By Heidi Buyak
Will Mom be getting breakfast in bed this Mother’s Day? Is that still done? If so, let me share three of my favorite recipes that are great for Mother’s Day breakfast, brunch…or really, anytime.
Pancakes are a breakfast classic and an obvious choice for Mother’s Day breakfast. You’re probably saying, “Everybody knows how to make pancakes, just open that box of powder and mix in…” What? What do you mix in? Water? Milk? Eggs? I actually don’t know because I’ve never made box pancakes and once you try this pancake recipe, you might never go back to the box either.
Pfannkuchen (Pancakes)
These are the German pancakes I grew up with. They were made for every birthday and every holiday. They’re different because they’re not light and fluffy, so they won’t absorb endless amounts of syrup, like a black hole.
This recipe makes about six pancakes, but it doubles nicely which is what I usually do.
Don’t worry if there are any leftovers, these are great cold, the next day, with butter and jam.
Ingredients
2 cups white flour
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup club soda
Butter for the pan
Instructions
Mix everything together until you have a smooth batter.
Heat a pat of butter in a 9-inch frying pan.
Using a ladle, pour about a half cup of batter into a very hot pan.
Flip the pancake when the edge of the pancake develops a dry ring all the way around.
These pancakes take a little longer that the fluffy ones, but they’re worth the wait.
Pancakes should have a nice brown lacy pattern on the bottom.
Once flipped, they’re almost cooked and you won’t need to leave them in the pan for too long.
Remove the cooked pancake and add another pat of butter to the pan and start the next one, turning down the heat a little bit with each consecutive pancake.
Hefezopf (Yeast Braid)
Need something before Mother’s Day? This next recipe celebrates all things Easter and springtime. This is a traditional sweet yeast bread that can be formed into a single braid or a braided circle. This delicious loaf was another staple in my house.
Ingredients
3 teaspoons yeast, active, not instant
4 cups all-purpose white flour
A pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
3 eggs
¾ cup warm whole milk
1 1/3 stick butter
All ingredients should be room temperature with the milk being about 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
Instructions
Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, salt and yeast.
Slowly add warm milk and allow 5 to 10 minutes to activate.
Add the eggs and the butter.
Knead into a smooth ball. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour. If it’s too dry, add a little milk.
Cover bowl with a dish towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size. Then punch it down and divide it into three equal sections.
Roll each section out, by hand, into a log shape and braid it. Place braid on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover it again and let it rise again, someplace warm, for another 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350° F
After the second rise, and before baking, use an egg yolk (or two) to brush your braided yeast bread.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until tester comes out clean. You may also want to loosely cover your braid with aluminum foil, about half way through.
Once cooled, this tastes great sliced with butter and/or jam.
Schneckennudlen (Cinnamon Rolls)
No special occasion breakfast or brunch would be complete without cinnamon rolls, and this recipe is a little different from those over-iced, cardboard-tube-sprung cinnamon rolls you might be familiar with.
“Schneckennudlen,” literally translated, means “snail noodles.” Stop laughing; I promise you, these are not noodles and there are no snails involved here. The name just describes the shape. Here’s the cool thing about this recipe: It’s the same dough as the yeast bread.
Ingredients
3 teaspoons yeast, active, not instant
4 cups all-purpose white flour
A pinch of salt
½ cup sugar
3 eggs
¾ cup warm whole milk
1 1/3 stick butter
All ingredients should be room temperature with the milk being about 105 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit.
Instructions
Sift flour into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, salt and yeast.
Slowly add warm milk and allow 5 to 10 minutes to activate.
Add the eggs and the butter.
Knead into a smooth ball. If the dough is too sticky, add a little flour. If it’s too dry, add a little milk.
Cover bowl with a dish towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size.
Roll the dough out on a floured countertop into an oval or rectangle shape and spread the filling.
This is the filling my mother always used:
1 ½ to 2 cups sour cream – spread liberally
Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and sugar
3 or 4 handfuls of raisins strewn over the sour cream and sugar and cinnamon. (Soak your raisins first. You can soak them in warm water, tea, even in a little booze, if you like. It’s up to you.)
Now, starting from one of the long sides, roll it up and slice it into equal cross-sections, anywhere from 1 ½ inches to two inches wide. You can even slice wider, if you’d like.
Place your “snails” on a cookie sheet, spiral side up. You can have them packed together and touching each other or separated.
Cover your rolls with a dish towel and let them rise in a warm place for another 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 350° F.
Right before baking, brush your rolls using one or two egg yolks. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.
All recipes are from Heidi’s upcoming book, “Recipes I Stole from My Mother, Just Desserts.”
