Pumpkin Oatmeal

Considering the other couple of hundred pumpkin oatmeal recipes out there, I just wanted to share some pictures of my version.  I dusted the top with cinnamon, cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg and then sprinkled it with some toasted pumpkin seeds and brown sugar.  Voila!

Saturday Morning Scones

What better way to start of a Saturday morning than with some stupendous maple oatmeal scones?  Throw down that cereal spoon and put that milk back in the fridge.  It’s Saturday.  And it’s time for some homemade scones.

Maple Oatmeal Scones adapted heavily from here

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup finely ground oats
• 1/2 cup coarsely ground oats
• pinch of salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup unsalted, chilled butter cut into cubes
• 1/2 cup chilled heavy cream
• 2 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream (for brushing top of scones)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. Finely ground 1/2 cup oatmeal in a food processor.
3. Add flour, second 1/2 cup of oatmeal, baking powder, and salt to food processor and pulse a few times until oatmeal is coarsely ground.
4. Add chilled butter cubes and pulse a few times until coarse crumbs about the size of peas form.
5. Transfer dry mixture to a bowl.
6. Mix together heavy cream, egg, maple syrup, and extract in a small bowl.
7. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until moistened.
8. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead until dough is uniform.  Pat into an 8 inch circle and cut into 8 pieces.
9. Transfer scones to baking sheet and brush with heavy cream.
10. Bake 20 minutes.

Maple Glaze

Ingredients

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon maple extract

Preparation

1. Mix all ingredients together, adjusting amount of heavy cream to desired consistency.
2. Let scones cool a few minutes and then glaze to your heart’s desire.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

You know those little brown packets filled with over-processed oats and pathetically, dry, shriveled up dehydrated apples, and stale cinnamon?  Well, this isn’t it.

Take the flavor of instant oatmeal and multiply it by 100.  Then take the the time it takes to make instant oatmeal and multiply it by 10.  Flavor outweighs time by 90.  Therefore, if you wake up just 10 minutes earlier you can have a delicious, healthy, hearty breakfast that will start off your day better than a pathetic little packet of dry oats and apples could.  And that is the extent of my mathematic abilities.  Here I come SATs.  Especially if I have this brain-fueling oatmeal before, those SATs are going down.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Ingredients (serves 1)

• 1/2 cup dry, rolled oats
• 1 cup milk (any kind you have)
• tiny pinch of salt
• two pinches of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger
• 1 apple cored and diced into small cubes
• 1 Tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 1 tablespoon chopped pecans
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar (divided in half)

Directions

1. Put oatmeal, milk, and pinch of salt into a small saucepan over medium high heat.
2. Once it boils turn it down to medium and simmer.
3. While oatmeal simmers, heat canola oil (or butter) in a small skillet over medium high heat and toast pecans in toaster oven at low temp (200-250) until lightly browned.
4. Toss the cubed apples with a pinch of the spices and 1 1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar.  Sauté apples until caramelized (about 5 minutes).
5. When almost all the milk is absorbed add a pinch of each spices, ground flaxseed, toasted pecans,brown sugar, and apples.  Mix until combined, spoon into a bowl, and enjoy your well-earned breakfast!

Childhood Memories

Not really.  I would love to say that these were the cookies my mom baked for me when I came home starving from school, but I would be lying.  Yet after a taste of these cookies, I wish she had.  These seem like they would be the perfect comfort food, thick oats, plump raisins, the warm smell of spices, the sweet smell of vanilla.

If I didn’t have homework to do, I would eat them all night long.  And I don’t even like raisins.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies adapted from Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Recipe | Simply Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 cup softened butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar ( I reduced this from 3/4 cup because I often find cookies too sweet)
• 1 1/2 cups flour (white whole wheat)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp cinnamon (originally called for 1, but I prefer more)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 T vanilla
• 3 cups rolled oats (not instant!)
• 1 1/2 cups raisins
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet(s) with parchment paper.
2. Beat butter until creamy and add the sugar, beat until fluffy.
3. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
4. Mix flour, salt, baking soda, and spices together.  Stir dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
5. Stir in raisins and pecans.  Stir in oats.
6. Refrigerate overnight (this relaxes the gluten and makes for an overall softer and yummy cookie) or spoon dough by the tablespoon onto the baking sheet(s) leaving about two inches in between each cookie.
7. Bake until golden brown around the edges, 10-12 min (this takes longer if the dough was refrigerated)
8. Let cool on cookie sheets for one minute and then remove to cool on a baking sheet.  They will be quite soft until they cool completely.
9. Repeat with remaining dough.
10. Once completely cooled, store in an airtight container.

Oh, no, here comes Monday.

Every week I try to make granola bars so I can have something to munch on while I toil through my pile of homework.  The smell of them alone is enough to perk you up.

But these granola bars will wipe that distressed look of your face!

Cardamom Granola Bars adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 T ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 6 T butter
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 T honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix oats, flax seed, and almonds together and toast in oven on a baking sheet for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Line a 8 inch square pan with parchment.
4. Melt together the butter, sugar, honey, vanilla extract, and salt in a saucepan over medium until all ingredients are melted and combined.
5. Mix the cardamom and raisins with the oatmeal mixture once you take it out of the oven.
6. Pour the butter mixture over the dry in a bowl and stir until combined.
7. Transfer the mixture to the pan and press down evenly with a spatula.
8. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes- until top is golden brown.
9. Take them out, and while they are still hot, I coat the bottom of a smaller glass pan with cooking spray and press down so the bars come out flat and even.
10. Cool on rack.
11. Once cool, cut the bars into desired size while still in the pan (this makes it much easier-they won’t fall apart all over the place)
12. Once cut, lift the parchment from the pan and enjoy!