I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14
Happy {day after} Halloween from one dragon to another!
Life has been busy! We are thinking about putting our house back on the market and have spent the last several days preparing. There has been lots of work outdoors while the weather still allows.
On top of that, there are several other major life changes that we are being led to pursue. Suffice it to say, things are getting a little crazy over here.
When I start to feel my emotions welling up, I go to the kitchen to unwind. I find the act of baking creatively to be so relaxing! My boys love to eat, so they have been enjoying many new gluten-free creations.
In other news, this little muffin has been growing by leaps and bounds every day. He is climbing, running and opening every door and drawer in the house. Most of our conversations are nonverbal, but he does use a handful of words (most of which are variations of da-da and ba-ba):
- dada, daddy and dad
- buh-bye
- cat
- baa baa (what does the sheep say?)
- bock bock (what does the chicken say?)
- deh-deh (diaper)
- booh-kh (book)
- wah (water)
- hello
- again
- ah-da (all done)
- mmmmmmm (yummy)
Mama was his first word, but he hasn’t said it in a few months.
Back to creative baking… A couple days ago I was feeling particularly inspired by the changing leaves, the crisp air and a huge pile of apples from my parent’s tree. I made several batches of applesauce (recipes coming soon!). It felt like the applesauce was piling up. So, to make room for my next batch that was simmering away in the crockpot, I decided to conjure up an apple-inspired breakfast bake that tasted like a pastry while being super healthy.
Enter the Apple Strudel Breakfast Bake.
Delicately sweet. Crunchy topping. Apple bits in every bite. Lightly spiced. Gluten-free. Dairy-free. Optionally vegan. Delicious.
I made an extra bake for a quick grab and go dinner for myself to eat in the car on my way to choir and I think that the texture + taste improved after being refrigerated for a few hours. I would highly recommend doubling (or tripling) the recipe to ensure that you have leftovers.
You don’t even need to reheat the bakes, simply cut the bake in half and spread with a tablespoon of cashew butter for a quick and easy breakfast bake sandwich. Amazing!
Apple Strudel Breakfast Bake
Makes 4 breakfast bakes
1 cup buckwheat flour (ground from raw buckwheat groats)
1/2 cup raw buckwheat groats
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp chia seeds or ground flax
3 eggs*
3/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup cinnamon apple sauce*
1 cup chunky applesauce*
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp maple extract
Strudel Topping, optional
1 1/2 tbsp sucanat
1 1/2 tbsp buckwheat flour
3 tbsp gluten-free oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp pastured organic butter
Preheat oven to 375°. Using coconut oil or butter, grease four 5-6 inch wide ramekins.
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. In a large glass measuring cup combine wet ingredients.
In a medium bowl combine the strudel topping ingredients, omitting the butter. Using a fork or your (clean) hands, cut in the butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.
At this point, you can refrigerate the wet ingredients and strudel topping until morning (turn the oven off – don’t leave it on all night!).
Add wet ingredients to dry. Stir until just combined. Do not over mix.
Pour into prepared ramekins. Top with strudel topping, if desired.
Bake for 30-35 minutes.
*To make this a vegan breakfast bake omit the eggs and add 3 tbsp ground flax to the dry ingredients and 6 additional tbsp of apple juice to the wet ingredients.
*I made both smooth and chunky apple sauce. If you do not have homemade cinnamon applesauce you can substitute regular applesauce for the cinnamon applesauce and simply add an additional 1/4 tsp cinnamon to the dry ingredients.
*You can substitute chunky cooked and diced apples for the chunky applesauce in this recipe. I have heard that Trader Joe’s sells cinnamon apples the are delicious. I imagine that you could also use 1 cup of grated apple instead of the chunky applesauce, like I did in my apple cider breakfast bake.
Enjoy!
Leave a Reply