Banana Coconut Muffins

Banana Coconut Muffins with Cornmeal & Oatmeal

I have always been a muffin lover. One of my first comments upon arriving in Vermont was that there was a serious lack of good muffins. A lot of coffeeshops didn't carry them, which I am happy to say has changed over the last couple of years. Muffins are magical because my daughter loves them and will sometimes sit in her highchair happily demolishing one for half an hour. That is 30 magical minutes that I have to get stuff done quickly without anyone "helping". I write many blog posts in that 30 minutes. 

These muffins are a great use for bananas that are nearing the end of their life- although you can still make them with ripe bananas. They are egg free and can easily be made vegan by substituting in non-dairy for the milk. The cornmeal gives the muffins a great texture and make them a little denser- which in our house means less crumbs. 

Banana Coconut Muffins

(Makes 1 dozen)

2 bananas- medium

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup milk

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

 1. Preheat oven to 375. Put bananas in mixer and mix until they are all squashed up. Add in brown sugar and beat until blended. Add in coconut, cornmeal, and oatmeal and mix until all ingredients are moistened. Add spices, baking powder, and baking soda and mix until incorporated. The batter will be really thick. Add the milk in and mix. I use a 1/4 cup measure to add in all my ingredients so that I can then use that measuring cup to dose the batter into the pan. The batter will make 12 muffins and is easily doubled if you have more bananas.
Bake at 375 for 14 minutes.

My daughter loves to sit on the counter to "help" me cook. This is why I try not to use eggs in recipes- she has a love of licking the beaters. 

Enjoy!

Cooling muffins

Pear Sandwich with Balsamic Sauce & Pistachio Ricotta Spread

Some nights my husband and I wait until "the screamer" has gone to bed to eat. Then we can sit down and have a quiet meal without anyone pointing and grunting for a bite. These meals are usually either ones I can whip up quickly while he's upstairs rocking her and putting her to sleep or ones that have been slow cooking all evening. Last night's meal fell in the quick category. This sandwich is ones that I do quick variations off of all year- in the summer roasted beets that I keep in the fridge replace the pears, in the fall it's apples. Pears were on sale at the supermarket for 99 cents/lb when I shopped last so about 4 pounds of them are currently living in my fridge. When you go shopping as infrequently as I do you learn to buy fruit and vegetable items that store well.

Pear Sandwiches with Pistachio Ricotta Spread and Balsamic Reduction ($3.49/recipe, 1.75 per person)

(serves 2)

slices of fresh bread or baguette (we used 3/4 a loaf of homemade bread which I make for 53 cents a loaf) .40

2 pears (.99/lb breaks down to .44/pear) .88

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar (another bulk item- I love bulk! Roughly 5.99/lb = .37/oz) .74

1 TBS honey (I buy local honey in bulk at City Market for $4.99/lb. A pound of honey is 16oz by weight, but 10.67 fluid oz so it's .47/oz, 1 TBS is .5 fluid oz) .24

1/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme

4 oz ricotta cheese ($3.89 for 32 oz = .12/oz) .48

1 oz chopped pistachios (I've had these for awhile- bought in bulk they cost roughly $11.99/lb, so .75/oz) .75

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp pepper

 1. Peel & thinly slice the pears.

 2. In a small saucepan gently heat the balsamic vinegar to bubbling (about 5 minutes). Gently tilt the pan around so that it doesn't scorch. It is important to do this over low heat. Using high heat will fill the house with an acrid nose-clearing stench. Once the balsamic vinegar is bubbling add 1 TBS of honey, 1/4 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp thyme and gently stir. A rubber spatula is best. Turn it all the way down to the lowest setting and let it continue to reduce for about 10 more minutes while you finish everything else.

3. Chop 1 oz of pistachios finely.

Measure out 4 oz of ricotta. Because of ricotta's moisture content standard cup measures don't always work. I recommend measuring on a food scale if possible. Sprinkle with 1/4 tsp kosher salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Mix. 

Add in the chopped pistachios and mix them in.

Slice your bread. I had to make pretty hearty slices because the bread was still hot out of the oven. Turn of the balsamic reduction to give it a moment to cool. 

4. Time to build your sandwich! Spread the bread with some ricotta.

Layer on some pears. I like 2 layers.

Drizzle with some balsamic reduction. 

And top with another piece of ricotta spread bread if desired.

Yummy. Now pretend you're on a picnic with your husband and not in your toy strewn living room. Enjoy!

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Scones

I almost called this recipe "Pregnant Lady Scones" because it was born out of a craving. I really wanted goat cheese scones. I make them sometimes and they're light and fluffy and delectable. But alas, no goat cheese in our house and it was breakfast time. So I pulled some cream cheese out of the fridge. Next up, what was breakfast-y? I found some dried cranberries in a drawer. By the time I had mixed the dough I had  "needed" lemon, cornmeal & at the last minute I tossed in some chocolate chips. They came out super yummy so enjoy!

Note: In my "cravings cloud" I failed to take pictures of the early process. Forgive my hazy mind....

Cranberry Chocolate Chip Scones (makes 12)

1 1/4 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup buttermilk (or whole milk) (For fluffier scones take out of the fridge early and let it warm up)
1 egg
2 TBS butter
4 oz cream cheese
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS lemon juice
2 TBS sugar
1 TBS lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil & spray with cooking spray.

2. Cream butter, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice & lemon zest in a mixer. Add in cornmeal & flour. Mix until the dough clumps and looks like grainy wet sand.

3. Add in egg, buttermilk, salt, and baking powder and mix until smooth. Don't overmix. Overmixing results in dense scones.

4. Add cranberries and chocolate chips if using them.

5. Scoop 1/3 of the dough onto a floured surface. 

Squash down with your hands so that it makes a round about an inch thick. Flip it once so that both sides are floured. 

Cut into quarters. 

Place on prepared cookie sheet.

Repeat until you have 12 scones. Bake at 350 for 14 minutes. Pull out of the oven and enjoy warm or wait for them to cool. Yum! Like most scones these taste best the day they're baked. They increase in denseness for each day they're stored. 

Apple Pie Crust Crumble

I seem to always have a random ball of pie dough rolling around in the fridge or freezer. Not quite enough to make a pie, and I know if I make cinnamon rollups  I'll end up eating them all raw in my pajamas in the kitchen. This time I had a random storebought pie dough that had made it's way into my fridge. It was a snowy Vermont morning so I threw together some abstract "breakfast art".

Apple Pie Crust Crumble

(serves 4)

1 rolled out pie crust store bought or leftover homemade dough

2 TBS sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

3 apples

2 TBS butter

2 TBS maple syrup

2 TBS chopped nuts (optional, I used pecans)

1. Preheat oven to 350. Rollout dough and splinter pie dough into pieces on a sprayed cookie sheet. In a small bowl mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle pie dough with it. 

Put in oven for 8-10 minutes, keeping watch on it. Pull it out when it is a light golden brown.

2. Peel, section, and chop apples into small pieces. 

If you're house is like mine you'll have an apple-loving helper underfoot who pulls over a stool and tries to steal your ingredients. 

Just cut off the bitten part and keep on peeling. 

I offered a trade to keep the peace and quiet in our house.

We compost our food waste but apple peels never make it in because our bunny powered composter takes care of them. 

3. Sorry, back to the recipe. In a pan melt the butter and gently saute the apples. 

Drizzle in the maple syrup and cook until golden brown. I like to leave a little bit of crunch in the apple. Crispier varieties of apple stand up better to the sautee process. 

4. Dish out into bowls and top with some crushed nuts if desired. Enjoy. 

Use your apple energy to go for a little walk.

The energy lasted longer for some of us than others. 

Sometimes this is the only way she'll nap. Needless to say, my husband is in good shape. Have a good Saturday!

Healthy & Delicious Bran Muffins

I like bran muffins. Bran used to be a dirty word- it meant you needed some help in the poop department. I just think they taste great and most folks don't get enough fiber in their regular diet. One of my favorite things to do is to go to City Market and browse their bulk section for items under 75 cents a pound. Then I create cheap recipes around them. Their wheat bran is frequently on special for .59/pound and you need to get a lot to make a pound. Since it is so light and fluffy the muffins come out moist and with a great texture.

A pound of wheat bran is roughly the size of a medium pumpkin. 

This recipe contains no eggs, no oil, and can be made vegan if you use soy milk instead of dairy. They freeze fantastically and taste great popped into the microwave for a minute. The recipe makes 2 dozen but I frequently make a double recipe, all the pictures below are from a double recipe. I split the double batch into 4 so that I could make different flavors- Plain, Date & Raisin, Banana Blueberry, and Strawberry.

Stump Bran Muffins - Total Recipe Cost 2.65 or .11/muffin (plus cost of add-ins)
(makes 24)

3  cups wheat bran (was on special for .59/lb- 1 cup=1.6 oz, 4 cents/oz) .20
2 cups nonfat milk (see hint below about powdered milk) .50
1 1/2 cups applesauce (I used homemade but am estimating cost to buy here.) 1.25
1 tsp salt (kosher- if using table salt halve it)
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
3 TBS maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar .20
2 cups rye flour (You can use whole wheat or white. I prefer the rye because it gives the muffins a great hearty flavor.) (I buy in bulk for .99/lb. There are roughly 4 cups per pound.) .50

Pre-recipe hint: I buy nonfat dried milk packets. A box costs $9.99 and contains 8 packets. Each packet makes roughly 5 cups of nonfat milk. This comes to a cost of 25 cents a cup. It stores dry and since I try to only go shopping every 3 weeks it makes it easy to keep on hand for baking. To make it I put 4 cups of water in my large Pyrex then remove 1/4 cup with a quarter cup measure. Add the packet and whisk. Store leftover in a glass jar in your fridge.

1. Preheat oven to 375. Put wheat bran in mixing bowl and add milk. Mix until it starts looking a little spongy. Let it sit for 5 minutes and the wheat bran will absorb all of the milk. 

2. Add applesauce and other ingredients and mix well. We did a $50 truckload apple picking in the fall so we used one of the many jars of applesauce/apple butter we had on hand. I use cinnamon in my applesauce so if using plain applesauce I recommend adding some cinnamon. 

That's a lot of apples! And we picked twice this many, splitting them between several families. 

3. At this point in time I dosed out 12 plain muffins. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375. 

Each muffin cup holds one large spoonful of batter. While each batch is cooking I prep the next batch. I spoon 12 spoonfuls of batter into my large pyrex and add mix-ins. Some ideas are raisins, walnuts, dates, strawberries, blueberries, coconut, bananas, or chocolate chips. I tend to add in 1 cup of mix-ins. 

Strawberry Bran 

Date & Raisin Bran

4. Let cool on racks and put into Ziploc baggies to freeze or enjoy immediately!

Baked Apple Oatmeal

On snowy winter days a hot breakfast is in order but between stoking the fire and trying to warm up with a mug of coffee I don't always have the time to make it. This make ahead Baked Apple Oatmeal stores easily in the fridge and a quick minute in the microwave with some hot milk on top makes it a perfect winter warmer.

Baked Apple Oatmeal

Serves 9

2 chopped apples, roughly 2 cups (can substitute other fruit for apples but firm fruits work better)

3 cups quick oats

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup applesauce

1 cup nonfat milk (to make recipe vegan substitute soy milk)

3 TBS maple syrup

1. Peel and dice apples. 

2. Put dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. 

3. Add applesauce, milk & maple syrup and mix well. Once all ingredients are wet add the diced apples. 

4. Pour batter into a glass square pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. When timer goes off, shut off the oven but leave the pan in for an additional 5 minutes. You want the oatmeal to be firm to stand up to reheating. 

5. Cut into 9 squares after the pan has cooled. Store in fridge for up to a week. You could also freeze. When you're ready to eat it, microwave for one minute with about 1/4 cup milk poured on top. You can also drizzle a bit of maple syrup on top. Enjoy!