Tag: Cinnamon

Sweet Treats

Recipe—Peach Crisp

Diva di Cucina
Peach Crisp

Okay, so I am on a total peach kick here. Hopefully you didn’t miss the recipe I posted last week for Peach Margaritas. I am still recovering from those! 

Now, in my opinion, the peach is the epitome of summer fruit. I just love that this time of year when I walk into the produce section or I’m at the farmers market, I get hit with a wall of the sweet sweet smell of stone fruit. Peaches, apricots, nectarines! Yum! There is just something about that sweet fleshy fruit that is so good anyway you have them.

Now when it comes to baking with peaches, I am all about a homecooked peach crisp, not a cobbler. When cooked, peaches get super soft so I like that sweet oatmeal baked to a nice crisp on top with a little bit of cinnamon. This is such a simple recipe, and you just can’t beat it hot out of the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. Trust me, you will want to too!

Note: As much as I love using fresh peaches in my crisp, I want to be able to have peach crisp year round and you can really only get good quality peaches during the summer. So, with that said, I give you permission to substitute canned or frozen peaches in this recipe. If you want to use canned, make sure to completely drain them and if you use frozen, add 10 minutes to the cooking time. 

PEACH FILLING INGREDIENTS
6–8 peaches, sliced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp cornstarch

CRISP INGREDIENTS
1/2 c old fashioned oats
1 c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c butter, softened

STEPS

  • Preheat oven to 350º.
  • In a large bowl combine all the filling ingredients and gently fold making sure not to pulverize the peaches.
  • Transferthe fruit mixture to the bottom of a greased 13” x 9” baking dish and evenly spread out. 
  • In that same bowl, mix together the oats, flour, and cinnamon.
  • Add the softened butter to the oat mix and using your hands, or a large electric mixer with a paddle, combine everything until it is all evenly mixed and nice and crumbly. 
  • Distribute the oatmeal topping over the top of your fruit. (It is okay if it is all rough and crumbly. Do not push or pat it down.)
  • Bake uncovered for 30–35 minutes. 
  • Remove from oven and allow it to cool for 10 minutes. 
  • Serve in bowls topped with vanilla ice cream or whip cream.
Brunch

Recipe—French Toast Casserole

Diva di Cucina

French Toast Casserole

Christmas morning can sometimes be a bit chaotic with hustle and bustle of gift giving, cleaning up of all the shreds of paper and ribbon, and then sometimes the mad dash to clean the house before relatives arrive for round two of Christmas. At least that’s how it is in our home. However, on Christmas morning I always want to sit down and have a nice breakfast with my crew, I just don’t always have the time to make a big Christmas worthy breakfast. However, I do have the time to throw a casserole in the oven. So here you have French Toast Casserole to save the morning!

Several years back I posted a recipe for Blueberry French Toast Casserole. Not to toot my own horn, but toot toot! It’s amazing if you haven’t given it a try. What I love about french toast casserole is you can prep the dish the day before, throw it in the oven in the morning, and boom! Just like that you have a hot and delicious breakfast with almost no work. This recipe has all that delicious cinnamon goodness baked into a sweet bread pudding with a crispy streusel topping. It is so tasty!

So if you are looking for a quick and easy breakfast that you can make in advance, then this is the recipe for you.

French Toast Casserole

INGREDIENTS
12 slices sourdough bread (or a sourdough loaf), cut into 1” cubes
10 eggs
2 c milk
1/2 c heavy cream
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 c sugar
1 c brown sugar, divided
1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c cold butter, cut into small pieces

STEPS

  • Cut the loaf of sourdough into cubes and distribute them in a greased 9” x 13” pan.
  • In a large bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, and vanilla.
  • Whisk in a 1/2 cup of the brown sugar and all the granulated sugar to the egg mixture
  • Pour the egg mixture over the bread.
  • Using your fingers or the back of a spatula gently press all of the bread pieces down into the egg mixture.
  • Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the fridge 8 hours or overnight.
  • For the streusel topping, in a medium bowl, mix together the other 1/2 cup of brown sugar, flour, cinnamon.
  • Add the cut-up butter to the topping mix and using a large fork or pastry cutter mix it all together until it is a nice crumbly consistency.
  • Store the streusel in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until ready to bake.
  • When ready to bake, remove the casserole dish and streusel from the fridge and allow it to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 350º.
  • Sprinkle the streusel topping over the french toast.
  • Cover the dish back up with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
  • Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is a nice golden brown and the egg mixture is set, about an additional 15–20.
  • Remove from oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes.
  • Cut and serve with a pat of butter and some warm syrup.
Snacks, Sweet Treats

Recipe—Churro Chex Mix

Diva di Cucina

Churro Snack Mix

Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner and I have the perfect and fun sweet treat for you! This is a festive twist on the original Chex Muddy Buddies. The first time I made this was for a Cinco de Mayo party my son was attending and we were put on dessert duty. I instantly thought of churros but that was going to be way too much work for 20+ kids.

Churro Snack Mix

While nothing can replace the deliciousness of a freshly fried churro this snack mix certainly helps to satisfy that craving. The cereal maintains a nice crunchiness and then you have this delicious and creamy coating and a nice dusting of sugar and cinnamon. I will warn you though, it can be highly addictive! Perfect for your snacking pleasure.

Churro Snack Mix

INGREDIENTS
9 c corn Chex
1 (10 oz) bag Hershey’s cinnamon chips
1/2 c butter
1 c powdered sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 c sugar

STEPS

  • Place the Chex cereal in large mixing bowl.
  • In a Ziploc bag, combine the powdered sugar and cinnamon.
  • In a microwave safe bowl, heat the cinnamon chips and butter at 50% power for one minute and stir.
  • Continue to heat at 50% power in 30 second intervals stirring in between each, until the mixture is all melted and smooth.
  • Drizzle the melted cinnamon chip mixture over the cereal and stir to coat.
  • Add the powdered sugar mixture and stir to coat.
  • Lastly, stir in the sugar until all the cereal is well coated.
  • Cover a large baking sheet or cutting board with wax paper and spread out all the coated cereal to cool.

 

Adapted from Sunny Days with My Loves.

Dinners

Recipe—Honey Spice Glazed Pork Chops

Diva di Cucina

There is just something ultra tasty about a nice cut of tender pork in a savory sweet sauce. This recipe is so incredibly quick and easy that it is the perfect dinner on a work night and yet still classy enough for a dinner party. All the spices give the sauce a nice little pop. This dinner is perfect for everyone in the family. Even the pickiest of eaters will love the sweet flavor of the sauce. My three year old ate almost an entire pork chop. This sauce is also great with a ham steak or chicken breast, heck it would be good on a piece of leather! Try this honey glazed pork chop tonight, the whole family will be begging for more.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 c honey
4 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 tbsp olive oil
4 boneless thick cut pork chops (or 6–8 think cut)
salt and pepper

STEPS
Note: If using thin cut pork chops, cooking time will need to be adjusted since they will cook much quicker.

  • In a bowl mix together the honey, mustard, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
  • Season the pork chops with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add the pork chops and cook for 3 minutes per side.
  • Pour the honey mustard sauce over the pork chops and cook for an additional 10–12 minutes or until cooked through flipping the chops halfway through.
  • Transfer the pork chops to a plate and spoon the sauce over the chops.