Recipe Files: Pumpkin Donuts with Cinnamon Butter Glaze

Fall/holiday baking is one of my very favorite pastimes.  A few weeks ago I found a recipe on the Roost blog for pumpkin spice donuts.  The recipe called for almond flour instead of regular, so I knew I would like it.  I am a huge fan of almond flour – although it does change the texture of baked goods, it gives them a richer, deeper, more substantial taste.  I use the Honeyville Farms brand of almond flour and it worked very well in this recipe.  Here is the original: Pumpkin Spice Donuts with Cinnamon Butter Glaze.

For my first attempt, I halved the recipe and pretty much followed it exactly as written, substituting pumpkin pie spice for the spices listed.  The donuts turned out great and were very, very moist.  For my second attempt, I changed the recipe (yes, I made them twice is less than one week and both times they were gone in less than 2 days): alterations are listed below for future reference:

Pumpkin Spice Donuts

• 1 cup + 3 tbsp almond flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 TBSP cinnamon
• 1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 c pumpkin puree
• 1/4 c honey
• 1/4 c coconut oil

For the glaze, the second time I used peanut butter instead of almond butter.  Both times the glaze was heavenly, but I might have liked it slightly better the second time.

I made mini donuts instead of full size.

Can you believe this is the only photo I took?!

I believe Brent liked the first batch best and I like the second batch best….especially heated for a few seconds in the microwave.  I will definitely be making this again, and cannot wait to try some different variations.  Hopefully I can get a better picture next time!  They really are so cute!

Fall is definitely in the air!  I can’t believe this week is already Thanksgiving!

Recipe Files: Banana Pancake

I’ve always been a big fan of pancakes, but I’ve always hated the way that a big stack of pancakes + syrup for breakfast makes me feel the entire rest of the day – hungry, sleepy and just generally lethargic.  Plus, I’ve never really been good at making pancakes in the skillet at home, and Brent doesn’t really like them anyway, so it is not a food that we routinely eat.

All that has changed now.

Several months ago, I was searching the internet for healthy breakfast ideas when I came across a recipe for a two ingredient pancake.  When I read the two ingredients,  I was a bit horrified. I thought it sounded disgusting and somewhat pathetic and I felt sorry for the person who published the recipe, assuming that she must have been on a diet for so long that she had lost the taste for real food.

Then one night last week I was craving something sweet for dessert.  For some reason that pancake recipe popped into my head and I decided to just try it.  The recipe is actually not really a recipe. The two ingredients are: 1 egg + 1 medium banana.  Mash the banana, add the egg, and stir until you have a batter of sorts.  Pour it into a hot, oiled skillet and let it cook like a traditional pancake.

Yes, I know it sounds nasty!  I know! Just the idea is probably making you want to binge right now.  But I’m not kidding, it is really good and it makes a large, beautiful, thick, fluffy pancake.  I made it for Brent the other night and he loved it also.

Instead of topping with maple syrup and getting the traditional sugar crash (and since it is already sweet because of the banana), I top with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter (spread it out on the hot pancake and let it melt into a frosting-like topping); a few almonds, chopped; maybe a teaspoon of chia seeds; and a small handful (~two tablespoons) of cereal flakes for crunch (granola would be better, but it is banished from the house due to the calorie density + my inability to control portion sizes).  You could really top it with anything…syrup, coconut butter, jelly, apple butter, shredded coconut, chocolate chips, fruit, etc, etc.

Unlike a traditional pancake, this is actually very filling and satisfying…in fact, one night last week when Brent was out riding and I was home alone, I ate a pancake as my supper and went to bed full and happy!  I am already planning to have it for breakfast tomorrow morning also!

This has already become a staple and one of my favorite go-to snacks.

Labor of Love

So, yes, we are overwhelmed with figs this year.  I have been looking for a good fig recipe and when I saw this one for fresh fig bars, I thought it looked perfect.  #1 I am clearly trying to perfect the fruit bar dessert this summer (blueberry & strawberry bars have already been made & were devoured shortly thereafter) and #2 the recipe called for four cups of chopped fresh figs & I thought that sounded like a lot, right?  So I was hoping to put a major dent in my slowly-rotting fig stash.

Well, four cups is not a lot.  Not really. And the recipe also called for 3 cups of oats, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of honey and 2 sticks (entire sticks!) of butter, among several other ingredients.  Plus you have to boil & reduce the figs & syrup for 90 minutes before you can assemble with the crust and then bake the whole thing.  My gosh, this recipe took hours to make, literally.  By the time I was finished, I was soaked with sweat (Do you think there is something wrong with some one who loves to bake in the summer?  In ALABAMA?) In addition, my feet were hurting and I was exhausted from the mountain of dishes.  These bars were truly a labor of love: for baked goods, for figs, for the process of baking, and for my intended recipients.

BUT it did make a 9x13 pan’s worth of treats and I thought that would be perfect – we could eat some and both have enough to take to work & share.  But then I sliced the first one and found….a hair!  My hair, actually in the bar. So much for sharing them! I was so disappointed until I remembered….Kourtney comes this weekend!!!  

Bring your stretchy pants!

Ode to Kale

Kale….the best summer vegetable ever.  We LOVE it.  This bunch came from Snow’s Bend, a farm here in Tuscaloosa.  It is beautiful!  Our favorite way to eat it is by making kale “chips.”  They are so good!  I have seen many different variations to the marinade, but we like to coat the kale with ~ 1/2 – 1 tsp. Garlic Gold or olive oil in a bowl, then spread over a baking sheet and sprinkle with Kosher salt.  Then bake until crispy.  I have baked at all different temperatures…just depending in whatever else is in the oven.  Just watch for it to get browned and crispy.  The texture is like a really thin potato chip.  So good!  We love to dip them in ketchup!

Tonight I served the kale alongside the Freeman family’s first meatloaf (e-mealz recipe).  We made it with some meat we bought at the farmer’s market this past weekend. The recipe called for a cup of salsa (I used Thelma’s and actually turned the jar up and drank from it after I measured the cup out – FYI, Brent, sorry!), so I went ahead and added 1/2 package fajita seasoning as well.  It was so good!  Not like a traditional meatloaf.

…..and roasted farmer’s market squash with nothing but salt + pepper (and then I added copious amounts of Mmmm sauce).

Watermelon for dessert! 

And then I picked about 3 pounds of figs from the trees while the pugs ate roughly the same amount from the ground.  Every time I set my basket down on the ground, their heads went right into it like it was a feeding trough.

Hopefully homemade fig bars tomorrow!!!

Win Some, Lose Some

Today it felt like I was in the kitchen all day long.  Not a complaint! Look who joined me!!

Today Brent made an e-mealz Chicken Lasagna Florentine.  It went in the crockpot this morning and cooked all day.  He also started early this morning stringing + preparing the green beans we got at the farmer’s market yesterday.

Meanwhile, I got busy making the last of last week’s artisan bread.  This book has changed my life!  I absolutely love making my own bread & it is so easy.

Unfortunately, this loaf wasn’t that great.  I mixed in some dried lavender and although it smelled good, the final product was too sourdough-ish & the lavender didn’t exactly work.  Final verdict: LOSS.

For lunch I roasted squash & cremini mushrooms with salt + pepper & added them to 1/2 cup brown rice with Mmmm Sauce.  Mmmm Sauce is from the Peas & Thank You website (recipe link-I followed the recipe exactly but added a bit more water) and it is unbelievable.  Seriously, I could drink this stuff.

I put it on top of the veggies + rice and actually ended up going back for another serving.  It is that good.  It is wonderful. I was beside myself not only because of the Mmmm sauce, but because I realized that roasted cremini mushrooms taste almost exactly like oysters.  Which I love, by the way.  Why didn’t some one tell me this? I may just have eaten an entire package of cremini mushrooms today.  Final verdict:  Mmmm sauce + roasted veggies & rice =  WIN.

Later, of course, I began to crave something sweet.  So I made some cookie dough balls based on a recipe from Oh She Glows (I get all of my good recipes from the internet).

I combined 1/2 c cashews + 1/4 c rolled oats & processed in the food processor until crumbs.  Then I added 1/4 c whole wheat pastry flour, 1/2 t Kosher salt, & 1.5 T brown sugar & processed until combined.  Then, I added 2 t vanilla extract (only called for 1 t but I love the taste) + 2 T + 1/2 t maple syrup and processed until combined.  After, I emptied the “dough” into a bowl & added 1/4 c milk chocolate chips.  I then formed ~ 25 little balls.

They are SO GOOD!  They taste like real cookie dough.  I ate ~3 and had to freeze the rest before I ate the whole batch.  I’ve been known to do things like that.  Final verdict: WIN.

And then it was finally time for Brent’s lasagna & green beans.  Get ready for this.

Final verdict (for both the lasagna & the green beans, but especially the lasagna): WIN WIN WIN WIN WIN!!!!  This was sooo good!  I’m so proud of Brent!

You see on the side a summer veggie soup that I made with chicken broth + a ton of summer veggies, based on the Weight Watchers zero-point veggie soup recipe.  I ate two servings at lunch & it was good (maybe it was the Mmmm sauce?), but by supper time I was over it.  Final verdict: LOSS.  I just really don’t like veggie soup.

And finally, getting ready for the week….

Per Brent’s request, artisan bread for sandwiches.  I didn’t taste it, but he gave the final verdict: WIN!

Weekending: Bread Baking

Recently, I found a list of resolutions/ goals I made last year on my 30th birthday for my thirty-first year.  Some of those resolutions I kept, others I did not.  I saw one resolution on the list that I had all but forgotten about: learn to bake bread.  I decided that I still want to learn to do this (I HATE store-bought, non-bakery bread) and now was the perfect time to learn.

This was my first loaf: sourdough from a mix I have had for a long time.  It is excellent, but still I wanted to see if I could do it without a mix.

This was my second loaf: white artisan sandwich bread.  The exterior is very crunchy – nearly cracker-like – but it has a good flavor.

Overall, it was much easier than I imagined and I look forward to trying more experiments.  Currently I am working from a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day & I have enough dough in the refrigerator for three more loaves.  Yay!

Here is another baking experiment – my first experience with whole wheat pastry flour:

I tried a recipe last week for blueberry crumble bars.  The recipe called for whole wheat pastry flour, but I used almond flour + self-rising flour, which was all I had.  They were SO GOOD & were gone in about two days (I took some to work).  The only problem was that they were very crumbly (pretty much had to eat them with a fork) and I was looking for something a little more cohesive.  So today I tried the recipe using the recommended flour (and less milk & sugar) and strawberries instead of blueberries.  They are okay, but the blueberry bars were so much better.  You can taste the wheat flour in these.  Still, it was fun to experiment and I’m sure these will be eaten before too long!

Single Serving Blueberry Crisp

This recipe is based off of Katie’s Single-Lady Cupcake.  It may change your life.  Number one, it tastes fantastic. Two, all of these ingredients are healthy and real. Three, this is built-in portion control.  Who can only eat one serving of a baked good? 

I am excited just thinking about all of the potential variations that can be made to this base recipe, especially with all of the wonderful fruit that is now in season!

Single Serving Blueberry Crisp

Ingredients:

• 3 T flour (I used 1 t almond flour, 2 t all-purpose)
• 1/4 t baking powder
• pinch salt
• 2 T blueberries
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 T coconut oil
• 1 T + 1 t almond milk
• 1 T brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 330 &  grease 1 spot in a muffin tin.
2. Mix dry ingredients & wet ingredients in two separate small bowls.
3. Combine dry & wet ingredients in same bowl. Mix thoroughly.
4. Pour batter into prepared spot on the muffin tin.
5. Bake at 330 for ~ 20 minutes, checking frequently after 15 minutes.
6. Enjoy!

Notes:

1. This should be more cupcake-like, but as you can see in the photo, it obviously isn’t. I’m not sure why – possibly because of the flour changes or too much liquid (oil). I knew this would happen because I had way too much batter to fit in one muffin tin. Next time, I may cut the amount of oil just a tiny bit, because it took a while to bake (>20 minutes).  But I loved how the “overflow” of batter got crunchy!
2. Next time, reduce sugar to 1/2 T instead of 1 T.
3. Try with all almond flour instead of just 1 T.  Try with different flours.
4. Try in the microwave!
5. This is actually a healthy alternative to bakery/coffeeshop mega- muffins & cupcakes, or even a regular dessert you would make at home . Depending on flour & oil types & quantities, you can make this dessert (without sacrificing taste) for less than 200 calories. Plus, you won’t have an entire 11+ servings sitting around.  I think mine was closer to ~ 275 calories, but so worth it. It tastes better, is cheaper, and is healthier for you!

Weekending: Tiki Torches & S’mores

It’s Memorial Day Weekend!  The unofficial start of the summer season!

Flags flying all along Veteran’s Memorial:

Brent went to Home Depot today & just like the commercials say, he became inspired.  Tiki torches!

And then I made the best s’mores in the world.  Key ingredient: Biscoff spread.  This spread has the feel of peanut butter but tastes like Biscoff cookies (like graham crackers + sugar & butter) When my jar is completely out (tomorrow) I will not be replacing it, because 27 servings has lasted me all of 7 days.  Not. good.  I have eaten Biscoff spread sandwiches, toast, oatmeal, and straight out of the jar.  But nothing compares to Biscoff s’mores.

For each one, I used 1 graham cracker, 1 mini Hershey’s bar, 1 marshmallow, and a knife-full of Biscoff spread. We ate roasted hot dogs & s’mores & sat on the porch for hours listening to Pandora’s Randy Travis station.  Brent couldn’t believe I knew the words to all of the country songs!

Looking forward to many, many more summer evenings just like this one!