week, I had some family visiting and the Blueberry Nectarine Muffins were a big hit. So much so that there were dibs being called on the muffins when they started dwindling!

I was happy we had visitors otherwise I would have definitely consumed about 2/3 of these! The muffins have just the right amount of sweetness balanced with the almond taste. The juicy blueberries and crunchy almonds on top really added to the muffin, but the breakout star was the nectarine. Nectarines are in season right now and the chunks in the muffin made it so moist and really took them into the over-the-top-delicious category.

Matt and my goddaughter aren’t big on blueberries and they both requested a nectarine-only muffin next time since it was so good. I love blueberries so I’m partial to the combination of the two, but I would definitely be down for an all nectarine muffin as well. If you want your July to get even better then plan to make these as soon as possible! Especially so you have time to make them again and again while nectarines are still in peak season, which is why I went ahead and shared them early. Enjoy!

Blueberry Nectarine Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• ¼ teaspoon almond extract
• 2 small nectarines, pitted and chopped (about 1¾ cups)
• ½ cup blueberries
• ¼ cup sliced almonds
• Coarse sugar, for topping (I just used a light sprinkle of regular sugar)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F then line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt, eggs and almond extract. Pour into the flour mixture then stir until just combined. Add nectarines and blueberries and stir to incorporate.
4. Fill the muffin cups with the batter. They should be about ¾ of the way full. Top the muffins with the sliced almonds and a light sprinkle of coarse sugar (or regular sugar if you don’t have any). Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes then carefully remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

I used plain nonfat Greek yogurt. You could substitute sour cream or regular plain yogurt if you would prefer.

To get the blueberries to peek through at the top: Let the muffins cook for 1-2 minutes, then carefully (and quickly) remove the pan from the oven, gently top each muffin with 1-2 extra blueberries and return to the oven for the remainder of the cooking time.

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 Recipe slightly adapted from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 0 Comments

We have made it halfway through the Food Network Magazine’s Muffin of the Month recipes and we are being rewarded with these outrageous, gooey and chocolately S’mores Muffins. Yes! When I first saw all the Muffin of the Month recipes the s’mores one caught my eye. Because s’mores are amazing. Obviously. And so is chocolate. Duh. I looked at them and thought, “I can’t wait for June!”

In addition to thoughts of me stuffing my face with s’mores muffins, the other part of my brain was seriously confused as to how the Food Network could let something called a S’mores Muffin into their magazine without toasted marshmallow. I would understand if the marshmallow was a middle layer or inside the muffin, but a layer of marshmallow right on top sitting completely un-toasted? Unacceptable!

If you’re confused because I’m going on and on about un-toasted marshmallow while the photos on your screen clearly have crispy gooey marshmallow I will let you know that I rectified this horrific oversight. I know I said I wasn’t going to change these Food Network muffin recipes so I could properly review them (other than my food allergy last month), but I couldn’t not toast this marshmallow. Too much was on the line- I’ve been thinking about these muffins since January!

These S’mores Muffins did not disappoint. In fact, they exceeded my expectations of deliciousness. I love how they swapped some of the flour for graham cracker crumbs to give the muffin base a hint of that spiced cookie taste. I did use semisweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate chips because that’s what I keep in our house, but I’m kicking myself because they would have tasted even more authentically s’mores if I had stuck with the milk chocolate.

The melted chocolate and roasted marshmallow fluff probably pull these into the dessert category, but I’m going to stick with they are called muffins so I’m allowed to eat them for breakfast. No judgement allowed, just a quiet breakfast table except for the occasional “mmmm” because everyone is busy indulging in these crave-worthy S’mores Muffins.

S'mores Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1½ cups graham cracker crumbs, from about 15 full-size crackers
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• ½ cup whole milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup marshmallow cream, or 1 tablespoon per muffin

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside. In a small bowl, combine the chocolate chips with 2 teaspoons of the flour and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, milk, vanilla and eggs until smooth. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Add the chocolate chip mixture and stir.
4. Divide the muffin batter among the lined cups. They should fill the liners ¾ full. Lightly tap the bottom of the pan on a hard surface so the top of the batter smooths out slightly. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly browned. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan then remove to a wire cooling rack. Once completely cool, top each muffin with a tablespoon of the marshmallow cream. To toast your marshmallow cream, use a kitchen torch or place them under a broiler for 5-10 minutes, making sure to watch them carefully.

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 Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 0 Comments

I never thought I would see the words breakfast and salad together, unless we were talking about a fruit salad or it was opposite day and breakfast actually meant dinner. However, the day has come and I am not talking about a fruit salad, although there is fruit in this salad, and it is not opposite day, at least the last time I checked. No, today we are legitimately talking about a salad for breakfast. I often find myself stuck in a breakfast rut. Lately it’s been a banana and a Greek yogurt every. single. morning. Anyone else? Then I started seeing breakfast salads popping up all over Instagram. You would think with my salad aversion I would have kept scrolling, but the possibilities for combinations of toppings drew me in. Salads for breakfast are actually awesome and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!

Here are three reasons I think salads for breakfast are pretty cool: 1. Salads are quick and easy to make, especially when almost everything is prepped ahead of time. This checks a serious box for weekday breakfast approved.

2. The topping ideas are endless! If you wake up craving something sweet then you could load it up with some fresh berries. Feeling savory? Throw in some chicken sausage.

3. This is the most boring reason, but a very important one. I find breakfast to be a hard meal to sneak veggies into and a breakfast salad is a perfect way to get more vegetables into the first meal of the day. For the first Lemon & Mocha breakfast salad bowl I went with a grapefruit and avocado pairing along with a runny egg, of course, because the runny yolk mixed with the dressing takes it to a whole new flavor dimension. The dressing is my favorite quick shallot vinaigrette. It’s flavorful, has the right amount of acid and beautifully complements these breakfast salad bowls.

Although there are no grains in the photos, when I usually make this dish I add quinoa. I forgot it when I was rushing to take my photos, but it adds some heartiness to the dish and soaks up the yolk really well. Farro or barley would both be good substitutions as well. So, do you think you’re going to try a breakfast salad bowl soon?

Breakfast Salad Bowls with Grapefruit & Avocado

 

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Yield: 4 salads

Ingredients

for the salad

• 12 cups salad greens
• 1 grapefruit, segmented and seeds removed
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1 cup cooked quinoa, optional (see note)
• 4 eggs, poached or fried over-easy
• 1 teaspoon everything bagel seasoning

for the dressing

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 tablespoon minced shallot
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

for the salad

1. Place 3 cups of the washed salad greens in 4 shallow bowls. Divide the grapefruit segments, avocado slices and eggs between each bowl. If you are using quinoa add it now. Sprinkle the everything bagel seasoning over the avocado slices. Top with the dressing and enjoy.

for the dressing

1. Whisk all ingredients together. Salt and pepper according to taste.

Notes

I included the quinoa in the recipe because that was my original vision for this breakfast salad, but I forgot when I made it to take photos - oops! The grains go nicely with the salad, especially to soak up the egg, and make it more filling. If you don’t want to use quinoa, farro or barley would both be good substitutes.

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