Gluten Free Banana Bread + How to Make Homemade Oat Flour

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Long post alert!  We have had quite the exciting dramatic eventful week over here, folks.  Memorial Day weekend brought the unofficial official kickoff to Santa Barbara's fire season - complete with a brand new fire, dubbed the "White Fire":

Around 2:30 Monday afternoon I thought I smelled smoke.  Hubby had said that the neighbors were getting ready to BBQ, so I thought maybe they had tossed some wood into their pit.  A bit later as Chico and I were in the backyard, I noticed the telltale red tinge when I looked around... then looked up and saw a thick, heavy blanket of smoke in the sky.  These images were taken from La Cumbre peak using my iPhone. 

Firefighters here in Santa Barbara work so hard during fire season.  This area is notorious for its many wildfires, and the red, smoky sky is, unfortunately, an all too familiar sight to us locals.  Thankfully, this fire has stayed on the other side of the mountains. Despite strong winds and soaring temps, not a single home has burned and no one has been injured.  Fires in the past (Painted Cave, Tea Fire, Jesusita Fire, Lightning Series Fires) have had devastating, long term effects on California and its residents.  Many of our friends have lost homes over the years, and Hubby's family came extremely close to losing their home during the Painted Cave Fire.  We are very thankful that this one has not come down into town!

Mother Nature couldn't let us get too comfortable once the fire was somewhat controlled... Wednesday as I was about to leave for work, I heard a loud *BANG* as the house lurched and started shaking to the tune of a 4.9 earthquake hitting just 3 miles off of our coast. It was so loud I thought someone/something had crashed into our house!  Dramatic little city, aren't we?  I think I've had enough excitement for one week.

So, anyway, back to the good stuff - food!

You may remember the Flaxseed Nutella Banana Bread recipe that I posted last year.  As delicious as that recipe is, it desperately needed a healthy makeover.  Lately I've been really paying attention to how I feel after I eat certain things; I feel my best when I keep to lean proteins such as fish and chicken.  Sugar gives me an awful headache and a jittery feeling in my gut, so I've been trying my hardest to keep it out of my diet. I allow myself to indulge in moderation, which keeps my sweet tooth satisfied without making me feel like crap.   Win!

This banana bread freezes well, and isn't overly sweet.  Hubby loves it drizzled with local honey.  Feel free to toss in some golden raisins, mini chocolate chips or whatever your heart desires.  At the last minute I decided to top mine with oats mixed with a smidge of brown sugar and cinnamon.  It gives the bread the perfect tiny bit of sweetness.

Gluten Free Banana Bread
| Servings: 1 loaf | Prep: 10 mins. | Bake: 50 Mins |
1/4 c coconut oil, melted
1/2 c plain greek yogurt
1/4 c (scant) agave
1/4 c honey
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 c oat flour (see below)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1 c bananas, overripe, mashed
1/2 c chopped nuts
For the topping
1/4 c oats
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5 loaf pan lightly with non-stick spray.  Set aside. {Alternately, you could make this recipe into muffins - bake for about 15-20, or until cake tester comes out clean.)

In a small bowl, mix together the coconut oil, greek yogurt, agave, honey, egg and vanilla and bananas.  Set aside.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir the wet ingredients into flour mixture until thoroughly incorporated.  Gently fold in the chopped nuts and any other additions (dried fruit, choc chips, etc.) and stir until just combined. Pour bread dough into the prepared loaf pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the 1/4 c oats, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over the top of the bread dough.  Bake bread for 45-55 mins., or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Cool completely before slicing and serving.  Or not.  It's really great still warm.

To make the oat flour...

I will not call this a "recipe" because it simply involves one ingredient and one easy step.  "Gluten Free" is everywhere and I personally know several people who are intolerant to gluten, so I wanted to make this recipe accessible to all.  If you have gluten free oats on hand, you can make this oat flour to use in your baking adventures.  Woohoo!

Gluten Free Oat Flour
Makes 2 cups
What you need:
2 cups gluten free oats*
Food processor

Pour the oats into the food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Tada!  Oat flour!

*Not all oats are gluten free.  Trader Joe's carries a large bag of GF oats for $3.99.

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Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Originally the idea behind this muffin was to broaden the breakfast horizon.  I'm a sucker for a baked good, and if that baked good happens to have a smidge of chocolate in it, move outta my way.  I'm goin' in.  So it shouldn't surprise anyone that we plowed through these muffins so quickly that they only made it to one breakfast. 

We had a bunch of zucchini on hand from making veggie pizza, so zucchini bread or muffins seemed the natural next step.  No different than using carrots in a cake, right?  Pretty much. 

This recipe makes six muffins, so if you're anything like me you may want to double it so you have plenty on hand for midnight snacks, pinterest surfing snacks, no wait!  I mean...  while dinner is cooking snacks, No really - breakfast.  Yeah, that's it.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

|Yields: 6 muffins | Prep time: 5 mins. | Bake time: 20-22 mins.|

3/4 c AP flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c agave (a bit less if you're adding chocolate chips)

1 egg

1/4 c coconut oil, melted

1 c grated zucchini, extra water squeezed out

1/3 c slivered almonds or walnuts

1/4 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a muffin tin with cooking spray, or line with baking cups.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Set aside.  In a slightly larger bowl, whisk together agave, egg, coconut oil and zucchini.  Stor the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, careful not to over-mix. 

Fold in nuts and chocolate chips until just incorporated.  Fill cups about 2/3 full (I use an ice cream scoop for perfect measuring) and bake 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool completely if you have the willpower.
Adapted from taste of home

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Homemade granola {gluten free}

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Granola is one of my favorite foods.  I love granola with fresh fruit and some greek yogurt, and Hubby likes to top his smoothies with granola for a crunchy post-workout snack.  We've been buying tons of granola and the other day I realized that we could - and should - be making this at home.

Store bought granola can be loaded with oils, flavorings and preservatives, all of which I'd rather not indulge in.  Anything made at home gives you the ability to control what goes into your food.  In the case of this granola I used healthy coconut oil instead of vegetable or canola oil.

Coconut oil is something I'm only beginning to experiment with.  It is pretty easily found in most grocery stores - I get it at Trader Joe's.  It is high in saturated fat (hold on, don't freak out yet!) however the saturated fat in coconut oil is different from other oils in that it does not increase LDL levels.  Coconut oil has been found to be useful in losing weight, and increases metabolism by reducing stress on the pancreas.  It also strengthens the immune system and promotes healthy digestion.  Coconut oil is solid at room temperature, so must be melted before being added to most recipes.

When it comes to granola, you can customize with whatever ingredients you like.  I added in ground flax seeds and raw almonds.  You could also toss in some dried fruit or shredded coconut.  I think I'll make this a fall treat next time and use some pumpkin pie spice in place of the cinnamon.  Yum!

Homemade Granola
2 c rolled oats (make sure they are gluten free if that is a concern)
1 tbsp cinnamon (scant)
Pinch of salt
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1/3 c honey
1/2 c raw sliced almonds
1/3 c ground flax seeds

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium bowl, stir together oats, cinnamon and salt.  Add in coconut oil and honey, stirring until thoroughly combined.  Spread mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  (If you wanted the nuts toasted, add during the last 5-10 minutes and make sure to stir frequently to prevent them from burning.)  The longer the granola cooks, the crunchier it will be.  Cool completely before adding almonds (unless toasting) and flax seed.  Store in an airtight container.

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Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars

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It's no secret that I struggle with fitting breakfast into my day.  We have been so busy lately that I'm completely shocked I haven't run out the door wearing pajama pants and heels.  There's always tomorrow!

We have been busy with great stuff, though, so I can't complain.  I got to attend my first Montalvo family reunion since becoming a Montalvo, and last weekend got to cheer on my Mister as he completed his second Tough Mudder challenge (can you believe?!).  We also got to spend 4th of July and the weekend following with great friends and their adorable girls, Noah and Piper.  This weekend we will be heading up to San Francisco for a very exciting family gathering (more on that in a later post) and I thought these bars would be a good snack to take on the road with us.

Piper

Noah 

These would be great to make on a Sunday night to have on hand for weekday breakfasts/snacks.  Store the bars in an airtight container to ensure they stay nice and fresh.  I think next time I'll add in some chopped nuts for a little crunch.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Bars
1 c flour
2 1/2 c oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c applesauce
2 beaten eggs
1/2 c honey
1/4 c brown sugar*
1 medium apple, peeled and diced

*Note: I somehow spaced adding the brown sugar.  The bars turned out okay but needed a little something, so I drizzled mine with additional honey for a little more sweetness.  It was super yummy, especially topped with a little bit of greek yogurt!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.  Set aside.

Mix the flour, oats, baking soda and cinnamon in a medium bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, eggs, honey, brown sugar and mix well.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients until thoroughly combined.  Fold in the diced apples.  Spread mixture into prepared baking dish and bake approx. 17 minutes, until lightly golden brown.  Cool completely, cut into bars, enjoy!

Snacks are better when shared :)

Energizing Strawberry-Acai Parfaits

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Breakfast is a tough meal for me.  I'm the kind of person that is usually rushing out the door and realizing an hour later that I'm starving.  Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right?  I really need to work on fitting a few minutes into my morning to fuel up.

Luckily this recipe is super quick to put together, and as an added plus, has just the right ingredients to keep your energy up for a busy day.  Acai (pronounced ahh-sigh-ee) is loaded with antioxidants, and is conveniently available in many grocers' frozen section.  Costco carries a bag of individual smoothie-sized packages of acai, which are perfect for these parfaits.

For such a simple recipe, these parfaits are so delicious.  Creamy greek yogurt layered with granola and smooth fruit puree is the perfect marriage.  Feel free to use frozen strawberries if fresh isn't an option.  I found these beauties at the local Farmer's Market and couldn't resist them.

Strawberry-Acai Parfaits
|Serves 2| Prep time: 5 mins|
Greek yogurt (Fage is my favorite)
granola
1 package frozen acai
4-5 strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Blend the acai and strawberries until smooth.  Spoon some yogurt into the bottom of a shallow glass.  Top with a good spoonful of the fruit puree, and then with granola.  Repeat in layers to the top of the glass.  Drizzle with honey if desired.

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Crustless Spinach & Sausage Quiche {Breakfast for Dinner}

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I'll admit that some nights I just don't have it in me to put a lot of thought into dinner.  Don't get me wrong - I love cooking and I do find it to be somewhat therapeutic.  But at the end of a long day sometimes you need to come home and space out to Friends re-runs instead of standing over a hot stove.  This recipe is great for that.

Quiche is another one of those customizable ("kitchen sink," if you will) dishes.  It's a great way to use up extra veggies, and the cheesy goodness makes any quiche very kid friendly (helloooo, sneaky veggie hiders!)  Make this recipe yours - substitute your favorite cheeses, meats or veggies and see what combo your family loves.

PS - I apologize for the less than stellar photos.  We were rather hungry and eager to dig in.


Haphazardly placed avocado is a great garnish.

Crustless Quiche
|Serves 2-4| Prep time: 10 min.| Bake time: 40-50 min.|
6 eggs
1 1/2 c milk
4 oz. sausage (whatever kind you like)
1/2 small onion, diced
handful of baby spinach, chopped
1/2 c cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray an 8x8 casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Note: Make sure to beat the eggs well so that no egg white solids remain.  I didn't do this.  Baked egg whites turn out very tough.  Learn from me, people.  Add the chopped spinach and whisk.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, cook the sausage and onion in a skillet over medium heat until the onions are somewhat soft and the sausage is cooked through.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate.  Once sausage is drained well, spoon it into the bottom of baking dish.  Follow with cheese and any other veggies and then top with the egg mixture.  Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the quiche is set and top is golden brown.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.

"Kiss Me I'm Irish" Muffins {Irish Soda Bread Muffins}

Pin It Now! *yawn* G'Mornin'.  I detest daylight savings time, don't you?  I know, I know, we get an hour of extra sunlight at the end of the day blah blah blah, but for the first few days after the "Spring Forward" has sprung forward, I'm a sleepy mess.  I definitely couldn't get through it without a good (read: exhorbitant) amount of coffee.



I'm sure I'll come around and stop being a negative Nelly about it soon enough, but until then I guess you'll have to put up with my excessive coffee drinking and somewhat incoherent rambling. 



Even Chico is feelin' the lost hour :)

So this Saturday is some sort of Irish holiday if I'm not mistaken.  I had to get my butt up off the couch and accomplish a little something this weekend, so in the spirit of all things Irish I whipped up some Irish Soda Bread.  Kinda.  Loaves take longer to bake, so muffins were the way to go here.  I can stay awake for fifteen minutes.  Maybe.

Typically you would find raisins or currents in a traditional loaf of Soda Bread.  I'm not a huge fan of raisins (*gag*) but I do love me some cranberries, so since I'm the boss in my kitchen there will be no raisins in any baked goods.  Only cranberries.

And pistachios.

Mmmm.

I forgot how yummy and buttery pistachios are until I started snacking on taste testing the ingredients for this recipe.

What are your St. Patty's Day plans?  I'm sure you'll find me sleeping in and generally being a couch potato.

Irish Soda Bread Muffins

2 1/4 c AP flour

1/2 c granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 egg

1 c almond milk

1/4 c butter, melted

1/4 c vegetable oil

3/4 c dried cranberries

3/4 c pistachios, unsalted, roughly chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a muffin tin with baking cups.  Or spray it with cooking spray if that's what you're into.

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or you can stir it up by hand as well) mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda.  In a separate bowl, stir together the egg, almond milk, melted butter and vegetable oil.  Add the wet mixture into the dry and mix until thoroughly combined, but do not overbeat.  Finally, mix in the dried cranberries and chopped pistachios.

Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full.  Sprinkle the tops with a bit of sugar.  Bake for approx. 15 minutes, or until tops are slightly golden and a tester comes out clean.

Yields 1 dozen muffins.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home.

Flaxseed Pancakes for my Mudder

Pin It Now! On Saturday Hubby participated in the SoCal Tough Mudder event in Temecula.  For those of you not familiar with Tough Mudder (as I was up until a couple of months ago), it is a 10-12 mile challenge made up of 20+ grueling obstacles.  You can check out the tough Mudder site here.  Hubby loved it and is already anxious to sign up for the next TM event.  He may be a bit crazy.  As it turns out, Lindsay from Delighted Momma happened to be there watching her husband participate, as well.  Small blogger's world, right? :)

Pre-Mudder PhotoOp

Post-Mudder Victory Beer

As you can imagine, Sunday we were a bit sluggish.  While my Mudder relaxed with the pup, I got to making breakfast.  Comfort food is the best medicine, right?  Or something like that...

We received the Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook for our wedding last year, and whadya know, there's a pancake recipe in there.  I followed the recipe, with the only change being the addition of ground flaxseeds.  Actually, the recipe calls for blueberries, but we didn't have those on hand.  You could definitely customize this to your preference.  Sliced bananas would be a great addition.  What are your favorite pancake add-ins?

Flaxseed Pancakes
1 1/2 c AP flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
2 c buttermilk
4 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c ground flaxseeds

In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, buttermilk and melted butter until blended completely.  Add the wet mixture to the dry and stir until just combined.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form when the beaters are lifted. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter just until fully incorporated.  Do not over mix, or your egg whites will lose their body.

Let the pancake making commence!

Flaxseed Banana Bread with Nutella Surprise

Pin It Now! Happy Valentine's Day to you all!  I know I've been rather absent lately - so sorry.  Are you all still with me?  Hello?  Oh good, you're still there.  We've had loads going on as we are pretty much overhauling our entire apartment.  This week is move-everything-out-and-get-the-carpets-cleaned week.  Joy.

We aren't really into the whole hoopla of Valentine's Day, especially since our anniversary and my birthday are right before, but I do like to whip up a little something for my Valentine just to remind him that I kinda like him.  Since he has to work late tonight, and since we have so much going on this week with the house, we'll make a belated Valentine's dinner later in the week (I promise to post the yummy-ness). 

So, on to today's recipe... I have to make a confession:  I don't eat breakfast.  I KNOW!  Tsk tsk!  I'm so bad.  Either I hit the snooze button one (or four) too many times and have no time to make something, or nothing sounds good.  I'm working on it, I promise.  Today's recipe is a great on-the-go breakfast.  How do I know?  I'm munching on it as we chat. :)

The last banana bread I made was very dense and heavy, which I know some people like.  I much prefer a light crumb, and this recipe definitely delivered.  The addition of ground flaxseeds gives the bread a healthy kick and honestly, you don't even know it's there.  Flaxseeds are loaded with heart healthy Omega-3s (the good fats), lignans (antioxidants) and fiber.  Tiny little seeds with a powerful punch!  I purchase ground flaxseed at Trader Joe's and keep it in the fridge.

And then, there's Nutella.  This is a treat, after all.  After stirring up the banana bread batter I had the brilliant idea to incorporate Nutella - just a little surprise in the center of the bread.  So delish!  If you're a Nutella fan freak like me, you'll be happy you gave this recipe a try. 

Flaxseed & Nutella Banana Bread
1/2 c unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 c sugar
1/4 c brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
2 c AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 salt
1/4-1/2 c ground flaxseeds
1 c mashed banana (about 2 very ripe bananas)
3 tbsp buttermilk
Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9x5 loaf pan. 

Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla and beat well.  In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and flaxseeds.  In a separate small bowl, mash the bananas and mix with the buttermilk.  *Note:  I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I made my own.  3 tbsp milk with a squeeze of lemon juice.  Let stand for several minutes until thick.

Add flour alternately with the banana mixture to the butter/sugar mixture, mixing completely between each addition.  Spread half of the batter in the loaf pan.  Batter is thick, so you have to smoosh it into the corners.  Spoon Nutella down the center of the batter and spread with a spatula over most of the center.

How's THAT for an ugly photo???

Completely cover with the rest of the batter.

Finished product!

Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until tester comes out clean and the top of the loaf is beautfully golden brown.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool completely.  I have no self control and had to cut a slice while it was still hot.  It crumbled, so I had to eat the crumbles too.  Darn.

Adapted from busycooks.com