Happy Pi day everyone! For me, I like to view the holiday as Pi(e) day. As there will be many pies baked in honor of today, I thought I would add a couple to the mix. However, instead of doing a sweet pie, I decided to go savory. One is perfect for breakfast, the other perfect for lunch, a snack, or cocktail hour, and to top it off – they are mini! It might be a psychological thing, but I think mini things taste better somehow. Maybe it’s because you get everything in one bite.
The first is my breakfast ham and egg mini pie. Yes it’s kind of like a mini quiche, but today, it’s a mini breakfast pie. Super quick to throw together, with no pre-cooking required.
Next is a spin on a spinach pie mixed with a spanikopita. This little bite really hits the spot, and it’s a healthier pie because… KALE!! These will also be a good party snack for St. Patrick’s Day.
Look at how little 6 cups of kale cooks down to!
I also used store-bought pie crust dough as a shortcut. By all means make your own pie dough, but today was not one of those days for me. I used a circular cutter that was larger than the mini muffin tins so there would be enough for the sides. Or you can cut out the dough with a sharp knife.
Remember to poke holes in the bottom of your pie dough with a fork!
I used some extra pie dough and these cute little cookie cutters I got from my parents (thanks!) to cut out little shapes to put on the kale/feta pies. Continue reading
Tag Archives: breakfast
Brown Butter Banana Bread
It’s a known fact that holiday season = baking season. While your oven works overtime baking all types of cookies, bars and sweet treats, don’t forget about some trusty standbys. This banana bread is one of them. Of course it is a little dolled up with the brown butter, so it can totally be invited to the party with the gingerbread.
You can leave out the walnuts if you want, but I like having the crunch in the soft, moist bread. You can also add chocolate chips. I did both walnuts and chocolate chips in my second batch and oh man, it was crazy good. Definitely more on the sweet/dessert side, but I totally had some for breakfast too. Chocolate for breakfast is totally a thing in my book.
Above is after the batter is just mixed (don’t over-mix!) and the walnuts are mixed with the remaining flour. This is a little trick to help additions like nuts or chocolate chips not sink to the bottom of the bread while baking, but stay speckled throughout.
This bread is easy to throw together and makes your kitchen and house smell AMAZING as it bakes. Even if you aren’t a big banana bread fan, bake it anyway and give it as a gift so you can a) get the smell all up in your house, and b) the person you gift this to will love you forever.
This recipe only makes one loaf, but you can easily double the recipe to make two loafs. Continue reading
Pumpkin Cranberry Scones
Once the leaves start to turn colors and the temperature starts to drop, the first thing that seems to pop up is not halloween costumes, but pumpkin spice EVERYTHING. Walking down the aisles of the grocery store, I’m pretty sure 1/4 of everything there is pumpkin spiced. Cookies, pasta sauce, coffee/tea, cream cheese, pancake batter, even mochi ice cream (you can find this at Trader Joe’s).
I won’t lie, I do love pumpkin flavored things… to an extent. I don’t need everything pumpkin flavored, but there is something comforting about a nice pumpkin bread or muffins. So recently I made some pumpkin chocolate chip bread (one loaf flew all the way to the West Coast) that left me with some leftover pumpkin puree. I couldn’t let it go to waste, so I made some pumpkin scones. These turned out a little cake-ier, more like a mix between a scone and a muffin top. Not that there is anything wrong with that – just wanted to let you know.
Using a pastry cutter to cut in the butter into the dry flour mixture. If you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can use two knives, a fork, or your fingers. If you use your fingers, work quickly so the butter doesn’t warm up too much.
Dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and orange zest.
An ice cream scooper works perfectly for making similar sized scones.
Perfect warm or room temp! Continue reading
two coast kitchen 