Apple Baked Oatmeal with Roasted Apples

This was a filling breakfast. For real. I woke up with a mission, a mission from God. Not necessarily but you get the idea. And so I put my sweat and blood into this oatmeal and the results were good. This is special because it normally takes a few hours for me to function properly. Emotions run high during the morning hours. There have been several times when I have cried because there was no milk. I lead a simple life clearly.

A quarter of this puppy was stashed in the fridge and was eaten the next day and it was perfect. I may just go make another batch before I go to bed if one Barney Stinson and one Marshall Erikson don't keep me.

Apple Baked Oatmeal

2 cups oatmeal

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 tbsp cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 1/3 cup milk

2/3 cup apple sauce*

2 tsp vanilla

4 tsp butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350º. In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients which is oatmeal through baking powder. In another combine the wet ingredients which is the egg through to butter. Add the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into a butter 8 x 8 pan. Bake in the oven, rotating halfway through, for 20 minutes until golden brown on the surface. Serve with milk and roasted apples (recipe below). Makes 4 servings.

Roasted Apples

4 large granny smith apples, peeled

4 tsp fresh lemon juice

4 tsp pure maple syrup

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350º. Slice the apples into 1/4 inch slices lengthwise. In a bowl, toss the sliced apples with the lemon juice, maple syrup and cinnamon until the apples are fully coated. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spread the apples out. If they are cramped they will steam and become soft not roasted. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with baked oatmeal.

* I used my homemade applesauce recipe but only cooked the apples for about 5 minutes so that the apples wouldn't be fully cooked. It allowed the oatmeal to have bits of apple slices in it.

Applesauce

I come baring.. applesauce? Pathetic. But due to recent events, it is sort of a life source. My food intake consists of: mashed bananas, pudding, yogurt, puréed soups, etc. Yeah my wisdom teeth were removed on Friday. But I have successfully managed to learn how to 1. swallow pills without liquids 2. swallow foods whole and 3. watched nearly a full season of How I Met Your Mother in one day. 

My Paps the other day said he missed "porridge." That is elderly talk for oatmeal. Only joking, my Paps is young and chipper in a Ray Ramano/Tom Hanks kind of way. I made some baked oatmeal, which I will post a recipe soon because it is amazing even when puréed or swallowed whole, and used this applesauce. Applesauce is normally placed in recipes to substitute oil and such but why not take advantage of that and add some more flavour? I highly recommend it.

Applesauce

Adapted from How Sweet It Is (Looove her!)

2 gala apples, sliced 1/4 inch thick

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tbsp brown sugar

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of ginger

pinch of allspice

1/4 tsp lemon zest

In a small sauce pan, add all of the ingredients. Place over medium-high heat until it starts to bubble then reduce the temperature to low and cover. Cook for about ten minutes or until the apples are soft enough to mash. Makes about 1 cup of applesauce.

Zucchini Bread Debate

One thing I enjoy is finding a great recipe. As if that weren't obvious from having a food blog. I was on the search for a zucchini bread recipe in this case. Having read about zucchini bread but never actually tasting it, I went out and tried four different varieties. These were: two chocolate and two spice varieties. The first was called chocolate chip zucchini bread from Pinch My Salt. The second was double chocolate zucchini bread from Baking Bites. The third was zucchini sweet potato bread from Joy the Baker. The fourth was straight up called zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen. 

So here is the break down of each recipe. This little trial began at around ten o'clock at night. It was late and I was home alone and bored so zucchini bread tests! Therefore I tried the bread the next morning not immediately. They had about 6 hours to cool and then they were tested. 

First up is the chocolate chip zucchini bread. This is a very moist (yes, that word again) bread. It was the softest of the bunch I would say. It held together when it was sliced instead of crumbling. The chocolate chips were a great addition for flavour because the bread didn't have a very strong chocolate flavour on its own. The cinnamon in the recipe came through which was nice. This was great but in terms of chocolate bread, it was not the richest. But, like I said, I really liked it. I hear it is low fat too.

This bread right here was the double chocolate zucchini bread and boy was it chocolatey! It was so rich. While it was not as moist as the first, it was still moist. It sliced nicely. The tops of loafs are always the greatest and this was great. Very rich and nice top. 

This is the first of the two spice breads. On my notes for this it says immediately "moist!". I slightly undercooked this which may have been why but I think it is from the zucchini and sweet potato. It crumbled slightly when it was sliced but that could have been because it was undercooked. Despite the crumbling, no complaints. It had a nice crunch from the pecans and the cranberries added to the moistness and bit of tartness. It is kind of pumpkin pie like with the spices, which I love. I love pumpkin pie! Getting off topic. All in all, this is a great one because it is so well rounded and tons of different flavours.

Last, but not least, is the other spice bread. This one was my Mum and Dad's favourite. It was not as moist as the others but keep in mind just how moist all the others were. Also, I slightly overcooked it I think by a few minutes. They did not care clearly. This one had milder spices and the nuts were not as distinct. Also the raisins added a greater sweetness which was great. The nuts weren't as distinct but still provided a soft crunch.

The final verdict? Out of the two chocolate loafs, I would have to say the second is the richest. I really liked them both but in terms of chocolate, that one completely overpowered the other. Out of the two spice loafs, I really like the first but my family loved the second. The first my favourite texture. the second was the greatest chocolate loaf. The third was something different then I have ever made. And the last was nice spice bread, it was basically a less moist version of my Mum's date loaf.

Here are the recipes:

1. Chocolate chip zucchini bread from Pinch my Salt

2. Double chocolate zucchini bread from Baking Bites

3. Sweet potato zucchini bread from Joy the Baker

4. Zucchini bread from Smitten Kitchen*

*I used pecans and raisins because I had already used walnuts and cranberries in the Joy the Baker recipe and chocolate chips in the first two.

Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins

Hello there.

I have full intentions of making these again. They are the a great "healthy" muffin alternative and they don't taste like it. I mean, they are low fat., as in barely any! In the past I have tried "healthy" muffins and they normally came out really dense, dry or tasteless. Not these babies. They were moist (thanks glaze and applesauce) and tons of flavour (thanks cinnamon).

Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from here, god she is brilliant!

muffins
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp old fashioned oats
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup low-fat/non-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup firmly packed splenda brown sugar blend
2 tbsp canola oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen) raspberries!
1 tsp flour, if using frozen berries
glaze
1 tsp raspberries jam, strained of seeds and such
1/4 tsp water
1 heaping tbsp confectioner's sugar.. or more

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a large bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Combine applesauce, buttermilk, sugar, oil and egg in a medium bowl. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture, stirring until just moist. In another little bowl, coat the frozen raspberries in 1 tsp of flour. Carefully fold in the raspberries. Spoon the batter into muffin cups. Bake at 16-18 minutes. I baked mine for about 15 minutes and they were slightly underdone which left them moist and perfect. Once they are cooled mix the glaze together until smooth. Drizzle a little on each muffin. I drizzled mine in the shape of little hearts because it is the month of love!
Nutrition per muffin, without the glaze: 141 calories, 3 fat, .25 sat, 3.5 fibre, 4.2 protein