Nutrient Rich Granola

Homemade granola + good fats is an excellent transition from breakfast cereal. Enjoy with whole-milk Greek yogurt or kefir for sustained energy and to avoid blood sugar spikes.

  • Quick, easy and robust breakfast
  • Never boring because there are so many combinations
    • Spices
    • Nuts/seeds
    • Dried fruits (add AFTER baking)
    • Fresh fruits – bring seasons into my breakfast bowl – berries, peaches, and plums in the summer, sweet potato and pumpkin in the fall, cranberry, and gingerbread flavor in the winter.
  • Mix into fruit salad
  • Use for chia pudding toppings
  • Sprinkle on top of oatmeal or quinoa breakfast bowls for texture contrast

Variations:

  • Almond joy: use almonds for the chopped nuts, add 2 cuts shredded, unsweetened coconut. Optional – add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract when mixing melted coconut oil and maple syrup
  • Orange Cranberry: zest 3 – 4 oranges (depending on the size and how distinct you want the orange flavor) and mix in to the oats. After baking the oatmeal, add 1 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • Banana Bread: Add 2 pureed bananas to the melted coconut oil and maple syrup mix
  • Lemon Poppyseed: zest 3 lemons, add zest to oats. Add 1/4 cup poppyseed
  • Pumpkin pie: Add 1 tablespoon pumpkin spice mix to the oats. Mix 1 cup pumpkin puree with melted coconut oil and maple syrup
  • Moroccan Sweet Potato: Add 1/2 tablespoon Golden Milk spice blend to the oats. Add 1 cup sweet potato puree
  • Gingerbread Granola: Add 1 teaspoon ground ginger, 1 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg


Color My Food Granola
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Servings
8 servings
Servings
8 servings
Color My Food Granola
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Servings
8 servings
Servings
8 servings
Ingredients
Adjust servings: servings
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325. Mix oats and cinnamon in a big bowl. Mix in chopped nuts
  2. Melt coconut oil, stir in maple syrup. Mix well
  3. Pour melted coconut oil and maple syrup over oats. Mix well.
  4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spread half of granola on each
  5. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.
  6. Add 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed and/or hemp hearts to each serving before eating.
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Chocolate Zucchini Brownies

And oh lala! The zucchini makes these brownies lusciously moist. Plus the added nutritional benefit. The original recipe is from Fabulessly Frugal.

I modified by reducing the sugar by half, using coconut oil and spelt flour and changed up the frosting.

 

Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
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Chocolate Zucchini Brownies
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Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 9 x 9 baking pan wth coconut oil or expeller-pressed canola oil.
  2. In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, combine oil, chocolate chips, and cocoa, stirring occasionally, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar.
  3. Add eggs and vanilla, and whisk until combined. Stir in zucchini.
  4. Fold in flour, baking soda, and salt, until batter is well-combined, but don't over mix.
  5. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.
  6. While the brownies bake, melt together the chocolate and coconut oil
  7. When the brownies come out of the oven, pour chocolate/coconut oil on and spread it evenly over the top. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then lift foil to remove brownies from pan, cut into pieces, and serve.
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Peach and Blackberry Crisp

Stone fruit and berries sprinkled with a blend of oats and nuts just barely crumbled together with a touch of butter (or coconut oil), and baked just enough to make each bite burst with flavor….hmmhmm summer has arrived!

Mix some plain Greek yogurt sweetened with honey to taste and add a dollop on top of the cooled crisp.

Or for a special treat, place a scoop of simple vanilla ice cream over a hot serving and savor the contrast of the frozen ice cream melting into the fruit.

Variations:

  • Instead of peach, use nectarines or plums
  • Instead of blackberries, any other berries or a mix of berries – or no berries, just increase the peach by a cup or two

 

Peach and Blackberry Crisp
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Peach and Blackberry Crisp
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Ingredients
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Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 375°F and butter (can use coconut oil) a 9 x 9 baking dish.
  2. Combine berries, peaches, juice and zest in a bowl and mix well. Place in baking dish.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients with hands until moist and crumbly. Scatter crumb mixture evenly over fruit in baking dish.
  4. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until fruit bubbles and top is golden brown.
Recipe Notes

Modified:

Epicurious: Blackberry and Peach Crisp

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Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

These cupcakes are hugely popular with all our friends and family. The hint of cinnamon, the richness of cocoa and the bits of chocolate make every bite delicious. The zucchini adds moisture and putting a vegetable boost into dessert is good for a mother’s heart.

They are so yummy, they don’t really need frosting. But I’ve made them so many times over the years, I’ve served them differently pending on what I had in the refrigerator: a cream cheese icing (blend cream cheese sweetened to taste with honey, real whipped cream with a tablespoon of cocoa folded in and sweetened to taste with powdered sugar or a chocolate butter cream icing.

For a super duper chocolate treat on a special occasion with a chocolate glaze (melt equal parts semi-sweet chocolate and butter or coconut milk). For these, I bake the cupcakes in a mini-muffin tin.

In general I do not use cupcake liners, they just go straight to the landfill.

Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
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Servings
8 cupcakes
Servings
8 cupcakes
Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes
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Servings
8 cupcakes
Servings
8 cupcakes
Ingredients
Adjust servings: cupcakes
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Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Grease muffin tin with butter or coconut oil.
  2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
  3. Beat together sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer until thick and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. At low speed, mix in flour mixture until just incorporated. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips.
  5. Pour into muffin tin and bake until tops spring back when lightly pressed, 25 - 30 minutes.
Recipe Notes

Source

Epicurious: Chocolate Zucchini Cupcakes

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Carrot Cake Cupcakes

This is a delightful recipe from Cooking Classy. I modified it by adding fresh ginger, reduced the sugar and used coconut oil.

Rather than the Cream Cheese frosting from the original recipe, I made Whipped Orange Cream because I had heavy cream in my refrigerator.

But check out the original recipe with its marzipan carrots!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes
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Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Carrot Cake Cupcakes
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Servings Prep Time
12 cupcakes 30 minutes
Cook Time
20 minutes
Ingredients
Adjust servings: cupcakes
Units:
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg for 30 seconds, set aside. Shred carrots as directed in notes below, set aside.
  2. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together granulated sugar and brown sugar, then add eggs and using an electric hand mixer, blend mixture on low speed 30 seconds, until slightly pale. Mix in applesauce and vanilla extract. With mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in vegetable oil and mix until combined, then mix 20 seconds longer. Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then pour the shredded carrots into the bowl with the remaining flour mixture and toss in flour mixture to coat carrots (they'll clump together a bit but that's fine). Pour carrot mixture into the batter and blend until evenly combined.
  3. Pour batter into paper-lined muffin cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean, about 19 - 21 minutes. Cool in muffin tin several minutes then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.
Recipe Notes

Modified from
Cooking Classy: Carrot Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

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