Saturday Morning Baking

Today's baking adventure - or perhaps we should call it today's procrastination adventure - included baking Whole Grain Morning Glory muffins and Oatmeal, Pecan, and Date Sticky Biscuits.

Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffins

This recipe was courtesy of Whole Foods.

These muffins were a bit crumbly but delicious!  They didn't rise as much as I had expected and next time I make them I would double the recipe for my family as it only made 16  somewhat small muffins.

Whole Grain Morning Glory Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour 
1/2 cup sugar 
1/4 cup packed natural brown sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
2 eggs 
2/3 cup canola oil 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 Macintosh apple, cored, peeled and diced (the recipe called for a Fuji Apple, but I substituted Cam's favourite instead)
1/2 cup seedless raisins 
1/2 cup grated carrots 
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped (recipe called for walnuts but I didn't have any) 
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dried flaked unsweetened coconut, divided 

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; break up any brown sugar lumps with your fingers or a wooden spoon. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil and vanilla, then add to flour mixture and stir just until combined. Add apples, raisins, carrots, walnuts and 1/4 cup of the coconut and stir gently until well combined. 

Spoon batter into 16 paper-lined muffin tins, filling each about 2/3 full. Top evenly with remaining 4 teaspoons coconut and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until cooked through.

Oatmeal, Pecan, and Date Sticky Biscuits

Courtesy of Epicurious

Oatmeal, Pecan and Date Sticky Biscuits

Topping:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 1/2 cup plus 1/3 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced
• 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
• 1/2 cup diced pitted Medjool dates
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Biscuits:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 21/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced, plus 3 tablespoons melted unsalted butter, divided
• 3/4 cup (or more) buttermilk

preparation

For topping and filling:
Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 375°F. Spray 10-inch-diameter cake pan with 2-inch-high sides with nonstick spray. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup in medium saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar dissolves and syrup is bubbling at edges, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in vanilla.

Spread syrup evenly in prepared pan. Arrange pecans, rounded side down, in concentric circles in syrup. Mix 1/3 cup sugar, dates, and cinnamon in small bowl.

For biscuits:
Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Add diced butter. Rub in with fingertips until coarse meal forms. Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and toss, using fork, until moist clumps form, adding more buttermilk by tablespoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into rectangle.

Roll dough out on floured parchment paper to 16x8-inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle evenly with date mixture; press to adhere. Starting at 1 long side and using parchment as aid, roll up jelly-roll style. Cut dough log crosswise into 8 equal pieces. Place 1 piece, cut side down, in center of pan; arrange remaining 7 pieces around center. Press each to flatten slightly. Brush tops with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Bake biscuits until tester inserted into dough comes out clean and syrup is bubbling thickly, about 35 minutes. Remove biscuits from oven and let stand 1 minute. Place platter over pan. Using oven mitts, hold pan and platter together and invert. Lift off pan; scrape syrup left in pan over biscuits. Cool at least 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.