Chocolate-Oatmeal Muffins

Adapted from the basic Better Homes & Gardens muffin recipe.

Ingredients
2/3 cup white flour
1/3 cup wheat flour
¾ cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
3 T cocoa powder
2 t baking powder
1/8 t salt
1 beaten egg
¾ cup milk
¼ cup cooking oil
½ cup chocolate chips

Method
Preheat oven 400 F.
Grease or line with paper liners 12 standard-sized muffin cups.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the flours, oats, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Mix well, make a well in the middle of the mixture, set aside.
In another mixing bowl, beat egg. Add milk and oil, beat again, and add wet mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir till just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 400 F 20 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean (except for the chocolate chips it will hit on its trip through). Cool in muffin cups on a rack for five minutes. Remove from muffin cups. Because of the oats, these muffins are best served warm. Later they will tend to stiffen up.

Banana Bread

... or, as my son calls it, "Cake!"

Adapted from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. This recipe contains 1/3 of the sugar.

Banana bread always reminds me of my Dutch grandmother. Supper at her house often consisted of cold cuts and cheese; carrots, celery, and olives; and banana or zucchini bread served with real butter that was soft from sitting out.

Ingredients
1 cup white flour
½ cup wheat flour
1 ½ t baking powder
¼ t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 cup mashed bananas (3 medium)
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
¼ cup apple juice plus 1 – 2 T cooking oil
1 t finely shredded lemon peel (optional)
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans
(for the loaf in the photo above, I used raisins instead)

Method
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease bottom and ½ inch up the sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan.
In a medium mixing bowl combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.
Slice bananas into another mixing bowl. Add sugar and mash with a potato masher. If the bananas are nearly overripe, this method will work well. Beat the egg with a fork in a measuring cup and add to the banana mixture; in the same measuring cup, measure apple juice and oil, and add to the banana mixture. Add lemon peel if desired, and stir the banana mixture thoroughly.
Add banana mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir till just moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in the nuts.
Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 F 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack. Remove loaf from pan; cool on rack. Wrap and store overnight.

Broccoli Salad

Broccoli is supposed to be one of those “super foods” that has so many nutrients in it that we should eat it every day.

This is a family recipe from my husband’s side. I didn’t know about it until this summer, but it’s easy and tasty. I hope they will forgive me if I get it wrong. The purple of the red onion makes a beautiful color combination with green broccoli. Even my baby son likes this salad. He eats the raisins and does his level best with the broccoli before giving up and spitting it out.

The optimum time to make this salad is said to be 2 hours before serving. It can keep in the fridge a day or two, but after that is not so good.

Ingredients
2 heads of fresh broccoli
¼ to ½ of a red onion
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup sunflower seeds, or chopped pecans or walnuts
¼ to ½ cup slaw dressing, mayo, or Miracle Whip

Method
Wash the broccoli and chop into bite-sized florets, reserving stems for another use if desired. Thinly slice and, if desired, rinse and drain the red onion. Toss the broccoli, onion, raisins, and seeds or nuts in a large serving bowl. (Alternatively, seeds or nuts may be added as a garnish, or served on the side.) Add the dressing and mix thoroughly. Store in the fridge until serving. Serves four to six.