I'll take my oatmeal to go, please...

Oatmeal Apple Muffins

2 cups uncooked oatmeal

1 cups white self-rising flour

½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup low fat buttermilk

1 large egg

1 medium apple, peeled & chopped

2 tsp cinnamon sugar

Combine dry ingredients together except for cinnamon sugar.

Beat egg with milk & oil.

Mix wet & dry ingredients, stir in peeled & diced apple.

Spoon into cupcake tin sprayed with butter flavored cooking spray.

Sprinkle tops with cinnamon sugar.

Bake at 425° about 15 minutes.

Get your kicks

The boss turns, you guessed it, 66 tomorrow. So he gets a chocolate cake with magic crusting buttercream frosting and fondant numbers.

Mm.. Tortillas brushed with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, cut into wedges and ready to be made into tortilla chips to eat with fresh fruit salsa. Bake them at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned. (If you're pressed for time or trying to save calories, spray the tortillas with butter-flavored cooking spray before sprinkling instead of brushing with butter.)

raspberry banana bread muffins

I had some bananas turning black on the counter, and raspberries drying up in the fridge and voila!



INGREDIENTS: (adapted from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Raspberry-Banana-Bread/Detail.aspx )
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or ¼ cup oil and ¼ cup apple sauce)
1/3 cup water
1 cup fresh or frozen unsweetened raspberries

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, combine the eggs, bananas, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and water. Stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in raspberries.
Pour into cupcake pans or bread pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.
I made 18 muffins, but it’d probably work better with smaller muffins. If you use sweetened apple sauce reduce the sugar.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

Featuring the Holy Trinity.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/car-bomb-cupcakes/

Chocolate Cherry Granola Bars

I saw this mix of cherries, cranberries, and blueberries at SAMS and decided to make these granola bars.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/09/granola-bars/
Granola Bars
Makes 12 to 16 granola bars
2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup sliced almonds (E: I left these out because Betsy is allergic)
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed (I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ (E: substituted oatmeal pulsed in food processor)
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cup dried fruit, or a mix of dried fruit (E: I used ½ cup each apricots,mixed cherries, blueberries, and cranberries, and mini chocolate chips)
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12-inch baking dish (lacking this, I used a 9×13-inch) and line it with parchment paper.
Toss the oatmeal, almonds, and coconut together on a sheet pan and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and stir in the wheat germ. Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F.
While the mixture is still warm, stir in the honey, vanilla and salt until the mixture is well coated, then the dried fruit. Pour the mixture into your prepared baking dish and press, press, press it in (wet fingers and/or a silicon spatula work great for this) until the mixture is packed as tightly as possible.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares — your best serrated knife is great for this.

To continue the raspberry theme..

Raspberry Bavarian Cream

4 cups fresh or frozen (not in syrup) raspberries (or strawberries)

1 cup sugar

1 tbsp. (not just 1 packet, be sure to measure it) unflavored gelatin

3 tbsp. cold water

3 tbsp. boiling water

1 tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Thaw and drain the berries, if using frozen. Combine the berries and sugar in a bowl and mash the berries. Let stand 30 minutes. Soak the gelatin in the cold water for 10 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir to dissolve. Add the gelatin and lemon juice to the berry mixture. Whip the cream to soft peaks and gently fold into the berry mixture. Pour into a mold and chill at least 6 hours before unmolding. Alternately, the mixture can be placed in cooked pie shells and chilled. Serves 8 to 10.

White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Crust
1 1/2 cups nilla wafer crumbs
5 T butter, melted

Filling
1/2 cup seedless raspberry preserves
1/4 cup water
4 8-ounce pkgs. cream cheese
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 eggs
4 ounces white chocolate, chopped into chunks

Topping
1/2 cup seedless raspberry preserves
fresh raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place a large pan filled with about 1/2-inch of water into the oven while it preheats. This will be your water bath.

2. Combine the raspberry preserves with 1/4 cup water in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 1/2 minutes on high in your microwave. Stir until smooth, then put the bowl in the refrigerator until later.

3. Measure 1 1/2 cups cookie crumbs into a medium bowl. Mix in melted butter. Press the crumb mixture into a 9-inch spring form pan that has been lined on the bottom and side with parchment paper. Use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the crumb mixture flat into the bottom of the pan and about 2/3 the way up the side. Wrap a large piece of foil around the bottom of the pan to keep the cheesecake in the water bath. Put the crust in your freezer until the filling is done.

4. Use an electric mixer to combine the cream cheese with the sugar, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix for a couple minutes or until the ingredients are smooth and creamy. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs one at a time. Blend the mixture just enough to integrate the eggs.

5. Remove the crust from the freezer and sprinkle 4 ounces of white chocolate chunks onto the bottom of the crust. Pour half of the cream cheese filling into the crust. Drizzle the raspberry preserves over the entire surface of the filling. Use a butter knife to swirl the raspberry into the cream cheese. Just a couple passes is fine, you don't want to blend the raspberry and cream cheese together too much. Pour the other half of the filling into the crust.

6. Carefully place the cheesecake into the water bath in the oven. Bake for 10 minutes at 475 degrees, then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the top of the cheesecake turns a light brown or tan color. Remove the cheesecake from the oven to cool. After cooled, place cheesecake in the refrigerator at least overnight.

7. After cheesecake has cooled in the refrigerator, microwave another 1/2 cup raspberry preserves and spread evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Arrange fresh raspberries on top of the preserves.

Makes 12 servings.

One Last Hot Tomato Post for Summer

One more mention of salad with pasta and tomato before the summer is officially over. This one has a spicy dressing that works with stir fry and about anything else needing to be sauced or dressed.

Spicy Thai Peanut Dressing

Combine in jar, shake it up:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2 tablespoons crunchy peanut butter

2 tablespoons soy sauce

4 medium garlic cloves, pressed

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Tiramisu Cake

I like this even better than Tiramisu. To decorate it, I cut a snowflake out of wax paper and sifted cocoa over it. http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/11/tiramisu-cake/