Granola Brownies

May 29, 2020

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

Did you know that brownies seem to be the most difficult thing for me to make? I have tried what seems like a million recipes and they’re either too dry, not enough flavor, too cakey, I can’t seem to get it right. Until now! I finally did it! Sure, it took me a couple of tries, but we now have the most perfect brownie. They’re moist and dense, which is, honestly, just what I wanted. I’m quite surprised that I continued to test out recipes for these babies, but as a brownie is basically a STAPLE baked good, how could I not?!

And so once I got these amazing single-nap brownies finished, I figured why not use up another of Oliver’s naps to take them to the next level?! Yep. I measure everything in naps. How many naps does it take for me to get in my workout? About half of one. How many to clean to house? A full nap. How many to make these granola stuffed brownies? Two whole naps! For a baby who naps 3-4 times per day, I’ve become a pro at using up every second of them - even if it means I’m napping during one of those, too!

If you haven’t had them already, these toasted oat raw granola bars are the best things on the PLANET. Like, I try to have our freezer full of them whenever possible! So, I decided to use the same idea but make a granola layer on top of these brownies, then just throw on some more chocolate after that! I will say these are probably some of the best things I’ve made. They’re so thiccc and decadent. Oh my. The brownies have coffee and orange zest in them (you’re welcome for this combo), then a nice peanut butter granola, all covered in chocolate. These are a TREAT for sure! Wholesome ingredients, rich flavor, I’ve outdone myself with these 2-nap brownies!

brownie ingredients

Butter—4 oz, or 1 stick

Coconut Oil—3.5 oz, or ½ C

Coconut Sugar—2.5 oz, or ½ C

Coffee, ground—1 TBL

Orange Zest—from 1 orange

Eggs—2

Coconut Sugar—5 oz, or 1 C

Flour—7.5 oz, or 1 ¼ C

Salt—1 tsp

Baking Powder—½ tsp

Cocoa Powder—2 oz, or 2/3 C

Chocolate Chips—5.5 oz, or ¾ C

process

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

In a small saucepot, combine the butter, coconut oil, first amount of sugar (2.5 oz) and coffee. Melt on the stove until the oils are melted. Set aside

Whisk together the eggs, orange zest and second amount of sugar (5 oz) until just combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder.

Slow add the melted oil mixture and egg mixture into the dry. Fold together with a spatula until just combined—you do not want to over mix!

Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour brownie batter into a 9”x9” baking pan.

Bake for 28-30 minutes.

Allow to cool completely before going to the next steps.

granola ingredients

Oats, toasted—5.25 oz, or 1 ½ C

Peanut Butter—6.5 oz, or ¾ C

Honey—3.5 oz, or 1/3 C

Salt—½ tsp

Vanilla Extract—½ tsp

process

In an oven preheated to 350˚F, toasted your oats for about 10 minutes.

Once out of the oven and cooled, mix your oats with the peanut butter, honey, salt and vanilla until all of the oats are covered and the mixture is homogenous.

Spread this over the top of your cooled brownies.

Put in the refrigerator to firm up while you do the next step.

chocolate topping ingredients

Chocolate Chips—6.25 oz, or 1 C

Coconut Oil—1 TBL

process

In a heat proof bowl, melt together the chocolate and oil in either the microwave or over a double boiler until smooth.

Pour over the top of the oat layer.

Chill in refrigerator until set, cut into squares.

Bon Appétit!

Orange Sugar Cookies

March 28, 2016

Spring has sprung my sweet friends! The warmth is here, the flowers are all over the place saying hello, the trees are blooming beauties, and I have been running in shorts and a t-shirt! Life is beautiful!

I hope that everyone had an absolutely loving, family and chocolate filled Easter weekend, as mine was filled with far too many chocolate eggs that this morning I still feel as if I am in a coma—yes I ate that much. I decided to change gears a bit and go ahead and freeze most of my chocolate because 1. Out of sight out of mind, and 2. If you didn’t know already, frozen candy, in my family, means zero calories! Now who wants in with us?

So as I say goodbye to Mr. Bunny with his ears bitten off, I am saying Bonjour to my very simple sugar cookies and rather adorable cookie cutters, which I firmly believe that they are a staple in many a bakers life—I mean we can cut out so. Many. Things.

Cookies, candy, fudge, stencils, bread, cake—dare I go on?

Not to brag, but my wild animal + Eiffel Tower collection of cutters is rather fabulous, but I have been using them more as decorations lately than for baking…why Katie, why?!

And here we have it, an ever so simple and delicious sugar cookie recipe that allowed me to show off my goods in more ways than lining the kitchen! Something extra special that I am obsessing over with this recipe is the versatility of it. Yes, I decided to make them orange, but any flavors—citrus or not—are truly perfect with it. Add in crushed mints, put in multiple zests, how about extra sprinkles, they are all possible! Plus, can you just think at how cute and perfect these cookies will be for all things outdoors?! I mean, who doesn’t want a margarita and sugar cookie on the back porch? No one! Let's just add in a martini, margarita and wine glass to that cookie cutter collection of yours.

You’re welcome!

ingredients

Butter, room temperature—8 oz, or 2 sticks

Sugar—12.25 oz, or 1 ½ C

Eggs—1

Orange Extract—¼ tsp

Flour—15 oz, or 3 C

Salt—½ tsp

Baking Soda—¾ tsp

Orange Zest—1 medium

Milk—½ TBL

process

In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.

Once light and fluffy, add the egg and extract.

*You can use any flavor extract you would like, the orange just adds more depth and flavor.*

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking soda.

With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients.

Add in the zest.

Once all combined, add in the milk.

When your dough is nice and smooth, remove from the bowl and wrap in plastic wrap—put into the refrigerator to chill.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350˚ F.

Remove the dough from the fridge.

On a lightly floured work surface, knead the dough to warm it up just slightly, this allows the dough to become slightly more pliable when you are rolling it out.

Roll out the sugar cookie dough until it is about ¼” thick.

*If it is easier for you, you may roll the dough out in sections so that you are working with less.*

Using whatever cookie cutters you have, stamp out as many as the rolled out dough will allow.

Place all cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment, a Silpat or sprayed with nonstick spray.

Put in the refrigerator to chill for about 10 minutes.

Repeat these steps until you have used all of your dough.

Before baking, you may either sprinkle with some coarse sugar, sprinkles, chocolate chips, whatever you’d like to decorate!

Place the cut, chilled and decorated cookies in the oven to bake for about 12-15 minutes, until just slightly golden on the edges.

Allow to cool on a rack, and enjoy with a cozy cup of tea!

Bon Appétit!

Citrus Olive Oil Cake

February 21, 2016

Want to know what is so wonderful about winter?

The beautiful snow? Well, yes.

The big cable knit sweaters and skiing (or lodging)? Absolutely.

BUT! What I live for in the winter is the abundance of citrus that is all around during this chilly, windy and slippery season.

While I can’t just go to my backyard and pick a grapefruit off of my tree, I can go to the great market downtown where there is an abundance of quality citrus—from oranges to lemons, grapefruits to limes—I love this about the wintertime!

This past weekend I was inspired so much by the incredible weather in Charleston—Saturday was 70˚ and sunny, Roberto and I finally got to enjoy living downtown and took full advantage of how walkable this city can be! Sunday was almost as warm and rainy, my favorite! Something about the smell of “summer rain,” but in February, it was the perfect weekend.

And here comes my craving again for citrus, for summer, for light and simple! I had made an olive oil cake for a 4th of July get together that we had this past summer and clearly needed to have some in my life again. PLUS! Can I say winter citrus one more time?!

Yep. It happened.

And here we have it, the most moist, citrusy, lightly sweet cake. I used almond flour along with AP flour in this recipe, giving it just a slightly unique flavor—I can’t imagine this cake without it! If you want to use another nut flower, some coconut flour, that will add that little something fun to such a simple cake! What else is versatile? The citrus that is added. I used both oranges and grapefruits, two of my favorites, but any others can be subbed of course!

Finally, this is the perfect cake to make individualized! Roberto got me the cutest cocottes from Le Creuset and I don’t use them enough, so naturally I did for these wonderfully adorable cakes! So, whether you had a blizzard this weekend or were getting sunburned on your walk around town, we are in the deep winter months and there’s no better way to celebrate than with this Citrus Olive Oil Cake!