Worlds Best Granola

I can't live without my homemade granola. I eat it almost every morning pretty much, and it's just ten times better than any kind you can buy at the store, I promise. 

Ingredients:

2 cups oats (4 dl havregryn)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup mixed nuts, chopped
1 tsp salt. 
handful of coconut slices
handful of cranberries


Directions:

Mix oats, honey, nuts and salt until all the honey is evenly spread across the oats. Bake for 1 hour at 200 degrees F (100 degrees C). When you take it out of the oven put the coconut and cranberries on the baking sheet while you let it cool down.
Let it cool down and serve on top of yogurt or chia pudding.

Gluten-free Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes

Okay, so I know I've done a lot of things with peanut butter lately, and there is a reason! In Denmark we don't eat peanut butter almost ever, and you sometimes have to buy it at specialty stores, and here in America I have grown to love peanut butter, and the thing is that I'm leaving America here in one week, so why not take advantage of the things you have while you have them i figured? 
So if you are looking for a super filling, gluten-free, (peanut butter) pancake recipe this is the one for you! These are amazing!

Ingredients:

2 cups oats
1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 ripe bananas
1 cup natural peanut butter

Directions:

1. Blend oats to make oat flour and combine with the buckwheat flour, salt, and baking powder. 
2. Beat eggs together with bananas and peanut butter in a separate bowl with a fork.
3. Combine the two mixtures and make little pancakes on a pan sprayed with cook spray.

Steel Cut Oatmeal

So I read this really interesting thing that you have to soak your flours and grains before you use them.. It had something to do with something to do with some chemicals which had to be killed by the acids you add to the water, which can be anything from yogurt to buttermilk to lemon, but it was supposed to kill some things that supposedly should be bad for your digestion etc, so I decided to try it. Honestly I don't think there really was a difference.... But here's the method if you should be interested. 

Ingredients:

1 cup water
2 tbsp yogurt (or lemon juice or buttermilk)
1 cup steel cut oats

1 cup water
1 banana
1 apple
Dash cinnamon
Handful dried cranberries 

Directions:

1. Soak steel cut oats in water and acid over night. Preferable 24 hours. 
2. Transfer oats into a sauce pan and add another cup of water. Cook over medium high.
3. Mash banana and peel and shred apple and add both to the oats. Add the cinnamon too.
4. When the water is all absorbed and oats are tender remove from heat and add the dried cranberries.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

Granola bars are excellent if you want a quick treat, but often I find that there are a lot of hidden ingredients and calories in the stuff you buy, so I like to make my own. It's actually really easy, and they taste 10 times better, so just get at it guys!

Ingredients:

2 cups oats
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
8-10 dates soaked in 1/2 cup water overnight
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine oats, rice cereal, and salt in a bowl.
2. Mix together honey and peanut butter and melt in microwave for 30-60 seconds.
3. Blend the dates and water until it's like a syrup.
4. Combine oat mixture, honey mixture and dates and stir together until it shapes a dough.
5. Press into a pan and freeze for 1 hour.
6. Melt chocolate chips and drizzle over the chilled granola bars with a fork.
7. Freeze again until it is hard and cut into pieces.

Pear Crumble Mug Cake

Are you looking for a delicious fruity and hearty dessert? And besides from that, do you love oats and paleo stuff? Well I do. And this treat is perfect for a night with crazy cravings for a sweet treat.

2 servings
Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup almond meal/flour
1 tbsp honey (substitute with agave for vegan)
1 tbsp almond milk
pinch of salt
1 pear

Optional: Ice cream, yogurt

Directions:

Cut the pear into little slices or squares. In a separate bowl, mix oats, almond meal, and salt. Melt the honey in the microwave for 20 seconds and stir into the oat mixture with the almond milk.
Put pear slices in the bottom of two mugs and top with the crumble. Microwave for minute and serve with a scoop of ice cream or vanilla yogurt, or some plain greek yogurt, if you are craving something more sour than sweet.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Muffins

If you are looking for some healthy gluten-free muffins with lots of protein for a good breakfast or just a healthy treat, these muffins are perfect for you! They took me about 40 minutes to make and bake, and they are just super delicious. 

If you are not a big fan of blueberries, go ahead and substitute with either raspberries or strawberries or whatever you would like. Also try to experiment with the flavor of the protein powder. I used banana cream, because I think blueberries and banana goes well together, but another excellent flavor would just be vanilla or something like that. Whatever you would like!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (50 g) oats
• 1/2 cup (50 g) coconut flour
• 2/3 cup (80 g) frozen blueberries
• 1 handful almonds
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 1 tsk. baking powder
• 1/2 cup almond or soy milk or water
• 1/2 cup water - depending on texture. You want it pretty firm, not too runny.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Blend oats and almond in a blender for just a couple of seconds to make a kind of flour. 
3. Combine with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Divide evenly into a muffin tin. 
5. Bake for approximately 20 minutes.
6. Let them cool and enjoy with a nice cup of almond milk!

On the Road Oats in a Jar

Are you on the road a lot and often in a hurry? Then take the time to make these convenient jars of ready to go oatmeal as a quick and super healthy breakfast. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup oats
1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup blueberries
1 strawberry
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
Few drops stevia

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a jar and store in refrigerator at least a couple of hour, up to several days. 

Cinnamon Granola

Someone might ask you what your favorite cereal is, or just your favorite thing for breakfast, and I have always said yogurt with granola. Even since I was 9 years old that has just been my favorite thing, and it still is. So what do you do, when stores in America don't have your usual favorite kind of granola from Denmark? Well you make your own, which actually is zoo much better and also healthier. And I gotta say that I have fallen in love with this recipe. It is simply amazing.

Ingredients:

3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp vanilla
handful cranberries
1/2 cup hazelnuts


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl combine oats, coconut, flour, salt, and cinnamon.
3. Melt coconut oil, honey, and vanilla in a smaller bowl in the microwave.
4. Stir the honey mixture into the oats until they are all covered.
5. Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and bake for about an hour an a half. Stir it a little every to mix it around every half hour.
6. When there is about 15-20 minutes left add the cranberries and nuts to the baking sheet.
7. When the oats are golden and the honey is not wet anymore the granola is done.
8. Store in a closed jar, and it stays good for months!

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Cookies

Me and some friends decided to make some cookies the other day and give them to some of our good friends, just to tell them how much we love them.
It was a lot of fun to make, and our friends loved us just a little bit more after ;)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (115g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
3/4 cup (150g) dark brown sugar (or light brown)
1/4 cup  (50g) granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon (20g) dark molasses
1 and 2/3 cups (140g) old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2 cups add-ins (we used semi sweet chocolate chips)

Directions:
Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the softened butter and both sugars together on medium speed until smooth. Add the egg and mix on high until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the vanilla and molasses and mix on high until combined. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, toss the oats, flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt together. Add to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Fold in the add-ins. Dough will be thick. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 325F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
Roll balls of dough (about 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie) and place 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 10-15 minutes until very lightly browned on the sides. The centers will look very soft. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Oatmeal w. fruit and nuts

Oatmeal is my favorite thing in the morning. Without any exceptions. So here's one of my favorite recipes for oatmeal. You can go ahead and top it with whatever you would like. My favorite is fresh fruit, nuts, and honey though, but also dried fruit and other things, just be creative!

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup steel cut oats

3 cups water

1 cup milk of choice

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 banana (for sweetness, honey would work too)

Toppings

Directions:

Cook oats and water until all is absorbed. It takes about 10 minutes. When all the water is absorbed add milk, salt, and cinnamon. Mash the banana and add as well. When milk is absorbed and oats are completely cooked, serve oatmeal with desired toppings and drizzle with honey. 

Skinny Banana Bread

I loooove and adore banana bread. I really do. So this sunday morning I decided to bake a couple of loafs of yummy banana bread. But I made them in a way that you could still eat them as a breakfast and they were not too unhealthy. Actually they didn't have any sugar in them, and they're baked with mostly oat flour to give the maximum amount of fibre and good nutrients. Just the way I like it.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 mashed bananas
1 cup oat flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts

Directions:
In a big bowl melt coconut oil and mix with honey. Add eggs, vanilla, and mashed banana and whisk till combined. In a separate bowl mix all the dry ingredients. Add flour a little at a time into the wet ingredients alternately adding almond milk. 
Chop walnuts and carefully add into the batter. Add chocolate chips as well. 
Grease a loaf pan or two, depending on how tall you want the breads. I did two, but they turned out kinda small.
Preheat oven to 350 degreed F and bake the loaves for 35 minutes.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes

Pancakes are like the best thing on a Saturday morning? Am I not right? But to be honest, I really don't like the pancake mixes or just normal plain white flour ones with a ton of syrup on top. It's just not good if you ask me. I would much rather prefer some made with oats, because it has more texture and flavor, and toped with chocolate chips and fresh fruit instead. See that's yummy!

Ingredients:
1 cup (120g) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (40g) quick oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom1 large egg (or 2 egg whites)
1 cup (240ml) almond milk
2 Tablespoons agave syrup
1/4 cup (60g) Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Toppings

Directions:

whisk flour, oats, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cardamom in a large bowl. 

In a separate medium bowl, beat egg with the milk. Add agave syrup, almond milk, yogurt, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour and whisk until combined. Heat a griddle or a skillet and coat with non sticking cooking spray. Bake the pancakes for about 2 minutes on each side. 

Enjoy!

Quinoa Bars with Chocolate and Peanut Butter

To be honest his didn't really turn out the way I wanted it to. The chocolate stuck to the pan instead of the bar, and I added too much water, so it got kinda smushy instead of being crunchy... Next time, I will add more peanut butter instead of water to get the oats and quinoa to stick. But besides from that, these bars were really good and has a ton of fibre and other good stuff. And who doesn't love peanut butter and chocolate?

Ingredients:

1 cup oats

1 cup cooked quinoa

2 tbsp cococa powder

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup cashews

one portion Chia seed pudding

pinch of salt

2 tbsp agave syrup

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave and spread on a piece of parchment paper. Pour shredded coconut on top of the chocolate before it hardens. Let it sit while you prepare the batter. 

2. Mix oats, quinoa, cocoa powder, and chia seed pudding in a bowl. Cut almonds and cashews into smaller pieces, you still want them crunchy. Mix the rest of the ingredients into the bowl. If it won't stick very eel together add a little more peanut butter or agave syrup. 

3. Pour the batter on top of the chocolate and freeze until it has hardened. 

4. Cut into little bars and enjoy with a cup of Chocolate Mocha or some cold milk.

 Enjoy!

Oat Waffles

This morning as I woke up, I was really craving waffles, but not the white fluffy ones that you usually connect with waffles. I mean, sure they're good, but they just don't fill you up very well when there's a long time till you'll have food again. Therefore I tried to make them with oat flour instead, and I gotta say that they turned out amazing. Really the good thing about waffles isn't the waffles, but the things you put on top of them, if you ask me.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 eggs
1 tbsp agave syrup
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 tbsp coconut oil, melted
cooking spray

Directions:
Ground oats in a food processor until it has become sort of a oat flour. Mix oat flour, coconut flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl beat eggs and add almond milk, agave syrup, yogurt, and coconut oil. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix well to make sure there is no  lumps of flour. 
Heat waffle iron, and spray with cooking spray. Bake the waffles and serve with fresh fruit and syrup.

Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Bars

If you want some fast energy, and is craving a granola bar, but you want to know what you are actually eating too.. Then just make your own homemade granola bars. It is super easy, and taste so much better than most store bought ones. 

Ingredients:
1 cup oats
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1 cup dates
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup peanut butter

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and press into a form of some kind. Put in the refrigerator for a couple of hours and cut into squares. 

Enjoy!

Overnight Oats

Want an easy breakfast? Then make it ahead in the evening. This is super an super easy, and delicious way to get fast out of the door, and it still gives you all the good fibre from the oats and chia seeds, calcium from the almond milk, and a lot of other good nutrients from the fruits. This is probably the best way to start your day of in a good way.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup oats
1/2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup blueberries
1 strawberry
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch salt
Few drops stevia

Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl, and cover with some wrap, or make it in a jar instead. Store in refrigerator overnight. Add a little more almond milk when you serve it.

Enjoy!