Whole Wheat Fresh Cranberry Muffins (dairy free)

I've been baking muffins like crazy this week!  After several failed cinnamon roll recipes, I decided to stick with what I could do.  I can do muffins!  Better yet, I can do skinny muffins. But cinnamon rolls? … meh, we are still working on that.

These are the second or third batch of muffins I've made this week and these cranberry ones are the best.  And I mean, the best.

I've said this before, I'll say it again:  I will take muffins and sweet breads over cookies any day of the week.  There is something about quick breads and muffins that I just love.  The dense crumb, the moist bread, the fluffy middle - it is my happy place.

(Sprinkles are my happy place, too)

My first batch tasted great, but really dense.  I didn't have enough oil or baking powder to give the muffins that lighter crumb. 

This time around, everything was just right!  Everyone gave these 10 out of 10 ... except for those who didn't like cranberries.  They said the muffin itself was delicious, they just don't care for cranberries.  If you aren't the biggest fan of cranberries, feel free to sub blueberries, chocolate chips, or even raisins.  Whatever you use, these are the best 100% whole wheat muffins I've ever made.  And this combination of coconut oil, soy milk, and applesauce bakes up the most moist and tender muffins I've eaten.  So, these are not only the best 100% whole wheat muffins, I've ever had, these are the best dairy free muffins I've ever had.

 

They're the best ever - period.

 

I personally love the bright color of the cranberries, and the tartness they add.  They're so pretty and brighten any rushed morning, especially these grey snow days.  Trust me from experience, they make grab-and-go breakfasts easy and delicious.

Whole Wheat Fresh Cranberry Muffins (dairy free)

Recipe Source: Adapted from Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch

1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup applesauce
3/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1-3/4 cup cranberries + 1/4 for topping (I used fresh cranberries, but frozen works well, too!)

Preheat oven to 375.
In a large microwave safe bowl, melt coconut oil. 
Stir in applesauce, milk, and vanilla.
Whisk in eggs.
Add sugar, stir until dissolved.
Add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
Stir until incorporated.
Chop cranberries in half and add to batter.  Fold in gently.
Divide batter between 12 greased muffin cups.
Press reserved 1/4 cup halved cranberries on to tops of muffins.
Bake for 25-27 minutes.
Let cool.

Notes: Freezer friendly!  And did I mention these muffins are the best ever? 

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Bread + Gift Idea

I cannot believe how close Christmas is.

How on earth did time fly?  When I was younger, time seemed to crawl this time of year. Why is it when you get older, you want things to slow down, but life only seems to move faster?  It is becoming a problem.

Like, we haven't even decorated our tree (which we got a couple days ago thankyouverymuch)  Now that classes and stuff are over, we might have a chance since we won't be driving back and forth all the time. We'll see!  Although I am behind on decorating, I'm going my best to keep up with baking. I like the decorations, but my heart lies in the kitchen (not that that isn't obvious)

With so much ending this week, I decided to make loaves as Christmas gifts for teachers. While shopping for my brother (shhh!) at Walmart (okay, never mind, we don't have to be hush hush about Walmart ;) I found these mini loaf pans. Anything mini is automatically good in my book!  These are so cute and make perfect gifts, since most people don't need a whole loaf of bread for themselves, especially this time a year. 

In this post, I'm just going to share three quick and easy ideas for gifting bread. Emphasis on easy. :)

 

Option #1:  Burlap and Bow.  Wrap your loaf in saran wrap.  Cut a strip of wide burlap and wrap it around the saran wrapped loaf.  Place it in a clean foil pan.  Then place a bow of choice on top.  I didn't love the silver, because it looks blah with the foil and burlap, but it was all we had.  I recommend green (or pink!:)

 



 

Option #2:  Gold Bow Loaf.  For this one, I put the loaf back into the pan and wrapped it all in saran wrap.  Then I tied the ribbon around both sides.  This one is best for traveling and was my favorite.  I would've loved it more with some fun ribbon.

 

 

Option #3:  Red Ribbon Bow.  For this one, all I did was wrap the loaf in saran wrap.  Then I took a long strip of wide ribbon (red sparkles in this case) and tied a bow around the loaf of bread.  I also stuck a little note under the now. This one was the cutest, but colorful ribbon makes all the difference!

 

 

 

 

  

The banana bread is the recipe for my crazy good chocolate chip banana bread, which is soft and moist and sweet thanks to the bananas and greek yogurt. This time, I subbed white chocolate for the chocolate chips and added cranberries. This banana bread recipe is my favorite and one I actually come back to again and again.  As a food blogger, there aren't very many recipes that get made more than once.  Christmas time brings out all the stand byes. There is no time to be wasted on a recipe that might not work, especially when you are giving them as gifts or hosting a dinner. I'm so glad I can still enjoy most of the Christmas meals without having to prep!  I leave the meats and casseroles to the aunts and just bake the banana bread and tie ribbon. :)

 

 

White Chocolate Cranberry Banana Bread

Recipes Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life.  Adapted from here.

Yield: 3 mini loaves (or one normal loaf)

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup plain greek yogurt (I used nonfat)

1 cup mashed ripe banana (I used 3 medium)

1-1/2 cup flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup cranberries

 

Beat softened butter and eggs together.  Stir in yogurt, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and mashed banana and beat until smooth.  Add flour, salt, and soda and whisk until just combined.  Divide between three greased and floured mini loaf pans.  Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in pan before removing and letting cool on a wire rack.  After cooled, slice and enjoy or wrap up and gift!  Loaves can also be frozen. 

My First 5K, Running Tips, and Pumpkin Granola Bars

I ran my first 5K this Saturday!  It was a whopping 25 degrees and I was the only girl, but me and my family did it. The boys were *thrilled* but Nathan ran with me and for not training, did really well (ie finished less than a minute behind me.) It was really fun and I enjoyed it a lot. Since it wasn't very windy, it really wasn't that bad, and as long as you've got gloves and a hat, it's hard to stay cold while running.  The winner of the boys and the winner of the girls each got a turkey as a prize.

Now that I've proved to myself I really can run, I'd like to try a 10K next. My goal is six miles this week and is like to keep running throughout the winter. Icy driveways might be a problem, but we'll see! 

I'm not a runner, but I have been trying to run consistently the past couple months.  Here are some tips I've learned and picked up along the way.

1) Listen to your body!  Don't push that last half mile if something is hurting you.  It's your body's way of letting you know something is up, so don't ignore it.  That extra three minutes of running won't help you in the next couple weeks if you injure something.  On the flip side, if you're feeling good and pumped, push that extra mile.  Don't limit how far you can run by how far you think you can run.  Sometimes your body will surprise you.  Sometimes it won't.  Listen to it.

2) Set reasonable goals.  I needed to do some research on running before I set my goals.  Don't set them so high that they're almost impossible because that just leads to discouragement.  It didn't take me very long to get started running longer distance, but it has taken me a while to add several miles to the original distance.  I had some unreasonable goals in the beginning, but I've been working on them.  I tried running certain distances and certain minutes and I found minutes worked better in the beginning and distances works better now. 

3) Invest in a good pair of shoes.  Shoes don't make you a runner, but they sure make it more comfortable - thus, they help you become a better runner. And since you're running to keep your body healthy, investing in good shoes helps prevent injury (which would negate keeping your body healthy;)

4) Listen to something while running.  I time my miles by how many songs it takes me to run them.  They're fun to listen to and motivating.  I also love getting my worship time in while running.  Sometimes I prefer radio theater and those are great, too.  The only exception to this is in earlier in the morning.  Before I ran, I walked, usually every morning.  In the late winter, early spring, the sun doesn't rise that early and walking down our pretty long driveway in the dark, listening to intense audiobooks - bad, bad, bad combo.  However (I digress), music is great help while running!

5) Pretend you are racing someone and that they are always just beating you.  If you're competitive, this is a good one. It keeps me on pace and guarantees I don't slack off. (Refer to point number one though - be wise!)

6) Stay relaxed.  Don't tense up.  You'll just get hurt and I'm speaking from experience:)

7) Get accountability.  I run for volleyball, so practices and games are my accountability and they are very motivating.  If you don't have that sort of goal, get a person to keep you on track.

8) Find a time that gets the most of your.  I stink at running in the morning.  It's just ugly and leaves me feeling defeated (ie, I can't believe those two miles kicked my tail like that!)  I run best between 3-5 in the afternoon and so, obviously, that is my favorite time to run because I can run the best then.

9) Have fun!  Sounds easy ... it isn't always. Run for the right reasons with the right attitude.

10) Let me hear your thoughts!  Do you run?  If so, what are your tips for running?

Also, make sure you've got energy for your run.  Here is one of my favorite granola bar recipes.  I've been trying to get the texture right for a really long time. More often than not, mine are too wet and aren't firm enough to hold unless refrigerated and even then, they've been ultra soft. These on the other hand, although refrigerated, are firm like real bars!  The flavors are nicely balanced and there isn't a dominant one. It isn't too nutty or pumpkin-y, just very fall-ish (spell check hates me right now)

Pumpkin Cranberry Walnut Granola Bars
Recipe Source: The Sweet {Tooth} Life
Yield: 4-6 bars

2/3 cup walnuts
2/3 cup oats
1/2 cup cranberries
1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Grind oats and walnuts in a food processor until fine. Add cranberries and pulse 4-5 times. Add pumpkin, brown sugar, and pumpkin pie spice and pulse until mixture pulls into a ball. Press into a small pan and refrigerate for several hours. Cut and enjoy!

Related recipes:

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Spice Granola Bars

Almond Joy Energy Bites

Caramel Apple Granola

{Carrot, Cranberry, and Walnut} Snacking Cake

When my grandma was taking meal requests (for when Rebekah was born) I immediately asked for this and bless her, she made me an entire 9x13 pan. And I ate it all. By myself. I live with some challenged people, obviously, because they don't like this.

It's called Snacking Cake, but to me, that does NOT do it justice.  Look at everything in it!  Surely, there is a better name. But snacking cake it was, snacking cake it will remain. I just added a little to the beginning to help everyone know how wonderful this is ... since you need to know. 

 

Reasons why you'll like this:

It's chock full of texture! (cranberries, raisins, and walnuts)!  

Its got the bright and fresh addition of orange juice. 

It's moist, thanks to the shredded carrots and apples. 

It's dense, my favorite texture, but not dry (see above) and sustaining since there is two cups of quick oats. 

In a nutshell, it tastes incredible but is still really healthy!

Should I tackle this subject of healthy?  I think I will ... Prep for my persuasive essay on dieting. 

In this season where gluttony can be justified, there is a big push for healthy options.  It is important to take care of our bodies, no question, but I feel this idea of healthy can be all consuming.  It gets in our heads.  We become obsessed with making the healthiest decisions all the time and any slip up leads to guilt and disappointment.  Also, we become "better" when we are healthy. But I think there is a difference between feeling better physically and feeling better about ourselves mentally. Like, I feel good about myself when I buckle down and run in 40 degree weather.  My body just feels better. However, I don't feel better about myself compared to other people because I ran.  I don't think it is bad to run or to stay in shape, I do think it is bad when it becomes something a person has to do to feel good about themselves.  

More often than not, I see the idea of healthy being chosen not because a person wants to be healthy, but because they want to be skinny. 

They diet not so that they can enjoy their grand kids or lower their blood pressure, but because they want to fit in with the runway models. Granted, I'm not exposed to the older generation, so healthy is different based in your age. But the prevalent feeling is "I'm not pretty enough, let's lose some weight."  

That's not healthy!  That's skinny - and there is a big difference.  That's my biggest deal with dieting; it's goal is usually skinny, not healthy. 

This season is full of large meals and lots of food. There are all sorts of "stay skinny" plans and tips, but to me, that takes the joy out of Thanksgiving. Enjoy your pie, but enjoy your veggies and snacking cake, too. Moderation is great, but a good mindset is best.  

Snacking Cake

Recipe Source: Recipe from my Grandma
Yield: 16-24 servings
 

2 cups flour 

2 cups quick oats 

1-1/2 cups sugar 

2-3/4 teaspoon baking powder 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1/8 teaspoon salt 

3 eggs 

1 cup orange juice 

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted *

2 medium carrots, shredded 

2 medium apples, peeled and shredded 

1 cup each; dried cranberries, raisins, and walnuts 

Combine first six ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, orange juice, and coconut oil together. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until combined. Fold in carrots, apples, cranberries, raisins and walnuts. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan. 

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

* Do not worry about there being any coconut flavor!  Coconut oil is just a healthier oil option that really doesn't taste like coconut. Also, I know some readers do not have coconut oil, so you can sub vegetable oil if desired.