Blueberry Breakfast Tarts

Let's start the return to blogging off right with some super delicious, surprisingly easy, and crowd pleasing Blueberry Breakfast Tarts.

Before I get to the recipe, it's confession time.  Do any of you remember the friends episode where Monica says, "And the fat girl inside me of really wants to go.  I-I owe her this.  I never let her eat."  This is the only line from that show that I remember.  I guess it really hit a nerve with me. :)  I'll tell you a secret - not many people know this....but I think I had a poptart addiction as a child.  I would sneak extra of those crazy space-ready-tinfoil packets out of the cabinet and I would hide them in our downstairs couch and eat them when I was down there by myself.  Maybe I was a squirrel in a past life and I just have this need to store food - that could explain my insane canning situation. haha.

 I was a rather overweight child and have struggled a bit as an adult as well.  Since going plant based, I find myself eating until I'm full and being very content with that.  Sometimes that means 3 bowls of chili other times, it's just a salad.  I think that listening to when my body is really hungry and not being ashamed or afraid to feed that hunger until it is gone (even if I get some weird looks - yes, this is all for me!) is such a liberating feeling.  I'm not afraid to down two entire plates of food because I know the food I'm eating is almost always fruits and vegetables or whole grains.  I haven't been exercising the way I should (read that as not-at-all) for probably 2 months, but I haven't gained a pound and believe me...I have been EATING! :)

So, now that I've gone on and on about eating whole unprocessed foods, let's slip in a treat.  I made these about a month ago and they barely survived the first 30 minutes. :)  Delicious!!

You should 100% take a few minutes to make these - but don't hide any under your couch. :)

Blueberry Breakfast Tarts

Original Recipe Here

What's In It:*

1 1/2 c blueberries

1/4 c sugar

1 T lemon juice

1 T cornstarch

2 pie crusts**

What To Do With It:

Stir together berries, sugar, and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir in cornstarch and continue to simmer for another 5 minutes or so until the mixture gets nice and thick.  If it's too thick, add a little water.  Once you reached a spreadable consistency, set it aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking sheet.

Roll out half of your dough into a thin rectangle.  Cut into smaller rectangles about 2.5 in x 4 in - the size here isn't really important, just however big you want your tarts.

Place half of your rectangles on the baking sheet (or as many as will fit - I had to do 2 batches)

Take a heaping tablespoon of blueberry filling and spread onto each rectangle on the baking sheet.

Top each rectangle on the baking sheet with another rectangle of dough. Slightly crimp the edges with a fork. 

Sprinkle with a bit of sugar if desired.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges just start to turn a light brown. 

Allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes before serving.

**If you are really crunched for time or just don't have any blueberries, you can always use jam as the filling instead.  I ran out of blueberry filling and I still had 6 rectangles left, so I used some homemade peachsauce (like applesauce but made with peaches) as the filling...it was fantastic! 

*Use your favorite recipe.

HH Plant Based Blueberry Muffins

Did I mention that I LOVE Lindsay over at Happy Herbivore?  I am not kidding when I say that every recipe I've tried of hers is FANTASTIC! Seriously people, Julia Child and Martha Stewart should step aside, because this lady has GOT IT!

These muffins are phenomenal.  I mean, pay $5 at Starbucks without thinking twice good.  I think they are, in fact, the best blueberry muffin I have ever had.  They are a little sweet, a little chewy, more dense than a cupcake - but in a good way!

Excuse me, I'm going to have to go wipe up the drool from my keyboard, be right back. ;)

Maybe I'll whip up a batch of these while I'm in the kitchen and then give myself a high-five for being totally awesome! :)

HH Plant Based Blueberry Muffins

Original Recipe

What's In It:
1 1/2 c wheat flour
1/2 c oats
3 t baking soda
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t salt
1 c unsweetened applesauce
1/4 c maple syrup
1 T lemon juice
3/4 c frozen blueberries

What To Do With It:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 12 muffin, muffin tray.
Whisk dry ingredients together.  Add wet ingredients, stirring until completely combined.
Fold in frozen blueberries.
Divide between 12 lined muffin cups.  Sprinkle with extra oats and brown sugar if desired.
Bake 15-23** minutes.

*I don't buy baking powder and I've been out of cream of tartar for a month, so I improvise a bit and use 3 teaspoons of baking soda and a tablespoon of lemon juice.  I don't know how this recipe works using the originally called for 2 t baking powder and 1 t baking soda, but I'm sure it's awesome! :)
**The original recipe says to bake them for 15-18, but mine always take at least 22, so I'd say use your best judgement on the temperament of your oven.  It's always easy to add more time! :)

Plant Based Apricot Fig Bars

Sometimes you just need a nice gooey dessert.  To be honest, I'm not a big dessert person, but there is that odd occurrence when I just want to sink my teeth into something luscious.  Now....sometimes I want that to be a piece of chocolate cake the size of my head, but for the most part - I'm a fruit girl.  These Apricot Fig Newton Bars fit the bill perfectly!

They have just enough fig to remind you a little of fig newtons, but enough apricot to make them feel a little grown up.  I can't really remember if the kids got more than one each of these - I think Wolverine and I scarfed them down before they got the chance. :)  

I see these in my future again very soon....I've even been saving a half a bag of figs in my cabinet for these! :) I think I might even change up the "other fruit" in these to maybe strawberries or peaches...thinking I could sub in some homemade jam for the dried apricots and syrup....I'll keep testing it and see what we like!

Have you guys been over to see Chelsea at Whole New World?  She has some great recipes and a generally fantastic site!  Swing by and say hello - you can even find her on Facebook!  

Apricot Fig Bars

Original Recipe Here

What's In It:

Filling:

1 1/2 c (8oz) dried apricots, roughly chopped

1 1/2 c (8oz) dried figs, roughly chopped

1/4 c 100% maple syrup

1 T finely grated orange zest

1/4 t ginger

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t salt

2/3 c water

Dough:

3 T ground flaxseeds

1/4 c plant based milk

1/4 c unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c almond or peanut butter

1/3 c dry sweetener (I used raw sugar)

2 t vanilla

1 c oat flour

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

What To Do With It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 7x11 pan with parchment paper (If you don't have a 7x11 you could also use an 8x8 or a 9x9, but adjust your baking times a bit).

To make the filling: 

Combine all filling ingredients in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook 15 minutes or until fruit is tender, stirring occasionally.  Remove pan from heat and puree.  I used an immersion blender, but if you don't have one, you can use a blender, just be sure you don't put the lid on tightly or it will blow off.  

To make the crust:

In a large bowl, stir together the flaxseeds, milk, applesauce, nut butter, and sweetener.  Mix well and stir in vanilla.   Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.  Knead with your hands a few times until it all holds together - add an extra bit of milk if necessary.  You want the dough to form into a ball.  Divide the dough into two balls.

To assemble the bars:

Place the first ball of dough into the bottom of the pan and using a spatula (or your fingers) spread the dough to evenly cover the bottom of the pan.    

Spread filling over crust.  

Shape or roll the second ball of dough into an 8x8 square (or the size of the pan you are using. I had to actually roll it out with a rolling pin between greased sheets of parchment paper.  It was a mess, but totally worth it!). Gently place second crust on top of the filling.

Bake for 20-24 minutes - the top should be firm and starting to turn golden at the edges.  

Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting into squares.  

Yields approximately 12-16 squares.    

Pumpkin Bread

I did not have high hopes for this bread.  I made some significant changes to the recipe and to be honest, I was planning on pitching it.  Boy was I wrong and relieved too....I used my second to last bag of NC Candy Roaster pumpkin to make this bread and I would have been so sad to have wasted it.

This stuff was delicious!  Wolverine scarfed down 2 pieces, Te-Man was running around the house holding his piece singing "dessert bread", Ze-Ra and I didn't really do anything of note, we were too busy stuffing our faces!  :)  The bread is a smidge dryer around the edges and really moist in the middle.  It isn't dry in a bad way, just enough to make you appreciate the extra moist inside.  ;)

I would say that if you aren't needing/wanting to make this recipe plant based, you could totally make it according to the original recipe, but I would still suggest adding the additional spices.

The orginal recipe calls for walnuts, but I don't like walnuts and usually substitute pecans....but I didn't have any pecans (I placed our monthly Nuts.com order on Monday and it hadn't arrived just yet).  So I was perusing my cabinet and it seemed that the least amount of work would be to take my homemade trail mix and pick out the whole almonds and banana chips - leaving sunflower seeds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, and dried cranberries.

When I make this again, I won't change a thing.  YUM!

Pumpkin Bread

Original Recipe Here

What's In It:
2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c oat flour
1 c brown sugar
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cloves
1/2 t ginger
1 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
2 c pureed pumpkin (I used homemade candy roaster pumpkin, but canned would also work)
1/2 c oil
1/2 c applesauce (I used homemade unsweetened)
2/3 c coconut milk
1 1/2 c nuts/seeds/dried fruit/coconut

What To Do With It:
Grease and flour 2 loaf pans
.
Mix dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients and mix until combined.  Stir in nuts/dried fruit by hand.

Distribute evenly between 2 loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and cover with aluminum foil for 10 minutes.

Remove foil, run a knife or spatula around the edges of the pan, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Plant Based Grape Nuts

We LOVE our cereal around here, but I don't want to buy a bunch of processed stuff from the store.  We really try hard to eat most of our food as close to it's original form as possible - but sometimes, you just need some cereal. :)

Here is the link to my first post of the recipe (it uses regular milk and AP flour).  

The plant based friendly version still tastes delicious!  The color is noticeably darker and I did find I needed more vanilla, but there hasn't been a single turned up nose or complaint around the Hive, so I'd say we have a winner. :)  

Grape Nuts
Original Recipe Here

What's In It:

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

2 c oat flour

2 c almond milk (unsweetened) 

2 T lemon juice*

2/3 - 1 c brown sugar (to taste)

1 t salt

1 t baking soda

3 t vanilla

What To Do With It:

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees F.  Combine all ingredients until smooth.  Pour into a greased or lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Cool a few minutes in the cookie sheet, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely, 4-5 hours. 

Once cool, crumble into small pieces.  I used to use my food processor for this, but I had to do it in so many batches that I finally decided it wasn't worth the hassle and just do it by hand now (bonus - less dishes to clean up!). 

Spread crumbles evenly onto 2 cookie sheets (I fold the "cake" in half and crumble each half directly onto the cookie sheet).  

Bake at 300 degrees F for 1 hour - stirring and rotating cookie sheets every 20 minutes.  Allow to cool completely (I just leave them out overnight) before placing into storage container.    

*I usually do 2 T of lemon juice in the bottom of my measuring cup and then add almond milk to fill the measuring cup to 2 cups.  

Granola - Challenge 2013 Recipe #14

Would you like your home to smell so good your husband (or wife) kisses you in thanks?

If so, make this today!  It is so good on yogurt, fruit, yogurt and fruit, with milk, on soon, etc. ;)

WOW!

DIY Test Kitchen Granola 

America's test kitchen does not have the recipe posted, but the link takes you to a site that has the recipe does.

Here are few pictures of our breakfast parfaits this past weekend.

Valentine's Day Heart Cinnamon Rolls

Happy Valentine's Day!

I thought it would be fun to start everyone's day off with a heart breakfast.  So, I took my Overnight Cinnamon Roll Recipe and instead of rolling them into traditional cinnamon rolls, I rolled both long edges to the center and cut as usual.  Then when placing the rolls into the pan, I pinched the bottom into a little heart shape.

I think they look like smiling theater masks, but once they are iced they definitely look like hearts....Ze-Ra however exclaimed, "Hey, this one looks like a heart!".  haha   Just that one huh...not all of them.  oh well.  It's the thought that counts right?  :)

Here are a few pictures of the process.  :)

Ready for the Fridge:

Just out of the oven:

Iced and Ready to Go:

A little gooey goodness for ya:

Breakfast Cookies

Would like to make some fantastic cookies that you (and your kids) will love for an on the go breakfast or snack - and that have NO sugar or flour in them?!  Well then, you have come to the right place. :)

These are fantastic!  They are like bowls of oatmeal that you can eat with your hands - well, sometimes Te-Man eats his regular oatmeal with his hands, but that's a whole other story ;)

I made these with Raisins and Dried Cherries.  But you can always use chocolate chips or maybe even butterscotch chips - YUM! I might have to make a batch using chocolate chips just for the rest of the Z-Squad....can't have them suffering through life without fruit and chocolate just on my account. ;)

Breakfast Cookies
Original Recipe Here

What's In It:
3 ripe bananas
1/3 c apple sauce
2 c oats
1/4 c milk (almond or dairy)
1/2 c "mix-ins"
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon

What To Do With It:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
Mash bananas, then add remaining ingredients.  
Drop by scant 1/4 cup-fuls onto a lined cookie sheet.  Spread out a bit as they will not spread on their own during baking.  
Bake 15-20 minutes. 
Cool on a wire rack.

I am not sure if it is necessary, but these cookies are incredibly moist so I store them in the fridge.  I figure you can't be too safe ;)

Overnight Steel Cut Oats

Do you like eating oatmeal?  I do, too.  Do you like feeding your family a more nutritious option than quick oats?  I do, too.   Do you like spending 45 minutes cooking steel cut oats for your family in the morning?  I don't, either.  What to do....What to do....

Here's the answer! Overnight Steel Cut Oats.  Start to finish, including clean up, I'm done in less than 15 minutes.  Say what?!  15 minutes....that's fantastic!

Overnight Steel Cut Oats

What's In It:
1 c steel cut oats
4 c water
pinch salt

What To Do With It:
Bring all ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat (can use high heat if you're willing to commit to stirring it pretty frequently).  Boil for 3 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Cover and allow to sit on counter overnight, then refrigerate.  When you're ready to eat, heat through, add your favorite oatmeal toppings, and serve.   

TA DA!

I normally transfer the oatmeal to a storage container and wash my pan right away that night.  I can then, in the morning, scoop out what I need and put the rest straight into the fridge.  I often make a double batch and it will be good in the fridge for a week, maybe longer....just doesn't last around here. :)

Homemade Grape Nuts

We don't eat a lot of cereal here at the Hive....not because we don't like it - we LOVE cereal!  We just try to eat less processed foods.  Breakfast around here is usually eggs, fresh juice, or smoothies and occasionally we'll have steel cut oats....but sometimes you just want some crunch in your breakfast! 

I can't think of a crunchier cereal than grape nuts! I've been making these for almost a year now and they never fail disappoint.  I'm not gonna lie, I had a bowl before bed last night - I couldn't wait until the morning! :)   

Homemade Grape Nuts
Original Recipe Here

What's In It:
3 1/2 c flour (white or whole wheat)
1 c brown sugar*
1 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 c buttermilk
2 t vanilla

What To Do With It:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Mix all ingredients together until smooth.  Pour into a greased cookie sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Cool a few minutes in the pan, then turn on a wire rack and cool completely.

Pulse in batches (usually about 3) in a food processor until crumbly.  Spread onto 2 cookie sheets.  Bake at 300 degrees F stirring every 15-20 minutes for 1 hour or until the cereal looks toasted.

Allow to cool completely - at least 4-5 hours, sometimes I just leave it overnight - before putting into an airtight container for storage.  I use these containers and they work perfectly!

*I think the cereal is a little sweet with a full packed cup, so I usually don't pack my brown sugar and that makes it just about right.  Also, if you're trying to watch your sugar intake, I have made this with 1/2 c brown sugar and it worked just fine. :)  Do what'ch'ya feel. :)

Chocolate Doughnuts, yes please!

While visiting with Super Mom, I noticed that she had a few doughnut pans lying around and I have always wanted to use some!  Isn't it weird what we will and won't spend money on - apparently doughnut pans is firmly in the will not category seeing as how I've wanted some for years and haven't done a darn thing about it.  Well....this might have changed that. :)

WOW!  These were fantastic! They were definitely not fried, but with all of the flavor and texture going on in these, I didn't miss it one bit.

Maybe you're cutting back on fried goods this year or maybe you're not, but either way add these to your breakfast to-make list....even if you have to borrow a pan or two. :)

Fudgy Baked Doughnuts

Original Recipe Here

What's In It: 

2/3 c cocoa

1 3/4 c all purpose flour

1 1/4 c brown sugar*

1 t baking powder

3/4 t espresso powder (optional, I didn't use this, but only because I didn't have any) 

1 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

1 c chocolate chips*

2 lrg eggs

3/4 c milk

2 t vanilla

2 t vinegar, white or cider

1 c melted butter or 1/3 c veg oil (I used butter)

Chocolate Icing:

1 c chocolate chips

3 T Half & Half or Cream (I used cream)

Sugar Topping
2 T sugar
1 t cocoa

What To Do With It:

Preheat oven to 350 degress F.  Lightly grease 2 standard doughnut pans.

Whisk together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking powder, espresso (if using), baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips. 

In a bowl or in a 2 c measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and vinegar.

Add wet ingredients and butter, to the dry ingredients.  Stirring to blend.  No need to beat the batter, but mix to combine.     

Spoon batter into pans, filling 3/4 full.  

Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan for a minute or so, then loosen edges and turn out onto a wire rack.  

If using a sugar coating, shake doughnuts in sugar mixture immediately - I would use a plastic container and gently "shake".  

 If using icing, allow to cool completely - or about 50% of the way, like we did.  

While cooling, melt chocolate chips with cream.  I did this over very low heat in a small sauce pan on the stove, just use your preferred method. 

To ice the doughnuts, you can use a knife or I just dunked the top half of the doughnut upside down into the icing.  

I was thinking these would be divine with some crushed peanuts on top! YUM! 

*Super Dad is a diabetic, so I used a sugar substitute and sugar free chocolate chips.  I think the only issue this caused was that the doughnuts needed to be eaten the day they were baked, the next day they were a little dry.  Oh what a problem....I have to eat them right away....like I needed an excuse! :)