Strawberry Pancakes

This recipe will please even the pickiest of eaters I promise! My son Augustine, age 3 really loves to bake and cook with me. I asked him if he could make up a recipe and after looking through many cookbooks and our fridge/pantry for ideas he came up with "Strawberry Panpakes!" and this was the result. I made the "panpake" part and he loved, and really ... who wouldn't!?, smashing up all of the strawberries.


Augustine's Strawberry Pancakes
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
3 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp sea salt
2-3 egg yolks, well beaten
2-3 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1 cup milk
3 tbsp melted butter
1 cup smooshed up/pureed strawberries (or any other fruit)

Sift together the first 4 ingredients (whole wheat flour through salt).

Combine and beat the egg yolks, milk and butter. Add this to the flour mixture, blend. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Add the strawberry puree

Fry on medium hot griddle until bubbles are well-formed around edges of pancakes; turn and cook other side 2 minutes. Or bake in waffle iron if you want a waffle instead of a "panpake". Reheat waffle iron before putting another waffle in each time.

Makes 8 pancakes or 4 waffles.

Vegan Veggie Burgers

Memorial Day is always full of picnics and cookouts. We had/are having 3! On Sunday we had a church picnic and instead of the traditional burgers we whipped up some chick pea burgers. These are vegan and based on a recipe I found from TreeHugger.com. This recipe makes 8 delicioso burgers


Chickpea Burgers
aka Garbanzo Bean Burgers

4 tsp vegetable oil
3 green onions (including tops) chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 cup diced sweet red and/or green pepper
Half tomato, chopped
2 cans (30 oz total) chick-peas drained and rinsed
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp cilantro or parsley, chopped

In nonstick skillet, heat the oil over medium heat and cook onions, garlic, oregano and chili powder, stirring, for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and tomato. Cook, stirring for about 5 minutes or until pepper is tender and liquid is evaporated.

In food processor, mix pepper mixture with chick-peas; transfer to bowl. Stir in bread crumbs, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste until well combined. Pressing firmly, shape into burgers.

On the grill or in nonstick skillet, heat remaining oil over medium heat and cook burgers for 4 minutes on each side or until heated through.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Today happiness is a delicious muffin served with a hot cup of tea, taking in the cool morning breeze. The title of this muffin is a bit deceiving, as it contains 4 different kinds of fruit mixed in. I debated whether or not to simply call them "Fruit Muffins" or not. Regardless, they are scrumptious, healthy, and perfect for a morning such as we've been experiencing here lately.




Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
or Whole Wheat Fruit Muffins

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
1 cup chopped apples (I recommend Granny Smith)
3/4 cup dried fruit (I used raisins, apricots, cherries, and cranberries)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease one 12-cup muffin tin. I made some Big Daddy muffins too, delicious!

Lightly beat egg in a small bowl. In another bowl mix dry ingredients thoroughly. In a third bowl, mix all of the remaining ingredients. Gently folding in egg. Add to the dry ingredients. Stir until barely moistened. Batter will be lumpy.

Fill greased muffin tins to the top to ensure you get those delicious, pillowy muffin tops. Bake about 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Rocky Road Bars

My husband had a particularly bad day one day so, being as he is a real chocolate/sweets junkie i decided to go all out and make him something extra special. This recipe is slightly more time consuming than most things I've made in the past as far as assembly goes, in that it has three separate layers to make before putting it into the oven. Well worth the effort though, trust me!!



Rocky Road Bars

Base
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup chopped nuts (I used 1/2 peanuts 1/2 pecans. It's versatile)

Filling
1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened, reserving 2 oz. for frosting
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used dark chocolate - again versatile)
2 cups mini marshmallows

Frosting
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 oz. unsweetened chocolate, cut up
2 oz cream cheese (reserved from earlier)
3 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9-inch pan. In large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter and 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate over low heat, stirring with a whisk or wooden spoon until smooth. Remove from heat. Then stir in 1 cup of flour and all remaining base ingredients; mix well. Spread in greased and floured pan and set aside.

In your mixer bowl, combine 6 oz. of the cream cheese, 1/4 cup margarine, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 egg; beat 1 minute at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Spread over chocolate mixture; sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven; immediately sprinkle with marshmallows. Return to oven; bake an additional 2 minutes.

While marshmallows are baking, in large saucepan, combine 1/4 cup butter, milk, 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate and the reserved 2 oz. cream cheese. Cook over low heat, stirring until well blended. Remove from heat; stir in powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Immediately pour frosting over puffed marshmallows and lightly swirl with knife to marble. Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Cut into bars. Store in refrigerator.

Molten Chocolate Cookies

My camera is broken so instead of posting what my cookies look like I had to "borrow" one from another website with an equivalent recipe to show how they turned out. This really bothers me but let's make lemonade out of lemons shall we?

Molten Chocolate Cookies

2 1/2 bars of dark chocolate (about 4 oz)
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup flour
12 small store bought cookies (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, etc.)


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and while that is heating up line a muffin tin with liners. Spray the liners with cooking spray.

In a medium sized pan melt together the dark chocolate and the butter, stirring constantly. When it is melted, remove from heat and set aside. In a mixing bowl beat together the eggs, powdered sugar, & flour with a whisk until it is well blended. Then add this to the melted chocolate mixture and whisk it all together.

Place one cookie upside down in the bottom of each liner and fill the rest with the batter. Bake for 8 minutes or until the outside of the cookie is firm but the middle is still gooey. Remove from pan and place onto plates. Garnish with powdered sugar or Cool Whip.