Breakfast Pockets

Brian starts school pretty early in the mornings and needs a good breakfast to get him through a rigorous day of medical school. I usually try to get up and make him a good, hot breakfast but some mornings, especially after a long night with the kids, I just can't muster the energy to get up and make him something. That's where these breakfast pockets come in. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them for a quick microwave breakfast in the mornings. I'm not the biggest fan of sausage so I was a little wary of these, but they actually turned out really good. The dough was super easy to make. I'm not a dough person; Brian bought me a bread maker for Christmas so I wouldn't have to deal with bread dough. But this dough was really yummy and was no problem at all for me to whip up. 

I would give these little guys 4 stars, and that's a big rating for me to give a breakfast item not containing syrup. Although these might taste really good if I dip them in a bit of syrup, I might have to try that! I ate mine with ketchup and it was great. These pockets could also be altered to contain any filling you could want. I might try using bacon next time instead of sausage. Yes, there will definitely be a next time.

Breakfast Pockets

Source: Budget Gourmet Mom

Ingredients:

Dough:
1 1/2 tblsp yeast
1/2 c warm water (110 degrees)
3/4 c evaporated milk (110 degrees)
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 c flour

Filling:
1 lb bulk sausage
1/2 c onion, chopped
1 1/2 c frozen hashbrown potatoes, thawed
7 large eggs
3 tblsp milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic salt
pinch of cayenne pepper
2 c cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions:

Dough:In a bowl, dissolve yeast in the water.


Add milk, oil, sugar, egg, salt, and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth.


Add enough flour until it makes a soft dough but do not knead. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Filling:
Cook the sausage and onion over medium heat until browned. Drain. Add the hashbrowns, eggs, milk, and spices. Cook and stir until set. Sprinkle with cheese and keep warm.

Assembling the pockets:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Punch down the dough and cut into 16 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into 7 in circle on a floured surface. Top with 1/3 c filling, fold, and pinch shut. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
To freeze:
Allow to cool on the baking sheet. Once cooled, place in the freezer until frozen. Store in a ziploc bag in the freezer for 3-6 months. To reheat, place on a paper towel and microwave for 1 1/2-2 minutes.

Baked French Toast

I'm going to reluctantly give this one 3 stars. The reluctance is because this is from The Pioneer Woman and her recipes are always fantastic. I don't want to give her a bad review but I made this for breakfast on Christmas morning and was a little let down. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I would rather just have regular French Toast. The amount of bread to topping ratio just wasn't enough. If I were to make this again I would probably half everything in the recipe except the topping. On the plus side it was a really quick and easy recipe and I was able to prepare it the night before so we had a no mess Christmas morning breakfast. After all the present opening and cleaning up wrapping paper boxes that was a nice treat.

Baked French Toast
Source: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients:
1 loaf sourdough bread (I used Pepperidge Farm, 1.5 pound loaf)
8 eggs
2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1/2 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces

Grease a 9x13 pan with butter.  Tear bread into bite-size chunks and place evenly in the pan.


Mix together the eggs, milk, cream, sugar, and vanilla.  Pour evenly over bread.  Cover tightly and store in the fridge for several hours (I put mine in overnight....it was about 12 hours).


In a medium bowl mix together the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender until it all looks nice and crumbly (like small pebbles, according to P-Dub).  Place in a ziploc bag and put in fridge.


When ready to bake, take pan and bag out of fridge.  Remove wrap and evenly sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees (or 45 minutes if you like it more soft and pudding-like).