Bake Beignet Bites with Blueberry Dipping Sauce

Oh Saturdays, how I love thee. I could count the ways, but let's be honest - you all get why I love Saturdays. Mellow mornings, sleeping in, happy dog runs, a reason to make stellar breakfasts for the family. We have a theme around here for Saturday mornings; it involves me and some sort of tasty breakfast of the kids' choosing. Previous weekends have led to pancakes, waffles with homemade whipped cream, crepes, sourdough french toast. This week's breakfast project: baked beignet bites.

My first introduction to beignets started in New Orleans, as it should. Sitting at Cafe du Monde across from Jackson Square, people watching while I managed to cover myself in powdered sugar goodness and eat delicious deep fried pillows of dough. So good!

With someone in the family having to monitor his cholesterol these days, I opted to skip the deep frying portion of the traditional recipe and go with baking the beignets instead. Yes, I know it isn't the traditional method of making these and therefore maybe not as good. I will be the first to admit that. However, they still turned out to be very yummy and a favorite of the household. The blueberry dipping sauce was a late addition and well worth it (lots of room to make any sort of fruit flavored dipping sauce). So until I make my way back to NOLA, these little babies will be keeping me company and covered in powdered sugar. Enjoy!

Baked Beignet Bites with Blueberry Dipping Sauce
Borrowed from: Pick Fresh Foods

• 1 (1/4-ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 3 tablespoons warm water (100° to 110°)
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• Powdered sugar

In a large bowl combine yeast and 3 tablespoons warm water; let mixture stand 5 minutes.

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat (do not boil). Once small bubbles begin to form on sides of pan, stir in sugar, butter, and salt. Stir until butter is melted. Remove from heat and cool.

To yeast add milk, egg and 2 cups of flour. Stir with wooden spoon. Dough will be very sticky. Gradually stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured surface; knead 8 to 10 minutes or until dough is smooth.

Place in a greased bowl, turning to dough to coat. Cover and let rise in a warm place 1 hour or until doubled in size. 

Punch dough down and turn it out onto a floured surface. Roll dough into a large rectangle about 1/4 in thickness; cut strips to form 2-inch squares. Place on a floured surface; cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Coat baking tray with cooking spray. Place dough 2 inches apart on to tray. Bake 7-10 minutes. Sprinkle with powdered sugar while still warm.

Blueberry Dipping Sauce

• 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries
• 3-4 tbsp Blueberry Preserves/Jam
• 1/4 cup White Sugar
• 1-2 tbsp Cornstarch 
• 2 tbsp Lemon Juice

In a saucepan, mix together all of the ingredients. Bring to a very gentle bubbly boil then reduce heat to a simmer and leave on the stove for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. Add more sugar and/or lemon juice to meet personal taste preferences. Remove from the stove and let cool before serving.

Blueberry Banana Walnut Bread

It is the height of rafting season and we depart in a day for the Rogue River. The two knuckle heads in the photo to the right are some of my river family, Rafter Joe and DJ. They are hilarious to be around and always keep me on my toes, more than the river demands of me! The beige beauty (my raft) will again float down the beautiful waterways of Oregon with these two for comic relief and assortment of other fine characters. Expect a few foodie shots from camp soon.

As a happy rafter is a safe rafter, I take prepping for the river quite seriously. Baking and food included, of course. And drink too. You should see how prepared and organized rafters are. We are just shy of the insanity found with  scuba divers (speaking from years of experience here), gear and personalities included.

This week I whipped up a batch of Blueberry Banana Walnut Bread based on a Raspberry Banana Bread recipe I unearthed last year to share with folks at breakfast. Personally, I think homemade breakfast breads are where it is at. Especially if you are going to row till your hands blister for three days.

I made a few changes to the original recipe, using both white and whole wheat flours, 1/4 less sugar, both brown and white sugars, hazelnut milk in place of water, swapped oil for applesauce, added some spices, and a bit of almond extract. The loaf is a little more moist with the use of the applesauce, however I enjoy it that way for breakfast breads. The modified recipe follows. Enjoy and much love from the river!


Blueberry Banana Walnut Bread

• 1 cup white flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup white sugar 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs (farm fresh are great)
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup applesauce 
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1/3 cup hazelnut milk (or other milk or water)
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup walnuts

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, white sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, brown sugar, applesauce, almond extract, and milk.

Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moistened. Fold in blueberries and walnuts.

Pour into two (2) greased 8-in x 4-in x 2-in loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees at 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Eat lots!

Panda's Breakfast Muffins

The person I share my abode with adores breakfast muffins, scones, granola, and the like. To be a good cohabitator (and win brownie points for him at his office), I often make these little gems. My breakfast muffin recipe came about after a summer of fiddling with various morning muffin recipes and finally discovering the right blend of ingredients. Some recipes call for too much sugar or too much dairy for my liking. However, these stellar babies emerged from the flames of their predecessors and win smiles quite frequently.

Note - they are kinda healthy. Yep. I know. You were hoping for something a little more naughty maybe? Alas while they taste like little fattening muffin treats, they in fact are low-fat, low-sugar in comparison to other breakfast muffins. So feel free to lather them up with your favorite natural spread! Enjoy!

Panda's Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients
3/4 Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 White Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/4 cup White Sugar
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Egg
1/3 cup Applesauce
1/3 cup Milk (non-dairy is my choice)
1/2 cup Blueberries (frozen or freshly washed)
1/2 cup Raspberries (frozen or freshly washed)
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (optional)

Method 
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper muffin cups or grease the pan by hand.

In a medium sized bowl, add the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and sift.

In a mixing bowl or with a mixer, add the sugars, vanilla extract, and egg and blend. Note, I sometimes add a splash of almond extract as well (say 1/2 a teaspoon or less). Add the milk of your choice (usually rice in my case) to the batter and mix.

Next add the applesauce and gently blend. If you prefer, you can use one of the flavored applesauces (such as cinnamon) to enhance the flavor.

Slowly add in the dry ingredients until well mixed. Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl down from time to time. If using nuts, mix these into the batter.

Next gently fold in the berries (by hand works best so as not to crush or burst the berries).

Fill each muffin cup 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full. Typically, this recipe yields about 10 average muffins. They are also great as mini-muffins too.

As a final touch, I dust the tops of all the uncooked muffins with a bit more cinnamon and nutmeg as well as a few nuts if I haven't used them in the batter.

Cook for about 15-20 minutes (watch them during the final 5 minutes depending upon your oven) until the muffins are set. Note - I have occasionally had to cook these to 25 minutes if the oven was off or the berries extremely ripe as well as cook them slower at 350. Leave them in the pan for about 2 minutes to start cooling, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish the process. You can also modify this recipe into a breakfast bread!