Long Overdue Breakfast Baking Challenge!

In honor of these slightly ridiculous but much appreciated snow days I figured I would go ahead and get caught up on my last baking challenge! What's also nice about this last challenge is that I had some extra help in the kitchen by my cousin, who has moved back in to live with my family and I for a while and is also a natural when it comes to baking!

My challenge was to make a breakfast food...and it took me a long time to figure out what to make! But as I was browsing some options on Pinterest I came across of picture of Beignets, which are kind of like a deep fried donut, French style...and yay recipe! These also remind me of Princess and the Frog, which I just really love! Now, they traditionally considered a dessert food...but really, I think I would eat these for breakfast too!

The recipe was very simple, I followed this New Orleans Beignet Recipe  from Souther Living which had step by step PICTURES which is always much appreciated because I am a very visual learner. The only slight mishap we had was that the flour was somewhat more sticky than expected, but after a while we just started balling up dough in whatever shape we could get. Fried dough is just that, regardless of what form its in ;) They traditionally are eaten right after being fried, so I made my parents sit at the table and stuff their faces as we made them. Here are some pictures of our adventures...and a special extra one in honor of "snow day 2014".

My special helper, Jenn! She helped me make the batter while I was at work, which was way helpful!

My interpretation of a snowman. #idon'tknowhowtoreallymakeone

Deconstructed Apple Pie a la Mode

As you know, I love to bake.

I also love pie.

Chocolate pie. Blackberry pie. Cold blueberry pie. Peach pie. Chocolate Rum Pecan Pie. Peanut butter pie.
I think you get the picture.

I found some recipes for fried hand pies- apple, pecan and otherwise that I may try later.

To satisfy my craving I concocted this recipe:

I cook apples with butter, sugar and cinnamon until they are tender. I usually make enough apples for two servings.

 

I crumble either a graham cracker, cookie or brown sugar cinnamon Poptart to give me the crust feeling. I've considered crushing them fine, dousing in butter and making a legit cracker crust but it seemed like too much effort at the time.

I layer the apples on top of the "crust".

 

Top with plain yogurt while the apples are still hot. This makes for a gooey  melted ice cream effect.

 

For an extra kick, I sprinkle either cocoa powder or cinnamon or a combination of the two on top.

There is sugar in this treat but you can control how much to your liking. You can also omit the crust altogether, or chose the lighter alternative.  Overall, I'd say it's still a fairly healthy treat, especially compared with the real deal holy field apple pie.