This beautiful cinnamon star bread recipe is shockingly easy to create. It’s perfect for so many occasions—from holiday breakfast to a regular old Saturday brunch.
Read MoreCategory: breakfast
Holiday Brunch Recipes
One of my favorite ways to celebrate just about every holiday is with a big brunch. It’s the perfect meal for combining all kinds of sweet and savory flavors, and putting together a beautiful spread. This list includes some of my favorite brunch recipes that are perfect for celebrations any time of year.
Read MoreSquash Scones
You can watch me make these squash scones with my son, Charlie, on my show Zoë Bakes on Magnolia Network!
Sufganiyot (Jelly Filled Doughnuts)
Sufganiyot are jelly filled doughnuts served during Chanukah. They are my family’s favorite treat during the Festival of Lights. These are not something I grew up having during Chanukah, but was a new tradition introduced to me in Minnesota by a friend who brought a box of store-bought doughnuts to our annual gathering. That was a dozen years ago, and I have been making sufganiyot ever since. I will never celebrate the holiday without them. Chanukah may not be the highest of Jewish holidays, but it is up there amongst the tastiest. Fried foods are served during the holiday to symbolize the miracle of one night’s worth of oil to light the menorah lasting eight days. I love everything about a festival dedicated to foods fried in oil and it’s even better that it lasts eight days. Latkes (potato pancakes) and soufganiyot are the two musts at the Chanukah table we share with friends and family. What’s not to love and they are easy to create. The key is a lightly sweet, enriched, yeasted dough that has just enough body to hold the jelly within. I made the dough with butter, because it is delicious, but if you want to keep this pareve (non-dairy or meat) you can use oil.
You can watch me make doughnuts in my Instagram Highlights video.
Fruit Tart with Homemade Puff Pastry
This fruit tart with homemade puff pastry is made with nothing more than ripe pluots (apricots, peaches, plums, cherries, any other stone fruit or berries will also do), lemon zested sugar and a sheet of puff pastry. Super elegant in its simplicity. The tart is from Rory O’Connell’s new book, Cook Well Eat Well.
Read MoreBlueberry Muffins
There is nothing more quintessentially breakfast than blueberry muffins.
For me a blueberry muffin has to be chock full of contrasts. It should have enough sweetness to feel decadent, but balanced by the tartness of the blueberries and lemon zest. A perfect muffin also has a top that has a thin crust of spiced streusel and under it is the tender muffin, stuffed with fruit.
I tried to put as many blueberries in this muffin as it could possibly hold without losing its structure. Blueberries alone have a subtle flavor, so they are there to add some flavor, but even more moisture to the muffin.
Muffins are super easy to make, but to have a tender crumb, that doesn’t become tough, you need to mix it just enough to incorporate everything evenly, but stop before you develop too much gluten. You can watch me make them in my instagram video. I baked the BIG blueberry muffins in 7 tulip muffin papers and used individual, straight sided, molds, but they are just as good in regular muffin cups* baked in traditional muffin pans.
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