Brown Sugar Strawberry Scones and Monthly Posts

Ah, interwebs. How I've missed you.

HighAltVeg will be switching to monthly posts, due to some unexpected medical issues on my end (see: neurological disorders). This means you get extra deliciousness and heavier testing on the recipes, and it means that I get to focus a bit more on my professional practice and volunteering here in Fort Collins. So as posts slow down, know I'm not leaving the blog: just slowing it down to fit the relaxed, easy-going vibe of Colorado. (I know, I become more and more of a "granola" hippie every day, and I love it!)

Moving on....

Ah, scones. How I've missed you even more.

Scones are, for some reason, rumored to be notoriously hard to make and always super unhealthy. While the hard to make part may not be true, the unhealthy part normally is. To give you an idea, a popular coffee shop across the US has seasonal fall scones that clock in at 34g of sugar and 18g of fat.

Gross numbers.

At a local place in Fort Collins, though, I can never go in without getting one of their scones. They're packed with local strawberries, the sweetness of sugar (so much sugar), and then topped with a slightly tart lemon glaze that refreshes and balances the sweetness. And, of course, they're packed with butter and oil.

My obsession with these scones became a bit too much after I kept driving and getting one every single day, which led to a hit in my small paycheck (because: college). So one day, when I just couldn't resist having a scone anymore, I decided to recreate them. I wanted the superb flavor, but without the negatives of daily doses of fat and sugar.

IT WORKED.

These scones cut the fat and calories significantly, while utilizing a majority of sugar from the natural sweetness of the strawberries. A touch of brown sugar makes it extra delectable. Instead of doing a powdered sugar and lemon glaze, I added some creaminess and depth by mixing lemon with vanilla nonfat greek yogurt. These taste (and look!) just as good as the ones from my local coffee shop, which is awesome.

NOM NOM NOM.

Brown Sugar Strawberry Scones with Lemon Glaze
Serves 8

Scone Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 2/3c. all-purpose flour
• 1/3c. packed brown sugar
• 1T baking powder
• 1/2t baking soda
• 1/4t salt
• 3/4c. fat free vanilla Greek yogurt
• 3T warm water
• 1 large egg
• Zest of one lemon
• 8 strawberries, thinly sliced

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1T lemon juice (or more, depending on glaze consistency desired)
• Zest of one lemon 
• 1/2c. fat free vanilla Greek yogurt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well and sift if there are any lumps. Add Greek yogurt, water, egg, and lemon zest, and stir (don't whisk) until just combined.
3. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for one minute. Expect the dough to try and fall apart a bit, and don't worry about it. 
4. Divide the dough in half and shape into rounds, then place on baking sheet. Pat down until each round is about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch thick. With a wet knife, cut each round into quarters but don't separate them. Place the equivalent of one strawberry on each to-be-scone, pressing down slightly so they stick. 
5. Place baking sheet in middle of oven and cook for 15-17 minutes, until a golden brown. Allow to cool slightly.
6. While scones are cooling, combine lemon juice, zest, and yogurt in a small bowl. Mix well, then drizzle over the scones. Store in the refrigerator for up to 10 days. 

Nutritional Information:
Sodium: 315mg
Total Fat: 1.1g
      Saturated: 0.3g
      Trans: 0g
Protein: 7.5g
Sugar: 17.1g
Calories: 188

Raspberry Almond Muffins (Vegan)

Muffins should be a requirement in everyday life.

Fresh, slightly sweet and slightly tart raspberries.

The crunch of almond.

Heartiness (and a pretty blue color!) from rye flour.

Overall, a pretty delicious breakfast (or snack. or lunch. or dinner. Can I eat these always?)

Raspberry Almond Muffins
Serves 12

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup rye flour (optional: can replace with whole wheat flour)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2cup sugar or splenda
• 1t baking power
• 1t baking soda
• 1/4t salt
• 1/2cup unsweetened applesauce
• 3/4cup + 2T unsweetened soy/almond milk
• 1t lemon juice
• 1/2t vanilla extract
• 1 cup raspberries (fresh, or frozen and thawed)
• 1/3cup slivered almonds

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Meanwhile, combine flours, sugar/splenda, baking power, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, soy milk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.
3. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture. Mix with a spoon until the dry ingredients are half-moistened; at this point, add the raspberries. Mix just until there aren't dry spots left (lumps still may be present). Over-mixing can cause tough muffins (yay gluten formation!)
4. Divide batter evenly among 12 normal-sized muffin cups or 6 jumbo muffin cups. Evenly divide almonds among the tops of the muffins, pushing down gently to adhere them to the batter.
5. Cook in oven for 15-18 minutes (normal-sized) or 20-25 minutes (jumbo) at 375F, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool; remove from pan and serve for up to five days.

Nutrition Information (using Sugar):
Sodium: 208mg
Total Fat: 7g
       Saturated: 0g
       Trans: 0g
Protein: 5g
Sugar: 19g
Calories:227

Nutrition Information (using Splenda):
Sodium: 208mg
Total Fat: 7g
       Saturated: 0g
       Trans: 0g
Protein: 5g
Sugar: 2g
Calories:163

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana Crepes

Does anyone else find it impossible to walk into Barnes and Nobles without buying something?

Seriously. I've always had some type of a love affair with books, so B&N might as well just be labeled "Michelle Give Up Saving Money and Buy Books You Don't Have Time To Read Instead". It gets pretty intense when I walk in there. All the books are just so perfectly arranged with such pretty covers and endless ideas inside them! They're enticing. Especially because I am a naturally curious person (almost to a fault, in fact-- my questions often get me into uncomfortable situations with strangers). Books are just full of so many things that I want to learn and haven't yet, and they are never ending. I just love the idea of an infinite amount of knowledge floating around different societies, all impacting people in one way or another.

I'm pretty sure I'm just justifying my addiction to reading with some poetic and philosophical blabber, but whatever. It works. I actually branched out from my fiction section and invested about $150 in some Marketing, Management, and Psychology books that I've had my eye on for a few months. I also saw a new book concerning eating eisorders (actually, anorexia mainly), and so I pounced on that right away. When I first entered college, I was absolutely positive I was going to work with eating disorder patients. My goals have since changed to prenatal and early childhood nutritional counseling, but I can't help still sticking my nose into the eating disorder literature that I see. I actually finished the book, which is How To Disappear Completely: On Modern Anorexia, in a few days because it was so dang good.

Ok, I know that this is supposed to be a cooking blog, not a book one. I'll get on with it, and stop ranting about the money that I pour down the drain for cut-up trees, some ink, and a plethora of ideas and proverbial experiences.

Today's recipe really just fits the mood I'm in, which is chocolate + banana + peanut butter. I sometimes get random cravings for bananas (and, let's be honest, everyone always wants chocolate), and it can be boring to just keep adding them to yogurt/oatmeal each morning. So I've gotten into the habit of spreading some type of nut butter (usually almond, but peanut butter is good too) on the banana and eating it like that. I figured I would combine all three into a recipe, and it didn't take long for me to know exactly what I wanted the form to be. This weekend, I had some extra time to play around and decided that I was going to tackle the crepes that have been floating around my mind for a decent amount of time. These crepes are honestly just delicious, and they were fun to make!

Something that I know a few of you are thinking: Oh no. Crepes. I'm not a French chef, I just cook at home for fun, so why would I want to try something so hard? And to that I say: blasphemy! We are wayyyy too risk-adverse as a society, and we underestimate our own skills. People are really afraid of making crepes, because they seem to fancy, but I 100% believe that you (yes, YOU, right there) can take these crepes and not only make them, but make them awesomely! It's totally worth the first few mistakes, because you get an end result of creamy honey-peanut butter spread, a drizzle of decadent chocolate, and sweet banana, all wrapped up in an indulgent little package. For breakfast. Breakfast! Perfect excuse to eat sweets, particularly ones that are actually healthier for you.

(But you won't know it).

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana Crepes

Makes 8 Crepes

Ingredients:

Batter:

• 1/4c. (34.5g) whole wheat flour
• 1/4c. (34g) all purpose flour
• 2tbl unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 3/4c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1/8tsp salt
• 2tsp melted butter
• 2 tbl sugar
• cooking spray
• 1tsp vanilla

Filling:

• 1/4c. smooth peanut butter
• 1/4c. honey, warmed (microwave works wonders)
• 1/2c. low fat cream cheese
• 4 small bananas
• 1/2c. sugar-free chocolate syrup (such as Hershey's)  

Instructions

1. Whisk all batter ingredients in a bowl until smooth. The batter will be watery.
2. Heat up a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Spray with cooking spray, and then gently wipe the pan with a paper towel so the spray is evenly covering all of it.
3. Using a ladle, pour 3tbl of batter onto the center of the pan.
4. Holding onto the handle of the pan, remove it from the heat and swirl the pan so the batter coats the bottom of the pan. You want to make the coating as thin as possible.
5. The batter will quickly (about 1 min or less) dry and loose its shine. It's time to turn the crepe over. Use a non-metal spatula to loosen the crepe from the pan. Use the spatula to flip over the crepe. It's perfectly acceptable to use your fingers if necessary.
6. Continue cooking the crepe until it is done. You will know because the sides will start to rise up very slightly, and it will no longer look "gummy" or "watery". After the crepe has finished cooking, gently slide it out onto a plate. If you like, you can stack the crepes in a ovenproof dish and keep them warm in the oven set at 195 degrees.
7. To make crepe filling, place peanut butter, honey, and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until well-mixed and creamy, about 1 minute. Cut each banana into round slices (cutting width-wise), making them very thin, and set aside.
8. To assemble the crepes: Take a cooked crepe and lay it out on a plate. Spread 1 and 1/2tbl of the peanut butter mixture on the top half of the circle, then cover it with banana slices (the equivalent of 1/2 of a banana). You can either fold the "unfrosted" half of the crepe on top of the frosted half and then fold again, or you can roll it up. Drizzle each crepe with 1tbl of the chocolate syrup. 

Nutritional Information (Per Crepe):

Sodium: 121mg

Total Fat: 8g

       Saturated: 3g

       Trans: 0g

Protein: 6g

Sugar: 23g

Calories: 242

Nutty Oat and Cereal Bars

Oatmeal bars, everyone.

Chewy and soft, with a tad of crunch mixed throughout.

Nutty.

Salty.

Sweet.

With cerealllllllllll.

Six ingredients. Customizable. No bake.

Everything about these is amazing.

That's literally all I have to say.

(Did I mention cereal??)


Nutty Oat and Cereal Bars
Serves 12

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rolled oats
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts of your choice (I used sunflower and pepita seeds)
• 1/4cup Cheerio’s (or other cereal of your choice)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2cup almond butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spread the oats onto a half-sheet pan, and place in oven for 5-7 minutes, or until golden brown. When down, place into a large bowl with the nuts and cheerio’s.
2. Prepare an 8x8 pan with wax paper lining the bottom and sides.  
3. Combine the honey and almond butter in a small saucepan, and heat on low until melted and thin in consistency. Turn off the heat and add the extract. Pour the mixture over the oat-nut-cereal mixture, and stir while still hot to thoroughly combine and coat.
4. Allow to cool in the fridge for at least two hours. Cut into bars and store in an airtight container for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to a month. 

 
Nutrition Information (will vary largely based off of nut types and cereal choice)
Sodium: 14mg
Total Fat: 13g
       Saturated Fat: 1g
       Monounsaturated: 7g
       Trans Fat: 0g
Sugar: 7g
Protein: 3g
Calories: 237