Yummy Cake

Quinn eats Oatmeal Bear Paw cookies. They are these soft cake like cookies, and they are oh so convenient, but there are things in them that I prefer not to feed him - modified palm oils, sorbitol, artificial flavours...

I'm not saying that I'm going to totally stop buying them. They do serve their purpose as an occasional convenience food, but there has to be something better for him!

Then arrives my new Canadian Family magazine (October 2010). There was a recipe under the article "Smart Foods" for Flaxen Oaty Cranerry Walnut Bars.

Comparing the Nutritional Values, there really wasn't much difference between the Bear Paws and the Bars With the Really Long Name...but the ingredients were MUCH better. I made a couple of adjustments to the recipe and made them.

Quinn called them "Yummy Cake", which is a heck of a lot easier to remember than Flaxen Oaty Cranerry Walnut Bars. I will definitely make these again. I might try some different fruit and nut combinations next time. They are tasty, and healthy, and fulfilling. Give them a try!

Yummy Cake



2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup oats
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 flax seeds
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
3/4 cup demerara sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Grease 9x9 square pan (these could probably make great cookie cakes or mini muffins...adjust the baking time as necessary if you change it up) and preheat oven to 350.

Mix flour, oats, cranberries, nuts, flax, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.

Cream butter and sugar in a seperate bowl, and add eggs, milk, and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into pan and bake about 30 minutes (or until knife inserted in centre comes out clean).

Cool in pan and cut into bars.

Really, any fruit/nut combo would work. Bits of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, apple...mash in a banana (maybe you'd need to adjust the milk and butter for that?) The cake part is a great base for anything you like to put into your baking. Grate in some zucchini! Heck, the possibilities are endless. Do it up!

Chai Spiced Pancakes

On those mornings when I don't have the energy to whip up something from scratch, I simply modify a premade buttermilk pancake mix. Usually I just add a bunch of cinnamon and a handful of oats and bake per box instructions, but this morning I wanted to do something else.

I thought I'd give chai pancakes a try...I love chai, and I love pancakes...it's win-win, right?

They turned out pretty good! Maybe next time I'll try to find the black tea I have in the cupboards here from the last time my Mom visited. All the ingredients are things that I had in the cupboard, so adjust as you need to...if you have a cinnamon stick, throw that in instead of ground cinnamon. Have whole cloves? Use those instead of the ground stuff. I happened to have some cardamom pods but I could have just as easily used the ground stuff. The only thing I probably wouldn't substitute is the fresh ginger root for ground, if you can help it.

For the record, I'm sure you could make it a lot simpler and just steep a commercially made chai tea bag in the milk and call it a day, but you wouldn't have the control you do when you mix the flavours yourself...and also, it's just more fun to mix it yourself (if you have the stuff handy)...I like to cackle like a Mad Scientist when I add things to the pot.  It's true!


Chai Pancakes

1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon (or a cinnamon stick)
8 cardamom pods, cracked open (or, maybe 1/4 tsp ground?)
1/4 tsp ground cloves (or, maybe 6 whole cloves)
1" slice of ginger, roughly chopped
1/8 tsp freshly ground (or cracked) black pepper
(and around 2 tsp black tea leaves if you wish)
Honey
Powdered pancake mix (I use PC Extra-Fluffy & Complete Buttermilk Pancake and Waffle Mix)
Handful of oats

Place milk and water in a small saucepan and heat gently. Don't want to scald this.

Add all the spices (and tea if you're using it) and simmer for about 3-5 minutes. Smells good, right? Taste (trying to avoid the whole hunks of stuff in there) and adjust spices to your taste. I added a squirt of honey to sweeten it up a bit.


Strain mixture.

Place required amount of pancake mix in a medium sized bowl (I just eyeball the amount I need), add oats, and pour warm spiced milk mixture over. Stir and add water as necessary to make batter the right consistency.

Fry those puppies up and enjoy!