breakfast Archives - Page 4 of 11

breakfast

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie

Snow days apparently lead to binge-watching trashy television. Okay, if I’m being honest, I had a Toddlers & Tiaras thing going on even before the winter storm arrived. I feel like I’m settling in with popcorn to watch some sort of quasi-ethical sociology experiment every time I hit “play” on another episode.

I could probably write for days about Toddlers & Tiaras: analyzing the rationale of the parents, evaluating the apparent effect on the children, pondering competitive pageants as a societal phenomenon in general and the role they play in each family’s life specifically, evaluating whether or not the show producers are predatory and exploitative for selectively filming and editing unsuspecting families to present them in the worst possible light, situating pageants in the context of our beauty obsessed society, recording my observations about spray tans. The list goes on and on. The more shows I watch, the more nuanced my opinions become.

One thing I wonder about is how reality television (and pop culture in general) affects our ability to disagree in a healthy way. I first thought about this while watching the women of Dance Moms (IT’S NOT MY FAULT. AMAZON RECOMMENDED IT TO ME) engage in a shouting match. It was classic reality TV fare: there were hurt feelings and instead of a clear discussion, someone snipped at someone else. There were a few opportunities where miscommunications could’ve been corrected, but instead, more snipping occurred. Finally, voices were raised and insults were hurled (sometimes a broken record of the same insult over and over and over) until someone stormed out of the room. It was (hopefully) not the kind of argument most of us aspire to in our real reality.

I also happened across a YouTube clip of these Dance Moms speaking to a crowd about the show. They said producers goad them into confronting issues they might otherwise ignore, knowing the ensuing drama will engage viewers. In addition to causing more arguments, this encouragement probably also causes louder, nastier arguments, since the moms can no doubt connect the dots: more drama = more entertainment = more job security. The moms also mentioned that selective editing can cut large portions of an argument that built slowly, making it appear they’re flying off the handle or acting erratically.

As I was mulling over this information, I thought of the disagreements I see online. The ones where people resort to using a condescending tone or name calling. The ones where people don’t identify and correct basic miscommunications. The ones where people ignore facts and don’t seem to be able to empathize with or understand any viewpoints besides their own. The ones where no valuable conclusions are ever reached.

I haven’t seen any data to suggest reality TV is somehow causing this deterioration of communication, and I hate when people suggest causation without, uh, cause. But I do think it’s worth thinking about how arguments in pop culture affect our own arguing tendencies. When disagreements that should be conducted thoughtfully are jumpstarted for ratings’ sake before the participants have had a moment to think, and when those same disagreements have meaningful communication edited out so that more of the shouty bits can be shoehorned into a 5-minute segment — well, where do we find models of healthy, productive disagreement?

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie

Not on the news, that’s for sure! Most news channels have the same melodramatic, content-light arguments! To me, this is even more insidious than reality TV because these bickering sessions pose as critical debates on newsworthy issues. When I watch Dance Moms, I know I’m settling in for lightweight, trashy TV; however, we generally expect the news to deliver content with a measure of authority. If I can find a poorly considered, sensational argument even there, again, where are the models of healthy disagreement? (By the way, while reading for this post, I watched what I assumed would be an apology video for Megyn Kelly’s outrageous assertion. Nope: in the video, Kelly admitted no error, instead framing herself as a victim and decrying “race baiting.” Oh my gosh, this world.)

So what does productive disagreement look like? That’s the million dollar question. I’ll be pondering that a bit in my next post, but the spoiler alert is that I don’t have a magic answer. I think there are certain ideas that might help everyone out and there are probably plenty of tactics that work for some people and not others. I’m willing to hazard a guess, though, that Dance Moms-style yelling isn’t ranking highly on anyone’s “Most Effective” list.

Putting on a pot of coffee, baking a Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie, and preparing a big plate of fresh fruit to devour while discussing your differences? Now that might work.

What are some things you think are important for engaging in a healthy disagreement?

One year ago: Key Lime Pie Cheesecake with Sky-High Meringue
Two years ago: Poppy Seed Ham & Swiss Slider Melts
Three years ago: Quick Rosemary, Fig, and Goat Cheese Tarts
Four years ago: Billion Cheese Ravioli with Red Pepper Pancetta Sauce

Sassy Sausage Breakfast Pie

Recipe by: Adapted by Willow Bird Baking from my mother-in-law’s recipe
Yield: 8 servings

Oh my gosh, pie crust and sausage, y’all. This breakfast pie is the bee’s knees. Mike’s mom always makes it for Christmas breakfast and we dream of it all year long! I added a little jalapeño (which you can adjust to your taste) to give it a slight kick, but it won’t make your nose run or eyes water. I recommend serving this with a sweet side — maybe fruit and some coconut meringue dip, which I’m sharing on the blog later this week — and mimosas for a special Sunday brunch.

Ingredients:
9-inch pie shell, unbaked (homemade or store-bought)
1 pound breakfast sausage
1 1/2 cups grated Gruyère cheese (or other Swiss cheese)
4 eggs
1 cup half and half (or light cream)
1/4 cup chopped orange/yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 medium jalapeño, finely chopped (adjust to your heat preference — this gives a slight kick)
1/4 cup chopped onion
salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the pie dough and place it in a pie plate, crimping the edges. Place this in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Brown the sausage and drain on a paper towel lined plate. Mix the cheese and sausage and place into the pie shell. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and cream together. Mix in the peppers and onion. Salt and pepper the mixture. Pour it into the pie shell over the meat and cheese, adjusting to be sure all the ingredients are spread out. Bake for 40-45 minutes until set and golden. Cool on a rack for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. I love to serve the pie with Frank’s Hot Sauce, which complements the flavor perfectly!

February 17, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 7 Comments

other

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

I wrote this post as part of the Plugrá Butter Brigade. Thanks, Plugrá, for sponsoring this post and for making my favorite butter!

Mike and I accidentally celebrated our 5-month wedding “anniversary” yesterday. You may wonder how it’s possible to accidentally celebrate an anniversary. Allow me to regale you with a tale of intrigue and fondue (okay, or incompetence and fondue.)

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

Mike and I have always been bad at anniversaries. It’s not because we don’t love each other or whatever. It’s just because dates and times and calendars and schedules are hard and stupid and I hate them. And apparently I’m a sullen 5-year-old about it. So there.

I have trouble knowing what day of the week or month it is at any given time (I’ve even surrendered the job of writing the date on the board in my classroom to my students’ more capable hands). So year after year while dating, we let our anniversary pass us by (and we had around 14 of those before getting married!)

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

When we got married, I was pretty sure this phenomenon of forgetting anniversaries would end. In fact, we were so honeymoonish and in love and gross that I was pretty sure we were going to start celebrating monthly anniversaries like those cloying couples on Facebook. YOU KNOW THE ONES.

Then we missed the first one. And the second. BUT I WAS BUSY. We were up to our ears in moving boxes! Whatever! It would happen.

Three months, four months. Every now and then I’d count up how long we’d been married and be shocked. Time goes so fast! Who has time to celebrate? We were still unpacking!

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

Another thing we were similarly lame about was using the awesome fondue set my parents had given us for our wedding. I kept promising Mike (who was for some reason really adorably excited about fondue?) we would set it up and have fondue when we were finally “settled in.” You know, SETTLED IN: boxes recycled, apartment assembled, some semblance of normalcy achieved. Only we never seemed to get there. Who can clean when you’re planning 3 entirely new English curricula plus two other preps and trying to keep up with Dance Moms?

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

Finally, winter break came and we were able to fully clean the apartment for the first time since we’d moved in. I was shocked my vacuum cleaner still worked. I hadn’t seen my feather duster in months. I found I’d grown kind of sentimental about the pile of unsorted mail towering on the bookshelf. Stop looking at me like that.

One night we were sitting in our newly cleaned living room and I realized I finally felt home. It was time to celebrate! Mike and I decided to have a New Year’s celebration with (drumroll) THE FONDUE SET. We couldn’t manage it on New Year’s Eve, though (midweek and all that), so we moved it to the weekend.

YOU KNOW, THE WEEKEND. JANUARY 4. OUR FIVE-MONTH ANNIVERSARY. And that’s the story of how, with no actual planning or intention, we managed to finally, accidentally celebrate our flippin’ anniversary. Now someone please set an alarm for August 4. And hire someone to clean my apartment. Thanks.

Swiss Fondue

It was pretty snazzy accidental celebration if I do say so myself! The fondue was fancy-schmancy and delicious (we made a traditional Swiss fondue with Gruyère and Chardonnay). We watched the finale of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, because we’re nerds and we do that sort of thing. And for dessert, we had these incredible Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns.

These buns are definitely a special occasion treat. They’re the best yeast rolls, soaked with butter (using my favorite Plugrá Butter), stuffed with an indulgent almond mixture, and drizzled with a sweet almond glaze. Basically, they’re insane. If you’re an almond croissant fan like me, you’ve gotta try them! Maybe it’ll accidentally be your anniversary? You never know . . .

One year ago: Boozy Icebox Cake
Two years ago: Healthy Roasted Tomato and Onion Bread Soup
Three years ago: Two Exquisite Tea Sandwiches
Four years ago: Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread Pudding

Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yield: 24 buns

If you love yeast rolls and almond croissants, you’re going to adore these incredible Buttery Almond Stuffed Morning Buns. The buttery texture and incredible almond flavor make these my new favorite breakfast item!

Roll Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups milk minus 2 tablespoons, room temperature
5 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup cold shortening
2 tablespoons butter, melted, for after baking

Filling Ingredients:
1 pound butter, softened (I use Plugrá Butter)
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 cups almond paste (this is about two 8-ounce cans)
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 eggs
dash of salt
1 1/2 cups sliced almonds, divided

Glaze Ingredients:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1/8 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
Note: I don’t recommend halving yeast recipes; instead, if you don’t want 24 rolls at once, consider freezing some for later. To freeze some of the unbaked rolls, just wrap them well before the second rise and freeze them. Once frozen, pop them out of the pan all together and store in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap and in a zip top bag or wrapped in foil. When you want to bake them, stick them back in a greased pan, thaw them in the fridge overnight, proof for the instructed amount of time, and bake like usual. I also love making a full dough recipe and using half to make savory buns (like these or these) and half to make sweet buns for dessert. If you do this, just half the filling recipes and roll out the dough half at a time.

Make the yeast dough: Mix the warm water and yeast in a medium bowl and let the yeast foam for about 10 minutes. Put 2 tablespoons white vinegar in a measuring cup and then add milk up to the 2 cup line. Set this aside. In a separate large bowl (or the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook), whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and cut the shortening into the mixture with two knives or a pastry cutter until the shortening looks like small peas. Stir yeast mixture and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well, kneading just a few turns. Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly sprayed with cooking spray, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store in refrigerator overnight.

Make the filling: The next morning, in a large bowl, cream together softened butter and sugar until pale, fluffy, and smooth. Add in almond paste, dash of salt, and almond extract and mix until well combined — it’ll be a little lumpy, and that’s okay. Beat in egg.

Roll out the dough: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish (or two smaller baking dishes) with cooking spray. Turn the chilled dough out onto a well-floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle about 1/8-inch thick (I carefully cut the dough in half and worked with half at a time to make it more manageable; if you do this, just spread on half of the filling ingredients for each half you roll). Spread the almond paste mixture gently and evenly all over the dough and sprinkle on about half of your sliced almonds. Gently roll the dough up into a spiral and cut it into rolls, placing them close together in your prepared baking dish (at this point, you could wrap and freeze the rolls for later if you wanted).

Proof the rolls, bake, and glaze: Cover the rolls with a clean dish cloth and let them rise in a warm spot (I set them on my oven’s heat vent) until they’ve nearly doubled, about 2 hours. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes or until browned on top (if you take them out at just lightly golden brown, they may still be doughy in the center). Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter and return to the oven for 1 more minute. Whisk together ingredients for the glaze and drizzle it over the rolls. Sprinkle with remaining sliced almonds. Serve immediately.

January 5, 2014 by Julie Ruble | 26 Comments

cakes, other, pies and tarts

Willow Bird Baking’s 13 Best Recipes of 2013

Willow Bird Baking's 13 Best Recipes of 2013

Happy New Year! My head is spinning with thoughts of resolutions and responsibilities for the upcoming year, but let’s relax first and just enjoy some edible reflection, shall we? You guys have good taste. Here are Willow Bird Baking’s 13 Best Recipes of 2013, as chosen by your visits. At the end, I’ve included a few recipes that didn’t make the “Most Popular” list but are actually some of my favorites from the year!

Want to gather lots of amazing recipes from other blogs, too? I’ve just created a Best of 2013 Recipes Pinterest board where you can see “Best of” posts from some of my favorite blogs. This is one of the best times of the year to gather top eats from around the internet! While you’re there, make sure you follow me on Pinterest. I’m kind of a food lover, in case ya didn’t know. My pins are gonna make you hungry.

Without further ado, Willow Bird Baking’s 13 Best Recipes of 2013:

1. Lemon Cheesecake Morning Buns

These things totally deserve their “Most Popular” title. They are absurd.

2. The Ultimate Moist, Fluffy, Ridiculous Coconut Cake

YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT COCONUT.

3. Pumpkin Cheesecake Pillow Popovers

These use premade crescent dough! So easy.

4. Key Lime Pie Cheesecake with Sky-High Meringue

Tangy, sweet, and stunning! Such a show-stopper.

5. Gooey Chocolate Coconut Cream Skillet Cake

DID I MENTION HOW I FEEL ABOUT COCONUT.

6. Strawberry Coconut Cream Pie

CO.CO.NUT.

7. Boozy Icebox Cake

It’s like regular icebox cake, but (duh) better!

8. Bailey’s Hazelnut Chocolate Tiramisu

Bailey’s makes any dessert totally nuts.

9. Chocolate Poke Cake with Whipped Coconut Icing

COCONUT, Y’ALL (and my new favorite frosting in the universe).

10. Biscoff Spread Gooey Butter Cake

I don’t know what got into me, but I have no regrets.

11. White Sheet Cake with Fluffy Whipped Icing

Just like those awesome sheet cakes you buy at the store (with the fluffy frosting, not the weird crusty stuff).

12. Lasagna Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

Hearty, delicious meal.

13. Pumpkin Tres Leches Cake

Pumpkin and Tres Leches: two of my faves combined.

…And a few of my personal favorites from this year:

1. Samoa Monkey Bread with Ganache Dipping Sauce

It’s a crime that this recipe didn’t go viral. It’s nuts!

1. Buttery Coconut Almond Pull-Apart Bread (with Heavenly Coconut Cream Glaze)

Coconuttttt.

1. Flan Tres Leches Cake

For when you can’t decide between making flan and making tres leches cake, and also you’re feeling a little crazy. So good.

1. Limoncello-Spiked Shortbread Icebox Cake with Fresh Raspberries

The shortbread makes all the difference here! And the Limoncello, obv.

1. The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

Pure decadence. Don’t skip the syrup drizzle.

1. Gooey Carmelitas

Gooey, chocolatey masterpiece.

1. Lemon Raspberry Gooey Butter Cake

Bright, springy, fresh! I love lemon.

1. Sausage & Corn Chile Con Queso Taco Ring

Again, HOW did this recipe not go viral? TASTE IT. JUST TASTE IT. It’s like the best thing I’ve ever eaten.

1. Dutch Roomboter Banketstaaf (Flaky Pastry with Almond Filling)

This is also the best thing I’ve ever eaten. Don’t question me.

Don’t forget to see what others have cooked up on my Best of 2013 Recipes Pinterest board. Happy happy happy almost-2014!

December 30, 2013 by Julie Ruble | 4 Comments

other

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

When I was in third grade, I broke my arm and my collarbone, becoming the first person in my family to ever break a bone, a distinction I was quite proud of. The way it happened, though, is a story I am decidedly un-proud of. Regardless, I’m about to share it on the flippin’ worldwide interwebz because that’s what bloggers do, apparently.

First, you should know that I was kind of a bratty third grader. I was very bright, but lacked diplomacy and humility. I was great at arguing, but bad at gauging when to argue. In short, I was 8. I asked for a briefcase for every birthday and Christmas until I finally got one, since I was determined to become a bold, exacting attorney. I frequently threatened to sue my friends and family members for unfair treatment.

What can I say? I had good intentions, but my delivery was . . . unpleasant. Fortunately my hubris mellowed as I grew older, probably as a result of education, increased self-awareness, and a few violent adjustments from my older siblings.

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

But in third grade, I was still that bratty attorney. I had a fierce sense of justice and plenty of personal convictions. I brought them all with me one summer night to the roller rink, where I was going skating with a friend.

You should also know that I wasn’t the best skater. I could kind of manage it for a bit, but inevitably I’d have a moment of panic and find myself flat on my butt in the path of a bajillion middle school kids with unfortunate braking skills.

Nevertheless, that evening, I had passed several hours relatively unscathed. At one point, I was getting tired, but I decided to take one more lap. I started around the rink, just reaching the place where there were no more exits, and realized I didn’t want to skate anymore. The rink suddenly seemed interminable, and my fatigue suddenly seemed intense. But the distance to get back — against the flow of skaters — seemed more manageable. You know where this is going.

I skated slowly against the traffic, trying to stay inside the ring of skaters. Seemingly out of nowhere, a tall middle schooler with long, flowing blonde hair was skating straight at me. The situation was almost poetic, actually: I’d met her at the beginning of the night and found out her name was Julie, too. We’d argued over who rightfully deserved the name, and she’d snapped at me that she’d had it first. Now here she was, speeding straight out of darkness as if to claim her birthright. And here I was, about to get mowed down for being a nitwit. I think this was basically the plot of Beowulf, right? Whatever.

I reached out to grab her shoulders and hopefully prevent our imminent smash-up, but she was skating too fast. She swung out to avoid me, and the arm that had grabbed her snapped back behind me as she swerved, pulling me flat onto my back with a thud and cracking two of my bones. I didn’t realize any of this at the time, though. At the time, my only thought was, “Owww.”

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

Somehow I made it off the rink and over to the concession stand, because my 8-year-old brain assumed that “put some ice on it” was the cure for all physical ills. I barely looked at the dude behind the concession counter as I asked, “I hurt my arm. Can I have some ice?”

“Sorry, I can’t give you any,” came his unbelievable reply. WHAT?! I was furious. Appalled. In my mind, I was entitled to this ice for many convincing reasons: (A) I was a young child, and you should always give young children what they need. (B) I was hurt, and you should always give hurt people what they need. (C) There was no reason I could think of not to give me what I needed. So I did what any great attorney would do. I sassed back. (That’s what attorneys do, right? Wait.)

“But I’m hurt! If you don’t give me any ice, I’ll sue you because my arm is hurt and you’re not helping me! You can’t do this!” My vehemence shocked and embarrassed even me. With a huff and a flounce, I skated into the bathroom and promptly boiled over in tears.

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

A few minutes later, my friend skated in. I was sure she’d come to comfort and support me, but instead she said, “That guy says he’ll give you ice, but you have to apologize first.”

Apologize?! Indignation burned through me like the flame of a billion blow torches. Thankfully, it was followed by the searing pain of my broken bones, which burned through me like the flame of two billion blowtorches. I could barely look at my friend as we skated together out of the bathroom, my pride melting into a sorry puddle of shame and humiliation around me.

The concession stand guy was waiting with an apathetic look on his face. Somehow 29-year-old me thinks he cared a lot less about this incident than 8-year-old me assumed. After taking a deep draught of the stale popcorn air, I began. “Listen, I’m sorry. I’m just hurt! And I needed some ice!” I felt my pride resurfacing and had to stomp it back down. “And I’m just sorry I talked to you like that. Can I please have some ice?” He barely said a thing, but scooped out a bag and gave it to me. I skated away, holding the cold anticlimax of a horrible night against my wounds. It helped ease the ache of my bones, but did nothing for my pride.

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

Like so many embarrassing stories from my childhood that I would’ve been glad to erase at the time, I’m glad this happened. I’m glad he put me in my place and used his authority to encourage some humility and courtesy in me. I needed to realize that:

Having good intentions didn’t make what I said less inappropriate.

Feeling like I was right didn’t make it okay to be unkind.

Nobody owed me understanding for inappropriate behavior, and I should be thankful for grace.

Other people’s experience mattered just as much as mine did, and I had to consider them.

It was my job as a human being to consider them.

Boy, did that lesson stick with me.

There’s hardly a segue here into the recipe for these gorgeous breakfast buns, except to say they’ll stick with you, too. Does that work? No? Okay.

These truly are the Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns: the best yeast rolls stuffed with cheddar grits, eggs, sausage, and hash browns, and topped with a drizzle of maple syrup. They’re indulgent and perfect for any special occasion — I imagine them on your Christmas morning breakfast table, or being served for a New Year’s brunch. Enjoy — and share with us: what life lesson will you always remember learning?

One year ago: Brown Butter Gooey Butter Spice Cake with Sparkling Cranberries and Cream
Two years ago: Cranberry Orange Pecan Cake (vegan)
Three years ago: Magic Bars
Four years ago: Oreo Truffle Snowmen

The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Buns

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking; idea first created by Amanda at Treasures of the Phoenix
Yield: 24 servings

These are straight-up incredible. They’re worth every bit of butter, every egg, and every minute spent making them — which is considerable. They’re definitely a special occasion treat! They would be perrrfect for Christmas breakfast! You can prepare them the night before, wake up early to preheat your oven and set them out to rise, and then just pop them in the oven 15 minutes before you eat.

Roll Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 cups milk minus 2 tablespoons, room temperature
5 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2/3 cup cold shortening
2 tablespoons butter, melted, for after baking

Filling Ingredients:
2 cup plus 2 tablespoon milk, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup stone-ground grits
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 cups plus 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds pork sausage
2 cups frozen shredded hash browns
20 eggs
2 tablespoons diced green chiles
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) melted butter
maple syrup for drizzling

Directions:
Note: I don’t recommend halving yeast recipes; instead, if you don’t want 24 rolls at once, consider freezing some for later. Sometimes I even make two types of rolls (savory and dessert), by making the full amount of yeast dough but halving the filling recipe for both. To freeze unbaked rolls, just wrap them well before the second rise and freeze them. Once frozen, pop them out of the pan all together and store in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap and in a zip top bag. When you want to bake them, stick them back in a greased pan, thaw them in the fridge overnight, proof for the instructed amount of time, and bake like usual.

Make yeast dough the night before: Mix the warm water and yeast in a medium bowl and let the yeast foam for about 10 minutes. Put 2 tablespoons white vinegar in a measuring cup and then add milk up to the 2 cup line. Set this aside. In a separate large bowl (or the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook), whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and cut the shortening into the mixture with two knives or a pastry cutter until the shortening looks like small peas. Stir yeast mixture and milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well, kneading just a few turns. Transfer the dough to a large bowl (keep in mind that it will rise) lightly sprayed with cooking spray, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and store in refrigerator overnight.

Make grits: The next morning, in a medium saucepan, boil 2 cups of milk and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir in the grits with a whisk. Reduce the heat to low and cook, covered, until all the milk is absorbed (see the directions on your package for how long this should take. Mine took 15 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, heavy cream, and 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. Season to taste with pepper (and salt if more is needed; I didn’t need to add any). Cover these and set aside.

Make sausage, egg, hash brown mixture: In a large skillet, brown the sausage over medium-high heat. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. In the sausage drippings (add a little butter if there isn’t enough), brown the hash browns by spreading them over the bottom of the skillet in a flat layer. Cover the skillet and let them cook without stirring for around 6 minutes (double check the directions on your hash browns package). When one side is browned, flip the hash browns and brown the other side. Remove these to the sausage plate to drain. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and 1 tablespoon milk until fluffy. Scramble these in the sausage drippings (or some butter if your sausage drippings have run out) over medium heat until they’re almost done but still wet. Transfer them back to the bowl where you scrambled them. Add the sausage, hash browns, and chiles into the bowl and mix gently. Set aside until you’re ready to assemble your rolls.

Roll out the dough: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and lightly spray two 9 x 13-inch baking dishes with cooking spray. Turn the chilled dough out onto a well-floured surface and roll it into a large rectangle about 1/8-inch thick (I carefully cut the dough in half and worked with half at a time to make it more manageable; if you do this, just spread on half of the filling ingredients for each half you roll).

Assemble the rolls: Spread the melted butter all over the top of the dough. On top of this, gently and evenly spread the cheese grits and egg mixtures (I use two spoons to spread the cheese grits mixture. It doesn’t have to be perfect — just get it here and there all around). Sprinkle on the remaining 1 cup cheddar cheese. Gently roll the dough up into a spiral (I use a bench scraper to help me roll) and cut it into 2-inch rolls, placing them close together in your prepared baking dishes (at this point, you could wrap and freeze the rolls for later if you wanted).

Bake and serve: Cover the rolls with a clean dish cloth and let them rise in a warm spot (I set them on my oven’s heat vent) for 1 1/2 hours. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes or until browned on top (if you take them out at just lightly golden brown, they may still be doughy in the center). Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter and return to the oven for 1 more minute. Pour a light drizzle of maple syrup over the warm rolls. Serve immediately.

December 22, 2013 by Julie Ruble | 7 Comments

other

Christmas Breakfast Recipes

Thanks, Foodie, for sponsoring this post filled with Christmas Breakfast Recipes!

Christmas Breakfast Recipes

As you get older, you don’t need the pile of presents you needed as a kid to feel the magic of Christmas. Presents are still fun, but you start to realize other traditions hold even more of the charm of the season. One of my favorite holiday traditions these days is Christmas breakfast. My mom makes a big pan of amazing cinnamon rolls and another big pan of Egg & Grits casserole. My mother-in-law makes this incredible Breakfast Pie with eggs and hot sausage. The day wouldn’t feel complete without that indulgent first meal.

To help make your Christmas morning breakfast extra special, I’ve collected all of my best breakfast recipes below. I’ve even broken them down into categories to help you find your perfect meal: make-ahead recipes, fancy recipes, simple recipes, and fun recipes. Which best describes your Christmas morning mood?

Make-Ahead Christmas Breakfast Recipes