Granola and then some bars

When I was little I loved the oats and honey ones in the green wrapper. Who didn't? In college I loved the s'mores low-fat ones, of course that was before we knew low carb and we thought low fat was the way to go! Now we know better all around, and I try to have my family eat clean.  In my quest to cut back as much as possible on processed foods, hydrogenated oils, artificial colors and flavors, high fructose corn syrup and all the other yuckies, I came across this delicious recipe. My kids love it, their friends love it, my friends love it, and unfortunately I love it too! It's that good! Make a batch of these homemade granola bars the next time you want to impress your playgroup, bring a snack to a friend's, or pack your kids something healthy in their lunch. They probably won't last long enough to freeze, at least around here they don't, but they do so beautifully wrapped in foil and in a freezer safe bag. I always double the recipe and save a batch for a rainy day. (oh, and save yourself one to enjoy with your coffee... if you have time for coffee... or time to bake!)

• 2 cups rolled oats (old-fashioned, not instant or steel cut)
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal (or wheat germ)
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour or whole-wheat flour, or half and half
• 3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional, though I usually leave out)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9x13 inch baking pan with cooking spray.

• In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, flaxseed meal or wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt. Combine all the wet ingredients.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet mixture.  Mix well using your hands or a wooden spoon.  Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.

• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut. Cool on rack once cut and you can then wrap them individually, or they will keep up to a week in a Ziploc bag or food storage container.

These make a great breakfast on the run or after school snack. When you have a few extra minutes, crumble one over yogurt and add some fresh berries. You won't be able to stop at just one (makes me think that is why there are 2 in those green-wrapped packages....but these are better and healthier and YOURS!)

Enjoy!

Holla' for Homemade Challah!

How many Fridays come and go and you say to yourself "Next week, I am going to try making challah from scratch!" This may be you, this may never be you-but this was me! I have fab childhood memories of making challah with my mom, and can close my eyes and still smell the fresh bread as I came in the door on a Friday afternoon.

A few years ago I decided I wanted the noses of my little ones to have the same memories and I set off on an adventure to find the perfect recipe. Week after week I made fresh challah using recipes from the Internet, from friends, and from cookbooks.  We ate white challah and whole wheat challah, challah with sugar and holy bread with honey. There was sesame seed and poppy seed and cinnamon sugar depending on the week-there was even a heavenly chocolate chip challah one week! Sometimes I made it fresh each Friday, and other weeks I defrosted a braid that I had made the week before.  After the taste test journey, the front runner was....from A's Star Wars cookbook! Yes-you read that right-Amidalah Challah was the winner!!! She hung around for a while until a friend gave me the new Blue Ribbon recipe, and after M asked me to share a challah recipe on my new blog I couldn't say no!

The key to homemade challah is to remember it is really very easy, especially with a stand mixer and a dough hook (though I have an awesome, big, challah-making bowl that I often choose to knead by hand in!). It is just time consuming as you have to account for the preparation, the rising and the baking. Please try it even just once, and I can sort of safely promise you that the smell will hook you and have you trying it more than just once!

This recipe makes about 4-5 good size loaves, and while you can easily halve it just NOTE that 3 eggs cannot be halved so I use 2 for half the recipe. Best bet is to make the whole recipe and freeze them wrapped in tinfoil and freezer bags.

4 cups warm water
4 tablespoons yeast
1 cup sugar plus 2 tablespoons
3 eggs (or 2 if halving!)
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup oil
5 lbs flour (unbleached, bread, organic-whatever you prefer to bake with)

• Combine yeast and warm water and add the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Let sit until you see bubbling-if you don't see this after about 5 minutes it means your yeast is not active and you must start over.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the yeast mixture, adding flour as you go. You may not need the final cup or two of flour-you want a good consistency that is elastic and smooth but not sticky.
• At this point you want to knead by hand for 5-10 minutes or use the dough hook in your stand mixer.
• Cover and let rise for one hour (can be longer if you are like me and make your dough then realize you won't be home for 3 hours!) in a warm place or in your oven (with it turned off!)
• Divide the dough into 4-5 equal portions, depending on how the dough has risen and the size loaf that you like.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Braid the challah and let rise for another half hour, covered.
• Brush tops with a beaten egg and decorate with your favorite-sesame seeds, poppy seeds, cinnamon sugar
• Bake on a greased (or Silpat) baking sheet at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes until it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped. My oven is a bit off at all times so you will need to check your loaves starting at 30 minutes and go from there.

There you have it M! Let me know if y'all have challah questions! It is really pretty easy, not to mention a good way to relieve your tension if you knead by hand! My kids love coming home from school to fresh challah dough that they can braid and "paint" with egg wash and decorate! Hope yours will too-ENJOY!!!

Mom's Best Banana Bread

We all think we have the best banana bread recipe, but here's the thing-I really do! My mom, famously known as "Mimi", has been making this recipe (adapted for today's healthier tummies!) since I was a kid. It makes a great loaf, delish breakfast muffins, or a rockin' dessert when you double it, add chocolate chips and dump it in a bundt pan!!!

I promise this will be yummy in your tummy, with the added benefits of less sugar and flaxseed meal!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees; Either coat loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray or line 2 muffin tins with liners (will make 18 muffins)

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or non-hydrogenated margarine, softened to room temp

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup milk (or buttermilk or greek yogurt or sour cream or anything else white that you want to use up!)

2 cups flour

1/2 cup ground flaxseed meal

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

OK, here we go! This can be made in an electric mixer, with a hand mixer, in a food processor, or by hand (my personal fave is with a hand mixer!)

• Cream butter and sugar
• Add vanilla and eggs
• Combine milk with bananas and add to creamed mixture
• Sift flour, flaxseed meal, salt, baking soda and baking powder
• Add sifted flour mixture to banana mixture and mix until just combined
• Stir through with a rubber spatula to make sure all is well combined; at this point you can add chocolate chips or walnuts coated with a bit of flour to prevent sinking to the bottom
• Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in preheated oven
• If using a loaf pan, check for doneness after 45 minutes, may take up to 60 minutes depending on your oven
• If using muffin tins, should be perfectly done at about 18-20 minutes, again depends on your oven
• If doubling recipe in a bundt pan, will take almost exactly one hour

My yummy is not an exact science-you will need to play around with your oven to find the exact time that works-you want the banana bread perfectly done throughout but not burnt on top! This can be made even yummier by substituting whole wheat flour-make my yummy perfect for your tummies!

Happy baking, and say thanks to Mimi when the loaf has been gobbled up for breakfast spread with natural peanut butter or devoured plain as an after-school snack!!