Carrot Muffins with Oat Streusel Topping

As mentioned in a previous post, I received the Bouchon Bakery cookbook for Christmas. It really is a beautiful book filled with lots of pictures and delicious sounding recipes. Wanting to try something simple to start, I decided to follow the carrot muffin recipe. Now, muffins are a seemingly easy thing to make. You mix the dry ingredients, add in the the wet, give a little mix and into the pan and oven it goes - piece of cake. However, Bouchon Bakery makes their recipe a little more complicated with awkward measurements and lengthy resting times. This being said, I tweaked the ingredients and measurements a bit to make them simpler, but kept the resting time in just in case. They were delicious! Not too sweet, very moist and a nice crumb to follow. If you have the time for muffin batter rests then follow through - I really think it took a leading role in the moist muffin that resulted. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup All-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg, beaten

1 3/4 cup shredded carrot

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and oil together with an electric mixer on low speed. Add the vanilla and egg and mix until just incorporated. Gradually mix in the flour mixture, on low speed, until combined. Gently scrape the bowl with a spatula to ensure all the ingredients are mixed, and stir in the shredded carrot. Cover and refrigerate up to 36 hours (or if you're really impatient I would wait at least three hours). Preheat the oven to 325 F. Pour the batter into a greased muffin pan. Sprinkle the oat streusel topping on top of the muffins and baked for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Oat Streusel Topping 

(this recipe was way too big for my liking, so again the measurements were reduced)

1/2 all purpose flour

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 a stick)

Stir together all ingredients except the butter. Cut the butter into pieces, and using a fork, mix until it is well incorporated - the butter should be no bigger than pea-sized chunks.

These muffins are a great breakfast on-the-go, or the perfect companion to your mid-afternoon cup of coffee. The oat streusel topping adds an extra sweetness, to the slightly spiced muffin. Enjoy!

Apple Oat Scones

Happy first day of fall! Even though technically it was yesterday I am celebrating today with hot cups of tea, snuggly blankets, cozy sweaters and everything pumpkin, apple and spice. School has been hectic and come October there will be even more to get done, but fall is my favourite season so I'm going to do everything I can to welcome it with open arms. These scones are perfect for just that. Our CSA shares have been filled with apples recently (and I know I didn't post Week 9, but it just came and went so quickly!) and the combination of oats and apples in Martha's scones were just perfect! Here's my version of the recipe:

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour

1 1/3 cups rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 1/2 cups diced apple 

2/3 cold buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix together the flour, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender (or two knives works well too) cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the apples and buttermilk just until mixed. On a lightly floured surface shape the dough into a large rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut the dough into 12 square scones and place onto the baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until lightly browned.

As with most baked goods, these scone are best served warm on the day of. They're moist, not too dense and have the perfect amount of apple and spice. 

Honey and Oat Chocolate Chip Coookies

If there is one thing to get me in the baking mood it's a thunderstorm. With grey skies, cool winds and rain drizzling outside there were few things left I could do (or even wanted to do) with a day off. After completing some chores I felt a real urge to make cookies - something classically comforting. Another recipe, aside from banana bread (as mentioned in this post), that I nailed in my high school days was oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. They're chewy, sweet, dense and just plain good. Since I was also feeling creative I decided to experiment a little bit and make some adjustments to the classic recipe I had grown to love. After swapping in and out a few ingredients I came up with a recipe that out did my previous one with the simple addition of honey. Honey never fails people, honey never fails.

 Ingredients

1 cup white flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup salted butter, softened

1/4 cup full fat greek yogurt

1 cup brown sugar

5 tbsp honey

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Sift together the flours, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in the oats until combined. In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, greek yogurt, brown sugar and honey on medium speed. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Gradually add in the flour mixture until the dough is well mixed and finally stir in the chocolate chips until well combined. Put tablespoons of the dough on a baking sheet, approximately 1 inch apart and bake for 8-10 minutes until the bottoms are golden brown.
Makes approximately 3 dozen.

These are definitely milk dunking cookies. Whether you're drinking whole milk, soy milk or almond milk get on dunking because these cookies deserve it! Baking these cookies made my rainy day off much better and when paired with a good book (I'm currently reading this one) the goodness grows!

Tip: Why not also try a combo made in heaven (peanut butter and honey!) by swapping out the chocolate for some peanut butter chips, sounds perfect right?

Blueberry Banana Oat Muffins

I realize my last food post was muffins, but these muffins are different I promise - and there is no coconut in them so a pat-on-the-back goes to me for leaving the coconut behind (though I was very tempted to sprinkle a bit in). I love muffins because they are quick, cupcake-disguised breakfasts. These muffins, though aren't a whole lot like cupcakes except for their shape, are protein packed and sugar and butter-less but still oh so yummy. I've been on this healthy baking kick for a little while now and every time I try a new recipe I am excited about how delicious they still are. So far there has been a serious lack in cardboard taste and I am very grateful to say so!

I followed this recipe from Ambitious Kitchen but traded in some frozen blueberries instead and they came out great. They are dense, sweet and moist and make for a perfect breakfast on the run.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats 

1 tbsp ground flax

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt
3 ripe bananas, mashed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 egg white

1/3 cup plain greek yogurt

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

2/3 cup frozen blueberries, heaping

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease a 12 cup muffin pan. Whisk together the flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Toss the blueberries with 1 heaping tablespoon of the flour mixture and set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the banana, olive oil, honey and vanilla on medium speed with an electric mixer. Beat in the egg and egg white until well combined. Add in the greek yogurt and almond milk and beat on low speed until smooth. Add the banana mixture into the flour and combine just until it is mixed. Gently fold in the blueberries until distributed throughout. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups evenly. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I ate a pair of these muffins with a little bit of butter and a side of fruit. It made for a great and filling start to my day. I would also try adding in walnuts, pecans or white chocolate chips for some extra texture and taste!

Tip: Try measuring the olive oil before the honey - this way when you measure the honey (with the same tablespoon) it will slip right off without any stickiness.

Pumpkin Cranberry Almond Granola

For the month of November I was on a big granola kick. I found it to be the perfect start to my morning when added to some greek yogurt and fresh fruit, or the perfect pick-me-up snack in the late afternoon. After trying a few store-bought varieties, I decided that it was about time I made my own to ensure it had all the extras and added crunch I was looking for. I loosely followed this recipe for guidance.

Ingredients
2 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
dash of salt
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 325 F (or a little lower as my oven tends to be a hot one).

In a large bowl add the olive oil, salt, pumpkin pie spice, honey and pumpkin puree and mix until well combined. Stir in the oats and almonds until coated. Evenly spread out mixture onto a nonstick pan (or one lined with parchment paper). Bake the granola for approximately 40 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally to ensure even baking. Store in an airtight container and it should last you for at least a week - assuming you're able to control your munching!