I have a thing for scones. The best ones are dense but tender. They might fall apart slightly, but somehow they’re still moist. All that is probably thanks to the half and half and butter. Oh, yum.

My favorite place to go when I have some “me” time is Caribou Coffee. Being able to get out of the house, visiting with friends, reading a book in peace or just drinking coffee without someone talking to me is a really nice luxury when you are the mom to 4 little kids. So, I find myself at Caribou once or twice a week. My friend, The Inspired Cook, introduced me to their Lemon and Thyme Scones. At first, I was a little hesitant. Lemon and thyme? That seemed like a weird combination for a scone. I was wrong! These are so good.

The lemon and thyme combo is great. They play off of each other well. The flavors are subtle, which is really nice.

I made these using whole wheat pastry flour. I don’t think I’ll ever use all-purpose flour again. You can’t even tell these are made with whole wheat flour. Seriously. Whole wheat pastry flour is so fine and soft that it’s perfect for all your baking needs. Scones, muffins, cookies, bars, pancakes, whatever you want. Except bread. I would probably use regular whole wheat flour for bread.

That said. The whole wheat flour is the only healthy thing about these. There’s sugar, butter, half and half, and powdered sugar. So, we’ll eat these once in a while as a tasty treat.

Lemon and Thyme Scones

recipe adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1/4 cup sugar (I think I’m going to try replacing this with honey next time)
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup cold butter
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
• For the glaze: 3 cups powdered sugar, 6 T half & half, and 1 tsp lemon zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and thyme. Grate in your cold butter until your flour is a really fine, sand-like texture.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together, your half & half, egg, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir this into your flour mixture. Roll it into a ball, and on a lightly floured surface, knead a few times until it all comes together. If the dough seems pretty dry, you can add a tablespoon at a time of half & half or milk until it comes together nicely.
4. Roll dough into a rectangle about a 1/2″ thick.
5. Cut rectangle into 6 rectangles, then cut each one in half. If you want them even smaller (mini), then cut them in half again.
6. Put scones on the lined baking sheet and bake for 6-7 minutes for the mini scones, and 8-10 for the larger ones. They’re done when they’re just starting to brown. Move scones to a wire rack.
7. While the scones are cooling, whisk together your glaze ingredients.
8. When scones are cool, dip each one in the glaze, and then put back on the wire rack for the glaze to harden.
9. Enjoy!

– Jill

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I’m really lazy when it comes to breakfast. We generally have cereal or smoothies for breakfast. As I’ve been trying to cut out cereal because most of it is so bad for you, I’ve been looking for healthy, yet yummy alternatives.

I’ve found my go-to breakfast: Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies! Reinman ate one and said, “Wow! These are great! They just like banana bread.” Win, win, win!

I was going to just call them “Breakfast Cookies” but adding in the banana bread part seemed perfect.

These are super filling, super healthy, and very, very tasty. I added raisins and a handful of chocolate chips which gives these cookies their sweetness. This recipe is also very versatile, which means you can add in whatever you want. Different nuts, coconut flakes, chocolate chips, seeds, whatever you want!

Banana Bread Breakfast Cookies

recipe slightly adapted from The Pulp Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/2 cup nuts, chopped (I used walnuts)
• 1 cup mixed fruit, seeds, or other add-ins (I did 1/2 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup raisins)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp all spice
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix all the ingredients except the bananas, applesauce, and vanilla in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mash up your bananas. Then add applesauce and vanilla.
4. Mix your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients. If the mixture seems to dry, you could add in a little bit of milk or water to bring it together. I didn’t have to do that this time.
5. Place heaping tablespoon-fulls of dough onto the lined cookie sheet. Mold into circles and press down a bit. Bake 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned on top.
6. Enjoy!

– Jill

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These pancakes are fun. Who wouldn’t love a pancake studded with mini chocolate chips and ground coffee?!

I loved them. The kids loved them (I used decaf coffee). The hubs loved them. Win, win, win.

Don’t be fooled by the whole wheat in these pancakes. You can’t even tell that they’re whole wheat. I used the whole wheat pastry flour, which is the best thing ever. If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, I would either do half whole wheat/half all-purpose or all all-purpose flour. I think if you used all regular whole wheat flour they would be too dense, but you never know.

You will love these pancakes and if you have kids so will they! There’s a touch of coffee flavor, and they’re a little bit sweet from the chocolate chips. The perfect amount of sweet if you ask me. Top these with some maple syrup and you are good to go!

Whole Wheat Mocha Chip Pancakes

recipe adapted from A Spicy Perspective

Ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or half whole wheat/half all-purpose flour)
• 2T-4T coffee grounds (I did 2 T decaf coffee grounds because of the kids)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 & 1/2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 6 T butter, melted
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Heat griddle to 375 or skillet to medium-high. Grease with non-stick spray or butter.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, coffee, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
3. In a small bowl, whisk milk, eggs, and vanilla extract together. Add in butter.
4. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Once griddle or skillet is heated, pour about 1/4 cup of batter and cook until pancakes are bubbly and golden brown and then flip. Continue with the rest of the batter.
7. Eat immediately and enjoy! We also will refrigerate or freeze leftover pancakes, but I’m finding that I need to double or triple a recipe to ever have leftovers…

– Jill

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I made these muffins last week for breakfast, and honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. Muffins without butter? Without sugar? I figured they would be dense and lack flavor.

I am so excited to tell you I was wrong! These muffins are packed with flavor. And the applesauce and coconut oil keep these babies moist!

Start your day off right with these healthy, yet delicious muffins. Make them and you won’t be disappointed! And if you’re like me, you might even add some butter to a muffin as soon as they come out of the oven. Who can resist melted butter?

Carrot Morning Glory Muffins

recipe from Eating Well Magazine

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup oats, plus 2 T for garnish
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
• 2 cups shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus 2 T for garnish (left this out)
• 1/2 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease a 12-cup muffin tin. (I only got 9 muffins with this recipe).
2. Whisk flour, 1/2 cup oats, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and allspice in a small bowl. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, applesauce, honey and vanilla. Add in coconut oil. Gently stir in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in carrots, coconut, and raisins.
4. Put about a 1/2 cup of batter in each muffin cup. Sprinkle with the remaining oats and coconut.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the center comes out moist when a toothpick is inserted. Let cool 10 minutes in pan and then move to a wire rack.
6. Enjoy!

– Jill

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So, I decided to start off the new year with a healthy recipe. These donuts are baked, so that means they’re healthy, right?

I spent the last week trying to decide what to post about.

Resolutions? (Even though I really don’t like to make resolutions… I’d rather make goals and work on those throughout the year. I suppose that’s the same thing, isn’t it?)

Food? (That’s a given– I just needed to decide what to post about.)

I would love to get into more spiritual stuff but I always like to wait until the Holy Spirit gives me something to talk about instead of just blabbing all over the place, which is easy to do. So, we’ll see where that goes.

Anyways, so I made donuts. Pretty much one of my favorite things to eat ever. And these… Oh, these Cinnamon Cake Donuts rolled in cinnamon and sugar. They’re mini, which means they’re really cute. And since they’re mini that means you can eat as many as you want. Right?

They taste like a light, fluffy cake donut. They are infused with a lovely cinnamon flavor. You are going to love them!

If you don’t have a mini donut pan you could either make them in a regular-sized donut pan or even a mini muffin pan or a regular-sized muffin pan. They would be delicious baked in anything!

Baked Mini Cinnamon Cake Donuts

recipe slightly adapted from Edible Perspective

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (If I had whole wheat pastry flour, I would have used a cup of that instead of the WW and AP)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 & 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup canola or coconut oil (If you use the coconut oil make sure you melt it first)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

• 3 T sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 T sprinkles
• 4 T butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a mini donut pan (or other pan, if using).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, cinnamon, salt and baking powder.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, milk and vanilla.
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Make sure not overmix. Your batter will be slightly lumpy.
5. Fill donut pan halfway up with batter.
6. Bake about 10 minutes, until donuts are done. They will spring back when lightly touched. You can also insert a toothpick into one donut to make sure they’re done.
7. Let cool pan in 5 minutes before removing, and then move donuts to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. While the donuts are cooling, mix up your cinnamon sugar topping. Mix sugar, cinnamon, and sprinkles in a small bowl.
9. Once donuts are cooled, dip them in the butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture.
10. Enjoy!

– Jill

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Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas. I know we did. Tons of visiting with family and friends, filling our faces with food, and opening presents made for a spectacular week. Now, I’m ready for a nap and eating fruits and veggies for the rest of the week doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

But first, this banana bread.

This banana bread is so easy to make, and so delicious that I have a feeling I’ll be making it at least once a week. It’s sweet, but not overly sweet. The cinnamon and sugar topping gives it a really nice crunch, which isn’t seen a lot in breads but should be!

Three bananas give this bread the perfect banana flavor. Ooh! And do you see that cinnamon swirl in the middle of the bread? Beautiful.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Bread

recipe slightly adapted from Lovin’ From the Oven

Ingredients:

• 3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking soda
• dash of salt
• 1 & 1/2 cups flour (I did half white, half whole wheat)

For the swirl:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 T cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix your bananas, butter, 1/2 cup sugar, egg and vanilla. Mix in baking soda and salt. Gently stir in flour. Be careful not to overmix.
3. In a small bowl, mix the 1/3 sugar and cinnamon.
4. Put half your banana batter into your greased loaf pan. Top with half the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Top with the rest of the batter and then sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon and sugar.
5. Bake for 50-60 minutes (I did mine for about 50) until done.
6. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Enjoy!

– Jill

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More baked donuts. I love them. I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of them. (Sorry if you are…)

I don’t have to say much about these. They’re moist, full of chocolate-y goodness, perfect with coffee, tea, or milk. I’ve made them a few times now and they do not disappoint!

And I have to say, this cocoa buttercream frosting is the best. I could eat it with just a spoon. I know I will be using it in a lot of recipes.

Triple Chocolate Donuts

recipe slightly adapted from Edible Perspective (who has a donut cookbook coming out. I can’t wait!)

Donut Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder

Frosting:

• 1 & 1/2 T butter, softened
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 T cocoa powder
• 1 T milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease your donut (or muffin!) pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder.
3. In another bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk, coconut oil, and vanilla.
4. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, until just combined. You don’t want to overmix. Add in the mini chocolate chips.
5. With a small spoon, transfer the batter to the greased donut pan, leaving some space at the top. You don’t want to fill the batter to the top of the pan.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until done. You can test with a toothpick to make sure they’re done. Let donuts cool in pan for 5 minutes and then turn out on a wire rack.
7. For the frosting: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix until smooth. Add more powdered sugar or milk as needed. Frost cooled donuts.
8. Enjoy!

– Jill

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