Pear, Speculoos, Oat & Lemon Zest Muffins

A Star Muffin.

A tasty combination of awesome in one compact muffin. Are you ready?

This is a time for warmth and comfort. For flavors that and a little heat and zing to your average ho hum day. As January comes to a close Spring begins its slow creep forward from the shadows. Their is a smell of hope in the air..it may be slight..and disappear at times like tonight when the weather drops down below freezing again..but alas it exists. With the combination of cinnamon, pear, lemon and that magical concoction known as speculoos you are sure to jump right out of bed in the morning just to have a bite.

Pear, Speculoos, Oat & Lemon Zest Muffins

makes 10 small muffins or 6 large muffins

1 pear, diced (roughly a cup)

1 large egg

1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water)

1/2 cup light brown sugar

3.5 tbsp coconut oil

2 heaping tbsp speculoos spread

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup millet flour

1/4 cup brown rice flour/almond flour mix

1/2 cup oats, plus more for topping

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 heaping tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of sea salt

zest of 1/2 an organic lemon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl mix the flax and water and set aside (for 5-10 minutes). In a Large bowl combine the millet, brown rice and almond flours, oats, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl whisk the egg, flax egg, vanilla extract, coconut oil (make sure the coconut oil is not solid), light brown sugar, and speculoos spread until fully combined with no lumps. Stir the lemon zest into the wet ingredients last. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir, once combined gently stir in the diced pear. Lightly grease a muffin pan or line with parchment paper and fill with batter. Sprinkle muffin tops with extra oats before placing in oven. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. If you decided to make 6 larger muffins they will need more baking time, at least 30-35 minutes.

~ Enjoy, and as always..stay warm ~

A Very Hearty Cookie

It has been way too long since I’ve written on here. Way to long.

And the thing is that I have been concocting new things, from hummus to smoothies, but getting it all on here is the extra step I have skipped lately. Living in a post graduation world can be difficult, back home with all of my possessions in boxes, I day dream of new places as the job applying continues on. I am very optimistic about the fall, however. My imagination gets the better of me as I picture thousands upon thousands of fresh graduates storming the job market in June  like a pack of wild animals. With that in mind, waiting till the fall seems like a very smart idea.

During the summer wait I decided to get out of the 110 degree Georgia heat index and visit a friend in Canada. To no surprise I arrive at their hottest point of the season and didn’t see a temp below 90. Needless to say my story begins at the airport returning from my warm escape. I never have very good luck in airports, I hear it is hereditary for my Uncle has similar issues. My all-star moment was when returning home from studing abroad in France but I’ll leave that story for another time.

You can go ahead and guess I had lots of spare time on my flight home from Canada and was finally able to read Molly from Orangette ‘s memoir ‘A Homemade Life’. It was amazing. In every way a book centered around life and food can be. What I loved most would have to be the addition of ginger and dark chocolate in so many of her recipes. I have become quite a ginger snob lately, in my pantry you will currently find organic crystallized ginger, powerful natural ginger ale, ginger chews, mango ginger chews, the list goes on. When you need a boost though, or even as an after meal treat, the warm and spicy zing of ginger does the job nicely.

So when a cookie became in high demand a crystallized ginger and dark chocolate cookie was the highly approved result.

Personally I feel these lovelies should be called mounds instead of cookies. Thick, bready, not that sweet, and almost scone like they can be eaten as a snack, dessert, with peanut butter for breakfast……I can’t tell you the shelf life because they haven’t lasted more then a day and a half before my mom asks when I’ll be making another batch.

Crystallized Ginger and Dark Chocolate Mounds {Cookie}

Ingredients:

1 cup unbleached flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp orange peel/zest

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup milk, or almond milk

1/2 to 2/3 of a small container of applesauce (roughly 2-3 ounces)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

splash of maple syrup

Large handful raisins

Large handful chopped crystallized ginger

large handful dark chocolate chips/ or pieces

I like to use a lot of dashes and handfuls when cooking. Exact measurements tend to be challenging because I will always want more cinnamon, oats, raisins or chocolate then any recipe will ever call for. So get a little creative when cooking and add something the recipe doesn’t call for! Cookies are great practice for this moment on the wild side. Once you have a basic dough the possibilities can be endless…

To start:

Mix the ground flax and water in a bowl and set aside (let this sit for a few minutes), I’m using flax instead of an egg, I’m sure either one would be fine. Then Mix all the dry ingredients together in a seperate large bowl except for the brown sugar. In the bowl with the flax mixture add the sugar, vanilla extract, oil, and milk then stir till combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir, then add your raisins, ginger, chocolate, applesauce, and splash of maple syrup and stir again. The applesauce helps add a natural sweetness along with making these ‘mounds’ extra moist.

Ignore the countless dirty bowls that now surround you

And scoop out the dough into roughly 12-14 ‘mounds’ on a sprayed cookie sheet.

Bake a 350 degrees for about 12-13 minutes. Let cool, forget your worries, then enjoy!

mmmmmm…ginger…

Dark Chocolate and Coconut Oat Squares

Did somebody just say ………. COCONUT{???}

COCONUT.

Yes.  Coconut.  It is amazing.  It is my weakness.

And these little babies are quite the perfect treat/snack for any coconut lover out there.

Dark Chocolate and Coconut Oat Squares

1/2 cup vegetable {canola} oil

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups oats

3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup dark chocolate pieces

1/4 cup raisins {optional}

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl combine oil, sugar, vanilla extract, and egg.  In another bowl combine flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and oats.  Add dry ingredients to wet and stir until combined.  Add coconut, dark chocolate and raisins {if desired} to the mix and combine gently.

You can then roll large spoonfulls into balls and flatten into a cookie like shape on a sprayed baking sheet {or use parchment paper}  I tend to not have much skill, or patience, in this department which explains why so many of my desserts are….squares.  I flattened out the entire mixture, baked, then cut into squares before cooling.  Bake for 6-8 minutes for cookies or around 10 – 12 for squares.

Squares or no squares.  Any way you have it, coconut is delicious 🙂

Almond Butter, Honey, Coconut Balls

~ ALMOND BUTTER, HONEY, COCONUT BALLS ~

I came home from work wanting one thing.  A cookie.  Since I live in a tiny 15 x 15 ft room, with no kitchen, my choices were limited.  I decided to make a freezer cookie ball.  I don’t think those words can ever go wrong 😉

I started off with 1/2 a cup of almond butter, and a 1/4 of a cup of honey.   mmmmm……..

These 2 ingredients were then stirred together with love.  My forms of measuring are pretty hilarious, I have nothing to measure with but an old single serving apple sauce container that I know holds 4 ounces [a.k.a = 1/2 a cup]  so everything I make is gauged off of this.  Rockin’ it in style in the dorm room.

Then 1/2 cup of raw oats, + another 1/4 cup was stirred into the mix.

Lots of cinnamon

A dash of unsweetened shredded coconut

Mix.  Mix.  Mix.  Scoop out.  Roll into balls.  Roll then said balls into more shredded coconut.  Wrap in plastic wrap.  Place in fridge, or freezer.  Lick the spoon.  The other spoon.  And the bowl.  Done.

I was so excited to have something turn out after my treacherous pumpkin breakfast.

I ate one before it had settled in the fridge long enough, but it was still very tasty.  Coconut butter and/or dark chocolate chips would be a nice future addition to these. 😀

I can’t wait to try one from the freezer tomorrow.  There are rewards for patience 😉

Recipe:

Almond Butter, Honey, Coconut Balls ~

1/2 cup of almond butter

1/4 cup of honey

about 3/4 cup of raw oats

lots of cinnamon

spoonful of unsweetened shredded coconut + extra for rolling balls in

Mix almond butter and honey together first – then add oats, cinnamon, and coconut.  Mix and roll spoonfuls into balls.  then roll in extra shredded coconut.  leave in fridge or freezer for a while before eating.

Question: Favorite ‘no bake’ goods/recipes anyone?