A Bit of a Healthier Bite- Whole Wheat Brownies

I noticed this recipe from the September 2010 issue of Everyday Food, tucked into the back of the magazine, and it also ended up tucked into the back of my mind. I don't know if it's been noticeable here, but I love to substitute whole wheat into recipes whenever I can. It's especially easy in pancakes or muffins, but can be a little more difficult with the sweeter baked treats. This time around the recipe did all the work for me, so no worrying about whether or not my substitution would turn out to be a big mistake. I have always been suspicious of baking recipes that include applesauce. I know a lot of people that swear by it as a healthy substitution, but every time I've eaten something baked with applesauce (other than an actual apple dessert) it has seemed noticeable and not all that pleasant. I took a chance anyway, and I'm glad that I did. These brownies are far from being health food, with the butter and of course all that chocolate. But if you're going to make a brownie, and would like to save a couple of calories or sneak in a smidge of fiber, then this is a good recipe to try out. These brownies came out pretty cake like for me, so if thick fudgy brownies are your thing I wouldn't recommend these. I however, am indiscriminate when it comes to brownies. Fudgy, cake, or anywhere in between- I like them all.

Whole Wheat Brownies
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 16

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan
1/2 cup all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8" square baking dish; line with parchment, leaving a 2" overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt and baking soda.
• In a large bowl, stir together sugar, applesauce, and egg. Place butter and 6 ounces chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (not in) a pot of simmering water; stir until melted. Stir chocolate mixture into sugar mixture. Stir in flour mixture. Pour into pan and top with 2 ounces chocolate.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares. (Store in an airtight container, up to 5 days.)

My notes: I skipped the whole butter/parchment step and just sprayed my glass pan w/ some nonstick canola cooking spray. I cut my brownies and just popped out one for each of us. I'm storing them in the pan until I pack them up for Josh to take to work. Whole wheat or not, I don't need to eat them all! Also, I used my favorite WW flour, white whole wheat. It's a finer grain that regular whole wheat, so I find it works better for most baking substitutions.

Escaping the Heat by Pretending It's Fall- Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes

I had been craving pancakes for weeks. For me, pancakes always seem like such a hassle. Probably because my electric griddle just doesn't seem to have the staying power it once did, so I end up cooking pancakes in a skillet. Two at a time, which ends up taking me awhile. I'd also, for some reason, been craving pumpkin. I think at the time it had something to do with my desperate yearning for autumn. Not only was it hot, making it natural to look forward to the next, cooler season, but it was also rainy and gray for almost two weeks. This is not common during the summer months in Texas, and it made it look like fall every time I glanced out my window. You knew it wasn't as soon as you stepped outside, and unfortunately I decided to take a walk before I made these pancakes on the most humid day of my life, but I forged ahead with my breakfast of denial anyhow. I just googled up "whole wheat pumpkin pancakes" and went with the recipe that I seemed to have most of the ingredients for, which was Pinch My Salt's recipe from 2007. I made a couple of small adjustments for what I had on hand and went forward into my fake fall meal.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
Recipe from Pinch My Salt; Makes appx. 16

1 C. whole wheat flour
1/2 C. cake flour
1 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1 C. buttermilk
1 C. canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
2 T. oil
1 t. vanilla
2 T. dark brown sugar

• In a large bowl, whisk together the first eight ingredients (whole wheat flour through nutmeg). In a separate bowl, whisk together the last six ingredients (buttermilk through brown sugar).
• Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and blend together with a wooden spoon until just combined. Lumps are ok, just make sure all the flour on the bottom of the bowl is mixed in. If batter seems too thick to pour, you can gently stir in a little more buttermilk.
• Drop pancakes by ladleful onto a medium-hot griddle. Pancakes are ready to turn when the edges start to look a little dry and you can see small bubbles forming on the surface.

My notes: I used all white whole wheat flour, soy milk, and light brown sugar. I had to add some extra milk to thin the batter a little, just adding little by little until it seemed easier to work with. Since I used soy milk, a switch to an egg substitute would make this recipe vegan. I used a 1/4 cup to ladle the batter for each pancake.

Using What You Have (And Don't Have)- Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

I have been under the control of a vicious cold bug since last Tuesday. I'm partially to blame, because I have been eating far from healthy lately. In part due to a foot injury which has kept me on my butt as often as possible, and in part due to sheer laziness. Either way, I certainly haven't been helping my immune system along. So this weekend I figured I could use a health food boost. Sure, the boost came in syrup covered form, but are we really going to nit pick? I had to work with what I had because this was a pre-grocery shopping trip meal. So, what did I have? Several bananas nearly beyond the point of usability. What did I not have? Eggs. But I kept coming back to pancakes, which I had been craving for weeks. So, I turned to Google for an egg-less pancake recipe. I came across this recipe on Recipezaar. It had some good reviews so I decided to use it as a starting point and after a few adjustments I was ready to get to flipping some flap jacks!

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
Recipe adapted from Recipezaar; Makes 12-16


1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 cups soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 mashed bananas

• Whisk together the flour, wheat germ, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and sugar.
• Add to dry ingredients the milk, vanilla and mashed bananas. Mix until just combined.
• Cook by 1/4 cup full on well oiled skillet or griddle over medium/medium-high heat. Serve warm.

My notes: These pancakes didn't come out as sweet as I thought they might. I considered increasing the sugar, as one of the recipe reviewers suggested, but I thought that the very ripe bananas might lend enough sweetness on their own. Next time I'll definitely increase, and might even switch to brown sugar like the Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes that I love. Also, since we're soy milk drinkers around these parts and I was out of eggs this recipe is vegan friendly.

Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes

I like pancakes. I mean, I love pancakes. I probably think about them at least once a week. But I rarely make them. Pancakes always seem such a chore to me. They are one of those foods that just when I think I've got the process down pat I have a disastrous go round with them. And that happened this time around too, but luckily I was able to work through my frustration and had a delightful breakfast when all was said and done. The biggest problem this time around was the electric griddle that I typically use for making pancakes. I have just about decided to give that thing the heave-ho after this last experience, and get one of those griddles that goes on the stove burners instead. Once I switched over to a frying pan things went much smoother, although slower since I could only fit 2 pancakes in the pan at a time. I was intrigued with this pancake recipe when I saw it in the May issue of Everyday Food, but my general pancake apprehension caused me to repeatedly put off making them. I finally got to it on July 4th, and I'm glad that I did. Cause as I've mentioned, I love pancakes and these were good pancakes. They cooked up fluffy with a great flavor and texture from the oats. If you, like me, like pancakes, give these a flip.

Cinnamon-Oat Pancakes
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 20














2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil, plus more for skillet

• In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and 1 cup oats and pulse a few times to coarsely grind oats. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, and oil. Add dry ingredients and 1 cup oats and whisk just until moistened.
• Heat a large skillet (nonstick or cast-iron) or griddle over medium. Lightly oil skillet. Using 2 to 3 tablespoons for each pancake, drop batter in skillet and cook until a few bubbles have burst, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook until browned on undersides, 1 to 2 minutes more. Repeat with more oil and batter.

My notes: I substituted half the all-purpose flour with some white whole wheat for a little bit of a healthier version. I also used soy milk for these. I came out with several more than they claim the recipe yields, but that was no problem since I now have another weekend breakfast awaiting us in the freezer. We had our pancakes with syrup, and EF suggested powdered sugar and bananas, but I think the cinnamon lends itself to lots of fruit options. I think peaches or apples, fresh or preserves, would both be quite nice with these.

Graham Cracker Addict

My husband is a self-proclaimed graham cracker addict. Considering there are much worse things a person could be hooked on this doesn't really bother me. And although I would hardly consider store-bought graham crackers to be very expensive, we were buying them so often that I started to wonder if I couldn't just whip up our own. A lightening quick Google search lead me to a recipe on bakingsheet, which has long been transformed into Baking Bites. The recipe looked so simple that I decided I would definitely give it a shot. This is the second time I've tried this recipe and this was the closest I've gotten to what most people expect from a graham cracker. I think next time I make them they will be perfect. And now the kitchen is stocked for my hubby to grab a fix whenever he needs it. Guess I need to get around to trying one of those marshmallow recipes that have been so ubiquitous in the blogosphere as of late!

Homemade Graham Crackers
Recipe adapted from Retro Desserts by Bakingsheet; Appx. 48 crackers












1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoon molasses
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• In a food processor, mix together the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the cold butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 30 seconds or so. Add the honey, molasses, water, and vanilla. Mix until the dough startes to come together in a ball, another 30 seconds. Scrape dough out of the mixer.
• Between 2 sheets of waxed or parchment paper, roll the dough 1/8-inch thick. Chill for at least 1 hour, until firm (I chilled for several hours).
  Preheat oven to 350F. Retrieve dough and roll it a bit more if it is not yet 1/8-inch thick. With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut into 2-inch squares. Arrange the crackers on parchment lined baking sheets. With a toothpick, prick several holes in each cracker.
• Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned at the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool on the pan.
• Note: If you cut the dough through but leave the squares together, you can break them up after they're baked, just like a store-bought graham.

My notes: I use white whole-wheat flour, as that's what I have in the pantry. I don't see that it makes much of a difference. I also hate my food processor, as you might already know, so I use my pastry blender to cut in the butter. This dough doesn't take long to warm and I have limited rolling space, so I've found working in batches allows me to get the correct thickness in the shortest amount of time before all my dough goes gooey.

Muffin or Cupcake? You Decide.

Last week I made these cupcakes (or is it muffins?) to serve with coffee on Friday while we had our friends Steve, Meri, and Cory over for a game of Scrabble. They are each a bit of a health nut, so I thought these would be the perfect sweets for the afternoon. The recipe is from the May 2007 issue of Everyday Food, and is one of the reader submitted recipes. I made a change or two, which I'll go over in my notes below. The changes made it seem a little more muffin-like than cupcake, but whatever you want to call it, they were delicious.

Ian's Sweet Zucchini Cupcakes
Recipe from Everyday Food & Ian Young; Makes 12












1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
1 zucchini (10 oz.), coarsely grated (1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cups of a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil liners. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix in nuts.
• In another bowl, combine zucchini, oil, eggs, and vanilla; add to flour mixture, and mix just until combined (do not overmix).
• Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Coll in tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes; turn cupcakes out, right side up, and cool completely.

My notes: The magazine includes a recipe for cream cheese frosting, but we had them plain. I also substituted whole white wheat flour for half of the all-purpose. I think the whole wheat is probably what made it a little more muffin like, but it could have been the lack of frosting too. Either way I didn't miss the frosting and I thought they tasted delicious. I also used pecan bits, since I happened to have a bag in the pantry, instead of buying more nuts just for the recipe. I'm definitely gonna pull this recipe out again when my father-in-law has a plethora of zucchini ready to leave his garden.

101- Buttermilk Biscuits

I think that a good biscuit recipe definitely falls under the 101 category. They are so easy and so versatile that you can pair them with many things. You can have them with sausage and gravy for breakfast, on the side of a nice bowl of soup for lunch, or with some chicken and veg for dinner. Obviously those aren't the only limits to buttermilk biscuits, those are just some ideas. November's Everyday Food did a little feature on these delicious delights so I decided to whip some up last week. Instead of using all the all purpose flour the recipe called for I substituted half of it with white whole wheat, just to make things a smidge healthier for us. With it being holiday season it seems like the perfect time to whip some of these babies up.

Buttermilk Wheat Biscuits
Recipe from Everyday Food; Makes 12


4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for rolling and cutting
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into bits, plus 4 tablespoons melted
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees, in a food processor. In a food processor, pulse flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt to combine. Add cold butter; pulse until mixture is the texture of coarse meal;, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Add buttermilk; pulse just until dough is moistened, 2 to 3 times.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured work surface; knead just to combine (do not overwork). Roll with a floured rolling pin (or pat with hands) to a 3/4" thickness. Cut out rounds with a floured 2 1/2 : round biscuit cutter.
• Transfer to a baking sheet, 1 1/2" apart. (Re-roll and cut scraps only once.) Brush top and sides of rounds with melted butter. Bake until biscuits are puffed and golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

My notes: They also had some hints for biscuit variations and I decided to go with black pepper, so I added some black pepper into the dry mixture and some on top after brushing them with butter. They suggest 1 teaspoon in the dry mixture and 1/2 teaspoon atop them. I just cracked till I was happy, ha. And give the white whole wheat a shot, cause they tasted great and at least it's only half as bad for you. Also, I hate my food processor, so I didn't mess with it. I used my handy dandy pastry blender to cut in the butter and a fork to gently mix the buttermilk in.

Adventures in Baking

On Sunday I made my first steps into the world of yeast. It wasn't a totally successful expedition, but it wasn't a total failure either. I had been thinking about trying a bread recipe for awhile, but then when it was announced that the theme for this month's Waiter There's Something In My... event would be bread, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to take the plunge. When I was growing up my mom never had any luck baking with yeast. I remember her many failed attempts and the resulting frustration. So, I was a bit nervous to say the least. But I tried to be as prepared as I could be- I had my instant read thermometer, I turned the thermostat up since it was kind of cold in the apartment, and I preheated the oven far in advance to heat up my tiny kitchen. I was going to take a crack at a Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread I saw on bakingsheet, now Baking Bites. Well, the first time round did not go so well. I guess it's kind of hard to know what each step is supposed to look like when you've never done it before. I'm not sure I got enough reaction out of my yeast, then I started mixing things, but it never really seemed to come together. I used the larger of the flour measurements, but it still had the consistency of runny oatmeal. I made an attempt to knead it, but that was just unbelievably messy. I scrapped the dough, and decided to take a crack at another recipe. I noticed a recipe on the back of the flour package that seemed easy. The steps were different than the Cinnamon Raisin bread, so I thought I'd give it a shot. I decided to add cinnamon to the Whole Wheat Walnut Bread recipe, but that was the only part of the recipe that I changed, initially. This time around I decided to use my stand mixer, instead of my arm and a wooden spoon. I measured out and mixed all the ingredients. As it mixed I had something along the same consistency of the last bread dough. I called my mom, who had little advice for me. I called Stephanie who didn't answer because she was at Edgefest. And I just decided to start chucking in more flour. I also decided to proof my yeast, to see if that was somehow the problem. So, between adding flour I measured out some warm water and sugar. But before I was able to add the yeast my mixer started making a funny noise. It was working hard to mix my dough because it was actually the consistency of dough! I whipped the mixer off, floured my work surface and quickly went to work kneading, lest things progress downhill in any moment I wasted. I worked my dough, with relative ease, and once I'd finished I put it back in the bowl, on top of the oven for warmth, and covered. I let it rest for a bit over and hour and it had actually risen! I was so surprised that it had worked. Mistake #1 occurs here- I probably should have let is risen even more. I removed it from the bowl, molded it into the loaf shape and put it in the pan. I let it rise again on the oven. Mistake #2- should have let it rise more again. Popped it in the oven and 40 minutes later a lovely looking loaf emerged. It did look lovely, but it didn't look that big. And when I cut into it yesterday it was very dense. So, next time I think letting my dough rise much more at each stage will help. Please correct me if I'm wrong though. I'm not unhappy with the way the loaf turned out. I set out to make a loaf of bread, and that was the end result. I think it could definitely be better, but since I had serious doubts that I could even get something remotely resembling bread I would say it was overall a success. However, I'm going to take another crack at working with yeast this weekend, because I would like a better WTSIM entry. But, for those who are interested, you can click the link above for the recipe. The addition of cinnamon was nice, but I should have added more sugar to help balance it.