Granola-cereal bars

Paying for granola bars? why would you do that? Whip up your own granola bars at home, with the taste you like, no preservatives, no weird chemicals and healthy ingredients. 

Yes, I know, I sound like a TV commercial. But for real, why would you buy granola bars when you can make them yourself, for half the price and double the flavor?. My friends from Swampscott, love granola bars. I was going up for the night and thought, what about you bring them some homemade ones? 

Now, as usual, when you try to whip up things without thinking too much about it, I had some problems with the ingredients. Basically I thought I had a ton of oatmeal and I didn't. But that's what cheerios are for, right? Also, this bars will help you clean the pantry from that cup of nuts you forgot you had, that half cup of dried fruit you didn't even know was there and so on. See? perfect!

I did not have time to let them cool completely before I cut them, so they were sort of a sticky mess. A sticky tasty mess! Now I'll stop talking and I'll give you the recipe. 

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup crushed cheerios (or another cup of oatmeal)

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds (heart healthy!)

1 cup chopped apricots (or cranberries or raisins or whatever you want)

1 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup honey

4 tablespoons butter

Note: you could also change 1/4 cup of the honey for peanut butter, add some shredded coconut or switch some almonds for a different kind of nut.  Play around!

Preheat your oven to 350 F 

Cover a baking pan with two sheets of parchment paper. Leave edges so that you can use them as handles to pull the bars out of the pan. 

Chop the apricots. Combine the nuts, oatmeal, crushed cereal and dried fruit in a bowl. In the microwave, heat up the butter and honey for a couple minutes, until the butter is melted and the honey is hot. Pour the mixture over the cereal and mix until combined. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and spread evenly pushing to flatten the surface. Bake for 30 minutes. 

Let them cool completely before cutting, for real, otherwise it becomes sort of a nightmare.


By the way! I forgot to mention I got the Happy 101 blog award from Adriana at Bittersweet baker. This very young lady, who I share name with, is a very talented baker and photographer and I'm very honored that she gave me the award. Go check her out!




I'm supposed to pass this award and such things but right now I'm lacking the necessary focus to think about who this is going to. In a few days maybe, I'll try. Promise.

Raspberry swirl brownies

Guys, I might be sick. If there's a rare disease that involves compulsively eating foods of a certain color, I've got it. No kidding. Let's make a list of the things I've been compulsively eating lately. Strawberries (maybe too many of them), dried cranberries, raspberries and cherry tomatoes. What do you know, they are all red!

Wait! now that I think about it... my glasses, purse, wallet and converse are red. Maybe I'm just obsessed with red. I'm sort of a red smurf. Oh man! I just remembered I have a ski suit, full suit, all red. We went skiing with college classmates and one of my friends gave me the nickname of the red smurf (I'm short you know). 

Anywaaaaay... let's go back to the food!  Including those red things, there's this amazing red raspberry jam I bought for the Krapfen and I wanted to bake into something else. A couple weeks ago I wanted to bake something quick for some friends. Sandwich cookies seemed like too much work, so I went for these amazingly easy and tasty brownies. 

They are mixed and baked in 45 min flat. And they are what I call 'one bowl recipes'. No mess, no fuss and lots of deliciousness using only a bowl, a whisk and a spatula. 

The brownie base is not overly sweet and the red raspberry jam has a hint of tartness which goes perfect with it. Plus they are gooey and cakey at the same time. Mine came out pretty tall, but I don't really think that was a problem for anyone. 

If you can't find raspberry jam, you can substitute for unsweetened strawberry jam. I'd suggest nothing overly sweet, you want to have a contrast of flavors between the chocolate and the jam. Oh jeez, I almost forgot! I stirred in some walnuts for a crunch. You can omit them but I find they add an extra layer of texture and crunch to the mix. 

All in all, these brownies were a success. My friend kept saying... 'Adri these are supergood!', while licking her fingers and grabbing another piece. So just go and make them. We'll discuss red later.

By the way guys! to avoid missing any updates, you can  become a fan of Baking Powders on facebook!

Raspberry swirl brownies
Adapted from here

Printable recipe

4 oz bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
1 stick of butter
1/3 cup red raspberry preserves
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt
¾ cup flour
¾ cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F

Melt chocolate and butter in a double boiler or microwave. In a bowl, beat eggs until foamy, add sugar and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Stir in the melted chocolate and butter (make sure it's not very warm). Incorporate the flour into the mixture by mixing with a spatula. Stir in the walnuts and fold them in the batter. Pour the batter in a greased 8 x8 inch pan. Add tablespoons of jam on top of the mixture and swirl using a knife. Bake for 30 min or until a toothpick inserted comes with wet crumbs (not totally clean).

Healthy and delicious apple walnut bread

I know what you're thinking. If it's healthy it can't be delicious.

Well, you're wrong! This bread is seriously addictive. For real. I promise.

The healthy and tasty ingredients include whole wheat flour, apples and walnuts. Not bad right? But then there's the secret ingredient. And I won't tell you because it's a secret. Just kidding. What makes this bread extra special is the buttermilk. It gives it a little twist and a richer flavor and something that I just can't put in words.

So, seriously, I don't know how to make you understand that you have to make this. You just have to because it's quick and easy and delicious. You don't even need a mixer, so come on. Make it. Pretty please.

The apples give this bread its incredible moistness and tenderness. The trick is to grate parte of the apples and chop the rest. The grated part gets mixed into the dough and makes it soft. The diced pieces are the surprise you find when you bite into it. And then the walnuts. Some in the mix, so you get a crunch in each bite. Some on top for a pretty and tasty crust.

The recipes is adapted from one of my favorite bloggers,  Joy the Baker.

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup grated apples
1/2 cup coarsely chopped apples
3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts

 
Preheat the oven to 350 F
In a bowl, mix flours, cinnamon, sugar, baking soda and baking powder. In a separate bowl beat the eggs and stir in the buttermilk. Add the vanilla extract and the cooled butter. Mix well until the mixture looks homogeneous (the buttermilk is a little thick and you want to make sure everything's combined). Slowly, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Fold in the grated and chopped apples and 1/2 cup of the walnuts. Don't overmix. Add the batter to a greased and floured loaf pan. Level it and spread the rest of the walnuts on top.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Let it cool completely before slicing. This bread is so moist it can last OK up to a week. I'm sure it won't last that long though.