Almond Coconut Muesli

We have taken a little hiatus from this blog.  Part of my hiatus was due to a pretty epic trip to Europe and another part has been to cooking, but not measuring ingredients.  The good news is I am back from Europe and actually took the time to measure the ingredients for this recipe.  This was inspired by lovely Italian breakfasts.  Is it just me that finds memories and food closely intertwined?  My first morning in Italy we woke up at a charming hotel and there was a wonderful breakfast.  Among the options were plain yogurt, muesli, fruit, and honey.  I had never tried muesli before, but it looked wonderful.  I mixed it with the tangy yogurt, topped it with fruit, and drizzled a little honey on top.  It was wonderful and inspired me to see if I could recreate it back home. I think it comes pretty close.

5 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips (optional)

1. Mix oats, coconut, almonds, cinnamon, and salt together in a medium sized bowl.

2. Add maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla.

3.  If desired, spread ingredients out on a baking sheet and place in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes until lightly toasted. Once cool, mix in chocolate chips, if desired.

4. Store in an airtight bag or container in the freezer.

Serve with milk or yogurt and top with fruit.

Lemon White Chocolate Scones

I've never been a fan of white chocolate.  There are very few appropriate uses for white chocolate in my book.  Let me tell you, this is one of those appropriate uses. The combination of it with the buttery, lemony dough was divine.  I almost left the white chocolate out and I am so glad I didn't!  If you've had a rocky relationship with white chocolate like me, give it another go in the form of this scone.  I made these for a baby shower I was throwing (without trying the recipe before, of course).  They were a hit! I'll definitely make these again. So light and tender and delicious!

Lemon White Chocolate Scones

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1/3-inch cubes

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup whole milk 

1 teaspoon lemon juice 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix the flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest and sugar in a mixer or a medium sized bowl. Using the paddle attachment, add the butter and mix until coated with flour.  The butter chunks should still be large, not less than half their original size.  Add the white chocolate chips.  Stir gently.  With the mixer set on a slow speed add the milk and lemon juice and mix until just absorbed.  Stop mixing when the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Make sure not to over mix. It is the key to these tender.  The butter needs to be in decently large chunks or they will turn out tough.

Shape into a ball gently. Try not to handle the dough too much.  The warmth of your hands will melt the butter and you want the chunks still. Roll the dough into a 7-inch disk.  Cut into quarters and then again into eighths.  Set the scones on a cookie sheet.  Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Glaze

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

In a medium sized mixing bowl add the powdered sugar and lemon zest.  Stir in lemon juice and milk one tablespoon at a time.  Continue to add more lemon juice until desired consistency. 

Adapted slightly from Simply So Good to make them more lemony 

German Pancakes

One of my favorite things about this breakfast is that it can bakes while I get ready in the morning.  It is a classic breakfast recipe that I goes by many different names, but I grew up with these called German pancakes.  It magically puffs up in the oven making for a really fun breakfast.  You can top these with lemon juice and powdered sugar, fruit or jam, but my favorite is a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

6 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place butter in a 9x13 pan and place in the oven.  Keep an eye on it and remove the pan when the the butter is melted.  If you wait too long, you will have burnt butter.  Gross.

2. Mix eggs, milk, flour, and salt together with an electric mixer until no lumps remain and mixture is frothy.

3. Pour the batter on top of the melted butter and return the hot pan to the oven.  Bake for 18 minutes.  It will have brown edges and be all puffed up.

Healthy Banana Muffins

Have you ever eaten a muffin and thought it tasted like dessert?  Yeah, those muffins are tasty, but this is perfect when you want something tasty that doesn't taste like dessert.  This recipe contains no butter or oil and very little sugar.  Bananas are already super sweet, especially when they are brown, so there isn't really a need to add much sugar.  These are moist and are healthy enough to eat with breakfast.

1 cup flour*
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe mashed bananas
3 tablespoons sugar
1/3 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix wet ingredients together.  Add dry ingredients and stir util just barely combined.  If you over mix muffins or quick breads they will be tough, not the tender muffins that we all love.  Scoop into a greased muffin tin and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.

*You can use white flour.  To make these muffins more nutritious I usually do half wheat flour.  I strongly recommend using white wheat in this recipe otherwise your muffins will be dense and heavy.  I have also used oat flour.  I often grind oat flour in a grain mill from oat groats, but you can also just put oatmeal in the blender and pulse until it looks like flour!  Either of these swaps will make for healthier muffins.

Baked Oatmeal

I was first introduced to baked oatmeal when my uncle made it at a family reunion a couple years ago.  I had never heard of it before, but I found it delightful and asked him for his recipe.  About a year ago I started to look for make ahead breakfasts to cut down on the morning rush and this fit the bill!  While the texture of normal leftover oatmeal is gummy and unappetizing the next day, this is perfect.  Baked oatmeal gives you all sorts of good things in the morning- whole grains, eggs and milk for protein, and some fruit.  I have tweaked this recipe until I have it just how I like it.  Not too soggy or dry.  I cut the butter down and added some vanilla and spices to take it up a notch.  This is good cold or hot, with milk or on its own, and if you want it a little sweeter- a drizzle of honey is really good!

Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
4 Tablespoons melted butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Fruit (see below)

Fruit choices- chopped apple, frozen blueberries, peaches, etc.

1. Mix dry first four dry ingredients.  Then add wet ingredients and mix until combined.

2. Pour into a square baking dish and sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg on top.  Top with fruit.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes

Since I usually have apples on hand, I will usually peel, core, and chop one large or two small apples and sprinkle them on top.  I also really like frozen blue berries in this.  I will sprinkle about two handfuls of blueberries on top.  During peach season I chopped up a peach and sprinkled that on top with a handful of blueberries.  That was delicious.  I like to press the fruit in a bit with my hands before I bake it.

Adapted from Heavenly Homemakers.