French Toast Rollups

I seem to have breakfast on the brain lately.  Have you seen my Pinterest account?  I think half of the recipes I pinned this week were for breakfasts!  Not to mention, I did post a breakfast recipe the other day.  Have you checked out my Biscuit Waffles yet?  They take just 10 minutes to make and they're so good!  Go ahead and check them out, I'll wait...

Okay, back to today's recipe.  I saw this idea when I was browsing my assigned blog for last month's Secret Recipe Club.  I didn't have time to make it before the posting date, but I knew I would have to soon!

The original recipe brought back memories of breakfasts when I was in Romania.  I remember waking up in the morning to the smell of fresh crepes baking.  When I came out of my room, the table was filled with homemade crepes and a jar of Nutella spread (or the Romanian equivalent) and fresh fruit.  We smeared Nutella on the crepes and rolled them up to eat.  I loved the breakfast so much, I think my hostess made it for me a couple times a week!

This recipe combines the idea of Nutella on crepes along with French Toast.  Really, how can you go wrong with that combination?  I decided to mix it up a little bit and do some of these with Nutella, others with Peanut Butter, and still others with homemade strawberry freezer jam.  I had a really difficult time choosing a favorite, but the sweetness of the Nutella really made those rolls stand out to me!

French Toast Rollups

Makes 12 (approximately 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla

12 sandwich bread slices

Nutella, Peanut Butter, and/or Jam

4 tablespoons butter, divided

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1.  In a shallow bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla.  Set aside.

2.  If desired, remove the crusts from the bread.  (I was lazy and left mine on.)  Using a rolling pin, flatten the bread.

3.  Spread Nutella (or your choice of filling) onto bread slices and roll up, pinching the seam to seal.

4.  Place 2 Tablespoons of butter into a skillet or frying pan and melt over medium heat.

5.  Dip the bread rolls in the egg mixture and place them in the frying pan.  I worked in batches of 6.

6.  Cook the rollups until golden brown, rolling them around as need to ensure even cooking (about 4 minutes total).

7.  Melt remaining butter and cook remaining rollups.

8.  Dust the rollups with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Source: Diethood

Nutella Bites

It's that time again!

Today is the Secret Recipe Club reveal date for my group.  This month, I was assigned to Diethood.  At first, I was a little disappointed, thinking I had been assigned to a "diet" blog, and that's certainly not something on my mind right now!  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Katerina's tag line "Not a diet-food food blog".  Whew!

I just have to say, why have I not seen this blog before?  The recipes Katerina publishes are amazing, and I had so many mouthwatering recipes to choose from. 

I had quite a list of recipes I was hoping to make, but there were two that topped the list.  I wasn't able to make my first choice, due to time constraints (my parent's basement flooded and I helped clean it up). However, I'm really happy that I chose to make these Nutella Bites.

First of all, I love Nutella.  Second, aren't these little bites adorable?  Who can resist?  I know I couldn't, and neither could my friends!  There are about 3 left on my counter, but I'm going to go eat them now...

Nutella Bites

Makes approximately 30 bites

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Nutella
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
powdered sugar

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the Nutella, eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla.

2.  Whisk in the flour until smooth.

3.  Scoop batter into the wells of a greased mini muffin tin, filling 2/3 of the way full. (I used a Tablespoon measuring spoon to scoop the batter and found about 3/4 of a Tablespoon to be the perfect amount.)

4.  Bake at 350 for 13-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a bite comes out clean.

5.  Allow bites to cool before removing from the pan and sprinkling with powdered sugar.

Source: Diethood

Nutella Banana Bread

After a summer of unusually hot temperatures, the cooler temperatures we've had for the past couple days have been a welcome sign of fall!  I was up north this past weekend and spent most of the day in long pants and a sweatshirt...fall is coming!  I'm so ready for the colors of the leaves, fall decorations (I made a new fall wreath last night), hot apple cider and donuts, and apples.  Plus, the cooler temperatures mean I don't feel so bad about turning on the oven and spending a day baking!

I always have bananas in the house and the summer the temperatures were so warm that our bananas often turned black before we were able to eat them.  That means that I have a bag full of bananas in my freezer waiting to be baked into something delicious.  I enjoy making banana bread and I love the addition of the Nutella swirl in this bread.  It adds a delicious sweetness to the bread and has moved this bread to one of my favorite banana bread recipes.

Nutella Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf, about 16 slices

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups mashed bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
3/4 cup Nutella

1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

2.  In a separate bowl, combine butter and sugar and beat until fluffy.

3.  Add eggs in one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4.  Add bananas, vanilla, and milk and mix well.

5.  Pour in the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.

6.  Spoon the Nutella into a small bowl and microwave for 20 seconds to soften it.

7.  Add 1 cup of the banana bread batter to the Nutella and mix well.

8.  Pour half the banana bread batter into a greased bread pan.  Pour Nutella mixture over batter and top with remaining banana bread batter.  Swirl batters together with a knife .

9.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean.

Cool completely before cutting and serving.

Strawberry & Nutella Grilled Cheese

I told you that Mike and I are on vacation and I'd leave you a hint in a post this week...did you get the hint from Wednesday's post?  Yes, we are in Hawaii!  We are on vacation with Mike's family and enjoying a great time away from the busyness of our lives.  Since I'm sure you guessed where we are, I'll reward you with a delicious dessert-type Grilled Cheese.  Who says you can't have dessert for dinner...or breakfast...?  Remember, life is short, eat dessert first!

Strawberry and Nutella Grilled Cheese

Serves 1 (easily adapted to serve more)

2 slices of bread
margarine or butter
2 Tablespoons Nutella
2 Tablespoons Neufchatel cheese, softened
6 strawberries, sliced flat

1.  Butter each piece of bread on one side.

2.  Spread Nutella on the unbuttered side of one slice of bread.

3.  Spread Neufchatel on the unbutter side of the other slice of bread.

4.  Place sliced strawberries on top of the Nutella and top with the other slice of bread, butter side out.

5.  Place sandwich, butter side down, on a hot griddle.

6. When the bottom slice of bread is browned, carefully flip the sandwich and cook until the other side is browned.

7. Cut the sandwich in half before serving.

Source: Chocolate, Chocolate and More

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

One of my favorite flavor combinations is peanut butter and Nutella.  I often spread the two on a tortilla and roll it around a banana for a quick lunch.  I also enjoy peanut butter and Nutella on graham crackers.  One day I got to thinking about making peanut butter and Nutella cookies.  I took two of my favorite cookie recipes and smashed them together--quite literally!  The result was a delicious cookie that quickly became a family favorite!

I was unsure of how to write out this recipe, since it's really 2 recipes.  If it is unclear, or you have any questions, please let me know so I can make adjustments!

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies

For the peanut butter cookies you will need:
1/4 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1.  Cream the butter, peanut butter, sugar, and brown sugar together in a mixing bowl.

2.  Beat the egg and vanilla into the mixture.

3.  Add the flour, baking soda, and baking powder to the wet mixture and stir until well combined.

Set aside while you make the Nutella cookies.

For the Nutella cookies you will need:
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup Nutella
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Cream margarine, sugar, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

2. Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and vanilla.

4. Add the Nutella and mix well.

5. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until dough is smooth.

6. Fold in chocolate chips.

To assemble the Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies:

1.  Roll peanut butter cookie dough into 1 inch balls and set aside.

2.  Roll Nutella cookies into 1 inch balls and set aside.

3.  Press 1 Nutella cookie ball on top of 1 Peanut Butter cookie ball and flatten slightly.  *You will want to be sure the peanut butter cookie goes on the bottom as it is more dense and will not spread like the Nutella cookie might.

4.  Place cookie on a greased cookie sheet.  Repeat with remaining cookie dough.

5.  Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookie Source: Tina Reale
Nutella Cookie Source:  Culinary Concoctions by Peabody
Peanut Butter Nutella Cookie idea:  My original

Nutella Cookies--Mouthwatering Monday

Nutella Cookies--Mouthwatering Monday


Rachel over at A Southern Fairytale hosts Mouthwatering Mondays each week. It's a great way to find new recipes and new recipe blogs. Check it out, I think you'd like it!
If I had to choose 1 thing to eat for breakfast for a whole month, I would choose toast with Nutella. If you ask me, nothing can beat the warm melty chocolate on a piece of crisp toast. I think I'll go make some right now...

When I saw this recipe for Nutella cookies, I knew I had to make them! Sea salt is one of the popular crazes now in the cooking world, and I thought these cookies would be good with some sea salt sprinkled on top. I was right--the salt really brought out the flavor of the cookies. I made some without the salt too, and they were delicious as well. If you're one of the people who just isn't sure about salt and chocolate, give it a try...please? :)


You will need:

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup Nutella
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
sea salt, for sprinkling

1. Cream margarine, sugar, and brown sugar in a mixing bowl.

2. Beat for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add the egg and vanilla.

4. Add the Nutella and mix well.

5. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until dough is smooth.

6. Fold in chocolate chips.

7. Use a small ice cream scoop (or a teaspoon) to form the dough into balls and place on greased cookie sheet.

8. Bake at 350 for 6-7 minutes.

9. Sprinkle tops of cookies with sea salt after cookies have cooled for about 3 minutes.


Recipe Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody