Healthy Carrot Oatmeal Bites
As Mr Chiots and I transitioned from buying packaged food, we needed an alternative to the granola bar. When we’re out filming, we need to have snacks that give us energy and keep us from getting too hungry. I discovered the recipe for these healthy cookies several years ago and have been making them ever since. These little cookies make wonderful on the go snacks. They’re packed full of all kinds of healthy ingredients and you can be at peace knowing there’s no high fructose corn syrup, soy protein isolate, artificial colors, flavors, partially hydrogenated fats, GMO ingredients or any of that scary stuff.
The term cookie is used loosely here, these are not your typically over the top sweet cookie, they’re actually less sweet than any granola bar I’ve ever eaten. If you’re going to make a batch, make sure you double it, these freeze beautifully so you can keep a bag full in the freezer and grab a few before you run out the door. I amended the original recipe to suit our tastes by adding flaked coconut and some more ginger and cinnamon to add even more healthfulness. The cinnamon helps regulate blood sugar and the ginger is a natural anti-inflammatory.
Carrot Oatmeal Cookies
(adapted from 101 Cookbooks)
1 cup white whole wheat flour (preferably freshly ground)
1 teaspoon baking powder (or 2/3 t. cream of tartar and 1/3 t. baking soda)
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (or nuts of choice)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (optional)
1/2 cup real maple syrup, room temperature
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil, warmed until just melted
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
Preheat oven to 375F degrees and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, oats and cinnamon. Add the nuts and carrots. In a separate smaller bowl use a whisk to combine the maple syrup, coconut oil, and ginger. Add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. *quick tip* – if you measure the coconut oil in the measuring cup first you don’t have as much maple syrup stick in the cup, most of it slides right out.
Drop onto prepared baking sheets, one level tablespoonful at a time, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. I use a small ice cream scoop and press into my hand, these cookies have a tendency to fall apart a bit so they need some care. Bake in the top 1/3 of the oven for 10 – 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden on top and bottom.
Makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies.
I play around with the flavors in these every time I make them; sometimes I add raisins and lots of cinnamon, sometimes macadamia nuts, dried pineapple and large coconut flakes. I think some savory ones made with pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes would be heavenly as would a curried one. If you add a lot of extra stuff you may want to add a little more oil and maple syrup. You cold also play around with different oils, some clarified butter in a curried cookie would be great, and maybe olive oil in the tomato pine nut cookie. I’ve never strayed from using coconut oil because I like the flavor it offers and the health benefits as well. I’m guessing you could also use honey or molasses in place of the maple syrup if you’d like, although I’ve never tried to. Since we sugar our maples, I have maple syrup around and use that.
If you’re looking for any more wonderfully healthy cookies check out 101 Cookbooks blog, she has a lot of great choices including these Grown-Up Fig Cookies and these with bananas and chocolate.
Bake up some of these little snacks and tuck them into the pockets of your loved ones when they head out the door, they’ll thank you for it!
What’s your favorite on the go snack?
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Bread for Every Occasion
Most of the bread the comes out of my oven is sourdough, baked into boules and eaten by the slice. I occasionally make traditional yeasted loaves in pans, but not very often. I’m really partial to the crusty artisan type bread, it’s my preferred type of bread for almost every instance.
There are occasions however when you want a soft roll, for holiday meals, for hamburgers and hotdogs and for the occasional egg sandwich. On these occasions I make a soft dough enhanced with buttermilk, butter, eggs and a little sugar then I shape it according to it’s final purpose. I always get rave reviews with this dough whatever I make with it.
This is a very versatile recipe, you can use milk or buttermilk (I always use buttermilk since I have lots from making butter) you can add whole wheat flour to make wheat rolls and you can shape them any way you like. I use it for hamburger buns, hot dog buns, mini burgers, as rolls for holidays, for cinnamon rolls and other sweet breads. You can even use this dough to make pigs in a blanket.
BASIC ROLL DOUGH
1 cup milk or buttermilk
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs
4 1/4 -4 43/4 cups of flour
1 packet of yeast
In a large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour and yeast. In medium saucepan, heat buttermilk, sugar, butter and salt just till butter starts to melt (120-130 degrees). Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Mix until flour is incorporated, then beat on high speed for 3 minutes.
Mix in as much remaining flour as possible, but you want the dough to be a fairly soft. Knead for 4-5 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Shape the dough into a ball and place in oiled bowl. Let raise in warm place till double, about 1 hour.
Turn dough out onto counter and divide into the size of dough balls needed for whatever final bread you’re making. Shape dough into desired rolls and place on baking sheets or pans. Cover and let rise in warm place till nearly double in size, about 45 minutes to one hour.
Bake in 375 degree oven until golden on top, will be about 12-15 minutes for rolls, 15-20 minutes for cinnamon rolls, 15-17 minutes for hamburger buns, etc.
I’ll be making a lot of this dough during this holiday season. Mr Chiots can hardly wait for holiday bread stuffed with cranberries and apples.
Do you have a special roll recipe that you use for a variety of breads?
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Making Yellow Tomato Preserves
This year I started 2 small yellow cherry tomato plants just to make a recipe from Preserving the Taste. I checked it out of the library a few years ago and bought a copy when I found an old version because I loved the recipes so much.
It’s a small cookbook packed with delicious recipes like: caramelized apple marmalade with thyme, rose geranium jelly, pear ginger jam, cranberry ketchup, and more. I made the apple marmalade last year and it quickly became a favorite of all who tried it. My favorite thing about this cookbook, is that she uses herbs and spices in almost every recipe.
This little cookbook really takes canning recipes to the next level and makes them healthier as herbs and spices are packed with vitamins and minerals. I’m always trying to find ways to incorporate herbs into my food and this is a great way.
Yellow Tomato Preserves
(makes 4 half-pint jars)
from Preserving the Taste
4 cups sugar
5 cups very small yellow pear shaped tomatoes
3 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
In a 4-6 quart heavy nonreactive pan, stir together the sugar and 3/4 cup of water. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Wash down any sugar crystals that accumulate on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water.
Insert candy thermometer and continue boiling until until the syrup has reached 234 degrees F, the soft-ball stage.
Immediately stir in tomatoes. The mixture might seize up, but after a few minutes will again become liquid. Stir in the chilies, basil and lemon juice and turn heat to very low. Continue simmering for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture will have thickened and darkened in color.
Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, wipe rims clean with a damp towel, and seal with new lids and metal rings. Process in hot-water bath canner for 10 minutes. Preserves will continue to thicken as they cool.
I’ve been waiting for enough little yellow tomatoes to ripen so I could make this recipe. I didn’t get enough (must plant a few more next year) so I had to settle with a half batch. Since I only ended up with a few handfuls of tomatoes, I only got two small jars of preserves. It was well worth the effort to fire up the canner though, I’ll be happy to have a jar for the winter.
These preserves have a wonderful sweet tomato taste with a hint of spice from the jalapeño and the basil really adds a wonderful touch. The little tomatoes become almost candied in the sugar syrup and the peels seem to melt into the preserves (so don’t be worried about leaving them in). I enjoyed some on toast and now am trying to figure out where I can tuck in a few more yellow cherry tomato plants next year!
Have you discovered any new canning recipes this year? Do you like herbs and spices in your preserves?
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Mulled Cider
Mr Chiots is a HUGE fan of cider, he loves this time of year for the cider. He drinks a big glassful almost every evening. I’m not a big fan of it cold, but I love mulled cider. Often in the evening I’ll put a pan on to mull for a half hour or so and we’ll drink it while reading later that evening. I make my own mulled cider with a mix of spices from the pantry. I love adding all kinds of spices, it’s not always the same.
Generally for 2 cups of mulled cider I’ll throw in a few cinnamon sticks, 15-20 allspice berries, one or two whole cloves, a couple slices of fresh ginger, a few cardamon pods and a third of a vanilla bean. If I have cranberries I’ll throw a handful of those in as well or some orange peel if I have that, but those don’t grace my kitchen often. I generally buy my spices in bulk from Mountain Rose Herbs and it makes an inexpensive way to enjoy mulled cider (and you can use the spices another time if you want to). Not to mention all of these spices add antioxidants to your diet.
Do you enjoy mulled cider? What spices do you like to use?
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Slow-Roasting Tomatoes
I don’t know that I’ve ever met a tomato recipe I haven’t liked, but there are some that I love more than others. One of my favorite ways to enjoy summer tomatoes is by slow-roasting them in the oven. You can throw these on pizza, on salads, eat them plain or my favorite, on top of some toast with an egg. When you slow roast tomatoes it deepens the flavor and concentrates the sugars. As a result you’re left with delicious jammy little puddles of tomato goodness, and making them couldn’t be simpler! This is even a great way to deal with so-so tomatoes that you buy from the store or the end of the season tomatoes that are ripened indoors and lack the sun-ripened flavor.
You can use any kind of tomato, from cherries to beefsteaks, just keep in mind that the larger the tomato the longer it will take to roast. Roma types that are dry roast quicker so check them earlier, but beefsteaks are more concentrated when roasted so they taste better. If you’re going to roast a batch, you may as well do an entire oven full to save energy and I guarantee you’ll always want more!
All you need to do it is cut the tomatoes in half, lay skin side down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (the parchment helps get them up later). If you want to, drizzle with olive oil and some freshly chopped herbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper, or simply roast as is, it’s up to you, I do both. Roast in a 225 degree oven for 4-8 hours or until reduced in size and slightly moist, cooking time depends on size of tomatoes and your oven. You can try raising oven temp to 250, but you may get some dark spots on the tomatoes, it depends on your oven. I like to put mine in the oven before I go to bed and set the timer for 6 hours. The next morning I check the tomatoes, remove any that are finished and continue roasting any tomatoes that aren’t quite done. You can taste one after 3-4 hours and you’ll be able to tell if it’s done or not. It should taste like concentrated tomato with a slightly sweet tang. If it’s still acidic and sour, roast for a while longer.
These will need to be frozen to preserve them. I usually freeze on the cookie sheets, then store in a large bag. That way can I get one or twenty depending on what I’m making. I like to use slow-roasted tomatoes in my homemade ketchup, I find it adds a wonderful rich flavor and reduces the cooking time. I don’t roast them quite as long as when I do this since it’s much easier to extract the peels and seeds when they’re not quite as dry.
Have you ever slow roasted tomatoes?
