Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Eggnog Muffins

 These moist, yet fluffy Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Eggnog Muffins are chock full of tart cranberries, white chocolate chips, and just the right amount of eggnog flavor. They are the perfect addition to that holiday breakfast table!

I find that people usually have pretty strong opinions when it comes to eggnog- they either love it or they hate it. There rarely seems to be a middle ground when it comes to this popular holiday flavor. 

I think that maybe I do fall into that all too rare middle ground here. I wouldn't say I love it, but I also definitely don't hate it.

I mean on the one hand, I do like the flavor. But I can't go for the traditional stuff with the raw eggs and rum and all that. I also don't prefer to go all dairy since my lactose intolerance isn't too cool with that option. 

The flavor of eggnog also happens to bring back a little holiday nostalgia for me. When I was a kid, we used to go to my grandparents' house every Christmas Eve for dinner and my grandma always set out a punch bowl of eggnog (non-alcoholic, of course). 

Before I was aware of my slight lactose intolerance or that such a thing even existed, I used to ladle myself cups of it to drink all evening until I almost sick to my stomach. Oops.

But I do like the occasional glass of soy or coconut milk eggnog with a little splash of whiskey while I am wrapping gifts or baking cookies during the holiday season. I also love the flavor of eggnog in holiday baked goodies like these Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Eggnog Muffins I am sharing with you all today...

Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread

This homemade Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread is chock full of toasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate chunks. But the best part of this banana bread just might be the swirl of chocolate hazelnut spread baked right into each slice...

I know the first official day of fall is just right around the corner, and that probably means I should be sharing something pumpkin spice or apple... but you know what? It's 2020, so anything goes! ;) 

So instead of diving head first into all of those fall flavors, I am going to go all chocolate and hazelnut on you all first.

I mean, is it even possible to go wrong with that flavor combo no matter which season of the year that it happens to be at the moment anyways? 

This homemade banana bread is chock full of toasted hazelnuts and dark chocolate chunks. And don't even get me started on that swirl of chocolate hazel spread (aka, Nutella) baked right into each and every slice.

A slice of this Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread pairs perfectly with that morning cup of coffee, a cold glass of milk in the afternoon, or while sipping on your favorite whiskey in the evening....

Easy Bacon & Egg Cups

These Easy Bacon & Egg Cups are perfectly poppable & portable making them great for a weekend brunch spread or for a quick & hearty breakfast on the go...

Okay, so I totally teased you all with this recipe on my Instagram last Wednesday, and for that I do sincerely apologize, folks. It wasn't entirely fair to make you all wait five days on the how-to for these Easy Bacon & Egg Cups, but us bloggers do have this little thing called an editorial calendar that sometimes gets in the way of allowing us to share new recipes with you all sooner. 

But don't fret! The long wait is finally over, my friends. ;) And as I promised my followers on Instagram last week, this easy breakfast recipe was definitely worth the wait. 

You literally need only THREE ingredients to make these Easy Bacon & Egg Cups! (Well five, if you count the salt & pepper and fresh parsley.) These little cups of breakfast goodness are perfectly poppable and portable, making them great for a weekend brunch spread or for a quick & hearty breakfast on the go... :)

Peanut Butter Chai Banana Baked Oatmeal

This easy to make Peanut Butter Chai Banana Baked Oatmeal with it's hearty oats, bananas, & chia seeds is the perfect grab & go breakfast for busy mornings...

When it comes to breakfast for myself and my family, I like making sure that we start our day with something healthy & filling that can take us right on through to lunch. And since we all have different start times to our days (my teenage son being up and at 'em well before the rest of us), I need breakfast recipes that will be easy to grab and ready to go no matter if we are eating breakfast at 6am or 9am. That is why I just love baked oatmeal! :) I can bake up a batch on a Sunday night, cut it into generous squares, and then slip each one into it's own ziploc baggie. Those hearty oatmeal squares become the perfect grab and go breakfast throughout the rest of the week. 

I have made different versions of baked oatmeal before (you all may remember my Almond Joy Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal & my Double Berry Banana Bread Baked Oatmeal), but this moist & satisfying Peanut Butter Chai Banana Baked Oatmeal just may be our favorite one yet. Not only is this baked oatmeal packed with lots of the good stuff (think bananas, whole oats, chia seeds), but you just can't beat the flavor combo of creamy peanut butter with chai spices. Before baking up a pan of this family-pleasing baked oatmeal, be sure to click on over to get my recipe for DIY Chai Spice Mix and whip up a batch. It is perfect to use in this baked oatmeal recipe, and to have on hand to mix into oatmeal, sprinkle over toast, or stir into your hot chocolate or favorite hot tea... 

Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola

Studded with sweet dried strawberries & mini chocolate chips, this easy to make Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola only tastes like a decadent treat... 

I am a BIG fan of the chocolate and fruit combos for Valentine's Day (or any day really ;) ). Cherries with chocolate? YES! Strawberries and chocolate? Heck yeah! 

Chocolate covered strawberries are just synonymous with Valentine's Day, am I right? So I decided to take a cue from this popular sweet treat for this time of year and transform it into a tasty & healthy granola perfect for pouring milk over, serving over top of your favorite yogurt, or for putting into pretty glass jars for easy gift giving. 

Typically I bake my homemade granola, but for this Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola I broke out my trusty cast iron skillet. I have been wanting to try and make a skillet granola for a while now. 

The cook time for a skillet toasted granola is about 1/3 of the usual baking time for granola. And the results? Whoa! I was not disappointed in the slightest with this skillet granola. :)

Studded with sweet dried strawberries & mini chocolate chips, this easy to make Chocolate Strawberry Skillet Granola only tastes like a decadent treat... 

Grands! Snowmen Cinnamon Rolls

Transform your favorite refrigerated cinnamon rolls into fun and easy to make edible snowmen with these Grands! Snowmen Cinnamon Rolls...

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by General Mills through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Pillsbury™ Grands! Cinnamon Rolls, all opinions are my own.

For years, Pillsbury™ Grands! Cinnamon Rolls has been a go-to of ours for lazy weekend mornings, snow days from school, and holiday breakfasts. They are so simple to make (the kiddos often help), they get on the breakfast table quick, and my entire family loves them. They have become a family breakfast tradition, and often-times they are the quickest way to get my late riser of a son out of bed earlier on the weekend. ;)

Typically I don't mess too much with a good thing, but we do like to change things up just a little here & there. My youngest (who is now 4 years old) loves to "help" her mama in the kitchen. 

So on one Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, I thought why not turn our favorite Pillsbury™ Grands! Cinnamon Rolls into some fun Grands! Snowmen Cinnamon Rolls that Little Miss could help me decorate once they were done baking? 

The results were not only delicious, but they also totally left my daughter tickled pink! :) She was so proud to present our very well decorated snowmen shaped cinnamon rolls to her sleepy head daddy and brother...

Potato Biscuits & Bacon Gravy Poutine

Moist & fluffy potato biscuits are topped with cheese curds, a homemade bacon gravy, and crispy bacon in this Potato Biscuits & Bacon Gravy Poutine...

If you happen to love poutine as much as I do, then I have good news for you, folks- I just took my poutine recipe game to the breakfast table! ;) As some of you may recall, I have been kind of obsessed with this traditional Canadian dish (& it's many variations) since I attended the Food & Wine conference last July. We were spoiled by this amazing and HUGE poutine bar for lunch one day of the conference, and I have been hooked ever since. Unfortunately, cheese curds are kind of hard to come by where I live. We have very few dairy farms here in West Virginia, and cheese curds are usually an artisanal product of local dairies. But then the other week as I was browsing the cheese selection at my local grocery store, I spotted them- Wisconsin cheese curds! Granted, there was only one kind made by a single brand, but to say I was ecstatic to finally have my hands on some cheese curds without having to drive hours for them (ahem... Ohio) would be an understatement. 

And I found them just in time too because Sunday Supper and the Food & Wine Conference had just announced their first recipe contest for 2016- a poutine recipe contest sponsored by the Idaho® Potato Commission. This hearty & comforting Potato Biscuits & Bacon Gravy Poutine recipe is my entry, folks... :)

Tropical Paradise Granola Clusters

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Sunsweet Growers for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Need a mini escape to the tropics now? You can't go wrong with these crunchy Tropical Paradise Granola Clusters infused with sweet tropical flavors... 

It has been in the single digits & teens around here this week, and these cold, frigid January temps have me daydreaming of a tropical paradise escape. I mean, it has been so cold that it literally makes my face hurt. And to quote that popular meme, "Why am I living where the air hurts my face?" It could be worse... I could be living in Fargo, or in Buffalo bracing for lake effect snow, or even the Arctic, right? ;) So, I will just bundle up, bake up some tropical paradise inspired granola clusters, and dream that I am enjoying a big bowl of these while swinging in a hammock on a white sand beach.

These Tropical Paradise Granola Clusters are so simple & easy to make with a little help from the new Sunsweet Philippine Tropicals flavors- Philippine Green Mango & Thai Coconut Chip. And for good measure, I added in some of their dried Philippine Pineapple to the mix. ;) Sunsweet does want to help you Find Your Paradise with an amazing sweepstakes to win a tropical paradise getaway (more on that at the end of this post.) But if you happen to be stuck in the bitter cold of winter (like me) and need a mini escape to the tropics now, you can't go wrong with these crunchy granola clusters infused with sweet tropical flavors...

Frothy "Almond Joy" Hot Chocolate

Inspired by a candy bar favorite, this rich & decadent Frothy "Almond Joy" Hot Chocolate is the perfect addition to a cozy weekend brunch...

Thank you to Blendtec for sponsoring this recipe post. The recipe and opinions in this post are 100% mine.

If you ask me, cold winter weekends were just made for warm, cozy brunches at home. I mean, who wants to bundle up, get everyone in the car, and brave the freezing temps for breakfast out at your favorite brunch spot? And you have no reason to when you can stay at home with a huge stack of homemade waffles, your family's favorite toppings, and mugs of this warm & rich Frothy "Almond Joy" Hot Chocolate.

I do have to confess that I have always been more of a packets of hot cocoa mix kind of gal. I mean, it is easy, peasy, right? You dump the packet into a mug, pour in hot water or milk, stir, & done. 

But while the instant stuff is great in a pinch (or when you are feeling lazy), cozy weekend brunches at home with the family call for something a little more decadent. I do save the good stuff- like this Frothy "Almond Joy" Hot Chocolate- for more special occasions... or sometimes just because. ;) And you know what? Making hot chocolate from scratch really doesn't take that many more steps than making the packet stuff, and it happens to be 10 times better. Trust me on this...

Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake

A thick buttermilk pancake is studded with juicy pears, sweet apples, and jewels of pomegranate seeds & baked to a golden brown in your cast iron skillet in this Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake...

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Want to know the quickest way to make pancakes that will feed the whole family? Bake up a delicious puff pancake in your trusty cast iron skillet! :) 

While I love making stacks of homemade pancakes for my family, let me be honest for a second- it gets a little time-consuming standing there flipping pancakes. 

Christmas morning is just one of those mornings when you do not want to be stuck in the kitchen any longer than you have to, am I right? 

I mean, there are presents to open, and warm mugs of coffee and cocoa to be sipping on, and everyone knows that A Christmas Story is playing ALL day on TBS. Who wants to miss Ralphie modeling his pink nightmare bunny PJ's because you are standing over a hot griddle? ;)

This Apple-Pear Pomegranate Puff Pancake is my lazy Christmas morning solution for you all. You just bake up one giant pancake, cut it into slices, and voila! 

Christmas morning breakfast is ready, and everyone gets to eat at the same time. I must admit that this was my first time making a puff pancake, and now I want to kick myself for waiting so darn long to give it a go.

A giant buttermilk pancake studded with juicy pears, sweet apples, and jewels of pomegranate seeds- how could you possibly go wrong with this on Christmas morning? :)

Pumpkin Pecan French Toast for One

Transform a couple of pieces of leftover bread or rolls into this quick and easy Pumpkin Pecan French Toast for One...

Before we jump head first into the land of all things peppermint, gingerbread, and eggnog flavored, I have one last pumpkin recipe to share with you all for the fall season. (I swear, this is the last one!) 

And this one is perfect if you happen to have a couple of leftover rolls or some bread from that Thanksgiving dinner. ;) It is a super quick and easy to make Pumpkin Pecan French Toast for One! 

Maybe you had a lot of guests over for that big dinner. Maybe you need a little quiet time to yourself after the hustle & bustle of those Black Friday sales. Maybe you need to get up just a bit earlier than everyone else this holiday weekend to carve out a little time for yourself because that is the only me time that you are going to get until Monday. 

But regardless of why you are looking to get a little alone time one morning this weekend, this french toast in a mug should definitely join you. In less than 8 minutes, you can be enjoying this moist pumpkin french toast with crunchy pecans. Drizzle a little maple syrup over top, and it's heaven, my friends...

Chocolate Pumpkin Walnut Biscotti

These Chocolate Pumpkin Walnut Biscotti are perfect for dunking in a warm cup of coffee on a chilly fall morning...

Okay, friends... so, I had fully planned to share this recipe with you all last Thursday. And then blogger funk set in. Blogger funk as in... I don't feel like writing. I don't feel like doing social media. I don't feel like doing much of anything blog related. 

Blogger funk (or burnout as someone like to refer to it) happens to just about every blogger that I know every now and again. I decided that it was best not to force it (because nothing good ever comes from that), and then made the decision that this post would go up on Saturday morning. 

I rarely post on the weekends, but I thought who wouldn't want to be looking at these delicious homemade biscotti while sipping on their Saturday morning cup of coffee? 

And then Thursday happened... On Thursday, the food blogging community that I am a part of took a huge blow. And I needed a few days to take it all in and recover.

A blogger that I considered a mentor, an inspiration, and a wonderful friend slipped away suddenly leaving us all reeling and in utter shock. There is a good chance that many of you all may already be familiar with Joan of Chocolate, Chocolate, and More and all of her amazing sweet treats & dessert recipes. 

I would encourage you all to visit her blog often as the holidays approach and use it over and over again as a dessert resource for all those get-togethers, family gatherings, holiday dinners & parties. 

Help us keep her legacy to her three children- her blog- alive and thriving. And be looking for a very special post from me on Wednesday (aka, National Chocolate Day) dedicated to my good friend Joan and everything chocolate.

Honestly, I am not going to talk too much about these Chocolate Pumpkin Walnut Biscotti in today's post. But I do have a feeling that Joan, being the chocolate lover that she was, is approvingly giving me a thumbs up from above because I just totally made it okay for you all to have some chocolate for breakfast this week... ;)

Raspberry-Orange Chia Seed Scuffins

Muffins meet scones in these bright, moist, and healthy Raspberry-Orange Chia Seed Scuffins- the perfect way to start out your day...

I had never heard or seen the term scuffins before until I had stumbled upon a recipe for Strawberry Cream Scuffins from Better Homes & Gardens. Yes folks, a scuffin is just what it sounds like- a scone + a muffin = a scuffin. Sometimes I am just blown away by the creativity and cleverness I discover and find every day in the online culinary world! :) While I was definitely intrigued by BHG's concept for a scuffin, the recipe for their Strawberry Cream ones were far from being categorized as healthy. ;) Not that there is anything wrong with that, but since swimsuit season is literally knocking on the door for me (our local pool opens this weekend & I will be on a beach in about a month) I wanted to come up with my own healthier version of their scuffins.

I lightened up and brightened up their more pastry like scuffins with these Raspberry-Orange Chia Seed Scuffins. I replaced the heavy cream with almond milk & Greek yogurt, gave it a fresh, bright flavor with fresh orange and raspberries, and threw in some nutrient-packed chia seeds just for added assurance. ;) And instead of a super sugary icing for this, I used my vanilla yogurt glaze on these moist & dense scuffins...

Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins

These creamy & moist Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins combine two bright spring flavors- sweet strawberries and tart lemon...

It feels like spring has finally arrived here in my little corner of West Virginia! This whole week has been filled with warmer temperatures, lots of sunshine, and a few spring showers. Last weekend? It felt a little more like January.... 

My son had his first big track meet of the season last Friday and Saturday, and it was in the 20's and 30's the entire time. My daughter, mother, and I shuffled between watching my son run in his events, and then heading to the parking lot to sit in a warm car. I lamented in my head (and aloud) about just why spring had disappeared so suddenly.

But luckily, spring made her presence known again this week (and hopefully she is sticking around for good now!) this past week, and I am in the mood to celebrate in the way that I best know how to- with bright, fresh spring flavors! :) These creamy and moist Strawberry Lemon Cream Cheese Muffins with their fresh sweet strawberry slices and bright lemon zest and juice are the perfect way to celebrate a sunny spring morning...

Cinnamon-Sugar English Muffin Casserole

This simple & delicious Cinnamon-Sugar English Muffin Casserole can be made the night before making it the perfect breakfast for a busy weekday morning or a laid back weekend brunch...

Post updated 9/4/19- This crowd-pleasing Cinnamon-Sugar English Muffin Casserole deserved some updated photos. I did leave one of the originals down below just so you all can see for yourself why this recipe so desperately needed a little face lift. ;)

I have to admit that the creation of this recipe came about because of a package of English muffins that somehow got pushed to the back of our bread box and then was buried by a couple of loaves of bread. 

About 5 or 6 days later as I was finishing up one of the loaves of bread making sandwiches for lunch, I spotted that package of English muffins stuffed back there in the corner. 

I let out an immediate sigh, grabbed the package, and started to head to the trash can with them. I mean, they weren't bad but they were definitely far from being fresh at this point. 

As I started to push the door of the trash can open, a light bulb went off...

What do I do with day old loaves of French or Italian bread??

I make french toast casseroles! So, why couldn't I do the same with less than fresh English muffins? I figure it couldn't hurt to give it a go, and the results were absolutely delicious, folks! :)