Homemade Pancake Syrup

Trying to cut corn syrup out of our diet... so I have found a wonderful pancake syrup recipe and I thought I would share it all with you.

2 cups water

4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. maple flavouring
1/4 tstp. vanilla flavouring

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add sugar.
3. Boil for one minute.
4. Cool and add flavoring. (do not add before it is off the heat as the flavouring with boil off)

I save the bottles to put it in once it cools!

Another recipe:

Hot Buttermilk Syrup

1 cup sugar (I generally use a bit less)
2 TBS buttermilk powder
1/8 tsp baking soda, scant
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk together dry ingredients (including butter milk powder). In saucepan, bring butter and water to a boil. Pour dry ingredients into saucepan, stirring constantly. Bring back to boil and stir for a minute or two. Take off heat and stir in vanilla. It will thicken as it cools.

Note: I was really skeptical of "making" syrup before I tried these two recipes. But, we LOVE them at my house! You can also substitute 1/2 cup real butter milk instead of the 2 TBS buttermilk powder and 1/2 cup water, if you wish.

Donut Muffins....

Going to make today with basic kitchen ingredients so I will have pictures to post once I am done.

1-¾ cup Flour
1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Nutmeg
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
⅓ cups Oil
¾ cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
¾ cups Milk


FOR THE TOPPING:
¼ cups Butter
⅓ cups White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.

Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

Waffles

These are made a few times a week at our house... we love them....

These are wonderful-crispy outside and light and soft inside. I used melted apple sauce instead of oil, and 1c wheat flour instead of all white flour.

* 2 eggs
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 3/4 cups milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoon white sugar
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

1. Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs in large bowl with hand beater until fluffy. Beat in flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla, just until smooth.
2. Spray preheated waffle iron with non-stick cooking spray. Pour mix onto hot waffle iron. Cook until golden brown. Serve hot.

These are really a favourite at our house, always requested for breakfast or lunch and even dinner sometimes. :)

Almond Coconut Granola

A crunchy almond coconut homemade breakfast cereal; this granola is delicious with raisins, dates, or chopped fresh fruit

Yield: 26 cups

Ingredients:

16 cups quick oats
4 cups coconut
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups oil
2 cups water
1 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
1 Teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon almond extract

Instructions:

1. Mix oats, coconut, cornmeal, and almonds in large bowl.

2. In aother bowl or blender, mix remaing ingredients. (I use the blender.)

3. Combine all and stir well. Spread onto two greased baking sheets or in a large baking dish.

4. Bake at 200 degrees for 4-6 hours (or overnight) or until granola is dried and lightly browned. Stir once during baking.

5. Allow granola to cool, and store in an airtight container. Serve with raisins, dates, or chopped fresh fruit.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 4-6 hours or overnight

Made Yogurt in my crockpot today....

I just put it in the fridge and it smells good at a fraction of the cost....

2L of milk $2.25
1/2 cup yogurt $0.50

Yeild... 4 large containers of yogurt that would retail at about $4.00ea so a savings of $13.25 in my pocket... I will let you know how it tastes tomorrow morning but so far so good. (The savings on the yogurt doesn't include how much my little ones yogurt is to buy.)

Here is the recipe I used.... Crockpot Yogurt with a couple of modifications...

Recipe is here:

The Ingredients.

--8 cups (half-gallon) of whole milk--pasteurized and homogenized is fine, but do NOT use ultra-pasteurized. (Debbie recommends starting with whole milk until you get the hang of yogurt-making)

--1/2 cup store-bought natural, live/active culture plain yogurt (you need to have a starter. Once you have made your own, you can use that as a starter)

--frozen/fresh fruit for flavoring

--thick bath towel

The Directions.

This takes a while. Make your yogurt on a weekend day when you are home to monitor.

I used a 4 quart crockpot. This is so exciting. My fingers are shaking!

Plug in your crockpot and turn to low. Add an entire half gallon of milk. Cover and cook on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Unplug your crockpot. Leave the cover on, and let it sit for 3 hours.

When 3 hours have passed, scoop out 2 cups of the warmish milk and put it in a bowl. Whisk in 1/2 cup of store-bought live/active culture yogurt. Then dump the bowl contents back into the crockpot. Stir to combine.

Put the lid back on your crockpot. Keep it unplugged, and wrap a heavy bath towel all the way around the crock for insulation.


Go to bed, or let it sit for 8 hours.

In the morning, the yogurt will have thickened---it's not as thick as store-bought yogurt, but has the consistency of low-fat plain yogurt.

Blend in batches with your favorite fruit. I did mango, strawberry, and blueberry. When you blend in the fruit, bubbles will form and might bother you. They aren't a big deal, and will settle eventually.

Chill in a plastic container(s) in the refrigerator. Your fresh yogurt will last 7-10 days. Save 1/2 cup as a starter to make a new batch.

MODIFICATIONS:
I added 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 4 tablespoons honey... I love vanilla yogurt.... oh I also added 1/2c. powdered milk to thicken it just before I was going to put it in the containers is when I added it to the crockpot.

I will also add I tried my hand at making hamburger buns... they are priced outrageous here... usually $2.99 for 8 of them... I made 16 of them for $0.55 today... for a total savings I figure of.. $5.43... quite the savings today in my favour.... Friday I am making bagels... I can't wait. I will post my hamburger bun recipe here shortly... probably tomorrow.... but it is a keeper.

*** Update... I tasted the yogurt this morning... it is good... I put a teaspoon of preserves in it and oh yummy is all I can say to describe it. Very yummy! Next time I will put a little more vanilla in it. ***

Pop up Pancakes

We love to eat Breakfast for Dinner. Okay, I just love to make breakfast for dinner because it’s easy and I have all the ingredients. One of our favorites is Pop Up Pancakes, or as my husband’s family calls them, German Pancakes. I like to put a little twist on them by cooking these in muffin tins. They cook up as little puff balls and are easy for the kids to eat.

Pop Up Pancake Recipe - makes 24 muffins or fills a 9×13 baking pan

* 1 cup milk
* 1 cup flour
* 6 eggs
* 1/4 cup melted butter
* dash salt
* Preheat oven at 400*

I like to blend all the ingredients in my blender. I have tried to whisk it or even use the electic mixer, but it seems to get the most smooth with a blender. Then grease your muffin tins or baking pan. My mom likes to bake these in a jelly roll pan.

Bake them for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top. Use a knife to pry them out, hopefully they were greased well enough and should pop right out.

Now they are ready for toppings. I love syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit. You could even use fresh Strawberry Jam. We usually load it all on and dive in. What do you use to top your pancakes with? Maybe peanut butter or honey?