Peanut Butter Banana Oat Muffins

Yes, another muffin recipe.  Yes, another banana muffin recipe.  What can I say… it’s been awhile since I’ve done some real baking of any kind at home, so I stuck to what was available in my kitchen at the time. I almost always have these ingredients on hand:  overly ripe bananas (that I should have tossed a few days ago), rolled oats, and peanut butter.

Although higher in calories than my previous banana muffin recipe (185 calories per muffin), these muffins are much more filling and have no artificial ingredients (no cake mix crutch this time).  Each contains 2.5 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.

One note of caution for the impatient (like me) is that they are actually one of the few baked goods that taste better after they’ve fully cooled, rather than hot out of the oven.

Also, the extra bit of soda gives them a nice dark brown hue when baked, don’t be alarmed, they aren’t burnt!

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup rolled oats

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 cup mashed banana

1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.  Combine flours, oats, sugar, salt, and soda in a medium bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and vanilla.  Whisk in peanut butter and banana, then slowly add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined.  The batter will be lumpy.

Distribute batter evenly amongst the 12-cup muffin tin (approximately 1/3 cup batter per muffin), and sprinkle with additional rolled oats, if desired.   Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins are a dark golden brown color, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin.

The muffins are great plain or with a drizzle of honey for added sweetness.

 

Chilled Barley Salad

Summer is officially here, so it’s time for another salad, this time a bit heartier.

This recipe is also inspired by a salad offered at one of our favorite GR restaurants, The Winchester.  At the restaurant, the salad is served topped with a skewer of lamb kafta and drizzled with a cucumber-yogurt sauce.  I wanted something that would last in the fridge a few days, so I incorporated the sauce into the rest of the salad.  I’ve been eating it as-is out of the fridge all weekend, and it’s still just as good as the day I made it.

It’s a great hearty summer salad–fresh tasting, and filling without being too heavy.  Something a little different than the same ol’ macaroni salad doused in mayonnaise.

The important thing to remember when preparing the vegetables for this salad is to dice the onions and peppers very small, so that they are not much bigger than the barley.  It makes for a much more pleasant eating experience.

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked pearled barley

1 T extra virgin olive oil

1 medium red pepper, diced

1 medium yellow or orange pepper, diced

1 small red onion, diced

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt

1 small salad cucumber, peeled, seeded and roughly chopped

1 T fresh dill

1 T fresh mint (about 4-5 leaves)

Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine barley, olive oil, peppers, and onions in a medium sized bowl.  Set aside while preparing dressing.

To make dressing, blend 1/2 cup yogurt, herbs, and cucumber in a blender or food processor.  Gently stir cucumber mixture into the remaining 1/2 cup yogurt.   Stir yogurt dressing into barley mixture.  Salad can be served immediately or chilled overnight.  Salad will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator.

 

Grilled Caesar Salad

This recipe was inspired by a salad that my husband got last weekend when we were out to eat.  He was amazed at the fact that it is possible to successfully grill lettuce.  I took it as a challenge, and decided to give it a try myself.

Next time I will invest in some better cheese, some crusty bread, and maybe even some homemade dressing.  I played it safe this time and used cheaper accompaniments in case something got messed up in the grilling process.

Overall, this was one of the easiest dinners I’ve made ever, with some of the best results for time and effort spent in prep.

Here’s my husband finishing off some of the lettuce, man style:

Sorry, I don’t have exact measurements — but they really aren’t needed here.

I took three hearts of romaine, split them lengthwise, washed them, and patted dry with paper towel.  Then I made up some garlic oil by grating 3-4 cloves of garlic with my microplane, and adding about 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  To that I added some cracked black pepper, and then brushed the oil liberally on the cut lettuce halves, making sure to get plenty of the garlic inside the leaves as well.

Romaine lettuce halves, before brushing with oil.

I then placed the oiled lettuce halves on the flaming hot grill (as high as it would go) and let them cook for about 2 minutes uncovered.  Just enough for the cut edges to get a slight char on them.  Any longer, and you’d have a soggy, wilted mess.

I sprinkled the grilled lettuce with flaked sea salt for some added crunch, and served with bottled dressing and parmesan cheese.  If anyone has a great recipe for homemade caesar dressing, I’d love to give it a try the next time I make this!

Grilled lettuce topped with flaked sea salt.

Mmmm good enough to be dinner on its own.

 

Vanilla Cupcakes and Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls

To celebrate my in-laws 30th anniversary, they requested two things of me: buttery cupcakes and sweet potato dinner rolls.

The cupcake recipe is from Joy of Baking (I omitted the lemon and used a butter-vanilla flavor instead). I ran out of cupcake liners, so I ended up also making a small single layer cake. Please excuse my poor piping skills! I also attempted to use the Viva method of making a smooth fondant-like frosting, but my buttercream was a bit too soft (the recipe has more shortening than butter)– hence the rippled appearance on the cake.

I make these sweet potato rolls from Pinch My Salt often. My only tweak is that I use Lyle’s Golden Syrup in place of the sugar. Sometimes I also use regular white potatoes and throw in some garlic and/or herbs. They are very soft, yet still hold together well enough to use as a sandwich roll as well. Also great warm with honey or apple butter for breakfast Always a hit!

 

Low Fat Apricot Walnut Spice Cake with Vanilla Yogurt Sauce

This is a doctored up version of the “subbing applesauce for oil” trick.  I added dried apricots and some walnuts to give it more texture and flavor.  Super easy, yummy, and won’t break the diet!

Cake:

1 box spice cake mix

1 1/4 c water

1/3 c applesauce

3/4 c egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)

1/2 c chopped dried apricots

1/4 c chopped walnuts

Yogurt Sauce:

2 cups plain yogurt

1/2 cup honey

1 t vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 325F.  Grease the bottom and sides of a 9″ springform pan.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix gently to combine.  There will be some lumps, but do not overmix! Pour batter into pan and bake 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Transfer pan to a cooling rack and remove sides.

While cake is baking, prepare sauce by whisking together all ingredients.

Cake is best served warm with a dollop of sauce on the side.

 

Apple Crisp Cookies

I really wanted to bake something today but didn’t quite know what.  So, after raiding the cupboards I came up with these little yummies.

My husband said they taste like the best part of an apple crisp — the crunchy buttery sweet topping.  I think it fits well.

Apple Crisp Cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups flour

4 packets Apple Cinnamon instant oatmeal (see note)
Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.  Cream butter and sugar together.  Add egg and molasses and mix until well combined.  Add remaining dry ingredients and mix.

Form dough into roughly 1″ balls and bake 7-8 minutes.

 

Cooking Poor #2 — Indoor “BBQ” Whole Chicken

Whole chickens are a great option for cooking on a budget.   I got mine on sale this week for a little over five bucks, and even at regular price it is a much better value than buying pre-cut pieces.  Plus, since I’m only cooking for my husband and I, there are lots of yummy leftovers which can be used later for soups, casseroles, pizza, or (what usually happens) midnight snacks.

We usually love to grill on the weekends, even in the winter months, although today I was a bit wary.  Grilling whole chickens certainly can (and should) be done, but it requires close monitoring to ensure that all parts cook evenly without drying out.  However, I wanted lots of crispy, sticky, caramelized skin.

This recipe achieved a nice, evenly cooked, moist chicken with a smoky-sweet crust.  Success!

Ingredients:

1 whole roaster chicken

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup dark molasses

1 tblsp  mild fish sauce (optional)

2 tsp turmeric

1 tblsp ground ginger

2 tsp ground mustard

1 tsp dried chili flakes

2 tsp sesame seeds

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp cayenne pepper

salt and ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Remove giblet package from chicken, if included.  Turn chicken breast side down and cut down either side of the back bone to remove.

Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour into a 1-gallon plastic bag.  Place chicken in bag and marinate for 1 hour, turning to coat every 15 minutes.

Heat oven to 425F.  Cover a 1/2 sheet pan with aluminum foil and place a baking or broiling rack on top.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Remove chicken from bag and lay flat on baking rack.  Place remaining marinade in a small sauce pan.

Roast at 425 for 10-15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 and cover with foil.  Continue to bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken reaches 160F.

Bring reserved marinade to a boil, then remove from heat. Baste chicken with marinade before serving.

The resulting crispy, sticky, caramelized skin:

Dinner, under 10 bucks total:

 

Cooking Poor #1 — Tuna Burgers

Screw cooking light.  The economy sucks, so here’s to making a tasty dinner on the cheap.

Oh, and this one is kind of light, too.  Bonus!

This recipe is also highly substitutable — I used what I had in the cupboards at the time, which included using crushed Honey Nut Cheerio’s as the binder.   If you’re normal, and have bread crumbs or crackers to crush up, use those.  The cereal worked surprisingly well, though and added a touch of sweetness to the burgers.

Tuna Burgers

Makes 4 burgers

Ingredients:

2 pouches hickory smoked tuna

1 egg

1/2 cup crushed honey nut O’s cereal

1/2 small onion, diced

1 tblsp olive oil

4 slices American cheese (optional)

4 small sandwich buns

Salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning to taste

Directions:

Crush cereal (or crackers, if using) in a blender or food processor.

Beat egg lightly with fork (I know the action shot is not necessary — anyone reading this should know how to beat an egg, but let me have my fun with my new camera).

Combine egg, cereal, tuna, onion, and seasonings in a small bowl.  Mix with hands and form into four equal sized patties.   Shoo cats away.

Heat large saute pan over medium heat, add olive oil.  Shoo cats away again.

Add burgers to pan and cook about 5-6 minutes per side, flipping once.  Avoid excessive handling, the burgers will be slightly fragile.   Lock cats up in basement.

Place cheese on top of burgers, if using, and top with bun half.  Cook until melted, then place burgers on bottom bun halves and serve.

I used some homemade garlic potato rolls that I had in the freezer.  Now that those are gone, I will make more and post that recipe soon.

 

Light Banana Muffins with Chocolate Drizzle

I’ve been drooling over the beautiful cupcakes in this community for awhile now and have been dying to make some of my own.  However, I don’t have a special occasion coming up to make them for, and if I don’t share them my husband and I will eat them all, thereby blowing our New Years diet plans.   Come Valentine’s Day, though, I will attempt my first real buttercream frosting.

This is what I came up with to satisfy our collective sweet tooth for now:

Light Banana Muffins with Chocolate Drizzle

1 pkg Reduced Sugar White Cake Mix (I’m sure regular would work fine here as well)
2 ripe bananas
1 cup low fat milk
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or sub 1 tsp vanilla extract)
2 squares (2 oz) dark chocolate, melted

Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare muffin pan by using paper cups or spraying with cooking spray.  Mash bananas and milk together using mixer on low speed.  Add vanilla, cake mix, and baking soda and mix until just combined.  Scoop batter into prepared muffin panand bake for 20-25 minutes.

When muffins are cool, drizzle with chocolate.

For the record, I’m not sure if the baking soda was necessary.  Since I made it without any egg, I put the soda in as an insurance policy to make sure that the muffins wouldn’t be too dense.  I think the mix has soda in it already, so it probably works fine without.

All in all pretty tasty, just enough sweet to keep us going

 

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread — Trial and Error

I really wanted a nice wheat sandwich bread that I can use throughout the week instead of using store bought bread.  Something not too hard to make on a Sunday afternoon that will stay reasonably fresh for a few days.

My first attempt baked up like a brick.  Not even making it into croutons could rescue it.  I attempted too much “tweaking” on the fly.  I don’t recommend that.

For my second attempt, I got some helpful advice from the bakebakebake community on LJ, and this is how it turned out.  The bread is slightly sweet, with a nice nutty wheat flavor and soft texture.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

2 1/2 t    instant dry yeast
1 1/3 c   lowfat (1/2%) milk, warmed to 110F
1/4 c      100% maple syrup
1/4 c       olive oil
1 1/4 t    sea salt
1 c          all purpose flour
2 3/4 c    KAF 100% Whole Wheat Flour
2 T          butter, melted

Instructions:

Stir together warm milk, yeast, and maple syrup in bowl of a stand mixer and let sit until foamy (about 5 minutes).    Mix in oil and salt, and attach dough hook.

Slowly add flours with mixer on low speed until incorporated.  Knead in mixer on medium speed for 6-8 minutes or until dough is no longer sticky and is easy to handle.  Transfer dough ball to an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let sit for 1 hour or until roughly doubled in size:

Dough after mixing step.

After one hour rise in the warm oven.  To prepare the oven, I set it to 170F with a small ramekin of water on the bottom rack while I’m prepping the ingredients, then turn the oven off once I start mixing and kneading.  This keeps it around 100 degrees and nice and humid.  Not to mention safely away from my curious cats.

Once the dough has risen, roll out on a floured surface and shape into a log the size of your loaf pan.  Place in greased loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap again.  Allow dough to rise again another 30 minutes:

Bake at 350F for 40 minutes, covering with foil after 20 minutes.  Bake until internal temp is 190F at the center of the loaf.  Remove bread from pan and cool on wire rack.  Brush warm loaf with melted butter.   Store in plastic bag for soft crust.

The finished product: