blueberry nut oatmeal bars

I've been on a kind bar kick. Okay, more like an Amazon subscribe and save bender. While the bars have a fairly short shelf life, hopefully indicative of fresh(ish) ingredients and processing, I endeavored to find a homemade version. This isn't it.  But, these bar do straddle a crumble and granola bar. This recipe provides an easy, lower fat and calorie option for those of us who aren't adhering to a (strict) gluten free vegan diet. :) Fair warning: The bars aren't tremendously sweet and the nuts take on a different consistency as a result of absorbing liquid, maybe because I took the lazy way out and used frozen blueberries.  Using fresh or dried would most likely prevent the boiled peanut effect to which some of the chopped nuts fell victim and increasing the sugar or changing it white would help with sweetness.

Yield: 1 pan of bars
125 calories per bar, if cut into 16
Active time: 10 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes

ingredients

3 cups oats

1 ¼ cup mixed nuts

1 cup blueberries

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups milk 

2 eggs

2 teaspoon vanilla

preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In your food processor, chop the nuts.

3. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir well until combined.

4. Pour mixture into a baking dish that’s been generously sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

5. Bake until golden brown, about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

6. Allow to cool completely then cut into squares.

Original recipe found here.

apple gorgonzola brioche

Brioche with apples and gorgonzola? It tastes as amazing as it sounds, I mean if you're into a rich, buttery bread with salty and savory finish.

Yield: One large loaf
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 240 minutes

ingredients

2½ cups high gluten flour

2 teaspoons yeast

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 large egg yolk, white reserved

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup softened butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1¼ cup gorgonzola, crumbled

4 apples, diced

preparation

1. In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the lukewarm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Combine all the remaining ingredients into your stand mixer bowl. I freeze my cheese so it is easier to work with. See "wild rice bread" for more.

3. With your dough hook attached, pour in the yeast mixture and “stir” until a shaggy dough forms.

4. Increase the speed to 2 and knead until a cohesive dough forms, about 10 minutes. The dough will be sticky . If your dough seems dry, you may need to add additional water, one tablespoon at a time.

5. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until puffy, about 1 hour.

6. Turn the dough out onto your lightly floured counter top, shape into a loaf, place in a parchment lined loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.

7. About 30 minutes into the final proof, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

8. Brush the loaf with the reserved egg white, bake the loaf for 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees, tent the loaf, and bake until a deep brown, about 40 minutes. The top browns quickly because of the high fat content in this bread.

9. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.

Original recipe found here.

apple cake

Last spring, I made a traditional apple cake. Although it was pretty tasty, it was also little greasy given the amount of butter called for in the recipe. This apple cake uses Greek yogurt instead of butter or oil, making it amazingly moist, dense, and delicious.

Yield: 1 cake
135 calories per slice, if cut into 16 slices
Active time: 15 minutes
Total time: 75 minutes

ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 apples, diced

preparation
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

2. In your stand mixer bowl, cream the sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.

3. Add in the yogurt, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt, mixing on a speed of 4 until very well combined.

4. Add in the flour and apples, continuing to stir on a speed of 2 until well blended.

5. Pour into a well greased pan and bake until dark brown and when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. This cake is very, very dense so a toothpick may come out cleanly even though the cake isn't cooked through. Another method is to gently press on the top of the cake. If it springs back, it's ready.

6. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Other modifications:

• Bringing the cake to a holiday party? Separate the batter into two 8 or 9 inch pie pans, whip up a cream cheese frosting of glaze, and stack. Viola!

Original recipe found here.

triple berry clove scroll

Jack Frost nipping at your nose? Carolers outside your door?  This spicy bread is a great treat for any visitor. 

Yield: One scroll
3,320 calories per scroll
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 255 minutes

ingredients

the dough

2½ teaspoons yeast

1¼ cups lukewarm water

1 cup high gluten flour
2 cups wheat flour

1¼ teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup nonfat dry milk

1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon nutmeg

the filling

Jam, about 1½  cups

preparation

1. In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the lukewarm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients in your stand mixer bowl, pour in the yeast mixture, and “stir” until a shaggy dough forms.

3. Increase the speed to 2 and knead until a smooth and cohesive dough forms, about 7 minutes.

4. Shape the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise until very puffy, about 90 minutes.

5. Turn the dough out onto your counter top, roll into a rectangle, evenly spread the jam over the dough, and form a jelly roll. Make sure your seams are sealed tightly. See “maple sticky buns” for more on rolling.

6. Form the jelly roll into a scroll, by tightly winding it around itself from the inside outwards.

7. Place the scroll on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to rise until doubled in bulk, about 90 minutes.

8. With 30 minutes left in the final proof, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

9. Brush the scroll with an egg wash.

10. Bake until deep, golden brown, about 45 minutes. You may need to tent the bread if it browns too quickly.

Original recipe found here.

oatmeal apple muffins

Yield: 12 muffins
130 calories per muffin
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes

ingredients

2 cups oats

1/3 cup wheat flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoons nutmeg

1 cup Greek yogurt

1 egg

1 apple, finely chopped

preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin tin with liners.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients.

3. Stir until well mixed.

4. Spoon the batter evenly  into the muffin wells.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes clean, about 15 minutes. Because there isn't any fat (oil or butter) in these muffins, they brown quite quickly and may stick to the liners. If you have silicone muffins liners, I recommend using them.

Original recipe found here.