Baked Peaches and Cream Oatmeal

Recently I’ve given up my normal egg breakfast routine in favor of a hot bowl of oatmeal.  Baked oatmeal is great over instant oats because you can make a large batch and eat it throughout the week.  This recipe is from Two Peas and Their Pod, and it was delicious.  I made a couple of substitutions just based on what I had in my pantry.  Enjoy!

Baked Peaches and Cream Oatmeal

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup Scottish oats

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped almonds

2 cups skim milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 peaches chopped

1/2 cup dried blueberries

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a baking dish or pie plate.

Mix together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another.

Place one of the chopped peaches on the bottom of the baking dish.  Pour the oat mixture on top.  Then add the wet ingredients.  Add the second peach on top.

Bake for 40 minutes.

If you are eating it throughout the week, keep it in the refrigerator and reheat in the microwave.

Nutty Frangipane Galette

Remember the Strawberry Frangipane Galette I made a little while ago?  While my father loved the buttery crust and creamy frangipane filling, but suggested omitting the fruit to make a sweet breakfast pastry of some sorts.  Similar in taste to a nutty shortbread.  I ended up doubling the amount of frangipane from the previous recipe and sprinkling slivered almonds on top.  It was fantastic!  Not too sweet it paired perfectly with coffee and was a great way to start off the day.  It made me feel like a lady on Downton Abbey.  I imagine they ate similar sweets in the morning. Nutty Frangipane Galette (serves 8) Crust

• 1 cup plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 9 tbsp cold butter, cut into tablespoons
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp ice water

Almond Frangipane

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 8 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 2 egg, separated
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 pinches of kosher salt

Slivered almonds and powdered sugar for garnish (optional) Mix together the flour, almond flour, salt, sugar, and butter with a hand mixer on low speed until you get crumbles.  Add in the vanilla extract and water.  Mix for another minute until the dough comes together or just use your hands to form it into a disc.  Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. For the frangipane, beat the almond flour, sugar, butter, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the galette. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking pan with a silpat or parchment paper. On a floured surface (or confectioner’s sugar) roll out the dough to an 11 inch circle.  Place on the baking sheet and spread the frangipane over it.  Fold over the edges of the crust so as to contain the cream filling.  Sprinkle the almonds on top. Whisk the egg whites until foamy and spread over the galette. Bake the galette for 30 minutes.  The pastry should turn a nice golden brown on the edges.  Cool completely.  Serve alongside coffee.  Dust powder sugar on top to make it extra pretty.

Strawberry Frangipane Galette

I don’t know about you, but I love frangipane, or almond cream.  Found in the filling of almond croissants it is made of ground almonds and sugar and butter and is amazing!  When I saw a recipe for an Apricot Frangipane Galette I was inspired and made a couple of substitutions to fit my cupboard and pallet.   Feel free to use whatever fruit you have on hand, this galette is great with most!

Strawberry Frangipane Galette (serves 8)

Crust

• 1 cup plus 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 9 tbsp cold butter, cut into tablespoons
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp ice water

Almond Frangipane

• ½ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar
• 4 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 1 egg, separated
• ½ tsp almond extract
• pinch of kosher salt

Strawberries

• 3 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Mix together the flour, almond flour, salt, sugar, and butter with a hand mixer on low speed until you get crumbles.  Add in the vanilla extract and water.  Mix for another minute until the dough comes together or just use your hands to form it into a disc.  Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

For the frangipane, beat the almond flour, sugar, butter, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until smooth.  Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble the galette.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix the strawberries with the lemon juice and sugar.

Line a baking pan with a silpat or parchment paper.

On a floured surface (or confectioner’s sugar) roll out the dough to an 11 inch circle.  Place on the baking sheet and spread the frangipane over it.  Place the strawberries on top.  Fold over the edges of the crust so as to contain the fruit.

Whisk the egg white until foamy and spread over the galette.

Bake the galette for 30 minutes.  The pastry should turn a nice golden brown on the edges.  Serve alongside whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Honey Clustered Cereal

I know I’ve posted a lot of breakfast items recently, but since I gave up dessert for lent, I’ve had to broaden my horizons 😦  This cereal is basically the same process as the Maple Almond Granola I made.  Great big crunchy clusters, perfect to pair with milk or yogurt and fruit!

Honey Clustered Cereal (12 1/2 cup servings)

3 cups Special K

1/3 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup honey

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees.  Line a pan with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.

Combine everything in a bowl, excluding the lone egg white.  Mix thoroughly.

Whisk the egg white in a bowl until it gets light and frothy.  Add to the cereal mixture and mix so it coats everything.

Spread it on the lined baking sheet.  Bake for a total of 50-55 minutes.  Halfway through rotate the pan.

It is done when the cereal is dry to the touch and lightly browned.  When you take it out of the oven let it cool before you break it into clusters.

Maple Almond Granola

A nice bowl of granola, with fresh fruit, and milk seems to be one of my favorite breakfasts.  It is hearty enough to keep you going until lunch and has that nice wholesome quality about it.  This is the first time I have ever made my own granola, and I don’t think I will ever buy it again.  This takes almost zero effort and within an hour you have a sweet n’ salty snack that is also pretty healthy.  I used the recipe from Smitten Kitchen’s Cookbook via Serious Eats, but I did not get the so called big clusters promised.  I think I was not gentle enough when I moved the granola around at the halfway cooking time… I guess I need to work on that technique.  But nevertheless I found this granola fantastic, so if you get the clusters described, I imagine it will be fabulous!  I changed the ingredients slightly to adapt to my cupboard, feel free to do the same.

March 18th ROUND TWO: The second time I made this granola was a success!! Instead of mixing the granola halfway through the baking time I just rotated the pan.  Then once the granola is done baking let it cool for a couple minutes and carefully break it into clusters.

Maple Almond Granola (around 12 1/2 cup servings)

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2/3 cup unsweetened flaked coconut

1 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 large egg white

Pre-heat your oven to 300 degrees.  Line a pan with parchment paper or a non-stick mat.

Combine everything in a bowl, excluding the lone egg white.  Mix thoroughly.

Whisk the egg white in a bowl until it gets light and frothy.  Add to the granola mixture and mix so it coats everything.

Spread it on the lined baking sheet.  Bake for a total of 50-55 minutes.  Halfway through I used a spatula to turn over the granola.  I think this was my fatal mistake because this is where the granola crumbled apart.  If you want to ensure clusters maybe just rotate the pan so you don’t disturb the bonds forming.

It is done when the granola is dry to the touch and lightly browned.

Enjoy!