Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

Baking is something like an integral part of my life these days. Its like no day passes by without me cranking up the oven. Mostly its something for breakfast or to refill our cookie jar. And then there are potlucks and friends coming over. Coming to the breakfast part, I generally make banana breads when there are over-ripe bananas in the basket or some kind of yeasted breads with whole wheat flour. But this time we wanted a change and this baked banana oatmeal was what I made. Reheated the next day morning, dunked it into some milk, poured in some maple syrup and it was a yummy breakfast.

~*What U Need*~ Old fashioned rolled oats - 1 cup Chopped pecans - 1/4 cup Baking powder - 1/4 tsp Cinnamon - 3/4 tsp Salt - a pinch Maple syrup - 1/4 cup Milk - 1 cup Egg - 1, large Canola oil - 2 tbsp Vanilla - 1 tsp Blueberries - 1 cup, fresh/frozen How I Made it: Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease 8x8 cake pan. Spread half of the berries in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer. In a medium bowl, mix the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the syrup, milk, egg, oil, and vanilla. Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats. Sprinkle the nuts and remaining berries over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Serve warm!!!

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Eggless Skinny Banana blueberry muffins

As much as I love baking cakes and cupcakes, I always love to add a touch of health factor to my bakes like making it whole wheat or butter-free or adding fruits and vegetables. It would be either some ultra-ripe bananas or some chopped apples or some shredded carrots or when zucchini are in season some shredded zucchini but when blueberries or in that case any berries are in season it has to be berry muffins for my pappu. A warm muffin with a dollop of melty melty butter is his favorite breakfast. Here is my go to recipe for muffins when I have some ripe bananas and blueberries on hand.

~*What U Need*~ Whole wheat flour - 3/4 cup All purpose flour - 1/2 cup Baking soda - 1/2 tsp Salt - a pinch Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp Honey - 2 tbsp Light brown sugar - 1/4 cup Ripe banana - 1/2 cup, mashed Vanilla yogurt - 4 tbsp Milk - 6 tbsp Blueberries - 3/4 cup How I Made it: Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Spray muffin pan with nonstick spray. In a large bowl mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, set aside. In another bowl, mix the honey and brown sugar together. Add the mashed banana and yogurt. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Add the milk slowly and continue to fold. Dust the blueberries with some flour. Gently fold in the blueberries. Divide the batter between the muffin cups. Fill all the way to the top. Bake for 17-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool completely.

Serve with milk!!!

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4th of July Granita | Berry & Yogurt Granitas

I had never thought of making a 4th of July dessert. But all the desserts out there had always got me hooked to the screen. So when the people from Raise.com asked me to write a blog on fourth of July desserts, I got into thinking. I wanted to make it colorful but healthy at the same time. The berries of the season came to the rescue. Raspberries and blueberries made the colors of the flag and a simple yogurt granita or Indian lassi inspired granita made for the white layer.

Raise is a new platform where you can buy gift cards to your favorite brands at a discounted price and sell your unused gift cards for cash! From Wal-Mart to Kroger, they have gift cards to meet all of your party needs. They have created a holiday inspired blog post called, “4th of July Fun,” featuring some favorite festive 4th of July recipes!

~*What U Need*~ For the raspberry granita: Raspberries - 1 cup Water - 2-3 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Clean and pat dry the raspberries. In a blender, blend raspberries, water and honey until smooth. Pass through a sieve to remove seeds. Pour into an aluminium loaf pan or a plastic airtight box. Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape with a fork, you will get flakes of ice. Return to freezer. Repeat the process every 30 mins. When there is no remaining blocks of ice, u are good to go. For the blueberry granita: Blueberries - 1 cup Water - 2-3 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp How I Made it: Clean and pat dry the blueberries. In a blender, blend blueberries, water and honey until smooth. Pass through a sieve. Pour into an aluminium loaf pan or a plastic airtight box. Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape with a fork, you will get flakes of ice. Return to freezer. Repeat the process every 30 mins. When there is no remaining blocks of ice, u are good to go. For the yogurt granita: Greek Yogurt - 1 cup Water - 2-3 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp How I Made it: In a blender, blend yogurt, water and honey until smooth. Pour into an aluminium loaf pan or a plastic airtight box. Freeze for 1 hour. Scrape with a fork, you will get flakes of ice. Return to freezer. Repeat the process every 30 mins. When there is no remaining blocks of ice, u are good to go.

To serve layer the granita in shot glasses as shown in pic and serve immediately. Healthy granitas are ready.

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Blueberry Cornbread

Did I tell you that my parents are coming over for a month??? Ya they are going to stay here with us for a month and we are super excited. Super excited cos it is gonna be one month of mom's food, one month of non-stop talking, one month of no-worries-of-baby-sitting and one month of many more. We have plans for every weekend and it is gonna be super busy. Well I am not proposing a break here but I may vanish into thin air at times.

Okay talking cornbread, we are not big fans of cornbread except for the occasional jalapeno honey version from our local grocery store. The sweet and savory version is a total winner for us. The plan was to make the jalapeno version for breakfast but the frozen blueberries that has been sitting long in my freezer seemed to be calling out my name and so I switched over to this fruity blueberry cornbread.

Adapted from here ~*What U Need*~ Cornmeal - 1 cup, I used white Unbleached all purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 1 tsp Baling soda - 1/2 tsp Yogurt - 1 cup, u can use buttermilk too Egg - 1, room temp Brown sugar - 2 tbsp Honey - 2 tbsp Butter - 3 tbsp, melted (I used canola oil) Blueberries - 1 1/2 cups, I used frozen How I Made it: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch square pan with cooking spray. Combine the wet ingredients (including sugar or honey) separately in a bowl. Combine the dry ingredients in another bowl. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, mixing just to combine. Spread into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the center is firm to the touch and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Blueberry sour cream Coffee Cake

I might be saying this the million-th time but I just can't stop saying this. I love baking, baking is a stress-reliever and baking is addictive. I have been baking a lot lately ~ our daily breads, cakes for friends and muffins for next-door kids. And every time I whip up a perfect batch, I feel elated, I feel confident and I feel happy... Are you with me here??? Life doesn't seem to move on without lighting up the oven every single day. And whenever I set up the oven to preheat, pappu gets all cheered up. He knows that something is cooking up and he knows that its gonna be something cake-y.

As much as I love making our diet healthy, I like to have that perfect piece of cake occasionally. I generally sneak in a pack of mini carrot cupcakes when going grocery shopping but they never appeal to me after that first bite. These bite sized beauties seem so artificial on the tongue. When I was talking about this to the huss the other day, all he said was "Why do you lean to bakery products when you make good, preservative-free cakes at home?" And that set the spark in me. No more store bought cakes it is. Last week when I had this craving for cake, I pulled up my sleeves, cranked up the oven and whipped up the batter. And this coffee cake is what happened for our tea.

Adapted from here Prep time: 15 min; Bake time: 35-40 mins; Servings: 10-12 ~*What U Need*~ Unsalted butter - 1/4 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Eggs - 2, room temp Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups Baking soda - 3/4 tsp Sour cream - 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Filling: Brown sugar - 2 tbsp, packed All purpose flour - 1/2 tbsp Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp Fresh Blueberries - 1 cup How I Made it: In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, beating well after each addition. Spoon half of the batter into a greased 8x8 inch square pan. Combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Top with the berries. Top with remaining batter. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes and then cool completely in wire rack.

Serve with COFFEE!!!

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Frozen Blueberries | How to freeze blueberries

"When life gives you blueberries, freeze them". Atleast thats what I do. I like freezing my own fruits and vegetables. I have some frozen cherries, raspberries and loads of blueberries right now in my fridge. And I freeze more berries as and when I can. They are handy, totally. I use them in my smoothies instead of ice cubes and it gives a whole new texture and flavor to the drink. And ofcourse in cakes, not to forget them.

Freezing your own berries or fruits or vegetable is easy and damn cheaper too. All you need to watch for is the season. And when its there, grab those berries and chuck them in the freezer. Off seasonal fruits are so expensive and the frozen ones have all those uncalled preservatives added. So why not try freezing your own fruits. The procedure is so simple and easy too.

To use these homemade frozen berries, all you need to do is grab them from the freezer bag and add it to your recipe. You don't need to thaw them cos they will start bleeding as they come to room temperature which you would never want in your cake batter.

~*What U Need*~ Blueberries - as needed Water A colander Kitchen towel A cookie sheet Freezer safe bags or containers How I did it: Wash blueberries and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Remove any damaged berries. Pour the blueberries onto a cookie sheet in a single layer. This will keep them from freezing together in clumps. Place the tray in the coldest part of your freezer, and leave it there until the berries are completely frozen. Transfer the frozen blueberries to a freezer safe bag and place it in the freezer.

Use in smoothies, cakes or waffles!!!

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Blueberry Buttemilk Pancakes

I love making pancakes for breakfast. They are easy to whip up and makes for a yummy breakfast option. Now with the munchkins on board, pancakes seem to be becoming a must on weekends. When I serve him some soft, fluffy pancakes drizzled with honey, he eats them without a fuss and he enjoys them all the more than dosas or idlis. And so Saturdays are becoming "Pancake Saturdays" for us.

Last week when I visited the local bulk store, I saw some blueberries on sale. Don't get me wrong, but I am proud to accept that I am a berry addict. Ripe, juicy berries attract me like an ant to sugar. So I bought them, prepped them, stored them in ziploc bags and threw them into the freezer. Now I have 10 packets of berries all measuring 1 cup which will definitely last me for the next 2 months.

Weekends sees us only for brunch. I give a glass of milk for the kid early morning and then we hug and sleep tight till atleast 10. So we generally go for a heavy breakfast like this sooft fluffy pancakes loaded with blueberries and soaked in honey. You can make this healthy by substituting half or full amount of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I used only 1/4 tsp of baking powder and a pinch of baking soda as I wanted to feed this to the kid. Even then the pancakes were so soft, thanks to the buttermilk. However, I have given the original measurements below.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Makes - 9 four inch pancakes ~*What U Need*~ All purpose flour - 1 cup Baking powder - 1/2 tsp Baking soda - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp Sugar - 2 tbsp Egg - 1 Buttermilk - 1 1/2 cup Butter - 2 tbsp Blueberries - 1/2 cup or more Oil/butter - to grease Vanilla extract - 1/2 tsp How I Made it: Heat ur griddle till hot. Melt the butter and allow to cool. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the egg. buttermilk, butter and whisk till just combined. Brush the griddle with some butter, pour 1/2 cup of batter, arrange blueberries on top. When the pancakes have bubbles on top and are slightly dry around the edges, flip over. Cook until golden on bottom, about 1 minute. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve with honey or maple syrup.

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Blueberry Banana Bread

One thing that I had always looked forward to once I reached the U.S was "eating berries". Not that we don't get strawberries in Chennai. The in-season ones are too good back there but the blue-, black- ones had always caught my attention, not to forget the raspberries and cherries. So the same weekend when we went grocery shopping and when I saw the market loaded with fresh, ripe, almost every kinda berries, I made it a point to buy a packet of each. And I have been enjoying them everyday snacking on them raw or blending them into colorful smoothies. In fact I even made some berry ice-cubes to go with my hubby's glass of whisky.

I'll talk about "how I bought the loaf pan" in another post. As of now let's just stick to I have bought almost all kind of baking pans and I am totally in love with them that I make it a point to sneak-peek at them atleast once everyday. They are just right, the way I had always wished my baking pans to be ~ cute, sleek and non-stick. Ok, lets keep the other details to another post. Coming to this bread, you know how I love banana breads. They are the best snack cake to me. So when I saw some over-ripe bananas on discount sale, I just had to buy it. I had my loaf pan, I had bananas, I had some blueberries and finally we had this moist and soft bread for our morning breakfast.

I lulled munchkins to sleep and by the time he was up, I had the bread baking in the oven. The whole house was smelling sweet and he was reluctant to have a bite before the loaf had cooled and by the time I had set stuff for the photoshoot he went haywire. I just couldn't click one picture without his cute lil hands sneaking in. And so settled him with one slice of bread and then went for the clicks.

Adapted from Juliasalbum ~*What U Need*~ Bananas - 2,very ripe Low fat yogurt - 1/3 cup Canola oil - 1/3 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Egg - 1 Vanilla extract - 1 tsp Baking soda - 1 tsp Salt - a pinch All purpose flour - 1 1/2 cups Blueberries - 1/2 cup Broken cashews or walnuts to sprinkle How I Made it: Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a large bowl, mix mashed bananas, yogurt and oil, using wooden spoon. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda and salt. Add this to the wet ingredients, mix just to blend. Mix the blueberries with some flour. Add this to the batter and mix to distribute. Butter and flour a 4*8 loaf pan. Pour the batter into the pan, sprinkle broken cashews on top and bake for 45mins - 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve. ** My Notes: ** You could add a handful of toasted pecans/walnuts too. ** You can use raspberries or strawberries too. ** The original recipe called for melted butter but I used canola oil instead.

Serve with cold milk!!! Perfect to dunk in!!!

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