Whole Grain Pancakes

I am picky about pancakes. They have to be just the right mix. I don't like them dry. I like them having some moistness to them and being light as well. These fit my requirements nicely.They can be made quickly and they don't heat up your kitchen. They make a nice snack for later if you have leftovers too. :)

Ingredients:
2 C whole grain flour (I just used spelt)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T chia
2 eggs
2 T olive oil
2 T honey
1 1/2 C almond milk unsweetened
top with your favorite topping.

Directions:
1. Heat up griddle to about to about 300 degrees. Grease with oil.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir together with a wire whisk.

3. Add eggs, oil, honey and milk, Stir until just mixed.

4. Pour the batter on to griddle. Cook until light golden on both sides. Top with your favorite topping. I love them with homemade jam.

 Try these pancakes with our amazing Honey Buttermilk Syrup! You will love it!

  

Blender Whole Grain Spelt Banana Pancakes

Healthy Samoas Cookie Bars

I have often seen people make a homemade version of these, but I thought It would be fun to make a healthier version of them. I made these today. I was pleased with how they turned out. Yum! Healthy is always better. :)

Ingredients

for cookie base:
2 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 C honey
1/2 coconut oil
for the topping:
4 C shredded coconut unsweetened
1 can of coconut milk full fat
5 T honey
1 T coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
chocolate drizzle:
1/3 C dark chocolate chips
1 T coconut oil

Directions   Heat oven to 325

1. In a bowl mix together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir and set aside.
2. Melt honey in microwave for 30 seconds and then stir in oil. Stir into dry ingredients. Until all moistened.
3. Line a 9x9 Square pan with parchment paper. Leave it over hanging on 2 sides.
4. Press in cookie dough into pan. Bake until light golden for about 15 min.
5. Take out and let cool.
6. While it is baking. Put a large skillet on the stove. Pour in the coconut and let toast on medium heat. Be careful to stir often so it won't burn. You want it turn golden.
7. In a medium saucepan pour in the milk, honey, and oil cook on medium heat to soft ball stage stirring regularly. It will burn if you don't . Take off the heat and stir in the vanilla.
8. Put chocolate and oil in the microwave stirring often until it is all melted. Place in fridge.
9. Stir the coconut into caramel until the coconut until it all moistened.
10. Pour coconut topping on top of cookie base and press down evenly with a spatula.
11. Lift out of pan on to a hard surface. I used a cookie sheet. Cut into bars.
12. Separate the bars and drizzle on the chocolate.
13. Place in fridge to harden. Serve once chocolate hardens.
14. Store in air tight container in the fridge.

* You could dip the bottom of the cookie into the chocolate too.

Chewy Protein Energy Bars

I loved this picture of my daughter throwing up the leaves yesterday. She was an angel. She came and raked up and bagged 10 bags of leaves and carted them away. We have wonderful children who bless our lives in so many ways. I have loved the times my children and grandchildren have enjoyed playing in our leaves. There are a lot more leaves to come. The trees still have a lot of leaves on them. :) The raking and bagging is not over.

It is easy to find a lot of energy bars in the store. They are often very expensive and a lot a times you need a dictionary to decipher what the ingredient its. The safest bet and healthiest is to make your own ahead of time. Then you know exactly what you are eating.  The key is to make up a batch of them ahead of time and then you will have them ready to go when you need them.

These are loaded with protein. They are low in sweetener and taste great. You can make them your own by being creative and adding your favorite dried fruit or you can leave it out. I left it out this time.  I loved the soft chewiness of these bars. They also had just the right amount of sweetness.  Have a great weekend.


Ingredients

1/2 C chia ground *
1 C Old fashioned oatmeal
1/2 C sunflower seeds
1/4 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
1/2 C dried fruit of your choosing * optional
1/2 C raw almonds
1/2 C raisins
1/2 C soft dates
1 tsp cinnamon
2 T coconut oil
5 T honey
2 eggs


Directions  Heat oven to 350

1. In a blender or food processor, pulse and blend everything except oil.  honey and eggs. Blend until all broken down.
2. Pour in bowl add oil, honey and eggs. Blend until all combined. I used a wire whisk to get it all to blend together. It will be a thick paste.
3. Grease a 9x9 pan (I love the way stone ware cooks.) Grease pan or line with parchment paper.
4. Place in oven and bake about 15 min or until done.
5. Take out of oven and let cool about 15 min before cutting.
6. Store wrapped up in air tight container individually so they are ready to grab. You can store in the fridge for 3 days or freeze them up to 3 months.

* I ground up chia ahead of time in a small grinder.

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Pumpkin muffins are one of my favorite kind of muffins. These are no exception. They were moist and delicious. The flavor was fantastic. I loved adding the chia for extra protein. They were wonderful while I ate this Coconut Curried Butternut Soup. 

Ingredients

1C buttermilk or milk + 1T vinegar (let sit for 20 min)
1/2 C honey
2 T coconut oil
2 eggs
1/3 C chia
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 C canned pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
2 C spelt flour or whole grain flour

Directions   heat oven 375  makes 30 mini muffins

1. Beat in blender together milk, honey, oil and eggs. Then pulse in vanilla. Then pulse in pumpkin puree. Set aside.
2. In small bowl pour in pumpkin spice, salt, baking powder and flour. Stir together with wire whisk.
3. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Stir until all combined.
4. Grease muffin pans and scoop muffin mix into pans and place into heated oven.
5. Bake 10-12 min.
6. Take out of the oven and take out of the pan and cool on a cooling rack.

Peanut Butter and Jam Sandwich Bars

These are a fun tasty snack. They could also be a fun thing to eat for lunch in place of a sandwich. It is a yummy combination of flavors your will love. I love eating peanut butter and jam together on toast. If you love peanut butter and jam sandwiches you will love these. My grandchildren will love them too.


Ingredients

1 C old fashioned oatmeal
1 C spelt flour or whole grain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 C coconut oil
1/2 C honey
1 C creamy peanut butter (natural)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 C fruit only (no sugar) jam  flavor of your choice

Directions

1. In a small bowl mix together oatmeal, flour, and baking powder. Set the bowl aside.
2. In a medium bowl beat together oil, honey, and peanut butter. Then beat in vanilla.
3. Beat in eggs one at a time. The mixture should be smooth and creamy.
4. Beat or stir in the dry ingredients into the peanut butter mixture until all combined.
5. In an 8 X 8 square pan Scoop in half of the dough. Smooth out on to the bottom of the pan.
6. Then drop spoonfuls of the jam on top of the dough in the pan and smooth out with the back of a spoon or a spatula.
7. Drop the remaining dough on top of the jam. In spoonfuls all over. Then spread gently with a butter knife or spatula. Try not to disturb the jam too much.
8. Place in heated oven. Cooking time 20-25 min. or until golden colored. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 min. It gives the jam a chance to thicken up.
9. Cut into squares and serve. Store leftovers in air tight container.

Whole Grain Cornbread

It is fun to make cornbread. I love to make it with wholegrain flours too. It was a great addition to the layered cornbread salad that I made.

Ingredients

6 T melted coconut oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 T honey
1 1/2 C buttermilk (I used 1% milk and added 1 1/2 T vinegar let sit for 5 to 10 min)
1 C cornmeal
3/4 C whole grain flour (I used spelt)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions Bake at 400 degrees

1. Beat together oil, eggs, honey and buttermilk in small bowl. Set the bowl aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together the remaining ingredients.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir until all combined.
4. Pour into greased square pan. I love to cook whole grains in stoneware.
5. Bake about 25 min or until done.
6. Take out and  rub coconut oil on top and let cool. Then serve.

Zucchini Carrot Muffookies (Whole Grain)

I hope the name of these puts a smile on your face like it does wit me. My daughter Deanna came up with a name for these. She said they were a combination of a cookie and a muffin. It is fun to come up with names instead of the traditional names. I am all for that plan. These were a hit with my family. My husband was sneaking a couple before  got a picture of them. I managed to save a couple for the picture. This is a great way to use your zucchini out of the garden too. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 whole grain flour (I used spelt flour)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 T cornstarch
1/2 C coconut oil
1/2 C honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 C grated zucchini
1 /2 C grated carrot
2 C oatmeal
1 C dark chocolate chips

Directions  Heat oven to 350

1. In a bowl pour in the flour, salt, cinnamon, soda, cornstarch, and blend until all combined with a wire whisk set aside.
2. In a separate bowl beat together oil, honey, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.
3. Pour in the zucchini and carrots and blend until combined.
4. Stir in the flour mixture too.
5. Then stir in the oatmeal and then the chips. Let sit to thicken a couple minutes.
6. Scoop on to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or on a greased cookie sheet.
7. Place in heated oven and bake until light golden about 10 min.
8. Cool on cooling rack and enjoy. Store in airtight container.

Summer Vegetables Quesadillas

Quesadillas are always a big hit at our house. So I thought it would be fun to add some Summer vegetables that are available right now. I love all the flavor that it adds to the quesadillas.

Ingredients

6 whole grain tortillas (make your own whole grain tortillas)
3 T oil (I used grape seed)
1 C chopped zucchini chopped
1 C yellow squash chopped
1/4 C purple onion chopped
2 green onion chopped
1/4 jalapeño chopped
1 C chopped red peppers
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 C chopped cilantro chopped
1 tomato chopped up
1 C chopped cooked chicken * optional (for non vegetarian version)
1/2 C cheese ( I used mozzarella)
Salt and pepper to taste

garnish: 
chopped tomatoes
cilantro chopped
plain greek yogurt
salsa

Directions     Serves 6

1. Heat a skillet on medium heat put in zucchini, yellow squash, onion, green onion and jalapeño. Cook until softened. Stir in the lime juice
2. Toss in the tomatoes,  and optional *chicken and cook until just heated thoroughly. Take off the heat.
3. Place skillet on medium heat. Cook 2 tortillas on both sides until light golden. Place one on the skillet and then distribute 1/3 C of vegetable mixture on to the tortilla. Pour on 3 T cheese. Place another tortilla on top. Cook on both sides. If you have a quesadilla maker or tortilla maker to cook it in that would be easier.
4, Take off the heat once the cheese melts. Garnish with toppings and serve.

Blueberry Muffin Top Bars

So I don't know if you are like me but, it is sometimes not fun to clean out muffin pans. So this is a nice way to enjoy the muffin goodness without all the mess. These are low in fat and sugar and a great way to start your day or a healthy snack.

Ingredients

2 C old fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2 C spelt flour or whole grain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 C water or almond milk
1/2 C honey
1/4 C coconut oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 C blueberries

Directions Bake at 350

1. In a medium sized bowl mix together oatmeal, spelt, soda, salt and cinnamon. Set the bowl aside.
2. In another bowl. beat together the water, honey, oil, and eggs.
3. Fold wet mixture into dry mixture until all combined.
4. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Grease a jelly roll pan. Spread mixture into the pan.
6. Place in preheated oven bake 25-30 min or till done.
7. Cool and serve.

Magic Bar Bites (Healthier Version)

This recipe was created when I was thinking about how to make magic bars healthier. They are a dessert that is often served at Christmas time especially, but they are eaten all year. These are a healthier version. The flavor is not sacrificed. They are not an exact match, but they come close without all the added calories. Hooray!

 Ingredients

1 C unsweetened shredded coconut
1 C nuts chopped (I used cashews, pecans, walnuts, or almonds would be great too.)
1/2 C spelt flour or wholegrain flour
3 T coconut oil
1 T honey
1/4 C dark chocolate chips (chopped small)

 Directions makes about 14

1. In a small bowl blend together coconut, nuts and flour with a fork.
2. Then blend together the remaining ingredients into the nut mixture.
3. Put the mixture in the fridge at least 15 min to let it harden.
4. Take out of the fridge and form into balls with your hands.
5. Place back in air tight container in the fridge to harden.
6. Then enjoy a mouthful of yummy goodness.

7. Store in airtight container in the fridge.

Try these cashew coconut cookie dough bites

Whole Grain Honey Rolls

We had a delicious day yesterday. I love to go to church. We had my Mom over for dinner along with some of our children. The Summer weather was beautiful. We enjoyed eating outside. One of our favorite parts of Summer. Is eating out in our gazebo together. These rolls were the best part of the meal. They were light and yummy. 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 T Yeast
2 C Warm Water
1 1/2 C Almond milk (You could use another kind of milk)*
1/3 C +1 T. Honey
1/3 Coconut Oil Or oil of your choice
1 egg
3/4 T Salt
5 C Kamut flour
5 C Spelt  flour (add more if needed)

Directions:

1. Pour warm water into a bowl with yeast and 1 T honey. Let sit till bubbles. 10-15 min. (If it doesn't bubble your yeast is not good. I don't even stir the yeast in. Just pour it on top of the water. No need to stir.)

2. Then add to the water the milk*, honey, oil, egg, salt, mix together in bread mixer.

3. Then add the flour one cup at a time. While kneading in bread mixer.  and knead for 3-4 min. Don't over knead. You want the dough to be sticky to the touch. Rub oil all over the dough.

5. Place in bowl cover and let rise until double about an hour.

6. Grease cookie sheets. Put oil on hands, and from the dough into rolls. Place on cookie sheet.

7. Let rise until about double.

8. Bake 350 15-18 minutes . Watch them they should be golden on top. Rub some butter on them when you take them out. They taste great with honey on them. =) Made 24 large rolls. (could be more)

They taste delicious with home made honey butter. Beat softened butter and honey together. Yum!

* If you use regular milk heat until it starts to steam, just prior to boiling. Cool off before you pour into yeast mixture.

Moist Whole Grain Banana Cake or Bread

I had some really really over ripe bananas today. My two children that were here said I should make them into banana bread. I thought that was a great idea. It is rainy here today. It felt like a great day to bake. I was very happy how it turned out. Reducing the banana liquid adds a lot of flavor to the bread. You don't need a lot of other sweetener. It was moist and delicious. This could be made into a bread or cake. Yum! 


Ingredients
5 bananas 
1/2 C melted coconut oil 
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2  C honey
2 C spelt or whole grain flour of your choice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt


Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease pan with non stick oil.

2. Peel all the bananas place in microwave safe dish. Cover with plastic and poke a few wholes to vent. Place in microwave for 5 min on high. Take out and put bananas in a strainer over a bowl. Stir and mash the bananas to get out the liquid. It should be about 1/2 to 3/4 C in the bowl. I got a 3/4 C. Then pour liquid in a small saucepan on the stove. Turn on to med heat. Reduce until it cooks down to 1/4 C of liquid. The goal is to have a concentrated liquid, that will add a lot of flavor to the bread or cake. :)

3. Stir the 1/4 C liquid to bananas. Mash the bananas till they are all mashed. You could use a masher. I used the back of a plastic spoon. Then add honey ,eggs, oil, and vanilla. Beat together, and set aside.

4. In another bowl whisk the flour, salt and baking soda.

5. Stir the flour mixture into banana mixture until just combined.

6. Pour into greased loaf pan or square stoneware pan. 30-45 min. Till toothpick comes out clean.

8.  I rubbed a little coconut oil on top when it came out of the oven. Cool in pan on wire rack for 15 min. Then remove from pan and serve. 

Toasted Coconut Cashew Pancakes

Aloha Pancakes!

Love the Beach!

We just had an amazing week in Hawaii with our whole family. There was 16 of us. Even our 3 grandchildren came. Our grandchildren thought the beach was wonderful. I could just watch them play on it and enjoy it for hours.  We had a marvelous time. This is where we stayed. LOVED this beach. That was right out our back door. Listening and watching the waves brings me so much peace. It will be a cherished memory. We missed out on having coconut macadamia pancakes so I did some today. I replaced the macadamias with cashews. They were a yummy treat.

Ingredients
1 C unsweetened shredded coconut
1 C chopped in blender cashews unsalted (macadamia would be great too)
2 T coconut oil
2 T honey
2 C spelt or whole grain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 C Almond milk
2 T honey
3 T coconut oil
1 T vinegar
1 egg
1/2 tsp almond extract

Directions  serves 4
1. Place a skillet on the stove on medium low heat. pour in the coconut and let toast. Stirring it often. It will take a couple minutes. Then stir in the nuts, oil and honey. Let let the nuts toast until a light golden. Take off the heat and let cool.
2. In a medium bowl pour in flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a whisk until all combined.
3. Then stir in the milk, honey, oil, vinegar, egg and extract. Until just combined.
4. Fold in 1 cup of the nut mixture. Reserve the remaining amount.
5. Heat a skillet and lightly grease.
6. Pour on the pancake mixture on to the skillet and cook on both sides.
7. Take off the skillet and top with remaining nut mixture and fruit,  syrup or jam would be good to. I liked them just with the nut mixture and fruit. Delicious.

Mango Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients
2 3/4 C spelt flour or whole grain flour 
1/2 C quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder (aluminum free, please)
2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 C almond milk
2/3 C honey
1 tsp. vanilla 
1/2 C coconut oil
1 C Mango puree (mashed mangoes)

Directions makes 18-24 muffins
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Grease muffin pans. 
3. Mix together dry ingredients  in a large bowl.
4. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, milk, honey, vanilla, and the puree mango. Add wet mixture to dry ingredients stir until just blended.
5. Fill muffin cups.
6. Bake 10-15 min. Take out of pan and let cool. 

Spelt Waffle Parfaits

Today I enjoyed a wonderful morning walk with my wonderful mother. I sure do love her. She is an amazing influence in my life. That teaches me from example and love. I will forever be grateful for her and the the way she has blessed me and my family. It was wonderful to see the signs of Spring coming. We saw some beautiful daffodils and new growth on trees. It is wonderful to see the world waking up. :) Happy Spring!

 I just spent a wonderful vacation in Mexico. The sunshine, water and blue sky were heavenly. It was a treat to have all that time with my husband. Life is sweet.

This is a fun way to serve your waffles. They could be a nice breakfast, brunch or dessert. Yum! I just finished eating one of them, and it tasted really good. You can decide what kind of fruit you want as your topping. You could even have make your own parfaits. There are a lot of fun options.

Ingredients

Spelt waffles

2 C spelt flour or whole grain flour

2 T cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 large eggs
1/4 C coconut oil (Melted)
1 3/4 kefir or yogurt or buttermilk
2 T honey 
1 tsp lemon juice * optional
1 tsp lemon zest * optional
2 T cream tarter

Topping

plain yogurt

strawberry jam

fruit: blueberries and bananas or fruit of your choosing

Directions:  makes about 8 waffles

1. In a medium size bowl mix flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda with a wire whisk. Set aside.

2. Separate the eggs in two separate bowls. Into the egg yolks stir in the oil, kefir, honey, * lemon juice and *zest. Stir into the flour mixture until all moistened.

3. Beat the egg whites adding the cream of tarter till stiff peaks. Fold into the flour mixture. Set aside. (I have found if I let it sit 5 to 10 min. It grow and makes better waffles and pancakes

4. Bake the waffles in a preheated waffle iron. ( I wanted them a little more crispy since I was adding them to the  yogurt.) Take out and let cool. Cut into small squares. You could freeze leftover waffles in zip locks.

5. Place a few of the cut up waffles in the bottom of the parfait dish. 

6. In a small bowl mix yogurt and jam together. Spoon some on top of the  cut up waffles. 

7. Put a few banana slices and some blueberries on top. Then top with some more cut up waffles. Then some yogurt on top and you could end with a little fruit on top. Enjoy!

*Seve right away so the waffles don't get soggy.

Hawaiian Whole Grain Mango Bread

 So we were in Hawaii last week. It was so nice to be warm. One of the fun things we heard about there was they have mango bread. I didn't have any there but as excited about making some when I got home. This is what I came up with. It is delicious and moist and you will love it. The mango is a wonderful addition to the bread. The texture of this bread was wonderful. Read here about some of the benefits of eating mangoes. This bread would be a great addition to your breakfast or anytime of the day. Have a wonderful Valentine's weekend! Tell those you love that you love them. :)

Also want to mention it is Britney's 30th birthday today. She is my partner on this blog and also my beautiful oldest daughter that has brought so much joy into my life as well as my husbands. It was so wonderful to have her on Valentines. I will never forget the first time of holding her. My dream of being a mother had come true. She had big beautiful eyes that were ready to see the world as soon as she came out. She is now a mother too. She has brought 3 beautiful little grandsons into our lives. Life is sweet. I am so glad to be her Mom and have her as a friend too. I love you Britney!     

Ingredients
1 1/4 C spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 C coconut oil
1/2 C honey
2 eggs beaten
1 C mango puree
1/4 C unsweetened shredded coconut
*optional 1/4 C chopped nuts and or raisins (I didn't add them)

Directions Heat oven to 350 Grease an 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" loaf pan 
1. Pour measured flour, soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a small bowl and whisk it until it is all combined.Set aside.
2. In another small bowl pour in measured oil, honey, eggs and mango puree. Beat together until all creamy 1-2 min.
3. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients. Stir with a spoon until all combined. Fold in the coconut.
4. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan. Place on the counter and let rise about 10 min. So the baking soda and baking powder can do their job.
5. Place in oven and bake until toothpick comes out clean. About 40 min.
6. Take out of pan and let cool on a wire rack.  Enjoy! Happy Birthday to Britney today. I love you!
 
                   

Moist Whole Grain Pumpkin Bars

So I know it isn't Fall but I eat pumpkin all year long. I started looking at recipes with pumpkin, and that is all it took to make me want to make something with pumpkin. Pumpkin is such a wonderful ingredient to add to recipe. It adds this wonderful texture and moistness to the recipe. This recipe was a winner. They could be eaten all day long even for a quick breakfast.

Ingredients
1 1/2 C spelt flour
1/4 C old fashioned oatmeal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 C honey
1/2 C coconut oil
3/4 C pumpkin puree
2 tsp vanilla
2 T black strap molasses
1/2 C dark chocolate chips

Directions  Heat oven at 325

1. In a medium bowl pour in flour, oatmeal, baking powder, salt stir together and set aside.
2. In a small bowl mix honey, oil, pumpkin, vanilla and molasses. Stir until all blended together and smooth.
3. Stir in the flour into wet mixture until all combined. Fold in the chips.
4. Grease an 8x8 pan or line with parchment paper. Spread the mixture in the pan.
5. Bake until cooked all the way through about 20 to 25 min.
6. Take out of the oven and let it cool. Cut into squares. Yum!   





 

Whole Grain Chocolate Heart Bites



Whole Grain Chocolate Heart Bites

Silicone pan heart pan

Our fun continues finding fun healthy ways to celebrate and enjoy Valentines Day. One of our favorite holidays of the year. :) I found this darling silicone heart pan at WalMart. I couldn't pass it up. So I started coming up with recipes to fill it with. Here is one of them. They are a fun little bite size treat and they even are healthy, which is a nice bonus. The nice thing with eating whole grain is it fills you up faster, and so don't need to eat as many to get filled up. These are a cross between a cake and a brownie. YUM!

Ingredients
1 C whole grain flour (I used all spelt)
2 tsp baking powder
2 T cocoa
dash of salt
1/2 C almond milk
2 T coconut oil
5 T honey

Directions makes 24 small hearts or mini muffins
1. Preheat oven 350 degrees. Pour all the dry ingredients together and stir with a whisk until all combined.
2. Make a well in the middle and and pour the wet ingredients in the well. Stir until all combined.
3. Grease heart pan or you could also use a mini muffin pan.
4. Scoop into each hole until it almost reaches the top. Place in oven . Bake for 10 to 13 minutes if you are using a mini-muffin-sized pan. (You will have to adjust the time if you are using a different-sized pan. Bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.)
5. Let the pan cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Scoop out gently. A knife may help in lifting them out.
6. Cool on the wire rack. (You could dust them with powdered sugar if desired.) Enjoy!

Whole Grain Heart Pancakes--A Healthy Breakfast for Valentine's Day




Whole Grain Heart-shaped Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup and powdered sugar

Heart Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup and Buttermilk Syrup. Mmmm!

So here at Grain Crazy we decided to make Valentine's season start a little earlier so it can last longer. It is one of our favorite times of the year. It is also Britney's birthday, so that makes it extra special to us.   So we are going to bring you some healthier options for Valentine's Day in the next couple weeks.

I used spelt flour for the pancakes, but you could substitute your favorite whole grain flour. I've included both the recipes for Strawberry Syrup and my favorite Honey Buttermilk Syrup. The pancakes are good with one, but even better with both!

Ingredients
Pancakes
2 C whole grain flour (I used spelt.)
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt  optional
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
2 T coconut oil
1 T honey
1 1/2 C almond milk unsweetened

Strawberry Syrup
2 1/2 C frozen strawberries, thawed
1 tsp lemon juice
3 T honey

Buttermilk Syrup
3 T butter
1/2 C honey
1/2 C buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, use 1/2 C milk and 2 tsp vinegar)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 t vanilla
2 tsp almond extract (optional (but so good!))

Toppings
strawberries, cut up
sifted powdered sugar


Directions
1. Heat up griddle to about to about 300 degrees. Grease with oil.

2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir together with a wire whisk.

3. Add eggs, oil, honey, and milk, Stir until just mixed.

4. Pour the batter on to griddle. Cook until light golden on both sides.  Then take them off the griddle and cut into heart shapes using a cookie cutter. You can then decide what topping you want on them.  

cutting out the hearts

5. For Strawberry Syrup place the strawberries, juice and honey into blender and blend until smooth. 

6. Sift with powdered sugar if desired. 

7. For Buttermilk Syrup, place a saucepan on medium low heat. Pour in butter, buttermilk, and honey. Let the mixture come to a boil for 2 minutes. Take off the heat stir in baking soda, vanilla, and almond extract. Serve over warm pancakes.

8. Place cut up strawberries on top. 

* Cut up bananas would be delicious too.
* I found the squeeze bottle at walmart for 2 for $2.00. It makes it a fun way to apply the syrup.


You might also like to check our Strawberry Vanilla Valentine Pudding. It is such an elegant, yummy dessert!

Blender Whole Grain Spelt Banana Pancakes

I made these last night and they tasted so good. I loved the texture of them. It used to be that I wasn't a big fan of pancakes because they were so dry. I now have learned to really enjoy them. It is because I have found recipes that our not dry. Yum!

My grandson (picky eater) as well as the whole family loved them. It was so nice seeing them eat something that was loaded  with some great nutrition. We also had fried eggs with them. They balanced out the meal nicely. It was a great dinner. Enjoy your weekend.


Ingredients:
2 C almond milk
4 T flax seeds
2 ripe banana
1 1/2 C spelt flour
1/2 C kamut
2 T honey
2 T coconut oil
1 T baking powder
1 tsp apple pie spice
dash of salt to 1/4 tsp
toppings: bananas, blueberries preserves  buttermilk syrup  

Directions:
1. Pour into a blender milk, and flax seed. Blend a couple minutes. (until the flax seed all ground up)
2. Put the rest of the ingredients into the blender. Blend for a couple minutes until all combined.   
3. Let rest for 5 min and then pour on hot griddle. Cook until done on both sides.
4. Top with your favorite topping.