Welcome to Happylifeblogspot! A food blog with drool worthy recipes
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 […]
If you’re in need of a little comfort right now, grab a whisk and whip up a batch of Lemon Raspberry Streusel Muffins. Now you can enjoy light and fluffy, bakery-style muffins at home. These delicious muffins are lightly flavored with lemon, chock-full of sweet […]
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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We are smack dab in the middle of Fall and I am absolutely loving it. Give me all the Fall things!!! I want the leaves, and the weather, and the sweaters, and the baking of all things pumpkin of course. Our Pumpkin Scones will give […]
They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. My hubby’s a morning person but me…eh….not so much. I’m more of a brunch gal. But I’ll tell you what! You can drag me out of bed any day of the week for this […]
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 pull apart bread but with a major upgrade! Layers of filling are twisted together to create the most stunning and indulgent sweet bread. Snowflake Bread makes a wonderful addition to breakfast or brunch. And it’s also great for gifting too! Who wouldn’t love to receive this masterpiece?!? Plus winter baking helps to keep the house warm. If you need me, I’ll be hanging around the oven…until about March.
Here’s all you’ll need: yeast, warm water, milk, an egg, butter, sugar, salt, flour, jam, and confectioners’ sugar. 
First dissolve the yeast in warm water until nice and foamy. Slowly sprinkle the yeast across the surface of the water to prevent it from clumping. Set aside.
Next in a large bowl, combine the milk, egg, 1/4 cup melted butter, sugar, and salt. Then add in the yeast mixture. Gradually beat in 3 cups of flour (or as much as you can) to form a soft dough. It helps to mix in the flour about a half a cup at a time. Knead in the remaining flour by hand.
Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Gather the dough in a ball and roll it around in the flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Press down and outwards with the heels of your hands until the dough is springy. Fold the dough in half, press down with the heels of your hands to press it flat. Repeat for 6-8 minutes. You’ll know you’re done kneading when the dough is smooth and shiny and holds its shape. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for about an hour. The dough will double in size.
Of course if you are lucky enough to have a bread machine on hand, you can add all the ingredients to the pan and mix on the dough cycle to save yourself a couple of steps.
Punch the dough down and divide it into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball and slightly flatten. Using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a twelve inch circle. Wanna know an easy way to get all of your circles the exact same size? Use a dinner plate as a cutting guide! Sometimes you’ve gotta improvise with what you’ve got.
Voila! A pizza cutter or a knife works best for cutting dough. Repeat with all four portions.
Next place one of your circles on a 14-inch pizza pan lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 1/3 of your jam all over the dough, leaving about 1/2″ around the edges. I got a little crazy with the jam! You might wanna go a little less than the picture.
Or try some of these Snowflake Bread variations. Swap out the jam for cinnamon and sugar or even Nutella! Oh. My. Yum!!! Repeat this process twice. So you want to add another layer of dough, then another layer of jam (two more times) and then finish with your last layer of dough on top.
Place a 2-1/2″ round cookie cutter (or a small round dish) directly in the center of your dough. Do not press down, we’re just going to use it as a cutting guide. Using a sharp knife (or a pizza cutter), cut 16 evenly spaced cuts from the round cutter to the edge of the dough to form a starburst. I find it easiest to start with 4 cuts, top, bottom, left, and right. Then add another cut in the middle of those four cuts (now you’ll have 8 cuts total). And then one last time, cut in between each of those 8 cuts and you end up with 16 evenly spaced cuts. I’ll do the math, you do the cutting.
Ok hopefully you didn’t get scared off yet and you’re sticking with us! Cause this next part can be a little…tricky-ish. But you can do this! I promise you it’s literally so simple once you get the hang of it. Grab two strips of dough, one in your right hand and one in your left hand. Twist outwards. Twice! Practice makes perfect so don’t give up on this one.
Or think about it this way. Place your index finger on top of the strip and your thumb on the bottom. Now twist your hands outwards so that your thumb is now on top and your index finger is now on the bottom. Repeat the process to form two complete twists. Pinch together the edges of the two strips to seal. Repeat with the remaining strips. Stop overthinking it and just do it! For real, when I tried to picture it in my head it totally kept messing me up. You really just have to go for it on this one. And remember, just like real snowflakes, every Snowflake Bread is beautiful and unique!
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. You’ll really want to keep an eye on it for those last 5 minutes. 
Remove the bread from the baking pan, brush with 2 tablespoons of melted butter, and lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar.
YOU DID IT!!! I’m so proud of your culinary creation! If we’re talking Snowflake Bread, then I’ll take a blizzard any day! We’ve got a whole winter wonderland of snowy treats. Try our Snowman Pancakes or Polar Bear Marshmallows next!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
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Ok so I know that every single store has flipped the switch from Halloween to Christmas, but you guys, I’m not done with pumpkin everything season yet! You can take away my pumpkin spice lattes but I’m still gonna celebrate. So this next recipe not […]
If you love to hit the bread basket during dinner then this recipe is for you! Our Light & Flaky Biscuits bake up soft and buttery in a matter of minutes! A few simple ingredients (that you probably already have on hand) are all that’s […]
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 light and fluffy, bake up perfectly golden and are just bursting with blueberries in every bite! Make a big batch and watch them delight at your next breakfast or brunch gathering.
Here’s all you’ll need: butter, sugar, an egg, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder, salt, milk, blueberries, and cinnamon.
In a large bowl cream the softened butter and 1/3 cup of sugar. You know I nuked it! Melted butter is fine too. Ain’t nobody got time to soften butter. But seriously, now’s a good time to leave 1/4 cup of butter out (half a stick). We’re going to need it later for the streusel topping. Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins aren’t your typically overly sweet blueberry muffins which helps to showcase the streusel topping. Next beat in the egg and the vanilla. Mix well.
Mix in the baking powder, salt, and 1/3 cup of flour. Then alternate blending the flour and the milk. If we add all the flour at once it’ll be too flaky to mix. And if we add all the milk it gets too soupy. So we’re going to add 1 cup of flour and 1/2 a cup of milk and blend. Then add the other another cup of flour and another 1/2 cup of milk and blend until just combined. And now we have our perfectly mixed batter! Ta-da!!
Then gently fold in the blueberries. You can use fresh or frozen, whatever you’ve got is fine! I opted to go with fresh. If you opt for frozen, remember to thaw them before hand. I say gently because our goal is to try and keep the blueberries intact. It helps to keep the muffins moist and gives you that perfectly juicy blueberry flavor explosion in every bite!
Fill a muffin pan with 12 paper-lined baking cups (or silicone baking cups) or lightly grease with cooking spray. Spoon the batter into each individual cup. We’re shooting for them to be about 2/3 of the way fill. Don’t worry if you overdo it. You’ll just end up with bigger muffins. I know…poor you…right?!? If you have super cute baking cups you might want to try this little trick I like to use. Dump a little uncooked rice (brown or white will do) into the bottom of each muffin cavity. Then set your baking cup on TOP of the rice. And then fill the baking cup just as you normally would. The rice helps to prevent the paper baking cup from getting all greasy. Works like a charm!
Now it’s time to make that fabulous crumb topping! Add the softened butter, cinnamon, 1/3 cup of flour, and 1/2 cup of sugar to small bowl. And let’s just cut to the chase. Anytime a recipe needs to be “cut with a knife” takes way to long to cut with a knife. I end up trying that for like hmm…30 seconds and then dive right in and squish it with my hands. Yup! That’s the fancy technical term! It’s so much faster and so much easier (and so much more fun!) in my opinion. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty!
Then sprinkle the streusel topping on top of the blueberry muffins. Gently press the streusel into the muffin top a little bit to hold it all in place. Really make sure you load em up! It seriously is the best part!!
Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until browned. These babies got pulled around the 27 minute mark! I love how you can actually SEE blueberries in every. single. muffin! Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before removing.
Obviously Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins are a little slice of Heaven when served warm out of the oven! Slice one in half and add a little pad of butter. OMG!! PERFECTION!! BUT…..I’m not one to turn down a cold muffin either. Warm or cold, I’ll be snacking on these all week! If you think these look fab, our Strawberry Crumb Cake Muffins will make ya melt!
We’d love to hear from you! Leave us your comments and love down below!
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Amish Cinnamon Bread is sure to be a hit! You’re gonna fall in love with this easy, no knead, quick bread. This sweet bread is tender and moist, loaded with cinnamon swirls and then topped with even more cinnamon and sugar. Soft in texture and […]
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!
