Healthy Oatmeal Bars

I got the template for this recipe from a Food52 entry but made some tweaks to make it healthier and more of what I was craving on a cold Sunday afternoon.

Serves 6

• 3 cups Old fashioned rolled oats
• 2/3 cups Splenda Baking blend (or sugar/brown sugar)
  
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp salt
  
• 2 Tbsp apple butter
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup egg whites/egg substitute
  
• 1 cup almond milk(I used unsweetened vanilla)
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 apple, chopped
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Grease an 8x8 pan
   
3. In a large bowl mix together the oats, sugar/splenda, baking powder, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice and salt.
4. In a second bowl mix together the applesauce, vanilla and eggs. Slowly whisk in the milk and then gradually whisk in the apple.
5. Add the wet mixture to the oat mixture until fully incorporated.
6. Stir in the raisins, apple (and any other fruit you want to add!)
7. Spread into the pan and bake for 20-30 minutes.
8. Slice and serve as desired.
   

Medley Muffins

This recipe comes from Gimme Some Oven, and having sampled a couple of muffins hot out of the oven already, I'm a big fan! They're definitely not for everyone...for example, my father would never try something that looked so brown (and wasn't chocolate) and had visible lumps of fruit and nuts. But if you're not afraid of a little health in your baked goods, these are really pretty good. They don't rise much, so next time I'd fill my muffin cups up the whole 2/3 of the way it recommends (weary of altitude effects, I only filled them halfway).

Ingredients:
1.5 cups wheat flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup wheat germ or flax seed (optional)
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 can pumpkin
1/3 cup milk (can use soy milk)
1/3 cup applesauce
2 ripe bananas
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 egg
1 cup oatmeal (quick or old-fashioined)
1 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 cup almonds or walnuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 18-22 muffin tins with paper cups, or lightly grease.
In a bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking soda, and wheat germ (or flax). Set aside.
In mixing bowl, mix together the next eight ingredients (butter through egg) until combined. Then slowly add in the flour mixture until combined. Then stir in oatmeal, cranberries and almonds.
Pour the mixture into the baking cups, so that each is about 2/3 full. (I sprinkled coarse sugar and a few oats on top of each of mine for a prettier top.)
Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes, and serve. These also freeze well.

Irish Soda Bread

I love Irish Soda Bread and make sure to bake up a fresh loaf for St. Patty's Day every year.
This year's recipe comes from Baking Bites, and I really like the addition of oats here. I think I could have adjusted for altitude a little bit better, as my bread was sort of gummy (not really surprising, as my dough stayed pretty sticky)...but I strangely sort of like gummy bread centers so it worked.
I basically followed the recipe as posted, except substituted whole wheat pastry flour for about half the flour amount. Eaten warm with some melted butter, this was just the Irish Soda Bread perfection I was hoping for!

Oats and Honey Irish Soda Bread
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour*
1/2 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp honey
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup raisins (I used golden raisins)

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, oats, baking soda and salt. Add in honey and buttermilk and stir until dough comes together. Stir in raisins. Dough should be only slightly sticky, so that it is easy to knead. If it is too dry, add an additional tbsp or two of buttermilk.
Keeping the dough in the bowl, knead it for 1-2 minutes, turning the dough, pressing it firmly with the heel of your hand, then turning the dough and repeating. Shape dough into a ball and place on prepared baking sheet. Flatten dough until it forms a disc about 1 - 1 1/2 inches thick.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until loaf is golden brown.
Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes on a wire rack before slicing.

Makes 1 loaf, serves 6.

* I used 1cup + 2Tbsp AP flour [extra 2 Tbsp for alt] + 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

Nutella Fudge Crumble

I got this recipe from Eat My Cake Now -- I like it and think it turned out pretty well, after a minor adjustment or two. Also, this may be obvious, but you definitely need to like nutella for this. If you don't, I'd recommend swapping it for some sort of thick fudge sauce or something similar. But the cookie base and topping is very light and buttery and delicious, and the whole thing is pretty amazing served warm with vanilla ice cream.

240 g (2 cups) all-purpose flour
160 g (2 cups) old-fashioned (rolled) oats
270 g (1 1/2 cups) brown sugar
5 ml (1 teaspoon) baking powder
1 ml (1/4 teaspoon) salt
200 g (1 cup) butter, melted
600 g (21 ounces) Nutella

1/3 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°F(180°C).
Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.
Whisk together the flour, old-fashioned oats, brown sugar, baking soda and salt.
Pour the melted butter and stir to incorporate the butter.
Set aside 1½ to 2 cups of the mixture, then turn the remaining dough into the buttered pan.
Gently press the dough over the bottom of the pan.
Pour the Nutella over the oatmeal crust, then scatter the remaining oatmeal mixture over the top.
Bake for 15 min, then drizzle 1/3 melted butter over the top of bars as evenly as possible.
Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown.
Transfer the baking pan to a rack and cool for about 1 hour.

Chinese Five Spice Oatmeal Cookies

This weekend I picked up some Chinese Five Spice blend at the local spice shop in downtown Boulder. I wasn't completely sure what I would do with it, but decided to give this recipe a shot, from a blog I just stumbled upon online. I modified it a little bit for altitude, and am pretty happy with how it turned out. The cookies have a great flavor, but aren't overpowering at all, and also aren't overly sweet. They are a nice alternative to some of the other overly gooey and decadent treats that are more common around here during the holidays.

½ cup butter
½ cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
[2 tsp canola oil for altitude correction/anti-drying]
Cream the butter and sugars together well. Add egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Sift together:
¾ cup + 2 Tbsp flour
1 & 1/2tsp Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Pinch salt
½ tsp baking soda [touch less for altitude]

Fold into the creamed mixture.
When the dry ingredients are almost incorporated, add:

1 ½ cups large rolled oats
2/3 cup raisins
2/3 cup chopped dried apricots

½ cup chopped pecans, cashews, macadamias, slivered almonds or walnuts (optional -- I omitted)

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart.Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes [7min at 395 for altitude]. Do not over bake or your cookies will lose their chewy texture. Makes about 3 dozen cookies.