Almond Granola Bars

These granolas are chewy and tasty.  I really like the texture of these. They are not very sweet.  If you wish them to be sweeter add sugar or honey.  I don't mind them less sweet, really.  My one daughter loves them for breakfast.  My other daughter does not like them as much because they are not sweet enough.

Package them all up and ship them off in your kids lunches. Or grab one to go on the way to work.  They are something substantial for you to eat and are good for you.


 

I like to wrap them in wax paper. You can use stickers to seal the paper.

Almond Granola Bars


2 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup shredded coconut, sweetened
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (optional
1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix dry ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips.  Mix in the milk and butter.  It will be hard to mix, very dry but keep going, it will come together.  If you need to add a couple tablespoons of milk that will help. About mid way through the mixing process add in the chocolate chips.

Spread out in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes.  Edges should be golden.

Flax Seed and Blueberry Granola Bars

Dehydrated blueberries are pretty pricey at the store.  I figured I'd give them a try.  Some things dehydrate well- apples, pineapple and bananas.  Blueberries, well, lets just say it had its challenges.  In the end it was worth it though.  I tucked most of it away for winter time munching and baking but saved a few to add to these bars.  The bars were sensational. I love the flax taste and the chewiness that the coconut adds.

I went a little wild and slathered some white chocolate on top, yah know, to get the kids to get my one daughter to eat them more.  My husband thought that was a fine idea and gobbled the rest of them up.  Gone!

Flax Seed and Blueberry Granola Bars

4 ounces butter
2 cups old fashioned oats
3/4 cup flax seed meal
1/2 cup coconut, flaked
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons blueberry honey (you could use whatever honey you like)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup dried blueberries
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350F.  Line and 8 x 8 baking sheet with parchment paper, extending it ove the sides.  Mix dry ingredients with egg white, set aside.  In a saucepan combine butter, honey and brown sugar.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and add to oat mixture.  Stir in vanilla.

Pour mixture into baking pan and bake for 30 minutes or until golden.  Cool on wire rack. Lift bars when cooled to cutting bars and cut into whatever size pieces you like.

Good for yah cookies!

Okay so maybe they are really not good for you but they do have enough healthy qualities to fool you into cookie submission and total abandonment of your disciplined senses. Really, these are quite an amazing cookie!

I orginally found the cookie on Chowhound, it's called Gross Anatomy Cookie. The author writes that after smelling the formaldehyde for quite some time, you get the muchies... You can read her complete story here. That caught my eye. Not for the cookie but because I hae been around cadavors and the smell of formaldehyde. And really this is as fine excuse as any to eat cookies.

No, I haven't gone off my rocker. I was around cadavors when going to college. I did look at their bodies inside and out. Simply amazing. The human body is just a magnificent machine. After working as a nurses aide and in hospitals and then later as a social worker in hospitals, you get this detachment thing going. I think you have to as a matter of survival- emotionally. Of course somebody always breaks through those barriers and reminds you as much as you want to deny or distract yourself from the cold realities of sickness and death, it does lurk near to you, like it or not. A patient comes along and rocks you to your core. You are reminded of being human. You cry. You feel for them. You can't do this for every one you see because you would lose your mind. Of course you have empathy and compassion because you are a humanitarian if you work in human services, but you don't take things down to a personal level where it touches your very core. At least not for the most part.

But I digress. I am just going to call these cookies 'Your a Damn Fool Cookie'. One because you are a fool if you think you can stop at one. Two, because you can fool yourself with these cookies thinking they are totally healthy. I changed things up a bit as I had run out of butter for some strange reason and subsituted with Earth Balance for four ounces of this recipe. I had to up the flour content because the dough seemed a bit loose. Of course you don't have to do that- you can just use two sticks of butter instead and then decrease the flour content a bit.

'Your a Damn Fool Cookie'

1 stick butter
4 ounces Earth Balance Butter
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 cup toasted wheat germ
2 c oats
1 c chocolate chips

In a large bowl or a stand mixer cream butter and sugars. Add eggs. In a sperate bowl combine dry ingredients adding them to the butter and sugar mixture. Fold in chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Let them cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Breakfast Oatmeal Power Bars

One of the things we face as parents is counter balancing popular culture. The kids are inundated with advertisements and messages constantly, 'buy this', 'wear this', 'act this way', 'say this'... It becomes more present as the kids get older, realizing that the world is bigger than the backyard. My husband and I want to raise children that realize that the world has far more to offer than what the T.V. does. For this reason, PBS is primarily the only station we watch. We try to keep the focus on what money can not buy rather than what it can.

School lunches are no exception to this inundation. You know, all the kids at school have cool snacks with cartoons on their yogurt cartons and other special, cool packaging. I only hope that one day they will realize that homemade beats out manufactured almost anyday. Not that some of that is okay because it does have its place. So I took extra special care and wrapped each granola with some deli wrap paper and placed a sticker on the outside. Yes, I know these are religious stickers but that's only because there uncle had been collecting all the stickers he could find for them. (Some of them had Harry Potter) They came in handy. They held the wrapper on quite nicely.

Breakfast Oatmeal Power Bars
Lori's Lipsmacking Goodness

4 ounces butter, unsalted, room temp
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons Lyle's Golden Syrup or corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 2/3 cup quick or rolled oats
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, hulled (pepitas)
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
1/4 cup coconut, preferrably unsweetened

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 13 x 9 pan with parchment paper and butter the paper.

In a bowl combine oats, apricots, cranberries, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and coconut. In a heavy bottomed saucepan combine butter, brown sugar, syrup and salt. Heat until all the butter is melted and everything begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour into dry ingredients, stirring until everything is moistened and combined. Press into the 13 x 9 pan. Press down with a back of a rubber spatula, evening out the mixture. Bake the mixture for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and score into bars. Let cool completely and finish cutting into bars.

*I went through all that trouble you know of wrapping them and they didnt liek the little bits of fruit in them. Good gats. So I did this same recipe, omitting all the fruit and nuts, keeping the coconut and adding 1 cup of chocolate chips. They were yummy. Gone, in a flash.

Whopper in Progress

I saw this recipe for a cookie called a whopper. The original recipe began here. I put it all together and was excited about a healthy cookie that was also gluten free. I could share it with others if it was a good one. But alas, it was tastey, but extremely crumbly. In the end I think I figured out why.

Here's the progression.

First batch of cookies were crumbly so I added 1 cup of flour to the remaining dough.

They had better texture but still were crumbly.

Then it dawned on me that the melted butter may have had something to do with it. (If you are gluten free you may want to make this recipe without the flour because I think the butter was the true culprit.)

This time they came out WAY better. Tastey, pretty healthy, and most importantly- cohesive. ahhhh.

Whopper (adjusted)

1 cup butter
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 white sugar
3 eggs, room temp
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups of Jif peanut butter
4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
2 cups oat bran
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 (12 oz) package chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter and sugars together. Add peanut butter, mix well. Add eggs one at a time. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and add to creamed mixture. Finally add raisins and chocolate chips. Place on greased baking sheet in large balls, flatten a little. Bake for fifteen minutes.

I am sending these yummy whopper of a cookie over to Click for their event. Click Cookies. Click on the announcement below to join in.

Sweet Maple Glazed Almond Drop Scones

I have said it before, You know you have a great cookbook when you keep book marking pages. It's a keeper.

When Crescent Dragonwagon dropped by my site to say "hey, I saw your broa and thought you might like to check out my book", I never expected to have the oohs and ahhs over a cookbook filled with corn meal recipes. I am not saying this for Crescent Dragonwagon's sake, I really loved this book, with so many wonderful recipe ideas and information surrounding corn (and other baking tips to boot), how could you go wrong?

Many of you think you don't like scones. Notice I said think. The reason I say this is that sometimes scones are incredibly dry. If you ever had the pleasure of eating a creamy scone you would never think of scones in a dry kind of way again. You would think creamy perfection. Near to a cake but not all the sweetness of a cake. These INCREDIBLE and I mean incredible scones, were everything I dream of in a scone. They had tons of flavor, great texture and they were oh so creamy. It was almost akin to eating pudding. The only caution I have is that, with all scone recipes, air on the side of under baked. This recipe calls for 10 to 15 minutes. I took them out at 10, against my better judgment. But I guess intuitively something in me knew this was the correct time (at least for my oven). They were just right.

I chose this recipe because we went to a sugar shack this past weekend. We have lots of maple trees here in the North Eastern United States and lots of maple producers. We took the girls and my parents. We had the best time. Here are some pics from our trip.

The girls checking out the collection.





Here is a little history that we learned this past weekend.
"The Native American Indians had been making sugar from the sweet sap of the maple tree for many years. From the journals of early explorers we know that the Native American Indians had a process for making maple sugar as early as 1609. There are many Indian legends about how maple sugar was first discovered. One Iroquois legend tells how Chief Woksis had thrown his tomahawk into a maple tree one late winter evening. After he removed it the following morning, the weather turned sunny and warm. Sap began to flow from the cut in the tree, and drip down into a container which was at the base of the tree. Chief Woksis's squaw used the sap to boil the meat for dinner. As the water in the sap boiled away, a wonderful, sweet maple taste was left with the meat.

Most likely the Native Americans discovered the sweetness of the maple tree by eating "sapsicles," the icicles of frozen maple sap that form from the end of a broken twig. As the ice forms, some of the water evaporates, leaving a sweet treat hanging from the tree." This quote taken from Massachusetts Maple

SWEET MAPLE-GLAZED ALMOND DROP SCONES
Recipe courtesy of the author, Crescent Dragonwagon
The Cornbread Gospels, by Crescent Dragonwagon Published by Workman Publishing * New York

vegetable oil cooking spray
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/2 cup stone ground cornmeal, preferably yellow
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon cold butter or vegetable shortening such as Crisco
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream (not fat free)
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
Maple Glaze (recipe follows)

1. Preheat over to 450F. Spray a baking sheet with oil and set aside.
2. Over a medium high heat, heat a cast iron skillet for 2-3 minutes. When it is good and hot, lower the heat slightly and add the almonds. Stirring almost constantly, toast the almonds until they become fragrant and turn golden, then immediately transfer them to a cutting board to cool slightly. Coarsely chop them.
3. Sift together into a large bowl the cornmeal, flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter or shortening until the mixture has the consistency of fine crumbs.
4. Whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, egg, vanilla and almond extracts in a medium bowl until smooth.. Pour this into the dry mixture, stirring with as few strokes as possible to just barely combine the wet and dry; stop while there are some dry clumps. Add the reserved almonds and give a few more stirs.
5. Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until golden, 10 to 15 minutes (you can make the glaze as the scones bake). Remove the scones from the oven and let cool, briefly on a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle the glaze over each scone, allowing the excess to drip onto the baking sheet. Serve warm. No butter is needed- these are rich enough.
Maple Glaze
enough for one batch of drop scones with a little bit left over.

1 1/3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
about 1/3 cup pure maple syrup, preferably grade B

Combine the sugar and extracts in a small bowl. Gradually begin stirring in the maple syrup; you want a consistency thin enough to be drizzled onto the scones and drip a little, but not so thin it all rolls away or is just absorbed into the scones.

Bench Notes: Honestly I would change nothing about this recipe, they were awesome. I think you will agree!

Rosemary Flatbread

Why is it that I have binders full of recipes? An expanding file full of recipes? A' to be filed' box of recipes? And a huge smattering of cookbooks. Why? AM I obsessed? You know I am beginning to think I have a problem. Besides Bloggers Anonymous, I will have to join Recipes Anonymous. But what the h--- would we talk about? The weather? Food is just far more interesting. So many things to talk about trends, techniques, ingredients, where to get produce, what restaurants are stellar... On and on it goes.

When I go to the gym, guess what the older ladies are talking about? Why, yes, it's food, how did you know? I am not alone in my obsession, but really do I need to have so many recipes? Or more importantly, why do I have so many recipes? Can you tell I was a psychotherapist in my professional life? Yup, I am analyzing again. So here is my theory.

Everyone's food always looks better than my own. AND. There is a better recipe on the horizon.

Great pie crust recipe? Why not see if this one is a little better, or a little easier.
Great chocolate cake recipe? Same thing again. And did you notice that Repressed Pastry Chef's chocolate cake was super popular on Tastespotting. Why? Not because we don't have a gazillion chocolate cake recipes in our archives both printed and unprinted but because we think we can find something better. I guess when all is said and done, is that such a bad thing? ~ Thinking we can find something better or easier. I guess it is the drive that has produced inventions, better products, new lands,and overall better lives.

Okay, so maybe I don't need Recipes Anonymous but merely a secretary!
ROSEMARY FLATBREAD
King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped, fresh rosemary
1 1/4 cups durum flour
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup water

Combine dry ingredients. Mix in olive oil and water. Knead until you have a firm dough. This takes about five minutes. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for an hour.

Preheat oven to 475F. Divide dough into eight segments. Take one piece and rewrap the dough to keep it from drying out. Shape the segment into a disk. Place on parchment. I use washed out cereal bags to roll out my dough. No extra flour is needed and it does not stick. Place the cereal bag over the dough. Roll it out until it as thin as possible. Remove teh plastic and spray with water, lightly. Add salt and seeds as desired. Transfer dough on parchment to a baking sheet. Bake until golden.

Molasses Rye Bread

We have a restaurant here locally called Bugaboo Creek. They serve this amazing bread there. Also, Outback Steakhouse has this bread as well. We do not go out to eat very much as I am a stay at home Mom. Why go out to eat when I am such a foodie and love to make things at home. Plus it is a tremendous cost savings!

Well this bread is tastey and has a sweet kind of taste to it. Don't use Blackstrap molasses for this, it's a little too strong. I divided the dough into four mini's or "torpedo" type mini's.

OUTBACK BREAD RECIPE
About.com recipe, click here

• 3 packages dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 2 cups rye flour
• 2-1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour

Soften yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Stir in sugar. Let stand 6 minutes or till bubbly.

Meanwhile in large mixing bowl combine 1 cup warm water with molasses, salt, oil, and rye flour. Beat to smooth batter. Add yeast water mixture, stirring to combine.

Work in all-purpose flour till dough is smooth and no longer sticky, very pliable and elastic. Knead a few minutes. Let rise till doubled in greased bowl. Punch down.

Shape into 2 large round loaves placed a few inches apart on greased and cornmeal dusted cookie sheet or fill 6 mini foil loaf pans, greased and dusted in cornmeal, with the dough, dividing it evenly between these little pans.

Either way let loaves rise till doubled in warm place. Bake large loaves 375 degrees F. about 30 minutes or till crust makes hollow sound when tapped with knuckles. For tiny loaves place pans on dry ungreased cookie sheets, a few inches apart. When doubled in size, bake at 375 degrees F. for 20 minutes.

The bread freezes beautifully.

Yield: 2 large loaves or 6 mini-loaves

I Think I Found the ONE!

I belong to a group called Spark People. It's a free service. I log in, put my fitness accomplishments on there and my daily intake log. It's a great site. Lots of information, articles, fitness information and motivational words. Oh, yes, and recipes.

That is where I found this beauty. Peanut Butter Muffins, can you believe it, a rich peanutty taste for only 134 calories per muffin. Oh, muffin, where have you been all my life? I am so glad I have found you. People I think my search for the perfect muffin is over. Between this and my oatmeal muffin, I am set.

Peanut Butter Muffins
Spark People Recipe

1/2 c simply Jif peanut butter
1/2 c nonfat milk*
1/2 c pureed banana (about 1 banana)
1 c whole wheat flour
1 egg white
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1/4 c brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350, spray 12 muffin tin with nonstick spray.
Mix peanut butter, banana, and sugar in large bowl. Add milk and egg white, mix. Add all dry ingredients and mix. Spoon into muffin tin and bake for 18-20 minutes til golden.

Number of Servings: 12
* I used milk instead of yogurt because the batter seemed really thick.

Muffins to Widdle down the Muffin Top

I am on a muffin kick. Why, because they are a way to satisfy my sweet tooth without eating something I shouldn't. They also make a great on the go breakfast. Eat one with 10 almonds and you have a nice satisfying breakfast that will stay with you a little while.

I will warn you that these are not that sweet. When you haven't been eating sugar you have a heightened sense of sweetness. If you want them sweeter just ad a 1/4 cup more of sugar.

Zucchini Muffins
Lipsmacking Goodness Original

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour or all purpose
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
zest of one lemon
1 egg
1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini (if frozen squeeze and use 1 cup squeezed)

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Combine wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients. Bake in a 350 F preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Calories 148 per muffin.

A Muffin, A Spot of Tea and a Good Cry

I was blog hopping tonite and I came upon this blog, Wonderings and Wanderings that had this video to share. It was pretty powerful for me and I wanted to share it with all of you. It is about Women and Friendships. A very moving vignette. Grab a cup of tea and a muffin (see below), find a few (five) moments to watch it, uninterupted. click here.

I am offering up this recipe to A Southern Grace's Cinnamon Event. Cinnamon, can you believe it? Ha. If you read her blog you know that she is an avid cinnamon fan. Hey Grace we could call you Cinnamon Girl (music fills my ears).

APPLE CINNAMON MUFFINS

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 heaping cup of chopped apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup skim milk
zest of an orange

Combine dry ingredients, set bowl aside. Combine wet ingredients and mix into the dry. Stir to combine. Pour into muffin tin. Bake at 350 F for about 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

BROWNED BUTTER OAT BARS

These are amazingly flavorful bars. And they are the kind of bar that you can fool yourself into thinking that their healthy. With 2 cups of oatmeal you can make up some good excuses why they are okay to eat when you are trying to lose weight. Just so you know, so far I have successfully avoided that trap. Of course they are only a few hours old. But seriously before I would have eaten at least two by now.

We have company coming tomorrow so there was a good excuse to make them and a good excuse why they need to leave the house tomorrow when my company leaves.

One thing you need to do when you make this recipe is that you really need to brown the butter. Don't just see it starting to turn and remove it from the heat, make sure it has turned golden, you know the color of butterscotch.

BROWNED BUTTER OAT BARS

2 cups oats
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup butterscotch chips

2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9 x 13 pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a bowl combine flour, oats, salt and baking soda. Set aside. Measure out brown sugar and set aside. In a large bowl place the butterscotch chips.

In a small sauce pan melt butter until it has browned, turning a deep golden color. It goes from golden to burnt quickly so keep an eye on it. Once it is done whisk it into the butterscotch chips, whisking until it is smooth. Add the brown sugar and then the vanilla. Finally whisk in the egg. Using a rubber spatula stir in half of the flour mixture, combine and add the remaining flour.

Spoon into pan, patting with the back of a rubber spatula to smooth out. Bake for about 20 minutes. The edges should be golden.


JUST try to eat one...

Graham Turkeys turn into Hello Dollies!

Grace from a Southern Grace made these creations called Hello Jollies. Check here to see her funny post. She has lots of funny posts actually. The girl has a great sense of humor. She so inspired me to make these!

I knew when I got home from grocery shopping that I forgot something. It was the graham crackers. I wasn't about to run out to the store, although it would have been a heck of a lot faster, so I made graham crackers. I have been wanting to make them homemade for a while. So here was my opportunity. I got online and I was visiting the people who have been visiting my blog when lo and behold, Maria, from Two Peas and Their Pod had a graham cracker recipe right there. It sounded good. I gathered the ingredients and decided to let my kids do some cut outs. Of course they love that kind of thing. We used a turkey cut out to be festive and made turkey graham crackers.

Then afterward I massacred them. I didn't let the kids see of course. I saved a few for them. They sure didn't mind the end result!

They were crushed into crumbs and then swirled in butter to create this yummy crust. for the Hello Dollies, I mean Jollies.



Graham Crackers
Two Peas and Their Pod

½ cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick cold butter, cut into small pieces
2 T honey
1 T molasses
¼ cup water, plus a little more if it is too dry

Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Cut in the butter until the texture is dry and crumbly.

In a small bowl, mix the honey, molasses, and water. Mix with the dry ingredients until blended in the food processor. Pulse the dough until it forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out onto a floured surface to 1/8 of an inch. Place them on an cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes or until they are golden brown and crisp. Store in an air tight container.

*The only thing I would change here is that I would add just a little bit more sugar, a half of a cup instead of a quarter. Other than that I wouldn't change a thing. They were very tastey and easy to handle.

And the bars.....hmmmm.

Hello Jollies
recipe from A Southern Grace

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs in an 8x8-inch pan. Mix well and pat down to form the crust. Evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut on top of the crust. Drizzle the sweetened condensed milk over the whole mixture.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the top becomes light brown.
Let cool in the pan for at least half an hour, in the fridge if necessary, and cut into reasonably-sized bars.

* I made two mistakes when I made these. First I used aluminum foil to cover the pan and man I could not peel that off. I had to cut in from the foil.

The other mistake I made is that I didnt put the coconut on last. Ooops.

NOT cardboad- but moist BRAN MUFFINS

You have never had a bran muffin until you have had these bran muffins. What they have in the stores doesn't even come close the this one. It's moist and tastey and nothing about it says cardboard, bran muffin!

The other amazing thing about these wonderful muffins is that you can keep them in battered form up to six weeks. At least that's what the recipe says. Mine never really last that long but I like the idea. I especially like the idea when we have company coming. I can mix it up and keep it in the fridge until company arrives. In the morning I just put them in the oven and by the time you get the table set, coffee on and newspaper opened, everyone is up smelling muffins baking- and they are ready! Presto primo muffins!


BRAN MUFFINS
These are not my original, just given to me on an index card.

15 ounce box Raisin Bran or bran flakes
1 cup raisins if you use plain bran flakes
2 cups sugar
5 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
4 cups buttermilk

Combine the first five ingredients, mixing together until large lumps remain. Add oil, eggs and buttermilk. Stir together well but do not over mix.

Place in a sealable plastic container in the refrigerator for at least overnite and up to six weeks.

When needed, scoop out the amount required and ladle batter into greased or sprayed muffin tins.

Bake at 350°F degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

WHEAT BREAD: this is light and airy

Have you ever tried something from someone's blog and have been horribly reminded that all those who have blogs dont necessarily have great baking skills (or tasting skills). I was reminded of that recently when I made something from someones site. They shall remain nameless. Its not any of you who I frequent often. It could have been me or maybe I made a mistake. Well, I just wanted to let you know that if I make something and I dont like it, I do not post it. I only post stuff that I think you will like too. In the event that you try something and dont like it, please let me know via email. Or if you have questions, please email me.

Now this recipe, who can go wrong with home made bread, really. Its a good one. It has a crispy crust with a nice crumb. It's light for a wheat bread and really has great flavor.

COUNTRY WHEAT BREAD
based on a recipe from Martha Stewarts, Christmas Cookbook

2 tablespoons honey
2 1/4 cups warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 cup sponge, pulled into small pieces (recipe below)
4 cups bread flour
1 1/4 cups rye flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons wheat germ
4 teaspoons salt

Combine a 1/4 cup water, yeast and honey in bowl of a mixer. Let stand ten minutes.

Add sponge combine one minute with paddle attachment.

Add remaining water, flours, salt and mix on low for two minutes. Switch to dough hook and mix for 8 minutes. Dough should be tacky.

Knead by hand ten minutes. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until double in bulk. SHould take one to two hours. Punch down and knead four times.

Let rise until double, about one hour. Divide into two loaves. I used a brotform for one (the one pictured) and shaped the other into a round. Let rise again about thirty minutes. Preheat oven to 450 F. Place an oven safe bowl with water into the oven or use a mister at the beginning of the baking process. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes.


Sponge

1 1/2 cups warm water
1/2 teaspoon yeast
3 1/2 cups bread flour

Combine in non reactive bowl. Mix two minutes. Leave for 24 hours on counter. Refrigerate remaining dough for up to one week.

A KISS AND HUG TO YOU ARGENTINA

Some day I would love to go to Buenos Aires. I have relatives there. Of course many of them do not know me. When my Grandmother, Rose, migrated to the US from Italy, her sister, Asunta, ended up in Buenos Aires. There was a quota and she was unable to get into the US. She settled there and raised her family. She and her family came once to see us. They were so cute! You could not go and take out the garbage without a kiss hello and goodbye. This is by no means an exageration. That is one thing that I think Italians and Spanish speaking peoples have in common: loving, demonstrative families.

This is one of those recipes that has been on my docket for quite some time. I guess I was put off by the number of components. Who knows. Oh so glad I made it. I made one for lunch without the roasted peppers for my friend and I to enjoy. I made the other half with roasted peppers for dinner. Frankly it really doesnt need the peppers but it is a nice touch. What really makes this "pizza" is the chimichurri.

Argentine Black Bean Flatbread with Chimichurri Drizzle
recipe adapted from Erin Mylroie for Cooking Light


Cooking Spray
1 tablespoon dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup warm water (100-110F)
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 13 1/2 ounces)
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups Black Bean Spread
1/2 cup (2 ounces) finely grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 roasted jalapeno
juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic

Preheat broiler. Slice pepper in three large slices; discard seeds and membranes. Place peppers on cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray, skin side up. Broil until blackened. Place in a paper bag or a saucepan with lid; seal or close lid as you add the charred peppers. Let stand until cool. The steam will help the skin seperate from the pepper. Peel and cut into 16 strips. Set aside.

Dissolve yeast and sugar in 1/2 cup warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup water, flour, and salt to yeast mixture, stirring until dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic- about 10 min. Place dough in a large covered bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place free from drafts., 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Place half of dough on a sprayed cookie sheet. Flatten and spread across cookie sheet. Repeat with other half of dough. Spread 1 1/2 cups Black Bean Spread over dough. Sprinkle with cheese. Place roasted peppers all around. Bake at 425F for 13 minutes on bottom rack of oven. Bake until crust browns around edges. Let cool 10 minutes. Enjoy.

Combine parsley and the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Drizzle parsley mixture over cheese. Cut bread into 16 squares; garnish each square with 1 bell pepper strip.

Yield: 16 servings- serving size 1 square


Black Bean Spread

1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion
1 (15-ounce) can 50%-less-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14.5-ounce) salsa of your choice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Yield: 3 cups

NO BAKE GRANOLA AND A MUSIC MEME

How great is no bake granola when it is steamy hot outside. THe last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. So here it is. Must warn you that it is so good you will not be able to stop eating it.

NO BAKE GRANOLA
Adapted from Taste of Home

1/2 cup brown sugar ( I leave it loose to cut back on the extra sugar)
1/2 cup peanut butter (you could do soy nut butter)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 cups quick cooking oats
1 tablespoons flax seed (toasted and ground)
1 1/2 cups brown rice cereal (crispy)
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Combine first three ingredients in a bowl, cover and place in microwave for about two minutes or until it boils. Take out and throw the remaining ingredients in the bowl. Mix thoroughly. Pat into a nine inch pan. Let cool. Cut into 12 bars.

Depending upon the amount of chips you use, they are about 225 Calories. Not bad for a nutritious sweet. Way Way Way better tasting than an energy bar. You can really play around with this. Like skip the chocolate and add craisins or dried bleberries. Oh the possibilities.

And now the music...

I can't get enough of this song. I heard it while driving one day. I was surprised it was Springstein. Not because of his sound but because I didnt know it. How did that happen. It can so lull me to sleep. I sit in front of my computer and rock back and forth. Very meditative.

The Girls in Their Summer Clothes

The next one here is one I have been listening to for about six months. I also find it to have a meditative quality. Again, it is one that is not played very much. Those tend to be the ones I like. It's a great one to listen to while you are driving.

Shut Your Eyes

This lady, I never tire of her. I just love her voice. She sounds like an angel. If you like her, and ever get the chance to see in her in concert, she is well worth the price of the ticket.

Scarborough Fair

Here's a classic. Wow has that much time gone by that you could call this a classic. This band has always been my favorite and I have been into rediscovering them lately.

Still Loving You

and this one, I love.

Send Me An Angel

And now this one I have been getting into with the kids. I have been playing all different kinds of music for them. Here they come, they heard the sound... too funny.

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

And this one... And yes I can do that little pop with my cheek. THe kids love that! My cheek gets so sore.

Lollipop

There you have it, pretty much my recent favs.

I name whoever would like to do this. I dont like to point fingers either for memes. If you want to do it, do it and then let me know.

SUGAR HIGH FRIDAY and Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...

Here I am baking again. I just cant help myself. When I saw Tartelette's Sugar High Friday I just had to join in on the fun. I love these events! If you have not had the pleasure of seeing Tartelette's site you must view it. You will salivate outragously. She has paired up with The Domestic Goddess to bring us all Sugar High Friday.

I wanted to use my fresh strawberries for my dessert but did not have enough lemons on hand to make a proper lemon cake. I decided to go with oranges as they are taking over my fridge. I also decided to go a little healthy as I have been making way too many desserts lately. I need more Zumba and less sugar.

ORANGE CAKE
adapted from King Arthur's Whole Grain Baking

Batter:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon orange zest (I zested the whole orange)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Glaze (I did not do this)

1/2 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 9" or 10" bundt pan. I used mini tart pans and mini muffin cups.

I am going to paraphrase here:
Cream butter and sugar in mixer. Add zest and eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla. Mix dry ingredients in a seperate bowl. Add to the butter mixture alternately with the milk. Pour batter into desired size pan. If you are doing a bundt, the baking time will be about 55 minutes.

STRAWBERRIES MACERATED in CURACAO

1/4 cup Curacao (Orange Liquor)
2 tablespoon sugar
4 pints strawberries, sliced

Combine Curacao and sugar. Pour over sliced strawberries and refrrigerate.
Spoon strawberries over orange cake and add a dollop of whipped cream!
(BTW... no my kids got the nonalcoholic version).

BREAKFAST A GO GO

Last winter I was on a mission to find the ultimate granola bar. I wanted something a little more chewy (although this one can be crunchy as well). I made countless granola bars ruling out the extreme fat ones as I wanted something with a little less fat than the average. A lot of recipes actually have a cup of butter. While finding many flavorful granolas, this is my granola of choice. I would love to credit the author of this recipe but did not write down my source. Since I have been blogging, when I find a recipe I like I now habitually credit the source.

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

GRANOLA BARS

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9 x 13.

In a large bowl mix all dry ingredients. Make a well and add wet ingredients. Mix well, I use a fork to mix. Using the back of a rubber spatula flatten granola into pan and smooth. Bake for 30-35 minutes until bars turn golden at the edges. Cool 5 minutes and cut into bars or squares. Do not allow them to dry completely as they will be very difficult to cut.

If you want more crunch , patiently smooth out in a baking sheet. I also have added another half batch and smoothed it out in a jelly roll pan.

You can add all kinds of mix in, cranberrys, almonds, marshmallows (minis), chocolate chips, the list goes on!

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake with Figs

It's Tuesday again with Dorie Greenspan. This week is a recipe that I probably would not have tried due to the ingredient list but low and behold it was an amazing cake that I thoroughly enjoyed. And would make again.

I divided my cake between a tartelette pan that I got in the mail the day before I made this. How's that for good timing? I also used a little spring form pan that I had.


The house was filled with an amazing aroma from the lemon zest as it was baking. I could hardly wait to try it. After it was done I could hardly resist one of the tartelettes. Oh my I loved it. It is sensational. I love the fact that it has nutritive value. This way I can rationalize it much easier. Okay so a Zumba class afterward was definitely called for.

Here is the recipe and I highly recommend it. I do not recommend the five inch springform. It browned too quickly and the center was not cooked. It was too thick, filled too much.

Now go and check out all the other blogs from Tuesday with Dorie.

Fluted Polenta and Ricotta Cake

About 16 moist, plump dried Mission or Kadota figs, stemmed

1 c. medium-grain polenta or yellow cornmeal

½ c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 c. ricotta

1/3 c. tepid water

¾ c. sugar

¾ c. honey (if you’re a real honey lover, use a full-flavored honey such as chestnut, pine, or buckwheat)

Grated zest of 1 lemon

2 large eggs

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 10 ½-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and put it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Check that the figs are, indeed, moist and plump. If they are the least bit hard, toss them into a small pan of boiling water and steep for a minute, then drain and pat dry. If the figs are large (bigger than a bite), snip them in half.

Whisk the polenta, flour, baking powder, and salt together.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the ricotta and water together on low speed until very smooth. With the mixer at medium speed, add the sugar, honey, and lemon zest and beat until light. Beat in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is smooth. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are fully incorporated. You’ll have a sleek, smooth, pourable batter.

Pour about one third of the batter into the pan and scatter over the figs. Pour in the rest of the batter, smooth the top with a rubber spatula, if necessary, and dot the batter evenly with the chilled bits of butter.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The cake should be honey brown and pulling away just a little from the sides of the panm, and the butter will have left light-colored circles in the top. Transfer the cake to a rack and remove the sides of the pan after about 5 minutes. Cool to warm, or cool completely.