Gluten Free Tropical Sunrise Buckwheat Cereal

I’m the kind of person that needs sunshine as soon as I wake up to even begin to feel awake by noon. This time of year, I sometimes feel like I have to manufacture a little sunshine. We’re going to forget about the grey winter scene outside for a little while with this super-quick, satisfying breakfast made with Hodgson Mill Gluten-Free Buckwheat Cereal with Milled Flaxseed and loads of sunny tropical fruits.

Buckwheat cereal on its own tastes lightly nutty and pleasantly earthy—everything you love about buckwheat pancakes, but in a smooth hot cereal made up of tender buckwheat groats. (Word of the day – “groat” is hulled grain broken into fragments larger than grits.)

The tropical explosion comes from using coconut milk as a base for the cereal and by mixing in creamy mashed banana as the sweetener. Chunks of tart-sweet pineapple create an unexpected but perfect contrast to the light, smooth buckwheat cereal. And get this — this recipe is not only gluten-free, it’s vegan. Gasp! You don’t have to be hardcore on either of those fronts to enjoy it, though.

Mini Whole Wheat Banana Pancake Muffins

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Christmas may be over, but my kids are still on break from school, so that means all eyes are on me for breakfast.  I’m afraid that plain bowls of cold cereal just don’t cut it after the great meals we’ve been having lately.  So, to keep things simple (I needed a little break from the holiday baking frenzy) yet satisfy the desire for something warm and comforting for breakfast, I made these Mini Whole Wheat Banana Pancake Muffins.  They’re called pancake muffins because they get served with maple syrup for dipping.  Novel idea, right?  It’s like having permission to eat pancakes with your fingers.  My kids thought these muffins were delicious and fun to eat and I loved that the ingredients, other than brown bananas which I tend to have a lot of during the winter, are pretty much pantry staples.

Caramel Apple Cinnamon Rolls

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

We make a LOT of cinnamon rolls during the winter months and especially over the holidays.  We give them as gifts to our friends and enjoy eating them ourselves on the weekend as a special treat.   There’s something about having a freshly baked cinnamon roll for breakfast that can make the coldest morning feel warmer and more promising.  Mom’s Famous Cinnamon Rolls are a staple, but this weekend I had some apples that I needed to use up, so I took our beloved rolls a step further.

The dough starts off in the usual way with lots of butter, sugar and cinnamon (these are cinnamon rolls after all) and then incorporates some extra ingredients like lemon zest, nutmeg, buttermilk and Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Flour. Then sliced apples are slowly caramelized in more butter, sugar and cinnamon and are wrapped into the dough with even more cinnamon and sugar.  Mouth watering yet?  To take these rolls over the top, they’re frosted with a creamy, salted-caramel glaze that will make you weak in the knees after one taste.   Altogether, these cinnamon rolls are reminiscent of caramel apples in a warm, gooey cinnamon roll form.  Withering apples never tasted so good!

9 Grain Bread Mix Parmesan Twists

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Hodgson Mill 9 Grain Bread Mix is a best seller for good reason – it tastes terrific and it’s filled with beneficial whole grains- nine to be exact.  This mix makes baking homemade bread worthwhile and easy.  Everything you need is in the box – even the yeast – and everything is all natural, so you get to bake from scratch without the fuss.  My family especially loves to have a slice of this bread toasted with butter and blackberry jam for breakfast.  Because of the whole grains, like wheat, oats, millet and flax, it’s better for us and more filling than a bowl of cold cereal.

Cherry-Chocolate Whole Wheat Bread from a Mix

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Homemade bread is such a good thing. It tastes so much better than store-bought bread. You get to control the ingredients, it makes your house smell wonderful as it bakes and it’s so very satisfying to slice, toast and eat knowing you made it yourself. When it comes down to it, you probably have everything you need to make your own bread —flour, sugar, water, eggs, salt, yeast. What’s missing from these ingredients? Time.We are all busy, busy, busy — work, school, activities, meetings, sports — you name it and it’s probably on the calendar. Thank goodness for the invention of the bread machine.

I can say without a doubt that I would not be able to make many, if any, yeast baked goods without my bread machine. When I first got mine, I let it do all of the work – from mixing the ingredients all the way to baking the bread. It opened my eyes to a whole other side of home baking. It also made me wonder about what else I could make using it. Out came treats like Mom’s Famous Cinnamon Rolls, Pizza Bites, Whole Wheat Bread with Dark Chocolate Chunks and Toasted Pecans, Cranberry Braid and English Muffin Bread as well as many, many other recipes you’ll find on our blog. My bread machine, the Breadman Ultimate, did all of the time-consuming work like mixing, kneading and rising the dough and I got to do the fun part of rolling, shaping and baking the bread in my oven. If you love to bake and are ready to venture into the world of yeast, I definitely recommend buying a bread machine. The possibilities are endless.

Gluten Free Apple Butter Pancakes

Remember how I said I had a produce problem? The madness continues – it is well and truly apple season! The days are getting cooler, there are frostings of color on the treetops here, and there are little sunset-colored globes bursting with flavor in the fruit section and the farmers market. Love, love, love! Fall is amazing. And filling.

I was having fun with Hodgson Mill Gluten Free Pancake & Waffle Mix—the basic pancakes are lovely on their own, but I wanted to see if I could pack some fall flavor that I’ve been craving into the finished product. I’ve found I could easily interchange regular wheat-flour pancakes with this gluten-free mix. And then I can invite friends who don’t eat gluten to brunch. 

Crock Pot Apple Pie Steel Cut Oats

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Although the weather still feels like summertime outside, the apple trees have started ripening, so – you guessed it – we went apple picking.

It’s our family tradition to drive out to a near-by apple orchard and pick as many red apples; Jonathan’s being our favorite variety, as we can carry home.  You will recall I made a wonderful yeast bread, Apple Walnut Country Bread, with some of our bounty last year.

Plum Orange Anise Breakfast Cake with Multigrain Cereal

This is a real, true-blue breakfast cake – I woke up especially early this week to bake it to fit it into my crazy schedule. (I am not a morning person, so those who know me know that this was quite an event.) But knowing this cake was downstairs waiting for me got me out of bed this morning, for sure.

What’s a breakfast cake, you might say? Well, it has to go well with a cup of coffee – which this one does. Beyond that, though, it’s a tricky balancing act between being just wholesome enough to be ok for breakfast, and just sweet enough to be considered a cake.

Gourmet Savory Hot Cereal with Bacon, Spinach, and Parmesan

This is my new go-to meal when I get home after a long day, tired and hungry. Five ingredients. Ten minutes. Rich, crispy strips of bacon with silky spinach quickly sautéed in olive oil, over a creamy, nutty ‘risotto’ of Hodgson Mill Oat Bran Cereal, sprinkled over with grated parmesan, a pinch of sea salt, and a grind of black pepper. It’s is an incredibly speedy way to a meal that’s delicious and satisfying without being too heavy.

The beauty of oats is that a little salt one way or a little sugar the other is the tipping point for dinner vs. breakfast/dessert. Remember when we talked about how convenient it is to make a big pot of steel cut oats for the week, and using different toppings to keep your meals exciting? It got me to thinking about other, more savory ways you can dress up a hot cereal, and this is the first dinner-worthy combo I’ve found that’s good enough to tell the world about . (Using bacon feels a bit like cheating–what isn’t delicious with bacon? But it’s just so tasty with the oats.)  And if you aren’t a fan of sweets for breakfast, it makes a fantastic start to the day, too.

I find I personally like the texture of oat bran cereal the best when I use half whole milk and half water. Feel free to experiment one way or the other; it works to make it with water, and it works to make it with all milk; I do think it is helped by a little bit of fat. If you agree, but all you have is water, you could always add a little knob of butter or a glug of olive oil.

Whole Wheat Monkey Bread

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Monkey bread – I’m not sure where the name comes from, but it sure is tasty!  I’ve known about Monkey bread for a long time – mostly from friends who make it with a can of biscuit dough, but being a “from scratch” type of girl, I never made it.  Once you’re from scratch – it’s hard to go back.  I also knew there had to be a way to make the gooey, cinnamon roll-like bread, healthier – in comes Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Flour to the rescue!  I made the dough for this bread with a full cup of whole wheat flour as well as some Hodgson Mill All Natural All Purpose Flour to round things out.   Don’t worry – butter and sugar are still a part of this monkey bread.  My kids have even asked when we’re making it again, so the homemade, whole grain version passed the little people test in my house.  That’s reason enough to give this recipe a try.  Who needs a can of biscuits?  Not us – let’s get baking!