Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

 

My hubby and my family have abandoned me this weekend - all off doing their own things, so its just me and the dog all alone all weekend! If you know me, you know that I get bored and lonely pretty fast when I'm all alone! So this morning I was feeling a tad sorry for myself and decided I would make myself a healthy, yet indulgent breakfast. So I surfed the net and came up with Cookie and Kate's blog - about Kate and her dog Cookie. On her blog she had a fantastic sounding recipe for gluten free banana oat pancakes. With a couple modifications due to personal preference, I was on my way! Boy were these delicious! I can't wait to make them again. Hope you enjoy as much as I did!



Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
Minimally adapted from Cookie & Kate

Ingredients:

• 3 small ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 tbsp. coconut oil, melted
• juice of 1/2 a large lemon
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup oats - pulse 1/2 of them in your food processor to make oat flour and keep the other half whole (I like the texture of oats - if you think you won't like the texture, pulse all of the oats in your food processor)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

 Method

1. In a medium bowl, combine mashed bananas and melted coconut oil. Stir well to combine. Then add remaining wet ingredients - lemon juice, honey, vanilla and eggs. Beat until well mixed.
2. In another medium bowl, combine oat flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir until combined.
3. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just moistened. Let batter stand for 10 minutes while you heat up your pan or your griddle over medium-low heat.
4. Using a non-stick pan pour 1/4-1/2 cups of batter onto the pan and flatten with your measuring cup until it is about 1/2 inch thick. Allow to cook until edges are set and bottom is a beautiful golden brown. Flip and continue cooking until other side is golden brown and pancake is cooked through.
5. Enjoy right away, topped with a dallop of honey flavoured greek yogurt and some fresh sliced strawberries.

These are super filling pancakes because of the oats in them - so while the batch looks small, it will actually feed 2-3 people quite comfortably. Mine made 3 1/2 cup sized pancakes and one pancake filled me up and kept me going til lunch time!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. Happy Baking my Friends!

Macaroon Madness Bars

After yesterday's "healthy" post, I have to catch up by posting something extra un-healthy today! Just kidding! I'm trying to post one healthy recipe per week going forward as I've had a number of requests from my readers for healthy recipes including - low fat, low sugar, diabetic friendly, gluten free and dairy free! I'm going to do my best to try to post a variety of these recipes over the next year. If there is anything you'd like to see me make, or you have a healthy recipe you'd like me to feature, by all means, please leave me a comment or send me an email.  I would love to hear from you!

I found this recipe on Jen's blog Food & Whine. She has a great online recipe box full of amazing recipes - so if you haven't already, do check her out. She doesn't post every day but whenever she does post I'm always excited to see what new recipe she is sharing because they're always good!! I made these macaroon madness bars and they're so delicious I just have to share them with you. If you love coconut, you'll fall hard for these little beauties. Jen notes that you should leave them overnight in the fridge before slicing them and she's right. I let them soften a bit to room temperature prior to slicing and they were a little messy to slice.

Macaroon Madness Bars
Recipe minimally adapted from Food & Whine

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup salted butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can sweetened, condensed milk (14 oz)
• 2 cups sweetened coconut flakes
• 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
• caramel syrup (I used store bought, but you can find a good recipe on Jen's post)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:

1. For the base, line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray. Leave an overhang of parchment on each end to lift out of the pan easily after baking. Combine butter, flour, cornstarch, and baking powder in a medium bowl. Mix until mixture is well combined and crumbly. Press into bottom of prepared pan (use the bottom of a glass to really pack in the crust). Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 350F. For the filling, over low heat, combine the butter, brown sugar, vanilla and sweetened condensed milk. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in eggs. Fold in coconut and oatmeal until well combined. Pour over crust in prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until golden brown (center will still be a bit jiggly). If the center is too wobbly, cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Cool completely. Cover, refrigerate overnight.
4. Drizzle bars with caramel syrup. Place back in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes. Then melt the white chocolate and drizzle over the bars. Refrigerate another 10-15 minutes. Finally, melt the chocolate and drizzle over the bars. Refrigerate another 10-15 minutes or until chocolate is firm. Remove from pan and slice into squares or triangles. Keep left over bars in the fridge, or freeze for later use.

Hope you enjoy these bars! I know we sure did. I've actually saved some of the leftovers in the freezer (and by freezer, I mean my patio - its -8 again today, so no need to take up valuable freezer space when I have a big one outdoors!!) for a girls get together I'm having at my place on Sunday. Oh its going to be a good time - we're going to get a valentines card making tutorial from one of the ladies and what kind of girls get together would be complete without a friendly chocolate tasting competition?! I'll let you know how it goes and obviously give you the DL on what kind of food I make next week.

This post has been linked up with Whatcha Baking Wednesdays over at Cajun Sugar Pie. Head on over to check out what other delicious desserts have been whipped up this week by fellow food bloggers.

This post has been linked up with Jane Deere's Fusion Fridays! Please stop by the Fusion Friday's link party to check out what everyone else was cooking up this week.

Happy baking my friends!

Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars

What a great long weekend! So relaxing and enjoyable... almost a shame to have to head back to work tomorrow! Oh well, I must have this income to support my cooking and baking addiction... so its a vicious cycle! :)

I made these squares (along with the cupcakes in my last post) for my "treat day" at work. Treat day happens every Thursday in my office and staff members below manager level are required to bring in goodies for everyone. As this day is much anticipated each week, its important to have super yummy goodies for everyone to choose from. I added these Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars to the mix on my last treat day and my co-workers were really excited. I was repeatedly asked for the recipe and there were none left by lunch time.

To top off the great taste of these bars, they're so easy. You can literally whip them up in under 10 minutes (put them together while your oven preheats) and then throw them in the oven for half an hour. Check out the recipe below to see how easy these bars really are! The biggest challenge in making this dish is waiting for the bars to chill enough to slice them into nice squares!! :)

Chocolate Almond Toffee Bars
Recipe from In the Kitchen with Anna by Anna Olson

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats


• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs


• 1/4 tsp fine salt


• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted


• 1 cup skor toffee bits


• 1 cup chocolate chips


• 1 cup sliced almonds


• 1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper so that the paper hangs over the sides of the pan.


2. Stir the oats, graham cracker crumbs and salt in a bowl to combine, then stir in the melted butter. Pres the crumbly oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle skor bits evenly on top, followed by chocolate chips and sliced almonds. Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly over pan (it will sink in as it bakes) and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the edges are bubbling. Cool to room temperature in the pan, then chill for at least 4 hours before slicing into bars.


3. Store toffee bars in the refrigerator for up to one week. Makes about 25 squares.

Happy Easter to all of you & Happy Baking my Friends!

Honey Oat Roasted Pears

Ok, I confess, I'm back on my Anna Olson kick (again)!! I've been making so many of her recipes lately. :) Its just that every time I start making her recipes they turn out SO GOOD, every. single. time! Now that I've made my confession, I can start my post!

I'm sure you've eaten a lot of food this Thanksgiving weekend (I know I have). And I'm sure you've done some much needed reflection on all you have to be thankful for. I know I'm extremely thankful to have a job, supportive family, delicious and abundant food, and great friends (I could go on and on). We're just so fortunate and blessed to live where we do and we tend to take it forgranted so easily. So I love this time of year, because it tends to bring me back to reality and to realize how lucky I am. That being said, I'm sure most of you are (or soon will be) pretty sick of the rich, fat-laden foods that are traditional on Thanksgiving weekend! A dessert that is a little lighter and healthier may well be in order. Hence the Honey Oat Roasted Pear recipe I've chosen to share with you today. :) I hope this will be a welcome break for you from the rich and heavy food consumed this weekend.

Honey Oat Roasted Pears

Recipe from Anna Olson's cookbook Fresh, p 120

Ingredients:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, melted, plus extra for brushing
• 4 bartlett or bosc pears
• vanilla yogurt and honey for drizzling

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F. Toss the oats, brown sugar, almonds and cinnamon to combine. Stir in melted butter until everything is roughly combined.
2. Cut the pears in half (don't peel them) and scoop out their cores. Lay the pear halves in a baking dish and brush their tops with more melted butter. Press some oat filling into the center of each pear. Bake, uncovered for 25 minutes, until pears are tender and the oat filling is lightly browned.
3. Serve warm, drizzled with honey and a dallop of vanilla yogurt on the side.
   

I hope you enjoy this simple and delicious recipe. I know I definitely did! Once again - Happy Thanksgiving to all of you Canadians out there. I had a wonderful weekend spent with friends and family. Back to reality tomorrow!

Happy Baking my Friends!