Peanut Butter Bread

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup chunky peanut butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in the peanut butter until crumbly. Combine the egg, milk and vanilla; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened.
2. Transfer to a greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in.loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

Try making this with all natural Chunky Peanut Butter from The Granola Tree

http://shop.thegranolatree.com/Chunky-Natural-Peanut-Butter-10002.htm

Banana Oat Pancakes

1 1/4 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 sm. ripe bananas, mashed
2 lg. eggs
1/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 c. quick cooking oats
1/2 c. nuts, chopped

Grease and flour an 8 x 4 x 2 1/2 inch loaf pan. Mix flour and baking powder, salt and cinnamon together. In a bowl, mix oil, sugar, and eggs. Beat in bananas until well blended. Add flour mixture and stir until it is moistened. Stir in oats and nuts. Pour into greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 55 minutes.

Granny's Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients

• 2 cups rolled oats
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1 cup scalded whole milk
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl pour the boiling water over the rolled oats. Add the scalded milk and stir. Pour in the oil and molasses. Stir well.
2. In a separate bowl mix the sugar with the yeast and 1 cup of the flour. When the oatmeal mixture has cooled to lukewarm add the yeast-flour mixture. Stir in the salt and remaining 5 cups of flour. Knead dough for 6 to 8 minutes. Place the dough in a covered greased bowl and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
3. Punch the dough down. Knead for 2 minutes. Divide dough into two pieces and place into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Cover pans and let rise until almost doubled in size.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F (175 degrees C) oven for 1 hour, or until nicely browned. Let the loaves cool on a rack. Remove loaves from pan; wrap well and store in a cool spot.

Cheesy Quinoa Pilaf with Spinach

This creamy pilaf incorporates the fluffy, nutty-flavored grain, quinoa, with a decadent and delicious goat cheese gouda. This has an amazing flavor and texture. Try serving with steamed salmon. I think this would work well with pine nuts as well as a variety of other cheeses. Try regular goat, Parmesan, blue, etc.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup grated goat gouda cheese

Directions

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa, and cook until the quinoa is tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain in a mesh strainer, and rinse until cold; set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stir in the sunflower seeds, and cook until lightly toasted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic, and cook until the garlic softens and the aroma mellows, about 2 minutes. Stir in the cooled quinoa and spinach; cook and stir until the quinoa is hot, and the spinach has wilted. Stir in the lemon juice, and all but a pinch of the cheese. Stir until the cheese has melted. Serve sprinkled with the remaining cheese.

Quinoa Tabbouleh

 

Ingredients

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 pinch salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 2 bunches green onions, diced
• 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 3 TBS chopped mint

Directions

1. In a saucepan bring water to a boil. Add quinoa and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature; fluff with a fork.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice, tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, mint and parsley. Stir in cooled quinoa.

Oat Shortbread Cookies

 

Ingredients

1  cup all-purpose flour

3  tablespoons sugar

1/2  cup butter

1/3  cup rolled oats

 

Directions

In a medium mixing bowl combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs and starts to cling. Stir in rolled oats. Form mixture into a ball and knead until smooth.

To make shortbread wedges

On an ungreased cookie sheet pat or roll the dough into an 8-inch circle. Make a scalloped edge. Cut circle into 16 wedges. Leave wedges in the circle. Bake in a 325 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until bottom just starts to brown and center is set. Cut circle into wedges again while warm. Cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. Makes 16 wedges.

To make shortbread rounds

On a lightly floured surface roll the dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Use a 1-1/2-inch cookie cutter to cut 24 rounds. Place them 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake in the 325 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 24 rounds.

To make shortbread strips

On a lightly floured surface roll dough into an 8x6-inch rectangle about 1/2 inch thick. Using a knife, cut into twenty-four 2x1-inch strips. Place 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the 325 degree F oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 24 strips.

Peanut Butter Shortbread Rounds

Recipe from The Canadian Baker 

As I sit here, snow is falling outside my window. The weather has not changed a bit since last week. To warm myself up, I combined two things I love and made one scrumptious cookie.

Peanut Butter Shortbread Rounds are the ultimate shortbread cookie. They are soft, tender and melt-in-your-mouth heaven. Really, you don't have to chew if you don't want to. When you touch the cookies, you can feel the butter. By baking them at a lower temperature, they bake for longer and do not brown like regular cookies. Using natural peanut butter for this recipe is best since you get unadulterated peanutty flavour but I suppose you could use regular PB but I can't vouch for how they'll taste.

These gems are not time consuming to pull together so just give yourself time for rolling, chilling and baking and you'll be fine. They may look unassuming but they have lots of flavour. If you want to make them more interesting, roll the cookies thinner (1/8 inch) and sandwich them together with jam or melted chocolate. If you do that, then why not drizzle some chocolate over top? They would look fabulous and be even more perfect for sharing with the ones you love.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour

To Make Dough:
In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed for one minute to soften it. Gradually add the sugars and beat until well blended, about 1 1/2 minutes. Add the peanut butter, salt and vanilla extract and mix at medium-low speed until blended, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. At low speed, add the flour and mix until just blended. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, divide in half, and shape into 2 discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours (or up to 3 days.)

Cut and Bake the Cookies
Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 300 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Place one of the chilled dough discs on a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/4 inch. Using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as possible from the dough. Arrange on one of the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them 3/4 inch apart. Gather up the scraps, rewrap them, and chill for about 15 minutes before rerolling and cutting more cookies.

Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 24 to 28 minutes, until they are just firm but not browned. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer them carefully to a wire rack and cool completely. Repeat the rolling, cutting and baking procedure with the remaining dough. Makes about 40 cookies.