breakfast Archives - Page 2 of 2

There’s something about eating coffee cake for breakfast that makes me feel a little bit devious. I think it’s the fact that it has the word ‘cake’ in it and I know I’m not supposed to be eating cake for breakfast. But I can completely justify eating ‘cake’ for breakfast because it also contains the word ‘coffee’ and obviously, you have coffee with breakfast.

I don’t tend to make a habit of eating cake for breakfast but I do enjoy it as a treat every now and then on the weekend or on a special occasion. It’s perfect for those mornings when you’re feeling a bit lazy and sleep-in extra long, you roll out of bed and have nothing on the schedule for the day. You’ve already been lazy sleeping-in so why not just continue the act by treating yourself to some cake for breakfast with a steamy cup of coffee while you work your way through the DVR.

Sounds like a great weekend to me!

This recipe is something my Grandma used to make for my Mom when she was a kid and my Mom made for me growing up. It’s definitely a family recipe. For me, this recipe represents something special, fun or exciting happening as my Mom most often made this on holidays. I remember eating it on Christmas morning and on snow days, because what better excuse to have cake for breakfast, than when you get a surprise day off from school and work!

Now that I’m grown, I’ve also continued to make this cake for special occasions or on extra lazy weekends. I’ve made it for <3M on Valentine’s Day, on Christmas morning, and sometimes just on a surprise Sunday as a way to show him I love him. Because to me, food speaks words, it stirs memory, and it definitely represents love.

I love this coffee cake because although it looks fancy it’s actually very simple and quick to make. This cake has only 5 ingredients, comes together in less than 20 minutes and bakes in 15. In less than an hour, you have a warm, delicious sweet coffee cake to dive straight into so you can get back to treating yourself to the weekend.

The base of this recipe is Bisquick and although the cake seems a bit biscuit-like the addition of cream cheese into the actual cake results in a light and fluffy texture that crumbles slightly when you bite into it. It’s filled with red raspberry preserves, which is how my Mom made it, but truly you can fill it with any jam you have on hand. Although the braided look of the coffee cake looks fancy and time intensive, it’s actually just quick slits in the dough which are then folded over. The cake is topped with a simple vanilla glaze that adds a hint of sweetness and a bit of extra moisture to the cake.

It’s perfect paired with a cup of coffee or if you are having yourself a fancy weekend, a mimosa! It’s the weekend so why not indulge and treat yourself to cake for breakfast!

Raspberry Coffee Cake

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

35 mins

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

2 cups Bisquick + ¼-1/2 for kneading/rolling
3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
⅓ cup milk
½ cup raspberry jam
1 cup confectioner's sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ - 2 tablespoons milk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375*
Cut the cream cheese and the butter into the Bisquick until crumbly.
Pour in milk and stir to incorporate
Turn out onto a surface dusted with Bisquick
Need the dough just until it no longer becomes sticky
Place the kneaded dough onto parchment paper or a silicon baking bat
Roll the dough into a rectangle, 12 inches x 8 inches
On the two long sides, make 2.5 inch slits running towards the center of the dough at 1 inch intervals
Spread the raspberry jam down the center of the dough, careful to avoid the cut edges
Fold the cut strips over the filling towards the center of the dough
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown
While the coffee cake is baking, make the icing
Mix the confectioner's sugar with vanilla and milk until you achieve a thick consistency for drizzling over the cake
Once the cake has cooled 10-15 minutes, drizzle over the cake and serve

While working in NYC, I discovered this little gem of a health bar, D’Vida, hidden inside the Credit Suisse building in the Flatiron District. One of my favorite morning treats was to stop into D’Vida for a green juice and one of their breakfast bars – The Grassroots Bar.

Their breakfast bars were by no means considered “healthy,” but half a bar paired with juice was the perfect balance for breakfast. I loved these bars, they were buttery (yeah, I said buttery) and sweetened with a hefty amount of brown sugar. They were also balanced (sorta) – with oatmeal, zucchini, carrots, and raisins. I loved these bars, so much so, that I was very specific about which bar I chose from the case: it had to be a bar without corners and cut from the middle of the pan, relatively large compared to the others (since I was only eating half that day), and the most “square-like” I could find.

I begged the D’Vida employees to divulge the name of the bakery that made their bars, but no matter whom I asked, I was told the bars were made exclusively for D’Vida and the bakery would NOT be revealed. Determined to recreate the bars at home, I hunted down Grassroots Bar recipes online. After the trial and FAIL of multiple recipes, I knew the only way to have these bars at home would be through some experimental baking on my own.

Luckily for me, D’Vida oh, so nicely provides the nutritional information for all of their baked goods, including the complete ingredient list! On one of my final mornings in NYC, I stopped into D’Vida, order my usual, and requested to see the nutritional information for the Grassroots Bar. With a few quick snaps of my phone, I had the complete list of ingredients and just for good measure, I snapped a pic of my favorite juice combo, too – The Glow.

After settling into life in Austin, I began my experimental baking: Mission Grassroots. Luckily for me, the experimental phase only lasted 3 rounds. On the third trial, I successfully recreated a Grassroots bar that satisfied my craving for D’Vida’s original and even healthified the bar some in the process.

Yes, these bars have zucchini & carrots baked into them but if M<3 loves them – and by love, I mean eats them on an almost daily basis as his pre-gym, morning snack – then they’re good – because this boy hates vegetables.

Grassroots & Green Juice

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

45 mins

Serves: 24 bars

Ingredients

¼ cup butter (room temperature)
½ cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
1½ cups rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ cup shredded zucchini, drained*
½ cup shredded carrots, drained*
⅓ cup raisins, craisins, or dried tart cherries (or mixture)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugars.
Once creamed, add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing until combined.
Gradually add in the flour-oats mixture until thoroughly incorporated.
Remove from mixer, and by hand, fold in the zucchini, carrots, and raisins.
Once combined, pour into a a greased 9x13 pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
Allow bars to cool completely before slicing.

Notes

*After shredding, place the zucchini and carrots in a few paper or dish towels and press out all liquid. Once pressed, then measure a ½ cup of each. Pre-shredded or matchstick carrots can also be substituted and will not require pressing.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 1 bar Calories: 106 Fat: 2.63 Saturated fat: 1.35 Carbohydrates: 20 Sugar: 13.96 Sodium: 107 Fiber: .89 Protein: 2 Cholesterol: 20.42

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