Christmas Scones

 

 

 

At this time of the year I doubt that there's anyone who would object to their homes smelling of apples, cinnamon and brown sugar! These breakfast scones are perfectly suited for that. Yes, they also have oats and maple syrup. They are easy to make (the dough is a bit messy and means you do have to get your hands dirty) but the end result is worth it! 

1 cup all purpose flour + 1-2 tablespoons

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

½ cup old fashioned oats + 1-2 tablespoons

½ cup oat bran

1/3 cup of brown sugar + 1 tablespoon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of cold butter

1 cup of shredded apple

1/2 cup of milk or Kefir

1 tablespoon maple syrup

Juice from 1 lemon

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup finely chopped pecans

 Instructions

 1.     Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees. Combine all of your dry ingredients (including spices)and mix them together well.

2.     Rub in the 1/2 cup butter with the dry ingredients until crumbly.

3.     Add the vanilla and maple syrup to the milk

4.     Shred your apple (peeled or unpeeled). Mix with the lemon juice and nuts. Add the shredded apple, then the milk and mix until they form a soft dough. Turn out on to a floured surface and knead, adding flour (1-2 tablespoons) as necessary until the dough no longer feels sticky.

5.     Place the dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Flatten the dough to make an 10” round. Pat 1-2 tablespoons oats extra on the surface then sprinkle with a little extra cinnamon and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Cut into 8 wedges by scoring the dough but not cutting all the way through.

6.     Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown. Remove and cool. Cut through the wedges when completely cool.

Pumpkin Oat Breakfast Wedges

 

I'm always looking around for a quick breakfast that's reasonably healthy. The one proviso I have is that it must have oats! With the Fall season in full swing, these breakfast wedges are the perfect "breakfast on the go" with morning coffee. They are not sweet but that allows for those who wish to slather on their favorite jelly or jam, to do so guilt free! 

8 ozs whole wheat flour

2 ozs Old Fashioned Oats

¼ cup oat bran

2 tablespoons flax meal

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

2 ozs dried fruit (I like to use cranberries)

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon grated ginger

1/2 cup butter, cubed

3 ozs brown sugar

2 tablespoons Maple Syrup

1 cup finely grated Pumpkin (not shredded)

Juice from 1 lemon

4 fl ozs milk or Kefir (1/2 cup)

 

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit

2.      Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

3.      Finely grater the Pumpkin and mix it with the Brown sugar, maple syrup, and lemon juice. Add the cranberries to this mixture.

4.      Mix the flour, oats, salt, Oat bran, flax meal, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a bowl. Rub in the diced butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs.

5.      Add the milk (or Kefir) to the pumpkin mixture then add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix with hands to make a dough. Knead on a lightly floured surface, sprinkled with oats, until the dough comes together (The mixture can sometimes be a bit sticky so you may have to add some more flour, but do so 1 tablespoon at a time to help bring the dough together). Place the dough on the parchment paper and shape into an 8” round and sprinkle oats on top, pressing into the mixture with your hands. Score deeply (cut almost through the round) to cut round into 8 wedges.

6.      Bake 20-25 minutes until lightly risen and brown. Remove from oven and cool on a rack. Serve warm or cold. They may also be wrapped and frozen.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Bread with Tropical Flavors

 Fall is here again and although we don't have this season in the tropics where I grew up, I do like pumpkin bread. I decided to come up with a recipe that would have a lively flavor of the tropics....all the flavors I grew up tasting. I also added some oatmeal to the recipe, and used Kefir to cut back on the amount of oil/fat in the recipe. Kefir is a fermented milk with almost no sugar and low fat content. 

Unlike most pumpkin bread recipes, I used Butternut squash (easier to handle) and did not use a pumpkin puree. I find that can make the bread "mushy" at times. If you opt to use pumpkin, I prefer to use the tropical variety or "Calabaza". The bread will also come out more "orange". The recipe does have a lot of ingredients but we have a lot of flavors in the tropics to use! It's very moist and will keep for a few days in an airtight container, or wrapped and frozen for longer storage. 

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup Old Fashioned, rolled oats

1 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon allspice

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

1 teaspoon grated orange or lemon zest

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

½ cup granulated sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup Kefir (plain, unsweetened. You CAN also use ordinary yogurt (not Greek style) or even half and half depending on your need for "healthy")

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups coarsely shredded fresh pumpkin (not canned or pureed). Use the coarse shredder on your box grater or the coarse shredder disc on your food processor, not the fine grater.

Juice of 1 lime (you can also use lemon so that you can use the zest)

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Coarsely shred the pumpkin or butternut squash. Add the lime juice, dried cranberries, and grated ginger, lemon or orange zest, and set aside.
3. Mix the flour, oats, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, vegetable oil, kefir, eggs, and vanilla, until pale in color. Fold in the shredded pumpkin, mix well, then gently fold in the dry ingredients all at once. Mix all until just combined. Do not take a lot of time with this step. Once the ingredients are all incorporated pour into a non- stick 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan. If your pan is not non- stick coat it with butter and flour, and also line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
5. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. At this point a knife inserted into the middle of the loaf should come out clean. Cool for 15 minutes and turn out onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing (as anxious as you will be to try it, do not try to slice before it is completely cooled).