Nut-free Granola Bars

I'm still looking to expand my "bag" of homemade snacks for the kids and I knew they would love granola bars (especially since we never buy them because of Noah's nut allergy).

I actually have never made granola bars before today and I was surprised at how easy it was. I found a nut-free recipe on allrecipes.com (called "Playgroup Granola Bars"). I followed it exactly except I didn't have any wheat germ. They are yummy.

When they came out of the oven, the edges were getting a nice golden-brown. They were still a little soft and the piece I took out was falling apart, but as they cooled they were fine to stay together as "bars."

I'm looking forward to trying them again with different dried fruits and maybe some chocolate chips :)

Soft Homemade Wheat Bread (from a bread machine)

About a year (or two?) ago, I borrowed my mom's old bread machine in hopes of regularly making our own bread (the manual is from 1992, so this is a dinosaur). I tried one loaf and it came out short, dense and became rock hard the next day.

I put the machine in my closet and it stayed there a long time...

I finally got it back out a few weeks ago to make an honest effort this time. I wanted to find a whole wheat recipe that will make soft bread (I mean, why would you want it any other way?). I found one that I have made about 5 times. The bread is definitely soft and we all love it.

The author of the blog post/recipe wrote a lot about it, so I'll let you read what she says and get the recipe from her:

Super Soft Whole Grain Sandwich Bread

She suggests mixing up all the ingredients - except the yeast and salt - the night before and letting it sit in the bread machine. Then add the yeast and salt in the morning and start it up. Soaking the flour like this makes the bread softer and more digestible.

A couple notes about the recipe:

1. It calls for whole wheat pastry or spelt flour. I didn't know where to buy either of those, so I'm just using plain old whole wheat flour. It seems fine to me.

2. The first time I made this, I already had a packet of dry active yeast. This batch turned out a little short. I then bought a small jar of "bread machine" yeast and the dough rose up so tall that it touched the top glass of the machine. I now only put in 2 tsp. of yeast instead of the 2 1/2 tsp that it calls for.

That's about it. If you have a bread machine, give it a try!

Update to Oatmeal Muffins

I made a batch of these yesterday and I think this version turned out the best so far.

Added to the base of the Oatmeal Muffin recipe:

2 carrots, shredded
1 medium granny smith apple, diced into small pieces (do not peel)
1/2 cup raisins

(walnuts would be great in this, but I couldn't add them because of my son's allergy)

I guess what probably made these even more delicious was the icing I added to them (we had some leftover cream cheese to use up):

Blend together with a hand mixer:

4oz of cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Oatmeal Muffins

I love making quick breads: banana bread, zucchini bread, pumpkin bread (from a real pumpkin, not from a can), apple/carrot bread, etc. I have found a recipe that makes excellent bread - either as muffins or a loaf. I now use this as my base and then add whichever fruit/vegetable that I have on hand. And I love the texture that the oatmeal adds.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffin

Oatmeal Muffins

1 stick butter (melted)
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup Old Fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 mashed bananas OR 1 cup shredded zucchini OR 1 cup pureed pumpkin
optional: chocolate chips (raisins maybe?)

Preheat oven to 350.

With mixer, combine butter and sugar. Add eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and add to the wet ingredients.

Stir in bananas/zucchini/pumpkin (and chocolate chips if you're adding them).

For muffins: grease muffin tin, should make 12 muffins. Bake for 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

For a loaf: grease loaf pan. Fill 2/3 full. Bake for an hour or until knife comes out clean. I usually have some left over batter and am able to make an additional 6 or 7 muffins.

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see my Update on Oatmeal Muffins