Serves 2
Smoothies are one of the fastest and easiest ways to start the morning off right. They take less than 5 minutes to make and are great for on the go. Have fun creating your own favorite flavors and concoctions. You can also use low –fat vanilla yogurt, 1 % milk, whey powder, flax seed powder, blueberries, goji berries and agave nectar to enhance the richness, flavor and nutrients.
Ingredients:
1 cup almond milk, original
1 tablespoon reduced fat peanut butter
1 medium banana
½ cup frozen unsweetened strawberries
1 tablespoon Polaner All Fruit with Fiber Strawberry - all natural
2 ice cubes
Procedure:
Include all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth
Garnish:
Strawberry twizzler, cut ends off and use as a straw

Ingredients:

Dry:
4 cups old-fashioned oats-Publix brand
2.5 cups of your favorite nuts- total
1 cup walnuts rough chopped
1/2 cup whole flax seeds
1 cup whole almonds rough chopped
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons coconut oil
Wet:
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Fruit:
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dried currants
1/2 cup cranraisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
Cooking Spray for Roasting Pan

* Nuts can vary but keep the same quantity. Sunflowers, pumpkin, almonds, peanuts can be substituted.
* Option on wet can add molasses

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix the dry ingredients well. Sauté the dry ingredients in a large non stick pan with the coconut oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Do not burn. Light golden brown is what you are looking for.
Mix the wet ingredients real well and add the wet to the dry and mix all real well.
Spray a large roasting pan with edges with cooking spray.
Add the granola to the pan and spread out into evenly distributed layer.
Place in oven in the middle rack.
Stir every 15 minutes for approximately one hour.
Remove from the oven, immediately add the fruit portion and let cool.
Granola can be stored in airtight containers for about 1 month.

Makes 12 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 large egg
1 cup unsalted macadamia nuts, toasted, chopped

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Grease twelve muffin cups or line with muffin papers.

Sift first 4 ingredients into large bowl.

Combine bananas, sugars, butter, milk and egg in medium bowl.

Mix into dry ingredients.

Fold in half of nuts.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups.

Sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining macadamia nuts.

Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove muffins from tins immediately

Transfer muffins to rack and cool.

Notes: I’m afraid I made some alterations (below) to make these more of an everyday treat. Even so they were wonderful- not greasy, fluffy but filling, and sticky on top. I’d have no doubt that the real versions are divine!! 1)white flour = 1 cup white and 1/2 cup whole wheat 2)1/2 stick of butter = 1/4 stick cup butter & 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 3)white and brown sugars = 1/2 cup light brown sugar 4)1/4 cup milk = 1/4 cup fat-free yogurt 5)1 cup mac nuts = 1/4 cup pecans & 1/4 cup dark chocolate chunks 6)Nutmeg = 1 tsp vanilla extract, as I dislike nutmeg and wanted some extra sweetness 7)Add 1/4 tsp baking powder for an extra lift. If you’re going for the full-out version I’d definitely recommend devising a sweet and crunchy topping too! If you don’t care for the nuts, the possibilities are endless. Add chocolate chips, coconut etc or add nothing at all!

Bon Appétit, June 1991

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Medium
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

Batter:
3 large eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch ground cinnamon

Caramel Apples:
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut in 1/2-inch-thick wedges
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large croissants, halved lengthwise
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Ground cinnamon, for dusting

Procedure:

Make the batter for the French toast by whisking together the eggs, milk, vanilla, and cinnamon until evenly blended. Cover and refrigerate.

Pay close attention while you make the caramel apples - put the sugar in a large dry skillet and place it over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts and begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Be careful; the sugar is really hot at this point. Still stirring, add the butter, which will foam a little. Once the sugar and butter become a caramel sauce, fold in the apple wedges. Now, because the apples are cooler than the sugar, the sugar may start to seize and harden, but don’t freak out — keep stirring, once the apples warm up the caramel will smooth out again. When the caramel sauce starts to form around the apples, pour in the maple syrup. Give it a stir and simmer for about 10 minutes until the apples are fork tender. Pull them off the heat and keep warm until you are ready to serve.

For the French toast itself, warm the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat. You probably will only be able to fit a couple of croissants in the pan at once, so prepare these in batches. Take a croissant half and quickly dredge it in the batter. The key word here is quickly; the croissants are very soft and will disintegrate if soaked in the batter. Lay the croissants in the pan, cut-side down, and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully flip them over with a spatula and brown the other side.

The presentation is like a caramel apple sandwich - take the bottom half of the croissant and put it on a plate, spoon some of the caramel apples on top of that, and cover with the top 1/2 of the croissant. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and cinnamon and serve.

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Inactive Prep Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 24 c

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pistachios
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Procedures:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lay the pistachios on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10 minutes or until the nuts are lightly toasted. Remove from the oven.

In an electric mixer, beat the butter until light and fluffy. With the mixer running, gradually add the eggs, sugar, and vanilla; mix until creamed. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix the dough until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, mix in the pistachios until evenly distributed.

Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut in half. Roll each half into a log, each 12 inches long by 1-inch high. Place the logs on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes or until the bottoms are lightly brown. Let the logs cool for 5 minutes and then place on a cutting board. Slice each log on a diagonal into 12 1-inch thick pieces. Put the cookies back on the cookie sheet and bake 5 minutes. Turn the cookies over and bake the other side for another 5 minutes. Store cookies in an airtight container

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence, Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen, Clarkson Potter/Publishers, 2003

Recipe provided by The CHeF Andy

www.TheChefAndy.com

About this recipe:

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time:  35

Total Time: 55 minutes to make

Servings:  6 to 8 Servings

Ingredients:

24 “Rhodes” Texas Dinner Rolls, thawed but still cold

4 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 eggs

2/3 cup whole milk

½ cup your favorite maple syrup

6 tablespoons butter, melted

Drizzle with: warm maple syrup and powdered sugar

Procedures:

1.      Preheat the oven to 350f degrees

2.      Cut thawed rolls into fourths.  Mix together sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl.

3.      Dip rolls in sugar mixture and place in bundt pan sprayed with non stick spray.

4.      Whisk together the vanilla extract, eggs, milk, maple syrup and butter. Add leftover sugar mixture to the wet mixture.

5.      Pour wet mixture over rolls. Cover with wrap and let rise at room temperature until rolls reach the top of the pan.

6.      Remove wrap and bake at 350 for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter.

7.      Drizzle with warm syrup and sprinkle with powered sugar.

8.      Slice and serve with additional syrup as desired.

Serving suggestions:

Serve with your favorite breakfast meat and fresh fruit! Great for the Holidays! And Easter Brunch.