Breakfast Recipes for: October 20-26, 2012

Granola

As some of you may know, I've been on the quest for a great granola recipe. My first "real foods" attempt was…spicy and weird. This is my second attempt at doing it. I like the fact that it has brown sugar (you can substitute if you want, but brown sugar is one thing I have no intentions of eliminating from my life anytime soon.), and aside from the brown sugar it is mostly considered "real food". We used this as a substitute for cereal this week, and it was very filling. We also used it as a part of peanut butter granola balls for snack time and the kids love it.

I have no idea where I got this recipe from, but it's a huge step up in flavor from my first attempt.

2 cups rolled (aka old fashioned) oats

¾ c. packed brown sugar

½ c. wheat germ (optional)

¾ tsp. cinnamon

1 c. whole wheat flour

¾ c. raisins

¾ tsp. salt

½ c. honey

1 egg, beaten

½ c. oil (or applesauce)

2 tsp. vanilla

-any dried fruit/nuts/coconut/chocolate chips, etc. desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
   
2. Mix first seven ingredients. Make a well in the center.
   
3. In the well, add remaining wet ingredients (except the dried fruit, etc.).Mix well.
   
4. Fold in dried fruit, etc. that you are using.
   
5. Pat the mixture evenly into the baking dish.
   
6. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until edges turn golden. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars (or chunks if making for cereal, to top yogurt/ice cream, etc.) and remove from dish.
   

 

Breakfast cookies

From: Martha Stewart Magazine

Makes- 8 mega cookies, 16 super large cookies, or 32-48 normal-large sized cookies(see below)

I must warn you in advance- this makes a LOT of cookies! Even with my "seconds please!" bunch, these cookies lasted us a week! You may need to use the biggest mixing bowl you have to make this. I don't have very big mixing bowls, and found out the hard way that if you're not prepared, you will make a HUGE mess with it! I ended up using the ceramic bowl from my crockpot to finish- it was THAT much cookie dough by the end! But, even with the transferring bowls (and the large amount of butter…) it was totally worth it! And don't let the name fool you, these cookies are good for breakfast, snack, dessert, or just about anytime you want a sweet cookie! These cookies are proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Trust me- they are that good.

2 c. whole-wheat flour

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. coarse (or sea) salt

4 sticks butter, room temperature

3 c. packed dark-brown brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 TBS. plus 1 tsp. vanilla

4 c. rolled oats

1 c. Raw chopped almonds (can be found in bulk dried goods section of most supermarkets)*

½ c. raw pumpkin seeds*

½ c. raw sunflower seeds*

½ c. shredded unsweetened dried coconut*

½ c. raisins or currants*

½ c. chopped dried mango*

¼ c. finely chopped papaya*

1 cup dried banana chips*

*If you can't find a certain dried nut/fruit in your local grocery store, just double-up on the ones that you can.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Whisk together flours, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
   
2. Beat butter in an extra large bowl with a mixer until light and fluffily. Add sugar; beat until well combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla; beat until just combined.
   
3. Slowly add flour mixture, and beat until well combined. Add oats, dried nuts and dried fruits, and beat to combine.
   
4. Form dough into large cookies(the original recipe says 1 cup each for 8 mega cookies, or ½ cup for 16 larger than normal cookies, but I just used a large serving spoon and got about 32 cookies). Place on 2(or more, I ended up using 4) parchment-lined baking sheets.
   
5. Bake until golden and firm, 15-25 minutes (depending on size of cookies). Let cool completely on baking sheets, 25-30 minutes. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to one week.