Annie's Granola with Coconut from Penzeys

Today is another Penzeys recipe and it was submitted by a woman named Ann W.  I've never made my own granola before and honestly never really knew what was in it.  I knew some things were in it, but not how it's made or how it gets stuck together.  This recipe was a little time consuming but the end result was delicious.  Ann W. suggests sprinkling it on some vanilla yogurt with some fresh in-season fruit or dried fruit.  As you can see, I topped my Greek yogurt with it.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3/4 cup safflower or olive oil (I used olive oil)
• 1/2 cup pure honey
• 2 teaspoons of Penzeys Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups quick-cooking oats
• 2 cups old-fashioned oats (don't worry if you only have one, you can use it in place of the other)
• 2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes (I used shredded coconut, and if you use sweetened coconut cut the honey by 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup cashew halves (I think I used walnuts in place of the cashews since I didn't have any cashews lying around)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the olive oil and honey and mix well.

Add the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, and mix thoroughly.  Add the oats, coconut, and nuts and mix on the lowest setting of your mixer or by hand until combined.

Spread the mixture onto a jellyroll pan or an 11"x17" baking pan with sides (or use 2 smaller pans).

Bake for 10 minutes then stir, especially getting the mixture in the corners.  Continue to bake, stirring every 10-15 minutes so as not to burn.  Remove from oven after 40-45 minutes so the mixture is browned but not burned.  Cool completely in the pan, about 1 hour.  Keep in an airtight container.

Enjoy!

Healthy Smoothies and Salad

Hey all!  So classes started right after Labor Day and since I'm a full time student I've been doing a lot of homework and studying and less baking. :-( I also just recently started a part time job, so my social life and personal time will be extremely limited.  I'll bake and cook whenever I can find the time, and I will find time because this is the best season for baking!  Pumpkins, apples, and holidays galore!

So for this post, I have three smoothies to share and my go-to salad recipe.  The next few posts will be baking because I did manage to get some time in a few weeks ago.  So expect to see a granola recipe, a coffee cake, and pound cake.  :-)

The first smoothie is a berry one, here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup water
• 1 container of Fage fat-Free Greek Yogurt, or 3/4 cup of your favorite yogurt
• 1 cup frozen or fresh berries
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 packet of Stevia in the Raw

Blend until smooth.

The second smoothie is a green smoothie, here's what you'll need:

• 1 cup milk, I used non-sweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1 handful of spinach
• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup strawberries (frozen or fresh)

Blend until smooth.

And lastly, another green smoothie, you'll need:

• 1 cup water
• 1 handful spinach
• 1/2-1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

Blend until smooth.

For the salad, I got the idea from those Eat This Not That! books as well as a local restaurant's menu. You will need:

• Spinach or Romaine lettuce 
• Strips of cooked chicken
• 1 apple cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 1/2 cup crumbled cheese, feta or goat works well

Enjoy! 

Banana Cake with Coconut Topping

This is another Penzeys recipe which came from their Early Summer catalog.  The recipe is from the kitchen of Ceci Droll, and I think might be one of the best cakes I've made thus far.  It got great raves and reviews from my family when I brought it over for a Sunday night dinner.  I really don't know how to describe this cake, it was just delicious.  I'm not usually a big fan of coconut, but it worked really well with this cake.
Here's what you'll need for the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Spice (Penzeys) (I added this, it wasn't in the original recipe)
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup buttermilk, sour cream or plain yogurt (I used plain Greek yogurt)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup very ripe, squished banana (2-3 bananas)

Here's what you'll need for the topping:

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes (I used unsweetened and it was fine)
• 5 tablespoons milk 

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9"x13" pan and set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs and beat well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.  Gradually beat into the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk.

Stir in the vanilla and banana and mix until just combined. 

Pour into the pan and bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes, until browned and springy to the touch.  Let the cake cool before frosting.

For the topping:  Turn your oven to low broil.  Beat together the melted butter and brown sugar.  Stir in the nuts, coconut and enough milk to get a nice spreading consistency.

Spread over the cake.  Place under the broiler until bubbly, 5-10 minutes depending on your oven.

Enjoy!

Walnut Coffee Cake

Today's recipe comes from Cooking Light Everyday Baking, it's one of the cookbooks I got for Christmas from my secret santa, who happened to be my sister-in-law, Meghan.  This was the first recipe I have cooked from this book, and it was great.  It was your classic coffee cake without all the really horrible stuff in it you'd find in an Entenmann's.  There's a sweet streak of brown sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of a crunch of walnuts.  If you're allergic to walnuts you can substitute them for pecans.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (chopped to the size of a pea)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 14.5 oz. or 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk
• Cooking spray

First preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Weight or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Combine granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well combined (about 3 minutes).  Add egg whites; beat 3 minutes or until combined.  Beat in vanilla.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating well after each addition and scraping sides of bowl.

Spoon half of batter into a 10-inch Bundt pan coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle half of brown sugar mixture evenly over batter.

Spoon remaining half of batter into pan.  Top with remaining brown sugar mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack.