Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Does anyone else have that problem when it comes to uber-ripe bananas?  I mean, sure, the classic use for those soft fruits is banana bread.  I like banana bread.  It's good.  It's fine.

It's boring.

So as easy as it is to use up my extra, ripe bananas in some bread, I'm always on the lookout for newer, different recipes.

Recipes like this one!

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
Recipe from my mom
Prep time: 10 minutes   Cook time: 5ish minutes per pancake

1 medium ripe banana, mashed

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 cup quick oatmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons ground flax seed*

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 eggs

2 cups milk

*If you don't have flax seed you can leave it out but cut down on the amount of milk. You could also substitute some finely chopped walnuts for the flax seed but you would still need to cut the milk - about 1/4 cup.

1.  Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk briskly until batter is smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

2.  Drop by 1/4 cup measure onto hot griddle. Let cook until golden brown around edges and bubbles form in middle of pancake. Flip and let cook 1-2 minutes more. Makes 12 pancakes.

I. Love. These. Pancakes!!!  They are so tasty, and so easy, and just so good for you it makes me do a happy dance when I notice I have bananas getting a little too brown.  Not only do I love the taste of these golden disks of happiness, I love how much easier they make breakfast, snack time, or dinner.  Mix up a batch Sunday evening and you're set for breakfast for a week (yes, the batter keeps that long in the fridge)!  Use a couple tablespoons of batter to make silver dollar-sized cakes for a quick and simple snack at a play date.  Or make up the batter in the morning before work, and come home to the always popular Breakfast-for-Dinner meal ready and waiting for you!

And, if you've got a pancake pen, your life just got even easier.  Store the batter in this little gem and suddenly you're able to make pancakes in one hand while comforting a whiny but curious 2-year-old who just wants his Mama and to see what she's doing on top of that big, black stove.

Whole Grain Pancakes

Remember my meal plan for this week?  Yeah, you could probably disregard that.  It's just going to be one of Those Weeks.  Because right now I have a feverish 5-year-old quietly playing with Legos in the dining room.  And I have a feverish 19-month-old spread across my lap.  And apparently the only cure for whatever my 19-month-old has is constant Mommy Contact.  Constant.  As in all the time.  Poor baby. :(

But no matter what I make, or don't make, this week, I did make some pretty outrageous pancakes last week.  Like, awesomely outrageous.  So good that I'll just leave you with my Picky Eater's words about them:

"Mama, you made these 100% YUM."

Whole-Grain Pancakes
Recipe from Food Network Magazine
Prep time: 15 minutes   Cook time: 20 minutes

3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup flaxseed
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups milk
3 tbsp butter, melted, plus more for the skillet
3 tbsp sugar
1.  Pulse the oats and flaxseed in a blender or food processor until finely ground; transfer to a large bowl. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until combined.

I love how healthy this looks already

2.  Whisk the 2 egg yolks and milk in a separate bowl; add to the dry ingredients along with the melted butter and whisk until just smooth.

Yep, typical dense-looking batter.  But we can make it better!

3.  Beat the 2 egg whites and sugar in another bowl with a mixer until soft peaks form; gently fold into the batter until just combined.

Soft peaks still flop over.  Be patient; it will take a bit to get here.

Fluffy batter thanks to the air whipped into the egg whites!

4.  Lightly butter a nonstick skillet and place over medium heat. Working in batches, add about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake; cook until bubbly on top, then flip and cook until golden brown on the other side, about 3 minutes per side.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........

I made these for dinner but I totally can't wait to make these for Saturday morning breakfast.  What a fabulously tasty (& healthy!!!) way to start out the day!  Whether you choose to drown them in maple syrup or make up a quick strawberry sauce, your family will never know these are good for them.  All they'll taste is nutty, fluffy pancake-deliciousness.

Seriously 100% yum!

Oatmeal "Mommy" Cookies

This one is going out to all the new mommies and soon-to-be new mommies in my life!  Why just the mommies?  Because, dear friends, these cookies will help increase a nursing mommy's milk flow.  Yes, really.

These cookies are so tasty, so easy to make, and REALLY DO HELP that I just had to post this.  Even at the risk of making myself look like a bigger weirdo than I already am.  :)

Yeah, this is a phone picture...sorry for the blurry-ness!

In case you're curious, the secret ingredient in these cookies that helps you make more milk for Baby is the brewer's yeast.  Yup, the same kind of yeast they use to make beer (which supports why they say a little beer is good for breast milk).  This combined with the oatmeal, flax seed meal, and whole wheat flour really go a long way if nursing is in your game plan.

If you're not a mommy, or have no intention of breastfeeding an infant ever, feel free to leave out the brewer's yeast and enjoy what a delightful, chewy sweet cookie this is.

Oatmeal "Mommy" Cookies
Recipe adapted from here
 
1/2 cup butter (one stick), softened
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce  
1 cup granulated sugar 
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar  
4 tbsp water  
2 tbsp flax seed meal  
2 eggs  
1 tsp vanilla  
2 cups whole wheat flour  
2-4 tbsp brewer's yeast
1 tsp baking soda  
1 tsp salt  
3 cups oats [NOTE: I used old-fashioned but quick-cooking would be fine too] 
1 cup chocolate chips, or whatever you feel like tossing in that day  

1.  Preheat oven to 350°.

2.  Mix the flax seed meal and water together in a small dish.  Set aside for 3-5 minutes.

Moistening the flax seed meal

3.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, applesauce, and both sugars.  Beat in eggs, mixing until well combined.

I like being able to sub in a little applesauce for fat ingredients

4.  Add flax seed and vanilla; beat well.

5.  In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, brewer's yeast, baking soda, and salt.  With the beaters running, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing just until combined.

Ooooohhhh cookie dough....

6.  Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

The cookies almost look healthy here!  Almost.

7.  Using a tablespoon or melon baller, scoop cookie dough onto greased baking sheets, about two inches apart.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Let cool 2 minutes on baking sheet before removing to wire racks.

Ready for baking

Couple things... the brewer's yeast is probably a new one for you.  It was for me!  It is also known as Nutritional Yeast.  I bring this up because you may have some difficulty finding it.  Check out the health food section of your grocery store, or hit up one of those organic stores like Whole Foods.  When you do find it, be aware that there are a lot of other uses for this yeast besides cookies and beer.  Brewer's yeast is an excellent source of B vitamins, among other things.  So feel free to stir a little of this into your smoothies or pancake batter.  You won't taste it but will reap the benefits of it being there.

Also, I'm not really a chocolate-chip-oatmeal-cookie kind of girl; I generally prefer the old-fashioned raisin.  However my friend made these for me with the chips and HOLY COW are they good!  Obviously from my pictures, I decided to try dried cranberries in this batch, just because I have so much....and I like cranberries.  Toss in whatever you have on hand though: chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toffee bits, chopped dried apricot or figs or apples.  It's an oatmeal cookie, also known as a BLANK CANVAS.  Play around with it!

Fig Bars

"A cookie is just a cookie, but Newton's are fruit and cake."

Does anyone else remember those commercials?  I thoroughly enjoy just about any kind of cookie but when it comes to Fig Newton's... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...  YUM!  First of all, I absolutely adore dried figs.  I love that sweet taste and even the crunchy texture from the seeds.  Surround that in soft, cake-like breading and I'm totally in my happy place.  It would not be completely outside the realm of possibility for me to consume at least half a package in one sitting.  Not proud of that fact, but hey.

So imagine my reaction when one of my favorite bloggers posted a recipe that just screamed glorified, HEALTHY Fig Newton to me?  WAHOO BABY!!!  This I've got to try.

Fig-Apricot Bars
Recipe from Dig This Chick

For the crust:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
3/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup ground flax seed
dash ground nutmeg and ground cloves [I was extra generous with my "dashes"]
1 stick butter, cold
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs

For the filling:
2 cups dried figs
1/2 cup dried apricots
2 cups juice (I used apple juice by any 100% juice would work great)
1 cup water
  
1.  Combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter until tiny pebbles. 

Of course I used my food processor for this step!

2.  Mix eggs, milk and honey with a fork in a separate bowl. Add wet to dry and mix into a dough. Get your hands in there and make into a ball. Cover and refrigerate for an hour. 

Sticky dough.  You've been warned.

3.  While dough is chilling, cook figs, apricots, juice and water over low heat until soft and thick, and most of the juice is absorbed. Purée in a food processor. 

Hello cooked down fruity goodness

4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. After an hour, pull dough out, divide in two and knead about 10 times to make pliable. Sprinkle flour on work surface and roll out half. 

First two layers down.  Just need the top crust

5.  Place on prepared baking sheet. Spread figgy mixture. Knead and roll out other half and place on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown. Let cool and cut up! 

I learned a few things from this experience of making fig bars.  

• I need to practice my rolling pin skills.  They're pretty rusty because I think the dough could be a tad thinner.  I rolled it to about the thickness I would a pie crust.  Rob thinks this thickness was perfect though.
• Though Fig Newtons first came to mind when I made them, the crust has this nutty flavor that's a bit closer to a Nutrigrain Bar.  So a Fig Newton/Nutrigrain bar?  I like that nutty flavor though, plus now I don't feel bad feeding these to Gavin for breakfast. 
• Next time I'm trying a juice with a sharper flavor (pomegranate? orange?), just to see what happens to the filling flavor.
• It doesn't look or feel like this made that much, however once you cut these into bars it makes quite a bit!  My bars are probably 2"x3"...something like that.
• If you ask your husband to take baked goods out of the oven for you, expect that there will be a corner of it missing.

It's really become important to have some kind of grab-and-go snack around.  Rob and I are usually in a hurry most mornings to get out the door, plus it's nice to have handy snack available.  I really like the granola bar recipes I've been making, however it's nice to add a new snack bar to the mix too. And of course it REALLY makes me feel good knowing I'm giving my little family something that's not just tasty, but super healthy for them too!

Soft Vegan Ginger Cookies

I know, I know...vegan, right?  I'm not a vegetarian.  I have no plans to be a vegetarian or vegan.  But I do like to play around with veggie recipes from time to time.  I am especially intrigued by vegan baked goods.  I mean, I know that you can use apple sauce in place of fat ingredients like butter, but what about eggs?  Can a cookie or cake really taste good without eggs?

Easiest way to mince crystallized ginger?  Scissors.

In a word?  Yes.

Your eyes do not deceive...that is a CUP of ginger

This is a really neat recipe.  It has a nutty, sweet flavor with a hint of that ginger zing in the background.  But it's not a delicate cookie either; it's got substance...dare I say hearty?  Despite the density of it, I'd absolutely say this is a girly cookie.  My son loves them, however I'd be a bit surprised if Rob asked me to whip up a batch of these just to have around. 



Soft Vegan Ginger Cookies 
Recipe from Joy the Baker

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup minced candied ginger
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1.  In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and minced candied ginger.  Set aside.

Wow that's a lot of ginger

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup sugar, ground flaxseed, applesauce, oil, and lemon zest and juice.  Add the wet ingredients, all at once, to the dry ingredients and carefully mix together with a wooden spoon.  Make sure all the flour bits are moistened and well incorporated.  Form dough into a disk shape and wrap well in plastic wrap.  Refrigerate for an hour, or overnight.

3.  Place a rack in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat 350 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

 

4.  Remove the dough from the fridge and use your hands to roll dough into walnut sized balls.  Rolls balls in 1/4 cup granulated sugar and place of baking sheet.  Use the palm of your hand to slightly flatten the dough ball.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until just slightly browned but still slightly soft in the center.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing.

These cookies don't spread out as they bake so they will pretty much stay as they look when you "flatten" them.  If you like a crispier cookie, flatten a bit more than I've done.  As for when to make them?  This isn't a recipe that I'd turn to if I just looked at the clock and realized "Oh crap! The boys will be home in 20 minutes and the cookie jar is empty!"  I'd reserve for a special occasion (think bridal or baby shower, a special afternoon tea, or maybe a ladies' brunch).  Because it calls for so much, the crystallized ginger takes a while to get all chopped up. The flavor  is unique enough that I'd certainly make these again though.  The best part?  Because of all that ginger, you can feel free to eat as many as you like without the risk of a stomachache! ;)

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Have you ever taken a piece of banana bread and smeared peanut butter all over it?  I did not discover what an amazingly wonderful treat this was until about a year ago.  I know, I know... Elvis thought of this brilliant concoction decades before I was born.  What can I say?  I'm a bit behind.  Forgive me?  Anyway, I really like the contrast of the sweet bananas with salty peanuts.  So imagine how giddy I was when I came across a recipe that combined both for me into one ready-to-eat loaf of deliciousness!

Yup, bananas get brown when you freeze them. Still taste the same though!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Recipe adapted from Joy the Baker, who got it from CookingLight


1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal [confession: I didn't have any so I just left it out.]
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup plain or vanilla fat free yogurt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar

1.  Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Set aside. 

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed meal, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and ground allspice. 

3.  In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas, yogurt, peanut butter and melted butter. Whisk in eggs and sugars. Blend mixture until no sugar lumps remain. 

4.  Pour the wet mixture into the larger bowl with the dry ingredients. Fold together with a spatula until no more flour bits remain. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. 

FYI, the batter smells really peanut buttery and really good

5.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before running a butter knife along the edges of the pan and inverting the bread onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

6.  This bread lasts, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 4 days. It is also great to store, well wrapped, in the freezer.  (Ooooo!!!!  I sense a "Get Ahead" opportunity here!)


Tip: Don't think you have to wait for bananas to turn black in order to make banana bread.  Thanks to my Fruit Monster son, we always have bananas in the house.  He likes to eat them perfectly ripe with little to no brown spots on them.  Any bananas that end up ripening past anyone's enjoyment, I smash up, put into quart-size freezer bags, and toss in the freezer.  I think have about 6 bags in there just waiting for me to get the urge to bake.