Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars December 8, 2009

I know what you’re thinking.

Rice Krispie Bars?

Nothing for weeks, and now she gives us Rice Krispie Bars?

But y’all. These are SOOOO good! Like, Rice Krispie Bars for grown-ups!

Because you brown the butter. So it’s all yummy and complex and nutty. And yummy. Oh. So. Yummy.

And there’s a little bit of kosher salt. Which balances the sweet.

Trust me, you’ll love them. And people will love you when you serve them!

Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispie Bars
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 16 2-inch squares or 32 1- x 2-inch small bars (I tried doubling the recipe, and it was just really hard to stir in all of the rice krispies. if you do want a larger batch, I recommend doing the batches separately, and then putting them in a 9×13 pan)

1 stick unsalted butter, plus extra for the pan
1 10-ounce bag marshmallows
Heaping 1/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt
6 cups Rice Krispies cereal (about half a 12-ounce box)

Butter (or coat with non-stick spray) an 8-inch square cake pan with 2-inch sides.

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. It will melt, then foam, then turn clear golden and finally start to turn brown and smell nutty. Stir frequently, scraping up any bits from the bottom as you do. Watch the pot carefully, as the period between the time the butter begins to take on color and the point where it burns is often less than a minute.

As soon as the butter takes on a nutty color, turn the heat off and stir in the marshmallows. The residual heat from the melted butter should be enough to melt them, but if it is not, turn it back on low until the marshmallows are smooth.

Remove the pot from the stove and stir in the salt and cereal together. Quickly spread into prepared pan. You can use a piece of waxed or parchment paper that you’ve sprayed with oil to press the mixture firmly and evenly into the edges and corners, though a silicon spatula works pretty well too.

Let cool, cut into squares.

So much food, so little time… December 7, 2009

Okay, I’m really going to crank them out now. I have tons of recipes I want to post. So, no more waxing poetic about butter and sugar. Picture. Recipe. Picture.

And who am I kidding. A little snark. But I need to share this food with you! So you can cook it too!

I’ve missed you! December 3, 2009

I don’t know why I haven’t been posting recipes on here lately! I’m going to try to be better about it…especially since today was the first of the 12 Days of Christmas Goodies! I’ll post the first recipe tonight! And I’ll try to be more consistent! I promise!

The best pumpkin muffins EVAH October 9, 2009

Ahhhhh, it’s fall. That means, it’s time to start baking with copious amounts of brown sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin, nutmeg, apples, and cloves. There is nothing like the smell of your house when you’re doing fall baking.

So this week I decided to try a new pumpkin muffin recipe.

Aren’t they pretty? And it was a really simple recipe. Just basic ingredients that I alread had in my pantry resulted in a yummy, tender, moist muffin.

But wait. What is that poking out of that muffin on the right? Is it…? Can it be…?

Why yes, it’s a cream cheese filling. And I have to tell you, the method for doing this cream cheese filling is brilliant. You mix the cream cheese with the powdered sugar, roll it into a log in plastic wrap, and freeze it. Then, when it’s time to fill, slice the log into 24 pieces (or 12 if you half the recipe, of course). Fill the muffin tin about halfway with batter, press in a cream cheese “nugget,” then put more batter on top. No trying to cut cones into cooked muffins and discarding any of the yummy goodness. Quick, easy, and perfect results.

See for yourself.

So there you have it. Simple, cream cheese filled pumpkin muffins.  Make them. You won’t regret it! I promise!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

(adapted from Annie’s Eats)
Yield: 24 muffins (but it’s very easily half-able!)

Ingredients:

For the muffins:

3 cups flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. ground cloves

1 tbsp. and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (the original recipe called for nutmeg, but I was out, so I upped the pumpkin pie spice–this reflects that)

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

4 eggs

1 ¼ cups vegetable oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:

½ cup sugar

¼ cup and 1 tsp. flour

4 tbsp. butter, cubed

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

For the paper liners:

If you like the more “rustic” look of the muffins pictured, just cut 5-inch squares of parchment paper. Spray the muffin tin with vegetable oil, and then press the parchment paper in, tightly pressing the paper against the edges so it lays flat.

Directions:

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth.  Form into a log on plastic wrap, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan.  Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours.

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Mix well and set aside.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree.  Mix until well combined.  Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl.  Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks (or your hands!) until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Line two muffin pans with paper liners.  To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter.

Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices.  Place a slice in each muffin well.  Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese.  Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Let cool completely before serving.

Corn and Wild Rice Casserole September 28, 2009

Okay, so, apparently, this post has just been sitting here, in “draft land” for, oh, close to a year. Which, my friends, is a travesty.

I made it last Thanksgiving. Actually, I mixed it up, and then set it in the backseat and drove to my friend’s house, where I was having t’giving dinner. But before I got there it sloshed everywhere. Sometimes I still find corn in my backseat.

So don’t be like me.

But this is a great recipe anytime! Especially right now, where you can still buy corn on the cob at the grocery store and not pay a crapload of money for it.

Mmmmm, corn.

So yeah, simple recipe, really rich, but a GREAT side! You should make it right now. And then bring me some. It is that good people!

Fresh Corn and Wild Rice Casserole
(adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks)

2 cups cooked wild rice
3 to 4 cups fresh corn kernels (scraped off the cob)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup heavy cream
1 to 2 teaspoons kosher salt (or table salt to taste)
cayenne pepper to taste
6 tablespoons butter
1/2 to 1 cup milk, for thinning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook wild rice in chicken broth until almost done. Rice should still have a firm (but not crunchy) bite. Drain rice and allow to cool.

Scrape corn kernels into a large mixing bowl. Add in cream, butter, beaten eggs, salt, and cayenne pepper. Stir together.

Add in cooled wild rice, stirring gently. Splash in milk so that mixture is stirrable, but not overly juicy.
Taste for seasonings, adding more salt or cayenne pepper if needed.

Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, or until just turning golden brown on top and mixture is somewhat set (it will firm up after you take it out…you’ll think it’s underdone, but really it’s not).

Wedding Cake–The Good, The Bad and The Ugly September 21, 2009

So, I’ve been scarce around here lately. I’ve cooked and taken pictures, so I do have some posts forthcoming. But, a lot of my cooking time was spent…making a wedding cake.

First of all, don’t be too impressed. It was a small cake, since the bride and groom just wanted something small that they could cut for the reception–they’re not big cake people, so this didn’t need to serve everyone.

Gosh, it seemed so simple. But y’all. That’s a lot of pressure, making someone’s wedding cake!

So a few weeks before the wedding, I started doing trial runs. And the first trial. Dear Lord in heaven it looked awful. Don’t believe me? See for yourself?

First, the cake recipe I thought I was going to use turned out AWFUL.

And yes, I took my anger out on it. Stupid cake.

Second cake I made turned out okay. But then I set out to perfect the frosting. I made two different kinds and…well…see for yourself.

Um, so this is when I started to panic. I scrapped the two recipes I had tried, and did a LOT of research, and even toyed with the recipe of fondant (more like fonDON’T). With much trepidation, I set out to make another test cake.

Thankfully, this one turned out a bit better.

Finally, the weekend of the wedding arrived. And at the last minute, I changed my cake recipe. Don’t ask me why, I just did. But I did stick with the frosting from test cake #2. The night before I baked up the cake, sliced each layer to make a double layer for a filling, double wrapped it in saran wrap, and stuck it in the fridge. And the morning of the wedding I was up bright and early to make the frosting. I ended up doing a crumb coat, sticking it in the freezezr for a few minutes, and then doing the second coat. And since the wedding was about an hour’s drive, I stuck the whole thing in the freezer until I left, and just added the flowers when I got to the wedding.

All in all, I think it turned out okay. And I learned a few things.

1-Flowers can cover a multitude of sins.

2-I’m much better at making things taste good than look good.

So would I do it again? Sure. But I’d much rather make a bunch of yummy cakes than one pretty one any day

Cake
2 packages (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (I KNOW, but trust me) preferably without added pudding
2 cups whole milk
2 sticks butter, melted (16 tablespoons)
6 whole eggs
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
seedless raspberry jam

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour one 6-inch square cake pan and one 9-inch square cake pan.

Mix all ingredients (except for the raspberry jam) with an electric mixer on low for 1 minute. Scrape down bowl and beat on medium for 2 more minutes. Batter should be well blended.

Now, I decided to bake half layers…so, I filled each pan a little less than half full, baked those for around 20-28 minutes, cooled ten minutes, put them on a cooling rack, and then repeated the whole process. But if you’re good at slicing the cakes in half, then go for it!

Frosting
1 1/2 cups shortening
1/2 cup butter, room temp
2 lb. bag of confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons clear imitation vanilla extract
6 fluid ounces heavy cream

1. Cream shortening and butter until fluffy. Add confectioner’s sugar and continue creaming until well blended.
2. Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy.

Assemble
Frost bottom half of larger layer, put on a layer of raspberry jam, and then sandwich top half, frosting it so it’s one big cake. Same process with the small top layer. It won’t be pretty yet. I highly recommend getting a small, 6-inch plastic cake “plate” so when you layer the two you don’t stick your hands all in it. Not that I did that.

Pop them in the fridge or freezer, just to harden up the frosting. Do a second coat, cleaning off the spatula often, and dipping it in hot water so it’ll make a smoother layer. Layer the smaller cake on the larger one. Clean up your thumbprints. Then plop the whole thing in the freezer. It’ll get nice and hard and you can more easily smooth out your mistakes.

Last step is to just cover that bad boy with flowers. Seriously. Nobody will notice your mistakes if there are pretty flowers!

Sorta-Cinnamon Rolls August 7, 2009

Okay y’all. Someone at work requested that I bring in cinnamon rolls today. He bribed me with the promise of free coffee, so I relented. But I do not have time to make real cinnamon rolls during the week. Too much rising time. They’re great for the weekend, but I just can’t manage my time that well on a work day.

So I cheated. And I would be embarrassed if they hadn’t turned out so well!

I don’t really have a recipe for these, exactly. I read a bunch of similar recipes, then just kind of winged it. First of all, thaw a box of puff pastry overnight in the fridge. Yes, store-bought puff pastry. Because honestly? I can’t do it any better than Peppridge Farm.

Carefully unfold the pastry, and press where the seams are, so when you roll it up, it won’t crack. Brush the sheet of pastry with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Sprinkle on 1/3 cup of brown sugar, and cinnamon (didn’t measure the cinnamon, just sprinkled it all over). You can also add toasted pecans and raisins, if you like. I did pecans on one sheet, but I’m more of a cinnamon roll purist.

Then, you roll it up. Carefully. Oh so carefully. Too tight and they bake up funny. Too loose and they fall apart when you cut them. So, find your happy place. Don’t forget to pinch the seam closed, because these will unroll while baking really easily. Then, slice the log o’ cinnamony goodness into 6 pieces, and transfer each piece to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Then, you just repeat the process with the second sheet of pastry. Butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, optional filling goodies, roll, slice.

I baked these for about 20 minutes at 350. Just keep an eye on it, so they don’t get too crispy. Because that is the one thing about this recipe. It’s puff pastry, not sweet roll dough. Therefore, the consistency is a bit different, and I think it can go from chewy to crispy really quickly. Just watch it until it’s the consistency you want.

For the finishing touch, I just made up some cream cheese frosting/glaze to go on them. Because what’s a cinnamon roll without cream cheese frosting?

See, poor, naked, cinnamon roll:

Frosted, gooey, yummy cinnamon roll:

Is there any question? The frosting was just 3 tblsp softened cream cheese, 3 tblsp milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk) and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar (depending on the consistency you want). Drizzle/spread the frosting on warm, but not hot, rolls.

Then, you eat them.

Yum.

German Chocolate Cake July 31, 2009

My friend Suellen loves German Chocolate Cake. And I love my friend Suellen. So for her birthday, I brought in a German Chocolate Cake. And y’all. This cake was gooooood! It had a lot of steps, but was really pretty simple. Lots of butter. Lots of chocolate. Lots of eggs. And lots and lots of yumminess!

It’s basically three steps. First, you make the cake. Follow the directions carefully, to keep the cake light and fluffy. Then, I made the filling, and refrigerated it overnight (don’t add the pecans until right before you assemble the cake, so they’re still crunchy). I also made the frosting the night before, and the morning I assembled it I let it come to room temp, then whipped it to make it more spreadable.

Of course, you could make it all at the same time, but I really liked having the frosting and filling sit overnight.

Enjoy!

German Chocolate Cake
(adapted from David Lebovitz)One big, tall 9-inch cake; about 16 servings
For the cake:
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
6 tablespoons water
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ cup + ¼ cup sugar
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling:
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
3 large egg yolks
6 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, toasted and finely chopped
1 1/3 cups unsweetened coconut, toasted (I used sweetened, because I couldn’t find unsweetened…because of this, I decreased the sugar a little)

For the syrup:
(I halved the syrup, because I ended up having a lot left. This is the halved recipe)
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoons dark rum
For the chocolate icing:
8 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup heavy cream
1. Butter two 9-inch cake pans, then line the bottoms with rounds of parchment or wax paper. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Melt both chocolates together with the 6 tablespoons of water. Use either a double-boiler or a microwave. Stir until smooth, then set aside until room temperature.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, or by hand, beat the butter and 1 ¼ cup of the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the melted chocolate, then the egg yolks, one at a time.

4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5. Mix in half of the dry ingredients into the creamed butter mixture, then the buttermilk and the vanilla extract, then the rest of the dry ingredients.

6. In a separate metal or glass bowl, beat the egg whites until they hold soft, droopy peaks. Beat in the ¼ cup of sugar until stiff.

7. Fold about one-third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold in the remaining egg whites just until there’s no trace of egg white visible. Don’t overmix!

8. Divide the batter into the 2 prepared cake pans, smooth the tops, and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool cake layers completely.
To make the filling:

1. Mix the cream, sugar, and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Put the 6 tablespoons butter, salt and toasted coconut in a large bowl.

2. Heat the cream mixture and cook, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture begins to thicken and coats the spoon (an instant-read thermometer will read 170°.)

3. Pour the hot custard immediately into the coconut mixture and stir until the butter is melted. Refrigerate at least an hour, or overnight. Add the pecans when ready to assemble the cake.
To make the syrup:

1. In a small saucepan, heat the sugar and water until the sugar has melted. Remove from heat and stir in the dark rum.
To make the icing:

1. Place the 8 ounces of chopped chocolate in a bowl with the corn syrup and 1 ½ ounces of butter.

2. Heat the cream until it just begins to boil. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand one minute, then stir until smooth. Let sit until room temperature, then whip. Or, refrigerate overnight, bring to room temperature, and whip to form a spreadable frosting.
To assemble the cake:

Remove the cake layers from the pans and cut both cake layers in half horizontally, using a serrated bread knife.

Set the first cake layer on a cake plate. Brush well with syrup. Spread a thin layer of frosting, then ¾ cup of the coconut filling over the cake layer, making sure to reach to the edges. Set another cake layer on top.

Repeat, using the syrup to brush each cake layer, a thin layer of frosting, and ¾ cup of the coconut filling over each layer, including the top.

Ice the sides with the chocolate icing, then pipe a decorative border of chocolate icing around the top, encircling the coconut topping.

Biscotti March 6, 2009

Remember a long time ago when I was doing the 12 Days of Christmas Goodies? And then I just kind of dropped off the face of the earth?

Well, I have some confessions. First of all, I only did 10 days. One day I cheated and brought in bagels. And on the last day I decided getting to the airport in time to fly home for Christmas was more important. My co-workers may have disagreed but they’re too afraid to say anything because then I might NEVER BRING THEM COOKIES AGAIN.

Did you hear that? That was my co-workers crying at the mere prospect of that. They’re a sad bunch.

But one of those days, when i was fulfilling my role as the office goodie maker, I brought in biscotti. Not one kind. But two. And they were yummy, if I do say so myself.

The first kind I made was a pistachio cranberry biscotti with a white chocolate drizzle. I love using cranberry in my baking, especially Christmas baking. Cranberry cookies. Cranberry breads. They’re all just yummy.

The second kind I made was a brownie walnut biscotti. A little sweeter than the cranberry one, but not brownie sweet. I like my biscotti being a little more biscuit than cookie. It’s how I roll.

And you can always dip half of your biscotti in chocolate. I know a lot of people do that. I don’t, because I like to have some chocolate in every bite. Who cares if you get a little chocolate on your fingers. Man up. Geez.

I’m kind of cranky today. Maybe it’s because I’m looking at these pictures of biscotti, but have none to eat myself.

It’s a sad world I live in my friends. A sad world.

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Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Put the chocolate into a freezer bag, snip off one corner, and drizzle over the biscotti. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

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Brownie Biscotti
Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1/3 cup butter, softened

2/3 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

12 oz. good quality white chocolate, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease baking sheets, or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa and baking powder; stir into the creamed mixture until well blended. Dough will be stiff, so mix in the last bit by hand. Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

Divide dough into two equal parts. Shape into 9×2x1 inch loaves. Place onto baking sheet 4 inches apart.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool on baking sheet for 30 minutes.

Using a serrated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1 inch slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet, placing them on their sides. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes on each side, or until dry.

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Put the chocolate into a freezer bag, snip off one corner, and drizzle over the biscotti. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

Healthy Breakfast Bars February 27, 2009

Remember a while ago when I endeavored to make granola because I have a crazy friend who runs all the time and I wanted to give her a goodie before her first marathon?

Well, said friend is weird and ran ANOTHER marathon several months ago. Weirdo. So I endeavored to make something else for her to snack on before the big race. So I bought all of these crazy ingredients and made some kind of healthy breakfast bar. Moister than a granola bar. Pretty dense. But she told me they were good.

Since this was a new endeavor into the world of crazy wheaty, proteiny cooking, I luckily had some help.

Meet Jay Robb. He makes whey protein. Which, luckily I found in small sample packets, since I refused to buy a big tub of protein that I will never use again.

Doesn’t Jay look all healthy and fit. I cropped out his bulging biceps. But trust me, they were there. It was really quite impressive.

But Jay wasn’t my only helper. There was also Bob. Bob picks his own wheat. Or something like that. He helped me with my unprocessed wheat bran.

I also used ground flaxseed in this recipe. There was no helper on my bag of flaxseed. But have you seen ground flaxseed? It looks like this:

That’s why I still have a bunch of it in my pantry.

To all of this weird healthy stuff, I added a bunch of yummy dried fruits and nuts. Look how pretty!

But for some reason I forgot to take a picture of the completed bar. If you go here, where I got the original recipe, you can see how pretty hers are. Mine weren’t quite that pretty. And a note on the recipe below. I had to cook mine longer. Maybe because of the altitude? And even then, they came out pretty moist and dense. But maybe they were supposed to?

So if you hate them, I think you should blame her

Healthy Breakfast Bars

Ingredients:
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. oats
1/4 c. wheat bran
1 scoop protein powder (I used a 30 gram single serving packet of vanilla whey protein)
2 Tbsp ground golden flax seed
3 Tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
small pinch salt
1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1 ripe banana, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c. chopped dried fruit (cherries, blueberries, cranberries, raisins, dates, figs, or a mix of any)
1/4 c. chopped almonds

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 315 degrees and prepare 8×8 baking pan.
-In medium bowl, combine flour, oats, bran, protein powder, flax seed, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
-In bowl of stand mixer, combine pumpkin, banana, applesauce, honey, oil and vanilla until thoroughly blended.
-Add brown sugar and mix until completely incorporated.
-Add flour mixture and blend until just combined.
-Remove bowl from mixer and stir in dried fruit and nuts.
Spread batter into pan and bake for 20 minutes.
-Cool and cut into 16 bars.