Festival Spice Muffins

I made these muffins this morning from the Tassajara Bread Book and they are so yummy. They have a very light and pleasant flavor. I might make them tomorrow too...they are really good! Enjoy!

2 c whole wheat flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t mace
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
1/4 t ginger
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c oil or melted butter
1/4-1/2 c honey or molasses (i used about 1/3 c honey)
1 1/2 c milk

Preheat oven to 400. Combine dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl combine the wet ingredients. Fold the wet and dry ingredients together with as few strokes as possible, just until the flour is moistened, leaving a few clumps. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake for about 15-18 minutes.

sweet potato pancakes

last night i made sweet potatoes for dinner. we had 1 1/2 leftover- so this morning we made sweet potato pancakes. these are light and airy, and very yummy.

here's what we did:

1 1/2 baked sweet potatoes (i'm pretty sure just one large one would work)

2 cups white whole wheat flour (this is NOT white refined flour- it is from the white variety of whold wheat)

2 Tbsp coconut oil

4 eggs

about 2 tsp vanilla

cinnamon

1 can coconut milk

*milk to thin*

put flour into a large bowl

in a food processor, whip up the sweet potatoes and coconut milk. transfer to a bowl and mix in oil, vanilla, cinnamon and eggs (already beaten). add the wet to the dry.

grease up a skillet and go to town. this made up 16 medium size pancakes for us. so i'll be freezing quite a few.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~side note: if you don't have coconut milk try a plain yogurt- that's just what i had on hand. pancakes are forgiving- go with what you have!~~~~~~~~~~

breakfast cookies

***the original recipe can be found at i have to say. thank you randi for such a great idea!***

i tried a modified version of these cookies the other morning for breakfast and they were delicious! the kids were so excited about the idea of cookies for breakfast!

breakfast cookies

2 ripe mashed bananas

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup liquid coconut oil

mix together

add

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (ww pastry flour optimal if you have it on hand)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

stir into wet ingredients (or just dump it all in the bowl together like i did)

next add

3/4 cup blueberries (i used frozen)

1 - 1/2 cups traditional oats

drop by tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet. bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

very easy and very yummy! i think next time i'll add shredded zuc or carrot to up the nutritional factor. i always feel so accomplished when i can get a vegetable in before 9am.

Pumpkin!

The weather is getting cooler and suddenly the only thing that seems appropriate to eat is pumpkin! Here are two of my favorite pumpkin recipes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill and serve with ginger snaps!

Pumpkin Scones

1 T oil or softened unsalted butter
2 T maple syrup or honey
1 egg
1 C mashed pumpkin
1 C whole wheat or barley flour
1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1 T baking powder
1/4 t sea salt
3/4 t pumpkin pie spice

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly oil a small baking sheet. Beat oil or butter, sweetener, and egg together until smooth. Beat in pumpkin until smooth. In separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir until just combined. Turn dough onto floured board and knead lightly until dough holds together. Form dough into a ball. Place in center of prepared pan and flatten to a circle about 1 inch high. Cut into 8 wedges but dont seperate them. Bake 15-20 minutes. To test for doneness, insert toothpick in a scone to see if it comes out dry. Transfer to rack to cool.

Gluten Free Dutch Baby/Pancake (Fruited Breakfast Torte)

Do you want something pretty, impressive and ladylike for breakfast..pull up a stool..this is it!

Several years ago, I ate only gluten free grain if any grain, to rid myself of asthma and eczema..it worked! Although currently, I don't have to be so strict, I still rotate our whole grains so we don't get sensitive to any particular one..hopefully! So, here is a common breakfast food that I have made twice in the last two weeks and today, I got a helper to illustrate this tutorial. ;-)

Gather these tools:

pie dish

measure cups

cookie sheet

aluminum foil

Preheat oven 425 degrees.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp (1/2 stick) butter melted
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup cow milk or non-dairy milk
• 2/4 cups + 1/8 cup Bob's Red Mill GF All Purp Baking Mix (mostly garbanzo bean flour) or, whole wheat flour
• 1/8 cup ground flax meal
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup raw honey (or more to taste..you will have to try this out to see how much sweet you want)
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1-2 cups thinly sliced fresh fruit OR, 2 cups, drained frozen fruit

Put it together:

Melt butter and pour into pie dish. A big pool of butter is okay..trust me!

I always get an egg cracker helper wandering through the kitchen who wants to help. ;-) Combine the eggs, milk, flour, flax mean and salt until just blended. I did help him whisk them together, remove the eggs shells in the bowl, clean up the yolky pile of shells, etc.

Pour into the butter in the pie dish..right on top.
Place fruit in a medium size bowl, add the honey and lemon juice to the fruit and tumble until fruit is coated. (Note: Drain juice off frozen fruit first.)
Place the sugared fruit on top of the batter, either at random or in a spoke pattern.
Line cookie sheet with foil for easy spill over clean up. Put dish on sheet and bake for 20 minutes and check for firmness. You want it cooked but not hard. It will get puffy from the baking mix. If you only use flour, it won't get the pretty poof.

Serve with a dollop of plain or vanilla yogurt. This can be served as the main event to 4 or as an addition to sausage or other breakfast meat and would serve maybe 6 adults or more. (scroll back to top for finished torte from last week..this one is still in the oven)

Notes: You can use almost any fruit. We used raspberries for this one. If using apples, please cook on stove a little first to soften, after you have tumbled them in lemon juice and honey.

(Recipe adapted from More From The Gluten-Free Gourmet by Bette Hagman)

best oatmeal ever...

sunday mornings are oatmeal mornings. mainly because sunday is bread baking day, and i use leftover oatmeal in my bread.

we eat lots of oatmeal around here, but our sunday morning oatmeal is my favorite. it is really hardy and delicious! here's what we do:

• soak whole oats and nuts overnight (in different bowls) to neutralize the phytic acid (the bad stuff in grain that won't let you digest it properly or absorb minerals)
• in the morning, rinse and drain the oats and nuts
• put on the stove top with a little water (about half way up the pan) and set to boil, when it starts boiling turn all the way down and cover
• while all that is going on start on the topping- place nuts (i usually use whole raw walnuts or pecans that i chop up) in skillet with some butter (or coconut oil) on a medium heat
• add a touch of maple syrup and some black strap molasses
• add chopped up apple or pear and a touch of cinnamon
• let topping get all caramelized and delicious
• serve up oatmeal in a bowl, add hot topping as well as some raisins and maybe a little splash of maple syrup
• add one tablespoon of raw, virgin coconut oil

all those steps make me think that this is a harder process than it actually is. don't get caught up by the steps! this is actually a pretty quick breakfast!

and did i mention that it is sooooooooo-per delicious?

just ask buddy!