Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

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Look at me, back in action and keeping up with my blog posting! Well now that I have somewhat of a schedule and a working computer be prepared for some OUT OF THIS WORLD recipes. Haha not really, but still quite tasty and down right Pinterest worthy right?!

This recipe is one I came up with yesterday morning. I had bought some blueberries and they were extremely plain and almost flavorless. I get it, its a tad too early for blueberries, but I could eat buckets of blueberries so whenever they are sold I can't resist and buy them knowing they are not going to be nearly as delicious and ripe as they should be. If I just wait a few more weeks I can have an endless selection of blueberries at my finger tips, being that I literally live in the blueberry capital of the world.

However, I bought the pint of blueberries. Since I did not want to eat them plain I figured I'd bake something with them. I decided to go with a good old blueberry bar. Its nice and sweet thanks to making a sauce with the blueberries and honey, but also toasty and crunch because of the oatmeal and walnuts.

Mmm mmm. I could eat the whole batch, but I won't. At least I hope I won't.

If you went out and bought blueberries a bit too early don't eat them its not worth it. Make these bars, they are well worth it!

Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

Makes 12-16 bars

Ingredients

For the bars

• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, dark or light
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 a teaspoon cinnamon
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

For the Filling

• 1 2/3 cups blueberries
• 3 tablespoons honey, or sugar but I prefer honey
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• A pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line an 8 in square baking dish with parchment paper, or foil with non stick spray.
3. In a large bowl, mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together.
4. Add the melted butter and mix with a fork until combined and a light crumb forms.
5. Press half of the mixture into the prepared dish and bake for 12 minutes.
6. While baking the crust; Prepare filling by adding the blueberries, honey, cornstarch, nutmeg, cinnamon and lemon juice to a medium sauce pan.
7. Stir ingredients and continue to cook over medium heat until sauce thickens, about 7 minutes.
8. Pour over crust and top with remaining mixture.
9. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of nuts over the top, and bake for about 30 minutes.
10. Let cook in pan on a wire cooling rack.
11. Once cool cut into bars and enjoy!

On The Lighter and Brighter Side of The Morning

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Baked Oatmeal

with Bananas and Blueberries

Hello hello! So I know this site is loaded with scrumptious baked goodness but I eat a lot more than just all these sweets. I surprisingly eat quite healthy and enjoy making nutritious meals and snacks. This recipe is a delicious but healthy breakfast loaded with sweet flavor from the blueberries, banana's, honey, and cinnamon.

I am someone who never skips breakfast, ever. I enjoy a huge Belgium Waffle every now and then but for the most part I actually crave a good bowl of oatmeal. I wanted to make it a little more amped up for a change so I decided to try a new way of making my oatmeal, as opposed to throwing it in the microwave.

So I decided to throw it in the oven :).

I have had baked oatmeal at a few breakfast joints before but its so overloaded with cream and sugar that you might as well chow down on those pancakes and syrup. So I decided to make this with out all the loaded fat and sugar. This can be done by just a few simple swaps. Using a natural sweetener like honey, and non fat milk. The rest of the flavor comes naturally from the fruit. I added quite a bit of cinnamon just because I can never have enough cinnamon flavor, but can ya blame me?!

This breakfast is a perfect well rounded meal with healthy carbs, fiber, and vitamins. It's also so delicious you can enjoy this as a snack or dessert.

Enjoy! <3

Baked Oatmeal
with Blueberries and Bananas 

Ingredients

• 2 medium ripe bananas, sliced into 1/2" pieces
• 1 1/2 cup blueberries
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 cup uncooked quick oats
• 1/4 cup chopped almonds, walnuts might work better but I didn't have any
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup fat free milk 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°  & lightly spray a 8 x 8" or 9 x 9"  baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Place the banana slices on the bottom of the baking dish.
3. Pour half of the blueberries over the bananas with 1/4  of the cinnamon, and 1 tbsp of the honey.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes, until the bananas get soft.
5. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the oats, half of nuts, baking powder, remaining cinnamon, and salt and stir together. 
6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining honey, milk, egg, and vanilla extract
7. Remove the dish from the oven and pour the oat mixture over the bananas and blueberries.
8. Pour the milk mixture over the oats and distribute as evenly as possible over the oats. 
9. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries and nuts over the the top.
10. Bake the oatmeal for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the oatmeal has set.
11. Best served warm from the oven.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars

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Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars

with brown sugar butterscotch glaze

Hello hello! Here I am way behind on posting again. But it was because I have been busy getting ready to move! I signed a year lease to rent a house at the beach. So lots have been going on with that. And don't worry the house has a brand new gas stove! That was literally one of the first things I checked. So lots of great dinners and cupcakes will be coming out of that oven :). So excited!

Since I will be needing some necessities once I move out I set out to my second home, Target, planning on getting a few more pots and pans, some kitchen towels, a vacuum, and things of that matter. However, I ended up leaving with only a wine rack, wine glasses, and cupcake liners. Obviously my priorities were right in order :).

Anyways I have been doing quite a bit of cooking lately and just a bit of baking here and there. These are a little creation I came up with the other day. I really wanted to make some blondies and realized I had a bag of butterscotch chips and thought, HMMM how about butterscotch blondies. But then I kept thinking of the giant case of oatmeal I bought assuming I'd be using it all the time to bake, but have yet to do so.

Feeling bad for the un-used oatmeal, I thought of adding oatmeal to the blondies and make oatmeal bars with butterscotch.

Well it was a success! They are super sweet but nice and hearty because of the oatmeal and brown sugar. I also added a glaze to the top just to add a little extra umph of flavor. I may have added it a little too soon and the bars were not quite cooled all the way. The glaze ended up mostly soaking into the bar rather than being a layer on top. Still, they were delicious!

Enjoy <3!

Ingredients

Oatmeal Butterscotch Bars
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour                                                                
2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butterscotch chips
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

 

Glaze
1/4 cup butterscotch chips
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
1/8 teaspoon salt

**I recommend browning the butter however melted butter will be fine. I also toasted the oatmeal in the oven for a bit while it was preheating.**

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9X13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil, letting the foil hang over the edges slightly. Lightly grease the foil with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, oats, baking soda, and salt.
3. Place the 3/4 cup butterscotch chips in a large bowl.
4. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and let the butter cook until golden brown in color.
5. Pour the butter over butterscotch chips and stir until melted and smooth.
6. Whisk in the brown sugar until combined followed by the egg and vanilla.
7. Stir in the flour mixture, just until incorporated.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top, making sure it is distributed evenly.
9. Bake the bars until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs, about 16-18 minutes.
10. While the bars are cooling, place the 1/4 cup butterscotch chips, brown sugar, water and salt in a small microwave-safe bowl.
11. Microwave the mixture until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes on 50% power, stirring every so often.
12. Drizzle the glaze over the bars. Let the bars cool completely in the pan. Remove the bars from the pan using the foil overhang and cut into squares. Serve.

Fancy Schmancy Oatmeal Cookies

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Happy Monday everyone! Hope you all had a lovely weekend :). I had a pretty fantastic weekend. I enjoyed a girls night out with way too much alcohol and dancing, it was blast. Saturday was also pretty great. I went to Philadelphia to watch the Flyers, where we enjoyed the game from a suite. It was unusually FREEZING, but still a great time. And Sunday my newly engaged twin sister and a few friends went wedding dress shopping. It was crazy to see her in wedding dresses but very exciting at the same time! I think she found "the one"!!! We shall see though, its still pretty early to decide.

Anyways I have a bunch of cupcake orders this week (yay!), but I still felt like baking. I wanted something easy and classic so I went with the good old oatmeal cookie.  However I decided to amp it up a bit. I toasted the oats to give them a deeper, almost nutty flavor. I also browned the butter, which ALWAYS impresses me. I skipped the raisins and added a little extra sugar to up the sweetness because  of the sea salt I sprinkled on top.

Sweet and salty is an under statement for this extremely flavorful cookie. Its more than just sweet and salty. It's rich, toasty, nutty, and warm. Yes i used warm to describe the flavor. But it really is a "warm" cookie. Between the toasted oats, browned butter, and brown sugar it really has layer on layer of flavor that make you feel warm....and happy of course!

This cookie is literally a step above any other, and extremely addicting. You cannot just have one. You have been warned. 

These would also be a great cookie for the holiday season coming up (it's November already, how did that happen?!!). Perfect for holiday dinners, parties, or cookie exchanges. Or hey who are we kidding, they are perfect for yourself and just because! I hope you try these, they are well worth the few extra steps.

Fancy Schmancy Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 sticks (14 tbsp) butter-I used salted
• 1 1/4 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups flour- i used bread flour for a chewier texture
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Spread the oats on a parchment lined cookie sheet and toast until lightly browned, stirring every few minutes to prevent from burning. 
3. Remove and set aside.
4. Sift (or whisk) the flour and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
5. Place the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until light brown. (It will bubble and foam first then clear up a bit before turning brown very quickly.) Remove from heat and let cool before pouring into a large mixing bowl.
6. Beat in the vanilla and egg, then add the oats.
7. Then the flour mixture, until well combined.
8. Drop spoonfuls of dough on to parchment lined cookie sheets (you can spray with non stick but it may burn the bottoms slightly).
9. Sprinkle sea salt on top of each cookie.
10. Bake for 8-10 minutes, cool for 1-2 minutes on cookie sheet before moving to a cooling/wire rack. 

Enjoy with a nice big cup of coffee, or cold glass of milk. 

You can try to resist the urge to not eat another one, but you will fail miserably. Like I said before, you have been warned on how addicting these are :).