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Breakfast/Brunch

Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Sweet Cream + Lemon Brioche-style Danishes
(Süße Quarkbrötchen) aka Heidi’s Cheese Buns

This post has a story, and the story is about my mum. You see, we as a family (translation: my mum) have been making these “Cheese Buns” for forever. In fact, back in the day, we has a stand at the Orono (Maine) Town Festival and boy, were these danishes popular. So what are “Cheese Buns”? They are actually what would be called Süße Quarkbrötchen in German: brioche-style sweet, soft buns, with a creamy, lemony filling. In Germany, there is a type of fresh cheese called Quark. Quark is like yogurt, but not, like cream cheese but not. You can find Quark in the U.S. but it is pretty hard to find (check the deli case), so the closest thing you might find in the US, that I have found at least, is “farmer’s cheese” (also available in the deli case, by the artisan cheeses). My mum used to actually make it herself. In this recipe, I use cream cheese mixed with quark, but you can also use a bit of sour cream. Any which way, they are a “family recipe” and one of my favorite childhood things. There are raisins — I know, I know, highly controversial in baked goods — but they are optional so omit them if you are anti-raisin. 🙂
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Breads, Breakfast/Brunch

Müsli Sourdough Breakfast Bread

Continuing my sourdough adventures…. I had to give Alice some refreshment, and I really hate to through away perfectly good starter, I decided to make another style of breakfast bread (I already make a terrific Cranberry Walnut Bread!): Müsli Sourdough Breakfast Bread. Toasted Granola and the ever-controversial raisins are the mix-ins this time with some sweet, dark avocado blossom honey. It’s still a little dense, but incredibly moist and phenomenal flavor. I can definitely see this one going into the rotation of breakfast breads.
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Appetizers/Starters, Breakfast/Brunch, Lunch, Sides

Potato Leek and Cheddar Pasties

Hand pies, pasties, whatever you want to call them are a great alternative to making a sandwich when you’re headed out on a mini-picnic (in March!), so I made these Potato Leek and Cheddar ones before heading out. Bacon would have been a lovely addition but I didn’t have any in the fridge. So yummy. So easy too — just remember to take the puff pastry out of the fridge the night before. And I am off on my mini-adventure!
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Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Dinner, Lunch, Savory Snacks, Sides

Bacon Cheddar Chive Biscuits

While we’re wrapping up “Bread Week” here at CSPS, here is another bread-like recipe — Bacon Cheddar Chive Biscuits. OMG are these good. Absolutely phenomenal. I think the the trick to making them so flaky is to freeze the butter ahead of grating and then adding to the dough. It’s a little crumbly when you go to roll it out, but trust me, it will work. These are, hands down, the best biscuits that I have ever had. Here they are pictures as my breakfast,but they would also go great with soup or salad or as a dinner roll. Trust me, you’ll want to make them. Besides: Bacon. Cheddar. What could go wrong there!
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Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Go Banana, Mr. Foster (Bananas Foster Banana Bread)

Banana Bread returns. The quintessential baked good of the pandemic — or maybe second to sourdough. The question actually is: is banana *bread* actually a bread? Why is it not a cake?

And why the name “Go Bananas, Mr. Foster!”? Well, Bananas Foster, the dessert, often made “table side” at restaurants (how 1970s), is lots of butter, lots of sugar — which when mixed together make a caramel-like sauce — rum to flambe and bananas, served with ice cream, is pretty much wrapped up in this banana bread. Well, minus the ice cream and I didn’t set the banana bread on fire. Also, if you ever went to a University of Maine sporting event, you will know that the black bear mascot is named Bananas the Bear. There is a little jingle/cheer that goes “Go! Bananas! Go-go Bananas!” So I have had that stuck in my head for days, so I combined Bananas Foster and Bananas the Bear. Go-go Bananas!
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