Mango Crepes

A Saturday morning breakfast that brought everyone crawling into the kitchen. Perfect for four people. No doubt we were stuffed and ready to enjoy a walk around town. Delicious mangoes are a must.

What's your favorite brunch item?


Ingredients:
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup AP flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 ripe mangoes, diced
powdered sugar
cinnamon (optional)
fat free vanilla yogurt (optional)
maple syrup (optional)


Directions:
Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Make a well in the center and crack eggs in the middle of the well. Beat the eggs in the middle and slowly add the milk, slowly adding the flour into your whisking path. When it forms a smooth batter, no chunks, mix in the chilled melted butter. 
Butter a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour in about a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of batter into pan and swirl until the batter hits the edges. When edges begin to brown, use a spatula to lift an edge, and flip with your hand. Do not damage the crepe by folding over. Allow to cook for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate. Stack crepes on top of each other.
Fill crepes with mango pieces and powdered sugar. You may want to add syrup, cinnamon, or yogurt, depending on your preferences.

Aunt Molly's Granola

My favorite food in the world: Granola. 
I eat mine with yogurt, cinnamon, and blueberries... every morning. 
I'm attached what can I say.

A lot of people know this so when I received this recipe from Molly, I was ever so grateful! I'm happy to relay that this is the best. I usually half this recipe just because I only have one large pan, which is very easy to do.

Ingredients:
5 pounds rolled oats
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 1/3 cups coconut
3 1/3 cups sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts, or pecans (or all!)
4 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup honey
3 3/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 pound raisins, dried blueberries, or craisins


Directions:
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly. Add liquids and mix in until just incorporated. Place in 2 2" parchment paper-lined pans and bake at 275 degree oven until dry and crisp. Stir granola every 15-20 minutes for even browning. This takes about two hours. Let set at room temperature until completely cooled. Mix in raisins and store in airtight container.

Cinnamon and Cocoa Coated Pecans

I really really like pecans. So does my husband. Almonds and cashews are okay, but pecans are just so much better. It's the only nut we use except maybe when we can get out hands on some macadamia nuts.

Anyway, I went to Maine two years ago to visit my aunt and she shops at a Whole Foods store that carried cocoa covered almonds. They were so good! She and I would sit there eating handful after handful while watching movies at night for dessert. I developed a sweet and tasteful addiction to those things and when I went home I couldn't find them anywhere. I still search for them in any store that carries ingredients in bulk but have yet to come across them. Sure there's chocolate coated ones but that's so far from the same. 

Finally I attempted to recreate them with pecans and this is what I did... (go ahead and use almonds or walnuts if you'd like)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips

2 Tablespoons peanut butter

1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 Tablespoon Hershey's unsweetened Cocoa powder

Directions:
Toast pecans in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes on a baking sheet. You can usually tell when they're done when the kitchen has a nutty aroma in the air. Melt the chocolate chips and peanut butter on low in a small saucepan, stir when the chips start to look glossy and remove from heat. Don't overcook. Gently mix the toasted pecans into the chocolate mixture just until the nuts are coated. On a wax paper lined sheet, spread the pecans out evenly and set in freezer until the chocolate is hardened, about 15 minutes. Put cinnamon and cocoa powder into the bag, followed by the hardened, chocolate-covered pecans and seal the bag. Shake and enjoy!

Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories, I really do love their site.