Baked Goods

Grainola

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You all know that I love granola. I make my own a lot and have even branched out making some with quinoa. I also love grains especially when I can chew and crunch my way through a meal.

Then I wondered, “Could I make granola with multiple grains?”

The answer friends is, yes, yes I can.  Because I tried it and it worked!  Three grains go into this dish that I’m calling Grainola!

Andrea’s Grainola

  • 1C Buckwheat Groats
  • 1C Cooked Wheatberries
  • 1C Cooked Quinoa
  • 3TBSP Maple Syrup
  • 3TBSP Light Olive Oil
  • 1tsp Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet, line it with foil and spray with some nonstick spray or olive oil. You can also use parchment paper if you have that.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine all ingredients until they are coated.  Spread on a the baking sheet and bake for about 20 to 30 minutes stirring about every 10 minutes.  Keep an eye on them so that they don’t burn.

Remove from oven once they are browned and slightly crisp.  Allow to cool, store in glass container in your fridge.

Crunchy, sweet, and chewy this makes the perfect granola!  Feel free to add some crushed nuts and seeds after the gainola has cooled down.

It is pretty intense so be aware that you will be crunching and chewing your way through a bowl of it.

It’s great with yogurt or with a splash of milk (your choice) on top. I’m not sure if I can actually make granola now without some kind of grain to go with it!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Sunrise Cookies

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When I tell you about these cookies, I’m pretty sure that you are going to think that I have crossed over into crazy land.  Let me assure you that I have not.

I have been dreaming of a cookie that I could eat for breakfast for a long time now.  Something that I could make ahead and keep in the freezer where I could pull out one or two, heat up quick in the microwave and eat.  With my hands and not a fork or spoon.

I wanted a cookie that would make a great on-the-go snack that was low in sugar but loaded with flavor and good stuff.

I wanted something that could be legitimately called a cookie because they were made and eaten just like a regular cookie.

I wanted it to have whole grains and veggies in it.

Stay with me, remember I promised you I wasn’t crazy.

I’m calling these Sunrise Cookies because you can have them first thing in the morning and feel good about starting you day off with a cookie.

Andrea’s Sunrise Cookies

  • 1C Carrot Juice
  • 1Small Handful of Spinach or 1C Packed Spinach
  • 1 Large ripe banana
  • 1 1/2C Oats
  • 1 1/2C White Whole Wheat Flour + 4TBSP
  • 2TBSP Ground Flax Seed
  • 2TBSP Wheat Germ
  • 2TBSP Packed Brown Sugar
  • 1/2tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2tsp Baking Soda
  • 1tsp Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. In a blender, combine the carrot juice, spinach, and banana. Blend until smooth.  In a large mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients EXCEPT for the 4TBSP of flour. Whisk ingredients together. Slowly add the liquid mixture to the dry and gently combine with a mixing spoon.  Sprinkle in the remaining 4TBSP of flour and stir again.

On a lined baking sheet (either parchment or silpat) drop the mixture by large spoonfuls.  Place in oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes.  They are large cookies and the dough is thick so they will take some time to cook.  They are down when a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Now when you’re making these, I realize you might have some doubts especially when you smell the spinach and carrot juice mixture. But remember my promise! If you click and make this picture bigger, you’ll be able to see some flecks of spinach in the cookies.

I love that! Green flecks in a cookie are fantastic!

I admit I had my doubts too but then I nibbled on one and all doubts went out the window. These cookies totally delivered! Even Scott loves them so they passed the guy test as well!  I did in fact have them for breakfast not that long ago and was so happy. A great little cookie packed with tons of yummy things and very low on sugar.

Next time I’ll probably add in some vanilla extract, 1tsp, I got so excited as I was making these that I forgot.

 

UPDATE, January 2014:

I recently made this again with a few adjustments.

Added:

  • 1tsp Vanilla Extract
  • 1/2tsp Cinnamon
  • 2TBSP Coconut Sugar

Left Out:

  • Baking Powder
  • Flax Seed
  • Wheat Germ
  • Brown Sugar
  • 4TBSP White Whole Wheat Flour

I didn’t have the flax or wheat germ on hand and since that got reduced I left out the remaining flour. I also don’t use brown sugar much anymore and subbed coconut sugar instead.  Adding the cinnamon and vanilla gave it a little extra sweetness and depth.

Since I now live at a higher altitude, I baked these at 400 degrees also for about 10-15 minutes.

They came out beautifully!  I will be making a large batch of these to keep in the freezer for quick breakfasts or snacks.


I buy large bottles of carrot juice at the store, or you certainly can juice your own carrots. Add some of the pulp back into the cookies!  You could also add an egg for extra protein or some raisins for some extra sweetness.  Play around and see what combo you like!

I wanted these for breakfast so I made them huge, the size of my palm but you can make them whatever size you like.  Maybe you want small ones for a snack (which I’m also going to do!), if so, just make a bunch of little babies. They also won’t take nearly as long to cook.

I cannot wait to make more of these, that’s how much I love them. In fact I would eat them as a dessert as well, that’s how tasty I think they are.  See what happens you when experiment, fun things!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

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I grew up in Pennsylvania. Western PA as a matter of fact. Home of the Steelers, The Penguins (and the Pirates if we must) and the City of Bridges. I didn’t grow up in the city but in a rural coal mining and farming town which was only an hour south of the city. I now live in Columbus, which is only 3 hours away from my hometown.

Doesn’t sound like a huge difference but in terms of weather it totally is! Ohio gets some of the most crazy weather and by crazy I am referring to how extreme it is.  It goes from one end of the spectrum to the other, sometimes in the same day.

This week we have the pleasure of dealing with an ice storm and then more snow.  Good times.

Thankfully Scott and I work from home which means we can stay bundled up.

On the first cold and iced-in day, I decided to kick my normal bowl of morning oats up a notch and make it something special.  I’ve seen others talk about baked oatmeal before and the concept always intrigued me.  Baked oatmeal sounds really decadent and like a lovely winter treat, doesn’t it?

I decided that on a very cold and icy Tuesday morning, this was exactly what we needed.

Andrea’s Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

  • 2C Plain Soymilk
  • 1 Large Banana
  • 1/3C Greek Yogurt
  • 1tsp Cinnamon
  • 1 Apple, chopped (I used golden delicious)
  • 2C Old Fashioned Oats
  • 1TBSP Ground Flax
  • 1TBSP Wheat Germ (raw)
  • Pecans and Maple Syrup for fun

Preheat oven to 375 and in a small casserole or baking dish, spray with olive oil or nonstick spray.  In a large bowl, add in the soymilk and banana.  Mash the banana into the soymilk until it’s fully broken down.  Add in the oats, apple, yogurt, cinnamon, flax, and wheat germ, then mix.  Pour mixture into the baking dish and place in oven.  Bake for about 30 minutes. Stir once halfway through.

Remove, spoon into bowls and enjoy!

I was so excited about this breakfast! Partly because it was new to me and partly because I wanted to EAT! I was hungry when this was done!

Minus the yogurt and the apple, this is my basic oatmeal that I eat almost everyday.  I decided that the Greek yogurt would give it a nice rich background and make things just a tad more fancy for a weekday breakfast. Apples because why not?

The great thing is that this doesn’t cook long enough that the apples breakdown and get mushy.  They just get warmed through.

Topped with some crushed pecans and a drizzle of maple syrup takes this baked oatmeal to the top level.  It is a thick oatmeal and reminds me of a lovely custard.  Warm and creamy, with a sweet crunchy topping perfect for when you’re stuck indoors and need some fuel to get you through the day.

This would be a great thing to make for a brunch because it’s easy and quick to put together. Plus since it bakes in the oven, it doesn’t need a lot of fussing or focus while you deal with other things.  If I were to make this for a brunch, I would probably create a crumble type of topping to go with it, just to make things more fun.  Or maybe a “topping bar” so people can make their own style!

Ever have baked oatmeal before?

For another twist on baked oatmeal, checkout Fake Food Free’s Peach Baked Oatmeal.

Have fun guys and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

Spicy Chex Mix

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When the holidays roll around a lot of people think of Chex Mix as one of the staple holiday snacks.  Growing up we didn’t have it until it started appearing on the shelves in packages.  It was a long time before I realized you could make this yourself.  Maybe that’s strange to some, but the snack wasn’t a staple at our parties.  We’re a more chip ‘n dip kind of folk.

I have to say, that I love the taste of Worcestershire sauce! It is that flavor that drew me in and kept me coming back for more snack mix.  It’s spicy, salty, and so potent. Right up my alley! I prefer the original flavor of snack mix for this very reason. I’m not really into the other flavors and variations of the snack mix.  Call me a Chex Mix purist.

I decided to create my own recipe and of course it has a heavy Worcestershire base to it.  Lea & Perrins happens to be my favorite Worcestershire sauce and when Foodbuzz offered us the opportunity to get a free bottle of it for using in holiday recipes, I jumped at the chance.

The one downside to Lea & Perrins is that they use HFCS in their sauce.  I’ve looked for HFCS free Worcestershire sauces and have not had much luck finding any.  I don’t really care for vegan sauces as they rely heavily on cloves to get that spicy effect and it just isn’t the same.  Therefore I have stuck with Lea & Perrins.

Please take out the HFCS Lea & Perrins! A lot of people would be really happy!

I also like a spicy kick to my Chex Mix and since Scott loves spicy things, this works out well.  This recipe is super easy to make and you can have it ready in no time!

Andrea’s Spicy Chex Mix

  • 4C Pretzel Sticks
  • 4C Wheat Chex
  • 3C Corn Chex
  • 1/2C Light Olive Oil
  • 1/2C Buffalo Sauce (not hot sauce, but actual Buffalo style sauce)
  • 1/4C Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1/4C Honey
  • 1TBSP Garlic Powder
  • 3tsp Season Salt
  • 2 1/2tsp Onion Powder

Preheat oven to 350 and line a very large baking sheet with foil.  Spay with nonstick spray and set aside.  In the largest mixing bowl you have, combine the pretzels, Wheat Chex, and Corn Chex.  In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients to make the sauce.  Pour mixture over the Chex and pretzel mixture, combine well.  Put this mixture onto the cookie sheet and into the oven.  Allow to bake for about 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes, stirring the mixture every 10-15 minutes to prevent burning.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Serve and enjoy!

Crunchy, salty, and spicy.  In other words, delicious!

If you prefer, you can use a vegan Worcestershire sauce to make this a vegan snack mix.  If you want to reduce some of the oil and add in butter, that’s totally up to you.  I personally just prefer oil over butter in recipes like this.

This is just a base, you are free to add in nuts or other snack bits of your choosing.  Perhaps sprinkling a little ranch dressing mix (dry kind) after pulling it out of the oven might be a clever idea.

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Foodbuzz sent me a coupon for a free bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce to use in a recipe. This recipe is entirely my own.

Blueberry Cottage Cheese Bread

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Growing up, cottage cheese was a staple at the dinner table.  My mom served it as a side dish and she topped it with lots of black pepper.  Both her and my dad loved it but I on the other hand found it vile.  I do not like cottage cheese.  The taste is a little off but the texture does me in.  I really cannot handle that sort of chunky type texture.

However cottage cheese can be a great source of vitamins and protein making it a lovely addition to other things.  My favorite way to eat cottage cheese is actually mixed in with some oatmeal.  It gets warm and takes on the sweetness of the oats.  There’s no more chunky texture but instead a nice lovely smooth and creamy texture to the oats.

I also make another warm dish with cottage cheese but you’ll have to wait on that recipe!

Since I’ve cooked with cottage cheese it then occurred to me that I could most likely bake with it as well.  I had some cottage cheese that needed used up before it went past its prime and I figured this would be a good time to test out baking with it.

Andrea’s Blueberry Cottage Cheese Bread

  • 1 1/2C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or regular WW flour)
  • 1C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/2tsp Baking Soda
  • 1tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/4C Sugar
  • 1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
  • 1C Blueberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 1 1/4C Soymilk (can use Vanilla if you like)
  • 1 Overripe banana
  • 1C 2% Cottage Cheese (small curd)
  • 2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat oven to 350 and spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray (or oil of your choice).  In a large mixing bowl combine: Flours, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon.  Combine with a whisk, and whisk for at least a minute or two.  In a smaller bowl combine the banana and soymilk.  Mash the banana and stir till it combines with the soymilk.  Then add in the cottage cheese and vanilla extract, combine again.  Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and gently stir until everything is well mixed.  Add in the blueberries and also gently combine.

The dough will be a bit heavy but should be moist.  If it seems a bit dry, add in more soymilk, a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds together.  It will be sticky.  Place dough in the greased loaf pan and bake until cooked through.  About 30 minutes or so.  Insert a toothpick, if it comes out clean, the bread is done.  If it comes out with dough, keep cooking.

Allow bread to cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.  Serve and enjoy!

I love when cooking experiments come out fabulous and that’s exactly what happened with this bread.  It is delicious!  It is a moist soft bread with a slight crumble which means it’s perfect for just about everything.  I normally have it as a dessert with some wine but this paired with coffee or tea would be a great combo as well!  Because this dough is thick, it’s sort of lumpy in the loaf pan creating a nice rustic look to it when it finishes baking.

The blueberries give it a nice color and is a great way to use up some of the summer berries that are now plentiful.  You cannot taste the cottage cheese at all, it just melts into the bread leaving behind a few sprinkles of white here and there.

This bread has it all, whole grains, fruit, and protein which means you can feel good about eating that third slice.

This could probably be made into muffins as well for a brunch that you’re hosting or if you’re looking for something festive to take to the 4th of July party you are headed to.  We’re currently out of the bread but I do have some blueberries and cottage cheese on hand so I might need to make another loaf!

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!

Cheddar Dill Buttons

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The first time that I came across the concept of cheddar and dill, I was watching an episode where Ina made some cheddar dill scones.

Oh?

I love dill very much.  It is probably my very favorite herb and no I’m not kidding you.  I also love really great cheddar and combing the two seemed like a great concept.  While I didn’t really want a scone to snack on, I did think that this could be transferred to a great biscuit.

The first time I made this was years ago using a drop biscuit method.  I used really poor cheddar, factory farmed milk, and some Bisquick.  Oh yeah totally not something that would be considered healthy but instead more likely to be found as an option at The Red Lobster.   You know what I mean.

Now I have several years of baking under my belt which has given me more experience and new techniques that can be applied to many different things.  My outlook and choice of ingredients have also greatly changed since the early days.  Now I like to keep things simple, more homemade, and incorporating more whole grains into the mix.

It wasn’t long until that same cheddar dill scone recipe cycled back around and it sparked me to try out the biscuits again making them more healthy yet still totally delicious.

Andrea’s Cheddar Dill Buttons

  • 1C Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • 1C Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or regular WW flour)
  • 2tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2tsp Baking Soda
  • 1tsp Organic Cane Sugar
  • Pinch Salt
  • 1tsp Garlic Powder
  • 1 1/2 TBSP Dried Dill
  • 1C Shredded Cheddar (I like Cabot. Use a good cheddar)
  • 1 1/4C Plain soymilk (unsweetened if you can get it)
  • 2TBSP Light olive oil

In a large mixing bowl, combine everything except the oil, soymilk, and cheddar.  In a smaller bowl, combine the oil and soymilk.  Place both bowls in the fridge for at least 1/2 an hour.  An hour is better if you can swing it.  Also keep the cheese chilled.

Preheat your oven to 375 once you are sure all ingredients are adequately cold.  Add the cheddar to the dry ingredients and then slowly add in the liquid.  Stir and mix gently until all ingredients are well combined.  The dough will be very thick.

Drop by spoonfuls on a baking or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  These are called “buttons” so you want them small, about two to three bites once baked.  They will puff up as they cook.  A heaping tablespoon should give you the right amount.

Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Yields about 32 biscuits.

These biscuits are light and fluffy and full of flavor!  The dill totally shines while being complimented by the cheddar but not overpowered.    By chilling the ingredients, this helps the biscuits to be light as air instead of being dense and overly chewy.

The are great as snacks or accompanying a meal.  We’ve had them with soups, grilled foods, and also as part of an appetizer mix.  I eat them as is but if you want to sneak a smidge of butter on there who can blame you?

These little cuties are perfect to take along to your next potluck or BBQ.  They go great with everything and can sit out for extended periods of time without being compromised.

Have fun guys, and remember, always play with your food!  Enjoy!