homemade granola party!

 I’m not going to fool you into thinking this is health food but it sure is delicious! My husband eats old-fashioned oats for breakfast every morning with a sprinkle of cinnamon & a drizzle of honey. He LOVES having this homemade granola to stir in for crunch, sweetness & extra nutty flavor! I love it mixed with yogurt and it also makes a great to-go snack when I’m running late for an early appointment. 

My daughter first discovered the recipe. I’m not sure where she got it but I’ve changed it up a bit & we all love it. You can customize it with any combination of nuts and dried fruit. All ingredients besides the oats are optional. I add the wheat germ but if you don't have it, feel free to skip it. If you don't like walnuts, leave them out. My daughter has been known to stir in some m&m’s or chocolate chips after it’s cooled. It makes a TON & the recipe can be halved.

 Today I added dried craisins, dried apple chips & banana chips. I loved these golden delicious crispy apple chips. YUM!

Homemade Granola

ingredients

8 cups old fashioned oats

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup chopped almonds

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 cup wheat germ

½ cup brown sugar

¼ cup pure  maple syrup

¾ cup honey

1 cup oil (I use coconut oil but you could use vegetable or canola)

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups of your choice of dried fruit, cranberries, raisins, banana chips, dried apple chips, etc. to be added after baking

directions

1.     Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

2.     Combine oats, pecans, almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds and wheat germ in a large bowl and stir until mixed well.

 3.     In a small saucepan, mix the brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, vanilla extract and salt. Bring just to a boil then pour over oat mixture. Stir well to coat. 

 4.     Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets. If you like the big granola nuggets like the picture above, press it down into the pan a bit. Bake until toasty about 25-30 minutes, stirring half way through. Granola may appear to be wet, but will crisp up as it cools. 

 5.     Allow to cool completely, then stir in dried fruit.

blueberry buttermilk pancakes party!

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 Homemade pancakes was the first recipe I mastered at around age 8, probably because pancakes were my FAVORITE food as a kid. My mom wasn't big on convenience foods and I don't think we ever had pancake mix in the house. If we wanted something to eat that we didn't have we got out a cookbook and made it from scratch. We also walked 5 miles to school, uphill, both ways, ha!

Homemade pancakes are so easy & delicious & quick too! You can even mix up a batch of the dry ingredients and store it in the pantry to have a head start on your weekend breakfast! Then just mix in the eggs, melted butter, buttermilk and vanilla when you are ready to make them.

I still love pancakes and I make them as often as my family will allow possible. Sunday morning breakfast at our house usually includes homemade waffles, which are Mark and Monica's favorite, but sometimes I talk them into PANCAKES and these blueberry buttermilk are my very favorite.

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes

makes 4 servings, about 16 pancakes

ingredients:

2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups buttermilk, I use low-fat buttermilk & it works perfectly
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries
powdered sugar, butter & maple syrup to serve

directions:

1. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs with an electric mixer until frothy. Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, melted butter & vanilla. I just dump it all in and then stir until the batter is smooth and has no lumps of flour remaining. Do not over mix. Batter will be thick.

2. Heat an electric griddle to medium-high heat. Spray griddle with cooking spray. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter onto the griddle for each pancake. You may need to spread it a bit with the back of a spoon since the batter is very thick. Scatter some blueberries over each pancake.

3. Cook until bubbles form on top and the batter is set, 1 to 2 minutes.

4. Flip the pancakes over & cook until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes.

5. Keep warm in a 225 degree oven while cooking the remaining pancakes.

6. Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm with butter and maple syrup.

 P.S. If you don't have an electric griddle you can use a skillet on the stove but the griddle really makes a difference. The pancakes cook more evenly on a griddle & you can cook more pancakes at a time.

chocolate chocolate chip muffins party!

What a GREAT way to start your day! These bakery style muffins are moist, chocolaty & delicious! Many chocolate muffins I’ve had taste more like a cupcake. But this is a TRUE muffin, not as sweet as a cupcake & of course, no frosting. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins 

 recipe adapted from:  Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice

ingredients:

 

1/2 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup  nonfat plain yogurt

2 cups all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups all purpose & 1/2 cup wheat flour)

1 12 oz. pkg. chocolate chips, divided (I used semi-sweet but milk chocolate would be great too)

1 tablespoon coarse sugar, optional

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 12 cup muffin tin or line with baking cups. I greased my muffin tin well with Crisco on a paper towel & they came out perfectly with no sticking at all.

2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together butter, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt & vanilla. Beat in eggs, stir in milk and yogurt. Mix in flour. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the chocolate chips. Reserve 1/2 cup chocolate chips for topping.

3. Divide batter equally between the muffin cups. THEY WILL BE FULL. Sprinkle each muffin with the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips & some coarse sugar, if desired.

4. Bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. *Without removing the muffins from the oven, decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees & bake for an additional 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out without batter. Chocolate from the chocolate chips on the toothpick is fine. Avoid over baking or they will be dry. Remove from oven & cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from pan to wire rack & cool completely.

*Starting at a higher temp & then decreasing it gives the muffins this beautiful high rise. 

 

 P.S. I like to bake my muffins directly in the muffin pan and I use baking cups to serve them in. 

pumpkin chocolate chip muffin party!

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I live with two pumpkin FANATICS! Mark’s favorite pie is PUMPKIN and Monica’s favorite muffin flavor is pumpkin chocolate chip. I admit I’m wary of this combination (pumpkin & chocolate chips, not Mark & Monica). I prefer my pumpkins to be carved into jack-o-lanterns & I prefer my chocolate to be mixed with peanut butter, coconut or caramel. But…
These are Monica’s favorite muffins & Monica is my favorite girl. Therefore I feel that I am morally bound to take the following course of action and make this recipe whenever she requests it. I found the original recipe at www.allrecipes.com & have adapted it to include chocolate chips & pecans. For those like me, who are apprehensive about eating pumpkin & chocolate in the same bite, leave the chocolate chips out. It's a great pumpkin muffin recipe!

I need you to know that all canned pumpkin is not the same. I’ve tried the store brand & it wasn’t as good as Libby’s, seriously. The organic pumpkin in the photo above is even better. Someday I will make my own cooked pumpkin with real pumpkins, baked in my own oven.

If you are more of a cookie lover you must try these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! Link also has the bakery secret for SUPER SOFT cookies.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins plus 12 mini muffins

ingredients:

1 15 ounce can 100% pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips, optional
1/2 cup chopped pecans, optional

directions:

1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray muffin pans with cooking spray.

2. Bring pumpkin, ginger, cinnamon and cloves to a simmer in a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, until puree thickens about 5 minutes. Pour into a mixing bowl & allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Whisk in brown sugar and oil, then slowly whisk in eggs.

3. In a separate bowl whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until just combined.

4. Stir in chocolate chips & pecans, if desired. If your pumpkin mixture is too hot when you add the chocolate chips you'll get gorgeous melty chocolate swirls  in your muffins instead of chocolate "chips". DELICIOUS either way!

5. Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes for the mini muffins & 13 minutes for the regular sized muffins.

*P.S. I don't bake these muffins in cupcake papers. I was taking them to a brunch so I put them in the cupcake papers to be easier to transport & serve.

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