Breakfast

Dried Cherry, Almond and White Chocolate Cream Scones

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Scones.  Glorious scones!  Way better than muffins and not much more work.  In some ways I think they’re actually easier than muffins, I never liked cleaning muffin tins.  Scones are also easily adaptable.  These scones are full of goodies, but a simple scone with nothing in it is amazing when spread with a little jam or truly and simply plain.  If you’ve never tried to make scones, please do yourself a favor and make a batch of these!  You’ll be amazed at how easy they are and how amazing they taste. cherry-almond-scones-1 This is yet another recipe courtesy of my current favorite cookbook, America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.  I took the basic recipe and added in dried cherries, sliced almonds and white chocolate chips.  I also brushed the tops with a little cream and sprinkled them with a little sugar.  I would’ve liked to have used coarse sugar but couldn’t seem to find mine, probably a sign I need to do some pantry organizing. cherry-almond-scones-4 In the recipe they recommend forming the circle in a cake pan, then turning it out before slicing into wedges.  What a wonderful idea!  It keeps it perfectly shaped and makes for beautiful scones.  But you can achieve equally tasty and lovely scones by free forming your disc.  I like to use a pizza cutter to cut the scones, but a bench scraper or large knife will do just fine. Like I said before, make these with what you like or have on hand to make them your own and experiment to find a combination that you really love.  Replace the cherries with your favorite dried fruit, the almonds with pecans, or walnuts, and leave out the chocolate altogether or use dark or milk chocolate chips.  Be careful not to load too much into these, though.  I used a total of 1 cup of additional ingredients and I wouldn’t go much heavier on the mix-ins than that.  As with biscuits, don’t over mix or over work the dough.  Mix and knead just until it holds together.  Overworking will yield a dense scone that doesn’t rise as well. cherry-almond-scones-2 I do have to warn you about these.  I photographed them while they were still warm and had a few bites of this one.  A few bites turned into me eating the entire thing.  And I loved every minute of it.  So make sure to exercise some self control and don’t eat all of them yourself!  Or do.  Just call it “research” or “quality control”. cherry-almond-scones-3

Dried Cherry, Almond and White Chocolate Cream Scones

Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook Ingredients

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour, plus more for the counter
  • 3 tablespoons sugar. plus a little for sprinkling
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 5 tablespoons butter, cold,  cut into chunks
  • 1/2 cup dried cherries
  • 1/4 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
  • 1 cup heavy cream, plus a little extra for brushing
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
  2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in the food processor.  Pulse a few times to combine.
  3. Add the butter chunks and pulse until the mixture is coarse like sand with some larger pieces of butter.
  4. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and add the cherries, almonds and chocolate chips, then add the cream and the almond extract.  Mix with a rubber spatula until the mixture just comes together.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead the dough until it comes together.  Press into 9-inch cake pan or free form the dough into a 9-inch disk.
  6. Turn dough out again (if you used a cake pan) onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.
  7. With a pizza cutter or other cutting tool, cut the disk into 8 triangles, separating them from each other a little.
  8. Brush with a little cream and sprinkle with a little sugar (or coarse sugar if you have some).
  9. Bake for about 15 minutes, until tops are light brown.
  10. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Basic Cream Biscuits

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As I declared recently I am on a mission to be a master biscuit maker.  So today I am stating with a basic biscuit recipe, the cream biscuit.

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The ingredients are simple and you probably have all but the heavy cream right now.  Maybe you have the cream if you’re an avid baker or you drink cream in your coffee, or you just have a kitchen that’s ready for anything!  I had to go out and buy some cream to make these biscuits, but I had everything else, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  That’s all you need.  And from start to finish these only take about 25 minutes!  What could be better than a quick, simple and delicious biscuit?

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Everyone wants a tender biscuit.  So, as I began making these biscuits I was very conscious of a tip I’ve heard and read many times regarding biscuit making, DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH.  So I mixed it up just until it held together, and I kneaded it just enough so that I could easily pat it together to cut from.  After cutting three 2 1/2 inch biscuits from my first round of dough I was a little scared to bring the scraps together to cut from, so I dealt with them very gently.  The result was a less uniform biscuit, but one that still tasted amazing!  The lesson I learned from this was to make sure you get as many biscuits from your first round of dough as possible to get as many beautiful biscuits as you can.

I was also shooting for tall biscuits, so I patted the dough out a little thicker than the recipe states, about 1 inch thick.  This led to fewer total biscuits, 6 instead of the 8 the recipe states you’ll get from the recipe.

The biscuits fill your house with an amazing and rich aroma as they bake.  It’s so delicious that you can’t help but take a bite of one of these as soon as they’re cool enough to eat.  And that, of course, is they best time to eat them, when they’re nice and warm.  If you make these ahead of time, you can warm them in a low oven before eating.  You can also cut the rounds of dough, place them on the cookie sheet, then cover them and refrigerate for up to 2 hours before baking.

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Enjoy these with butter and jam, the simpler the better in my opinion.  However, I do plan to use some of the leftover biscuits to make breakfast sandwiches this weekend.

Basic Cream Biscuits

From America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Makes 6-8 biscuits, depending on the cutter

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Directions

  1.  Preheat oven to 450°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
  3. Make a well in the center and add the cream.  Mix gently with a wooden spoon until just combined.
  4. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead just until dough comes together.
  5. Pat into a round about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.  Using a 2 or 2 1/2 inch cutter, press straight down without twisting to cut each biscuit.  Place on the baking sheet and continue cutting.
  6. Gather scraps together and cut as many more as you can.
  7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until tops are golden.

Cranberry Coconut Muffins

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Happy Friday!  Just have to point out that this is my 3rd post of the week!  I don’t anticipate every week being this productive, but I am glad to start the year off tackling some of my blogging goals.  Now for a yummy, fast and simple recipe for your weekend…crancoconutmuffin2

With half a bag of cranberries still in my fridge, and some ideas brewing for what to do to this muffin recipe, I whipped these up during nap time.  Using pineapple juice in the last muffins led me to the thought of coconut and I just so happened to have both coconut oil and coconut milk in my pantry.  Just like last time I wished I’d had a can of crushed pineapple to add in.  Maybe I’ll get around to making a tropical cranberry muffin one of these days.  But that would involve me buying another bag of cranberries and then having leftovers after making the muffins which would then require me to make something else with cranberries.  I might have to put it on hold until next holiday season.  I might be muffin-ed out.

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I’ve sung the praises of coconut oil before.  This zucchini bread is one of my favorite things.  Coconut oil behaves pretty much the same as oil and butter in a baked good.  But it’s rock hard at temps at which vegetable oil is liquid and butter is spreadable.  It remains solid until is reaches temperatures above 76°F.  I warmed it in the microwave before using it in this recipe.  I keep muffins and breads in the fridge unless I know they’re going to be eaten within a couple of days to keep them from going bad.  With the coconut oil in the muffins they come out of the fridge very hard.  A quick warm up in the microwave and they become nice and soft and ready to devour.  I found some great information on this blog about using coconut oil and its health benefits.  I’d never thought about cutting in to pastry dough!

Coconut is a main and noticeable ingredient in these muffins.  There’s coconut oil, milk and flakes.  So the coconut averse may not be into these.  If you do want the benefits of the coconut oil, just sub milk or buttermilk and leave out the coconut flakes.  The coconut oil alone shouldn’t make a coconut hater turn up their nose, but I don’t find coconut oil alone to be too coconutty, especially after being baked into something.  Correct me if I am wrong!

On another note, I got this wonderful spreader for Christmas from my mother-in-law.  “No such things as too much butter” is definitely something I find to be true.  You can get your own at For Such a Time Designs on Etsy.  She hand stamps pieces of flatware and I’ve been perusing her site quite a bit lately.  Check her out!

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Coconut Cranberry Muffins

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed to liquid
  • 3/4 cup lite coconut milk, shake the can before opening and measuring
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Grease and sugar a 12-cup muffin tin.
  3. Combine flour, powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
  4. Beat sugar and coconut oil until combined, then beat in coconut milk and egg.
  5. Add flour mixture to the liquid ingredients and mix just to combine.
  6. Fold in the cranberries and flaked coconut.
  7. Divide batter equally among the cups.  Sprinkle with raw sugar or flaked coconut.
  8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Cranberry Pineapple Muffins

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Happy New Year! Can I still say Happy New Year a week into it?  I think so.  One of the things I want to do in 2014 is to blog more here on Hottie Biscotti.  I did a photo a day project on the Baby Z blog in 2013 and love that it gave me a purpose in blogging and a goal to achieve for the year.  I have a lot of ideas for this blog; weekly recipes, cookbooks to cook through, kid friendly meals, dinners for busy moms/dads, vegetarian meals, and a few others.  But I know that if I say I’m going to do all of that I will be overwhelmed, will start to get my priorities out of order, end up disappointing myself and not be a good wife, mom and friend.  So I’m just going to set a goal of blogging once a week.  Maybe I’ll start some series, maybe I’ll blog more than once in a week, maybe I’ll end up cooking more out of my library of cookbooks.  But if I don’t, and all I have is 52 blog posts in 2014, I can say I’ve accomplished my goal.

Anyone else out there buy a bag of fresh cranberries over the holidays and find themselves with an unopened bag of them in need of being used?  Anyone?  I did.

cranberry-pineapple

Of course what I found when I searched for “cranberry muffins” were a bunch of recipes involving orange juice and orange zest.  I know cranberry and orange are good together.  But I’m not super crazy about the combination.  And I never have orange juice around.  I took this muffin recipe, used pineapple juice instead of orange, used up some of my cranberries, and wound up with a tasty batch of muffins.

cranberry-pineapple-muffins

I really loved the pineapple juice in these.  They smell spectacular and taste wonderful, especially warm with a little spread of butter.  The cranberries are perfectly tart and give a beautiful pop of color.  I think a small can of drained, crushed pineapple mixed in would make them phenomenal.  Now that I’m thinking about it, I will probably make these again with some other add ins…stay tuned.

These come together quickly and have a super simple ingredient list.  If you don’t have juice, I think you could get away with milk or buttermilk instead.  Blueberries, strawberries or raspberries would be great if you have some around.  Happy baking!

Cranberry Pineapple Muffins

From allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 6 ounces pineapple juice (1 small can)
  • 1 heaping cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Grease and sugar a 12-cup muffin tin.  Set aside.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
  3. In a large bowl whisk oil and sugar together until light in color.  Beat in egg, then pineapple juice.
  4. Stir flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined, then fold in cranberries.
  5. Divide evenly among the muffin cups.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until tops are lightly browned.

 

Carrot and Coconut Scones

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During my first sit down with this cookbook from Baked I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it.  Two (plus) years later and I’ve finally gotten around to it!  I am glad I did.  While these little gems were baking my house smelled incredible and I was instantly in a better mood.  Baking does that to me a lot of the time, but there was something about the sweet carrot, toasting oats and coconut that was more magical than usual.  We all have a special thing that makes a bad day better, and baking (and the promise of something delicious) is mine.

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I put off making these most recently because of the ingredient “carrot puree” and the extra step of making it.  Turns out it’s one of the easier parts of the recipe and should not deter you.  It will make a mess of your microwave, so next time I might try it on the stove top.  Also, don’t worry about it being super duper smooth.  Mine was a little chunky and it worked out fine.  I used baby carrots, about a handful, and had no issues.  I pureed them in my mini food processor, and think a stick blender might be a better choice.  Looking into getting one of those…

As with all scones, you don’t want to overwork the dough.  And if you don’t overwork the dough, the dough will be delicate, so be careful when transferring it to the baking pan.  Use a wide rigid spatula to move them so they don’t fall apart.

carrotcoconutscones

Scones are best the day they’re made.  Day 2 or 3 is still ok, especially after a nice warm up in the microwave or quick toast in the oven and with a nice smear of softened butter.  Day 4, you’re about to cross the line into hard as a rock and inedible.  I kept mine in a sealed container in the fridge after the first day and we ate them in a few days with the exception of one scone who was sadly tossed out.  You could easily freeze these and warm them up one at a time or warm the entire batch for company.  If you do freeze them, glaze them just before serving.  Enjoy!

Carrot and Coconut Scones

Courtesy of Baked Explorations

Makes 8 scones

Ingredients

Carrot Puree

  • 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into chunks (or a handful, 6-8, baby carrots)
  • 1/4 cup orange juice

Scones

  • 2 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 cup buttermilk
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup carrot puree
  • 1 egg white, beaten (for egg wash)

Citrus Glaze

  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons orange juice
  • 1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Carrot Puree

  1. Place the carrot and the orange juice in a medium microwave safe bowl, cover and microwave for 5 minutes on high.  Check that carrot is fork tender.  If it’s not, microwave for 30 second intervals until it is.
  2. Blend the carrot and orange juice until smooth and set aside.

Scones

  1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Line a baking sheet with parchment.
  2. Whisk together flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, salt and coconut in a large bowl.
  3. Add the butter and use your fingertips to work it into the flour until the butter is pea sized and the mixture is coarse, not worked too much.
  4. In another bowl, whisk the egg, buttermilk, vanilla and carrot puree.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until the dough just comes together.  Turn it once in the bowl and knead gently once or twice to bring it together.  Be careful not to overwork the dough!
  5. Lightly sprinkle a clean surface with flour and turn the dough out of the bowl.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour if it looks sticky.  Flatten the dough into a disk about 1 3/4 inches high.
  6. Cut the disk like a pizza into 8 slices and transfer the scones to the parchment lined baking sheet.
  7. Whisk egg white with  1 tablespoon of water and brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes, rotate baking sheet after 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops are slightly browned.
  9. Cool scones completely on a wire rack.

Glaze

  1. Sift powdered sugar (to get rid of any lumps) into a bowl, then whisk in the juices until smooth.
  2. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled scones and allow it to set before serving.

Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts

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I gave in and bought a donut pan.  It was 30% off at Sur la Table.  How was I supposed to resist?  It’s just this simple one from Wilton and will only set you back $10.

I’ve made fried cake donuts a couple of times, but frying makes such a mess.  The worst part, in my opinion, is dealing with the oil afterward. Baking donuts eliminates the mess AND makes you feel a little bit better about eating the donut.  I must admit something, though.  And it should come as no surprise.  They’re not as good as fried.  Frying gives such a lovely crunch to the exterior that you just cannot duplicate in the oven.  They are still good, just not as good.

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Originally I tried the recipe printed on the wrapping of the pan for basic baked donuts.  They looked lovely, especially after a good coating of powdered or cinnamon sugar.  But they weren’t fantastic.  They were dry, crumbly and close to tasteless.  So I went on the search for a moister cake donut recipe and found this one for sour cream blueberry donuts.  I adapted it a little and turned it into an apple cinnamon sour cream donut.  The kids and I have been reheating and enjoying these for breakfast, but they really are best the day they’re made.  They are super moist and the grated apple provides just a little texture.

This recipe makes about 10 donuts.  Be careful not to overfill your pan because you will have half donut, half muffin top type things.  I tried both brown sugar and white sugar with the recipe below.  Not a huge difference, but I did prefer the white sugar.  I also tried more sour cream and less applesauce, and liked the variation with more applesauce thinking it added more apple-ness to the final product. Definitely do use a plastic bag to pipe the batter into the pan.  You’ll have a mess on your hands otherwise.  Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Baked Donuts

Adapted from Baked Blueberry Donuts

Makes 10 donuts

Ingredients

  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup sour cream (regular or low fat)
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 1 small apple, peeled and shredded with a large grater, then pressed between paper towels to reduce moisture

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 6 cavity donut pan with nonstick spray.
  2. Whisk together the flour, soda, powder, salt and cinnamon in a small bowl.
  3. Whisk the sour cream, applesauce, sugar, egg and vanilla in another bowl.
  4. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.  Fold in the apple gently.
  5. Transfer batter to a large zip top bag and cut off a small corner.  Fill the each donut cavity just over half way.
  6. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until donut springs back when pressed with your finger.
  7. Cool for 2 minutes in the pan, then move to a rack to cool completely.
  8. Grease pan again and bake the rest of the donuts.
  9. Finish with a simple powdered sugar glaze, toss in powdered sugar or dip into melted butter and then toss in cinnamon sugar.

Coconut Oil Zucchini Bread

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Me and coconut oil became fast friends once we finally got around to meeting each other.  I’ve only used it in baked goods so far, but have plans to deepen my relationship with coconut oil by using it in my morning smoothie and as a substitute for vegetable or canola oil in stir fry.  And as you probably know by now, there are like a million other uses for this trendy cooking oil.

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This zucchini bread was a hit, which was a total relief.  When I poured (scooped) the batter into the pans I was worried about it.  Coconut oil just has a different consistency and doesn’t create the same textured batter as vegetable oil does.  It’s thicker and doesn’t fill the pans on its own, it needs some help into the corners.  This being my first time using coconut oil in a quick bread, I wasn’t confident that it would come out well.  If you have the same concern, no need to worry!  The loaf does end up being on the short side, but the texture is nice and while it is dense it isn’t heavy.  The zucchini isn’t overwhelmed by the coconut, which is rather mild.  If you really like and want a more distinct coconut flavor, then add some flaked sweetened or unsweetened coconut to the batter.  Some crushed pineapple might not be a bad idea either…

I have an undying love for pecans, so that is what I used, but you can use walnuts or leave the nuts out altogether.  If you really want to go tropical, use macadamia nuts.  Yum.

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White whole wheat flour isn’t always a great substitute for all purpose, but it worked well here.  White whole wheat flour does have more texture than all purpose, so when I tried it in a pound cake a while back it wasn’t great.  I’d imagine it would work in banana bread, though.  White whole wheat flour apparently has the same health benefits of whole wheat flour, but without the stuff that gives whole wheat flour its strong flavor and darker color.  I don’t know the proper terms for all of that or the reason behind it all, but I do know that when I can sneak good stuff into my baked goods without it changing the texture or flavor too much, I am on board.  It’s all about lessening the guilt, am I right?  I have the same mentality with the coconut oil.  How can a slice of bread made with coconut oil, white whole wheat flour, and zucchini be BAD for me?  It can’t.  What sugar?  It all cancels out…  So I’ll go ahead and eat another slice smothered in butter.  Eat up and enjoy!

Coconut Oil Zucchini Bread

Adapted from Mom’s Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

  • 3 cups white whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup coconut oil, softened if needed
  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3 cups shredded zucchini, drained on paper towels for 10-15 minutes
  • 1 cup toasted pecans, cooled to room temp

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Grease and sugar two loaf pans.
  3. Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a medium sized bowl.
  4. Combine coconut oil and sugar and whisk well.  Add in eggs, one at a time until thoroughly combined.  Whisk in vanilla.
  5. Fold flour into the coconut oil mixture until just combined, then fold in zucchini and pecans.
  6. Divide batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 45 minutes to an hour.  Check bread at 45 by inserting a toothpick into the center.  If it comes out clean, then your bread is done.  If it’s gooey, bake for another 10, then check again.  Mine baked for close to an hour.

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

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When berries of any kind are in abundance and being sold for cheap I grab them up.  Last week I bought 2 pounds of blueberries for something like $2.  I’ll eat them by the handful, put them in my yogurt, and in salads.  Betsy likes them, too.  When half the container was gone I decided to do something a little more exciting with them and made this cake that I’d had bookmarked in my Fine Cooking magazine for the past 2 weeks.  Thanks to Sarah who helped me get it done after overestimating my ability to tackle 5 things at once.

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This was super simple and beautiful.  You could easily serve this at a brunch for guests as a lovely alternative to blueberry muffins.  It’s delicious for breakfast, but also a nice evening dessert served with a little ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.  To keep the berries from sinking to the bottom, toss them in a little flour after rinsing and patting them dry.  Enjoy!

Blueberry-Breakfast-Cake

Blueberry Breakfast Cake

From Fine Cooking, Issue 124

Ingredients

  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
  • powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Grease a 9 inch springform pan with shortening or butter.
  3. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  In a small bowl whisk cooled butter, milk, eggs and vanilla.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until just combined, do not overmix.
  5. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with a spoonful of flour, then fold the blueberries gently into the batter.
  6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly.
  7. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top is browned and a toothpick insterted into the center comes out clean.
  8. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and let cool on the rack.  Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Healthy Banana & Oat Breakfast Cookies with Cranberries and Nuts

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I don’t really cook anything for Carson that has no added sugars or is made with only whole grains.  I don’t get locally grown organic fruits and vegetables at the farmers market.  I don’t say “no” to fast food.  I’m not anti health food and I don’t roll my eyes at people who do those things.  I make sure Carson gets fruits and veggies every day.  I don’t let the child skip dinner and then get cookies before bed.  I’m not unconcerned with healthy eating, I’m just not overly concerned with it.  But, if I see something that looks easy and healthy for my kids I will try it.  And that is what led me to try these cookies.

When I saw these cookies on Pinterest I thought, “What a simple recipe!  This person says they’re awesome!  So they must be!”  A couple of mashed bananas, oats and nuts.  No added sugar.  No butter or shortening.  I gave them a shot.  These are advertised as “cookies”.  Sorry.  They’re not cookies.  Not cookies as I know them.  I like sugar and butter, and I think they have their place.  And that place is in cookies.  So when I ate one of these after they came out of the oven I was really disappointed.  Not because they were bad, they just weren’t cookies.  I don’t know why I thought they’d taste like anything other than banana, oats and nuts.  Maybe because I fell victim to another Pinterest post and its false promises.  If there is one thing Pinterest has taught me it is to be skeptical.  And that the options for IKEA furniture are endless.  I gave one of the cookies to Carson.  He took one bite, took the bite out of his mouth and left it all on the table.  Fail.

I packed them in a tupperware after they had cooled and stashed them in the freezer because I cannot throw food away.  It almost physically hurts me to do it.  The next morning I saw them in the freezer and thought I’d try one again.  I took one out and microwaved it for 15 seconds.  It was surprisingly tasty, and a really perfect breakfast cookie.  Not too sweet.  Full of hearty oats.  Nuts for protein.  Cranberries for tartness.  A touch of cinnamon.  I ate these for breakfast the rest of the week.

So these didn’t turn out to be a great toddler cookies (not for my toddler anyway) but I enjoyed them after accepting that they were not sweet dessert cookies.  These are breakfast cookies, and a couple of them with a cup of coffee and some fruit made for a lovely start to the day.

Banana & Oat Breakfast Cookies

From Skinnytaste

Makes 12-18

Ingredients

  • 2 medium semi ripe bananas
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup roughly chopped nuts
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup cranberries (or other dried fruit)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F
  2. Mash bananas until smooth.
  3. Mix in oats, cinnamon, nuts and fruit.
  4. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
  5. Bake for 15 minutes.

 

My Favorite Granola

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Granola is one of those foods I often see on lists with titles like, “Foods you Thought Were Good for You!”  And I guess it’s true that many store bought granolas are full of sugar and other not-too-healthy ingredients.  But if you make your own, then you have control over what goes into it.  I’m not saying this is perfect health food or that it is “good for you”.  But I do know that it is delicious.

This is my favorite granola.  I brought a bag of it to Christmas with my family this year and everyone loved it.  I’m pretty sure it was gone in just a couple of days.  You can change the nuts and fruits in this to personalize it to your taste.  If you like chocolate in yours, I’d suggest dark or semi sweet chips.  My favorite combination is pecans, almonds, pumpkin seeds, cranberries, cherries and blueberries.

granola

I like to eat this granola on top of some plain yogurt.  Or I’ll mix a couple spoonfuls of it in with my Kashi cereal to make things a little more interesting.

This recipe came from a Bon Appetit magazine, probably 5 or 6 years ago.  Since I started making it I’ve changed some things, but one thing I haven’t changed is the special instruction to store it in the freezer.  By doing this the moisture from the fruit doesn’t soften the granola.  I’ve never not done this.  When I’m bringing the granola somewhere I keep the granola and the fruit separate until I find a freezer.  If you’re brave enough to try storing it at room temp, let me know how it goes.  Enjoy!

My Favorite Granola

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients

  • 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2-1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans
  • 1/2 cup roughly chopped almonds
  • 1/2 cup green pumpkin seeds
  • 1 cup dried cherries
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup dried blueberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F.
  2. Stir together oats, coconut, oil, sugar, honey,  cinnamon, salt and nuts in a large bowl.
  3. Spread mixture evenly on a large rimmed baking pan.  Bake, stirring occasionally, until golden, between 25 and 30 minutes.  Watch carefully after 20 minutes.  You do not want it to get too dark.
  4. Remove the granola from the oven and set the pan on a rack to cool, the granola will be soft.  It will harden up as it cools.
  5. After it is cool, stir in the fruit.  Store in a sealed container in the freezer.
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