Mini Quiche

After making Tomato and Goat Cheese Tarts a few weeks ago, I realized how much I love my little tart pans! I decided to use Tartelette's original recipe for savory breakfast tartelettes. Phillip & I altered the fillings (we just threw in anything that sounded good), I can't even remember exactly what he put in his. They were so good, I wish I had one right now (it doesn't help that I'm sitting in class with my stomach growling). Here is the original recipe from Tartelette, with my changes in italics:

Crust:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
5 tablespoons butter, cold and cut into small slices
5 to 6 tablespoons ice cold water

Mix together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or a fork until the mixture forms pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of water over the flour mixture and toss with fork until moistened. Repeat with the remaining water, one tablespoon at a time and gather the dough into a ball with your hand. Do not handle the dough too long. Wrap into a sheet of plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to relax and make it easier to roll, keeping it from becoming tough. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface, applying pressure from the center to the edges until it is about 12 inches in diameter. Cut out four 5 inch circles onto the dough and press them into the tartlet pans (I used 4 inch pans). Refrigerate while you prepare the filling.

Filling:
6 slices bacon
4 stalks green onion, sliced, white and green parts included
1/2 finely sliced onion
1/3 cup chopped flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cups milk
Pinch of salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 350F.In a medium sauté pan set over medium heat, cook the bacon slices until crispy brown. Drain them on a paper towel. Crumble them and set aside. Wipe the pan of the bacon dripping with a paper towel and place it back over medium heat and cook the both types of onion for a couple of minutes, just to take the raw edge off. Divide the bacon, onion and parsley evenly among the tartlets and place them on a baking sheet.In a bowl whisk together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until combined and slowly pour the mixture over the tartlets. Divide the cheese evenly in between the tarts and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Individual sizes bake faster than a whole pie so keep an eye on them after 20 minutes. Let cool before unmolding and serving.

Adapted from: Tartelette

Easy Sticky Buns

Barefoot bloggers time again! This time, the recipe was chosen by Melissa of Made by Melissa, and it is a keeper! This recipe will stay in my file of easy, decadent breakfasts. I can actually keep all of the ingredients on hand at all times, and whip these up in less than a half hour from start to finish. The original recipe called for a little more butter and raisins, but I did a little altering to suit our tastes (Phillip isn't a big raisin fan, and we're still trying to watch our waistlines). I'm going to take these into school in the morning (I've been getting some complaints about my lack of food sharing recently), but I snuck one before bed, and they were scrumptious!

Ingredients

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 package (17.3 ounces/2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Filling:

2/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place a 12-cup standard muffin tin on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the 1 stick of butter and 1/3 cup brown sugar. Evenly distribute the mixture into each of the 12 muffin cups. Distribute the pecans evenly among the 12 muffin cups on top of the butter and sugar mixture.

Lightly flour a wooden board or stone surface. Unfold one sheet of puff pastry with the folds going left to right. Brush the whole sheet with half of the melted butter. Leaving a 1-inch border on the puff pastry, sprinkle each sheet with 1/3 cup of the brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, and 1/4 cup of the pecans. Starting with the end nearest you, roll the pastry up snugly like a jelly roll around the filling, finishing the roll with the seam side down.Trim the ends of the roll about 1/2 inch and discard. Slice the roll in 6 equal pieces, each about 1 1/2 inches wide. Place each piece, spiral side up, in 6 of the muffin cups. Repeat with the second sheet of puff pastry to make 12 sticky buns.

Bake for 17 minutes, until the sticky buns are golden to dark brown on top and firm to the touch. Allow to cool for 5 minutes only, invert the buns onto the parchment paper (ease the filling and pecans out onto the buns with a spoon), and cool completely.

Adapted from: Ina Garten, Back to Basics, page 240

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes

Another Barefoot Bloggers post! This one's a little late, because we just got back from a 10 day trip to Mexico. This weeks post was chosen by Karen from Something Sweet by Karen, and it was a perfect quick dinner for Phillip & I tonight. Breakfast for dinner, don't you love it?! These pancakes were of the thick and soft variety, which is different than my normal thinner, crispy hotcakes. Phillip loved how the bananas caramelized on the bottom of the pancakes. Next time I make them, I might add some walnuts in for a little crunch, yum!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 cup sour cream
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
2 extra-large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Unsalted butter
2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
Pure maple syrup

Directions

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned.

Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more butter to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas, butter and maple syrup.

Source: Ina Garten, Food Network