Bob's 10-Grain Muffins

There is a substantial amount of evidence that states that sitting down to a meal, focusing on the food, and experiencing every bite helps to promote digestion, gratitude, and a general state of well-being. Eating mindfully is important, and it is an activity that I thoroughly endorse. However, I don’t pretend that I mindfully consume every bite of every meal and every snack. Breakfast, especially, is a meal that I tend to multitask through, whether I’m getting a head start on a day of schoolwork, checking my email, or cleaning up my kitchen. Now I know this isn’t healthy on a number of levels, but sometimes, it’s downright essential. I also know that this sort of eating is essential for most people most of the time; why else the proliferation of drive-thrus and meals-in-a-bar?

One of my favorite quick, multitasking-compatible breakfast meals are muffins. They require only one hand and no utensils to eat and are highly portable. They also are highly delicious, and at times, highly unhealthy. I was pleased to find this recipe from Bob’s Red Mill for 10-Grain Muffins. The 10-Grain cereal contains hard red wheat, rye, triticale, oat bran, oats, corn, barley, soy beans, brown rice, millet, and flaxseed: a grand mixture of nutrition and hearty taste. The cereal contributes to a substantial baked good, and the butter is important because it adds to the flavor and texture of the muffins. Substitutions would be fine, but I wouldn’t recommend it for this particular recipe.

I enjoyed two for breakfast, and was satisfied for hours. My friend ate the rest of the batch (8 muffins) over the course of two days, so I’m confident in saying that these muffins are real keepers.

10-Grain Muffins

Yield: 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients:
1 large egg
½ cup evaporated cane juice
1/3 cup butter
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup 10-Grain cereal (uncooked)
1 ¼ cup low-fat buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Mix 10 Grain Cereal and buttermilk and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

3. In another bowl, cream together the evaporated cane juice, butter, and egg together.

4. Add dry ingredients and buttermilk mixture. Stir only until mixed.

5. Spoon into greased muffin pan. Bake for 14-15 minutes, until tops are springy.

Mayan Xocoatl (Chocolate) Cookies

Chocolate was on the brain recently (which is not such an uncommon experience), as I spent a moment to appreciate the creamy and sweet chocolate bar I had enjoyed that day. And though chocolate is a modern-day mainstay, ranging from the everyday Hershey bar to the gourmet delicacy, chocolate reaches far back to the ancient Mayan culture. The Mayans were the first chocolate aficionados, and cacao was an integral part of their society and religion. They consumed chocolate in very different way than we do now; while the common chocolate bar contains milk and sugar, Mayans made a hot-chocolate-like drink called “chocolatl,” made of roasted cocoa beans, water and spice. And cacao was larger than just a consumable: the beans were also used as currency. That seems like a brilliant prospect to me. I certainly wouldn’t mind a salary comprised of chocolate (though I would prefer the sugary, milky kind); I know it would go to good use.

I have seen many variations of Mayan-inspired chocolate in the form of bars, candies, and hot cocoa mixes, and the two main components of this kind of chocolate (the Mayan word being “xocoatl”) are a hot spice, like the cayenne in the recipe below, and a darker cacao content. So I used a base chocolate cookie recipe and made a few adjustments to create something a bit closer to chocolatl: the instant espresso coffee powder add a bitterness that the unsweetened cocoa powder supports, and the cinnamon and cayenne lend a strong spiciness that would not work as well with a sweeter chocolate cookie foundation.

Moonstruck Chocolates, based out of Oregon, do a fantastic dark chocolate chili bar, with even more of a kick than these cayenne-infused xocoatl cookies.

Xocoatl Cookies

Yield: 3 dozen

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. instant espresso coffee powder

¼ tsp. finely ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup date sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp. vanilla

½ cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, espresso powder, black and cayenne peppers and the cocoa powder. Using an electric mixture, beat the butter with 3/4 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla; mix well. Add the sifted dry ingredients and blend well. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar in a small bowl. Roll a piece of dough about the size of a small walnut between the palms of your hands. Using your index finger, press an indentation in the center of the cookie. Place a few chocolate chips in the indentation. Mold the dough around the chips to enclose them completely, pressing to seal. Roll the dough into a ball and then roll in sugar and place on baking sheet.

3. Continuing forming rest of the dough. Bake 8 minutes.

Oat Brownies

Oats and oat flour are two of my favorite baking ingredients, thanks to their taste and their nutritional qualities, so I try to get creative in how I can incorporate one or the other into my baking. I'll put quick-cooking oats in my chocolate chip cookies, rolled oats in my quick breads, and varying amounts of oat flour in just about anything.

Oats are high in fiber, and thusly they are said to lower cholesterol levels while reducing the risk of heart disease. Oats come in many forms, and there are many ways to use them in the kitchen. There are oat groats, which are un-flattened oat kernels; steel-cut oats, dense and chewy; old-fashioned oats, which are steamed and rolled; quick-cooking oats which are cut more finely than old-fashioned; oat bran, the outer layer of the grain under the oat hull; and oat flour. I love them all, but I'm especially partial to the old-fashioned oats: traditional and the perfect breakfast grain.

Another favorite of mine is, of course, chocolate. So, when I came across a brownie with an oat bottom, I wanted to re-create them in my own kitchen. These brownies turned out to be a dream: I was able to convince myself that since they have oats in them, I can most definitely eat one for breakfast, and while there may have been better choices available, I don't regret the chocolate-y treat I started my day with. They turned out a bit salty, given the salt in both the base and the brownie portions, but that is not necessarily a negative. The brownies were fudgey, and matched with a chewy oat base, they were a delicious and slightly addictive dessert that I will try to eat after the lunch hour, the next time I make them.

Oat Brownies

Ingredients:

Base-

1/3 cup oat flour ¼ tsp. baking soda ¼ tsp. salt ½ cup brown sugar 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats 1/3 cup butter, melted

Brownies-

2/3 cup all purpose flour ¼ tsp. baking soda ¼ tsp. salt 1-oz unsweetened chocolate ¼ cup butter 2/3 cup sugar 1 large egg 2 Tbsp. milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract ½ cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, brown sugar and oatmeal. Pour in melted butter and stir to combine. Pour into ungreased 8-inch square baking pan. Bake for 12 minutes.

2. For the brownie batter, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

3. In another small bowl, melt unsweetened chocolate and butter together. Set aside to cool.

4. Whisk together sugar and egg until light colored. When butter mixture is no longer hot, stir it into the egg mixture. Stir in the flour mixture, milk and vanilla extract, followed by the mini chocolate chips.

5. When oat base comes out of the oven, pour brownie batter on top and spread.

6. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before slicing.

No-Bake Chocolate Oat Cookies

Happy New Year!

There are times when I would love a homemade cookie, but I don't have a good window of time in my day to actually do any baking. And after the holiday baking-and-cooking extravaganza that I've enjoyed over the past few weeks, I'm not in the mood to try anything too different or heavy duty just yet. It would be easy and delicious for me to go to a bakery and enjoy one of their chocolate chip or peanut butter cookies (and believe me, I do), but I try not to make this a daily practice. This is a very simple recipe with a list of ingredients that are most likely already in the kitchen, and it takes only minutes to put it together. And while I wait for the entire batch to harden in the refrigerator, the warm mush of peanut butter, oats, and chocolate is just as good to eat out of the saucepan. The final cookie is a delightful meshing of each of the flavors, most strongly peanut butter and chocolate, so it's a little like a cookie version of a peanut butter cup, with an added crunchy texture, thanks to the oats.

No-Bake Chocolate Cookies

Yield: About 1 dozen

Ingredients:
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup low-fat milk
¾ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¼ cup creamy peanut butter
1 ½ cup quick oats

Directions:
1. Line cookie sheets with wax paper.
2. Combine the applesauce, milk, brown sugar, and cocoa powder in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1 minute.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and peanut butter with a wooden spoon. Stir in the oats and continue stirring until the mixture is blended.
4. Drop the dough onto the cookie sheets by heaping tablespoons. Refrigerate until the cookies are hardened.