Cherchies Blog

breakfast

Homemade Toaster Strudel Recipe

breakfast, desserts, snacksSheri Spallone2 Comments

Homemade Toaster Strudel Recipe

Cook Time:  30 minutes  Difficulty:  Easy

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I love aha moments, don't you? Take, for example, toaster strudels. Who would have thought these delectable treats could be homemade? I was shocked! I usually provide healthier homemade breakfast and snack options for our children instead of their store-bought, processed cousins. Still, occasionally, I have been known to buy packaged toaster strudels so our children wouldn't feel deprived. I would hate to be blamed later in life for ruining their lives because they never had Pillsbury toaster strudels. I couldn't live with myself;)

My aha moment came one morning while I was enjoying my coffee in peace and researching uses for leftover cherry butter (cherries cooked down to a butter-like consistency).  If you have been following our blog, you'll know that I hate to waste food and love transforming leftovers into new culinary masterpieces. I also love making things homemade (or semi-homemade).

Making homemade toaster strudels had never occurred to me until I stumbled upon a picture on the internet of homemade toaster strudels made from preserves and phyllo dough. Aha!!! Except, I didn't have preserves or phyllo dough. Bummer! However, I did have Cherchies Cherry Butter and a can of Refrigerated Crescent Roll Dough in our refrigerator! Could it be true? Well, it was worth a shot. 

Luckily, my tasty homemade (or semi-homemade) experiment was a success. These delicious, flaky pastries, oozing with fruity goodness, won our children's approval; they preferred my homemade version over the store-bought one. Whew! What a relief. Now I cannot be blamed for my children missing out on toaster strudels.

This recipe is perfect with any of our Butter Spreads or mouth-watering preserves (Add 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch to the preserves to thicken the mixture).

Follow along for the full directions. Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by:) Comment below if you have tried this recipe. Come back again for more family-tested recipes, entertaining ideas, and cooking tips using all our favorite Cherchies® gourmet products.

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 Ingredients

Preparation 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and dust the parchment paper with a tiny bit of flour (1 Tbsp?).  Roll out the packaged crescent dough on the parchment paper, and press the seams of the two crescent rolls together.  With a pizza cutter or knife, cut four even vertical sections of the dough.

Next, cut the dough in the other direction as pictured below.

Spoon 2 Tablespoons (Tbsp) of Cherchies® Cherry, Strawberry, or Apple Butter Spread onto the pastry, leaving about 1/2 inch border.  In a small bowl, beat egg.

Using your finger (you could use a pastry brush, but why?  It's fun to play with your food), dip your finger into the egg and coat the perimeter of the pastry with the egg.  Continue this process for the rest of the pastries.

Take the other half of the pastry and gently place it over the filling half.  Use a fork to seal the edges of the pastry.

Brush egg onto sealed pastries. and prick each pastry a couple of times with a fork.  This will allow some of the steam to escape during cooking.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until pastries are golden brown. While toaster strudels are baking, make the icing.

Using a small bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, milk and vanilla.  Fill icing into a small re-closable plastic bag and snip off the corner of the bag.  This will become your disposable icing bag.  Remove pastries from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes.  Drizzle the pastries with the icing.  

Sweet, fruity, delicious, homemade toaster strudels!  Perfecto!  Enjoy!

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Cherry Apple Tart Recipe

desserts, breakfast, snacksSheri Spallone2 Comments
Cherry Apple Tart Recipe

Cherry Apple Tart Recipe

Cook Time:  30 minutes  

Difficulty:  Easy

We have updated this post from a few years ago with fresh pictures and content.

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Cook Time:  30 minutes 

Difficulty:  Easy

We have updated this post from a few years ago with fresh pictures and content.

We all need to unplug occasionally and spend quality time together as a family. Aside from game night, movie night, and puzzle night, cooking and baking together is another perfect family-enriching activity for all ages. Cooking and baking are easy, as they allow kids and parents to unplug and connect, and they are fantastic learning tools (they build math and reading skills, teach scientific concepts, enrich oral vocabulary, and so much more). We used these cooking moments to keep our children away from videos and television when they were younger.  

These rustic, tasty mini apple tarts are a fun way to get kids cooking in the kitchen and a great way to spend quality time together as a family. This recipe is forgiving and lends itself to any fruit on hand, including frozen fruit. (We have not tried this recipe with frozen fruit, but by all means, go for it and let us know how it worked out). We had apples that we needed to use, which were the fruit of choice, but instead of one pie, we made several mini tarts so everyone could take pride in their creations. 

I usually make this apple pie recipe with our Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread instead of sugar. Considering we had half-full jars of our butter spreads (Apple, Cherry, and Strawberry), we decided to use the ones we had on hand, and we created several different tarts with the chopped apples. The icing and the lemon zest at the end finished off this dessert nicely.  

So, if you're looking for a creative family activity, unplug the electronics and consider making these delectable Cherry Apple Pie Tarts with your loved ones to create some beautiful memories together. They are perfect as a tasty dessert, a delicious breakfast treat, or an after-school snack. 

Thanks for stopping by! Please comment below on your creations. We'd love to hear your ideas:). Come back again for more family-tested recipes, entertaining ideas, and cooking tips using all our favorite Cherchies® gourmet products.

Follow us on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

* Note- I forgot to add the lemon zest when photographing these little tarts.  

Ingredients

Preparation

Chop apples into small chunks.  Place chopped apples into a large bowl and add half of the lemon juice. Mix apples to coat with lemon juice.  Add Cherchies® Cherry Butter Spread (I divided the chopped apples into three bowls and added a different butter spread to each bowl) and mix together.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove pie dough from package and "smoosh" (ha!) the dough together until you have one ball of dough.  Separate dough into 6 equal portions (I was going to trace dough with a small bowl and cut out circles, but figured I'd have to reroll the scraps anyway).

Roll out individual dough balls into circles approximately 6 inch circles (it does not have to be perfect...this adds to the rustic factor).  Place rolled dough onto baking sheet.

Leaving about 1 inch around the edge of the dough, spoon apple mixture into center of dough.  Crimp edges around tart. Sprinkle tarts with cinnamon.  Bake tarts in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until crust is golden and apples are soft.

As tarts are cooking, prepare the glaze and the icing.   In one bowl, combine the Apricot Preserves and the remaining lemon juice.  In another bowl, combine the powdered sugar and water.  

Remove the cooked tarts from the oven and while the tarts are warm, brush them with the Apricot Preserves and the lemon juice mixture.  The final step is the icing and completely optional, as the tarts are delicious on their own, but I wanted to make them extras pretty for their "glamour shots".  Drizzle the icing when tarts are mostly cooled.

For other uses for apple butter, check out our blog, blog.cherchies.com.  Enjoy!

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Lemon Dill Freezer Breakfast Sandwich Recipe

breakfastSheri SpalloneComment

Lemon Dill Freezer Breakfast Sandwich Recipe

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You might not think of lemon, dill, and eggs for breakfast.  What?  Yep, I know, but stay with me.  I shared the same concern when my hubby introduced me to the combination 27 years ago, and as he made breakfast, he said, "Trust me".  It turns out he was right; the duo of eggs and Lem'n dill were delicious. (Don't tell him he was right).  Fast forward 27 years and three children later, Lemon Dill and eggs have become a family favorite, so it seemed almost a no-brainer to combine the two into breakfast sandwiches, with sausage or ham and cheese.  Would that push our children beyond their culinary comfort level?

Nope!  They were a hit.  Our children loved the homemade version better than the grocery store's freezer version, and that thrilled me because they were eating ingredients we could control, and we saved money by making them in mass.  

So, expand your family's palate, try this winning combination of Lem'n Dill and eggs, and make these delicious breakfast freezer sandwiches today.  You will be pleasantly surprised!  And, with a little planning, you can have these delicious breakfast sandwiches ready for those busy mornings.

Comment below if you have made this delicious breakfast sandwich. Thank you for stopping by. Please return for more tasty recipes, entertaining ideas, and cooking tips.

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Preparation

Separate the English muffins in half and place English muffins on a baking sheet.  Broil (could use a toaster if making a few) for a couple of minutes, until lightly browned.  After muffins are toasted add a tiny bit of butter to each muffin half.  Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray the muffin tins with cooking spray.  Crack an egg into each muffin tin and sprinkle eggs with Cherchies® Lem 'n Dill Seasoning (you could mix eggs and Lem 'n Dill with a fork to scramble if you'd like).  Bake eggs in oven for 10-12 minutes, or until eggs are cooked (If you're going to eat immediately, rather than freeze, cook eggs according to your preference.  In other words, if you like your eggs a little runny, then cook less).

While eggs are cooking, slice up sausage into patties.  In a large skillet, cook sausage patties until cooked through.  Drain on paper towels.  

Remove the eggs from the oven, and using a spatula, gently remove eggs from muffin tins and place on parchment paper.  If planning to eat immediately, keep the oven on to warm sandwiches at the end.

To assemble the sandwiches, begin with the muffins, then to one half, add the egg and the sausage patty, and to the other half, add the cheese (we used cheddar for these sandwiches). Oh my goodness, my mouth is already salivating! 

Combine the two halves to make a sandwich.  At this point, you could wrap each sandwich in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for later.  Or...

You could heat it up in the oven for a couple of minutes, or the microwave for 30 seconds (until the cheese is melty), and devour it!  Trust me, you'll be hooked on Lem 'n Dill and eggs too.  Enjoy!

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Apple Butter Oatmeal Recipe

breakfast, snacksSheri Spallone1 Comment

Apple Butter Oatmeal Recipe

Cook Time: 5 minutes (approx. 2 minutes in microwave)

Difficulty:  Easy

Sometimes the simplest ideas are right under your nose. Take for example oatmeal. Yes, a somewhat simplistic topic, but there's so much you can do with oatmeal (breakfast, healthy snacks, bread crumbs (yep), crisps, cookies...oh my, and it's so good for you!).

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I'm always looking for fresh and easy recipes to share with you but had writer's block this morning...as I was eating my oatmeal. Duh! 

I love to add new flavors to my morning oatmeal, and as I looked into my kitchen pantry, it dawned on me...of course...apple butter, a specialty gourmet condiment I had all along!

Why hadn't I thought of this before?  I added about 1-2 Tablespoons of our Cherchies® Apple Butter Spread (I'm very picky about my apple butter), plus cinnamon, as well as a surprise at the end.  The end result, delicious and satisfying!

Ingredients

Preparation 

Combine the oats, water, apple butter spread, and the cinnamon.  Add water.  Stir together.

Heat oatmeal in the microwave for 1- 1 /2 min, or until desired consistency.  Now for the surprise...add a handful of dark chocolate chips, just because...Stir and enjoy!

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