Skipping breakfast during winter is easily done when it’s cold outside and you don’t want to roll out of bed until the very last minute to get ready and go to work. But this is the time when you need to eat a substantial breakfast – to ward away nasty germs and give you sustainable energy that lasts you all the way through to lunch time… or at least to your mid morning coffee break!
Breakfast doesn’t have to be a hassle when you have a crockpot though, because you can prepare it the night before and wake up to a welcoming smell floating up the stairs and into bed with you, inviting you to wake and follow it back to the kitchen. Alternatively, make them on a Sunday evening and have breakfast prepared for the whole week.
These crockpot breakfast recipes will warm your tummy, and get your taste buds turning!
#1 Pear and Chai Breakfast Cake
Cake for breakfast anyone? Ooh, don’t mind if I do! Anyone who fusses about calorie intake during breakfast doesn’t understand how the body works. Morning time is your golden opportunity to fill your belly with whatever you want, because you are usually most active in the first half of the day and burn the most calories anyway!
Of course this may vary depending on your lifestyle but what is most important to remember is that you are more likely to have success in either losing weight or maintaining your body weight if you eat breakfast in the morning. This is because it sets your digestive system in motion and increases your metabolism, which means you are more likely to burn your food off during the day instead of storing it.
This pear and chai breakfast cake is ideal to make on a Sunday evening so that you have your breakfast readymade during your working week. If you have a habit of skipping breakfast because you are in a rush, you are more likely to pop a generous slice of this yummy breakfast cake in your handbag to eat on your commute, than you are popping two slices of toast in the toaster, waiting for them to toast, and then buttering them before sitting down to eat – because nobody eats buttered toast on the bus now do they? But you might just nibble on that cake.
This recipe makes 8 servings, which will provide breakfast for you all week!
Ingredients:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 3 medium pears, peeled, halved, cored, and sliced
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger or 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup light-color molasses
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup warm strong-brewed chai
- Greek yogurt (optional)
- Ground nutmeg (optional)
Method:
- Coat a 4- to 5-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Don’t be shy – spray generously, like you do with your hairspray in the bathroom!
- Add your pears to the cooker.
- In a small saucepan mix the 1/2 cup brown sugar, the 1/4 cup butter, and the ginger. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
- Pour mixture over pears and stir to coat.
- In a large bowl beat the 3/4 cup brown sugar and the 1/2 cup butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until thoroughly mixed then beat in the egg and molasses.
- In a medium-sized bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to butter mixture, beating on low until combined.
- Add chai and mix slightly.
- Now add the remaining flour mixture and beat until fully combined.
- Spread mixture evenly over pears in cooker.
- Place a clean dish-towel over top of your slow cooker and then top the cooker with it’s lid. Cook on HIGH for 2 to 2-1/4 hours or until a toothpick inserted in center of the cake layer comes out clean.
- If possible, carefully rotate crockery liner halfway through cooking time to ensure even cooking.
- Remove crockery liner from cooker, if possible, or turn off cooker. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove lid and towel.
- To un-mold the cake, run a butter knife around edge of crockery liner. Place a large plate over the crockery liner.
- Using pot holders, carefully invert cake onto plate.
- Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
- If desired, top each serving with yogurt and sprinkle with nutmeg.
#2 Lemon-Poppy Seed Bread
This Breakfast bread will seem more like a dessert – it beats boring white bread any day! It will be light and airy so you won’t get to work and feel stodged – never a good feeling when you’re faced with a pile of paperwork. Again you can make the bread on a Sunday evening and enjoy a yummy slice of lemon and poppy-seed bread for breakfast every day of the following week – promise you won’t get bored!
With twelve servings of only 264 calories each, this is a great breakfast to share with flat mates or a partner too!
Ingredients:
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup poppy seeds
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt or sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 recipe Lemon Icing (optional)
Method:
- Coat a 4- to 5-quart oval slow cooker or a 4-quart round slow cooker with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl stir together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together sugar, eggs, oil, yogurt, milk, lemon peel, lemon juice, and the 1 teaspoon vanilla until sugar dissolves. Yum!
- Add the sugar mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until combined (mixture should still be slightly lumpy). Then spoon batter into prepared slow cooker.
- Cover and cook on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until top appears set.
- Turn off slow cooker and carefully remove lid so the condensation from lid does not drip onto bread.
- Cover opening of slow cooker completely with paper towels and place the lid on top.
- Cool for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Run a knife around edges of slow cooker to remove bread from cooker.
- Cool completely on a wire rack, and if desired, drizzle with Lemon Icing.
What are your favourite breakfasts to wake up to in the morning?
Are you a sweet tooth and go weak at the knees for a blueberry muffin on your way to work? Do you like a big bowl of porridge with a dollop of honey and a handful of raspberries? How do you save time in the morning to enjoy your breakfast?
Cover photo: www.blessthisfood.blogspot.com
Add Comment