Hot Cross Buns Cream Cheese Braid

(Photo by Kevin Good)

It’s spring! Hello flowers! Hello sunshine! Hello fickle spring breezes! And hello Easter brunch. I’m not too excited about Easter hats and frills and ribbons and bonnets, but the brunch — yes please. As a baker and cook, I’ve always found it fun to see what kinds of foods different people bring to a gathering—you could just about play “match-the-guest-to-the-dish.” (I love self-expression through baking.)

Speaking of holidays and get-togethers, we also have some very exciting news– did you hear? We have a winner for the Hodgson Mill “Have A Grain Holiday” baking contest! Barbara at Barbarabakes.com wowed us with a beautiful and delicious Citrus Cranberry Cream Cheese Danish Braid that earned her first place in our food blogger contest. That’s the link to her winning entry along with detailed directions on how she made it all come together.

Multigrain Sweet Potato Date Muffins

I pretty much gave up on store-bought muffins a long time ago. It only took one or two disappointments to make me avoid them; maybe it was the “bran” muffin that was timid and cakey, overly sweet, and obviously dyed with brown food coloring; maybe it was the even “cakier” sugar-encrusted blueberry muffin with only 3 blueberries in it. Those are breakfast cupcakes, people. If I wanted cake, I would order cake. When I order a muffin, I expect something I can really sink my teeth into. Something that will stay with me a good part of the morning, not give me a sugar crash by 10 a.m.

These muffins, on the other hand, combine the earthy sweetness of roasted sweet potatoes, the light caramel chewiness of dates, and the hearty goodness of oats, wheat bran, flaxseed, soy, wheat germ and cracked whole wheat in Hodgson Mill Multigrain Cereal. No simpering breakfast cupcakes here; these have a firm, springy texture that makes you take your time and savor each bite, and just enough sweetness to go great with a cup of coffee. I love the body and texture Multigrain Cereal brings to baked goods—if you like these, you might also want to try my Multigrain Pumpkin Pancakes.

Hodgson Mill Easy Crunchy Cinnamon Wheat Germ Granola

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Hooray!  Spring is here and I couldn’t be happier!  I love the daffodils flowering all around my yard, the warm sun and winter-coat-free weather.  I love the bluebirds that have come back to my birdfeeder and the cherry and magnolia trees bursting into bloom.  I also love the return of plump, red strawberries and raspberries to the produce section of the supermarket and I love being able to make my favorite summer breakfast again – I am a foodie after all.

English Muffin Bread with Quick Homemade Strawberry Preserves

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

My family likes to have variety for breakfast during the week.  Most of the time I just switch the type of cereal I serve, but I also throw in things like healthy breakfast cookies and toast with jam to change things up.  This English muffin bread is one of our favorites.  If you are a fan of the circular English muffins that come from the grocery store, you will love this bread even more.  It has all of the same English muffin taste wrapped up into simple, good-for-you, whole wheat yeast bread.  One of the best parts about this bread is that it only needs to rise once, so it takes half the time to make than a traditional yeast bread recipe.  It also makes two loaves – a total bonus in my book.  You can choose to eat one loaf right away and freeze the other for another time, or like in my house, the day after the first loaf is devoured.   The strawberry preserves we like to eat with this bread is ridiculously easy to make.  I’ll warn you though, once you taste fresh, homemade strawberry preserves you will have a really hard time going back to store-bought jam.  I take full responsibility for raising the bar in that department.

Whole Wheat Bread with Dark Chocolate Chunks and Toasted Pecans

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Nope this is not a dessert.  This was my breakfast this morning; a lightly toasted slice of whole wheat bread with dark chocolate chunks and toasted pecans with a smear of whipped cream cheese and fresh raspberries on top.   I ate it all – every last whole wheat crumb.   It was delicious and guilt-free since it’s made with Hodgson Mill White Whole Wheat Flour as well as dark chocolate and pecans- all three falling into the “good for you” category.   It was definitely better for me and even tastier than the doughnut that leaped into my mouth the other morning.  

This bread is great spread with just about anything, although the whipped cream cheese and raspberries are my favorite.   I’ve topped it with peanut butter, strawberry jam, sliced bananas – sometimes all three at the same time.   I don’t think you can go wrong with what you put on this bread.   And because it’s made with protein-packed Hodgson Mill White Whole Wheat, one slice is sufficiently filling and keeps me satisfied until lunch. 

Baked Apple Peanut Butter Oat Custard

I know what you’re thinking—“Whoa, whoa, whoa, TWO steel cut oat recipes in one month?” Well . . . what can I say? I tried this recipe, and I just had to share a whole new favorite breakfast for a cold January morning. I’m in a delicious, delicious rut.

Sweet baked apples with cinnamon and maple syrup, a hint of rich, salty peanut butter, and tender nutty-tasting Hodgson Mill Steel Cut Oats suspended in just enough creamy custard—this might be the most perfect breakfast known to man.  Best of all, it makes about 6-8 servings, and leftovers heat up marvelously in the microwave, or wrapped in foil and heated gently in the oven. I could see myself making this recipe for a breakfast buffet, since it’s much easier to serve than regular oatmeal, and more forgiving if it’s cooled a bit.

Mom’s Famous Cinnamon Rolls

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

January begins with New Year’s resolutions and good intentions, but by mid-January it’s about comfort –namely comfort foods.  It’s cold outside.  The weather is gray and dreary and all we want to do is stay inside in our pajamas and cozy up on the couch with a good book or movie.  Life says we have places to go and things to do during the week, but the weekends are our own.  So at my house, to warm up our kitchen, bodies and souls, we make sweet, gooey, smells-so-good-you-can-hardly-wait-to-have-one, cinnamon rolls.  Eat one of these and your January morning will feel much more bearable — and you can even stay in your pajamas. 

Rise and Shine Tropical Multigrain Muffins

I had the best muffin a few weeks ago– a lifesaving muffin. I was on a road trip, driving through Michigan, and having a really hard time finding quick road food that was not covered in cheese, or deep-fried, or both. I stopped at a little diner and the sign at the front advertised “Rise and Shine Bran Muffins” packed with pineapple chunks, apples and raisins, and it was like someone turned on the sun in the middle of the night. Night and day, muffin, you are the one . . . .

Steel Cut Oats: Make Once – Eat All Week (Three Topping Ideas Included)

Post by: Erin – Hodgson Mill Blogger

I think by now the excesses of the holidays are firmly behind us, and resolutions– like health and fitness and saving money–stretch ahead.  I’d like to suggest one proverbial stone for these two birds—and that is Hodgson Mill Steel Cut Oats. They’re incredibly healthy and filling, full of protein and fiber– I definitely notice that the days I start with whole grains like steel cut oatmeal, I can hold out better ‘til lunch. It’s also cheap to prepare; plus you can make enough in one go to last for the week, (like I’m about to describe) and using different toppings helps keep it interesting. Voilà–cook once, and you’ve got hot breakfast for the week.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Waffles with Blueberry-maple Sauce

Post by: Holly – Hodgson Mill Blogger

Weekends mean a homemade, hot-off-the-griddle breakfast is on the menu. If we can’t squeeze it into our busy mornings, we have it for dinner instead. Breakfast foods are some of my favorite things to eat – especially the ones that have something to do with cinnamon, sugar and maple syrup. Serving a hot breakfast on Saturday or Sunday totally makes up for the weekday assortment of cold cereal hastily eaten before flying out the door to catch that ever-so-early school bus.