Baking Up a Storm
I've spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen this weekend. I sometimes forget how much I enjoy making things and trying new recipes.
First, I wanted to make some pumpkin granola with what was left of a can I opened. I found this recipe and kind of botched it. I'm pretty sad because it smelled so dang good, then burned pretty quickly.
I think what got me was the 23-33 minutes. That's a big span of time there. So I went for the middle and did like 27 or 28 minutes. I did stir in between. But that was too long, and then I noticed at step 5 of the recipe, she said 25 minutes. So that would've been good to read beforehand.
Anyway, it's not totally burned. The pecans are kind of burned probably because I broke them up. Forgive me, but I didn't want enormous pecan chunks. So they burned. I also used almonds instead of pepitas because... pepitas? I still plan on eating this stuff. Probably with some milk, and I'll try it on the yogurt I bought.
Recently, I bought a can of Blue Diamond almonds in the Toasted Coconut flavor. Because coconut. Everything coconut!
It made me get an idea that I wanted to try to make my own coconut almonds. So I tried that out last night while I watched The Raven. Keyword: tried. And it didn't come out how I had planned. I used this as my base recipe because I've used it so many times.
The issue is that I used a full egg white on only one cup of almonds because that's all I had. I just think there was too much liquid. I'd have used less if I had a carton of egg whites like I usually do, but I didn't have any! I added a bit of coconut flavoring (like extract) to the egg white mixture.
I adjusted (decreased) the sugar amount, and I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar. And I ground some coconut flakes in my Magic Bullet to coat the almonds. So they were covered in coconut and coconut sugar. I thought I had the right idea.
While the Blue Diamond almonds are lovely and cute and powdery white, mine are brown and chunky and visually unappealing. They weren't what I was expecting, but they are still dang good. Besides, it was worth a try.
I also had one single over-ripe banana to use, and thankfully @jazzythings on Instagram posted a recipe which called for precisely that! I love when that happens. So I made her banana walnut blueberry muffins this morning.
They're OK. But as with any clean recipe, it just never tastes like the unhealthy version. It calls for almond flour, banana, baking powder, eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, almond milk, blueberries, and walnuts. So they were really easy to make. The problem is always that almond flour makes such DENSE treats. They're heavy. I had three, which was way too many. I'm horribly full. Like, super stuffed. I'll be able to finish these in a couple of days, but they're not as awesome as I was hoping. I even added honey and cinnamon that she said she forgot to put in the recipe.
Another thing I made this morning while watching Frozen was this pumpkin cake I like to make every year. I found it on a box of spice cake once. It's super easy, and delicious. I made it last week for a ward mingle, but I made it again today so I could actually have some. And my mom and grandma are coming to dinner tonight, so dessert!
I should probably try to do some lesson plans now before stake conference at 1. Also, our water is out. And my boyfriend's power is out. So I basically have no way to smell good or look good for church. #Jesusdoesn'tcare
First, I wanted to make some pumpkin granola with what was left of a can I opened. I found this recipe and kind of botched it. I'm pretty sad because it smelled so dang good, then burned pretty quickly.
Anyway, it's not totally burned. The pecans are kind of burned probably because I broke them up. Forgive me, but I didn't want enormous pecan chunks. So they burned. I also used almonds instead of pepitas because... pepitas? I still plan on eating this stuff. Probably with some milk, and I'll try it on the yogurt I bought.
Recently, I bought a can of Blue Diamond almonds in the Toasted Coconut flavor. Because coconut. Everything coconut!
It made me get an idea that I wanted to try to make my own coconut almonds. So I tried that out last night while I watched The Raven. Keyword: tried. And it didn't come out how I had planned. I used this as my base recipe because I've used it so many times.
The issue is that I used a full egg white on only one cup of almonds because that's all I had. I just think there was too much liquid. I'd have used less if I had a carton of egg whites like I usually do, but I didn't have any! I added a bit of coconut flavoring (like extract) to the egg white mixture.
I adjusted (decreased) the sugar amount, and I used coconut sugar instead of white sugar. And I ground some coconut flakes in my Magic Bullet to coat the almonds. So they were covered in coconut and coconut sugar. I thought I had the right idea.
While the Blue Diamond almonds are lovely and cute and powdery white, mine are brown and chunky and visually unappealing. They weren't what I was expecting, but they are still dang good. Besides, it was worth a try.
I also had one single over-ripe banana to use, and thankfully @jazzythings on Instagram posted a recipe which called for precisely that! I love when that happens. So I made her banana walnut blueberry muffins this morning.
They're OK. But as with any clean recipe, it just never tastes like the unhealthy version. It calls for almond flour, banana, baking powder, eggs, coconut oil, vanilla, almond milk, blueberries, and walnuts. So they were really easy to make. The problem is always that almond flour makes such DENSE treats. They're heavy. I had three, which was way too many. I'm horribly full. Like, super stuffed. I'll be able to finish these in a couple of days, but they're not as awesome as I was hoping. I even added honey and cinnamon that she said she forgot to put in the recipe.
Another thing I made this morning while watching Frozen was this pumpkin cake I like to make every year. I found it on a box of spice cake once. It's super easy, and delicious. I made it last week for a ward mingle, but I made it again today so I could actually have some. And my mom and grandma are coming to dinner tonight, so dessert!
I should probably try to do some lesson plans now before stake conference at 1. Also, our water is out. And my boyfriend's power is out. So I basically have no way to smell good or look good for church. #Jesusdoesn'tcare
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