Fluffy yeast pancakes

These fluffy and chewy pancakes are super easy to make. They taste like a cross between pancakes and donuts, but they're a bit more substantial than your traditional pancake. 

Yeast Pancakes:
Recipe from: The Sugar Hit
Makes 12-14 small pancakes.

Ingredients:
- 1 + ½ cups flour
- 1 tsp  yeast
- 1 tbsp  sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 1 egg
butter or oil, for frying

Put all the ingredients except for the oil into a bowl and whisk together. Cover the bowl in plastic wrap and let it rise until double in size, about half an hour.
Put oil or butter on a frying pan and cook them the way you would cook regular pancakes.
They're best served warm.

Enjoy!

Green frog smoothies

This tastes better than it looks. I've tried using just greens in the past, and it ended up tasting like water with pond scum; however, I guarantee you this does not taste like pond scum because I added fruit!  It may not be the prettiest drink, but it actually tastes good (if you like something that tastes kind of healthy and refreshing, it's no chocolate shake though).  It also does NOT have frogs in it, but 'green frog smoothies' sounds more exciting than just plain old 'green smoothies' and it's kind of the color of a frog.

Green Frog Smoothies:
serves: 4

2 c. pineapple
3 bananas
2 c. lettuce or spinach

Freeze the bananas and pineapple a few hours ahead of time. Add the greens and blend. Add some water if it's too hard to blend. Serve immediately.

Chocolate buttermilk pancakes with cinnamon syrup

 I made these for breakfast today because we had no school ( thumbs up for public holidays.) My sister loved them, and my parents both mentioned that they really liked the syrup.

( I just noticed that yellow splash on the plate, don't worry it's melted butter... ;)

Pancakes:
Recipe adapted from Averie Cooks.

1 c.  flour
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg
2 tbsp yogurt

Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Cook on medium heat flipping once on each side.



Cinnamon syrup:
recipe from Allrecipes.
yields: 1/2 cup

1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 c. water
1/4- 1/2 tsp cinnamon.
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat the ingredients together in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Continue to stir for a minute and then allow to cool for around 10 minutes or until thick.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon raisin spice granola

Happy Late Easter everybody! ( a week is pretty late but oh well) We just got back from a week long Holiday to Taiwan. We had a great week but it's nice to be home, back into my normal schedule, and sleeping in my own bed. We totally enjoyed tons and tons of dumplings while we were there which were delicious but now I'm seriously craving just a bowl of granola and fruit and so I'm giving you a granola recipe. Your house will smell like gingerbread cookies while this stuff is in the oven.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. syrup
1 egg white
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
4 1/2 c. oats
1 cup raisins

Whisk together the syrup, egg white, oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Stir in the the oats and spread onto a pan with baking paper. Bake for 15- 25 minutes stirring once halfway through. Stir the raisins in when you're done.

Enjoy!

Honey olive oil bread

 I'm usually hesitant to make yeast bread because all the recipes I see seem to take so long and it seems like there's so many ways to mess up. I'm really impatient and it seems to be a "okay make this but you won't actually have finished bread in front of you for 14 hours," kind of a thing, but his stuff is great because you can make it in under one hour. I love fresh bread and this has a wonderful crust.

Ingredients: 
recipe adapted from Yammie's Noshery

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp yeast
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil

Stir together the yeast, sugar, olive oil, and honey and let it sit for 5 minutes. Use the bread hooks on an electric beater to combine this mixture with the flour and then knead for ten minutes. Let it rise in a greased and covered bowl in a warm place for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Put it in a greased loaf pan,  and bake for 10 minutes at 425 F. Then turn the heat down to 350 F and bake for an additional 5- 15 minutes. When it's done, it will sound hollow when you tap it.

Enjoy!!

Cherry Almond Granola

Ingredients:
1/4 c. + 2 tbsp syrup or honey
1/4 c oil
3 1/2 c. oats
1 egg white*
2-4 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. dried cherries
1/2 chopped almonds


Whisk the egg white until frothy. Mix in the syrup, oil, sugar and cinnamon. Combine the oats, cherries, and almonds and pour the liquid mixture over top. Stir.  Press the mixture into a pan lined with baking paper. Bake at 325 F  for around 15 minutes. Stir or flip the chunks slightly but be carful not to break the clusters apart ( unless you want them less clustery). Bake for another 10-15 minutes until it's as baked as you want it.

* I've been doing some research and it seems to be that the egg white is the trick to getting clumpy granola. You can't taste it but it helps bind all the stuff together.

Enjoy!

The best whole grain banana bread

I've been trying for a while now to make healthier banana bread that still tastes great and I think I've finally got it.  This stuff hits the spot and is tastes almost exactly like "normal" banana bread but its way more nutritious. I used really dark bananas for maximum sweetness and didn't use very much butter therefore I used buttermilk ( I just do it myself with skim milk with lemon juice) so it wasn't dry.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. oat flour ( make your own by just grinding up oats)
1/4 c. ground flax
1/4 c. millet
1/4 c. melted butter
3/4 c. buttermilk
3 overripe bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp honey
1/2 c. to 3/4 c. sugar depending on how sweet you want it.
2 eggs


Grease a loaf pan with butter and add about 2 tbsp of white sugar.  Shake it around until evenly coated. This will give the banana bread a nice crispy crust. ( Idea from Crazy for Crust)

Whisk together the mashed bananas, honey, eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter. In a separate bowl whisk together the oat flour, flax, millet, and baking soda. Add the 2 mixtures together and bake at 350 degrees for 20-35 minutes.

 It tastes best after letting it sit in the fridge overnight.

Enjoy!!

Peanut butter banana muffins

This is another recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction. I've reblogged so many of her recipes that you really might as well just go there but you guys, her blog is AMAAAAZING! Whenever I have to bake for an event or for someone I go to her site  because everything I've made off there works out magically. I've tried a lot of her healthy recipes too like these peanut butter swirl brownies and these  pancakes and they've never failed to impress me.

 

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
recipe adapted from: Sally's Baking Addiction

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas mashed
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 cup milk 
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk the mashed bananas, syrup, brown sugar, egg, milk, and peanut butter. In a separate bowl combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the wet to the dry and stir until combined. Pour the batter into muffin cups and fill until almost all the way full. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 F degrees then reduce the oven temperature to 350 and bake for around 10 more minutes. ( This will give them high domes)

Enjoy!

Hummingbird muffins

 My dad's a really keen runner and buys Runners World Magazines which I read too because  even though I don't run consistently there's lots of tips and interesting articles which you can apply to other forms of exercise too. They have a lot of great looking recipes and this was one of them. They're really sweet and not at all dry so you could easily get away with using whole wheat flour.

Hummingbird Muffins

Recipe adapted from Runners World

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar**

1/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1/4 cup yogurt ( or oil)

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup of mashed bananas ( about 2 large)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

:

1/2 cup oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp flour

Mix the sugar and the honey together, microwave for 45 seconds and then stir. When its cool whisk in the eggs, yogurt, banana, pineapple, and applesauce. In a separate bowl combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and pecans. Combine and pour into greased or lined muffin tins. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top and bake at 350 degrees for around 20 minutes.

** The recipe called for 1 cup but mine were almost too sweet so I'd recommend 1/2- 3/4 c.

Enjoy!

strawberry yogurt pancakes

 Strawberry Yogurt Pancakes: 

recipe from A Taste of Home 

yield: I got around 16 medium smallish sized pancakes  

Ingredients:

2 tbsp sugar

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs

2 cups of strawberry yogurt

1/4 cup water

Add the flour, sugar, and baking powder together. Whisk the eggs along with the yogurt and water and then add the dry ingredients. Cook until golden on each side! I might also add that they taste amazing when you toast them and then put raspberry jam and yogurt on top.

*** These do puff up a ton when you cook them so don't put too much batter on the pan.

Whole wheat oatmeal pancakes

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes
Recipe from Sallys Baking Addiction

yeild: about 15 pancakes

Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup of oats
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 cups milk
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup plain yogurt



Mix the flour, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs then add the milk and the yogurt. Stir the 2 bowls together and pour onto a pan. Cook and flip until brown on each side.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Bread

I first found this recipe at Joythebaker Its not too sweet and really  chocolaty. The original recipe had chocolate chips in it and I didn't have any on hand but it was still great even without!

Chocolate Banana bread:
recipe from: Baking from My Home to yours


Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 bananas mashed
3/4 cup buttermilk ( I just used regular milk and added a tbsp of lemon juice)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Mix the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and baking powder

In a separate bowl beat the 2 sugars, and butter. Add the eggs one at a time and then the bananas. Add in the dry mixture and then the buttermilk.
Pour into a pan lined with baking paper and bake for 30 minutes. Then cover it in foil to keep the top from burning and bake for around 30 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.


Enjoy!