There’s nothing quite like a warm slice of banana bread with a nice smear of butter.  It’s as if the heavens looked down on the creation of butter and said, “Now we must create a perfect platform upon which to show off this butter.”  When made properly, banana bread is moist and loaded with flavor.  It’s pretty much a big, bread-shaped muffin.  Best of all, banana bread is so easy to make… it’s “nuts!”   Just kidding.  It’s totally “bananas!”

In this article, I’ll show you my favorite banana bread recipe and share a couple of tips for getting great tasting bread every time.  I’m also excited to present my latest cooking video.  Last week, I watched the movie The Artist.  It was cute.  But you know what it was missing?  A good banana bread recipe.  Here’s a few scenes that would have made it perfect:

Video:  “Mr Breakfast Makes Banana Bread”

How To Make Excellent Banana Bread

For the printable version of this recipe, click here.

The only real trick to making good banana bread is using really ripe bananas.  Just when you think it might be time to toss a banana in the compost bin, that’s the perfect time to use it for banana bread.  The reason is that bananas develop more sugar as they ripen.  The banana flavor becomes more pronounced as the fruit ages.

I’ve seen some recipes that try to extract more flavor from bananas by microwaving them and cooking down the liquid produced to a syrup.  That’s fun if you want to try it, but it’s unnecessary.  Ask anybody’s grandma… the old way is the best way.  Very ripe bananas yield very good banana bread.

When I make banana bread, I use two mixing bowls: one to mash the bananas and the other one for mixing.  Cream 1 softened stick of butter and 1 cup of sugar together until fluffy.  Stir in 3 medium mashed bananas and 2 beaten eggs. Then, slowly stir in 1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a couple pinches of salt.  If you like, you can add a teaspoon of vanilla or a few dashes of cinnamon at this point.

Lastly, fold in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts and then pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.  Bake for 40 to 50 minutes at 350 degrees and that’s all there is to it.  This recipe makes one 9 1/2″ X 5″ loaf or three 6″ X 3 1/2″ inch mini loaves.

The only note of caution with this recipe is to watch the cooking time.  40 to 50 minutes is a decent approximation, but every loaf of banana bread has its own distinct cooking time.  The ripeness and size of your “medium” bananas both impact the cooking time.  I’ve had one loaf take exactly 40 minutes and another with the same recipe take nearly an hour.  Both turned out great despite the significant difference in cooking time.  Just be sure to test that the bread is done with a toothpick or a skewer.  If you stick it in the middle of the loaf and it comes out clean, the bread is done.

I hope you have as much fun and success with this recipe as I’ve had.

This post is based on the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Easy Banana Bread

If you’re not that bananas about banana bread, but you’re totally pumped about pumpkin bread, check out this Pumpkin Bread Recipe.

As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, many people are looking forward to healthy (size-wise) portions of corned beef, cabbage, Irish whiskey and Guinness.  While I plan to partake in all those great things, I’m most excited about St. Patrick’s Day breakfast.  Every year, I try to find new ways to incorporate green into my omelets, pancakes, waffles and other morning dishes.

One of my St. Patrick’s Day breakfast dishes was so green that it was literally unbelievable.  I submitted a photo of my Green Egg Scramble to the popular food picture site FoodGawker and they wouldn’t accept it.  They said it “looked overproccessed.”  I can see how they thought that, but seriously, it was food coloring and green peppers – not Photoshop.

Today’s featured St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast recipe is festive but not quite as over-the-top.  It’s a basic breakfast casserole with accents of distinct green from spinach, green pepper, green onion, chopped jalapeno and a garnish of parsley.

You can get the original, printable recipe here, but please note in the comments how I included a few extra ingredients to add in more green.

The ingredients for this Green Egg Casserole are eggs, pieces of bread, milk, Monterey jack cheese, spinach, green pepper, green onion, jalapeno and parsley.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs and milk together.   Add all of the remaining ingredients (except the cheese and parsley) and mix well.  You don’t have to use multiple bowls like I did.

Pour the ingredients from the mixing bowl into a lightly greased casserole dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  Then, sprinkle cheese over the top and bake 20 minutes more until the egg is completely set.  You can test for doneness with a toothpick.  Insert it into the center of the casserole.  If it comes out clean, the casserole is done.

To serve, cut into squares and garnish with lovely green chopped parsley.

To make this breakfast even more appropriate for St. Patrick’s Day, do what I did.  Serve it with Potatoes O’Brien and coffee with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream.  If you happen to have little plastic clover sticks that say “Happy St. Patrick’s Day”, awesome!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

This post is a companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Green Egg Casserole

Other St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast Ideas:

Green Eggs & Ham

Green Egg Scramble

This donut was a huge success last St. Patrick’s Day.  All year whenever I told friends I was thinking of making donuts, they’d say, “You should make the ones you made for St. Patrick’s Day again.”

This recipe uses my proven, kitchen-tested, yeast-raised donut base (which you can use for a multitude of different donuts).  The topping is a chocolatey, coffee-infused mocha icing and the filling is a vanilla buttercream that’s been transformed into a taste of the Emerald Isle by a shot of Irish coffee liqueur.

There’s an old Irish proverb that says, “Hunger is a tasty topping.”  That may be true, but I think you’ll prefer this mocha icing.

To Make The Yeast-Raised Donuts:

• 1 package dry active yeast
• 2 teaspoons malt syrup
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 and 1/2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 Tablespoons soy flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• 1/2 level teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 Tablespoons shortening
• 2 Tablespoon granulated sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup mashed potato
• canola oil – for frying

In a small bowl or cup, stir the malt syrup into warm water (110 degrees) until it dissolves.  Stir in the yeast.  Let it sit for 5 minutes until foamy on top.

Sift the all-purpose flour, soy flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg together into a large bowl. Add the vanilla to the milk.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the shortening and sugar together. Add the egg yolks one at a time – mixing on low – until well combined.   Add the yeast/water mixture, the mashed potato and half of the flour.  When mostly combined, add the milk and remaining flour.   Mix on low until combined then switch to medium until dough comes together and starts to pull away from the mixing bowl.  Change to the hook attachment and knead the dough for 2 minutes.

Transfer dough to a well-greased bowl.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow dough to rise to double its size – about 90 minutes.

Turn the  dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Dust top with flour.  Roll to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut out the donuts and transfer each one to a parchment-lined baking sheet – leaving an inch of space between each doughnut. Let the donuts set until almost doubled in size – about 45 minutes.

Fry in batches in 3 inches of hot canola oil (360 degrees).  Fry one side to golden brown (about 1 minute and 5 seconds).  Flip and cook other side to golden brown (about 50 seconds). Transfer cooked donuts to stacked paper towels to drain off excess oil.

For The Irish Buttercream Filling:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup + 2 Tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon powdered egg white
• 3 Tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream Liqueur
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the butter, shortening, powdered sugar and powdered egg white together until well blended.

Add Irish cream and vanilla.  Beat on medium to blend and then on high until light and fluffy.

For The Mocha Icing:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon meringue powder
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 Tablespoons hot water
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 ounces chocolate chips
• additional water as required

Dissolve the instant coffee granules in the hot water.

Sift the powdered sugar and meringue powder into a shallow mixing bowl.

Combine the coffee-infused water, butter, milk and corn syrup in a small sauce pan over medium heat.   Stirring often, cook until butter is melted and ingredients are combined. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce heat to low and add the chocolate chips.  Stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Add chocolate mixture to powdered sugar and whisk until very smooth.

If icing thickens at any point, add more water – a teaspoon at a time – to thin it out.

Once donuts are cooled, fill each one with Irish buttercream and dip the top of each in the warm icing.

For other Irish-inspired breakfast ideas, check out last year’s St. Patrick’s Day post called Top O’ The Mornin’ Lads And Lassies: Green Egg Casserole.

“May your home always be too small to hold all of your friends.”  – Another Irish Proverb

Monkey Bread is a sort of variation on a cinnamon roll recipe that’s very easy to make. Basically, you chop up some biscuit dough, coat it with cinnamon and sugar and then top it with melted butter and brown sugar.  Bake, invert and presto… Monkey Bread.

You can eat it like an elegant gentleman with a knife and fork.  But it’s best to eat it with your fingers like a monkey.  According to Wikipedia, that’s how the bread got its name.

For the complete recipe, you can check out the original Monkey Bread Recipe page on MrBreakfast.com.  Or check out the Monkey Bread Recipe Cheat Sheet above.  Or better yet, check out our Monkey Bread Recipe Tutorial Video below.

I made the bold choice to have a monkey named Randy teach the tutorial.  As for what the pig is doing there… you’ll see.

_{Video: How To Make Monkey Bread w/ Randy The Monkey}

As a breakfast expert, I recommend that you only have this for breakfast on special occasions.  It’s extremely sweet (but ohhhh… so tasty).  I hope you give it a try.  Let me know how it goes.

One of America’s most loved baked goods is also one of the easiest to make.  Today, we’re focusing on a basic, reliable blueberry muffin recipe.  It takes about 10 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake.  That’s right.  We’re talking about oven-fresh blueberry muffins in a half hour.

After we examine the basic recipe, I have a few tips and simple adjustments to make this good thing even better.

As shown in the recipe card above, the ingredients are:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter – melted
• 1 cup blueberries

The trick to making these muffins tender is mixing the dry ingredients and wet ingredients separately.  When you combine the two mixtures, use a gentle touch and mix only until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Over-mixing will make the muffins slightly tough.  (Although in truth, you can beat the bejesus out the batter and still get decent muffins.)

The same gentle technique goes for folding in the blueberries.  Take your time and mix just until the berries are evenly distributed in the batter.

For dolloping batter in muffin cups, I swear by my trusty ice cream scoop.  It fills the muffin cups almost exactly 3/4 full, which is ideal for this recipe.

Always test for doneness.  After 20 minutes, insert a toothpick in the center of a muffin.  If it comes out clean (no batter), the muffins are done.  If they need a few more minutes, consider covering the tops of the muffins with foil so they don’t get overly browned.

Now that you know the most rudimentary, reliable recipe, here’s few ways to make it even better:

Use vanilla.  I add vanilla to almost every baked good I make.  Even if you don’t notice it directly, it adds a nuance that just makes everything a step better.  One teaspoon of vanilla works great for this recipe.  Just mix it in with the wet ingredients.

Try cake flour.  Mixing a little cake flour in with all-purpose flour gives muffins a somewhat softer texture.  I find that muffins with cake flour are even better the day after they’re made.  The muffins condense more and feel more indulgent.  For this recipe, try replacing 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour with cake flour.

Sift.  Whether you use straight-up all-purpose flour or the combo suggested above, sifting (or aerating) the flour can make a big difference.  The bit of air that gets mixed into the flour helps the muffins rise to form a beautiful dome.  I’ve kitchen tested this several times and muffins made with sifted flour always have a better shape.  That said, these muffins could turn out flat as pancakes and they’d still be delicious.

Try yogurt.  Before you measure out your cup of milk, consider trying this… empty out one of those single serve yogurt cups into your measuring cup.  Top it off with milk until it reaches the 1 cup mark.  Using a little yogurt as part of the milk component ensures that your muffins will be extremely moist.  A ratio of 1/2 milk to 1/2 yogurt is an equation for success.  I’ll often use vanilla-flavored yogurt (with additional vanilla extract).  Plain yogurt works fine, but do yourself a favor and have fun with it.  For extreme blueberry muffins, use blueberry-flavored yogurt.

Try sour cream.  Treat sour cream the same way that you’d use yogurt above.  It adds a richness to the muffins (due to its fat content) and a slight tanginess that many people enjoy.

Get zesty.  In the world of fruit, blueberries and citrus are terrific buddies.  Adding a mere 1/2 teaspoon of fresh lemon zest or orange zest to the batter dramatically changes the flavor profile of the muffin, making it – for lack of a better word – zesty!  The blueberries taste more lively because they have another fruity flavor to play with.  I like to sprinkle the zest over the dry ingredients right before I mix in the egg and milk mixture.

That concludes our blueberry muffin lesson for the day.  Let me know what you think.  If you have any tips or tricks of your own that you’d like to share, please do so in the comments section below.

May your berries be sweet and your muffins always moist!

It’s hard to explain why zucchini bread is so good.  The zucchini doesn’t add significant flavor.  You never take a bite of zucchini bread and say, “That’s some quality zucchini.”  The vegetable flavor seems to disappear completely during cooking. The bread is not as distinctive as banana bread and not as decadent and dessert-like as carrot bread (which is essential carrot cake).  But a slice of warm zucchini bread with a pat of butter and cup of coffee is the essence of homespun goodness.   It’s playfully sweet, incredibly moist and completely satisfying.

I may not know exactly why I love it, but I do.  I think you will too.  This article presents a reliable, easy recipe for zucchini bread.  I’ve made it many times and it comes out fantastic every time.  Above, you’ll find a zucchini bread cheat sheet with the recipe in its most basic form.  Directly below is a video showing the recipe in action.  That’s followed with tips to make the most of the recipe and link to the printable recipe.

Video: How To Make Zucchini Bread w/ Baby Breakfast

Tips To Make Great Zucchini Bread

Cooking Time Changes Based On The Amount Of Zucchini – This recipe specifies two medium zucchini.  That should yield between 2 and 1/4 cups and 3 cups when grated.  If your amount is at the low end, the cooking time is likely to be 55 minutes.  If you get a full 3 cups, expect the cooking time to exceed an hour by 5 or 10 minutes.  The reason is that grated zucchini is treated like a wet ingredient.  The wetter your batter, the long it takes to bake.

Cover Loaves With Aluminum Foil Toward End Of Baking – To prevent the tops and edges of your bread from over-browning, cover the loaves loosely with aluminum foil at about 45 minutes.  Don’t do it earlier or the tops will stick to the foil.  I usually prep some foil before baking so that it is molded to the size of the loaf pans.

Test With A Toothpick – At 50 minutes, start testing your bread for doneness.  Stick a toothpick in the center of the bread.  If it comes out clean, the bread is done.  If batter sticks to the toothpick, you’re looking at more cooking time.

Don’t Get Bummed Out During Baking – I once had my loaves take an hour and 15 minutes.  I thought for sure the edges would be dry and over-done.  I was worried for no reason.  The bread was perfect.  This recipe is hard to mess up.

Try Adding More Stuff – As long as you don’t over do it, you can add more ingredients and flavor to this bread.  In place of or in addition to the nuts, try mini chocolate chips, shredded coconut, raisins or dried cranberries.  As long as the total amount of add-ins doesn’t exceed 1 and 1/4 cup, the bread should turn out fine.

Try Making It Healthier – If you want, you can replace up to 1 cup of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour.  You’ll notice a hint of wheat flavor in the final product, but the bread will still taste great.  You can also replace half of the canola oil with apple sauce.  You won’t notice any apple flavor.  The bread will be a bit more soft and crumbly.

Mini Loaves – I’ve used this recipe to make four 6×3-inch loaves.  The cooking time was 48 minutes.

Storing The Bread – I’ve found that a loaf covered in plastic wrap at room temperature is great for 5 days.  In the refrigerator, it’ll be fine for 8 or 9 days.  When frozen, I’ve had loaves taste terrific 3 months after I’ve made them.  I always wrap the loaves tightly with plastic wrap and then wrap them a second time before I freeze them.

This article is a companion piece to following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Zucchini Bread

A breakfast strata is just a breakfast casserole with layered ingredients.  It’s best when you assemble it the night before and refrigerate it overnight.  The next morning: pop it in the oven, take a shower, watch a little George Stephanopoulos* and then… wham, bam, thank you ma’am… breakfast is ready.

Think of a simple farmhouse breakfast of sausage, toast and cheesy eggs with onions and peppers.  Now, imagine what it would be like to have all those wonderful flavors mingled together in a single, delicious bite.  That’s a breakfast strata.

This recipe features one of the non-glamorous superstars of breakfast… day-old bread.  You probably already know that day-old bread makes the best French toast.  It’s a little dry so it retains its structure but it’s also thirsty to absorb the egg, milk and other good stuff that make up French toast.  It’s the key to French toast that’s firm but pleasantly moist inside.   The same principal works for a strata.  After we assemble our strata (which includes slices of bread), we drown it in a French toast-like egg and milk mixture.

This dish elicited enthusiastic comments from the people I tested it on.  My Italian friend Pete said, “Dude, this is great. Is it cool if I get some more?”  My wife Kellie said, “Tell me about this.  What’s in here? I’m gonna have another piece.”

Nobody is 100% sure who coined the the phrase “leave ‘em wanting more.” It was likely either Walt Disney or P.T. Barnum.  Whoever it was, let’s just assume they were talking about a good Breakfast Strata.

Let’s assemble a strata…

For the quick and easy, printable recipe, click here.

There’s only 7 ingredients:  French or Italian bread, eggs, milk, sausage, onion, bell pepper and cheese.  For the cheese, I used a Mexican blend of Monterey Jack, Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheeses.  You could use Cheddar, Pepper Jack or almost any cheese or combination of cheeses.

The first step is to fry up a pound of sausage in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Crumble the sausage with a pair of forks as it cooks.  After 5 minutes, add a chopped onion and a chopped bell pepper and cook for about 7 more minutes – stirring often.  You know it’s ready when the vegetables are softened and there’s no pink visible in the sausage.

As the sausage cooks, prep a 7×11-inch backing dish by smearing the inside with softened butter.  Also, cut your day-old bread into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices.  I used an entire loaf of French bread with just 2 slices left over to use for a sandwich later.

Place a layer of bread slices in the prepared baking dish.  As you can see in the picture, I laid down 6 slices of bread and then cut another slice in thirds so my layer of bread took up the whole surface of the dish.  Sprinkle half the sausage mixture over the bread, followed up by 1/3 of the cheese.

Repeat with another layer of bread, the remaining sausage and another 1/3 of the cheese.  Top that with a final layer of bread.  Pour a mixture of beaten eggs and milk over everything.  Top with the remaining cheese.

Place plastic wrap over the baking dish and refrigerate for 2 to 12 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, just remove the plastic wrap and place the strata in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.  Cook for 50 minutes to an hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry.  The strata seen above took 52 minutes.

Let it cool for about 10 minutes and then serve it up.

This strata also made great leftovers.  I refrigerated a couple pieces and had it for breakfast again the following day.  It was just as good (and possibly even better) than the day it came out of the oven.

This post is a companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Basic Sausage Breakfast Strata

If you’re curious about the oranges on the side, stay tuned.  I’ll have a post about that in the next couple of days.

* George Stephanopoulos is the co-anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America.  He is a small man at 5′ 6″.  When I said, “watch a little George Stephanopoulos,” I was referring to watching the morning show for a short period of time, not watching a random little man after you shower. Although, that’s the beauty of this recipe.  You can do whatever you want and breakfast will still be ready and waiting.

These baked donuts have a tasty vanilla and nutmeg base that will remind you of fried cake donuts.  The icing has an authentic caramel flavor, because it is actual authentic homemade caramel (plus a little powdered sugar).  The garnish of salt creates a great contrast with all the sweetness, but also helps emphasize the beauty of the caramel.

I was inspired to develop this recipe by a recent trip to Atlanta, GA.  My sister (aka Sister Breakfast) brought me a selection of donuts from Revolution Donuts of Decatur, GA.  All the donuts I tried were spectacular, but their Salted Caramel creation was the hands-down winner.  I make and eat a lot of donuts, so I was blown away that I had to check their website to confirm that the donut in my hand was baked and not fried.  It was possibly the best baked donut I’ve ever tried.  So I set out to recreate it and I’ve come very close.

The ingredients for the unglazed donut are very similar to those of muffin.  For the exact ingredients and printable recipe, click here.

A baked donut pan is required (although you can use the same recipe to make muffins).  If you don’t have one of these pans I recommend it.  They’re cheap.  If you only use it three times a year, you’ll still be glad you have it.

Like most baked goods, you work the dry and wet ingredients separately to start.  Similar to biscuit recipes, butter is cut into the dry ingredients which produces more of a fluffy cake texture within the donuts.

After the wet ingredients are mixed, they are added to the dry ingredients and gently mixed together.  A piping bag is the best way to fill the donut molds.  Baking time for me was between 12 and 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

As the donuts were baking, I started working on my caramel icing…

Making caramel can be frustrating for first-timers.  The trick is to keep everything moving and not letting your temperature get too high. You start by melting butter and golden brown sugar together over medium-low heat. Once the brown sugar is completely dissolved (no longer appears granular), increase the heat to medium.

Add milk or heavy cream (in the case of this icing milk worked better).  The mixture will soon boil rapidly.  Cut the heat to low and continue cooking and stirring for 5 or 6 minutes.  Let the caramel cool for at least 5 minutes before stirring in the vanilla and powdered sugar which will turn the caramel into an icing.

At some point while making the icing, the donuts had finished baking.  The timing is good because you want your donuts cooled to near room temperature before applying the icing.  Save yourself a headache and transfer the icing to a shallow bowl.  If you try to dip donuts directly into the pan of caramel, you’ll find the pan is too hot to work and you might drop a donut into the icing.  I did.  That’s why I don’t recommend that shortcut.

After you dip the top of each donut into the icing, immediately sprinkle each donut with a flaked or large granule salt.  Table salt doesn’t work nearly as well.

All that’s left now is to eat your creations.  I loved these donuts.  They were super close to the donuts that inspired them from Revolution Donuts.  Close… but I still have to give the better donut award to those guys.  If you’re ever near Decatur, GA, be sure to check them out.  If I surpass them on subsequent recipe tests, I’ll post about here to save you the trip to Georgia.

This post is companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Salted Caramel Baked Donuts

When you want a baked good for breakfast or brunch, you can’t beat a nice coffee cake. They’re easy to prepare and ready within an hour. As they bake, your kitchen smells like a bakery. If you have guests over, someone will always ask, “What smells so good?” If you need a dish to take somewhere, a coffee cake is the perfect, portable, party pastry.

The recipes here are all “quick bread” coffee cakes. That is to say, they don’t use yeast (which takes more time), but are made from scratch using flour as a base and baking powder or baking soda as their leavening agent. (A couple of the recipes call for a store bought-baking mix like Bisquick which is basically flour plus baking powder.)

In a later post, we’ll address yeast-risen coffee cakes and short-cut coffee cakes (those which use dinner rolls, biscuits in a tube or some other time-saving base). But for now, grab a coffee, sit back, relax and get ready to be hungry. I present to you…

33 Favorite Coffee Cake Recipes

1. Strawberry Jam Coffee Cake – You can use any flavor jam that you like. I’ve tried this recipe with both strawberry and raspberry jam and loved the results.

2. Mud Pie Coffee Cake – A very unique coffee cake with a center that’s so soft, moist and tender… it might remind you of bread pudding.

3. Overnight Coffee Cake – A good, solid standard coffee cake with a brown sugar and pecan crumb topping. This one is especially good with… you guessed it… coffee.

4. Blueberry Coffee Cake – The inside is fluffy and loaded to the max with blueberries. The top is surprisingly crisp. This is my personal favorite of the many kinds of blueberry coffee cakes I’ve tried.

5. Apple Coffee Cake – By volume, this coffee cake has more apples than flour which makes it extremely flavorful and moist.

6. Pineapple Coffee Cake – A very easy recipe. Each bite has just the right amount of pineapple. A simple sugar and walnut topping adds flare but keeps the focus on the tropical flavor inside.

7. Starbucks-Style Cinnamon Coffeecake – I experimented with cakes, crumbles and fillings until I came up with a recipe that’s just as good, if not better, than the notable coffee cake from the famous chain.

8. Blueberry Oatmeal Breakfast Cake – An egg-free coffee cake that includes whole wheat flour, oats, applesauce and lots of delicious blueberries.

9. Deluxe Pumpkin Coffee Cake – One of my very favorites on this list. It’s a delectably dense cross between pumpkin pie and cake. A cinnamon pecan topping adds a fun crunch.

10. Cinnamon Flop (Coffee Cake) – This easy-to-make coffee cake features soft fissures and cracks loaded with buttery brown sugar and cinnamon.

11. Butterscotch Coffee Cake – This coffee cake uses butterscotch chips and more butter than I’d like to admit to give it a sweet, indulgent flavor. This one got 20 thumbs-ups from the 10 people I had try it.

12. Blitzkuchen (German Coffee Cake) – A basic coffee cake with a delightful walnut crumble topping. FYI… Kuchen is the German word for “cake” and Blitz is German for “lightning.” Who’s in the mood for Lightning Cake?

13. Crunchy Kuchen (German Coffee Cake) – Like a blitzkuchen (above), but with a crunchy topping thanks to crushed corn flakes.

14. Raspberry Cobbler Coffee Cake – This colorful beauty has fresh red raspberries resting in a light vanilla cake. Top it off with sliced almonds and a drizzle of icing and it looks like you bought it at an expensive bakery.

15. Cherry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake – This dish is from a 1990 Philadelphia Cream Cheese recipe booklet that I found at a thrift store for $1.00. The featured ingredients are cherry pie filling, sliced almonds and, of coarse, Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

16. Cranberry Sauce Coffee Cake – Finally! A proper use for that cranberry sauce that’s always left over from the holidays. Sweet, tangy, tender and delicious!

17. Breakfast Cereal Coffee Cake – Honey Bunches of Oats cereal is part of the batter and also included in the lightly crunchy topping. You can experiment with other cereals to make this coffee cake uniquely your own.

18. Banana Date Coffee Cake – This coffee cake is loaded with flavor from bananas, dates, coconut, walnuts and orange juice. All that good stuff makes this coffee cake a bit more dense than the others on this list.

19. Peanut Butter Coffee Cake – The main flavor of this coffee cake is peanut butter, but occasional bites with chocolate chips will remind you of a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

20. Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffee Cake – This is a vintage recipe from a 1987 magazine advertisement. Pure pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice pack a powerful pumpkin punch in this coffee cake.

21. Carrot Cake Coffee Cake – Have you ever wanted to have your favorite dessert for breakfast? If your favorite dessert is carrot cake, get ready to have a good time! Shredded carrots and pineapple juice are the ingredients of distinction in this recipe.

22. Upside-Down Pineapple Coffee Cake – It’s like a regular pineapple upside-down cake, but you get to eat it for breakfast! In this recipe, pineapple rings are placed in the bottom of the pan with a rich brown sugar topping. When it’s done, you invert the pan and it looks super cool.

23. Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake – If you like real chocolate dripping through your coffee cake with a flaky coconut and nut topping, this recipe from a vintage 1971 recipe card might be just the thing to make your morning.

24. Easy Pineapple Coffee Cake – It’s easy because you can prepare the batter in minutes using crushed pineapple and a store-bought biscuit mix. Step into the coffee cake time machine and take a look at this recipe from a 1964 advertisement for Dole Pineapple.

25. Cranberry-Nut Coffee Cake – Cranberries aren’t just for Christmas. This coffee cake features cranberry sauce and lots of almonds. This is another one that requires a store-bought baking mix like Bisquick.

26. Peach-Nut Coffee Cake – This recipe has the distinction of having the most unusual coffee cake ingredient: baby food! Although when you think about it, peach baby food is just pureed fruit. Easy and convenient. This recipe comes to us all the way from 1954 from an advertisement for a defunct manufacturer of tin cans.

27. Lemon Coffee Cake – This recipe requires lemon curd or lemon pie filling. Raspberries are optional but highly recommended.

28. Oatmeal Coffeecake – This one has the goodness of oats but you don’t really notice any oat flavor. The taste is more reminiscent of German chocolate cake thanks to coconut and chocolate chips.

29. Banana Crunch Coffee Cake – A topping with a good amount of chopped almonds gives this coffee cake a fun crunch, while the cake is soft, moist and loaded with a banana bread kind of flavor.

30. Cinnamon Coffee Cake – This tasty treasure has a ribbon of chopped pecans and brown sugar running through the middle. The filling doubles as the topping for double the fun.

31. Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake – Ribbons of sweet cinnamon run through the middle of this coffee cake. This recipe has received only perfect (5 out of 5) reviews so far.

32. Strawberry Coffee Cake – This coffee cake uses fresh strawberries, but the result is very jam-like. A little coconut in the topping adds another dimension to the overall taste.

33. Vegan Coffee Cake Crumble – You won’t find any butter, milk or eggs in this recipe, but you will find delightful flavor, especially in the brown sugar and cinnamon topping.

For even more coffee cakes and hundreds of other breakfast baked goods, visit the Baked Goods Recipe Collection at MrBreakfast.com.

Save the date… April 7th is National Coffee Cake Day!

We knew it was a hard-sell entering the big pie contest with an entry called “Fig Jam & Spam Breakfast Pie.”

The use of Spam was not a quirky, retro decision.  I’d made several test pies using bacon, ham and even chorizo as the meat in the filling.  But in every instance, the meat inside was overshadowed by our distinctive spicy, candied bacon crumble topping.

Test Pies: Preparing For The Big Day

We’d gone camping the previous weekend and had campfire sandwiches made from the portable meat, so I happened to have an extra can of Spam on hand.  I gave it a shot in a test pie.  It worked.  It provided a flavor that contrasted but still paired with the bacon topping.  It not only worked, but it provided an umami element… a taste you remembered growing up but had almost locked away forever.

For our official entry in the savory category, we made a flaky herbed crust and lined the bottom with onions caramelized with a gorgeous homemade fig jam.  We mixed our quiche base with a combination of Gruyère and Cheddar cheese, to which we added the Spam and seasonings.  Once almost fully baked, we topped the pie with crumbled bacon that had been rubbed with brown sugar, smoked paprika and crushed cumin seeds.

The Pie Contest Begins

As instructed, we made one pie for the judges and one for mass consumption.

It was a real blast serving the pie to the public.  As people read the name of our entry, we were greeted with either huge smiles or looks of complete dismay.  Fig Jam and Spam.  It was a risk.

I was very surprised that a handful of people asked us what Spam was.  When we told them that it was basically processed ham preserved in a can.  They seemed intrigued.

I had no real expectation of winning, but I found myself suddenly hopeful as people who tried our concoction returned to tell us that our pie was the best they tried.  In many instances, they said it quietly as if to say, “… but don’t tell any one that I like Spam.”

Mr Breakfast At The Pie Contest

Things would be so different if Spam was a product of France or Italy.  Why does a preserved meat like prosciutto bring culinary experts to their drooling knees, while a canned American meat product makes them roll their eyes?

A Prosciutto And Gruyère Quiche would have been an easy win. I threw my apron in the ring with a Spam pie.  What was I thinking?  It’s like I sent a lovable donkey to a purebred horse show.

One tent over, a Savory Korean Short Rib pie gleamed in the sun.

What if the Spam pie won?  It would be a victory for the underdog!  All the hoity-toity pies with their expensive ingredients would bow their crusts as the crowd erupted in Rocky-like cheers!

The judges approached the stage.  Host and Radio Food Phenom Evan Kleiman thanked a group of children for making pies, but said they were all winners and wouldn’t be judged, per say.  Lucky for them.  I was starting to feel confident.  My Spam Pie would have destroyed them.

Mrs Breakfast At The Big Pie Contest

Former musician turned professional vegan enthusiast, Moby announced the winners of the vegan category.  He seemed like a high-brow hippy, too good for Spam.

Then it was our turn… the savory category.  Famed Los Angeles Chef Susan Feniger announced the results.  Third place… a summer tomato pie.  Second place… an onion quiche.

And the winner is…

My spirits were low as we walked to judges room to pick up our pie plate.  We were foiled by a Chicken Curry Pie.  It was probably great.  I didn’t try it because it sounded disgusting.  Oh fate, put down your wretched mirror! I see the parallels.

We lost fair and square… or did we…

As we entered the judges room, I saw pie after pie with only a single forkful taken out.  Yards and yards of pie in exactly the same condition.  And then there was our pie, two-thirds gone.  The judges didn’t vote for my pie, but it was the only one they had made a meal out of.

Decimated Spam And Fig Jam Breakfast Pie

Actions speak louder than words.  By devouring my pie, they proclaimed my pie to be the king of all pies!  That was good enough for me!  (However, I still retain the option to file a legal appeal based on this astounding new evidence.)

This article is a companion piece to the following recipe on MrBreakfast.com:

Fig Jam & Spam Breakfast Pie

The pie contest described here took place on September 7, 2013.  It was the 5th Annual Good Food Pie Contest sponsored by KCRW.  It took place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.