Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts

Monday, January 20, 2014

Pumpkin Spice Granola



Good morning! I hope everyone had a pleasant weekend! After a very exciting sushi making dinner on Friday night, the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and catching up on some work. A good weekend, in my book.

Now how about some homemade Pumpkin Spice Granola to start Monday off right?


What you'll need (makes enough to fill a 1L container):

  • 200g oats
  • 60ml maple syrup
  • 45ml honey
  • 60ml water
  • 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 60g pecans
  • 30g pumpkin seeds
  • 30g coconut flakes
  • 60g sultanas/raisins
  • 60g dates

What to do:

Preheat your oven to 160C/320F.

Line a baking sheet (preferably one with a slight rim so nothing slides off) with baking parchment.

Evenly spread the oats over the parchment paper. I used a mixture of gluten free oats, rice flakes, millet flakes, buckwheat flakes, and golden linseeds (Alara's Gluten Free Pure Oats and Gluten Free Luxurious Porridge). You are very welcome to use whatever kind of oats you prefer and/or have on hand, but I do recommend the mixture!


Next you should sprinkle the chopped pecans and pumpkin seeds over the oats, making sure to distribute them evenly(ish). Then sprinkle the cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg on top.


Drizzle the maple syrup, honey, and water over the nuts and place the baking sheet of goodies into the oven. Use a spatula to stir the baking granola around and re-spread every five minutes or so to ensure everything bakes evenly. The granola should bake for about 25 minutes, or until the oats reach a nice golden hue. 

When the granola has about 3 minutes of baking remaining, quickly sprinkle the coconut flakes on top so they lightly toast. No more than about 3 minutes though, or they'll go from toasted to burnt!


After about 25 minutes, remove the baking sheet of granola from the oven and carefully use the parchment paper to pour the granola into a large mixing bowl that can stand a bit of heat. 


Then add the raisins and/or sultanas and the dates to the granola and stir to properly combine everything.




Enjoy this tasty granola sprinkled over porridge or yogurt, in a bowl with unsweetened almond milk, a handful on the go, or - if you feel like more baking - try using it in my Granola Cluster Cookie recipe!


This will keep perfectly well for at least a week in an airtight container. That is, if your willpower allows it to last that long! Mine, maybe... possibly.... who told? did not. What can I say? This granola was calling out to be consumed. Good luck!




Saturday, May 18, 2013

Saturday Morning Peach Muffins


Good morning! I made a tasty batch of low-added sugar peach muffins to kick off the weekend, and thought I'd share. These offer a variation from your typical weekend pancakes/blueberry muffins/full-on-fry-ups, and would be a nice little treat to bring along to brunch with friends, or just for a relaxing morning at home.

What Saturday mornings should look like.

Ingredients (makes 18 muffins):

  • 350g white self-raising flour (I used Dove's Farm Gluten-Free variety)
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1.5 tsp baking soda
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 50g soft light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 350ml skimmed milk
  • 150g peach jam (no-sugar added variety)
  • 1 peach

Not pictured: milk

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 170C/360F. Combine the egg, butter, milk, sugar, and vanilla extract with a mixer until well-blended (no butter lumps!). In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder.

Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, blending well (I continued to use my hand-held electric mixer for this, on a low/medium setting). Set this aside for a moment and chop your peach.



 Then mix the chopped peach and peach jam into your batter, like this:


Once thoroughly combined, pour the batter into muffin cases, filling each about 2/3 of the way full. 

Ready to go in the oven now!
Bake for about 20 minutes, until muffins are golden on top and pass the toothpick/fork test.



Let cool slightly - this gives you enough time to make a nice cup of coffee or tea - and then enjoy your tasty Saturday breakfast/brunch!

We liked adding a bit of extra peach jam to the final product.

 What do your Saturday and Sunday mornings look like?