Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies (non-vegan)

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies
(now- with flax meal!)


1/2 cup each: brown & white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 medium, ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa
1 1/3 cups flour
1 cup oats
1/4 cup flax meal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Melt chocolate chips, then let cool for 10 minutes.

In large mixing bowl combine sugar and butter. Add bananas, eggs, vanilla and melted chocolate and mix well. Combine dry ingredients and stir into banana mixture until well combined. Stir in nuts.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto foil or parchment lined cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until set. Cool on cookie sheets for 2 minutes, the remove to cool on racks.

Makes 3 - 4 dozen.

(adapted from baking bits)

Freedom buns?! Patriotic pastry??

In honor of our "Ballot Breakfast" Election Party, I whipped some of these tasty, twisted cinnamon sugar goodies to enjoy while watching the results roll in. Totally stolen from another food blog on the internet, I was kind of off that night because I didn't keep track of where I got it from! Kelly helped me make them, and they were delicious-- I passed off the leftovers to Alex and Quentin, I figured my night was sweet enough with Obama's clear victory, any more sweetness after that would have been too much. heh.

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls Recipe

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry yeast
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup margarine
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
4 cups flour

FILLING
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/3 cup margarine, softened

ICING
8 tablespoons margarine
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup cream cheese
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the rolls, dissolve the yeast in the warm milk in a large bowl.
Add sugar, margarine salt, eggs, and flour, mix well.
Knead the dough into a large ball, using your hands dusted lightly with flour.
Put in a bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place about 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Roll the dought out on a lightly floured surface, until it is approx 21 inches long by 16 inches wide.
It should be approx 1/4 thick.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
To make filling, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
Spread the softened margarine over the surface of the dough, then sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon evenly over the surface.
Working carefully, from the long edge, roll the dough down to the bottom edge.
Using floss or some thread (loop a strand underneath the roll, bringing the ends up around and across the top to cut clean even cuts-- using a knife will no doubt be a disaster. promise!)
Cut the dough into 1 3/4 inch slices, and place in a lightly greased baking pan.



Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.
While the rolls are baking combine the icing ingredients.
Beat well with an electric mixer until fluffy.
When the rolls are done, spread generously with icing.

YUM!

Pretzels?!

Indeed, pretzels.

I don't know why, but I have been absolutely craving soft pretzels. I found this recipe, it's "vegan" but generally, pretzels are vegan anyways. So don't be alarmed! I took the dough recipe from Dizzy's blog (Experimental Vegan Daze") and tweaked the process thanks to what I gathered from a recipe posted at cdkitchen. You'll never want a processed, store bought one again, I swear. Check it!

Pretzel Dough:

3/4 c. warm water
3/4 t. active dry yeast
1 T. brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. bread flour
1 1/2 c. flour

4 c. warm water
3 T. baking soda
1-2 T. margarine (Earth Balance), melted

Place the first 3 ingredients together in a large bowl. After the yeast has gotten puffy looking, add the salt and flours. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. Let the dough rise for at least a 1/2 hour covered and in a warm place (like the oven, set to warm).

While the dough is rising, prepare a soda water bath. Combine 4 cups water and 3 tablespoons water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Pinch 1-2 inch sized blobs of dough and form into short ropes. You can twist into a long rod or attempt the tricky pretzel twist. Drop one-two at a time into the boiling water/baking soda bath. Using a spatula or a large, holed spoon, make sure they aren't sticking to the bottom. They will float!



Let boil for about a minute on each side before taking out and placing on pan. Once all these are done, sprinkle with course salt and place in your oven, heated to 450 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.


ENJOY the warm, doughy goodness.
:]

Y'know, someday, when I own a moderately successful bakery in Portsmouth or Boston, I will look back on all these Saturday afternoons & Sunday mornings that I spent baking for no one in particular, and call it practice.




<3 Leigh

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins!

I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com, but I tweaked it a bit- as is usual when I bake or cook. Below is exactly how I made them, however I would like to advise anyone looking to make these to use semi-sweet chocolate chips; milk chocolate ones sink to the bottom of the muffin, which I don't mind, but may contribute to your not liking this recipe, which would be a shame. It's a keeper!

INGREDIENTS

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup organic sugar (it's not bleached)
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon baking soda (a heaping teaspoon)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 egg (I used a medium sized one)
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 very ripe bananas, mashed
* 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
* 2 tablespoon flax seeds
* 1/2 cup quick oats




DIRECTIONS

*preheat your oven to 350*

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla.
3. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened. Don't fret, the mixture will seem very doughy. The banana's help with that.
4. Fold in bananas, flax seeds and chocolate chips.
5. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle oats on top of each muffin.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
7. Enjoy with some hot tea, soy milk or good ol' regular milk.

Stuffed Red Peppers

I had it in my head last week to attempt making stuffed peppers. It's a dish I had never been too fond of- my Mum has always made them in green peppers, and I only recently became a fan of green peppers. I love red peppers even more and thought that the red peppers would be great with this kind of dish. So after a week of thinking about it, and trying to find the time, here it is!

* 3 large red peppers

Stuffing:

* 1 1/2 cup cooked brown basmati rice (I made mine with 1 tablespoon of butter & 1 vegetable boullion cube)
* 1/2 pound ground turkey
* 2 cloves garlic, chopped
* 1 small onion
* 2 tablespoons EVOO
* 1 small zucchini, chopped
* 1 small red pepper, chopped
* 1 12oz. can riced tomatoes
* 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
* 1 teaspoon thyme
* 1 teaspoon oregano
* 1-2 teaspoons raw sugar
* salt & pepper to taste
* 1/4 cup grated parm


Directions

* Preheat your oven to 375.

* Arrange the red peppers, tops off & insides cleaned out, in a loaf pan or oven safe dish. Place in oven and pre-cook for 10-15 minutes or so, until the peppers begin getting tender. Put aside.

*Have cooked rice in a mixing bowl where it can later be mixed with all the other yumminess!

Stuffing:
1. In a large skillet or high-sided pan, bring 1/2 the EVOO to temp on medium-high heat.
2. Begin sauteing one clove of garlic, then add the chopped onion. Season with salt & pepper. Remove from heat & pan once the onion is beginning to caramelize.
3. In that same pan, add the rest of the EVOO & garlic. Once the garlic begins sauteing, add the ground turkey, 1 tsp fennel, thyme and salt & pepper to taste. Brown.
4. Once turkey is browned, remove from pan & add the zucchini, red pepper and the Onions from before. Saute for 4-5 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes, bring to a boil or high simmer. Add oregano, more salt & pepper to taste, as well as sugar. Let simmer for 4-5 minutes.
6. Empty pan into mixing bowl with rice, adding the turkey. Mix all ingredients together. Add parm to the mix.
7. Spoon mixture into peppers adding any excess stuffing around the sides of the peppers in the dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes until the tops brown.

*Serve hot out of the oven- works great with mashed potatoes as a side!

YUM!

A Lemony Evening!

Tonight for dinner, I made a variation of 2 recipes I found this summer.

Lemon Brown Basmati Rice
* 1 cup brown basmati rice
* 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
* 1 tablespoon lemon juice
* 2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon rind
* 1 bay leaf
* 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
* 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. Rinse rice well. Bring to a boil 2 cups of water,salt, lemon juice & rind, bay
leaf and marjoram.
2. Add rice. Return to a boil, then lower heat and cover.
3. Simmer for 40 minutes or until all water has been absorbed.
4. Turn heat off and let the rice sit , covered and undisturbed for 5 minutes.
5. Add butter or oil and mix gently with a fork.(take bay leaf out).

Roasted Lemon-Garlic Broccoli

* 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
* 2 tablespoons EVOO
* 1/2 teaspoon pepper
* 1 head of broccoli
* juice of one lemon

Directions

1. preheat oven to 375
2. cut broccoli down to florets, rinse and dry with paper towel
3. toss the florets in a large bowl with EVOO, salt, pepper and lemon juice
4. arrange florets in oven safe casserole dish & place in heated oven
5. roast for 15 minutes or so, flipping the florets once in the midst of cooking
6. serve hot & enjoy!

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Banana Cookies

(We called these Cow-Pie Cookies, and they are amazing. Snagged from vegweb and made 3 times in the last 3 weeks. Try these!)

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 cup flour
1 1/14 cups oats
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cups brown sugar
2/3 cups white sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 banana
3/4 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a big bowl, mix all the dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips).

In a small bowl, mash the banana and mix in the vanilla.

Add the banana bowl and the oil to the dry ingredients.

Mix until it is doughy, then fold in the chocolate chips, (add more to your taste).

Form 1 inch balls and place them on the cookie tray (they flatten out pretty big, so leave plenty of room).

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, let cool.

Eat!

Serves: 20 cookies

Preparation time: 20 minutes