Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love to bake. I mean, I LOVE it!!! There is just one thing...with me being pregnant and Bubba training for the Tough Mudder in a few months, we have been trying to eat even more healthy than we normally do. With that, I have been trying to come up with some healthy (or at least healthier) recipes to bake that will still hit the spot! And boy did I come up with one tonight!

I love banana bread! It has always been one of my favorites! You can find my go-to banana bread recipe here. However, it is full of delicious sugar and butter. I wanted to make a recipe that was a bit healthier. This recipe has no butter, no oil and only 1/2 cup of brown sugar! A little whole wheat flour, oats, banana and applesauce makes a scrumptious, chewy treat! And at just 110 calories each, you really can't go wrong!

Healthy Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

Adapted from Joy the Baker.

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick oats

1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 whole egg, beaten
2 egg whites, beaten
½ cup natural applesauce
3 ripe bananas
½ cup chocolate chips, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F.  Spray muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients.

In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with fork. Add whole egg and applesauce.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. The batter will be fairly thick.

In a medium sized bowl, with an electric hand mixer, beat the egg whites until medium stiff peaks form.  Fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions. Fold in chocolate chips if using.

Spoon batter into muffin tin. Fill about ¾ full. Bake for 16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole

I had this at a baby shower a few months ago and I fell in love! It is rich and delicious. If you like french toast, then you will love this. I would tell you to watch the broiler because it easy for it to get a little too crispy.

Creme Brulee French Toast Casserole
Adapted from The Pastry Queen

1 large loaf of French bread
8 large eggs
2 1/4 cups milk
1 cup plus 4-5 T sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 T vanilla extract
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tsp cinnamon
3 T unsalted butter

Combine eggs, milk, 1 cup sugar, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, vanilla, orange juice, and 2 T melted butter in a large bowl. Whisk together until well incorporated. Use remaining butter to heavily butter a 9x13 baking pan. Slice bread into 1/2" thick slices and then cut slices into cubes. Combine remaining cinnamon and 1 T sugar. Add bread cubes to pan and toss with cinnamon sugar mixture. Pour custard mixture over bread cubes, pressing cubes down with a spoon to thoroughly soak bread. Cover with foil and refrigerate at least one hour or overnight. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Bake approximately 40-50 minutes until golden brown and set. Remove from the oven and sprinkle remaining 3-4 T of sugar over the top of the casserole in an even, heavy layer. Set broiler on high and return to oven or use a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. The sugar will turn brown and liquefy and then harden as it cools. Serve warm with maple syrup if desired.

Crepes

When Bubba and I first got married, Crepes were our Saturday tradition. You can serve them so many ways with lots of different ingredients, but our favorite is Nutella and Strawberries! This recipe is pretty simple, it is just getting the cooking part down.

Crepes

1 cup flour
2/3 cup water
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
pinch of salt
2 tbs melted butter

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

Cook the crepe until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula, turn and cook the other side. Serve hot.

Ham and Swiss Breakfast Casserole

On weekends, I love to cook special breakfasts, but we have kinda gotten stuck making the same things over and over again-mostly because they are delicious. But I wanted to try something different this weekend and I must say that I am pleased. This casserole is easy to make and I think that it is probably a little more healthy than some of the other more sugary things I usually make for breakfast! Since there is just two of us, I cut the recipe in half and it turned out great.

Ham and Swiss Breakfast Casserole

8 eggs

2 cups milk

1 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

8 slices sandwich bread

2 cups thawed frozen spinach

1 roasted red pepper, diced

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz ham, cut into 1/2" chunks

8 oz Swiss cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (if you are going to bake right away). Spray a 9x13 casserole pan with cooking spray or grease with butter. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and milk together. Add salt and pepper and set aside. Cut or tear the bread into about one inch pieces and toss in the pan. Add vegetables, make sure your frozen spinach is well drained - add it to a double layer of paper towels and wrap it up and squeeze out all the water. Add garlic and ham and toss everything together in the pan. Pour egg mixture over the top, pushing everything down if it floats up. Top with grated cheese. At this point, you can cover the casserole with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight if desired.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes, remove foil and continue baking an additional 15 to 30 minutes until casserole is set and golden brown. Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting.

Jam Filled Muffins

This is fun way to eat a muffin! With the jam already inside! Hope you like them!

Jam Filled Muffins

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
raspberry or strawberry jam (or any kind that like)

Directions:
In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs. In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, butter and lemon peel; add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir just until moistened. Spoon half of the batter into 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups. Make a well in the center of each; add about a tablespoon of jam. Spoon remaining batter over jam. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Serves 12.

Dansih Drops

This is a recipe that I grew up on. It was always a treat when my mom made Danish Drops for breakfast! Well, I have adopted the recipe and now I make it almost every Saturday morning for breakfast. I told Bubba that I would make him anything that he wanted for breakfast on his birthday and this is what he chose. That has to be saying something good about how delicious these are!

Danish Drops

Mix the following:

2 cups bisquick

1/4 cup softened butter

2 tbs sugar

2/3 cup milk

Directions:

Plop batter onto cookie sheet. Using a spoon, make indent in each batter plop. Spoon your favorite jam or jelly into each indent. Bake at 450F for 9-13 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle with powdered sugar glaze once baked.

*I like mine to be a little more on the chewy side so I don't add quite as much milk. Experiment with it and find what consistency you like best.

Banana Bread-Cake

This has become one of my favorite banana bread recipes. It is really easy to throw together and always turns out great. It has this delicious sugary crust that is irresistible! It doesn't last more than a day or two in my house.

Banana Bread-Cake

3/4 cup butter, softened
2 1/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 cup mashed bananas
1/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cup flour
1 1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
dash of cinnamon

Mix all of ingredients together starting with the liquids. Then add the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.

To prepare the bundt cake pan, spray with a cooking spray, then coat the inner edges really well with sugar. This will make a really yummy, sugary, crispy, thin outer layer.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

Last summer Bubba and I went to the Farmers Market at Pioneer Park in Salt Lake City. I was on the hunt for heirloom tomatoes because I had found this Tomato Tart recipe that I wanted to try out and I thought it would be great heirlooms. We found the most beautiful tomatoes. We picked out the ones we wanted and the nice farmer said, "that will be 17 dollars." Bubba and I looked at each other in astonishment (how could a couple pounds of tomatoes cost that much?) paid the kind farmer and went on our way. We couldn't believe that we had just spent so much on tomatoes! Let's just say this one expensive tart, but it turned out delicious and I would say that it was worth it. Maybe just try to find less expensive tomatoes!

Ingredients

• 1 unbaked 9-inch deep-dish pie crust (I made my pie crust)
• 1 1/2 lb. firm tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbs tapenade or pesto
• 1/2 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella
• 1/2 cup chopped parsely plus extra for garnish
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tbs capers for garnish (I didn't use these)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.


2. Layer pie crust with tomato slices, and sprinkle with 2 oz. feta. Beat together eggs and tapenade until well mixed, and stir in mozzarella parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Pour half of mixture over first tomato layer. Add second layer of tomato slices, and top with remaining egg mixture. Sprinkle remaining feta cheese on top.


3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until egg mixture firms and feta browns. Remove from oven, garnish with sprinkles of parsley and capers, slice and serve.

Cooks note: I used a large tart dish instead of a 9-inch pie pan. This meant that I almost doubled the egg mixture. It also too closer to 45 minutes to bake since it was a larger dish.

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Produce in Florida has been a lot more expensive than I had anticipated, so when I found blueberries on sale, I had to buy them. I love blueberry muffins! This is my the best blueberry muffin recipe that I have tried! These muffins come out so moist. They are easy to make and wonderful to eat!

Blueberry Coffee Cake Muffins

Adapated form Barefoot Contessa.

Ingredients:

• 12 tbs (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 extra large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 8 ounces (about 1 cup) sour cream
• 1/4 cup milk (I used almond milk)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 half-pints fresh blueberries, picked through for stems

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, sour cream, and milk. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top, and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

Apple Turnovers

I love Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa)! Her recipes are always wonderful and she also has a traveling husband who comes home for the weekends. This is another one of her great recipes and easy to boot!

Apple Turnovers
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa.

Ingredients:

1 tsp grated orange zest
3 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
1 1/4 lbs. tart apples such as Empire or Granny Smith (3 apples)
3 tbs dried cherries
3 tbs sugar, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tbs all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
pinch kosher salt
1 package (17.3 ounces, 2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg beaten with 1 tbs water, for egg wash

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine orange zest and orange juice in a bowl. Peel, quarter and core the apples and then cut them in 3/4-inch dice. Immediately toss the apples with the zest and juice to prevent from turning brown. Add the cherries, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

Flour a board and lightly roll each sheet of puff pastry to a 12 by 12-inch square. Cut each sheet into 4 smaller squares and keep chilled until ready to use.

Brush the edges of each square with the egg wash and neatly place about 1/3 cup of the apple mixture on half of the square. Fold the pastry diagonally over the apple mixture and seal by pressing the edges with a fork. Transfer to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Brush the top with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, make 2 small slits and bake for 20 minutes, until browned and puffed. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*I found it easier to build the turnover on the baking sheet instead of transferring to the baking sheet after it was put together.