Oatmeal Breakfast Cupcakes

Bananas have this habit of going from green to black. There is no in between. Maybe like a 5-minute window when I can handle the taste of a fresh banana. So, I find myself baking things that call for very ripe bananas. The oatmeal breakfast cupcakes are one of those things. 

These were a pretty great find from Chocolate Covered Katie (via Pinterest, of course). You can do a lot with them as far as add-ins go (I opted for raisins and cinnamon). They're easy to make ahead and freeze. Great to grab on your way out the door.  No processed sugar (unless you're the person who adds chocolate chips). Easy to make gluten-free and/or vegan.

I was actually kind of surprised by how they turned out. The outside texture is more of a cupcake/muffin, but the inside is like oatmeal. Not runny, but like sticky, gummy oatmeal. It was weird. Good, but weird. And I was shocked that the brother loved them. Seriously. He usually disses my healthy "chick" food. 

Oatmeal Breakfast Cupcakes

2 1/2 cups Rolled Oats

3-4 Bananas, mashed (overripe) 

1 tsp Salt

5 TBSP Pure Maple Syrup or Agave Nectar

1 cup Water

1/8 cup + 1 TBSP Coconut Oil

1 1/4 Pure Vanilla Extract

Optional add-ins: Cinnamon, Raisins (or any other dried fruit), Shredded Coconut, Chopped Walnuts, Ground Flax or Wheat Germ, Chocolate Chips, etc.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 380*F and line a 12-cup muffin pan. I personally recommend spraying your liners with a non-stick spray as well…
• In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients and stir well. 
• In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients.
• Mix the wet into dry.
• Pour the batter evenly into your prepared muffin cups. 
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done. 

They're really good warm with butter…or peanut butter! Enjoy!

Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread

I had last night off from work, so I went running, washed my scrubs & got out the KitchenAid for some baking fun. I had some ripe bananas and a bunch of strawberries, so I decided to make some yummy bread inspired by the Ambitious Kitchen. I replaced some of the all purpose flour in the original recipe with whole wheat and eliminated the processed sugar. It turned out delicious! Great for breakfast or a snack. Of course, I think it's even better with some peanut or almond butter…mmm...

Strawberry Coconut Chia Seed Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup AP flour

3/4 cup WW flour

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 TBSP coconut oil, melted and cooled

1 TBSP sorghum 

2 TBSP unsweetened almond or coconut milk

1 cup strawberries, chopped

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

2 TBSP chia seeds

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350*F and prepare a 9-inch bread pan.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder & salt.
• In a large bowl, mix together the bananas, egg, vanilla, yogurt, oil, sorghum & milk.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until just combined. 
• Gently fold the strawberries, coconut & chia seeds into the batter.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Top with some extra coconut flakes & sliced strawberries.
• Bake for about 50 minutes or until done.
• Let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Enjoy! 

Greek Yogurt Waffles

Food! Yay! I still have a couple more travel posts to get up, but I wanted to post this before I forgot what I changed. It's been a fairly lazy Saturday. I almost slept-in until 9, which is pretty late for me...which is sad. I was starving when I woke up. Like I wake up and I am so hungry that I'm nauseated. Everyday. Does anyone else have this problem? I have to have food (and coffee) pronto. Anyways, my late morning is still early for everyone else...so I grabbed a Larabar and coffee, and then got my P90X-2 on for the day. At which point it was about 1130, and the others were beginning to surface. So I made waffles. I'm all about eating breakfast as many times as possible. 

I feel like it's been a really long time since I've had waffles. I guess we just generally do pancakes. But waffles are great because they have like built-in syrup holders. You can also get in more peanut butter this way. Totally brilliant. I slightly modified this recipe from Lauren Conrad's website. These waffles are definitely better for you than the normal ones. Greek yogurt, honey, whole wheat flour, coconut oil... and still super tasty! Even the brother ate them up.

Greek Yogurt Waffles

Ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 1/4 cups milk

1 TBSP-ish honey

1/2 tsp vanilla 

Directions:

• Plug in your waffle iron so it can heat up.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients together and mix.
• In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients and mix them together.
• Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and whisk the two together.
• Spray your waffle iron with some non-stick cooking spray. (This may need to be repeated between waffles.)
• Scoop about 1/3 cup of batter onto the waffle iron. Cook until it's as done as you like it. Repeat until all the batter has been used. About 10 times. 

Enjoy!

Note: You may be able to see this in the picture, but they were very soft. I couldn't tell you if that's because of the "healthy" stuff or because I tend to (intentionally) undercook things like waffles. I mean, they're more done than any of my pancakes ever get (I like those to still run batter when you cut in). So mine are floppy, but tasty. I guess you could try to cook them more thoroughly. 

Roasted Tomato & Kale {Tofu} Quiche

Meatless Monday success...on so many levels. Tonight, we enjoyed quiche...tofu quiche. No one had any idea. The brother is still in the dark, bless him. He ate it right up. Said the crust wasn't his favorite, but the rest of it was really good. The mother and I thought the whole thing was pretty delish. I adapted the recipe from Edible Perspective. It's definitely a keeper. I have never used tofu before. I was kind of weirded out by it. I knew that it would have to be unidentifiable for the brother. This definitely worked. So good. Creamy and flavorful. Trust me. 


Roasted Tomato & Kale {Tofu} Quiche

Ingredients for the quiche:
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved 
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 heaping tsp minced garlic
2 packed cups chopped kale
1 package (14 oz) of firm or extra firm tofu, drained
1 TBSP organic milk
1 TBSP white wine
1 tsp sea salt + some
1 tsp ground pepper + some 
1 tsp basil
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp oregano
EVOO

Ingredients for the crust:
1 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 TBSP herbs (I used a combination of basil, rosemary, oregano and thyme)
3-4 TBSP coconut oil
3-4 TBSP cold water 

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400*F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the tomatoes on the baking sheet; drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes (until shriveled and starting to brown), stirring halfway through. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce heat to 375*F.
• Meanwhile, drizzle a small sauté or fry pan with EVOO. Heat it up and add your green onions. Sauté the onions for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Lightly grease a 9" pie plate. Place the oats for the crust in your food processor and pulse 10-20 times. Until it looks good. Combine oats, flour, and herbs in a large bowl; mix well. Add coconut oil and water. Mix with your hands until the mixture starts to hold together when squeezed or pressed. Place the dough in your prepared pie plate and pat it down in the bottom, then up the sides. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool. 
• Place the tofu, 1 1/2 TBSP EVOO, the white wine, milk and herbs, salt and pepper in your food processor and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides and give it another 10 seconds. Add in the kale and pulse until the kale is evenly distributed and more finely chopped.
• In a large bowl combine the tofu/kale mixture, roasted tomatoes, and onion/garlic mixture. Stir. Pour into crust and smooth it out. Bake for about 30-35 minutes. 
• You should let it sit for 10 minutes before cutting with a really sharp knife. But I was hungry. So my edges aren't smooth. Still tasty!

Enjoy!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

The brother turns 18 tomorrow! I am so old. We ended up celebrating today because I'll be OTR tomorrow. We went to The Garage for lunch. Which, if you're in Edmond and want a burger, is definitely the place to go. I love their turkey burgers. And sweet potato fries. I was feeling adventurous today, so I got the new "Sticky Fingers" burger, which has peanut butter, bacon, colby jack, and sweet jalapeño relish. I wasn't sure about how it would taste, but I LOVE peanut butter...so I went for it. Great decision. New favorite. 

He told me a few months ago that he wanted some kind of white cake with a raspberry filling and white chocolate. And I made fun of him for wanting a girly cake. He has a thing for girly cakes. For one of his previous birthdays he wanted a legit strawberry cake, so I made Bobby's Lighter Simply Delicious Strawberry Cake. Great cake. Also very pink. So, I laughed because I had planned to do some kind of manly Dr. Pepper cake, but no, he wanted a white cake with raspberries. Bless his heart. I have been trying to decide how I would pull this off for months. Literally, I live for birthdays so I can make cake. My Pinterest feed had been full with white almond sour cream (WASC) cake, which involves taking a white cake box mix and adding stuff to make it taste like wedding cake. But I'm in this anti-box-mix phase because I like to avoid additives and preservatives and artificial whatever. I ended up finding a recipe for homemade white cake mix from Chickens In The Road. So, I took that and added the extra stuff for the WASC wedding cake, except I changed a couple things...don't tell...he liked it. What I came up with: three delectable layers of white cake, separated by raspberry laced white chocolate, smothered with a perfectly sweet and fluffy white chocolate buttercream frosting, and topped with fresh tart raspberries.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cake

For the Cake:
3 3/4 cups plus 2 TBSP cake flour
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup non-fat dried milk (like the kind by Organic Valley)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
2 TBSP coconut oil, melted but not hot
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
1 cup Fage Total Greek Yogurt
4 large egg whites

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare 3 8" round cake pans.
• In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix.
• Add the remaining ingredients and mix on medium for about 2 minutes.
• Pour into greased and floured cake pans.
• Tap the pans gently on the counter to bring the air bubbles to the top.
• Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to cool completely.

For the Filling:
Seedless raspberry jam (from your local natural food store)
3-6 oz Velata premium white chocolate
1-2 heaping spoonfuls Fage Total Greek Yogurt

• In a small bowl, microwave the Velata in 30 second intervals until melted. Cool slightly.
• Combine yogurt with the Velata and mix.
• When the cake has cooled, spoon raspberry jam on the top of the bottom layer and spread evenly. Top with half the Velata/yogurt mixture. 
• Place the middle cake layer on top, securing with toothpicks, and repeat.
• Place the top cake layer on and secure with toothpicks.

For the Frosting:
6 oz Velata premium white chocolate
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 plus cups of powdered sugar
1/4 cup Fage Total Greek Yogurt 
1/4 tsp vanilla
A pinch of salt

• Melt the Velata in the microwave (directions on pouch); set aside.
• Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt.
• Add in the chocolate and beat.
• Fold in the yogurt, and then beat the frosting on high for about 5 minutes. It should be nice and fluffy!
• Do a thin layer of dirty frosting over the entire cake. Place the cake in the fridge until the frosting hardens.
• Use the rest of the frosting to make it pretty!
• Top with fresh raspberries!

Giant Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits

I made some giant gooey cinnamon biscuits for Mother's Day breakfast yesterday. My inspiration for these tasty treats came from The Kitchn, via Pinterest. However, I couldn't get over putting two cups of heavy cream in what was going to be four biscuits. Then, I discovered what all went into cinnamon chips. I did some serious revamping. I swapped ingredients and eliminated some steps. The result was great! They were delicious, and everyone enjoyed them. I'll admit that I did go ahead and pour on a mixture of organic milk, vanilla, and powdered sugar. Live a little, right? However, I think that the biscuits would still be tasty without that. Maybe some homemade jam instead? You could probably also make eight smaller biscuits. Here's the recipe---


Giant Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits
Original recipe from The Kitchn, with modification help from Alaska from Scratch

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBSP baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tartar 
1 TBSP natural honey
1 1/2 cups plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage 2%)
1/4 cup reduced fat organic milk
4 TBSP cinnamon chips (see recipe below)

Topping (optional):
Reduced fat organic milk and powdered sugar to desired consistency. I went with more of a "soak-y"glaze than icing. Add vanilla to taste. 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease an 8x8 baking dish. 
• Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and whisk together. Add honey, yogurt, and just enough milk to make a fairly sticky dough. Mix until combined.
• Dump the dough onto a floured surface and pat or roll out into a square. Cut into quarters. 
• Place about 1 TBSP on cinnamon chips in the middle of each square. Fold the edges over, making sure the cinnamon chips are covered and there are no holes. 
• Place the biscuits into the baking dish. Bake for about 16 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. 
• Pour glaze/icing on and serve warm. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients:
3 TBSP ground cinnamon
2 TBSP unrefined coconut oil (in place of vegetable shortening)
2 TBSP honey (in place of corn syrup)
1/4 tsp vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and grease well. 
• Mix everything together.
• Dump the mixture onto the parchment paper and flatten it out to a 1/4" thick or so. 
• Bake until the mixture has completely melted and is somewhat bubbly.
• Cool completely before cutting.

Store what is leftover in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. Coconut oil has a lower melting point than vegetable shortening so the cinnamon chips will soften quickly if you leave them out.

Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

When we had family in for graduation, I made some slow cooker overnight oatmeal. I got that recipe from The Gracious Pantry, which is probably my new favorite place to find "clean" recipes. The oatmeal wasn't too bad, and it was nice having something ready to eat in the morning. I would recommend not adding the raisins in until the morning though. The definitely soaked up a lot of the liquid, so they looked pretty funky...and the brother couldn't handle it. Anyways, we had a little over 2 cups left, so I went on a quest to find a recipe for leftover oatmeal muffins. I found a recipe that I liked the basic concept of from Full Tummies. As I was reading comments, someone else had made some suggestions...so I took things I liked from both recipes and made my own! The muffins turned out really well. They kind of remind me of a very moist bran muffin. (You could probably add more flour, if you want a dryer texture. I like things pretty moist. Then, I don't need condiments.) They got eaten up pretty quickly, and even the brother liked them! (Little did he know I had used the oatmeal he didn't like to make them.) 


Leftover Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cooked oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 TBSP coconut oil (melted)
2 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
2 TBSP honey
1 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

(If your leftover oatmeal is plain, you may consider adding cinnamon, vanilla, or whatever you like!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease your muffin pan (the recipe makes 12 good sized muffins). I pretty much just threw it all in our KitchenAid stand mixer and mixed it up. Then, divide the batter between each muffin cup. Bake for 25-ish minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!