healthy blueberry donuts

Yay for Blueberry season!  I can't get enough of these juicy little bombs of deliciousness.  The kids and I have gone out, every week (sometimes twice) since blueberries came on and I still can't get enough of them.  I feel like I need about twice as much as I've already gotten and then I will have enough.

Today I gave a regular donut recipe a tweak to make it healthy and if you are expecting them to taste not healthy, you will be a tad disapointed.  They are delicious, but it's fairly obvious they are not packed with sugar and butter.  I'm not posting a poorly staged photo today because my computer hates me.  Rest assured that I took a poorly staged photo, I just can't post it.

I used fresh blueberries and they are really best as they don't bleed and they hold their shape well.  You can also use frozen though.  I like to thaw them in the fridge overnight.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
2 large eggs
1/2 cup almond milk (regular milk will work fine too)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Grease 2-6 well donut pans.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.  Set aside
3. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, honey, milk, oil, vanilla and almond extracts.  Add the flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula until just combined.
4.  There's a couple ways you can do this next step.  You can then gently fold in the blueberries and spoon them into the donut wells, or you can do what I did.  I spooned the batter into a ziplock bag and snipped off the corner, then I piped a small amount into each well.  Pressed 5-10 blueberries (depending on how big they are) into each donut and piped some more batter on top.  The wells should be about 2/3 full when done.
5. Bake in preheated oven until donut springs back when lightly touched.  10-12 minutes
6.  Let donuts cool in pan for a few minutes before turning out onto cooling rack.

Happy baking!

Apple Pie Oatmeal cookies

Here is a lovely plaguerized picture for you.  Trust me, it more accurately depicts the deliciousness of the finished product.  You're welcome.

These were really good and healthy enough that I thought them an appropriate breakfast food. In fact, they turned out a little more cakey than chewy and I thought about altering them a little and making them into a muffin.  More on that if I ever get around to it.

I've realized that I hardly ever make the recipe as I find it and always alter it a little here and there, so instead of copying and pasting and then telling you I did this different and I did that different, I've decided to just take the time to write the recipe I followed.  As always, you can substitute flours and sugars and butter for whatever flour I have and oil and agave, but then you may not feel as good about eating it for breakfast.

Ingrediants:
1 cup rolled oats (or instant works too)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large egg, room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave
1 cup finely diced apple of your choice

1. Whilsk together the oats, flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl.  In a seperate bowl, whisk together the olive oil, egg and vanilla.  Stir in the agave.  Add in the flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.  Fold in the apple.  Chill for 30 minutes (don't skip that step, it's important).
2.  Preheat the oven to 325 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat (don't skip this one either, you will regret it).
3.  Drop the cookie dough into 15 rounded scoops onto the prepared sheet and flatten slightly.  bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes.  Cool on the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

Blackberry crumble revisited

Tonight I made a blackberry crumble for Marky's birthday (and all the other July birthdays, but I made it because he doesn't care so much for cake) party tomorrow at North Fork.  The recipe for this little lady (yes she is a lady) can be found on my sweets and treats board on pinterest.  As is, I couldn't put it in healthy habits.

I staged it a little better than my last one.  See, I'm learning.  Anyway, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep Kristian out of it unless I made something else for him.  I have learned from past experience.  There is no stopping him.  I had used all my fresh blackberries, so I opened a can of peaches, drained it (mostly) and threw in some frozen blueberries (we also ate all the fresh blueberries).  The peaches were very sweet and so were the blueberries, so I skipped the sugar.  I did cut the peaches into more bite sized chunks.  Added a little vanilla to the mixture.  Than I put 1/3  cup old fashioned oats, 1/3 cup oat flour (just old fashioned oats taken for a spin in the blender), 1/4 cup brown sugar and a pinch of salt into the food processor.  Gave it a little pulse to mix then slowly added olive oil to the mix while pulsing in the food processor till the consistency looked right.  I would guess at probably 2 Tablespoons.  I have some single serving ramekins that are a miniature of the one pictured above.  I divided the fruit mix between two of those and topped with the topping, then popped it all in the oven at 350 for 25 minutes.  I  would advise putting them on a cookie sheet as they got a little rambunctious there in the end and started bubbling over the sides. 

 

They were delightful.  Kristian really loved them too, though he slightly ruined the nutritiousness of his by topping it with a hearty scoop (or three) of ice cream.  I won't say I didn't look on with envy.  All in all I would say this is breakfast worthy.  I don't know what I would call it.  Breakfast berry (or fruit) cobbler.  I was thinking that next time I would substitute some of the brown sugar for honey or agave, which would also cut back on how much olive oil I would need to moisten the topping, but may make it too gooey to spread evenly.  That will take some trial and error, I'll get back to you on that one.  Give this one a go.  If your making it for your family, use the blackberry crumble recipe and make the substitutions as you like.  You may not need to substitute the flour if you don't mind it in there, I just had to make it gluten free.  If you really wanted butter you could do half butter half olive oil.  The possibilities are endless.  Next time I get a fresh batch of berries, I'm making a full size one for breakfast.  It was fast and easy. 

 

P.S.  I've come to realize that I use parenthesis a lot (definitely more than the average person) in my writing.  They are so handy.

Seriously though people, make this one.  It's good. 

Blackberry Crumble

1 quart blackberries

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1/2 heaping cup oats

1/2 heaping cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mash slightly the blackberries, add the sugar and vanilla bean paste. Allow to mascerate while prepping the crumble topping.

In the bowl of a food processor (you can also do by hand), add oats, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add in 3/4 stick of butter cut into chunks and pulse food processor until small pea size crumbles form.

Butter a shallow baking dish. Add berries to the bottom and top with crumble topping. Add the remaining butter to the top cut into small chunks.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. Topping will appear to still be loose, but it will firm up when cool.

Serve warm on it's own or with a scoop of ice cream.