Time to Cook!

Inspiration for wholesome weeknight & weekend cooking.

Posts from the ‘breakfast / muffins / bread’ category

Eleven Madison Park Granola

I know I can’t complain about all of the rain we’ve been getting in California, but this weather is gloomy and it puts me in the mood to bake!  I stumbled upon this recipe for homemade granola and when I read that the amazing restaurant Eleven Madison Park (NYC) hands it out to their patrons as a thank you, I thought that was such a nice touch … and I knew it had to be good!  A quick trip to the bulk section at Whole Foods supplied me with all of my healthy ingredients.  This granola is delicious — healthy, salty, sweet, crunchy, nutty, and well, addictive.  So good on top of plain yogurt (and maybe vanilla ice cream) or on its own!  This would make a nice gift in a mason jar too.

Granola

Recipe from Eleven Madison Park, published in the NYT Magazine

 

Eleven Madison Park Granola

Makes: 6 cups

Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

2 3⁄4 cups rolled oats
1 cup shelled pistachios
1 cup unsweetened coconut chips
1/3 cup pumpkinseeds
1 tablespoon salt
1⁄2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3⁄4 cup dried sour cherries

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, pistachios, coconut, pumpkin seeds and salt.

2. In a small saucepan set over low heat, warm the sugar, syrup and olive oil until the sugar has just dissolved, then remove from heat. Fold liquids into the mixture of oats, making sure to coat the dry ingredients well.

3. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and spread granola over it. Bake until dry and lightly golden, 35 to 40 minutes, stirring granola a few times along the way.

4. Remove granola from oven, and mix into it the dried sour cherries. Allow to cool to room temperature before transferring to a storage container. Makes about 6 cups.

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Crazy Good Spinach Smoothie

My neighbor Jess was telling me about a smoothie that she made everyday for a year.  I figured if she did that, it had to be good.  But once she starting telling me the ingredients, I wasn’t so sure about the peanut butter.  Peanut butter in a drink?  But trust me.  It’s delicious.  I’ve now been making this smoothie for a regular afternoon snack and my boys can’t get enough of it.  Enjoy!

Crazy good spinach smoothie

Recipe from my neighbor Jess

Ingredients:

1 cup milk, almond milk, or coconut milk (I use unsweetened almond milk)

1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 tablespoon of peanut butter or almond butter

3 handfuls of fresh spinach (pre-washed)

1 banana, sliced

1  1/2 handfuls of ice

Directions:

Combine all ingredients into a blender and puree, adding ice at the very end.

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Goldie’s Whole Grain Pancake Mix (and Buttermilk Banana Pancakes)

I love making pancakes for my family on the weekend, but have you ever noticed how much sugar is in a lot of the store-bought pancake mixes?  My friend Sarah told me about this super healthy pancake mix.  She has lots of little mouths to feed, so she makes a big batch of this dry mix ahead of time.  You’ll have to shop for some specialty ingredients at Whole Foods or a specialty store, but you’ll be glad you did.  I will be making this again and again for my family – my boys love it!  The pancakes are healthy, so you will need to top with a dab of butter, real Vermont maple syrup or molasses, and fresh fruit.  Note: the recipe makes a big batch of mix, which is great for storing in a container for future use.Goldie's Whole Grain Pancake Mix Recipe slightly adapted from “Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children, and Their Parents”

Goldie’s Whole Grain Pancake Mix

Makes 6 cups dry mix.

“This basic pancake mix comes from Goldie Caughlan, nutrition educator at Puget Consumers Co-op in Seattle.  There are many types of whole grain flours besides wheat that can be used to make baked goods.  This recipe utilizes a combination of several.  One perk of this mix is that it works equally well for waffles.”

Ingredients:

2 cups barley flour

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup blue cornmeal

3 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients and store in air tight container.

Buttermilk Banana Pancakes

Recipe slightly adapted from “Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children, and Their Parents”

Makes ten 5-inch pancakes.

Ingredients:

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups Goldie’s Whole Grain Pancake Mix

1 cup buttermilk (can substitute with plain yogurt and a bit of water)

1/2 cup water

1 ripe banana, cut into thin slices

Vegetable Oil for griddle

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine buttermilk, water, and pancake mix.  Mix thoroughly with a whisk.  Add egg and banana to batter and gently fold in.  Heat griddle to medium high and coat surface with small amount of oil.  Pour enough batter onto griddle to form a 5-inch pancake.  When pancake has cooked on the bottom (tiny bubbles form on the top), flip with a spatula and cook the other side.  Repeat with the rest of the batter.  Keep cooled pancakes in a warm oven until ready to serve.

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Morning Glory Muffins

Oh, these muffins.  Don’t ask me how many I just ate!  The recipe was given to me over a year ago from my friend Jackie and I don’t know why it took me so long to try them myself.  She was 41 weeks pregnant at the time and anxiously awaiting her home birth.  She waddled over (sorry, Jackie — we all have that “waddle” in the final month!!) to my house with a basket of these warm from the oven.  She was panting and out-of-breath when I opened the door and I gasped, “Is it time?!”  I thought she was having contractions!  So, I secretly call these Jackie’s Contraction Muffins.  She was just winded from her walk, but I think she did go into labor the next day.  These are wonderful, earthy, sweet muffins from my Earthy Mama friend — I’m so glad she shared these with me!  Note: you can substitute raisins for any dried fruit that you like.  I made half of the recipe and it made a ton – about 10 regular muffins and 17 mini muffins, which I baked for 21 minutes.  Enjoy!

Morning Glory Muffins

Recipe from my friend Jackie who found it in The Gourmet Cookbook.

Ingredients:

4 cups white flour

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 teaspoons baking soda

4 teaspoons cinnamon

2 teaspoons salt

12 carrots, peeled and grated

1 cup raisins (or other dried fruit like cherries or diced apricots)

1 cup unsweetened coconut (if you only have sweetened, just omit 1/4 cup of sugar)

1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

2 Granny Smith apples, grated

6 eggs

2 cups vegetable oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter muffin cups well.

Whisk together flour sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, raisins, pecans, coconut and apples. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined.

Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling them to the top. Bake until muffins are springy to the touch, about 30 minutes (or 21 minutes for mini muffins). Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature.

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Healthy Dark Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

This is a wonderful tasting, moist and healthy muffin that you can feel good about giving to your kids or enjoying as an afternoon snack.  After tasting these, you won’t believe there isn’t any white flour, sugar, butter or vegetable oil in them.  They truly taste decadent — and they’re not!  Note: if you don’t have the wheat germ or flax, substitute with oats and the muffins will turn out fine!

Healthy Dark Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Recipe adapted from the blog Baking Adventures in a Messy Kitchen.

Healthy Dark Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups grated zucchini
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup coconut oil, softened or melted
2 large eggs
1 banana , well mashed
3/4 cup yogurt (vanilla or plain; Greek or non-fat or low fat)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups whole wheat white flour
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup ground flaxseed or meal
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup (heaping) dark chocolate mini chunks (Whole Foods private label sells these in a bag)

Directions:

To prepare, grate the zucchini, using paper towels to squeeze out any excess moisture, and mash the banana.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease mini muffin tray, planning for 45-50 mini muffins.

Using a stand mixer, beat together the zucchini, honey, molasses, coconut oil, eggs, banana, yogurt, and vanilla until well mixed.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, wheat germ, flax seed, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt with a whisk.

Add the flour mixture to the stand mixer incrementally, beating on low speed, stopping as soon as the flour is fully incorporated.

Remove the bowl from the stand and fold in the dark chocolate mini chunks.

Scoop the batter into mini muffin cups (filling just over 3/4 full), and bake them in the oven for approximately 13 minutes. Let sit in the pan for a few more minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Try to eat just one. Really. Try.

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Spinach Smoothie

I don’t own a Vitamix.  I’ve never done a cleanse or a detox.  But I do love a good, healthy smoothie every now and then.  This is a great way to start your morning or makes a great snack.  My kids love this too (although I could put just about anything into a blender and they’d be hard-pressed to not like it!)  I try not to have juice around the house (we have diabetes in the family and juice is filled with sugar) but this smoothie is plenty sweet without it.  This has become my “go to” green smoothie because it actually tastes good and it’s good for you.  It’s from Brit Morin, who is a young Martha Stewart type.  Her website Brit + Co is fun to check out for DIY and craft ideas.  Enjoy!

 

Spinach Smoothie

Recipe from Brit + Co.

Ingredients:
– 2 cups spinach
– 1/2 cup almond milk (original recipe uses sweetened, but I buy unsweetened)
– 1/2 cup frozen mango
– 1/2 of a small banana (2 ounces if you have a scale)

Directions:

Place your spinach in the blender. Add the almond milk and frappe until smooth. This step is key for a smooth texture. Add the frozen mango chunks and banana. Blend again until smooth. Your smoothie will be thick, but not so thick that you can’t drink it from the glass without the help of a spoon.

Total Calories – 145 calories.

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