Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Here's one of my favorite super simple and very yummy granola bar recipes that makes the perfect snack after a long run! I made these for my marathon team a few weeks ago after they ran their 20 mile training run. Loaded with oats, peanut butter and almonds they are a great source of getting carbs and protein back into the body quickly after burning so many calories.

My sister first told me about this recipe when a co-worker made them for her. The recipe is from Giada of the Food Network, my all time favorite chef so I just knew they were going to be amazing! These bake up to be a pretty soft and chewy granola bar and they definitely don't last long at my house.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars (Giada DeLaurentiis)

Ingredients:
-vegetable cooking spray
-1 egg white
-1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
-1/3 cup brown sugar
-1/4 cup honey
-1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
-2 cups old fashioned oats
-1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted, *see cook's note
-1/3 cup miniature chocolate chips

• Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spray a 9 x 9 baking pan with cooking spray. Lay parchment paper in the pan, allowing the excess paper to hang over the sides. Spray the parchment paper lightly with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, using a hand beater, beat the egg white until frothy. Stir in the peanut butter, brown sugar and honey. Add the melted butter, oats and almonds. Stir to combine, then add the chocolate chips.
• Using a rubber spatula, spread mixture into the prepared baking pan, pressing lightly to form an even layer. Bake until the edge of the mixture begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for at least 1 hour. Cut into 1 1/2-inch squares and serve.
• *Cook's Note: To toast almonds, arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until lightly browned, about 8 to 10 minutes.

After trying this recipe I guarantee you will no longer want to buy store bought granola bars!

Marathoner's Breakfast!

This weekend I had our current Team in Training marathon participants over for breakfast after our long run! After our long runs we love to go out for a big breakfast to local restaurants and replenish with carbs and protein for all of the calories we burned. This weekend I wanted to host everyone over to my house for a celebratory feast! People ran anywhere from 8-20 miles so I knew they were going to be HUNGRY afterward! It was a COLD COLD morning starting out at 5:00AM, temps in the low 30s! But we all survived and loaded up on some carbs once we finished! Here are 3 of the recipes that I made for breakfast, the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal was the favorite by all!

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal (recipe from Southern Living Feb 2007)

Ingredients

2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 (18 oz) container regular oats
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

• Toss 2 cups blueberries in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and spread evenly on bottom of lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Combine oats, next 9 ingredients, and remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Pour oat mixture evenly over blueberries.
• Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 more minutes or until golden brown and set.

Praline French Toast Casserole (recipe from Paula Deen & Friends cookbook)

Ingredients

8 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
10 to 12 slices soft bread, 1 inch thick

Topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups chopped pecans

• Generously butter a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
• Mix the eggs, half-and-half, maple syrup, and sugar in a large bowl. Place the bread slices in the prepared casserole dish and cover with the egg mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator.
• Make the topping: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and maple syrup and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the pecans. Pour the mixture over the bread and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake (Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Cookbook)

Ingredients

For the streusel filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
• To make the streusel filling, in a small bowl, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or fork, mix until crumbly. Set the streusel aside.
• To make the batter, in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a mixer, in a large bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the sour cream and mix on low speed just until the batter is blended and almost smooth.
• Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half the streusel filling. Cover with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pan and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Hope you ENJOY these 3 yummy recipes!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

My husband has been asking me to make him some chocolate chip oatmeal cookies for a few weeks now so I decided to try a new recipe for this batch of cookies. The recipe I used is from Williams-Sonoma, Essentials of Baking book. This book is filled with all kinds of fantastic baked goods from homeade breads, pastries, pies, cakes and cookies.

Oatmeal is a commodity in my house. Not a day goes by that I don't fix my husband and I each a cup of oatmeal for breakfast every Monday-Friday with 2 large scoops of brown sugar on top. YUM! I love oatmeal so much that I even go to bed at night looking forward to my breakfast the next morning! It had been a while since I had made oatmeal cookies so I was excited to see how these would turn out.


Are you craving oatmeal yet...if so here is the recipe for you to make these cookies!

Old-Fashioned Oatmeal Cookies (Essentials of Baking, Williams-Sonoma)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups raisins (instead of raisins, I substituted 1 cup of chocolate chips & 1 cup of chopped walnuts)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
-Using an electric mixer, combine the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth.
-Add the eggs and vanilla and beat on low speed until well blended.
-Add the dry ingredients and rolled oats and beat until incorporated. Mix in the raisins.
-Drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets, spacing the cookies 3 inches apart. -Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until they are evenly light brown and the tops feel firm when lightly touched, 15-20 minutes.
-Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer them to wire racks to cool completely.
-Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.



The cookies baked up perfect, light and fluffy. The cinnamon definitely added a nice punch of flavor. I had never tried cinnamon in oatmeal cookies before so it was a pleasing surprise when I tasted them.


3 dozen Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies ready to be eaten...ENJOY!