Roasted Jalepeno Cheddar Hummus, Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Addictive Granola

The weather outside is frightful....yes indeed. Just another typical "spring afternoon in Las Cruces. 40 mph winds and thankful to be inside!!

My mom and I both like ethnic foods and don't mind a little heat in our salsa or hummus, which is why this recipe is perfect! I upped the warmth by adding 3 jalepenos instead of 1, which was the original recipe and added cayenne pepper to it. It's warm, but not too hot and the cheddar is a nice twist!

Ingredients:

2 14.5-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

3 jalapeno pepper, chopped and seeds removed

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 T warm water

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 cup freshly grated sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat broiler to high, slice and devein 3 jalepenos. Place on baking sheet and roast under broiler for 10 minutes. Immediately place roasted jalepenos in a zip-loc bag and let them steam for another 10 minutes. The steam will allow the skin to come off easily.

Combine the chickpeas, jalapeno pepper, olive oil, water, cumin, cayenne pepper, black pepper and salt in a vita-mix or food processor. Process until smooth (adding more water if you desire to thin the hummus out a bit).

Add the cheddar cheese and process again until everything is well combined.

This is the second batch of Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip muffins that I've made in the past week. They're great snacks and you can certainly opt out of the chocolate chips! (Why??) I added walnuts and chocolate chips, which were great!!

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of organic whole wheat flour
• 1 cup of organic unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup of packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup of chocolate chips
• 3 mashed ripe bananas
• 1/3 cup of canola oil
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and grease or place liners in a muffin pan.
2. Place the ripe peeled bananas in a mixer and blend on low speed for 3-5 minutes until well mashed.
3. Add the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla and mix again on low speed for 1 minute until combined.
4. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flours, sugar, b.powder, b.soda, salt, and chocolate chips)
5. Add the banana mixture to the dry mixture and combine until just blended (DO NOT OVER MIX!)
6. Fill each muffin up about 3/4 full.
7. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a piece of dry spaghetti or toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
8. Place muffins on a cooling rack and allow them to sit for 10-15 minutes before attempting to remove the wrapper. Makes 12 large-ish muffins.

My last recipe from this week is a great granola (from the NY Times). *Note, I didn't have the unsweetened coconut, pistachios, pumpkin seeds or cardemom. I just had the oats, tossed in pecans and used just the cinnamon, salt, maple syrup and brown sugar and it turned out just fine! It's addictive!! I love it on top of greek yogurt!!

Olive Oil Granola

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 1/2 cups raw pistachios, hulled

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, hulled

1 cup coconut chips

1/2 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

3/4 cup chopped dried apricots

Fresh ricotta, for serving (optional)

Fresh berries, for serving (optional).

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, combine oats, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, coconut chips, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.

2. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots, tossing to combine. Serve with ricotta and fruit, if desired.

Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Here is another great morning muffin recipe that I tried out during our 3-day snow break in February!

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 
  TOPPING:
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tablespoon cold butter

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients. Combine the egg, pumpkin, milk and oil; add to the dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in oats and raisins.
• Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and pie spice; cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle 1 rounded teaspoonful over each muffin. Bake at 375° for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen

Cinnamon Leaves

My dad is getting spoiled with weekend baking, and he's been my official taste tester (along with my mom). So far, everything has been 2 THUMBS UP.

I was craving something cinnamon-y this morning, so I tried out a Cinnamon Leaves recipe. It's a basic cinnamon roll recipe, where the dough and filling are cut into strips, then cut into squares and stacked into a loaf pan (instead of being rolled).

This a great one!!

Cinnamon Leaves
(This recipe was adapted from Joy the Baker)

For the Dough:


2 3/4 cups plus all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, yeast and salt) together in a large bowl, reserve one cup of the flour. On the stove or in the microwave, heat the milk, water, and butter until the butter is liquid. Allow the mixture to cool until it is still warm, but you can touch it with out burning yourself. Beat the two eggs together in a small bowl. Then add the butter mixture and eggs to the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to combine. The dough will take a while to mix. Once everything is a very sticky dough, kneed in the remaining one cup of flour- about five minutes of kneading should do it.
   
2. Place the dough in a greased a bowl, rise with a clean towel over top until double. I like to warm my oven for a five minutes then turn it off and let the dough rise inside the slightly warm oven. It should take about an hour. Bread will rise really fast at about 90 degrees.
   
3. Roll out the dough on a clean surface to 12 by 20 inch rectangle. Now your ready to add the filling. Brush the melted butter over the surface of the rolled out dough. Then mix the cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg together and sprinkle it over top. It will seem like a lot, just trust me on this part.
   
4. Then cut the dough into six strips. Stack the six strips on top of each other. Cut those strips into three or four stacks of squares. Put the stacks of squares into the greased 9x5 loaf pan.
   
5. Allow to rise a second time until double (about 15-30 minutes).
   
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Check to make sure the loaf is done before you tip it out by using a butter knife to press down on the top, if it springs back it is done. If it doesn't the dough isn't quite baked, put it back in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes.
   
7. Use the butter knife to loosen the edges then invert the bread onto a plate. The syrup that was made from all the sugar, is really hot and will run down the edges. Let the bread set for five minutes before you dig in so you don't burn your mouth.