TWD: Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Now that school is back in session I've been making a lot of muffins, breads, biscuits, etc. lately for breakfast. I've been trying to stock my freezer full of things that Derrick can grab on the way out the door, eat on the way in to school, or eat during his planning period...but, my plan is not working. You see, Derrick is about the size of a beanpole with the appetite of an elephant so every time I pull a batch of 12 muffins or 8 biscuits out the oven imagining that we'll have enough for today and the rest of the week they mysteriously disappear before they are cool enough to wrap up and freeze! Of course, the kids aren't really helping out with my plan either...and let's face it, now that I'm in the 2nd trimester and still nursing Eloise, I'm pretty hungry too, so I guess I can't blame it all on the husband!

Anyway, this bread fit nicely into my breakfast baking bonanza. It was soft, incredibly moist, flavorful, and not too unhealthy so it was pretty much finished off before I could really get a good picture of it! Some of the fat is replaced by unsweetened applesauce and I ended up subbing half the white flour for whole wheat flour and fat free plain yogurt for buttermilk just to up the health factor. Dorie says you can use any type of dried fruit but all I had on hand were big, plump raisins so mine wasn't too exciting- I'd love to try cherries or apricots.

I actually ended up making these again as muffins but I did about forty-million substitutions- peach puree for applesauce, prunes for raisins, and a bunch of different spices and they still turned out really delicious! The only problem I found with the muffins was that they were so soft that some of them stuck to the pan- not that that stopped them from being eaten in one day... Seriously, I don't know how to fill the man up!

Thanks Natalie of Oven Love for choosing this versatile and delicious recipe for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie pick!

TWD: Chockablock Cookies

Honestly, these cookies were OK but not my favorite. I was surprised that I didn't like these because I have really loved all of the cookies Tuesdays With Dorie has baked from Baking From my Home to Yours. There was something about the molasses, oats, chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, coconut combination that just seemed a bit overwhelming. I love all of the components of these cookies but together it was just too many flavors and textures. I can't complain because this was really the first TWD recipe that I haven't loved in a good long while! Thanks Mary of Popsicles and Sandy Feet for choosing this recipe because I have been eying it for a long time!


In other news, Helen has moved from her crib to a toddler bed and Eloise is now in Helen's old crib! I cannot believe how amazing it feels to put both girls to bed in their own bedroom and actually have a few minutes to actually get things done at night. I have been either pregnant and/or breastfeeding a (co-sleeping) baby for almost three years- Eloise is still breastfeeding during the day but I've finally eliminated all night feedings and it is SO liberating. Now if I can get their nap schedules synchronized, I guess we'll move on to potty training!

TWD: Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars

Ok, so here's the deal: the New Orleans Saints won their playoff game on Saturday which means there is one more playoff game separating them from the Superbowl. I can't say that I'm really a football fan because I only understand the basics of the game and I probably couldn't tell you which cities over half of the NFL teams even come from. But...the Saints represent more than football for New Orleans- I think it would be difficult to find a more loyal fan base than New Orleanians. In short, the city has been going crazy for the entire season. You see, the Saints have never made it to the Superbowl. Ever. And they are not a young team, they were founded in 1967- but the fans have never given up! It's the same kind of attitude that made so many people rebuild their homes and businesses after Hurricane Katrina. Anyway, my mom is a larger than life Saints fan. She talks about the players like they are old friends or, in the case of Drew Brees, her son. She reads, listens, and watches everything she can to find out more about her Boys. As you can imagine, every game also turns into a little party so I brought these Chocolate Oatmeal Almost Candy Bars to my parents' house for Saturday's game.

The bars are made up of a sort of oatmeal cookie bottom layer topped with a fudgy chocolate layer dotted with more oatmeal cookie. The recipe calls for raisins in the chocolate layer and peanuts in the oatmeal one and I omitted both (although I really do want to try it out with both). These were delicious and very simple to make. They pop right out of the pan after cooling for 2 hours and they cut easily after a short stay in the fridge. They are a perfect treat for your Superbowl party.

I made a half batch because I'm trying to stay on top of my Ten in 10 goals but these were such a hit with Derrick (who has been going through sweets withdrawal since I started Ten in 10) that I made another half batch on Monday. In the second batch I substituted peanut butter for half of the butter and they turned out delicious! There are tons of ways you could change these out to suite your tastes! This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Lillian of Confectiona's Realm (you can find the recipe on her blog and in Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking From My Home to Yours). WHO DAT?!