Granola Bars

Good Morning!! In preparation for our overnight Relay for Life walk this evening, I've been making us some snacks to keep us fueled up! I've already got a trail mix bagged up but decided I also wanted to try my hand at some granola bars, too. I looked at about a dozen recipes before deciding to just mix up my own batch...probably not the best of ideas since I got more of a square than a bar and some of it crumbled into just plain granola. Oops! However, I will say that the flavor profile is really, really good! With the crumbling in mind, I've updated the recipe below to make yours a bit more stable and sticky. I think adding some extra peanut butter and whatever syrup you choose will most definitely help. Just use this recipe as a base and swap in what you have on hand or other flavors that your family loves! A yummy, healthy way to keep your family fueled all week long!

HOMEMADE GRANOLA BARS

What you need for the bars:
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup roasted sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts (I used cashews)
2 cups dried fruit, chopped (I used 1 cup raisins and 1 cup figs)
2 cups rolled quick oats
2 cups rice or other grain cereal (I used Rice Krispies)
3/4 cup creamy or crunch natural peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup corn syrup or honey (I used 1/4 cup pure maple syrup and 1/4 cup natural honey since the original recipe called for 1/2 cup...in hindsight the maple syrup may have been too thin for this and corn syrup may help hold things together better.)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the bars:
1. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees F.
2. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray or grease.
3. Mix all of the dry ingredients (nuts, fruit, oats and cereal) in a large bowl. 4. Be sure to chop your nuts and/or fruit if needed.

5. In a small sauce pan, heat the peanut butter, brown sugar, and syrup/honey.

6. Stir until bubbling and hot. Take off the heat and mix in the teaspoon of vanilla.  

7. Pour peanut butter mixture over your dry ingredients and mix until combined. 

8. Pour mixture into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes until golden brown.

After baking.

8. Let cool about an hour and then cut into bars or squares. Store in an airtight container for about 2 weeks.

I got about half of it to break into squares or chunks.

Some more of the chunks... 

The rest I just bagged up and will use for grab and go snacking!

Hope the revised version works for you! ENJOY!!

Cinnamon Bread

Hello!! Didn't want to make a liar out of myself so here I am! Back with the second recipe of the weekend. :) This is a scrumptious, cinnamon bread that you have just GOT to try!! Great for breakfast or really anytime you want a little sweet treat. It's also great because this doesn't require any yeast, rising or waiting. Just mix it up and then pop it in the oven. I made quite a few changes to this recipe so be sure to follow along!

CINNAMON BREAD

What you need for the cinnamon bread:

For the filling:
1/3 cup white sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the bread:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup light brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil

To make the cinnamon bread:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease (I used Crisco) a 9x5 inch loaf pan.

2. In large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and 1 cup sugar. 

3. Add the egg, milk, cream, and oil to flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

 

4. Pour half of the batter into pan.

 

5. Combine your 2 teaspoons of cinnamon with the 1/3 cup of sugar and mix.

6. Top half of your batter with the cinnamon and sugar mix leaving just a little left. Pour the rest of your batter on top of the cinnamon middle and top with the remaining cinnamon and sugar.

7. Bake for 40-50 minutes in your preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a dish to finish cooling.

This creates a cinnamon-y crunchy top!

Once cool, wrap and store in foil.

ENJOY!!

Blueberry Muffins

Who doesn't love a soft, sweet blueberry muffin for breakfast? On a cold winter's day or a bright, springy morning these muffins are perfect for any breakfast occassion! I got some blueberries from Sam's Club a few weeks back and had a lot to use so I was on a mission to find a great recipe. I think this one hits the spot-using sour cream as a secret ingredient. They stay moist and crunchy with the streusel topping. Yum! Try whipping these up for your family or friends this weekend!

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

What you need for the muffins:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup sour cream

1 heaping cup fresh blueberries (rinsed and dried)

What you need for the crumb topping:(this is from a previous recipe)
1/2 heaping cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar- I think it adds a more intense flavor!)
1/3 heaping cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, melted

To make the muffins:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and grease or line your muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl beat your eggs; gradually add sugar while continuing to beat.

3. Continue beating while adding the oil, then stir in vanilla.

4. In a separate bowl combine flour, salt, and baking soda.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with the sour cream.

6. Gently fold in the blueberries with a spatula. 
7. Prep your crumb topping by mixing all dry ingredients with the melted butter in a large bowl with a pastry cutter.

 7. Fill each of your muffin cups about 2/3 full.

8. Sprinkle with prepared crumb topping.

9. Bake in preheated oven for 18 - 22 minutes; remove from muffin cups and allow to cool on a wire rack. 

 ENJOY!!

Apple Crumb Cake

Hi Everyone!! Hope you're all having a great week so far. It's been going pretty well for us but sometimes these January and February months just seem to drag on. I am headed out to Anaheim for a conference next week so maybe that will help break things up a bit. In the meantime, between work and the gym and in order to keep a smile on my face I've been busy in the kitchen. After my last few posts though, I was ready for something simple! I had a few apples left that I didn't use for the apple pie so I went searching for an apple muffin or cake recipe. I found one and modified it quite a bit and I have to say that even I was surprised with how yummy this turned out to be. I even snuck a piece last night after it came out of the oven. ;) I think it's probably best served warm so if you eat some the next day, pop it in the microwave for a few seconds first. Try this one- it's easy- and let me know what you think!

APPLE CRUMB CAKE

What you need to make the cake: 
1/4 cup unsalted butter (melted)

1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large (or 3 medium) granny smith apples
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

*Now, I made a crumb topping because c'mon, who doesn't love crumb topping? However you can leave it plain if you want to keep this really simple.* 

What you need for the crumb topping: 
1/2 heaping cup packed brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar- I think it adds a more intense flavor!)
1/3 heaping cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons butter, melted

To make the cake:

1.  Peel, core, and cut your apples into 1/2-inch chunks.

Don't worry...my counters are very clean!

2. Preheat your oven to 350 F. Spray or butter a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugars, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. 

4. Add the apples, butter, oil, vanilla, and eggs; mix together until combined. (You can use your hands as this gets really thick!) Your batter will be VERY chunky, which is mostly the apples.

5. Spoon batter into pan, smooth with a spatula or with your fingers.

6. Prep your crumb topping by mixing all dry ingredients with the melted butter in a large bowl with a pastry cutter.

7. Once combined, sprinkle evenly on top of the cake batter. 

8. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan. Feel free to serve with whipped cream or icecream! Or, have it plain as a breakfast treat.

ENJOY!

PS. Here's Ted being nosy while I'm baking!

I promise this was AFTER the cake was in the oven...

so my counters really were clean!

 

Cranberry Almond Scones

Good evening everyone!! Ever want a scrumptious but easy breakfast recipe that you can throw together to impress any guest? These scones might just be the perfect fit! Danny and I worked on these together tonight to bring into work tomorrow. It's a fun morning surprise for co-workers or maybe family or guests that you have spending the night. You probably already have most of the ingredients on hand or you can modify the recipe to suit your needs. All you need is a few minutes (and some patience in cutting the butter) and you'll have a delightful delicacy to dazzle your friends!

CRANBERRY ALMOND SCONES

What you need for the scones:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoon almond extract (you can switch this up with anything)

Pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into pea size pieces (this is the most tedious part- the rest is easy!)

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup toasted sliced almonds (optional- I chose not to use them)

3/4 cup heavy cream

Granulated sugar for garnishing

To make the scones:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, almond extract, salt and cinnamon. 

3. Add the butter and mix it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until a coarse meal forms. Add in the dried cranberries and almonds (if you choose to use them). 

4. Add the heavy cream and combine it into the butter flour mixture until you create a ball of dough. (You may end up using a bit more than 3/4 cup...use as much as you need to get the dough to stick together.) 

This was after a 1/2 cup of cream...keep adding more until you get to something like this:

5. Form the dough into a 1-inch thick disk and cut it into several wedges. Sprinkle each wedge generously with the granulated sugar. Transfer the wedges to your prepared baking sheet and bake for 18-20 minutes. 

Let me know what you think of these. ENJOY!!

Yummy!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Hi everyone! Happy Thursday! Hopefully you have all enjoyed a shorter week with the Labor Day holiday- only one more day to go! I made these chocolate zucchini muffins this past weekend and have gotten a few requests for the recipe so I thought I would go ahead and share it with y'all! I don’t know about you but this time of year is usually filled with lots of ‘end of season’ zucchini that many of my friends and relatives are trying to give away or use up. Zucchini bread is typically an all-around favorite but since I’ve made it twice this summer already I thought I’d go for something different. There are recipes for zucchini cookies that look yummy and I might give those a try soon; however these chocolate zucchini muffins (or cupcakes if you decide to frost them!) were quite a hit! I didn’t plan to blog this so I don’t have as many pictures as normal but it’s pretty simple to throw together!

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

What youneed for the muffins:

2 large eggs
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 and 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini, gently pressed with papertowel
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

To makethe muffins:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin pan, or line the pan with cupcake liners. I used Crisco and they popped right out of the tins after cooling for about 5 minutes.

2.In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, honey, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Add the salt, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour, mixing until well combined. Stir in the shredded zucchini (be sure you’ve pressed it gently with a couple of paper towels to dry it out a bit) and chocolate chips.

3.Pour the batter into the muffin pan, filling the cups 3/4 of the way full. 
4. Bake regular-sized muffins for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. (If you’re making mini muffins, bake them for about 10 to 12 minutes.) Let cool for 3 or 4 minutes in the muffin pan before removing to a rack to cool completely.

For me, this recipe made 18 regular sized muffins. If making you want to turn this into a loaf, the recipe suggested one 8.5” by 4.5” loaf and baking for 30-40 minutes.

If you really want these as a sweet treat I'd suggest icing them with the Fluffcream Frosting recipe found here.

ENJOY!!