snack – The Answer is Always Pork

oatcakes, or a meal in a muffin

It might look like a muffin, but this oatcake isn’t messing around with a delicate crumb, bright lemon zest or jammy berries. It is a breakfast that packs a punch, and by a punch I mean each one of these suckers has enough oats and nuts to leave you full for hours, even after a 2.5 mile walk to work or 2 hour surf sesh. While not the most nuanced of pastries, these oakcakes are great for what they’re designed to be—fuel.

Oakcakes, adapted from Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Everyday
3 cups rolled oats, avoid instant oats if you can
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 sugar
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat your oven to 325° F. Butter a muffin tin, or line it with adorable paper cups purchased in Japantown.

Combine the oats, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts in a large mixing bowl.

In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the coconut oil, butter, maple syrup and sugar until they melt and combine. Pour the coconut oil mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine. Add the eggs and stir again until everything comes together. The dough will be more the texture of granola than batter.

Spoon the dough into the muffin tins, spreading it amongst the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes, until the edges of the oakcakes are golden.

Enjoy for breakfast or as a mid-day power snack. I’d recommend having some tea or coffee alongside these guys.

-Emily

baking therapy: homemade cheez its

I love cheese, I love cheese on crackers, I love cheesy crackers. Cheez-its, Goldfish crackers, Flaming Hot Cheetos, yummm. BUT, we are trying to stay away from processed foods, which means no cheez crackers for Emily.

That is until I found a recipe for cheese straws (made with real cheese, butter and flour!) on Smitten Kitchen. I made these sharp cheddar cheese crackers last night and boy do they fill my cheesy cracker void. They actually taste more like cheddar than cheddar, if you can believe it. Even Jordan, who is not a processed cheese cracker aficionado like me really enjoyed them.

Homemade Cheez Its, adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Cheese Straws

1 1/2 cups extra sharp cheddar, grated (about 6 0z)
3/4 cup flour
4 T butter, softened and cut into cubes
1/2 t salt
1/4 t crushed red pepper (although paprika or ground red pepper may give a more even distribution)
1 T milk

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor, process cheese, flour, butter, salt and red pepper until it resembles coarse sand. Add milk and process until dough forms a ball. About 15 seconds.

Take out the cheesy ball and roll it out on a lightly floured surface. If you’d like to make cheese straws, roll it until it is 1/4 inch thick and cut into straws. If you’d like to make cheez-its, roll the dough until it is 1/8 inch thick and cut into squares. Poke the squares with the tines of a fork.

Transfer straws or squares onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes at 350 degrees, until lightly browned. Cool on a rack and devour!

-Emily