Delicious Multigrain Bread

This recipe is my baby.  It started out as a simple recipe from Allrecipes, but over the years I've tweaked it and experimented with it until finally coming up with what I consider the perfect bread.  It makes my heart happy to know that even if all I can get my kids to eat some days is bread, they're still getting something packed with goodness.  Don't be fooled by the whole grain-ness of this bread, it is moist and soft and scrumptrulescent.  It is important to note, however, that for best results you want fresh ground whole wheat flour.  Before I had the ability to grind my own flour I had to sub in about 3 cups white flour for some of the whole wheat flour.  It is so much better (and better for you) if you can grind your own flour!

 

Whole Wheat Oat Flax Bread (or easy home made rolls).

Ingredients

·         3 cups warm water

·         2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
·         1/3 cup agave (or honey) 
·         1 cups whole wheat flour
·         1 cup oats
·         3 tablespoons butter, melted
·         1/3 cup agave / honey 
·         1 tablespoon salt
·         1 cup ground flax
·         3 tablespoons bread dough enhancer or vital wheat gluten
·         5ish cups whole wheat flour
·         2 tablespoons butter, melted

 Directions

1.  In an electric mixer (I use my mom’s 30+ year old Bosch), mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup agave. Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup oats and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly (this is called “proofing the yeast” for anyone new to bread making).

2.  Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter (make sure butter is not too hot), 1/3 cup agave, and salt.

3.  Add flax, dough enhancer and 4 cups flour and mix. While mixing, continue to add flour until the dough cleans the sides of the bowl. Let knead for about 5 minutes.

4.  Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.  (I preheat my oven to the lowest setting during step one and turn it off with just the oven light on once it’s preheated.  I then use the oven for both rises)

5.  Punch down bread dough and divide into 2 loaves.* Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by about one inch.

6.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely on wire rack.

 *I have funky sized bread pans, so after the first rise I’ll sometimes make one large loaf (bakes at 360 degrees) and divide the remaining dough into rolls. I then place them in the freezer for future easy “instant” rolls. I first put them on a small cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap until frozen and then transfer them to a freezer bag for long term storage.  When you want to make rolls, just take the frozen rolls, place them in a greased glass dish and let them thaw/ rise for about 3 hours.  Once risen, cook for 12 minutes at 415 degrees.  Butter generously upon removing from the oven.  These rolls are always a hit!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip (Navy Beans and Flax) Cookies

My five year old just finished preschool, and it was not until the morning of her last day that I finally got my act together to put some teacher gifts together.  I figured cookies would be relatively easy.  I liked the idea of chocolate chip oatmeal and as per my usual, looked for the most popular recipe on Allrecipes as a starting point.  From there, however, I got thinking about beans and flax and how easy it should be to make a healthier version of this classic cookie... and this is where we ended up. 

Better for You Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 cup pureed navy beans (with milk for blending)
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup ground flax
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 11/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Sea salt for sprinkling (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add beans (drained), butter (softened), egg, and vanilla to blender and puree (trying to puree the beans without the added liquid will not work).  Add milk if more liquid is needed.
3. Combine been puree with sugar in a large bowl.
4. Add remaining ingredients (except sea salt and chocolate chips) to bowl and mix until well combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop batter by spoonfuls (it is a very sticky batter) onto greased cookie sheet or parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with sea salt if desired (you’ve got to at least try it- I’m a fan).  These cookies do spread a bit so leave some room.
6. Bake at 350 for 11 minutes.  Let cool on cookie sheet before transferring to cooling rack.  .

These are slightly "cakey" cookies, but also a little chewy and quite yummy. Keep leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.

Carrot Cake Muffins

My then soon-to-be- five year old requested this be her birthday cake after inhaling a couple of these muffins... er cupcakes.  The picture is of said birthday cake.  It was well received.  While this recipe isn't necessarily healthy, as far as cake goes, it's pretty darned close (except the icing- that's just straight up indulgence).
 

Carrot Cake Muffins

Ingredients

• 4eggs
• 1 cup ground flax seed
• ½ cup butter, melted
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• 1 lb bag baby carrots
• 1 20oz can pineapple, drained

Instructions

1. Combine eggs, butter, flax, vanilla and sugar. 
2. In a separate bowl (or on top of the creamed butter and sugar mixture- cause I’m lazy and don’t want too many dirty dishes) combine dry ingredients.  Mix wet and dry ingredients together. 
3. Blend carrots and pineapple in blender (I used the pulse button on our Blendtec) and stir into batter.
4. Spoon in lightly greased paper muffin liners and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until tops of muffins spring back. Yields 36 muffins.

The cream cheese icing recipe I use calls for 2 packages cream cheese, one stick of butter, one teaspoon vanilla and adding powdered sugar until you reach desired thickness.  Half that recipe would be more than enough to frost 36 muffins.

Rules of Thumb

There are quite a few dishes I make that I almost never follow a recipe for.  Thus they are never quite the same twice (lasagna, stir fries, soups and chili).  A large part of the reason for my going recipe-less is my desire to use what I have on hand, what's in season and/or what's on sale.  I do have some patterns I follow, however;

1. If I can add beans, I do.  I rarely make any kind of soup or chili without adding a variety of beans.  Beans are a super food, they're inexpensive and they are great in food storage.  And yes, this can lead to flatulence.  My poor husband.

2.  Can I use whole wheat?  There are certain recipes that "disguise" whole wheat well.  Zucchini bread, banana bread, pumpkin bread, bread, carrot cake, anything cocoa based, lasagna (whole wheat noodles), muffins and so on and so forth.  Sometimes I only sub part whole wheat flour, but, as long as I have access to fresh ground flour- it's usually all or nothing.

3. I add veggies.  Soup, stir fry, pasta, dips, smoothies- I add veggies to all these things, again just depending on what I have on hand.  I'm an onion fanatic.  Onions go in everything savory.

4. I add ground flax.  If I bake it, it probably has flax in it.  Other favorite add ins are nonfat plain Greek yogurt and quinoa. 

5.  I reduce or sub out sugar wherever I can without sacrificing flavor.

6.  I never mess with butter.  Butter is where the richness comes from.  Butter may be high in fat, but gosh darn it, it makes things taste good.



Black Bean Brownie Cookies

Beans can be used for a substitute for oil in a number of recipes, provided those recipes call for some strong flavors, like cocoa.  It takes some tweaking to get the consistency right sometimes, but the health benefits are pretty awesome.  That being said, the original recipe for these cookies I first saw posted to Facebook by a friend of mine.  I couldn't just let the recipe be, even though it was already "healthified," because I can never just let a recipe be.  I just can't.  Thus here is my even healthier (I added things like flax and Greek yogurt and tweaked the sugar) and arguably yummier (at the very least, I think I improved the texture) recipe:

Black Bean Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Ingredients

• 3 cups black beans, rinsed well
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 6 T. butter, melted
• 1 T. vanilla extract
• ½ cup agave
• 2/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
• 11/2 cup whole wheat flour (I used fresh ground flour- it's lighter and better for you)
• 1 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup Truvia baking blend (Stevia + sugar)
• 1/3 cup (be generous) ground flax
• 1 T. baking powder
• dash of cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top OR butterscotch chips (my husband's preference which I stumbled upon by happy accident).

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Combine black beans, milk, peanut butter, vanilla, agave, Greek yogurt and melted butter in a food processor and process until smooth (I used my Blendtec).
3. Combine whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, flax, salt, and cinnamon, in a large bowl.  Stir in wet ingredients.
4. Stir in dark chocolate chips.
5. Spoon dollops of the batter onto the baking sheet and sprinkle with the extra chocolate chips.  These cookies do not spread, but just puff a little as they cook so you can get them pretty cozy.
6. Bake for 10 minutes.
7. Let cool slightly, then put on a baking rack until they are cooled completely.
8. ENJOY!!

 

Note: These should probably be kept in the fridge, if they stick around that long.  I, er, I mean, my kids wolf these down like nobody's business.