Oatmeal Sandwich Bread and Meyer Lemon Blood Orange Marmalade
I finally had the opportunity to slooooooowww down this weekend and so I was happy to take advantage: I caught up on trashy reality tv, filled the apartment with the warmth and aroma of freshly baked whole wheat oatmeal bread (I wish I could bottle it!), and attempted to make jam for the very first time.
This bread is so good that I have actually been looking forward to waking up every morning for a toasted slice! It’s perfect with just a pat of butter, and even better with a bit of jam. It is earthy from the whole wheat and oatmeal, sweet from a touch of molasses, with a soft and tender crumb.
I’ve been eating this bread with a generous helping of home-made meyer lemon and blood orange marmalade. I was intrigued by the unique combination of Meyer lemon (a lemon-tangerine hybrid) and blood oranges and it certainly did not disappoint. It is a perfect balance of tart and sweet, like a little jolt of sunshine to break me out of my winter blues. Because both Meyer lemons and blood oranges are sweeter and less acidic than their lemon and orange relatives, the jam is not as mouth-puckering as one might expect from a fresh marmalade- the citrus is still a bit tart, but subtly so.
Making the jam was actually very easy, especially because I did not bother with canning the jam (trusting that I would succeed in eating the jam within a month, which, at the rate I am going through this jam, will not pose a problem!). Slices of fruit are cooked down until the pith and peel are soft and tender, then white sugar (for sweet) and raw demerara sugar (for slightly carmamelized flavor) are added until the mixture cooks down and sets into a sweet jammy goop. For next time, I would cut the slices into smaller segments, because although the cooking process renders the pith and peel into soft citrus candy, it is a bit difficult to spread these long tendrils on toast. I also think adding a bit of crystallized ginger might be heavenly. And I would love to learn to can, so I could make huge batches and enjoy all year round!
The Single Lady Pancake
This may be the best thing to happen to my breakfast repertoire. Not because it’s the most amazing pancake I’ve ever eaten… but because it produces a single (yet generous) portion of pancake goodness from ONE (the recipe called for two, but in my haste, I serendipitously found it was possible to successfully use only one) mixing bowl and ONE flip in the pan. This, my friends, is a revelation… it makes pancakes possible on a WEEKDAY!!
I love pancakes. I really do. But sometimes, I don’t enjoy the process of making pancakes so much. They’re not crazily intensive or fussy in terms of ingredients or the order in which they are added and mixed, but they can be quite demanding in terms of cooking time. Especially if you, like me, are only using one medium-sized saucepan to cook 2-3 small pancakes at a time because you refuse to use a second saucepan on principle (because even though you’ve used several bowls and measuring cups and utensils to mix the batter, the thought of that ONE EXTRA thing to wash is just TOO MUCH). By the time I have cooked the whole batch, the majority of them have already cooled to the point where their surfaces have lost the subtle crispyness, and I’ve already nibbled on a few of the pancakes made along the way while standing at the stove waiting for the subsequent pancakes to cook. These things conspire together to lessen the ultimate feeling of elation when you finally sit down and take your first bite of properly buttered, fruit-topped, and maple-syrup-smothered pancakes. And that just makes me sad.
So here’s to a one-bowl, one-flip wonder that produces a hearty and filling pancake (with oats! bananas!) that retains its satisfying crispyness (due to the speed at which it will reach your plate plus the technique of cooking it in oil- I know, seems strange if you’ve only previously cooked them in butter, like me, but it is seriously AWESOME, especially if you’re a crispy texture-holic like me!). More importantly, this pancake will reach your demanding stomach in record time- I didn’t even have the time to take more than this rather unsatisfying iPhone picture (deepest apologies!).
Morning Glory Oat Muffins
Perhaps these muffins won’t win any beauty contests, but they definitely would go home with FIRST prize in the tastes-great-AND-is-relatively-HEALTHY-so-tastes-EVEN-BETTER category! They are kind of like the lovechild of granola (bars) and these whole wheat muffins- integrating the hearty appetite-satiating ingredients commonly found in granola (rolled oats, dried fruit, coconut, and pecans) into the form of one of my favorite breakfast embodiments (in which cake is thinly disguised as an acceptable breakfast item)- a muffin!
I love breakfast, but the schedule of the weekdays (a.k.a. the inescapable guilt I feel when I am not in lab performing experiments the MOMENT I have woken, resulting in the loss of my previously cherished ability to SLEEP IN) doesn’t easily permit the leisurely prepared breakfasts that I love: omelets, french toast, pancakes, waffles, quiche, freshly baked scones! WITH A SIDE OF BACON AND HASH BROWNS! As a result, I have started baking/cooking large batches of breakfast to last me through the week- things I can pack up and either eat during the walk to lab, or things I can warm/toast up once I have gotten experiments started. Through the recent cold chill and rainy days of March and April, steel-cut oatmeal was my go-to breakfast for the week; it’s easy to cook up a big pot, it’s tastier than rolled oats oatmeal (to me) and the toppings are endless so you won’t get bored too quickly (I love it with toasted almonds and coconut, dried cranberries, and/or fresh fruit).
This week (and in all likelihood, for weeks in the future), this muffin will be my morning buddy. As I mentioned earlier, not only does it taste GOOD, but it’s totally chock-full of things that are good FOR YOU! They actually taste so good that you would think they are NOT good for you. There’s 2 whopping cups of shredded carrots for natural sweetness and moisture, a whole apple, plus whole wheat flour, oats, and nuts. There is quite a bit of sugar (though less than other muffin recipes out there), but no butter or oil (applesauce is used instead). The best part? One of these babies (toasted lightly with a bit of butter) kept me fueled and focused until lunch- rarely do I survive past 10 am without a snack! This recipe is a keeper; they are truly glorious morning muffins!
Morning Glory Oat Muffins
adapted from honey & jam
makes 12 muffins
1/2 cup raisins (i used dried cranberries)
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated (i used a pear and just diced into small pieces)
1/2 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup wheat germ (optional, I did not opt to add)
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup orange juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
Demerara sugar for sprinkling on top (I skipped this step this time)
- Preheat the oven to 375 F.
- Line standard muffin tin with liners or grease generously.
- In a small bowl, cover raisins (or dried cranberries) with hot water, let sit for about 10 minutes to allow to plump up. Drain after plumped.
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple (pear), pecans, coconut and raisins.
- In a separate bowl, mix together applesauce, eggs, orange juice, vanilla extract, and brown sugar until thoroughly mixed.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the flour and fruit mixture. Mix with a spatula until just combined.
- Spoon into muffin tins. Sprinkle tops with demerara sugar, if using.
- Bake for 23-25 minutes (my muffin cups were quite full, it took about 28 minutes).
- Remove and let cool for 10 minutes before removing the muffins from the tins.
(Not-so) Thick, Chewy Granola Bars
Sometimes you want things just the way you want them. There are a MILLION different varieties and flavor combinations of granola bars out there… but I have yet to stumble across one that has EVERYTHING I want in it. More often than not they are too sweet for me, and sometimes I want oats, pecans, almonds, flax seeds, coconut, peanut butter, dried cranberries, cacao nibs, AND honey. Is that too much to ask?
One of the best things about cooking/baking at home, is you can make things EXACTLY the way you like them. I like my veggies with a little bit of bite remaining to them, my chocolate chip cookies with dark chocolate, and my eggs fried crispy on both sides until the egg is mostly set, but just a bit soft and liquidy in the very middle.
These granola bars are infinitely personalizable to any tastes or preferences that you may have. And super easy. And since I have this need for bars that have oats, pecans, almonds, flax seeds, coconut, peanut butter, dried cranberries, cacao nibs, AND honey… now I can finally have it. And any other crazy complex combination that I can’t find in the store! Hooray! Mine ended up not-so thick because the recipe calls for a 8x8 pan and I only have a 9x9, but the bars were still awesomely tasty- probably the best I’ve had because it has everything I want in them!! We’ve packaged them up to take with us on our trek through Japan, though I’m sure it won’t last much more than the 20 hours of flight time. I’m super excited, and just finished packing, and we are off to the airport! Sayonara, I’ll be back with food posts in 12 days!
The recipe can be found here at Smitten Kitchen.
