almond and oat jam bars.

Deb over at Smitten Kitchen turned me on to Liz Prueitt's Instagram.   She works at Tartine out in San Francisco and takes lovely pictures of food that I want to eat (lots of grains, beans, and desserts filled with all sorts of interesting flours).   The real kicker is that she includes recipes for some of these items - it's kind of like an Instagram cooking magazine and I love it.

These jam bars caught my attention a couple of weeks back because they felt like a healthy, good for you breakfast/cookie/afternoon snack item.  In essence, they are an updated Linzer cookie - one filled with oats and almonds and chia seeds (those all the rage ingredients).   I like them because they taste really, really good.   A little bit like a cookie and a little bit like a granola bar.  They are kind of the best of both world and most everyone I handed one to couldn't get enough of them.   

Almond and Oat Jam Bars 

Recipe from the Instagram of Liz Prueitt (lizprueitt_tartine)

For the Crust

4 oz. softned butter

3 oz. almond butter

1 ounce maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanila

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 cup almond flour

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 cup oat flour

6 tablespooons sugar

For the Filling

2 tablespoons ground chia seeds

1/4 cup water

12 ounces of jam (I used homemade rhubarb)

Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.   

Mix all of the crust ingredients with hands or wooden spoon.   Divide into thirds, patting two-thirds into the bottom of 9x13 pan lined with parchment.

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl and spread over the crust.   Crumble the remaining one-third crust ingredients on top.  

Bake for 30 - 35 minutes.  Let cook.  Cut and eat! 

     

toasted brown butter oats with coconut.

I thought I was sick of oatmeal.  I really did.  But then, during my weekly perusal of my favorite food blogs, I stumbled across a recipe for toasted brown butter oatmeal that left me literally salivating at the mouth.   

Toasted brown butter oatmeal with coconut?!  It just sounds like such a magical breakfast.   

And my god it is.  This is the oatmeal that dreams are made of.  This is the kind of thing I could eat every single day.  Toasted oats is genius.  Brown butter is also genius but you already knew that.  

Anson Mills oats are nutty to begin with but toasting them, toasting turns them into little flavor bombs.  But let's be honest, while fancy oats are nice, this preparation will produce just as transcendent results with your run of the mill Quaker Oats.  Brown butter and toasting the oats just produces magic.   Oh and the coconut and maple syrup? That just takes this to sublime.   Finish it off with an extra drizzle of maple syrup (more is never a bad thing), a handful of dried cherries, and a splash of milk.  Best. Breakfast. Ever.   

Toasted Brown Butter Oats with Coconut

Recipe adapted slightly from Not Without Salt

Serves 4 - Can be halved   

  

4 tablespoons butter

2 cups oats

2/3 cup coconut flakes

1/4 cup maple syrup, plus a little more for drizzling over top if you’d like

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

2 -2 1/2 cups whole milk

In a in a large saucepan or dutch oven brown the butter over medium high heat. You’ll know the butter is browned when it smells nutty and the milk solids sink to the bottom and start to turn golden in color. (About 3-6 minutes depending on the size of your pan and how much oatmeal you are making.  If you are halving this, 2 tablespoons of butter should only take about 3-4 minutes.)

Add the oats. Stir constantly until they start to toast and deepen in color, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the coconut flakes and cook 1 minute more.

Stir in the maple syrup, vanilla and salt. Coat the oats in the syrup and cook until the bottom of the pan looks dry, about 1-2 minutes.

Slowly drizzle in the milk at first, while stirring the oats constantly. Add more milk as the oats absorb the liquid. After you've done this with the first cup or so of milk stir in the rest. For thicker oats use 2 cups for creamier, loose oatmeal add all of the milk.  Cook until most of the milk has been absorbed and the oatmeal is thickened.  

Serve while warm.

(If you are using Anson Mills oats you will want to remove the pot from the heat when the milk has been absorbed and cover the pot with the lid.  Let it rest 5 minutes before serving.)  

You can serve the toasty oats with a splash of cream, raisins or dried cherries, more maple syrup, muscavado sugar, dark brown sugar, more coconut – whatever you’d like. 

oatmeal cookies.

It was only after I purchased 10 pounds of Anson Mills oats that I realized exactly how much 10 pounds of oats is.   

It is a lot of oats.  A lot, a lot of oats.  
So yeah, I own 10 pounds of oats.  I had convinced myself that I would never get sick of oatmeal, but oatmeal is one of those foods that you can get sick of rather easily (even after doctoring it up with all sorts of goodies) so after my 15th bowl, I decided it was time to finally explore the gloriousness that is the Anson Mills library of recipes and that is where I stumbled across a recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies.  

Oatmeal raisin cookies are completely and utterly under-appreciated.  I will be the first to say that my favorite cookie from Levain Bakery is their oatmeal raisin (I know there are chocolate chip fans out there crying) but most others don't share this sentiment.  Oatmeal cookies lack all the magical qualities that most other cookies have, namely chocolate.  This is why whenever I make an oatmeal based cookie, I always doctor it up,  Adding in chocolate and dried cherries and omitting the raisins. That resulting cookie is a crowd-pleaser.  It retains all of it's oatmeal cookie charm while being something people can't get enough of.  This particular recipe produces a cookie that is so absurdly perfect that I already have plans to make it again this weekend.  It's a cross between a cookie and granola and it's glorious.  Crisp edges give way to a perfectly soft and chewy center.   It's not cloyingly sweet and the Anson Mills oats provide a nutty flavor that most find irresistible.  Coupled with chocolate and dried cherries you have one hell of a cookie. 

(I think it may be the cookie of summer picnics which is quite an honor to be bestowed!)   

Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe adapted slightly from Anson Mills

Of course you can follow the traditional path and use raisins.  If you do, I recommend 3/4 - 1 cup of raisins depending on your raisin to cookie preference.   

7.5 ounces (1½ cups) unbleached all-purpose flour 

7.9 ounces (1½ cups) oats (and I encourage you to get Anson Mills!!)

½ teaspoon baking powder

Scant ½ teaspoon fine sea salt

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon or nutmeg

2.4 ounces (½ cup) dried cherries

¾ cup chocolate chips or chunked chocolate

5 ounces (10 tablespoons) unsalted European-style butter, room temperature

4 ounces (½ cup packed) dark brown sugar

3 ounces (⅓ cup plus 4 teaspoons) granulated sugar

1 large egg

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

  

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Turn the flour, oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon or nutmeg into a medium mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add the dried cherries and chocolate chips and stir to combine, breaking up any clumps with your fingers.

  

Beat the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer with the flat-beater attachment until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add both sugars and beat on medium speed until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is light and aerated, pausing once to scrape down the bowl, about 3 minutes. With the mixer running on low speed, add the egg and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Detach the bowl from the mixer and scrape it down. Using the rubber spatula, stir the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until an evenly moistened dough forms.

Using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop just shy of 2 inches in diameter, form sixteen 2-inch balls and place them on the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. (At this point the cookies can be transferred to the fridge for up to 36 hours or to the freezer for a month.) Flatten the balls slightly with moistened palms. Bake 1 sheet at a time until golden brown on the bottoms and tops, 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan from front to back halfway through. Slide the parchment sheet onto a cooling rack and let the cookies cool for 15 minutes.

granola bark.

My brother got me the Husk cookbook for Christmas and flipping through the pages has me longing for a trip to the South.  I usually don't feel the need to leave the tundra that is called the Northeast during the month of February (I personally don't mind hibernating) but this year I am feeling particularly antsy.  Not necessarily for the feeling of warmth (though I wouldn't mind some sunshine on my face) but just to explore, to get lost in a new place, to try something new.  Sometimes I feel lost when things feel stagnant.  

While I am still planning a trip to south of the Mason-Dixon line, I discovered I can bring a little bit of the south to me by spending an inordinate amount of money on Anson Mills flours and grains. Anson Mills is one of those places that is trying to resurrect the world of heirloom grains - the kind of thing we ate hundred's of years ago. It's a lofty goal, mostly because people aren't used to eating the heartier grains of the yesteryear but I encourage it.  It doesn't hurt that the hearty grains taste so good. 

So I bought graham flour and buckwheat flour and flatbread flour (which may ruin all other tortillas for me) but the best thing I bought was the 10 POUNDS OF OATS.  Yes - I now own 10 pounds of oats which means I will be eating oatmeal everyday for the next 7 months but I am OK with that. These oats are delightful.  Nutty and filling.  They have me craving breakfast.   They also have me searching for things to do with my plethora of oats (because 7 months of only oatmeal is a lot) and that is where the Anson Mills website comes in handy.  You see THEY GIVE YOU RECIPES so you know how to use their products which is how I stumbled across granola bark which is as if granola and a bar had a baby.    It makes for a fine breakfast and an equally wonderful afternoon snack.   

Granola Bark
Recipe adapted from Anson Mills

Feel free to mix up the add in's.  This is a great way to clean out the cabinets.  It also makes A LOT so feel free to share.  You're recipient will thank you.   

16 ounces (3 cups) old-fashioned oats

6 ounces (2 cups) raw sliced almonds

3 ounces (1 cup) unsweetened shredded coconut

4 ounces (1 cup) raw shelled sunflower or pumpkin seeds

2.3 ounces (1/2 cup) ground flaxseed

5.3 ounces (about 1 cup) dried cranberries, raisins, apricots, or some combination of all

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

5 ounces (10 tablespoons) unsalted European-style butter or coconut oil (or some combination of both)

9 ounces (scant 1 cup) honey or maple syrup

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

  

Line a large rimmed baking sheet (18 by 13 inches) with parchment paper and set it aside.

  

Place the oats, almonds, coconut, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, flax seed, dried fruit, and spices in a large mixing bowl and toss to combine.

  

Heat the butter or coconut oil and honey/maple syrup in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat until the butter melts. Stir in the salt and vanilla, and then pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are evenly moistened. Turn the granola onto the prepared baking sheet and press firmly with an offset spatula to create an even layer about ½ inch thick. Cover and refrigerate overnight, time and space permitting.

  

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 250 degrees. Bake the granola until it is firm to the touch and deep golden brown, about 1¼ hours. Let cool in the baking sheet; the granola will become crisper as it cools.

  

When cooled and crisp, lift an edge of the parchment paper to loosen the bark and break the granola into pieces. Store in zipper-lock plastic bags at cool room temperature. The granola will keep at the height of its texture and flavor for 2 weeks. Serve with dried or fresh fruit and milk or yogurt, or eat out of hand.