Welcome to Happylifeblogspot! A food blog with drool worthy recipes
Crescent Roll Breakfast Casserole is my go to recipe when I need breakfast on the table in a jiffy! This delicious egg and sausage bake will make the whole crowd happy. And it’s so easy to pull off that it’ll make you happy too. The […]
Rise and shine! Our mouth-watering Cast Iron Breakfast Skillet is a great way to start the day. I’m talking a good old fashioned down home country breakfast with a whole lotta substance. Right from the start I knew this hearty skillet would quickly become a […]
Bananas Foster French Toast Bake combines three of my favorite things from New Orleans, brunch, booze and dessert! Mardi Gras season is here and it’s leaving me with some major NOLA daydreams. We spent 5 days in the Big Easy last Spring and like any first time visitor I quickly fell in love with the city, it’s culture, and of course the cuisine. This mouth watering creation transforms the iconic, NOLA born dessert, Bananas Foster, into an indulgent, sticky sweet breakfast bake. You can find similar versions on the brunch menu at Stanley or Surrey’s and now in your own kitchen. The flavors will exceed all of your expectations. But what I love most about this recipe is that it’s make ahead and insanely easy. Serve it up on Fat Tuesday or a Mardi Gras inspired brunch…and don’t forget the beads!
Here’s all you’ll need: butter, brown sugar, heavy whipping cream, cinnamon, allspice, pecans, bananas, challah bread, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, and rum extract.
Place the butter in a microwave safe dish. Heat in the microwave in 30 second intervals until the butter is melted. Add the brown sugar, cream, cinnamon, allspice and pecans. Stir to combine. If you’re looking to lighten up this dish, you can most definitely substitute half and half for the heavy cream. The recipe as it’s written is a totally splurge-worthy but absolutely worth it!
Next cut the bananas into 1/4-inch slices. Fresh bananas work best in this recipe since it sits overnight in the refrigerator. The fresher the better. Save those overripe nanners for our Best Ever Frosted Banana Bars!
Add the banana slices to the brown sugar mixture and gently toss to coat.
This casserole is fun to make because it’s assembled upside down style. Spray a 13X9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Pour the banana mixture into the casserole dish. Top with bread slices. You can cut the bread to fit if necessary. Challah bread is ideal for Bananas Foster French Toast Bake because it’s a little spongy, a bit crusty, and infused with a slight sweetness. It comes in a braided loaf which makes it feel a little bit fancy and special too. If you can’t get your hands on a good challah, a great substitute is Texas Toast or French bread.
Place the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and rum extracts in a blender and process until blended. Of course if you want to get physical you can whisk this up by hand as well. Pour the egg mixture over the bread slices. Cover the casserole with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
When you’re ready to bake pre heat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove the casserole dish from the fridge while the oven heats. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes. When ready to serve, run a knife around the edges of the casserole and invert the dish on a cutting board or serving platter. Slice into six pieces and enjoy! Bananas Foster French Toast Bake is perfect for me as is but if you need a little something for dipping try a caramel syrup or rum sauce.
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I’m taking a different approach to winter this year. Instead of dreading it, I’m going to celebrate it. And I’ll start by making this gorgeous Snowflake Bread! This spectacular star shaped bread looks tricky but I think you ALL can handle it. It’s basically a […]
Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins are a fun spinoff on a classic breakfast staple. These simple homemade muffins can’t be beat! The cinnamon-sugary streusel topping is an absolute must!! It totally makes this recipe by adding the perfect amount of sweetness. These delicious homemade muffins are […]
Nothing screams Saturday morning louder than a big ole stack of pancakes! These light and fluffy pancakes are a weekend staple in our house. The ingredients consist of a few classic pantry items so I ALWAYS have them on hand, which means I can whip them up at a moment’s notice. Now I know there are plenty of you out there who are box mix addicts (and that’s ok, I’m not judging). I’m telling you this recipe is so foolproof and comes together so quickly, it’ll have you ditching the pre made batter. Or at the very least it will become your go to recipe in a pinch! Everyone needs a good pancake recipe in their arsenal. These pancakes are highly adaptable too. Stir in blueberries or chocolate chips, add cinnamon or nutmeg, switch out the vanilla for almond or rum extract. Go ahead! Get crazy!! Whatever you do, don’t forget the syrup. I mean, c’mon, that’s what pancakes were really intended to be…..the perfect little vessel to mop up loads of sugary sweet syrup, right?!?
Here’s all you”l need: flour, sugar, baking powder, kosher salt, milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, so that’s your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Warm the milk in the microwave for one minute. Add the warm milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla extract to a smaller separate bowl.
Whisk until well combined. Pro tip: The warm milk and the melted butter will help the ingredients to combine more easily and you won’t have clumps of butter throughout. You can even go one step further and say it out loud to the closest person around. Say it with confidence and they will totally think you know what you’re talking about! Professional pancake maker right here!! I think I’m going to make that my official title.
Form a well in the middle of the flour mixture. Pour the milk mixture into the well of the flour mixture.
Using a fork, stir until just combined. Little clumps are ok, but you don’t want to see any big clumps of flour. I like to use a fork as opposed to a whisk because it helps to not over-mix the batter. Told you….pan….cake…….pro!!! Pretty soon you will be too!
Lightly brush a large skillet with butter and heat over medium heat. I feel like this picture is SO incriminating!! Metal utensils are a big NO for these pans and I would drop the hammer on my hubby if I caught him doing this. Brainstorming my list of excuses right now for when he reads this blog post!
Pour pancake batter into the pan 1/4 cup at a time. Cook over medium heat. Once the edges are firm and the tops start to form bubbles that pop, it’s time to flip! Typically this will take eh, about two minutes per side. Catch ya on the flip side!
Flip it and cook for another 1-2 minutes on the other side. You want the middle to be cooked and the pancakes to be lightly browned. Be sure to add more butter to the pan as needed (in between pancakes). Serve warm with butter and syrup and your favorite pancake toppings. I love strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream!!
Four out of five nieces and nephew’s agree this is the BEST (and most requested) breakfast at Aunt Lisa’s House. And the fifth one isn’t old enough to eat pancakes yet! Don’t worry Peyton you’ll get to try them soon enough!! Looking for something more portable? Try our Maple Glazed Mini Pancake Bites!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
How awesome is bacon?!? No really. Think about it for a minute. You can pretty much add it ANY dish and it instantly makes the meal even better. Everybody loves eating bacon, but not everybody loves cooking it. Preparing it in a stovetop skillet can […]
Have you ever gone to the grocery store and just couldn’t avoid buying something that wasn’t on your list??? Raise your hand! We’ve all been there! That’s what happened with these strawberries. I just couldn’t pass them up! So then I started to brainstorm what to make with […]
YESSSSS!!!!!!! Look at all of that drippy cream cheese frosting! OMG! This is one of those recipes that I almost shouldn’t have. They are SO good! I definitely should NOT be able to make these whenever I feel like it. And you know what’s even worse?!? They are AMAZING on the reheat! Like seriously…..3 days later…pop one in the microwave…..and it’s still delish! They usually don’t make it that long in our house because they are my Hubby’s absolute favorite. One time I tried to give one away to our neighbor and I swear my husband almost tackled me. He made it clear that we are allowed to share cookies, brownies, cakes, whatever….but we are NOT allowed to share cinnamon rolls. Ever. So the best I can do is share the recipe with all of you. You’ll have to make them for yourself. So without further ado, here it is!! The holy grail of cinnamon bun recipes (my hubby ate 3 already tonight).
Here’s what you’ll need: milk, eggs, margarine, flour, salt, white sugar, yeast, brown sugar, cinnamon, cream cheese, confectioners sugar, and vanilla.
Place milk, eggs, margarine, flour, salt, white sugar, and yeast in the pan of a bread machine. Select the dough cycle and press start.
**Never fear! For those of you without a bread machine, here are the manpower instructions. Dissolve the yeast in warm milk in a large bowl. Mix in the sugar, margarine, salt, and eggs. Add flour and mix well. Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour. Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Next on a floured surface roll dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle.
Evenly spread 1/3 cup melted butter over dough with a basting brush.
Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Sprinkle evenly over dough by hand. Look at that messy, sugary, floury countertop! These are the kind of messes that my niece and nephew live for! They love this stuff!! This would be a great step to have kids help with. [insert tiny child here]
Roll up dough starting from the short side.
Cut into 12 rolls. To keep them uniform I cut the dough in half (so I have 2 pieces). Then I cut each of those pieces in half (now I have 4 pieces). Then I cut each of those pieces into thirds (12 pieces in total).
Place rolls in a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking pan. To grease I used a light coating of cooking spray.
Aren’t they starting to look pretty already?!? Cover and let rise 30 minutes. (I let this batch go about 45 because I wanted to take my puppies for a walk).
They’re starting to grow and squish together! Don’t you just love pulling them apart???
Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake in preheated oven for about 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.
Hot out of the oven! Look at that deliciousness!! And just when you thought it couldn’t get any better we’re moving on to the cream cheese frosting!!
In a small bowl beat together softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter, confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and salt. (I mixed my confectioners sugar in half a cup at a time so I didn’t cause a massive powder explosion! Maybe my bowl was a little too small. Ok so maybe I didn’t want to bust out a larger one and dirty another dish. #lazybaker).
Mix well til all the lumps are out (about 2 minutes).
Prepare to lick the beaters. And the spoon….and the bowl….and your fingers!
Yum!! I will be dreaming about this frosting tonight! No really.
Spread frosting on warm rolls. Start with a little. Then add more, and more, and more, until they look like this! One big ooey, gory, cream cheese frosting mess! Use it all!!
Are you drooling yet?
How bout now?!? Look at that frosting drip!
Maybe 2 will do it for ya? Twice as nice!!
Ohhhhhh!!!!!! I know!! You’re one of those weird people that eats the middle first!!
Well, what are you waiting for?!?!?!? Get baking already!!!
Leave us your comments and love down below!
Hi There! I’m Lisa. I’m a lover of all things crafty, creative, DIY, and delicious!!! Oh yeah and puppies too! I love cooking and baking for my friends and family but especially WITH my friends and family. I show my greatest affection through food. If I cook or bake for you, it means I really like you!
