De Baking Psychopath

Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is a wonderful year for everyone.  To start the new year off on a healthy note, I bring you this veggie and fruit-packed wholesome breakfast cake. For those of you who may be familiar with Morning Glory muffins, this is the cake version of that hippie health food favorite.  Despite the health food origins, the cake is surprisingly light and flavorful and tasty. The cake itself is lightly sweetened and the fruit add just a touch more natural sweetness. It definitely is a breakfast or snack you can feel good about! Morning Glory Breakfast Cake (adapted from Coffee Cakes: Simple, Sweet, and Savory ) Ingredients: 1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned rolled oats 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 2 large eggs 2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 1 & 1/2 cups low-fat plain yogurt or buttermilk (I used nonfat Greek yogurt) 3 tablespoons molasses 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour ...

Well, the pumpkin granola was only Part I. In reality, I had my eyes set out on using up that last can of pumpkin pie filling (not puree) waiting patiently in the pantry with a recipe I found on Libby's website, Pumpkin Granola Muffins. Since I had also needed to get rid of the extra puree leftover from the pumpkin cookies, the granola was a two-fer: it used up the puree and also produced the granola that I needed for the pumpkin muffins! While I was at it, I figured I would try to adapt the recipe to make those oh-so-popular Starbucks copycat-recipe cream cheese pumpkin muffins. So I found a filling recipe to use and then added a bit of espresso powder to the muffin batter to pay homage to the pumpkin spice latte muffin recipes I've also seen lately.  These muffins were moist and had good texture from the granola, and the creamy ribbon of cream cheese running through the muffin was a great complement. Although it's a lot of steps, the recipe makes a lot of muffins (...

Happy holidays! I am still trying to catch up on recipes from the last couple of months, sorry for the delays! Back in mid-Fall, I had half a can of pumpkin left over from making the pumpkin cookies, but I didn't want to make just any old pumpkin bread with it. I scanned though my Google Reader and found this gem of a recipe from Sugarcrafter and set out to make this as my next installment of my granola addiction. Because the pumpkin makes up a good portion of the wet ingredients, this granola is more on the chewy side, and not as crispy-crunchy as other recipes. It's very fragrant and deep flavored, great on yogurt, and it is a good recipe to use up some leftover canned pumpkin. Pumpkin Spice Granola (adapted from Sugarcrafter ) Ingredients: 4 cups old-fashioned oats 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 tsp cloves 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (pepitas) 1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup pumpkin puree 1/4 cup honey Ins...

So awhile back, my friend Shannon gifted me a great big jar of applesauce from her last big batch , and I used some of it for some awesome baked oatmeal , but I was even more excited to try out an applesauce cake recipe with the remainder! This cake is lightly sweet, very moist, and oh-so-fragrant from the ample oat-cinnamon streusel lining the bottom and rippling through the middle of the cake. It kept very well for several days in an airtight container, and if anything, developed more apple-y character and moistness over time! It is a splendid anytime cake and very versatile. Applesauce Cake with Oatmeal Streusel (adapted from Cake Keeper Cakes ) Ingredients: Streusel- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 cup old-fashioned oats 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits or grated and chilled Cake- 2 & 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 & 1/2 cups granulated sugar 2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 ...