Breakfast

Maple Pecan Granola

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I”ve come to love homemade granola. When I first discovered my favourite granola recipe, no store-bought granola could compare. And the fact that it”s sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar gives it extra bonus points in my book! I”ve been craving maple and pecans lately so I decided to switch things up a bit and adapt the recipe to make it more maple-pecan-y. It was a good decision and I”ll be happily putting this recipe into rotation.

And, since it”s back-to-school, you can turn this into a portable breakfast by packing it into jars (or tupperware) for kids to take on the road – so if you have any late sleepers they don”t have to miss out on breakfast. Just don”t forget to pack a long a little bottle of milk! (I make my own using Starbucks Frappuccino bottles.)

Maple Pecan Granola

  • 4 cups rolled oats

  • 1 cup quick oats

  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup chopped pecans

  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut

  • 1/4 cup ground flaxseed (optional)

  • 1/4 cup warm water

  • 6 tablespoons canola oil

  • 1/2 cup maple syrup

  • 2 teaspoons pure maple extract

  • 2/3 cup raisins

Mix together oats, salt, pecans, coconut and flaxseed in a large bowl.

In a small saucepan combine water, oil, maple syrup and extract. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and pour over oat mixture. Toss to coat.

Spray a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and line with parchment paper (this will keep the paper from sliding around). Using your hands, squeeze the granola mixture together to create clumps as you transfer it to the baking sheet.

Bake at 275ºF for 30 minutes. Stir in raisins and cook an additional 20-25 minutes, until lightly browned.

Allow to cool completely before storing. Granola will crisp up as it cools. Store in a sealed container for up to one month.

Makes approximately: 8 cups

Maple Roasted Almond Butter

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Max is my good little eater. He”ll eat basically anything and everything under the sun. But for some strange reason he doesn”t like peanut butter. He always loves helping me make scrambled eggs and toast in the morning but he”s always adamant that his toast have only “just honey”, nothing else to adulterate it.

But, to my excitement he loved this almond butter. We were eating it by the spoonful right after I churned it up in the food processor. I”ve never been a big fan of almond butter myself, but this stuff has turned me into a convert. Not to the store-bought stuff though, because it simply can”t compare to homemade.

The biggest plus for me in making it homemade, besides that it”s far more flavourful, is that it”s sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar. I feel far better about eating hoards of it knowing that it”s so much better for you. I used canola oil  in this recipe because it”s what I had on hand, but I”m planning to buy the walnut oil called for because I”m sure it adds that much more of a nutty flavour. But, if you don”t have it on hand then canola oil is a fine substitute.

Maple Roasted Almond Butter

  • 2 cups raw almonds

  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 2 tablespoons walnut oil (or canola oil)

Place almonds on a parchment lined baking sheet. Drizzle with maple syrup; toss to coat. Bake at 325ºF for 20 minutes, until nuts are browned and syrup has darkened, stirring once halfway through. Allow to cool 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

Place almonds in a food processor making sure to include any bits of roasted maple syrup. Pulse to break up the nuts. Add salt and a little drizzle of oil. Process for 30-45 seconds, scrape down, add another drizzle of oil. Repeat the process until the almonds take on a buttery consistency (you may not need all of the oil). Scrape into a jar and store in the fridge for up to one month.

Makes approximately: 1.5 cups

Adapted from Food in Jars.

Blueberry Cheesecake Coffee Cake

By in Breakfast, Cakes, Sweets 5 Comments Tags: , , , ,

blueberry cream cheese coffee cake

The air is getting cooler. We’re waking up to the furnace coming on in the mornings. The kids are getting snuggled up in their pj’s before bedtime, instead of sleeping in their undies and diapers with the windows wide open. We’re donning sweaters in the cool of the morning and at the setting of the sun. But, I still refuse to say the f word (starts with “f”, ends with “all”). It’s still summer and I’m going to enjoy every last ounce of it while I can. So, no mentioning the f word around here, ok? I’ve seen it thrown around too much lately. Let’s enjoy the season that’s here, while it’s still here. Even if it does lack the intense heat and crazy awesome thunder storms.

One thing I appreciate about a bit of cooler summer weather is that I don’t have to dread turning my oven on. Baking with summer berries is one of the best things ever! And this blueberry cheesecake coffee cake is about as good as it gets. Think dense, lightly sweet, coffee cake topped with a thin layer of rich cheesecake, fresh blueberries and crisp streusel topping. I don’t really think it needs much of a description, besides yum! We’ve been enjoying our’s with iced coffee and I’ve saved a few slices in the freezer just in case another heat wave decides to hit and I’m avoiding the oven again. But, even if that never happens it will most definitely not be going to waste!

Blueberry Cheesecake Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2.5 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
Cheesecake Topping
  • 8 oz. (250g) cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cups blueberries
Streusel Topping
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

For the Coffee Cake: Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk, starting and ending with flour. Mix just until incorporated. Spread evenly into a greased 9 inch cake pan (a springform pan works best for easy removal).

For the  Cheesecake Topping: Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar until incorporated. Add vanilla and egg. Beat just until blended. Spread on top of coffee cake layer. Sprinkle with blueberries.

For the Streusel Topping: Mix together sugar, flour and cinnamon. Using your hands, incorporate the butter until the mixture clumps together easily (the butter should be mixed in with no visible lumps). Sprinkle on top of blueberries.

Bake at 350ºF for 45-55 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Adapted from Sugar.

(Sweet Cherries!) Cherry-Almond Streusel Muffins

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cherry almond streusel muffins

This post is part of a July series on sweet cherries. To see the other posts head here.

I had this idea bobbing around in my head for quite a while before I actually got down to creating the recipe. Almonds and cherries are always a fantastic pairing and I thought they would be so delicious in muffin form. I always love the muffins with a burst of fruit inside so I made a quick cherry pie filling and layered it in the centre of a muffin batter scented with almond extract. I sprinkled some streusel and chopped almonds on top and put them in the oven. The result was a fluffy, almond flavoured muffin with a hidden burst of plump cherries and a little crunch from the almond topping. Just what I was craving!

These muffins freeze well. I wrap mine up individually in plastic wrap, let them freeze and then toss them in a resealable freezer bag. Let them thaw overnight on the counter for a great morning pick-me-up.

Cherry-Almond Streusel Muffins

Cherry Pie Filling
  • 2 cups cherries, halved and pitted
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • pinch cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon cold water

Simmer first 3 ingredients for 10 minutes or until cherries are softened and mixture is liquidy. Stir together cornstarch and water; stir into cherry mixture. Bring back to a simmer and cook until thickened (1-2 minutes). Allow to cool while you make the batter. (This can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake).

Almond Muffins

For a more subtle almond flavour substitute half of the almond extract for vanilla.

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 1/2 cup sour cream

Stir together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.

In a separate bowl mix oil, egg, milk and extract. Stir into flour mixture. Add sour cream and stir until combined.

Spoon enough batter into 12 paper lined muffin cups just to cover the bottoms nicely. Divide cherry pie filling evenly between muffin cups. Top with remaining batter.

Streusel Topping
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
  • 1/4 cup chopped almonds

Mix together flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in butter until evenly coated. Sprinkle liberally on top of assembled muffins, along with almonds. Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Makes: 12 muffins

Toasted Almond Muesli

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I”m surprised every time my kids get excited over oatmeal. I don”t remember ever being excited about eating oatmeal. In fact, I”m pretty sure I groaned the moment I walked down the stairs and saw that”s what we were having for breakfast. But, I do love it now and am more than happy that my kids like it too.

Consider this muesli a make-ahead oatmeal, that”s served cold. Ok, that kind of sound gross, but I promise you it”s not! I think this is a great alternative to traditional oatmeal for the summer, because it doesn”t heat up the kitchen at all and it”s nice to start a hot day with a cool and nutritious breakfast once in a while.

This recipe is for the muesli base. We top ours with whatever fruit we have on hand at the time. That could be fresh berries, chopped apple, sliced peaches or banana; basically any fruit, even raisins. I also substitute the almonds for whatever nut I”m feeling at the moment. Whatever you have lying around is great mixed in or served on top. It”s so versatile and is a great quick breakfast to keep in your fridge.

To a healthy, refreshing and filling breakfast!

Toasted Almond Muesli

  • 1.5 cup rolled oats (not instant)

  • 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds

  • 1 cup greek yogurt

  • 1 cup milk

  • 1/4 cup maple syrup

  • 2 tablespoon coconut

  • serve with fresh or dried fruit and a drizzle of honey (optional)

Preheat a skillet over medium heat. Add oats and almonds; allow to cook just until fragrant, stirring often. Allow to cool. In a bowl, mix the oats and almonds with yogurt, milk, maple syrup and coconut. Cover and refrigerate overnight. To serve, top with fruit and drizzle with honey.

Serves:4

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

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Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Starting a house, kitchen and pantry from scratch is a big deal. So many times I assume I have something because I always did before. I can”t count the number of times I”ve started making a dough that needs rolling out only to remember halfway through I don”t have a rolling pin. I”ve used glasses, jars, anything I could get my hands on. I try not to have too many gadgets in the kitchen anyways, because they take up so much room, but when some of those essentials go missing it”s so easy to forget. (Don”t worry I finally got around to buying a rolling pin) ;)

This happens with ingredients too. Last week I started making these muffins and when it got to the part about adding the poppy seeds I scoured the house, sure I had some, but couldn”t find them anywhere. How can you make poppy seed muffins without poppy seeds? Thankfully my hubby came home for lunch and I quickly ran out to the store so I could finish what I started.

When I posted all of this “drama” to Facebook the question came up – don”t you soak your poppy seeds first? I”ve never done it personally but have seen it in several recipes. So why is it called for in some recipes and not in others? I searched and found two theories 1) soaking them makes them more digestible 2) soaking them prevents the seeds from soaking up the moisture in the baked good, causing it to be dry. I”ve never soaked them and the recipes I”ve made have always been very moist so I don”t think #2 is necessarily right. I wasn”t so sure about #1 either but for reasons that I go into detail about on a food blog, it became abundantly clear that poppy seeds (kind of like corn) do not digest well, so maybe the soaking really does help with that. Anyways, soak away or don”t soak, I don”t *think* it actually affects the outcome of the recipe.

These Orange Poppy Seed Muffins are such a nice change-up from the typical Lemon-Poppy Seed combination. Really they could be called Triple Orange Poppy Seed Muffins because they get their orange flavour in three different ways, orange juice concentrate, orange zest and orange extract. They stay moist for several days, which I love because you can never eat a whole batch in one day and also make them a great make ahead. Although it does make for a lighter flavoured muffin, I think these still taste delicious with fresh orange juice instead of concentrate and will definitely be a go-to when I”ve got an abundance of oranges on my counter.

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

For a more subtle orange flavour use fresh orange juice instead of concentrate.

  • 2/3 cup butter, softened

  • 1 cup sugar

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 cup sour cream

  • 1/4 cup thawed orange juice concentrate

  • 1 tablespoon orange zest

  • 1 teaspoon orange extract

  • 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

  • 2 tablespoons poppy seeds

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 1 teaspoon salt

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well incorporated. Beat in sour cream, orange concentrate, zest and extract.

In a separate bowl combine flour, poppy seeds, baking soda and salt. Stir into butter mixture just until moistened.

Scoop into regular sized muffin tins, lined with paper-liners, until two-thirds full. Bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Brush with orange syrup while warm.

Orange Syrup

  • 2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate

  • 1/4 cup icing sugar

In a small bowl stir the orange juice into the icing sugar until combined. Spoon over warm muffins.

Makes approximately: 16 muffins

Adapted from Taste of Home.

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