Baked Cake Donuts

Have you ever had a moment when you realize someone is “rubbing off” on you?

Whether it’s your best friend, a coworker, or your significant other, when you spend large amounts of time with someone eventually you may start to notice yourself picking up their tendencies, habits, or catch phrases.

It’s this rubbing off that has lead to me craving all things salty when I want to indulge (got it from my hubby). Gimme the crackers and chips please.

Ironically, when we were dating I was the one with the sweet tooth. Over time we’ve pretty much made a complete swap. More and more I’ll hear my hubby ask things like – “Do we have any chocolate?” or “Do we have stuff to make cookies?”

So I wasn’t surprised when he recently requested a donut recipe.

I was happy to indulge him because it’s been a long time since I’ve made donuts and my sweet tooth isn’t entirely gone. :)

I got his input on the flavor and we decided on a classic cake donut. You can always count on a classic donut flavor to satisfy your craving.

These donuts are really simple and bake in no time. I have a mini donut pan so this recipe will work for either a mini 12 donut pan or a 6 donut pan. Just add a little extra baking time for a 6 donut pan. Also, I’ve found the easiest way to fill the pan is by piping the dough into the pan using a ziplock bag with a corner cut off.

• Servings: 6 or 12 donuts
• Time: Prep: 10 min.; Cook: 6-9 mins.
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Need: 1 6 or 12 donut pan and 1 sandwich or quart size ziplock bag

For the donuts:

• 1 c. all purpose flour
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/4 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/3 c. buttermilk (or 1/3 c. milk + 1/4 t. vinegar, let it set for a few minutes)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 T. butter, melted

For the glaze:

• 2 c. powdered sugar
• dash of vanilla (about 1/4 t.)
• pinch of salt
• 1 T. butter, melted
• about 2 T. milk

Preheat oven to 425º and grease a donut pan. In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. In a small bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the buttermilk, egg, and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring just until combined. Don’t over-mix. Spoon the dough into a ziplock bag and cut off one of the bottom corners. Pipe the dough into the doughnut pan. Bake the doughnuts for 6-9 minutes (6-7 minutes for 12; 7-9 minutes for 6). While the donuts are baking, mix the ingredients for the glaze. The glaze should be thick enough to coat but still fairly runny. Add more milk if needed. Let the donuts cool when they are done baking, then dunk each one in the glaze until they are completely coated.

Maple Cinnamon Granola

I haven’t purchased granola in over a year now.

Once I realized how easy it is to make granola, I started making my own and never looked back.

It’s essentially like making Chex Mix – mix up your liquids, pour it over the munchies in your mix (in this case, oats & chopped nuts), then bake it. It really is that easy!

My first version of granola is still one of my favorites and I make it all the time. I was itching for a new combo though and decided on maple and cinnamon. You can never go wrong with maple and cinnamon.

This granola is sweetened with maple syrup (apparently I’m on a maple syrup spree) and flavored with ground cinnamon and maple extract for an extra maple boost.

• Servings: about 4 cups
• Time: Prep: 5 min.; Cook: 40 min.
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• 4 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. chopped nuts, optional
• 1/2 c. real maple syrup (I used Grade B.)
• 1/4 c. refined* coconut oil in a liquid state
• 1/2 t. maple extract
• 3/4 t. ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 300º and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Pour the oats and chopped nuts in a large bowl. In a liquid measuring cup or bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, coconut oil, maple extract, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the liquid mixture over the oats and nuts and stir thoroughly until everything has been covered with the liquid. Pour the oats onto the paper lined baking sheet and spread the oats out evenly. Bake for 40 minutes. Let the granola cool completely, then store in an airtight container.

*Please note if you use unrefined coconut oil, it will add a slight coconut flavor to the granola. Refined coconut oil has no taste which is what I used for this recipe so the maple & cinnamon flavors would stand out.

Healthy Chocolate Smoothie

Heyoooo. So 2015. Feeling good so far? Are you all rested up and ready with your list of things to conquer this year?

If you’re anything like me, you lose sight of many of your year-long goals by February. Knowing I do this, I scrapped resolutions this year. Threw ’em out the window. Buh-bye. Instead, I’m focusing on quarterly goals. Three months at a time seems more manageable and still enough time to create a new habit or complete a project.

Since one of the most common New Year’s resolutions/goals people make is about eating better, I thought I’d share a healthy smoothie. When I need a chocolate fix but want to stay in the healthy eating groove, this is what I make. It’s naturally sweetened with honey and it has protein powder in it so it would also be a great treat after a workout. The texture is similar to that of a frappuccino.

• Servings: 1
• Time: 5 min.
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• 3 T. good quality vanilla protein powder
• 2 1/2 T. cocoa powder
• 1 T. honey
• 3/4 c. almond milk (use any milk you like)
• handful of ice
• pinch of instant coffee, optional

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and blend until there are no longer large ice pieces and the consistency is what you want.

 

 

Recipes for the Holidays

Hey there!

Well, here we are at the WEEK OF Christmas. Boy, did that get here fast! Happy eve’s eve of Christmas eve! Wow, that’s a lot of eves. I can see why that hasn’t become a standard holiday greeting. :)

Anyways, I hope all is going well with your holiday plans. If you need some last minute recipe ideas for appetizers, sides, desserts, or even breakfast, I put together a collection of recipes from around my website for a little inspiration. Here you go!

Bacon & Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms

a savory combo of mushroom, spinach, bacon, and thyme topped with cheese

Fiesta Bites

refried beans & green chiles baked in a wonton wrapper topped with fresh salsa & green onion

 Cornbread with Rosemary & Caramelized Onions

savory cornbread with the flavorful additions of fresh rosemary & caramelized onions

Pear Pastries with Honey Whipped Cream

puff pastry baked with slices of pear topped with peach jam and a honey whipped cream

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies

oatmeal cookies with cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, and ginger

Flat Apple Cranberry Pie

a single crust pie with apples and cranberries mixed with orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg

Gingerbread Waffles

festive waffles with cinnamon, ginger, cloves and sweetened with molasses

Chai Spiced Muffins

muffins with all the spices of chai tea drizzled with a vanilla glaze

Fall Recipe Roundup

Hey! Hope your week is going well!

While I’m still adjusting to my new home, I thought it would be fun to go through my site and find some of my best fall recipes to put together in one post. There are a lot of good recipes that get further and further in the archives. It’s time to bring them back to the spotlight!

Baked Maple Doughnuts

Spiced Oatmeal Cookies — my most viewed recipe of all time!

Roasted Poblano & Corn Chowder

Baked Pumpkin French Toast with Pecan Streusel Topping

Pumpkin Ravioli with Sage & Goat Cheese

Pumpkin Bars with Gingersnap Crust

 

Chai Spiced Muffins & Surprise! I moved to Wisconsin!

Surprise! I now live in Wisconsin. I didn’t mention anything on here about moving because it has been a WHIRLWIND of a thing. Like pack up in two weeks and BOOM, hubs and I apartment hunting in Wisconsin for his new job. Yay! I’m very excited for him.

My hubby is a graphic designer and he got a job in a town just north of Milwaukee. We’ve both lived in Oklahoma our whole lives and while we will always love Oklahoma, we were ready to experience life in another part of the country. So we took it! Quit our jobs, packed up, and made the long drive up North… which means I need to order snow boots. STAT. It’s been crazy at times but so far a fun adventure. :)

I was really, really going to try and post these last week but it turns out when you uproot your life and you’re in the middle of figuring out your new life, your brain doesn’t have enough bandwidth to write even a sentence. Or at least mine didn’t. And it felt insignificant to try and just write about chai spiced muffins when SO MUCH was happening in my life. It feels good to finally share it with you.

Now we can sit down to these chai spiced muffins. :)

In general, I like to keep my breakfast healthy but I cannot resist adding a little indulgence in the fall. These muffins are delightful on their own with the cozy chai spices but adding a little glaze sends them over the top.

Chai Spiced Muffins; Recipe or Not

• Servings: 12
• Time: 30mins
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• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 T. ground flax, optional
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• scant 3 T. chai spiced tea (6 individual size tea bags), ground in a coffee or spice grinder
• 1 egg
• 1 c. milk
• 3 T. butter, melted

For the glaze:

• 1 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 t. vanilla extract
• 2 T. milk
• pinch of salt
• sprinkle of cinnamon, optional

Preheat oven to 400º. In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients. In a smaller bowl, combine the eggs, milk, and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Evenly distribute in a greased or lined muffin pan, bake for 18-20 minutes until the muffins are starting to brown a little and a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.

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Maple Coconut Oatmeal

Alternate titles for this post were:

• My Current Breakfast Obsession
• Let’s Put Coconut Oil in E’rythang
• Maple & Coconut = BFF’s 4 Life
• How To Stop Hitting the Snooze Button

If you want to start your day off right, start it with a bowl of this oatmeal.

It’s difficult to describe, specifically, the taste of this oatmeal. It’s neither overly maple-y nor overly coconut-y but the blend of the two is perfectly balanced for a delightful and sweetened oatmeal. Perfectly paired with coffee, of course. ;)

Maple Coconut Oatmeal; Recipe or Not

serves 2

• 1 1/3 c. rolled oats
• 2 2/3 c. milk (I used almond.)
• small pinch of salt
• 2 spoonfuls unrefined virgin coconut oil
• 4-6 T. maple syrup

In a medium pot, bring the oats, milk, and salt to a boil over medium heat. Monitor, stir, and reduce heat if needed until the oats have absorbed the liquid, about 15 minutes or so. Divide the oatmeal up in two bowls, stir in the coconut oil and maple syrup. Enjoy!

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Homemade Crepes: Savory with Roasted Tomato Sauce & Sweet with Fruit and Yogurt

I specifically remember the first time I ever tried a crepe. It was in 6th grade during my carpenter pants phase (yikes!). I had a French class and my teacher brought a crepe maker to class one day… probably one of my favorite days of school.

Crepes then disappeared from my life until I got married. After much encouragement from my hubby who loves savory crepes, I decided to give it a try.

It seemed a little daunting at first (how do you get them to be perfectly thin and round without a crepe maker?!) but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t take long at all the get the hang of it.

For homemade crepes, the trick is really runny batter, a really hot pan, and master pan swirling skillz. (You know you got ’em.)

The title of this post could actually be His & Hers Crepes. It’s probably a more accurate title anyways because that’s the situation here.

These crepes are “hers”… sweet, creamy, fruity perfection. I used greek yogurt and a combo of strawberries, nectarines, and plums for my filling. I topped it off with my favorite granola.

And these are “his”. Filled with eggs, bacon, swiss, and topped with a creamy roasted tomato sauce & herbs. Even my sweet crepe loving self couldn’t resist them!

Homemade Crepes; Recipe or Not

makes 8-9 crepes if using a pan with a 9″ base diameter

Crepes:

• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 c. milk (can use soy or almond)
• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 3 T. butter, melted
• pinch of salt

Fillings:

Sweet: Greek yogurt, fruit, and granola. (I used lemon greek yogurt but any fruit flavor works and I used strawberries, nectarines, and plums.)

Savory: Eggs, bacon, swiss, and roasted tomato sauce (recipe below). (I used turkey bacon because that’s my hubs’ favorite. I’ve also done eggs with sautéed mushrooms and spinach and swiss which was really good.)

The Prep: Put all the crepe ingredients (not the fillings) in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds or until the mixture is totally smooth. Let the mixture set at room temperature while you get your fillings ready. Heat a non-stick pan (I recommend cast iron.) over medium heat* and spread a small amount of butter over the bottom of the pan. Once it’s hot, pour 1/3 cup of butter in the pan and quickly swirl the pan so the batter covers the bottom and forms a circle. See picture at end of post. You should see the batter darken slightly as it cooks and you may see bubbles (like cooking pancakes). After about a minute, use a spatula to gently loosen the edges and carefully get the spatula under the crepe to flip it. Cook for about 30 seconds to a minute on the other side. Repeat this process until all of the batter is cooked.

*As you are cooking the crepes, if you notice the pan is getting too hot you can turn it down a little.

Note: If you don’t use all of the crepe batter, it will keep covered in the fridge over night. Also, cooked crepes keep well covered overnight in the fridge and are easily reheated the next day.

Creamy Roasted Tomato Sauce; Recipe or Not

makes approx. 3/4 cups

• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 T. diced onion
• drizzle of olive oil
• pinch salt and pepper
• pinch of your favorite herb
• 1/4 c. half n half

The Prep: Preheat oven to 400°. On a baking sheet toss the tomato halves and onion with olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes. Pour the roasted tomatoes & onion into a blender with a pinch of dried herbs and the half n half. Blend for 30 seconds. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed. Pour on your savory crepes!

 

Lemon Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding

I know school is out but can we have a little history lesson? I promise there won’t be a quiz. :)

Chia seeds are a big food trend on the rise and all for good reason. These liiiittle seeds have a biiiig history… which I happen to find very interesting and wanted to share with you!

Chia seeds were sort of like the Clif bars of the ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures (except 10x better for you and 10x more versatile). They were used for sustainable energy, hydration, medicine, grown as crops, and used as currency. Now that’s an impressive resume.

If they were so important, why haven’t we always known about them?

That’s because Spanish conquerors came in, took over, and banned chia seeds because they were also used frequently in religious ceremonies. Bummer. We could have been eating chia seed pudding our whole lives.

It wasn’t until a little exploration was done by some scientists and nutritionists that chia seeds were brought back into the picture.

And now here we are with articles sprouting up (I <3 seed puns.) about how nutritional they are… which is also for good reason. Chock full of fiber, omega-3’s, calcium, minerals, and blood sugar regulating properties… chia seeds’ nutritional resume is just as impressive as its history.

We’re taking this small but mighty seed and giving it a modern look. The texture of this pudding is comparable to tapioca pudding with just the slightest crunch. The seeds soak up the liquid and turn into a gel-like consistency. The lemon and vanilla give it a really light, summery flavor. Top it with your favorite summer fruit and you’ve got a great breakfast, afternoon snack, or dessert.

• Servings: 2-3
• Time: Prep: 5 min.; Chill time: 2 hrs.
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1/2 c. chia seeds
3 T. maple syrup
zest of one lemon (should be about 3/4-1 t. zest)
juice of half the lemon
3/4 t. vanilla extract
2 c. milk of choice (I used almond milk.)

In a bowl, stir together the chia seeds, maple syrup, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Pour in the milk and carefully stir all the ingredients together. Cover the pudding and let it set in the fridge for 2 hours, stirring it once after 1 hour. Top with your favorite fruit and enjoy!

https://recipeornot.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/lemon-vanilla-…a-seed-pudding/

Chia seed history and health lesson brought to you by the following sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/03/chia-seed-benefits-_n_3379831.html

http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/top-10-health-benefits-chia-seeds-6962.html

http://www.foodandnutrition.org/January-February-2014/Chia-Seeds-Tiny-Seeds-with-a-Rich-History/

http://www.chiaseeds.net.au/pages.php?pageid=10

http://www.chia.org.uk/chia-history.php

Carrot Cake Scones with Cinnamon Glaze

For being a food blogger, I rarely prepare recipes that coincide with upcoming holidays. But for whatever reason, I managed to time these carrot cake scones perfectly with Easter. Yes!

The classic Easter meal is typically a lunch that’s all about ham but… what about breakfast?

How about some cake in the form of a scone?

My normal breakfast routine is always either oatmeal or toast with peanut butter. (Creative I know.) But for special occasions, I’m all about new, unique, or more indulgent breakfasts. Mornings have the power to set the tone of a whole day so I see breakfast as a way to make a day feel more special and memorable right from the start.

So let’s start this Easter morning with a delicious breakfast and family gathered. These are moist scones and if you shred the carrot finely, you won’t even notice it’s there. They are also on the healthier(-ish) side as per usual, containing some whole wheat flour and half the butter of typical scone recipes. Also, I recommend drizzling the glaze a little before serving them. The glaze dissolved into the scones overnight, just a heads up. :)

Carrot Cake Scones with Cinnamon Glaze; Recipe or Not

makes 8 scones

Scones

• 1 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/3 c. shredded coconut, optional
• 2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. nutmeg
• pinch of all spice
• 4 T. butter, cold
• 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 c. milk (can use non-dairy milk)
• 3/4 c. shredded carrots
• 1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, optional

Glaze

• 1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• Heaping 1/4 t. cinnamon
• 1 T. milk, add more to get the right consistency for drizzling

The Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, coconut, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and all spice. In a separate bowl, combine the applesauce, milk, and shredded carrots. Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the wet ingredients and walnuts and stir until everything has been combined. Sprinkle flour on a flat surface and form a circle with the dough, about 1″ thick. Cut into 8 triangles and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake for 18-22 minutes. Prepare the glaze while the scones are baking and drizzle the glaze on a little before serving.