A few days ago, we had beautiful, chilly fall weather here in Northern California. Baking yummy fall treats was just the distraction I needed to take my mind off of my 41-week pregnant belly. Now, on this night, the windows are open at 8:30pm and it was 80+ today. Go figure. Nevertheless, several folks have asked for some recipes lately, so when there are recipes I haven't posted before, I like to make them available to all....enjoy!
Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal (This from my friend Kori Hurley, via The Ungourmet.)
Ingredients:
3C. old fashioned oats
1C. pure maple syrup (Kori said she used half this with success. I used 1C. honey and loved it too.)
2tsp. cinnamon
1tsp. nutmeg
1/2tsp. ground ginger
1/2tsp. salt (I always use sea salt)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4C. dried cranberries (I might use a touch more next time. Raisins would also be tasty.)
1C. diced apple. (I had a Granny Smith. Loved this addition.)
1 & 1/2 C. milk
1C. pumpkin puree
4tbsp. melted butter (I actually doubled this.)
2 large eggs
Whisk milk, butter, maple syrup, pumpkin and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine oats, spices, baking powder, cranberries and apples. Add dry ingredients to the pumpkin mixture and mix just until combined. Pour into greased round casserole dish (I assume a square 8x8 would do as well). Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve immediately, topping with milk. I happened to have some leftover whipped cream. We topped the hot oatmeal with this and it was divine. MMMMM!!!!!
Peanut Butter and Carob Chip Cookies
I'm not a huge carob fan. At all. However, they go perfectly in this recipe, toning down the peanut butter and yet not taking away from it too much. Of course, you could always do chocolate chips, but I want to avoid the sugar and really, there is no compromise in taste here.
Ingredients:
1/2C. butter
1/2C. unsweetened peanut butter
2/3C honey
1 egg
1 & 1/2C. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2tsp. (heaping-ish) baking powder
1/2tsp. (heaping-ish) baking soda
1/4tsp. salt
1C. carob chips
Cream the peanut butter, honey and butter until light. Add egg to this mix and mix until almost fluffy (2-3min., occasionally scraping bottom and sides of bowl). Blend flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt - the reason we do "heaping-ish" tsp. of the baking agents, is because of a little extra flour added when using honey, thus you need just a touch more of the baking powder and soda, to make the cookie texture just right. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and combine. Add the carob chips. Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Cool on pan for 2 minutes, then transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Enjoy!
Danneca
