Category Archives: Breakfast

Babycakes – Gluten Free Mini Oat Scones

  May 29, 2013 - 11:23 am | , , , , , ,
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The twins are at the perfect age: the perfect age to make a mess out of anything. Too old for most baby foods, but too young for fork and spoon, they eat with their hands, and much of it ends up all over them and the floor. A good meal has a 30/70 ratio with 30 % of the food in their mouths and 70% on the floor and all over them. Breakfast is particularly messy. I’m not a big fan of most traditional breakfast cereals, oatmeal and grits are so messy and pre-made cereal bars are packed with sugar.

I wanted to make my own, so I started by making a bar based on baked oatmeal. The result was too spongy, wet and pretty gross to everyone except the babies. They devoured the flabby globs of ick like I was feeding them candy. I realized that pretty accurately described it since the recipe was loaded with sugar. I needed a new recipe.

Inspiration came while I was making the Fluffy Buttermilk Drop Biscuit recipe from the May 2013 issue of Cooking Light on Saturday morning. It was easy, and Squisy Delishy attacked it like he had the sugar-soaked baked oatmeal bars. I decided to tinker around with that recipe to get the baby breakfast I wanted. I replaced the white flour with oat flour and the whole wheat flour with rolled oats. Then I added a little cinnamon and cut back on the baking powder. To give the oatcakes a sweet finish, I sprinkled them with a little cinnamon sugar before baking. To make them easy for the twins to eat, I dropped them in small balls. They are a lot like scones, but without all the fat.

The finished product is a hit with the twins.

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While still crumbly and not mess-free, they are so much less messy than sticky gloppy oatmeal. They are also the perfect size for little hands.

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They are also a hit with everyone else. If you use gluten-free oat flour and oats, you have a gluten-free product. These oat cakes are delicious as they are, especially right from the oven, but are over-the-top good with jam. Enjoy!

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Babycakes – Gluten Free Mini Oat Scones
makes 24 mini oat cakes

Inspired by this recipe from Cooking Light, May 2013 for Fluffy Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

1 1/4 cup oat flour
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup buttermilk, cold
cinnamon and sugar for dusting the tops

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking pan with parchment paper or a non-stick baking mat. Mix oat flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a large mixing bowl.

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Melt the butter and cool slightly. Pour the butter into the cold buttermilk. Pour the butter and buttermilk mixture into the oats and mix until just combined.

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Use a tablespoon or cookie scoop to drop the dough in 24 heaping spoonfuls onto the baking pan.

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Sprinkle the tops of each oatcake with a little cinnamon and sugar.

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Bake for 12 minutes, or until the tops are lightly browned. Serve warm.

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Note: Not all oat products are gluten free. If you need this recipe to be gluten-free, then be sure you are using a gluten-free product. Below are links to gluten-free oat products from Amazon.

 

 

Banana Bread Pancakes

  April 10, 2013 - 6:00 am | , , , , , , ,
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Before I even begin to tell you about this week’s post, I have exciting news to share with you.

It’s Not Easy Eating Green is now part of the Cooking Light Bloggers’ Connection. Joining this community of talented bloggers is a huge honor, and I am delighted that It’s Not Easy Eating Green was chosen to be part of this group.

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Two years ago, when I first quit my job to stay at home with Little Guy I went through a phase where I did not know quite what to do. After two years of working long hours and then coming home to take care of my family, I found myself lost in a sea of free time. Eventually I started this blog that was not only satisfying, but it also filled my time nicely and kept me thinking.

I had tried rigorous house cleaning (which is really funny if you know just how much I cannot stand cleaning house), and then I settled in to cooking – a lot! Those first few months I found myself making banana bread all the time. I cooked loaf after loaf (and yes, I gained a few pounds those months). Slowly a recipe emerged which I deemed healthy yet tasty enough to eat without loads of butter. I published that recipe on Food.com and it still can be found there. More importantly, it was the beginning of my journey to take my family from too many convenience foods to homemade and wholesome, earth-friendly foods.

Fast forward two years. I don’t bake banana bread anymore. It’s not that I have anything against banana bread, but I have a personal goal to be the healthiest I’ve ever been when I turn 40 this year. While I certainly don’t deprive myself of anything, I do try to control my access to foods I know I’ll overeat, like baked goods. These days I avoid making a whole loaf of banana bread, which is likely to become nothing more than a prolonged, gluttonous, banana-bread-eating frenzy. Instead, I opt for making smaller portions of things, or different versions.

Maybe its a dream of slathering on gobs of butter, or addictive sweet flavor, but banana bread is on my mind a lot lately. Not wanting to give in to my evil carb-loving sugar cravings, I decided to turn my banana-bread fixation into something more useful; a new recipe. Starting with my banana bread recipe and tweaking it, I came up with banana nut bread pancakes. They taste just like a super moist banana bread, but with less sugar and they are gone in one meal with nothing to gorge on later. I’m safe!

Beside these pancakes there are two other pancake recipes I make frequently. One is the Whole Wheat Blueberry Pancakes which I posted ages ago (my fifth post of all time so if you click the link ignore the terrible photography). The other is the spelt pancakes from The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking cookbook.

I highly recommend both. My banana bread pancakes borrows ideas from both recipes. As in the yogurt pancakes, I use yogurt to add acid and flavor to the cakes. This replaces the buttermilk in my original banana bread recipe. From the King Arthur pancakes recipe I take the spelt flour. Spelt flour makes the best pancakes I have ever had. You can get it anywhere they sell Bob’s Red Mill products, and I buy it by the case! You do need to let spelt flour sit for awhile before cooking so that it has time to absorb the liquid.

One of the biggest advantages to making banana bread as pancakes is that if part of your family likes nuts, and the other part does not, you can add nuts only to the pancakes of the nut lovers. That means I get my nuts, and Hubby doesn’t have to suffer the nutty pancakes that he hates!

My life is full of things to do, and there is certainly no excess time to schedule cleaning my house, but I’m happy knowing I can still enjoy banana bread, one meal at a time. Enjoy!

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Banana Bread Pancakes
makes 12-5 inch pancakes

These super moist pancakes need to cook longer and at a lower temperature than normal pancakes. Keep your pan on medium-low and let them stay on the griddle as long as possible without letting them get too dark. Use only two bananas if you prefer a drier texture.

1 1/2 cups spelt flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
1 cup milk (I use low fat)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 ripe bananas
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

In one bowl combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside.

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In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas.

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Add the yogurt, brown sugar,  milk, vanilla, eggs and butter.

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Stir in the flour mixture.

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Let the pancake batter rest for 15 minutes to allow the spelt flour to expand and soften.

While the batter is resting, toast the chopped nuts (if using) in a 400 degree oven for four minutes (I use a toaster oven set to the light toast setting, stirring the nuts twice during the time. After 15 minutes of resting, the batter will be thick. Heat a large skillet or griddle on medium-low heat. Brush with oil or spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the pancake batter onto the hot griddle in about 1/3 cup circles.

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Allow to cook until the bubbles break and do not re-fill and the edges start to dry slightly.

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If you are using nuts, sprinkle a tablespoon of nuts on the pancake before flipping.

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Use a large spatula to flip the pancakes over. Cook for about an additional three minutes or until the bottom is deep brown but not burned. Keep warm in an oven until ready to serve. Serve with syrup and additional toasted nuts.

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Baked Potato Tots

  March 7, 2013 - 11:02 am | , , , , , ,
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Crunchy potato tots are a pretty unanimous family favorite. Kids love ‘em because they are tasty, crunchy, slightly salty, go well with ketchup and they seem like they are bad for you. Parents love ‘em because they are tasty, crunchy, slightly salty, go well with ketchup and because the kids like ‘em.

Good potato tots are as good as potatoes can get. They are crispy, hot and flavorful with just the right balance of starchy potato and salt. Bad potato tots are undercooked, limp, lukewarm, falling apart and taste of old potatoes and the freezer (think back to your school lunches).

These are very good potato tots, and they are baked which makes them healthier. Not to mention that you don’t need to deal with the hassle of frying. They only take a few minutes to whip together. From start to finish you can have these on the table in well under an hour (about 40 minutes once you’ve made them once or twice).

By making your own potato tots, you get to control the ingredients. You can use organic or local potatoes and eggs. If you want gluten-free potato tots, just substitute potato starch for the flour. If you want to make them low-sodium, reduce the amount of salt, use light salt or even use a salt-free seasoning like Mrs. Dash or Penzey’s Forward. However you make them, you will enjoy them, as will your whole family. After all they are tasty, crunchy, slightly salty and go well with ketchup.

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Baked Potato Tots
serves 3-4 as a side

Replace the flour with potato starch to make these gluten-free. Don’t be tempted to cook these until they are golden brown. Lightly golden is the best. They can get tough and a little bitter when they are over-cooked.

1 pound potatoes, peeled (about two large)
1 egg white
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon flour
non-stick cooking spray or olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the potatoes into large chunks and place in a food processor with the normal blade in place.

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Pulse several times until the potatoes are in small (1/4”) pieces. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to do this in batches.

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Remove the potatoes from the food processor and place on a large, clean kitchen towel.

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Wrap the kitchen towel around the potatoes and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the potatoes.

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Place the potatoes in a large bowl and add the egg white, onion powder, salt and flour. Mix together well.

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Spray a lined baking pan with non-stick cooking spray or lightly brush with oil. Use a small scoop (such as a cookies scoop) or a tablespoon to scoop the potatoes into round “tots” and place on the baking sheet leaving a small amount of space between each tot.

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Spray the tops with non-stick cooking spray or lightly brush with oil and place in the oven.

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Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the tops are light brown. Serve hot.

Buttermilk Bread Pudding with Roasted Cranberries and Acorn Squash

  December 19, 2012 - 7:42 am | , , , , , , , , , ,
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We’ve been busy celebrating Hanukkah and getting ready for Christmas (we are equal opportunity holiday celebrators around here!) I’m cooking all week this week getting ready for our big Christmas dinner next week. I’ll share a few details of our meal soon. In the meantime, with fall ending this Friday, I wanted to share this dish with you. This time of year I’m craving cranberries. I love them in relishes and sauces, but also baked in a savory dish like this bread pudding.

We had this for dinner with nothing but a salad of field greens tossed with a mustard vinaigrette, as good as it was by itself, I couldn’t help but think how good it would be with baked ham or roasted duck – even turkey. Its the balance of tangy buttermilk, savory Gruyere, herbs and mustard, and the sweet squash and maple sugar that really make this dish. It’s a keeper. The buttermilk really keeps the calorie count down too! Enjoy!

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Bread Pudding with Roasted Cranberries and Acorn Squash
serves 6 as an entree, 10-12 as a side

This bread pudding is a delicate balance of flavors. Savory but with sweet notes, it’s perfect for many different occasions. Paired with fresh fruit it makes an ideal brunch casserole; savory enough to have as a side with roasted turkey, ham or duck or even with a side salad for a meatless entree.

1 medium acorn squash
1 cup fresh cranberries
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, minced
1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 leek
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons maple sugar (or brown sugar), divided
8 cups french bread or other sturdy chewy bread, cubed into 2” cubes
1 1/2 cups low fat buttermilk
1/2 cup low fat milk
4 eggs
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
5 ounces Gruyere, shredded
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Cut the stem off the acorn squash and split in half. Scoop the seeds and strings from the middle and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment. Sprinkle the top of each of squash halves with about 1/4 teaspoon salt, a pinch of pepper, a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of the maple sugar.

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Place in oven. Toss cranberries with thyme and 1 teaspoon olive oil. Place cranberries on another parchment lined baking sheet and bake until soft and split, about 15 minutes.

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Cranberries before and after roasting…

Remove the cranberries from the oven and toss with remaining 3 tablespoons of maple sugar.

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Continue to cook the acorn squash until tender about another 30 minutes. Remove the squash from the oven and allow to cool.

While the squash is cooking melt butter in a small pan and add leeks and sage. Cook until soft and translucent, about five minutes.

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In a medium bowl combine eggs, buttermilk, milk and mustard. When the squash has cooled, peel the outer skin and chop into 1 inch cubes. You can also use a small scoop to scoop the squash out from the skin.

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Peeling and scooping the squash from the skin…

Toss cranberries, squash and leek mixture together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

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Lightly mix in bread cubes and Gruyere.

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Spray a two quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and add bread and squash mixture. Pour buttermilk egg mixture evenly over the bread. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

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Preheat oven to 350. Place baking dish on the middle rack of a preheated oven. Cook for 1 hour or until the middle is lightly puffed and top is light brown. Allow the finished bread pudding sit for five minutes before serving.

Cinnamon-Date Graham Bagels

  November 8, 2012 - 7:32 am | , , , , ,
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On the day that much of the Northeast was suffering the record-setting wrath of Sandy, we had only a very blustery day. There were a few downed trees and a few power outages in town, but we escaped mostly unscathed. Since everything was canceled, however, we were stuck inside without much to do. So, we followed the advice of the old saying, “when life gives you hurricanes, make bagels.” That is how it goes, right?

I’d been thinking about making my own bagels for awhile now. Little Guy and I split one almost every morning from the bagel place down the street. But the bagels we get there are full of white flour and not really the best breakfast for our brains. I wanted a bagel that had all the flavor and chewy goodness of a good NYC bagel, but full of whole grains. A little research had prepared me, and I knew that I would need a starter, some bread flour and a lot of patience.

So by the time Sandy blew in, I had a starter ready and waiting for us and my new favorite, graham flour, was lined up and ready for a little workout. Since I still wanted that classic chewy crust, I knew that I would need to cut the graham flour with bread flour to up the gluten content.

Cooking during a hurricane requires the ability to adapt, and we had no raisins in the house. Ladies and Gentlemen! Tonight the roll of raisins will be played by dates! Guess what? Dates stole the show. I think I’m starting something here. Dates are the new raisins; that’s all I’m saying…

That first round of hurricane bagels were good. Super chewy, but a little flat on flavor, even with the starter. After reading about bagels in Baking Illustrated I decided to try round two not only using a starter, but also letting them retard overnight to help develop flavor. Doing this also meant that I could get hot fresh bagels straight from the oven for breakfast. The result was something surprising. A bagel full of flavor and as chewy as any I’d ever had. Do you have to add the cinnamon and dates? Of course not, but it’s your loss if you don’t.

Keep in mind that if you are aiming for hot bagels fresh out of the oven, it requires just a little planning. Start your starter first thing in the morning the day BEFORE you want the fresh bagels. Then make your dough in the evening after dinner and get them into the fridge before bed. Then the next morning all you have to do is boil and bake the bagels. They are well worth the effort. Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Date Graham Bagels
adapted from a King Arthur Flour recipe
Makes 12 bagels
I always use a bread machine to make my dough. I find that it makes dough very well and takes the mess and fuss out of bread making. Of course you can make the dough the old-fashioned way or in a mixer, just be sure to knead the dough very well before allowing it to rise.

Starter:
1/2 cup bread flour
1/4 cup water
pinch yeast
pinch sugar

Dough:
Starter
1 1/4 cups water
2 cups bread flour
2 cups graham flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 cup chopped dates, loosely packed

For Boiling:
water
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar

To make the starter, mix the flour, water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and set in a warm corner of your kitchen for about 12 hours.

When you are ready to make the dough, combine the starter, water, bread flour, graham flour, salt, brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon and yeast in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer or bread machine. Mix until the ingredients all come together. It should be firm but not dry. You may need to add an additional tablespoon or two of water. If you are not using a bread machine, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Fold in the dates (or add when your bread machine recommends), then allow the dough to double in size, about one hour.

Punch the dough down, then turn out onto an unfloured surface. Cut the dough into twelve equal pieces. I use a scale for this step. Then cupping the palm of your hand around each piece of dough, roll it between your hand and the work surface to form a round dough ball. Allow the dough balls to rest for five minutes.

Using your finger, punch a hole in the center of each dough ball and twirl it around your finger to form the classic bagel shape.

Place the bagels on a lightly greased pan lined with parchment or a baking mat. Cover with a piece of plastic wrap that has been lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray and place in the refrigerator overnight, or for at least eight hours.

When you are ready to bake your bagels, remove them from the refrigerator and let them sit in a warm (not hot) place for 10-15 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees and bring a large pan of water to a boil with one tablespoon of salt and one tablespoon of brown sugar. When the water comes to a rapid boil, place four of the bagels in the water. Cook for two minutes on one side, turn over and cook for an additional minute.

Move the bagels back to the lined baking pan and repeat until all the bagels have been boiled. Bake the bagels for fifteen minutes then remove and lightly brush or spray the bagels with water. Return them to the oven and cook for an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until the bagels are dark brown. Remove them from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy!

The Morning After Halloween Candy Hangover Cure

  October 31, 2012 - 3:00 pm | , , ,
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We’ve all been there: waking up with a sluggish feeling, inability to concentrate, slightly edgy, a little jittery and an upset tummy. You knew you were having to much last night. But it tasted so good, and it was so much fun going down. You, my friend, have a morning after Halloween candy hangover. Well, I may not be a dietician, but I bet that the best way to get that feeling out of your system is to blast your system with a protein rich breakfast.

Let me guess. Halloween night your darling was is the cutest Halloween monster ever, but the next morning he turned into a real life monster, right? While getting the rest of the Halloween candy out of the house might fix the problem for good. But, if you want to set him up with the best chance for a good day then check out a few of these site for ideas for great protein rich breakfasts that are kid approved.

My choice for breakfast on November 1st is breakfast tacos. They are easy to make, portable and full of protein with very little sugar. I doubt you really need a recipe for a breakfast taco but here’s how I made mine:

Breakfast Taco: Warm up a whole wheat flour tortilla in the microwave for about 15 seconds. Place a small handful of shredded cheese in the middle of the tortilla (about 1/4 cup). Scramble one egg until soft set. Crumble one veggie sausage patty over the top of the egg and place on the tortilla on top of the cheese. You can top the egg with a little salsa if desired. Roll up and enjoy.

Sour Grape Jam

  September 20, 2012 - 4:44 pm | , , , , , ,
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I usually don’t have time to can anything. I also usually don’t have enough of any one crop to do anything in large enough batches to warrant canning. As you may remember, gardening is not really my strongest skill. However, I am great at letting the wild vines and bushes left by previous owners run wild. That includes the grapes that grow at the edge of my driveway. In past years, I’ve noticed a few grapes that the birds ate before I had a chance to harvest; but this year we had a bumper crop. The vines are covering trees and the ground all around with large grape leaves in a very kudzu like fashion and the clusters are hanging as high up as I can see. This year I made the birds wait their turn and took my share to make jam.

I’ve never made grape jam before, lucky for me my father descends from a long line of food preservers. He is always foraging his plot for wild grapes, blackberries, black raspberries, red raspberries and even black walnuts from which he has made pies, jam, and even wine. His mother, an excellent gardener, canned everything she could get her hands on. She canned jam, pickles, and vegetables by the bushel. Thus it was pure serendipity-do-da that the grapes happened to ripen at the same time that my father came for a visit. There were so many grapes that ten minutes of picking produced a huge pile of grapes to pick over. Not all of the fruit was ripe, but there were so many of them, that we could be picky about which fruit we used for our jam. The results are spectacular. It’s fruit-forward flavor is not too sweet nor too firm in consistency. Perfect for toast and pretty much anything you can find to smear it on. Enjoy!

Sour Grape Jam – Click here for a printable version of this recipe
This is not an exact recipe. Everyone will have a different amount of fruit with different qualities, so it is written so that you can follow it with whatever fruit you have. This produces a semi-firm jam; not too jelled so that the flavors still shine through, it also doesn’t have too much sugar so that the natural flavors of the grapes still remain. When deciding to stop boiling your jam err on the side of under doing it. The longer you cook the liquid, the less like fresh fruit it will taste and the more it will taste like flavored sugar. After all if your finished product is too soft, then people will know it’s homemade.

grapes (concord or other sweet grape)
sugar
pectin

Pick over your fruit to remove unripe and spoiled bits, bugs and leaves. Washing is not necessary if the fruits have gone directly from vine to clean container unless they have been sprayed with pesticide.

Place clean fruit in a large heavy bottomed pot. Add a small amount of water (about a cup for every four pounds of fruit). Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Use a potato masher to mash grapes separating them from their skins.

Let simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off heat and let the fruit sit with the skins for 15 minutes.

Pour the fruit into a food mill and press through the mill leaving the skins and seeds behind.

Measure the amount of juice and pulp you have. Return the juice and pulp to the pot and add one cup of sugar for every two cups of juice and pulp. You may need one tablespoon of pectin for every two cups of juice and pulp. Try none or little at first and add only if you need it. Mix the pectin slowly with water until you have a smooth mixture about the thickness of cream. Whisk the pectin into the juice and sugar and return to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil the mixture for 15 minutes. To test the jam, pour a small spoonful of the jam into a small bowl and allow to cool. If it jells to just under the consistency you want, then your jam is done (it will jell slightly more as it continues to cool). If it is not jelled enough, continue to cook, testing every ten minutes until you reach the desired consistency.

Pour the boiling jam into clean, sanitized canning jars and seal following the directions that come with your canning materials.

 

 

Happy New Year (Apple Oatmeal Scones with Honey)

  September 16, 2012 - 9:44 am | , , , , , , ,
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As someone who loves holidays and special occasions, I’ve figured out the secret to happiness. Marry someone of another faith so that you have twice as many holidays to celebrate. That’s what I did.

One of the things that I love so much about most holidays is that each has its own specific food theme. Thanksgiving has turkey, Fourth of July has barbecue, Christmas has cookies, Easter and Passover share eggs, and Rosh Hashanah has apples and honey. Sunset tonight marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

At Rosh Hashanah apples and honey are supposed to bring sweetness to the new year. Regardless of your faith or which holidays you choose to support, apples and honey together is a flavor combination anyone can get behind. While certainly not a traditional Rosh Hashanah food, these scones embrace the flavors of the holiday. The sweetness of the apples and honey make this a treat that everyone will enjoy. Even with lots of calories, they are healthier than an average scone thanks to a generous dose of hearty oats, whole wheat, and apples. This recipe is loosely based on a recipe from Martha Stewart which can be found here. Enjoy!

Apple Oatmeal Scones with Honey – Click here for a printable version of this recipe
makes 12 scones
Because of the honey, the dough feels sticky and a little tricky to work with. Heavily dusting the work surface and your hands with flour helps.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into 1/2” pieces
2 tart firm apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4” pieces (such as Granny Smith)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix honey and buttermilk together and set aside. Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.

Cut butter into mixture using a pastry cutter or food processor until the pieces of butter are the size of peas.

If using a food processor, transfer to a mixing bowl. Toss apples and oats into mixture making sure to coat all the apple pieces with the flour mixture.

Pour buttermilk and honey mixture into dry mix and fold in until just combined.

Dump dough out onto a floured surface. The dough will be very sticky. Flour your hands and form the dough into a long rectangle about 15 inches long and 4 inches wide. Cut into 3 5-inch sections then cut each of those in half. Cut each half in half again on the diagonal to form 12 triangles.

Using a spatula, move the triangles to a baking pan lined with a baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes until the scones are golden brown and fragrant. Let them cool on the pan before removing. You may need to cut between any scones that touch each other.

 

Graham Crackers and New Beginnings

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  August 30, 2012 - 2:52 pm | , , , , , ,
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This marks our first post twins edition. Things are more hectic than usual around here, but we are back with new posts and a whole new site. If you are new here, welcome. If you’re an old friend, welcome back! Please be sure to subscribe to our new site, either by email, Facebook or RSS feed.

…and now on with the show!

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I’m pretty sure that Sylvester Graham was a weird dude. Imagine someone telling you that you need to bathe daily when, to get enough water for a bath, you had to first hand-pump the water from the well, schlep the water in to the house by the bucketful and finally heat it up enough to be able to stand it. Not only that, but he wanted people to eat whole-grain bread; I mean really! I would have dismissed him as crazy, a lunatic, absolutely batty.

Or maybe the Reverend Graham, Presbyterian, was just a man born before his time (1794-1851). Vegetarian, clean and regular he might have been, but he was eccentric for his day and age. Still, he managed to amass quite a following; enough so that his crackers are now commonplace fare for toddlers, pie-makers and girl scouts everywhere. However, I am sure that Rev. Graham would be appalled at what passes for graham crackers today. His breads and crackers contained only specially ground whole wheat flour, probably little sugar, and no chemical leveners (baking soda and baking powder). Today’s store-bought cracker ingredients read like the good reverend’s no-no list; white flour, calcium carbonate, malto dextrin, and high fructose corn syrup (if it were around in his day I’m fairly sure he would have been against it).

I don’t think my version of graham cracker would necessarily get the Reverend Graham stamp of approval, but they are better than the store brand. I do use chemical leveners and enough sugar to entice a youngster, but not as sweet as the pasty bear-shaped graham cracker snacks that are found in most grocery stores. These taste better, are better for you and make far better s’mores. Enjoy.

Graham Crackers – click here for a printable version of this recipe
makes approx 30 – 3X2” crackers

1 1/2 cups graham flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, cut in 1/4” inch pieces
2 tablespoons molasses
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk

In the bowl of a large food processor, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
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Pulse to combine then sprinkle butter pieces over the top of the flour mixture. Pulse several times until butter is in small pieces and mixture resembles wet sand.
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In a small bowl, combine milk, molasses, honey and vanilla. Pour over flour mixture and pulse until just combined. Empty dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until the dough is even and smooth. Divide into two discs, wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Take dough out of refrigerator. If the dough has been chilling for more than an hour let it warm up for about ten minutes before rolling out. Roll dough directly on silicone baking sheet or parchment paper to about 1/8” inch thickness.
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You can cut and move pieces of the dough until you have a nice rectangular shape. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut the dough to 3×2 inch rectangles.
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Prick the top of the crackers with a fork.
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Bake for 14 to 16 minutes until the edges are slightly darker in color than the middle. Remove from oven and let cool before removing from the pan. If crackers are not crunchy when cool, return to oven for another minute or two. Store covered for up to a week.

A Cupcake By Any Other Name….Would Be a Muffin (Carrot “Cupcake” Muffins)

  January 20, 2012 - 3:12 pm | , , , , , , , ,
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carrot muffin 1
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carrot muffin 1

Last week saw a big day in our house. Little Guy started pre-school. He now spends three mornings at school playing, learning and creating the cutest art you’ve ever seen; and I can no longer give him the late breakfast he likes. On the days he goes to school, my newest challenge is finding a quick easy to eat breakfast packed full of protein and grains that will give him enough energy to not break down into the three year old screamy-weemies before he gets home. He doesn’t really like breakfast so this is a real challenge. The first day I made the fantastic spelt pancakes found in The King Arthur Whole Grains Cookbook. If you haven’t discovered this book, you should. It’s just the bees knees! However, I can’t give him pancakes every single morning (can I?). So day two saw oatmeal which was slightly less enthusiastically received. By day three I was down to eggs and whole grain toast which he took one look at, grabbed the toast and pushed the eggs away. Now I have a new strategy. I’m disguising breakfasts as food he loves; namely cupcakes. What toddler can resist a cupcake with frosting.

This brings up an interesting topic though. What is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? I decided to ask my friends and posted the question on Facebook. The answers varied. It’s no surprise to me that my marvelously talented food stylist and baking expert friend came up with the culinary difference, “A muffin is made by the quick bread method most of the time while a cupcake is made with the cake method.” While this may be the actual difference, most of my friends agreed only that muffins are for breakfast and supposed to be healthy. Pretty much everyone agreed that this is not usually the case, as one friend put it, “One is for breakfast. The other is a muffin.”

Of course, not all cakes, er um, I mean muffins are created equal. It would be very easy to just make a sweet, oil drenched, white flour ridden muffin and get Little Guy to eat it, but the sugar low that would ensue about an hour after I left him at school would make me very unpopular with his teachers. Instead my goal was to make him a healthy, whole grain muffin that provided a balanced breakfast that would keep him fueled for the morning. Morning glory muffins were tempting because they are full of fruits and veggies but there is no way I could get him to eat them. Then we were at the grocery store one day and Little Guy solved my problem. Next to the checkout was a display of carrot cupcakes ; “Those look good he said.” So, carrot cake muffins it was.

I knew I wanted a muffin that was not laden with sugar and one full of whole grains, carrots and one high in protein to keep my little guy moving in school. I sifted through a dozen or so recipes and decided to base my muffin on carrot cake recipes instead of a muffin because I wanted the finished product to taste more like a cupcake than a muffin. I immediately slashed the sugar from an average of 1 ½ to 2 cups down to a combination of 1/3 cup of brown sugar plus 3 tablespoons of molasses – for a total just under ½ cup (not including the cream cheese topping). I also switched out the white flour for whole wheat flour and slashed the fat down to a mere ¼ cup of oil. In place of cream cheese icing I used a small amount of lightly sweetened reduced fat cream cheese and a sprinkle of pecans. Enjoy!

Carrot Cupcake Muffins with Cream Cheese and Pecans – Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe
makes 12 muffins

The cream cheese topping is not necessary for the enjoyment of these muffins, but does make them oh-so-good. If you do use the topping be sure to keep the muffins in the refrigerator.

2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 cup grated or ground carrot (see note), about 5 carrots

Cream Cheese Topping

4 oz light cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 12 muffin tins with non-stick spray or use muffin liners.

Beat eggs in the bowl of a standing mixer, slowly add vegetable oil then vanilla, brown sugar, molasses, and applesauce. Beat until slightly foamy.

In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.

Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Beat until just combined, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl at least once. Fold in carrots.

Divide mixture evenly between the muffin tins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven to cool.

For topping:

Mix cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Spread about 1/2 tablespoon of the cream cheese mixture onto the top of each cooled muffin. Sprinkle the chopped pecans on the top of the muffins. The muffins will keep in refrigerator for several days and can be frozen, although the cream cheese topping may crack.

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