Whole Wheat Oatmeal Nut Bread

This bread takes a little love, care, and patience, but it's so worth it! You can add in your favorite nuts and dried fruits to make it even more delicious! It is a yeast bread, so it requires proofing time and works best if you have either a bread machine or a stand mixer with a dough hook for easing kneading.

The Dough:

• 1 Packet Active Dry Yeast (if you know how to use rapidrise, this is okay too, but I really don't like the results compared to normal yeast)
• 3/4 Cup Granulated Sugar (healthy swap-use 1/4 to 1/2 cup honey or agave instead!)
• 2 eggs
• 1 Cup very warm (about 110 Degree) water
• 1/4 Cup cooled, melted butter
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour, plus about two cups (separate, you'll see why) You can use half whole wheat and half all purpose if desired. 
• 3/4 Cup Oats
• Pinch each of Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Allspice
• Optional add ins- this bread goes great with nuts (almonds, walnuts, or even peanuts) and dried fruits (especially dried raisins and figs)

1. Working your way down the ingredients one or two at a time, combine all ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer (dough paddle) and mix until well blended. Be sure to only put in one cup of your flour to begin with. 
2. With your remaining two cups of flour, add very small amounts to the mix until a loose dough begins to form and it clumps on the dough paddle of your mixer. When this happens, remove the dough paddle and insert the dough hook. Continue working the dough with the dough hook, adding flour as needed to prevent sticking on sides of bowl. 
3. Beat dough for ten to fifteen minutes, or until it becomes almost elastic. Flour and spray a large bowl with cooking spray and place the dough into it covered by a warm towel. Allow to rise in a very warm place until doubled in height. (This normally takes an hour to two hours)
4. Punch the dough down after it doubles, then let it rise again for an hour (at least). Please note that the longer you let breads rise, the better. So, you can make this dough in the morning and let it rise all day or make it at night and let it rise all night and it'll only be better!
5. Preheat an oven to 350 Degrees. Place the dough in a bread pan and pat out evenly, then "tent" the bread with aluminum foil and place in the oven. 
6. Bake for about thirty minutes covered, then remove the foil and continue baking until the very center springs back when pushed. You could also test with a toothpick, but be sure to get into the center of the bread with the toothpick and dig around to see if its still underdone. The crust around the bread will wipe the toothpick clean a lot of times even if it isn't done, so be sure to make a big enough hole with a toothpick to test the very center. I find the spring check always works like a charm. 
7. Slice and enjoy with jam, nut butters, honey, cream cheese, nutella, or even use in a sandwich! 

Tips and Tricks:

• Make an "egg wash" with an egg and a teaspoon of water mixed together (optionally add honey too for a sweet touch) and use a pastry brush to coat the top of the bread just before it's done baking to create a shiny finish
• Avoid using too much flour as it will cause your bread to be tough. If using a stand mixer, let your dough be a little more sticky because you don't have to knead it by hand so you don't have to worry about the stickiness!
• Increase or decrease the sugar for different types of bread. If you are looking for a sandwich loaf, decrease the sugar for less sweetness. If you want a bakery style bread that's more sweet, add more sugar.

Springtime Cupcakes

You gotta love a really cute cupcake. These are perfect for handing out as spring and summer roll in, especially for end of school year parties for kids! If you're in a hurry, there's always your favorite boxed mix. However, if you can spare the time, you'll find homemade cakes are a lot of fun to make and bake!

The Cake:

• 1 Boxed Yellow or Angel Food Cake Mix 

OR...

• 1 1/2 Cups White Granulated Sugar
• 1 Cup Room temperature butter (I used light butter)
• 2 Tablespoons Vanilla 
• 3 Eggs, Room Temperature works Best
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 2 Cups Sifted Flour (Cake if you have it! It works a lot better than all-purpose)
• 3/4 Cup Milk (can go anywhere from skim to buttermilk-richer the milk, richer the taste, but more calories!) 
• Pinch of Cinnamon (a little bit unconventional for a yellow cake, you can leave it out if you're not crazy about cinnamon) 

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees and put cups into standard cupcake pans. Makes about 24 cupcakes. Using cooking spray on the cupcake liners makes removing the cupcakes from the wrappers even easier. 
2. Cream together the butter and sugar for at least ten minutes with a hand mixer or five to seven in a stand mixer. This step is really important because it will make your cake fluffy and light. The longer you beat, the better. 
3. Add the vanilla and one egg and continue beating until incorporated. Add the two remaining eggs, one at a time, slowly until each is fully incorporated into the mixture. 
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and (if desired) cinnamon. 
5. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk to the sugar/butter mixture until JUST incorporated. DO NOT overmix or you'll get a rubbery cake. 
6. Evenly spread the cake into pans and bake off for about 15 minutes before checking. Different pans will cook at different times, so if you think you should check sooner, it's better to be safe than have a burnt cake! Take it out when it springs back when pushed or toothpicks inserted in the center come out clean. 
7. Let the cupcakes cool until you can remove them safely from the pan. I like doing this as soon as possible to prevent soggy bottoms on the cupcakes. 
8. Allow to cool COMPLETELY before frosting (or you'll have a puddle of frosting around your cupcakes...I promise you that!)

The Frosting:

• Two Tubs Plain Vanilla Frosting (I know, I cheated. Here's why. Plain buttercream is delicious when it's homemade, but I've found that when I try to pipe it into designs on cupcakes nothing beats store bought frosting. It hardens well and holds its shape during travel or if left out on the counter. So yes, homemade tastes better, so by all means use it if you're not prioritizing pretty (portable) cupcakes. However, if you are looking to bake and distribute your cupcakes, you might want to use the ready made kind.)
• Gel Food Colors (Don't use liquid! It'll make your frosting runny)
• Extra Powdered Sugar (if your frosting turns out too runny or won't hold its shape)
• Candies to decorate! (I used little circular candies that I found right next to the sprinkles in my grocery store and I also used fake malted milk pearly eggs to top them off) 
• Piping bag with a circular and star tip

Here's what they look like in the end to give you an idea while you're working. The directions are below the picture:

1. Mix green food coloring into a large bowl with one of the tubs of frosting. I say use a large bowl because you're going to probably have to add about 1/3 cup of extra powdered sugar to stiffen up the frosting until it holds peaks easily (you might need even more) and this can get pretty messy. 
2. Mix Yellow food coloring with half of the other tub of frosting, and stiffen it in the same way you did the green. 
3. Put a star tip on a piping bag and fill it with green frosting. to make a "grassy" look, push down the tip onto the surface of the cupcake, release a little bit of frosting, then pull up. It's pretty easy when you get the hang of it. Leave about 1/2 inch around the outside of the cupcake for the yellow border afterwards. 
4. Using another piping bag with a plain circular tip this time, pipe a yellow border of single circles around the edge of the cupcake (see picture above) 
5. Use the remaining frosting (you reserved this from the second container when making the yellow) mix your favorite color into the frosting and add a little powdered sugar to stiffen. Place the frosting in a small ziplock bag, cutting a hole in the very tip (fairly small hole). Pipe two or three small flowers wherever you desire on the side of the cupcake. 
6. I used candy pieces to place in the center of all my flowers, if you want, you can use yellow frosting. 
7. Place a candy topper on your cupcakes. You can use any candy, but I wanted to complete the springtime look and put a little fake malted milk egg on tip.
8. Eat and Share!

Very Healthy Baked Oatmeal;Packed with Fruit!

I'm NOT very good at following recipes. So if you've ever made baked oatmeal and my method looks insane, I apologize. I just sort of wing it. It came out absolutely perfect though (100% luck), so give it a try!

The Base:

• 1 Cup Milk (You can use soy, regular, or almond; I love almond in this!)
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla extract (I love obnoxious amounts, if you don't think you will then dial it back to two teaspoons)
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• Honey, to taste (You can leave this out if you prefer only a little sweetness-I normally add two tablespoons because I love sweet oatmeal) 
• 1 VERY ripe mashed banana (I leave it a little chunky to get globs of banana goodness)
• 1 Cup Oats (Quick oats work best for this because they bake faster)
• Pinch of Cinnamon
• Pinch of Nutmeg
• Pinch of Salt (very small pinch...don't go crazy)

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
2. Whisk together milk and egg until frothy in a large bowl. Add vanilla and brown sugar, and whisk well. 
3. Fold in Banana, Oats, and spices. 
4. In a baking pan (preferably one that is a couple inches deep-you want gooey oatmeal in the center and if it's too thin it'll bake through too much!) line the bottom with parchment paper (this is a really good idea, it comes right off if you do this-or if you don't have any, foil works too). Spray with cooking spray. 
5. Drop the batter onto the pan and shake to spread evenly. 

The Fruit Topping:

• Your favorite fruits! (I used apples and blueberries and it was wonderful!)

1. Cut the fruit up into desired pieces and sprinkle/arrange it on the top of the oatmeal.
2. If you're not worried about the extra sugar, sprinkle a little white granulated sugar on top of the fruit and oatmeal (it doesn't take much). This gives it a nice, crunchy, sweet element on the very top!
3. Put in the oven and bake for about fifteen minutes (largely dependent on the type of baking pan used). The edges will be golden brown but the middle will still be gooey (Which is okay! Think about a bowl of oatmeal, and that should be the consistency in the middle!) 
4. Remove, cool, and enjoy! 

Note:  This goes great with  maple syrup. Also, if you know you prefer gooier oatmeal, you can add more liquids (I think milk is best) and it will end up being runnier and more like a bowl of oatmeal.