Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

Easy, healthy, delicious!  Great for breakfast or snack.

Ingredients:

• 4 over ripe bananas mashed up
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour (or reg whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 TBS brown sugar
• 1/4 cup whipped peanut butter (Jif Whips){I assume reg peanut butter would work too}
• 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix everything together in a large bowl and let sit while you prepare muffin tins.

Distribute between muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes.  

That's it!  Makes 24 muffins.

(I made some with no chocolate chips.)

Coconut Zucchini Bread

A different and scrumptious combo!  This bread is very moist and great for breakfast or anytime of day.

Ingredients: 

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 3 cups shredded zucchini (squeeze the water out between paper towels after shredding)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or 1/4 cup domino light stevia blend)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted (measure out the solid then melt)
• 1 cup light sour cream or plain greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
• 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

First shred your zucchini with a cheese grater.  Put between lots of paper towels and press down to soak up all the water.

Preheat oven to 325.  Spray 2 loaf pans with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg.  

In a separate bowl, combine zucchini, sugars, coconut oil, sour cream or yogurt, eggs, vanilla.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir to combine.  Stir in the shredded coconut.

Pour batter into loaf pans evenly.  

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, check for doneness by inserting a toothpick or butter knife.  

Vanilla Bean Scones

I decided to make these because they are my husband's favorite breakfast treat from Starbucks!!  They are excellent right out of the oven, or re-heated for 15 seconds in the microwave the next morning...

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 TBS cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or half & half
• 1 vanilla pod, beans scraped (slice lengthwise, scrape out with edge of knife)
• 1 egg
• egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBS water)
• coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  In a small bowl with pouring spout or similar, add the half & half and vanilla seeds, let them sit 5 minutes.  

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  

Add the cold butter cubes and mix with a pastry blender or your hands to break the butter up into smaller pieces, evenly distributed throughout dry ingredients.  

Add your egg to the half & half vanilla bean mixture and whisk to combine.  

Add to dry mixture and stir to combine. 

Lightly flour a work surface and dump dough out onto it.  Shape into a rectangle that's about 3/4 inches thick.  

Cut the scones into triangles and place on lined baking sheet.  

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with course sugar.  

Bake 17-18 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm with coffee!

Nutritional facts: 275 calories, 12.5 g fat, 74 g sodium, 11 g sugar, 5.5 g protein.

recipe inspired by: www.laurainthekitchen.com

Willow's Honey Bread

The little girl I babysit for got in the car one day after school carrying this bread fresh from the oven at school.  She had made it with her teacher that day as a special project.  It smelled SO GOOD I could hardly drive the 15 minutes home without tearing into it!  We ate almost the whole loaf when we got home, and it was truly the best tasting bread I've ever had.  It has a sweetness to it from the honey that is so delicious by itself or with butter on it.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm-hot water (microwave for 45 seconds- 1 min)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (or any oil)
• 1/3 cup honey 
• 3 1/2 tsp quick acting yeast
• 1-2 tsp salt
• 5 cups flour (any combo of all purpose or whole wheat or bread flour), plus more for work surface and hands

In a large bowl, mix together water, olive oil, honey, salt, and yeast.

TIP:  If you measure out the oil first, then use the same 1/2 cup with the oil residue in it for measuring your honey, the honey will pour out much easier into the bowl!

Add 5 cups of flour, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Dump out onto floured surface and knead until elastic and no longer sticky, adding flour if necessary.  Form into a ball and put in oiled bowl to rise. Cover with towel and set inside oven (turned off).  Allow to rise for 2 hours.

After dough has risen, punch it down to get the air out and knead for another minute to be sure there is no air still... 

Divide into 2 equal parts and put into loaf pans.  Cover and allow to rise again as your oven preheats to 350.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup light domino sugar & stevia blend for baking
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp orange zest
• 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

For topping:

• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 brown sugar, not packed
• 2 TBS light domino sugar & stevia blend for baking
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, line a muffin tray with liners.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In a larger bowl, combine the applesauce, sugar/ stevia blend, eggs, and orange zest.

Add the milk and make sure all ingredients are combined well.

Take a small bowl and pour your chocolate chips in it along with a few big spoonfuls of your dry mixture, stir around to coat the chocolate chips in flour mixture.  This prevents them from sinking to the bottom when you add them to the batter.  

Now slowly pour your dry mix into your wet mix, stir to combine.  Add your chocolate chip mixture and stir until all the flour is mixed in.

Divide your batter evenly into muffin liners and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for topping and use a fork or your hands to mix everything and break up the butter into small pieces.

Scatter topping evenly over the muffin batter.

  Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Makes 15 large muffins.
Nutritional Facts: (per muffin)  183 cals, 7 g fat, 26 g sodium, 15 g sugar, 4 g protein.

Recipe adapted from Laura in the Kitchen