Baked oatmeal

As you can see, my frequency of posting is a variable with no control. As usual, that doesn't mean I'm not baking as much as I possibly can. I recently moved in with my boyfriend, with whom I share the passion for food and cooking. Over the past few months, he's turned me into a spicy food lover and I've convinced him that there's many pastries worth making at home. He's the cooking master, I'm the baking master. Really, we're not masters at all, but we like to pretend. One of our favorite things is homemade weekend breakfast/brunch. We try not to repeat recipes, but ever since we tried this baked oatmeal, we've been making it over and over. With tons of summer fruit available, it's a quick, healthy way of eating a hearty breakfast.

One of the times we made this, I took pictures of the process. So you're about to see the boy at work. Or at least his hands.

Baked oatmeal

2 bananas sliced + 1 1/2 cup of blueberries (or any combination of fruit you can think of that will roast well)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup unsweetened rice milk (or some other milk you like best)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Step 1: Spread about 3/4 of your fruits (for us, all the bananas and 1 cup of blueberries) on the bottom of an 8x8 inch roasting pan coated with some butter or non-stick spray. Roast your fruits at 375 F for 15-20 minutes. This batch is blueberries + bananas, we've also done just bananas and we tried peaches as well. I bet you could try with apricots, nectarines or strawberries.

Step 2: Combine oats, sugar, baking powder, salt and nuts and spread on top of the still hot roasted fruit.

Step 3: In a bowl, mix the egg, vanilla extract and milk and pour it over the fruit and oats.

Step 4: Add the remainder of the fruit on top and bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until the oatmeal is set.

This keeps well for about a week in the fridge, although I doubt it'll last that long.

Doughnut muffins with a surprise

I was into making nice breakfast for my friend J and I, but I thought I'd be too hungry on Sunday morning to take the patience to bake... So I made this yummy treats ahead on Saturday night and they kept moist and delicious!

I could've made plain doughnut muffins but I have this fabulous blackberry jam that I'd spread even into a piece of wood... (yes, it's that good), so filled muffins it is!

3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
jam for the filling

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, beat together sugar, egg and oil until fluffy. In a different bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Pour into egg mixture and combine. Pour in milk and vanilla extract.
Divide batter evenly into muffin cups.  Bake for 15 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let them cool.
Make a hole into the muffin in such a way that you remove part of it. I did it with a decorating tip

 

Fill a piping or plastic bag with the jelly/jam of your choice. Fill the holes of the cupcakes with it. Store at room temp or in the fridge for 2 days. If stored in the fridge, warm up before eating... the jam tastes so much more delicious!  

Muffins

Sweet little breakfast

Easy, breezy, yummy, homemade pancakes with raspberry syrup made the best breakfast!

1 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 large egg
3/4 to 1 cup of milk
Butter for frying

Beat the egg and milk together. Add the sugar and mix well. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder. Correct with more milk if the batter is too thick. Add a bit of butter in a pan and let it melt. Drop the batter by two tablespoonfuls or more if you want bigger pancakes. Cook about 2 min on one side and flip.

Add your favorite topping and... yum yum!

Pumpkin muffins

I was talking to my friend Amanda, who is right now in Prague, under water. She was saying how appropriate it would be to eat a piece of pumpkin something. Very seasonal. Turns out I had canned pumpkin at home, a little spare time and the craving to make myself some real good breakfast for tomorrow. The result are these pumpkin muffins topped with dried cranberries. Very tasty, very yummy... very very, extraordinary.


Oh, did I mention they are super easy to make?

1 cup of pumpkin
1 jumbo egg*
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/3 cup oil
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon**
A pinch of nutmeg

*I ran out of eggs and my roommate only had those, you can substitute for 2 eggs
**yes, I know, it's a lot of cinnamon. Pumpkin has a very mild flavor and usually it´s not the same in every can you open, so just adjust the spices to your taste.

Preheat the oven at 375 F

In a bowl, combine pumpkin, brown sugar and oil mixing with a spatula. In another container beat the egg. Add the egg to the pumpkin-sugar mix. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg and give it a taste. Correct spices if needed. Slowly add the flour and fold it into the mixture. Do not overmix!. Place the batter in a muffin tin or baking cups. (I only filled 7, very full ones). Bake for 11-15 min until a toothpick comes out clean.

I promise what's gonna get cleaned out is the plate where you put them...

Coconut-kiwi muffins

I love kiwis, I had a whole bunch of them in the fridge and I started wondering if I could make muffins with them... I found a recipe a the Food Blogga page. Her recipe included coconut milk. Now, I like coconut milk but it is extremely sweet and I was afraid it would kill the sour punching taste of the kiwi. I addapted the recipe and this is the result...
Yummy, moist, crunchy, sweet and sour... the best muffins I've ever made, for real... the coconut gives them a crunch, the kiwi gives some tangyness...

2 regular sized kiwis or 3 small kiwis diced small
2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup regular milk (I use skim)
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 large egg and 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup shredded coconut



Preheat oven to 375 F.


Peel kiwis and dice the kiwis and set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the butter with the eggs and add the milk, honey and vanilla extract.  Add to the flour mixture, and stir quickly until well combined. Don't overmix! You need to mix just well enough so things are combined.  Add the coconut and kiwis and mix with a spatula. Spoon the batter evenly into 12 muffin molds. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.



Contemplate the beauties you just made and... yum...

Coconut-Kiwi Muffins