Six Week Muffins

Ok so I really thought that everyone grew up with these muffins.  But maybe I'm crazy because everyone I've mentioned these to has given me That Crazy Look and asked "um, what are six week muffins?"

They're wonderful, handy to have around, and DANG TASTY is what they are!

Six Week Muffins
Recipe slightly adapted from my mom
Prep time: 15 minutes   Cook time: 20 minutes

1 (15.5oz) box Raisin Bran cereal
5 cups flour
1/2 box raisins
2 cups sugar
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
1 quart buttermilk
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1.  In the largest bowl you have (or use a big stock pot, that works too), mix the Raisin Bran, flour raisins, sugar, salt, and baking soda.

There's a LOT in the bowl; mix carefully.

2.  In a separate bowl combine the buttermilk, eggs, oil, and applesauce.

Basic wet ingredients

3.  Carefully pour the buttermilk mixture into the cereal mixture and mix well.

REALLY mix carefully; the bowl is almost overflowing!

4.  ENJOY NOW: Preheat oven to 400.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin and fill with the batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Just snip the corner and pipe the batter into the muffin tin.

5.  ENJOY LATER: If your family goes through muffins like crazy, keep the batter in a container in the fridge for up to six weeks.  Scoop out enough batter to bake as many, or as few as you'd like to eat.  OR if your family goes in spurts with eating muffins, store the batter in the freezer.  I like to put mine into 1-quart bags, which holds about 12 muffins worth of batter.

A hot, fresh muffin with butter is HEAVEN

If you haven't figured it out from the directions above, the "Six Weeks" part of the name is how long the batter will last in your fridge.  And if it can last six weeks in the fridge, imagine how long it'll keep in your freezer!  I don't know exactly because honestly I end up baking these up fairly quickly.

These are soooo handy to have around!  If you're constantly on the go, what's easier than grabbing some muffins as you dash out the door?  If you, or your loved ones, crave hot meals in the morning, what's easier than scooping out some batter and baking it while you hop through the shower?  And if time is never on your side, what could be easier than whipping up a giant bowl of muffin batter and portioning it out as needed?  Instead of always mixing up a 12-muffin mix, this has you set up for quite a while!

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

Those damn mini fruit pizzas are finally out of my house.  AND we're down to only two cupcakes left from Kieran's party.  WOO HOO!!! So what do I go and do today while my boys watch a cartoon?  I bake cookies.  Because I need more sweets in this house?!?!  Oy...

Anyway, speaking of cookies, I realize that I forgot to tell you about the pancakes I made last week.  Cookies as pancakes.  That means we can have cookies for breakfast.  Or dinner. Or lunch.  Or anytime we want!

Gloriousness :)

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes
Recipe slightly adapted from Rachael Ray

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup, chopped walnuts
3/4 cup plain yogurt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 really ripe bananas, mashed up
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 stick butter melted

1.  Mix dry ingredients, the first 7, in a bowl.

The cinnamon totally makes these.

2.  In a another bowl, mix the wet ingredients, the next 4. Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry until just combined, then fold in the mashed up bananas and the raisins. Stir in the melted butter.

Another great way to use up ripe bananas!

3.  Heat a non-stick griddle over medium heat. Cook pancakes, each about 1/4 cup, until bubbles form on the top, then turn. (WARNING: these do not set up firmly as they cook, which makes flipping a trick.  Use a thin flipper/turner/spatula/whateveryoucallthosethings and slide it under the cake quickly.)  Cakes will cook in about 2 minutes on each side. Keep pancakes tented with foil as they come off the griddle to keep them hot. Serve with drizzled honey or maple syrup over the top.

See? Even I had some issues in flipping a couple of these.

Now, some of you out there may be wondering why, out of all the fantastic cookies out there, I chose to keep this recipe as oatmeal cookie pancakes instead of making it chocolate chip. Or peanut butter. Or snickerdoodle.  Why the oft-maligned oatmeal cookie?  Well, because they're my favorite.

No really!  It's true!!  Much as I love chocolate, I actually can fairly easily resist most other cookies.  When offered a soft oatmeal raisin cookie (because it HAS to have raisins in it), I pretty much turn into this puddle of goo.  I cannot resist a good oatmeal raisin cookie.

Bonus with these though... despite having the flavor of an oatmeal raisin cookie, these are quite good for you.  The oats, yogurt, raisins, and bananas all help me to feel much better about drowning my stack of pancakes in butter and syrup. ;)  Oh and they're also REALLY YUMMY with a healthy schmear of peanut butter and folded over, just in case you need to eat on the run. 

Rice with Almonds & Raisins

Do you know what goes really well with Key West Chicken?  This.

Rice with Almonds & Raisins
Recipe from AllRecipes

1 tbsp butter
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup uncooked white rice
2 tbsp raisins
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup coarsely chopped almonds, toasted 

1.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Saute onion, stirring, until tender. Stir in the rice and raisins, letting the rice toast a few minutes.  Add the broth and season to taste. Bring to a boil. 

Rice. Broth. Raisins.  Let's party!

2.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, or until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed. Stir in almonds before serving. 

Letting the rice toast a little adds more depth of flavor

Honestly, I could eat this for breakfast.  Yup, seriously, it's that good.  The raisins add a FABULOUS sweetness to the dish.  The onions and broth lend just a smidge of savory to the background.  And the toasted almonds give it this really fantastic crunch.  Because I love texture, as well as flavor contrast, this is totally a party in my mouth.  Yummy!!

Granola Bars

Playgroup Granola Bar

I received an interesting request based off my granola post last week.  Loose granola is great, but do I have any granola bars recipes?  Hmmm, to be honest I'd never really thought about making my own granola bars and I'm really not sure why.  I love granola bars!  They have all the goodness I love about granola but in this handy little To-Go package.  I realize that I don't very often buy granola bars because of the price, plus I don't love all the sugar that's typically in most of the bars I can afford.  What's a girl to do?

Time to research some recipes!!

I found two that looked intriguing so over the weekend I made them both, hoping to whittle it down to one that I could share with y'all.  Um...ran into a little "snag" though....we ended up liking both recipes!  The first I found on AllRecipes.com and is SUPER easy to put together and PERFECT for any little budding Food Network Stars you have running around your house.

Playgroup Granola Bars are wonderful if you need some snacks on-hand but are short on time.  There's no chopping involved; just toss everything into the bowl and mix up with your hands.  How easy is that??  And because it bakes in a 9x13 pan, you'll have quite a few bars to stack up in your pantry.  I also really like this recipe for it's flexibility.  I feel like I can play around with adding other ingredients (nuts, chocolate chips...) or making swaps (craisins for raisins?) without significantly affecting the finished bar.  One change I will definitely play with is cutting back on the sweetness.  These bars are great but almost taste like an oatmeal raisin cookie to me.  So I may dabble with cutting back the amount of brown sugar in my own variations.  Definitely try this one out though and see what you think of it!

The other bar I tried is absolutely one I'll make again, and possibly double the recipe!  It's a Walnut-Cherry bar and sooooo yummy!!  I could be biased though because walnuts are my favorite nut and who doesn't love cherries?  There is some chopping and toasting involved with this one so it's a smidge less kid-friendly than the previous recipe.  It also doesn't make as many bars so if quantity is your goal I recommend doubling this.  On the bright side, this one has way less sugar but does not sacrifice on that yummy sweet taste, thanks to the cherries.

Walnut-Cherry Bars
Recipe adapted from So Easy


1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1 large egg white
3/4 cup chopped dried tart cherries
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 350.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, wheat germ, cinnamon, and salt.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the honey, applesauce, oil, egg, and egg white until well combined.  Stir in the oat mixture until well combined.  Add the dried cherries and walnuts.

3. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.  Spread the mixture in the prepared pan and back until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-35 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars (recommended: 12 bars).

 

Walnut & Dried Cherry Bar

I always know I did something good in the kitchen if 1) my son INHALES the result, and 2) my husband asks me to make it again (actually, he usually says something like "you can make these again").  So guess what I'll be stocking in my pantry from now on. ;)