Recipe for Oatmeal Raisin Whole Wheat Quick Bread-Daring Bakers Challenge

I used to be a chocolate chip kinda girl, now more an oatmeal raisin one.  Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate but when reaching for a cookie, I'm more likely to go for the oatmeal raisin one.  Well, the truth is I'm happiest when I can have an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie!  I don't know why oatmeal raisin cookies were on my mind when I came up with this recipe for February's Daring Baker's Challenge.  I'm glad they were though, because this Oatmeal Raisin Whole Wheat Quick Bread is terrific.  


The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lis stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Recipe for Whole Wheat Pita

In my "to try" file are about a dozen naan recipes.  So, of course I can't seem to get going on making some-just keep looking at the recipes, thinking about the best attributes of each one.  Help!  I have naan paralysis!


However, I came across a recipe for pita and just jumped on it!  No messing around.  No saving many versions and trying to come up with "the best".  It is a recipe with mostly whole wheat which I like.  Is it "the best"? Who knows?  But it made lovely pillows of whole wheat goodness just begging to be stuffed with spinach, ham and cheese.  So different than the cardboard texture of the whole wheat pita I buy at the store.

Recipe for Tropical Pancakes



For Easter morning, I made Mr. ELEB some pancakes.  I thought about making my whole wheat pancakes which I know are great, but was inspired by a Mark Bittman recipe to try something different.    Unlike Mark’s recipe, I toasted the coconut, included some macadamia nut oil, and topped the pancakes with mango.

They turned out very nice!

Recipe for Double Chocolate Mocha Mint Cookies

These cookies remind me of the mint Girl Scout cookies but instead of thin and crunchy they are thick and soft.  Sort of like a brownie cookie-depending on how long you cook them, they’ll either be fudgy (my preference) or cakey (my husband’s preference).  I tried to make them on the healthier side by using white whole wheat flour and a minimum amount of brown sugar blend.  

Makes 26 cookies, each approximately 93 calories, 6.5 grams fat, 8 grams carbs, 1.5 grams fiber, 2 grams protein; 3 WW Points +

Recipe for Olive and Cheese Whole Wheat Bread

We are really enjoying having fresh artisan bread any time we want by just plucking some dough from the fridge and baking off a loaf.  The basic whole wheat recipe is wonderful plain or with butter and/or jam.  I love it with almond butter.  The dough also takes well to variations like this savory olive and cheese bread, with a hint of rosemary.

Recipe for Chocolate Chunk Cake

Using large chips of bittersweet chocolate makes this cake insanely chocolate.  It doesn’t need icing, just a touch of whipped cream or powdered sugar to finish it off.  If you like chocolate and salt like I do, sprinkle some kosher salt on the top and enjoy!  This is not a low calorie dessert by any means so use portion control.  You could also reduce the chocolate to 1 cup and I’m sure it would still be awesome.

Recipe for Raspberry Lemon Bars

Here’s a "special treat" recipe I developed for a contest (sponsored by Earth Balance but I wasn't paid or given product to participate or blog about it).  It was a bake off and we had to bake some type of brownie or bar.  I thought about submitting my Double Chocolate Zucchini Brownies but wanted to try something new.  The recipe didn't win the contest (but my pie won in the pie section!)

Recipe for Whole Wheat Pancakes with Banana and Almond Butter

On a lazy Sunday morning, I surprised Mr. ELEB with these healthy and filling pancakes.  They are the basic whole wheat pancake recipe with a banana and some almond butter added.  I thought about adding some chocolate but restrained myself!  I think it would be a good add though, so let me know if you go all out.  This is another use for frozen bananas.

This is a kid-friendly recipe so if you have kids (or grab your neighbors'/friends' kids) try this recipe and cook with them.  For more kid friendly recipes check out Make Time For Change, sponsored by Frigidaire.    Frigidaire and Jennifer Garner are teaming up to inspire families everywhere to roll up their sleeves and get cooking together. Starting today, people can join in the Frigidaire Kids' Cooking Academy to get great recipes, how-to videos and tips, all designed to help involve kids in the kitchen.  If you join, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children to help make sure that more children have access to healthy foods. Plus, to help spread the word, everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win the daily prize, a kids' apron set, and the grand prize: a new Double Oven Range from Frigidaire.

Made 9 pancakes, each approximately 112 calories, 5 grams fat, 15 grams carbs, 2 grams fiber, 4 grams protein without butter or syrup; 3 WW Points +

Recipe for Zucchini Fritters

I made these a while back when I had all that lovely zucchini! 

They were quite good and I loved the combination of the fritter and the cucumber raita.  I’d like to keep working on this recipe to move away from frying (even though it is in olive oil…) so I’ll keep you posted if I can keep the crispy texture but use the oven somehow (any suggestions??)

Lighten Up Pumpkin Muffins

I like to have lazy Sunday mornings reading the paper and drinking coffee (who doesn't?!).  A few weekends ago, I came across a recipe for "Skinny Pumpkin Muffins" in Parade Magazine in our local island paper.  Since the transitions between seasons are very subtle here on Maui, Pumpkin Muffins sounded like just the thing to help get us in the "Fall" mood.  I have been looking for pumpkin puree for 3 weeks (not that unusual-"gotta wait for the boat") so when I found some today, I grabbed a few cans and promptly came home and made these muffins.

Chocolate Hazelnut Whole Wheat Pancakes

How did I come up with this concoction for Chocolate Hazelnut Whole Wheat pancakes?  Breakfast at our house is generally pretty simple.   Almost always cereal for the hubby, pretty often for me too.  I’ll also make some of my breakfast quiches and eat those, or some hard boiled eggs.  Rarely do we do pancakes unless we go out.  Primarily because I haven’t found a recipe that feels halfway healthy.  That is until I found this one on Cooks.com

I liked it because it used whole wheat flour as the base and it got rave reviews about lightness and fluffiness.  Sounded good to me.

I felt a little creative this morning so I looked in the pantry and fridge for some inspiration.  Pumpkin?  Probably would be good, but didn’t float my boat and I had recently made pumpkin muffins.  Banana?  Hmmm, sort of ho-hum.  Semi-sweet chocolate mini chips (the tiny ones)?  OK, I can work with that, who wouldn’t like a chocolate treat for breakfast? 

I was thinking of adding some walnuts or other nuts and a light bulb came on…what about chocolate and hazelnut?  Sort of like that amazing choc/hazelnut spread I refuse to buy because I’m tempted to just stick a spoon in it and eat it straight from the jar?