Oatmeal Raisin Banana Cookies

My husband loves oatmeal cookies and when we gave up butter and wheat flour he thought cookies were off the table, so to speak. Much to both of our delight, I invented these cookies that use while rolled oats, raisins, walnuts, bananaand some flour to make the real deal! They are fast, easy, and forgiving!

Oatmeal raisin cookies - with banana

About 2-3 cups of oats (use gluten free if you need that)

1 ripe banana 

1/2-3/4 c flour - I use millet or sorghum or a combination

1/2 -2/3 cup raisins (your taste)

2/3-3/4 c walnuts (your taste)

1.5 Tablespoons maple syrup

1-2 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 Tablespoons almond or soy milk if needed for moisture, but you might not need it if your banana mash to oat ratio is a good texture. You might use only a few drops. 

I add 1Tablespoon amaranth seeds

And 1 Tabkespoon nutritional yeast but neither is necessary

Put the dry ingredients together and mix well. You can mash the banana in a separate bowl with the syrup and almond milk - or mash the banana right into the oat mixture - as you would butter - adding the syrup and whatever milk you need to give that cookie dough texture! Add raisins and nuts and put Tablespoon sized dollops on a silicone baking sheet at 350 degrees F for 15-30 minutes depending on the size of your dollops and how crisp you want them to be. Makes 12-20 cookies. Let cool and crisp up. Outer surface delightfully crunchy with a softer inner texture. We love 'em!

Roasted red pepper tapenade

On a late Fall yoga retreat our cook offered up a side dish she was calling "red pepper walnut pate." I was considering side dishes for Thanksgiving that could accompany our mushroom risotto and remembered that rich roasted pepper flavor and color. It was a big hit alongside every part of dinner, and made our next day lunch tacos super special. Here's what I came up with to please the crowd. This needs to be in the fridge at least an hour or two or overnight. It really was great the second day. Sorry I didn't get any good photos of this -- but next time I make it, I will upload them.

Roasted Red Pepper Walnut Tapenade

3 Roasted Red Peppers - peeled & seeded

3/4 cup of water

2-3 sesame rye crackers or 2 toasted slices of bread

1 clove garlic

3/4 cup toasted walnuts

3/4 tsp cumin

1.5 tsp paprika

1-2 tsp olive oil

1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

3/4 tsp coarse salt

1/2 tsp Black pepper

Break the toast/crackers into the water in chunks. You will be squeezing the water out of it after it soaks to add substance.

Pulse the garlic and nuts until crumbly. Add the spices and peppers and squeezed bread/crackers. Add the balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and pulse until consistent in texture. Put it in a bowl and drizzle oil on top. Chill and enjoy!

July 4th Blueberry Breakfast Bakes

We have a small bunch of blueberry bushes on our North facing slope, encased in a small pavilion of netting. Birds and chipmunks, even rabbits find their way in anyway, but usually by the first week of July we also get a few ripe berries. They can be tart, no doubt, but they are a thrill to pick a half pint to a pint on a daily basis. Towards the end of July, we can't keep up, and I throw them right into the freezer to pull out the taste of summer in the middle of winter. July 4th is usually a celebration that the berries are starting to come and in days before vegan, no oil eating, I used to make amazing blueberry muffins. So I don't want to give up that celebratory feeling when the berries start to ripen! It is hard to bake a muffin texture without wheat gluten or eggs, so I decided to try NEW INGREDIENTS: Xanthan gum and Potato Starch, both of which are available through Bob's Red Mill in some fairly "normal" grocery stores.
These came out nicely in scone-like shapes on a silicone baking sheet. If I had only had a few strawberries, I would have sliced them on top for a red-white-n-blue feeling.  I cannot say that these are truly gluten free -- using oats and Emmer wheat (also known as farro in its grain format), but there are those with some gluten sensitivities who do not react to farro, by any name. I haven't tried this combination with rice flour, but you could... and let me know how it goes if you do!

Fourth of July Blueberry Breakfast Bakes

1/3 cup oats
2 Tblsp flax seeds
2 Tblsp potato starch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
2/3 c Emmer Wheat Flour
2 tsp almond meal
1 Tblsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup walnuts

Blueberries - 10 smashed and nearly 1 cup more
1/8 cup or 2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

MIX the first 10 dry ingredients together in a medium large bowl.
COMBINE the moist ingredients with the berries (you can use a 2 cup measuring cup for this).

ADD the wet to the dry, mixing gently until it forms one gooey batter.

Add caption

PLOP in scone size splats on a silicone baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes. Cool a couple minutes so that you don't scald yourself on molten blueberries in that first bite and ruin a yummy breakfast!

Blueberry Walnut July Muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 Serving (80g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 182 9% Total Fat 5g 8% Saturated Fat 1g 3% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 127mg 5% Total Carbohydrate 28g 9% Dietary Fiber 4g 15% Sugars 5g 0% Protein 7g 13% Vitamin A 1% • Vitamin C 3% Calcium 11% • Iron 7% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.

Banana Blueberry Oat Walnut Muffins

I was remembering when my oldest son was a very little guy and we met another family in the park who were eating the most delicious muffins for their playtime snack. The mother had made them, of course, but she was talking about how her skinny little roadrunner of a child wouldn't eat much. She had packed those muffins with nutrition. I asked about it and she told me that she used orange juice and zucchini and applesauce and amaranth and on and on.  This morning I decided to revisit my unsatisfactory blueberry breakfast treat project (you haven't seen that blog because I removed it as soon as I posted it!).  I used a small grated zucchini and a smashed banana, along with a little buckwheat flour and ground up whole oats. My encouragement to grind up my own oats into flour came from another recipe I had run into somewhere. These muffins remain moist because of the zucchini, banana and blueberries. Be sure to let them cool enough before removing the cups. You can let them sit  upside down for a couple minutes to release a little of the internal moisture. But it's hard to resist them when they are still just a little warm. Oh, did I say that one muffin seems to provide 11% of my daily protein?? Here's how it all shook out.

Banana Blueberry Oat Walnut Muffins (makes 6)

2/3 cup rolled oats - grind into flour

1/3 cup buckwheat flour

2 Tblsp flaxseed meal

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

dash salt

1 Tblsp agave syrup

1 cup grated zucchini 

1 large smashed banana

1/3 cup oat milk

1/3 cup frozen Maine blueberries

1/4 cup walnuts pieces

1. Grind the oats, combine with flour, meal, baking powder and soda and salt. 

2. In a separate bowl, grate the zucchini, smash in the banana, add the agave, oat milk and blueberries.

3. Mix the wet into the dry, until it is one thick doughlike batter. Gently stir in the walnuts. 

4. Over fill 6 muffin cups and bake at 350F for 45-50 minutes.  You must let these cool before trying to remove them from the cups.

Banana Blueberry Oat Walnut Muffins Nutrition Facts Serving Size: 1 muffin (96g) Amount Per Serving % Daily Value* Calories 170 9% Total Fat 6g 9% Saturated Fat 1g 3% Trans Fat Cholesterol 0% Sodium 194mg 8% Total Carbohydrate 27g 9% Dietary Fiber 5g 18% Sugars 6g 0% Protein 6g 11% Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 9% Calcium 8% • Iron 9% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calories needs. Courtesy of cronometer.com using my data.