[Molly] I'm hosting brunch for Bernie's library play group
to foster eating and reading.
Wow, you don't need a library card to check these out.
Crispy and salty ham frit-tot-a.
Who doesn't love a tot?
Sausage breakfast pals,
juicy pork and cheese sandwiches with homemade Hawaiian buns.
Breakfast pal, I love you.
Plus, cookies with a savory twist.
They're loaded with nourishing spinach.
Those are so flavorful and cheesy.
And for a sweet bite,
chocolate chunk peanut butter pancakes
piled high with fluffy whipped cream.
Oh, baby...
This brunch is one for the books.
Look at these beauties.
Hey! This is me, Molly Yeh.
This is my husband, Nick.
This is our growing family.
And this is our farm on the North Dakota-Minnesota border,
the place where I eat, sleep, and breathe food.
[opening theme music playing]
I'm putting together an epic, dreamy brunch spread
for some of my daughter's library story time friends.
And If I want to remain a self-proclaimed cool mom,
there sure as heck better be pancakes.
So I'm making my chocolate chunk peanut butter pancakes,
which are thick and fluffy and nutty and sweet.
And they're piled high with dollops of yogurt whipped cream.
I'll start by mixing up my dry ingredients.
One and a half cups of all-purpose flour.
This is just a variation on the classic pancakes that we have every Sunday.
A quarter cup of sugar for a hint of sweetness in the pancake.
If anyone wants to add more sweetness on top, that's what maple syrup's for.
A tablespoon of baking powder to help these get fluffy.
Three quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt.
A teaspoon of cinnamon, which enhances the peanut butter really nicely.
And then a few passes of nutmeg on my fine zester,
is a special touch of a Yeh Hagen family pancake.
Give it a whisk.
Every Sunday we have pancakes.
The girls love them.
And it's Nick's tradition, every Sunday to make the pancakes.
And it's my tradition every Sunday to take a deep breath
and keep my cool when Nick uses the wrong tools
and the wrong size bowls for mixing up,
and the wrong methods of measuring the ingredients.
It's totally fine.
They taste great no matter what.
That's it for my dry ingredients.
I'll mix up my wet ingredients.
I've got one and a half cups of milk.
I'll add a couple of eggs.
You can really use any kind of milk here.
Of course, whole milk is gonna give you the richest, fattiest pancake.
A good splash of vanilla.
I'm using unsweetened peanut butter, 'cause I don't wanna add sugar
in addition to the sugar that's already in the dry ingredients.
But you're not gonna screw these up, if you use sweetened peanut butter.
I'll pop in half a cup.
I'll whisk together my wet ingredients.
I think that the girls could eat pancakes every single day
for three meals a day and never get sick of it.
I've tried adding some nutrients into them sneakily,
like, using whole grain flours,
sneaking in some pureed veggies.
Peanut butter is my favorite one, though.
I'll pour this into the dry ingredients.
Give it a whisk.
And then drizzle in some melted butter.
And this is just a quarter cup of unsalted butter
that I've melted and allowed to cool a little bit.
I don't wanna add it directly in with the eggs and cook the eggs.
Which is why I add it at the end.
And I'll whisk this just until combined.
A couple of lumps are totally okay with pancakes.
I'm ready to griddle.
I have my griddle here, heating over medium.
I'll start with a layer of butter.
Don't hold back with the butter when you're cooking.
Because it just tastes better.
It helps you get those crispy edges.
So between each batch, I add a little bit more butter to the pan.
I'll ladle on quarter cup scoops.
And space them evenly so that they have room on all sides to get cooked evenly.
And now Bernie's favorite part, a sprinkle of chocolate chunks.
I'm using chopped milk chocolate here.
Milk chocolate because it tastes good.
And I like to use chopped chunks because you get a fun variation
of melty chocolate pools and little chocolate shards.
More textural interest.
I'll let these cook now until bubbles rise to the surface and pop.
And that's how I know it's time to flip.
So library story time is one of my favorite times of the week.
It happens a couple of times a week.
And there's this awesome story time leader at our local library.
She reads books, she sings songs,
and she always plans a great craft.
I've made some friends there.
I'm not that antisocial.
They're ready to flip.
These look awesome.
They have those buttery crispy edges.
They look like chocolate chip cookies.
I'll let these go for another 30 seconds or so.
That's all they need to get set on the other side.
I want to be careful not to allow that chocolate to burn.
I'll grab my serving plate.
I'll get these off the griddle.
They smell heavenly.
All right, I'll griddle up the rest,
and then stack them up with some yogurt whipped cream and maple syrup.
Waxy chocolate curls, too.
I gotta mom test.
Make sure they're puffy enough for the little ones.
Yum.
Mmm... Mmm-hmm.
Mmm, hmm, mmm.
I don't think I've ever met a combination
of chocolate and peanut butter that I didn't love.
Dessert for breakfast.
I'm about to be so popular with these kids.
Coming up, I put the tot in frittata.
Mmm.
For a super savory, comforting brunch main
that'll really draw those tiny readers in,
I'm making my frittot... ta. It's a frittata with tots.
Get it?
It's super creamy and cheesy and eggy, and there's ham in it.
It's got all the best brunch foods in one dish.
I'll start by crisping up my tots.
I'll scatter a powder of them onto my baking sheets.
It's like the easiest way to get breakfast potatoes.
Just reach into your freezer.
And then don't forget to season your tots.
Let's put some salt and pepper.
I'll bake these at 425 degrees
for a good ten minutes longer than what the package says,
to get them extra golden and crispy.
While those crisp up, I'll brown up some ham.
I'll add a drizzle of oil.
And I'm building my whole frittata right in this braiser
which will start off on the stove and finish in the oven.
It's heating over medium, and I'll sauté up some ham for a few minutes to crisp.
I'll let that hang out while I mix up my egg mixture. I'm starting with 10 eggs.
I'll add creamy richness with half a cup of heavy cream.
Three quarters of a cup of shredded gruyere.
It's a little funky, and it's so flavorful.
And then quarter cup of Parmesan for that salty umami flavor.
And then some salt and pepper.
And this will essentially be the glue that binds together
the ham and the tots and all the good stuff.
Of course, the inspiration for this came from the fact
that it's fun to say frit-tot-ta.
Look at this smooth and creamy.
Sometimes I feel like frittatas are just dumb crustless quiches.
But you reverse the dumbness
by adding a good amount of cheese and tots.
And then you don't miss the crust.
We eat a lot of eggs in our house.
The girls love them and tots, obviously,
because they're Midwesterners all the way through.
All right, ham is developing some great color.
I'll get the tots out of the oven.
Mmm. Those are super golden crisp.
Mmm, mmm-hmm, mmm.
Who doesn't love a tot?
And then pour in my egg mixture.
Oh, yeah, that looks so good already.
I'll let this cook over a medium low for a few minutes,
just so that the bottom and the edges can set slightly
before transferring it to the oven.
But first, it needs, like three more cheeses on top.
One thing I love to do with frittatas
is to dollop some creamy cheese all over the top.
Because then when the frittata bakes and the egg sets,
you still have pools of creaminess right in it.
So cream cheese or mascarpone.
Today I'm using ricotta.
Dollop one cup of it all over the top.
And then I'll sprinkle on some more gruyere and Parmesan.
When we go to the library, Bernie makes a beeline for the princess books.
And for a while, we were checking out a ton of books every week.
And then we lost, like a lot of them.
So now that's grandma and grammy's job to check out the books.
They are much better at keeping track of them.
And then a little bit more Parmesan.
All right, this is looking set around the edges.
If you jiggle it, it's still liquidy in the center.
I'll get this into the oven at 350 degrees now for about 20 minute.
Or until it's mostly set, but still soft in the middle.
And then we'll run it under the broiler for a few minutes until the top is golden.
It smells eggcellent in here.
Let me check out my frittata.
Oh, yeah, she's a beaut.
She's golden and crisp on top. And I love seeing those dollops of ricotta.
I'll dress it up for the brunch party
with some fresh chives and parsley.
I love seeing those flecks of green against the egg.
A little flaky salt for extra crunch and flavor.
This would be good for an adult brunch, too.
Some black pepper.
And I've gotta taste test to make sure it's okay for the kids.
I'm gonna cool it down with ketchup.
Mmm. That's outrageous!
It is so cheesy between the gruyere and the ham and the tots.
That is one fab frit-tot-ta.
[munching noise]
Next, the secret to making sausage and cheese
breakfast sandwiches even more delectable.
For a nostalgic handheld brunch situation,
I'm making my breakfast pals.
They are the most adorable little sandwiches you've ever seen.
Juicy, homemade sausage stuffed between sweet, fluffy Hawaiian rolls.
They are the perfect friendly bite for a bunch of hungry toddlers... and me.
I'll start with my dough.
For my dry ingredients, I'll combine three cups of all-purpose flour
with three tablespoons of brown sugar.
Just one of the sweeteners in this bread dough.
The best thing about Hawaiian rolls is they're super-duper sweet.
I feel like any kid would eat anything on a Hawaiian roll.
Two and quarter teaspoon of instant yeast.
So the equivalent to a packet.
One and half teaspoons of kosher salt.
A little bit of turmeric.
It tints them that signature yellow color.
I'll whisk this around.
For my wet ingredients,
I've got two thirds of a cup of pineapple juice
that I've warmed just slightly to help activate the yeast.
So another sweetener there.
Two tablespoons of honey, for the third form of sweetness.
And then one full egg, plus two egg yolks
for added richness and that pretty yellow color.
And a splash of vanilla.
I'll give this a quick mix before I get it onto my stand mixer.
We would always buy Hawaiian sweet rolls
from the grocery store growing up.
When I was a kid, I would eat anything on those things.
I'll get this on to my stand mixer
and mix it with the dough hook until it forms a stiff dough.
Get my butter ready.
And now that I can no longer see any dry bits of flour,
I'll start adding some butter.
I've got four tablespoons of softened butter.
Then I'll add one tablespoon at a time.
And then knead it for about 10 minutes
until I have a smooth but still sticky dough.
Adding the butter now versus adding the butter upfront with the rest of the ingredients,
allows the gluten to develop more.
So you develop the glutens in the flour.
They form these long strands.
And then when the yeast eats the sugar
while the buns are baking, they make bubbles.
And so there are all these bubbles in the bread dough,
and those strands hold the bubbles together.
And that gives you a fluffy crumb.
If the strands weren't strong enough and they all broke,
then the bubbles would deflate and collapse,
and you would be left with some dense bread.
Not good.
Okay. That is looking super smooth.
I'll grab another bowl.
This is oiled so the dough doesn't stick.
I'll scrape the dough right in.
Yeah, I'm seeing some nice long gluteny strands.
I'm gonna stretch the ends up
so that I can form a smooth, taut surface on the bottom.
And then turn it over, so that that smooth, taut surface is on top.
I'll cover it up and let it rise until it's doubled in size.
Buttery sweetness, here I come.
My dough is puffy. Super puffy.
And I'm ready. to roll it into balls.
Oh, my gosh, this is the softest,
most luxurious dough of all time.
I'll lob off a piece of it.
And then stretch it into a ball by tucking the ends under.
So I have a smooth top surface.
And then I'll roll it around in my hand a little bit
to help the top get really smooth.
And also smooth out the bottom seam.
And then place it into my sheet pan here.
This is a quarter sheet pan, which is the perfect size to fit all the balls.
And then when they rise and puff up in the oven,
they'll kiss to get that signature Hawaiian roll look.
I'll nestle this right in.
I'll keep on shaping my buns and then cover them up
and let them proof until puffy.
I'll slap on an egg wash and some flaky salt
and then bake them at 350 degrees
for about 20 minutes, until they're golden.
Holy golden sweetness.
It smells good in here.
Let me check on my buns.
[exclaims in excitement] They're so shiny.
I'll let these cool for a bit while I make my sausage.
This is a super flavorful, sweet, smoky, fatty sausage.
I'm starting with two pounds of ground pork,
which I'll season with two teaspoon of kosher salt.
For its signature sweetness, I'll splash in quarter cup of maple syrup.
Two teaspoon each of dried sage.
Sweet paprika for that smokiness.
Dried thyme. Fennel.
Get those licoricey notes.
There's gonna be so much flavor in this sausage.
A teaspoon of onion powder.
A bit of nutmeg for warmth.
Deep breath...
and mix.
Breakfast sausage might be one of my favorite meats of all time.
I love you, sausage.
I'll eyeball a portion of this that is a little bit larger than a golf ball.
And then I'll smash it super thin.
My skillet is heating here at medium high heat.
I don't need to add any oil since there's so much fat in the pork.
I'll gently place this in.
And that is the sound you wanna hear first thing in the morning.
I'll make a few more.
And they don't have to be perfectly round.
I like those crispy edges.
I'll cook these for a few minutes per side
over medium high until they're golden.
And then I'll top with cheese.
Well, I'm starting to smell that maple syrup.
Oh, yeah. I like how sausage gets kind of craggily.
So you get some crispy moments
and then some just straight up, meaty moments.
Yum!
As these finish up cooking, I'll get the cheese.
I'm using American cheese
because it's the quintessential breakfast sandwich cheese.
And the quintessential kid cheese.
And the meltiest of the cheeses.
This is gonna melt right onto the sausage.
And cloak it in cheesiness.
Just like a cheeseburger.
These are so super-duper melty.
I'll get them out of the pan.
I got my cute paper.
I'll slice open a bun.
Oh, these are so soft.
And a sausage patty.
Oh, it's so melty.
And now, what I like to do is wrap it up.
So that everything can seem together.
The bread gets a little softer,
and then you really feel like you're at the fast food place.
Oh, yeah.
Doesn't that look authentic?
Yum.
Here we go.
Mmm.
That bun is so soft and the sausage is perfectly spiced.
Breakfast pal, I love you.
[biting and munching noise]
Still to come...
The trick to getting your kiddos to eat all of their spinach.
And then ask for even more.
I know.
For a fun, colorful, sneaky brunch side
that'll have your kids gobbling up the nutrients,
I'm making my spinach cookies.
Which are green and cheesy,
obviously not your typical sweet cookie.
More of a veggie patty.
But with kids, it's all about the marketing.
I'm starting with one block of frozen spinach that I thawed.
And I'll press out as much moisture as I can from it.
I'll add it to my big bowl,
and then I'll combine this with a bunch of flavors
that make spinach taste so good.
Some scallions and garlic that I just cooked down on my skillet.
Half a cup of grated Parmesan.
For saltiness, umami.
A half cup of ricotta cheese.
It's creamy, and it'll help everything bind together.
Two ounces of crumbled feta.
Spinach and feta, never been better.
The zest of half a lemon.
Always gotta have lemon with spinach.
It brings it to life.
Some kosher salt.
Black pepper.
There is so much flavor in these cookies.
A bunch of parsley for more greenery.
A couple of eggs will help the cookies stay together.
And then two thirds of a cup of breadcrumbs
will help them bind and hold their shape.
I'll mix this all together and make my cookie dough.
And I'll just stir until it holds its shape.
So my mom tells me that she used to make spinach cookies when I was growing up.
I don't really remember them.
She made them for Bernie about a year ago,
and they kind of rang a bell.
But I really liked them. So, now I make 'em.
Once it's all mixed together,
and you can tell that it'll stick together when you form a ball,
I'll dish up balls. About the size of golf balls.
I'll roll it until it's smooth and then flatten it slightly.
These won't really spread or anything in the oven.
And stick it on to my baking sheet.
I can hear Ira saying it already.
She calls everything "cookie."
Whether it's a cookie or a cake or a muffin,
all sweet things are cookies.
I guess this will be your first savory cookie.
Now I'll keep on rolling and then bake these at 400 degrees for 16 minutes.
Time to check on my cookies.
Oh, they smell so good.
I can smell that feta and the Parmesan.
I'll plate these up.
This would be a great party appetizer
or a treat for a green-themed birthday party.
They need a dipping sauce. Let me get some ranch.
You can go with anything creamy and cooling.
I'm ready for a cookie.
Mmm.
Those are so flavorful and cheesy and a little chewy.
Dang, you don't need a library card to check these out.
Let's eat.