Maple Oatmeal Bread

Oatmeal, I've said before, is my favorite kind of sandwich bread:
This recipe from King Arthur adds a little Northeast flavor to one of my favorites.

Here's the dough, ready to rise - note, I did not add the "maple flavor" suggested in the recipe - just 100% maple syrup:

And risen. Magical:

Ready for the oven:

Lemon, Coconut and Ginger Energy Bars

The recipe and full details of these lemon, coconut and ginger energy bars are over at Taste As You Go:
Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

It may be a little cheesy, but hearts and valentine's day do go together, so I made up this recipe to celebrate:
Tempted as I was to use a blueberry jam filling, I stuck with the raspberry jam so that I wouldn't be presenting friends with black hearts.

These cookies are not very interesting until they get shaped, but here is the butter, sugar, peanut butter and eggs, all creamed together:

The dough, rolled into balls and flattened:

And with preliminary heart indentations:

And the finished cookies, after baking, filling and baking again.

Pumpkin Muffins

I like to make muffins and freeze them for a quick breakfast hot from the microwave. If they last that long, that is:

These pumpkin muffins, like all good fall flavors, start with a good dash of cinnamon and other spices. I particularly like to add a bit of clove and nutmeg:

Muffins are (usually) quickbreads, made with an oil or (applesauce as a substitute) but this recipe called for butter, creamed with sugar. yum!

Once the eggs and dry ingredients were mixed in, the final step was chopped pecans and golden raisins:

Straight into the oven: