Home made granola bars

My sister Jen came over the other day with her kids and father-in-law after we visited the pumpkin patch. She also brought cinnamon buns (which we promptly consumed by Nica) and homemade granola. Now normally I detest granola. I find it way too chewy and dry and... healthy (Lord forbid). But I took one bite of hers and I couldn't stop! I asked for piece after piece until it was all gone (sorry kids).

Surprisingly, Ariana who normally eats everything didn't like it even though it had raisins and it was sweet. Must have been the texture.

Here is the recipe that I can't wait to try out:

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/gluten_free_chewy_honey_nut_snack_bars.php

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60 mL) almond butter or natural peanut butter
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) liquid honey
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) packed brown sugar
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon
• 2/3 cup (150 mL) gluten-free large-flake rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dates
• 1/3 cup (75 mL) hulled unsalted sunflower seeds
• 1 egg white

Preparation

In saucepan, bring almond butter, honey, brown sugar, oil, salt and cinnamon to boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in bowl, combine rolled oats, pecans, dates and sunflower seeds; set aside.

Whisk egg white into honey mixture; fold in oat mixture until evenly coated. Press firmly into parchment paper–lined or greased foil-lined 8-inch (2 L) square cake pan.

Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack for 30 minutes. Refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour. Cut into bars.

Strawberry whole wheat muffins

Sandy. Again. Love her recipes! She gave me this one for strawberry whole wheat muffins and I've made them a few times now. A hit every single time. I've also substituted mangoes and blueberries instead of strawberries and still a hit. Thanks Sandy!

Here's the website she gave to me: http://www.alidaskitchen.com/2011/06/strawberry-yogurt-muffins.html

Strawberry Yogurt Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1/4 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups strawberries, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line or grease 12 muffin cups. 
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside. 
3. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, oil and vanilla until blended.  Add to flour mixture and gently mix until combined (Be careful not to over mix).  Gently fold in strawberries.
4. Divide batter evenly between muffin cups.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let muffins cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Transfer muffins to wire rack and let cool completely.

Mac N' Cheese

My friend Janine is a vegetarian and the other day came into work complimenting a recipe she had tried the night before. It's Rachael Ray's mac n' cheese with roasted parsnips and cauliflower. She said it was easy to make and soooo delicious.

Having a toddler, mac n' cheese was a surefire win, right? (then again, my kid eats anything so that's not much to go by). Without reading the recipe, I bought a parsnip before I headed home.

It took me a few days before I finally had a night to try the recipe and by this time Mommy-brain had kicked in and I was convinced it was a risotto recipe. *sigh*. Anyway, I googled the recipe and tried it out. Turns out I should have bought TWO large parsnips (not one) but it did still turn out quite well. I had also run out of my regular extra virgin olive oil so I used less than what was called for (I only had super good extra virgin olive oil that I use for salads).  Also, instead of roasting the garlic with the oil (to make garlic oil), I just wrapped it in foil and tossed it in the oven along with the cauliflower.

The end result? 8 out of 10. I saw Nica sneak at least three bowls and Ariana finished off her plate too. Would be great for a children's party!

Here's the website link: http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4566

And here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 4 cloves garlic, halved
• About 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 2 large parsnips, peeled and chopped
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Fontina cheese or Gruyère cheese
• 1 pound regular or whole wheat ziti or Italian-style, straight-cut macaroni

Serves 4-6

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.

In a small pot, combine the garlic and EVOO; heat over a low flame and gently cook until the garlic is light golden in color and very fragrant, about 10-15 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves and reserve.

Pile the cauliflower on a baking sheet and dress with the lemon juice, about 3-4 tablespoons of the garlic-infused oil and the thyme, salt and pepper. Toss to combine and spread the florets out in a single layer. Roast to brown at the edges and until tender, 20-25 minutes. Cover with the Parmigiano Reggiano and roast for 5 minutes more. Turn the oven off.

Meanwhile, boil the parsnips in salted water to tender, 10-15 minutes. Puree in a food processor with the garlic cloves.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta.

In a saucepot, combine the remaining garlic oil and butter over medium heat. When the butter foams, whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute; add the stock and milk and thicken. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg; combine the sauce with the parsnip puree and melt in the cheese.

Cook the pasta to al dente. Drain the pasta and toss with the sauce. Arrange in a serving dish topped with crispy cauliflower florets on top.

This is one of many "Yum-o!" recipes – it's good and good for you. To find out more about Yum-o!, Rachael's nonprofit organization, visit
www.yum-o.org.

Cinnamon Rolls

lo and behold, Sandy has given me yet another recipe that is another go-to. She recently purchased a bread machine and tells me that it's on practically every single day in her house. One of the most requested items? Homemade cinnamon rolls!

before the rise

Now I'm sure if you were as daft as me, you're sitting there scratching your head wondering how a rectangular contraption like a bread machine, can produce cinnamon rolls. As in, how you toss in all the ingredients, walk away and POOF, voila, out come a dozen perfectly formed cinnamon rolls in a couple hours. Yeah, not one of my finer moments. Apparently you only do the dough until after the first rise (the dough needs to rise twice). After it rises the first time, you have to take it out, roll it, sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar, roll and then wait for it to rise again.

Well, I haven't convinced myself to buy a bread machine yet so I had to use my parents. Now, my parents own EVERYTHING under the sun. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that what they own is new, or even usable. So when I attempted to make this for the first time at their house, I made a few key errors:
1. The order in which you add ingredients to a bread maker is CRITICAL. I did not realize this and apparently dumped everything in the wrong order.
2. Everything needs to be room temperature. I was trying to rush it and added the eggs in cold.
3. The yeast was kinda expired. Ok, it was expired but only by a month so I figured it would be ok.
4. They only had whole wheat bread flour.
5. My mom wasn't 100% sure if the bread maker worked.
6. It doesn't help if you fall asleep and then forget about the contents of the bread maker for a day. Ok, ok, I admit I didn't' *forget* about it, but when I took a peek inside and realized it was nothing like how it was suppose to look, I couldn't face it and escaped to work instead.

It was probably a combination of all the errors above that resulted in my failed first attempt. So gathering my wits about me (and after a few emails to Sandy), I summed up the courage to try this again at home. Without a breadmaker!

after the second rise, before the oven

And you know what? It worked! I took them to work and got thumbs up all around. I personally thought they were above average but not GREAT.

Then I made it again at my parents house. Then again at home, then again at my parents house, then again for a girls night. In a week. Yup, Nica overdosed on cinnamon rolls the last couple of weeks and now he's in recovery mode. lol.

After the oven

If I get it right, I'd give this a solid 9.5 out of 10. I did a couple of batches with whole wheat bread and it wasn't too bad. I have to research how to substitute whole wheat bread flour for regular because it seems like whenever I use it, it's always more moist and sticky before the rise. Also, for one of the batches I made (for girls night), I took some cream cheese out of the freezer and let it come to room temp naturally. Unfortunately, after whipping it in the kitchenaid for practically ten minutes, it still had lumps. When Ali put it in the toaster oven for a couple minutes, the lumps melted but still - lumps in cream cheese icing? Yuck. Next time I'll remember to nuke it right off the bat to melt.

All in all, it's actually a pretty straightforward recipe, it just takes a LONG time because of all the waiting you have to do because of the double rise.

So let me finally get to it. Here is the link on the allrecipes website:
 http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cinnamon-rolls-iii/detail.aspx

and as usual, here is the recipe for laziness sake:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup warm water 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/2 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix 1 cup warm milk 1 egg, room temperature 1 tablespoon white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 cups bread flour 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup brown sugar 4 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3/4 cup chopped pecans 1/2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup butter, softened 1 cup confectioners' sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 teaspoons milk

Directions:

1.	In the pan of your bread machine, combine water, melted butter, vanilla pudding, warm milk, egg, 1 tablespoon sugar, salt, bread flour and yeast. Set machine to Dough cycle; press Start.
2.	When Dough cycle has finished, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into a 17x10 inch rectangle. Spread with softened butter. In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar mixture over dough.
3.	Roll up dough, beginning with long side. Slice into 16 one inch slices and place in 9x13 buttered pan. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes. While rolls bake, stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners' sugar, vanilla and milk. Remove rolls from oven and top with frosting.

This one reviewers comments was the most helpful for those who don't own a bread machine:

Reviewed: Sep. 25, 2006

Absolutely wonderful!!! I used the traditional method, without the bread maker. I dissolved the tbs. sugar (I used brown) in the water, along with the butter. If you use cold butter, just boil the water, and pour it over the butter while stirring. By that time the temp is quickly brought to the ideal temp for adding the yeast. Cover with plastic wrap, and fix the pudding while the yeast foams. I add the egg, pudding mix and milk together and stir. Then, I measure out the flour, adding 4 tsp of vital wheat gluten to all purpose flour, (I had no bread flour). By that time, the yeast is ready for mixing. I add the pudding mixture, mixing well, followed by the flour. I knead the dough until it forms a ball-all done in same bowl. After I remove the ball, I pour a bit of oil in, and replace the dough and roll it in the oil. The rest is pretty self-explanitory. After rising for about 1 hr. I roll out, spread filling, cut, and rise again. I cook for my boyfriend and the mechanics at his shop and they wont stop raving about them! My boyfriend says that it's the only time the ENTIRE SHOP just sits in silence, awing over how good they are!! A++++ recipe! Thanks Miss Alix!

815 users found this review helpful

Update Feb 2013:

The sad, never-rising defrosted bun.

I wanted to give these to a friend who likes hot cinnamon buns but how to get this to him right out of my oven?!. I thought I'd give him frozen ones instead that he could bake at home so he'd have warm cinnamon buns. I froze the dough after I had rolled it out with the cinnamon and sugar and before the second proofing. I had it in the fridge for a few days but when I took them out to try and bring them to room temp and have them rise again... it never happened. The rolls looked so pitiful I didn't even bother trying to bake them in the oven. I don't know when in the process you're suppose to freeze this, but I have decided I will never freeze baked goods ever again. Fresh is best! Frozen is gross.

Peppermint Marshmallows

Sandy has done it again. She wow'ed me with her mad baking skills by bringing over peppermint marshmallows. HOMEMADE! Yeah, who knew you could make your own marshmallows? To me, they were always those dry sticky things you bought in a bag from Safeway before you went camping.

But these things - ohmigod (I'm rolling my eyes to the back of my head right now as I wipe drool off the side of my mouth) they're so good you can eat them just as they are. Also, since they're homemade, you can eat them FRESH. I've never had fresh marshmallows before and now I will never have them any other way. They were fluffy and soft with just a hint of peppermint. YUMMY.

Nica ate a few. Ariana ate a couple. I ate quite a few. I took them to a party and they disappeared. I can't wait to make these! If I can successfully make this, then I will never ever buy marshmallows again. Also, people may be receiving this from me as a future xmas gift. :)

Here's a link to the blog it's originally posted on. The author has some GREAT photos and lots of other crafty ideas and recipes too.

But for laziness sake, here's the recipe:

Peppermint Marshmallows:

1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/3 c. cornstarch
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 1/3 c. sugar
2/3 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. crushed peppermint candy canes (about 6)
1/8 tsp. salt

*Tip: to crush your candy canes, break them up in large pieces, then seal them in a Zip Loc bag. Put your bag on a sturdy cutting board and use a hammer to smash them into a powder. The finer the powder, the better.

1. Into a small bowl, sift together powdered sugar and cornstarch. Line a 9x13" pan with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Sift 2 Tbsp. of the powdered sugar mixture into pan and tilt to coat all sides. Leave excess in pan.

3. Place 2/3 c. water in a large bowl and sprinkle with gelatin. Let soften 5 minutes.

4. In medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, heat sugar, corn syrup, candy cane, and salt over medium heat until completely dissolved (about 7 minutes).

5. Pour into bowl with gelatin mixture and beat on high speed with electric mixer until light and fluffy (10-15 minutes). 

6. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Smooth top and dush with powdered sugar mixture. Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours.

7. Lift from pan with foil. With a small, wet cookie cutter, cut shapes and dip sides in sugar mixture. Cut up remaining marshmallows into small, irregular pieces (these are the ones I let my kids and husband eat!). Or, using a wet knife, cut into 6 large squares and dip sides into powdered sugar mixture. Then cut each of those squares into 9 pieces and dip in sugar mixture.

8. Store at room temp, loosely covered.

Hope she doesn't mind, but Sandy said she modified this recipe by:
"I make double the recipe bc one is not enough-trust me on this.  Plus, two batches fill up a 9x13 Pyrex pan nicely

If u make two batches, double everything except the cornstarch & icing sugar.

I only use 1 cup sugar per batch.

Green & red candy canes are ok.  I just add a drop of red food colouring."


I have no idea how she figures out how to modify recipes, but she has not failed me yet. So I am going to follow her modifications to the T!

Update July 2012:
How sad am I... it took me almost half a year before I found the time to make these. It's SUMMER! Anyway, first attempt went all sorts of horrible. I think I might have made myself sick. I stored them in an "airtight" container but they were so moist that the corn starch/icing sugar kept absorbing so they were constantly sticky balls of mess. Something about eating corn starch directly irks me. Maybe it's a mental thing.

Anyway, the second time I tried it, they turned out not bad. No one really wanted to eat them though because it would be perfect in a hot cup of cocoa, not something normally craved for in the height of summer. lol. Oh well. If I procrastinate just 6 more months it'll be perfect.

Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

Well Sandy has done it to me again. She has introduced me to a new food that I can't get enough of! We went for coffee the other day at Starbucks and she convinced me (didn't take very much, mind you) to buy a Cranberry Bliss bar.

OMG, it was DIVINE. I meant to share it but ended up eating the whole thing.

I found this website that has the "secret recipes" to everything. Here is the one for Starbucks' cranberry bliss bar:

Cake
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 tablespoons minced crystallized ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries
4 ounces white chocolate, cut into chunks

Frosting
4-ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup chopped sweetened dried cranberries

Drizzled Icing
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
2 teaspoons vegetable shortening



1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Make cake by beating the butter and brown sugar together with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the eggs, ginger, vanilla, and salt and beat well. Gradually mix in the flour and baking powder until smooth. Mix the chopped dried cranberries and white chocolate chunks into the batter by hand. Pour the batter into a buttered 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Use a spatula to spread the batter evenly across the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top. Allow the cake to cool.

3. Make the frosting by combining the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. When the cake has cooled, use a spatula to spread the frosting over the top of the cake.

4. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of chopped dried cranberries over the frosting on the cake.

5. Make the drizzled icing by whisking together powdered sugar, milk, and shortening. Drizzle this icing over the cranberries in a sweeping motion with a squirt bottle or fill a small plastic storage bag with the icing and cut off the tip of one corner.

6. Cover the cake and let it chill out in the fridge for a couple hours, then slice the cake lengthwise (the long way) through the middle. Slice the cake across the width three times, making a total of eight rectangular slices. Slice each of those rectangles diagonally creating 16 triangular slices.

Makes 16 bars.

I have no idea where to buy crystallized ginger. I know Trader Joes sells it but the last couple of times I've gone down, they've been out of stock. One of the staff told me there was an issue with their packaging. d'oh!! I can't WAIT to try this recipe out.

Update December 20, 2011: 
I made this after finding crystallized ginger at my local Save-On-Foods. It wasn't bad but it was so SWEET! It seriously hurt my tooth when I ate it. Nica kept sneaking into the fridge to eat it. I meant to take some into work but by the time I went to plate it, it was half gone. *sigh* I did let a couple girls at work try some since I took one piece in as an after-lunch snack and they said it was really good. Not sure if they were just saying that though.

Things to remember for the next time I make this: 
* I cut a hole much too large when I was covering it with the drizzled icing. I think I could have skipped that part of the bar entirely and it would have been fine. 
* The entire bar was WAY too sweet. Next time, I will definitely cut back on the sugar. 
* Don't put crystallized ginger in the mini food processor. The ginger gets caught in the blades and just makes it a gooey mess. I'm guessing it would be ditto for the cranberries although I smartened up and chopped them with a french knife after the ginger fiasco.
* line the baking pan with parchment paper to prevent it from sticking to the sides.

Interestingly, it seemed to taste a lot better after a few days in the fridge and then eaten at room temp.

Macaron Adventure

I met another Mom in the Oakridge Baby Time class and she looked so familiar. It turned out she was the sister of an old elementary school friend who I actually remembered (I think Mommy brain only effects my short term memory).
She organizes this event called Baker's market - http://www.bakersmarket.com/ and I can't wait to attend this event with my baking friends. She also has another side hobby which is baking macarons. She even went to PARIS to learn how to bake these! Here's a link to her website: http://www.jadorelesmacarons.com/

After browsing her blog, I was hooked. I've never eaten these little creations but they look so pretty and I vowed to have a macaron party and attempt to make them.

I found this awesome website that I've been drooling reading over for the last couple hours. 
http://bravetart.com/recipes/Macarons
The photos are fantastic and the author debunks common Macaron theories such as the effect of aged eggs, when sugar should be added to the meringue, etc.

I'm going to attempt to make the Strawberries and Cream macaron after picking up some Freeze Dried Strawberries from Trader Joes. Wish me luck! If this is successful a pastry bag is definitely going on my shopping wish list.

Cranberry Bonanza

Nica worked an event a couple weeks ago where some guy had a cranberry stand. At the end of the night, he decided it was too much of a hassle to take all the cranberries back so all the techs took a box home. Nica, bless his Chinese-influenced-soul, decided to take 2 boxes. I don't know why because I never ever cook with cranberries and these were honking huge boxes. I gave one to my sister and the other to work for all to take for Thanksgiving. I did keep a few, since all my colleagues started coming up with cranberry recipes. Here's one that I tried:

Cranberry Orange Loaf

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen
33 people added this to their Recipe Box

Tested Till Perfect

The combination of cranberry and orange makes this loaf from food writer Carol Ferguson absolutely delicious.

Servings: 1 loave, 16 slices
Ingredients:

1 orange
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar
1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) baking powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1 cup (250 mL) chopped cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup (50 mL) butter, melted

Preparation:
Grate rind from orange. Squeeze juice into liquid measure; add enough water to make 3/4 cup (175 mL). Set aside.

In large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange rind; stir in cranberries. In small bowl, whisk together egg, butter and orange juice; stir into flour mixture just until blended. Spread in greased 9- x 5-inch (2 L) loaf pan.

Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto rack and let cool completely. Wrap and let stand for 12 hours before slicing. (Make-ahead: Store at room temperature for up to 2 days or overwrap with heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks.)

I made this recipe for my family Thanksgiving dinner and it was a little bread-y but it was nice and moist and not too bad! It was a little crumbly though. Would definitely try it again and maybe add another egg to try and bind it better.

Cooking website

After months and months of wanting a pasta maker, I finally bought one last week. I'll put a separate review of my experience with that.
In preparation for my first pasta-making experience the geek in me decided I would try and learn how to do it online first. I ended up stumbling upon this website:
http://rouxbe.com/?l=t

TOTALLY awesome instructional videos with lots of different 'how-to's'. I only browsed through it as a guest but they have everything!!! What's great is that they actually show you both what you should look for and what you shouldn't. Most places only show you what you should see, so you never know if you've done something wrong.

Maybe one day I'll buy the full subscription but for now I'm satisfied with all the free videos that they offer.