3 cups oatmeal
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
1 cup coconut (optional)
¾ cup sunflower seeds
5 Tbsp butter
1 cup honey
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla
½ tsp salt
1 cup raisins/craisins
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Line 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Toss oatmeal, pecans, and coconut together on a cookie sheet and toast for 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Transfer to large bowl and stir in sunflower seeds.
Reduce oven to 300 degrees
Place butter, honey, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium
heat. Cook and stir for a minute, then pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture. Add the raisins.
Sprinkle chocolate chips in the bottom of the pan. Quickly dump and press the oat mixture in the pan
and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
Cool for at least 2-3 hours before cutting into bars. Makes 16-24 bars depending on size!
(All nuts and dried fruits can be substituted for whatever kind you happen to have on hand.)
I don't consider Crisco to be food, but if you are lactose intolerant, you can substitute it for the butter.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Making Easy, Delicious Butter From Scratch
I've been making my own butter for a few years, now. I was amazed the first time I made it at just how easy it was! With 20 minutes of work and just two ingredients, the end result of creamy fresh tasting butter (and buttermilk) is well worth the effort.
To make a batch of 4 cups of unsalted butter, you will need:
2 Quarts of Heavy Cream (I use organic when I can get it on sale)
1 Cup of Yogurt (My favorite is Stoneyfied Farms Cream Top Plain Yogurt)
Pour the cream into a very clean large glass jar. Add the yogurt and wisk until smooth. Cover the jar with some plastic wrap and place in a safe corner of your counter until the next morning. The cream mixture needs at least 8 hours, but I have left it up to 15 with no problems.
Next I pour the cream into my Kitchen Aid mixer. I like to drape plastic wrap over my mixer so that the cream doesn't splatter all over the kitchen during this part. Turn your mixer on medium (a hand mixer can also be used) and go update your facebook account. You have about ten minutes to spare before the butter separates from the cream, leaving buttermilk.
Once you see lots of small blobs of butter floating in buttermilk turn the mixer off. Place a strainer over the jar you used for the cream, and pour the contents of the mixing bowl into the strainer. You should get about a quart of fresh buttermilk (perfect for baking, or even drinking if that floats your boat). Set the buttermilk aside and turn the tap water on cold.
Now it's time to rinse the butter! Don't worry about this part. As long as you use cold water, the butter wont go down the drain. Run the water over the butter left in the strainer, using a spatula to move the butter around. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear. If you leave buttermilk in the butter, it will go bad much faster than otherwise. Once the buttermilk is gone, use the spatula to press the tap water out of the butter. You'll notice that as you press, drops of water will appear on the surface of the butter. Keep pressing until all the water is gone.
Now you have butter! You can use this butter the way it is, or add other ingredients like salt, herbs, garlic or even honey. If you are going to add anything, just scrape the butter out of the strainer back into the mixing bowl and add your desired ingredients. For herb butter, I add poached garlic, herbs, olive oil and salt and mix together. Glass jars are perfect for storing the butter, especially if you have a tightly fitting lid. The butter will have a firm consistency once it has been refrigerated.
Interested in learning about essential oils? Check out my other blog - Oil Palooza!
To make a batch of 4 cups of unsalted butter, you will need:
2 Quarts of Heavy Cream (I use organic when I can get it on sale)
1 Cup of Yogurt (My favorite is Stoneyfied Farms Cream Top Plain Yogurt)
Pour the cream into a very clean large glass jar. Add the yogurt and wisk until smooth. Cover the jar with some plastic wrap and place in a safe corner of your counter until the next morning. The cream mixture needs at least 8 hours, but I have left it up to 15 with no problems.
Next I pour the cream into my Kitchen Aid mixer. I like to drape plastic wrap over my mixer so that the cream doesn't splatter all over the kitchen during this part. Turn your mixer on medium (a hand mixer can also be used) and go update your facebook account. You have about ten minutes to spare before the butter separates from the cream, leaving buttermilk.
Once you see lots of small blobs of butter floating in buttermilk turn the mixer off. Place a strainer over the jar you used for the cream, and pour the contents of the mixing bowl into the strainer. You should get about a quart of fresh buttermilk (perfect for baking, or even drinking if that floats your boat). Set the buttermilk aside and turn the tap water on cold.
Now it's time to rinse the butter! Don't worry about this part. As long as you use cold water, the butter wont go down the drain. Run the water over the butter left in the strainer, using a spatula to move the butter around. Keep rinsing until the water runs clear. If you leave buttermilk in the butter, it will go bad much faster than otherwise. Once the buttermilk is gone, use the spatula to press the tap water out of the butter. You'll notice that as you press, drops of water will appear on the surface of the butter. Keep pressing until all the water is gone.
Now you have butter! You can use this butter the way it is, or add other ingredients like salt, herbs, garlic or even honey. If you are going to add anything, just scrape the butter out of the strainer back into the mixing bowl and add your desired ingredients. For herb butter, I add poached garlic, herbs, olive oil and salt and mix together. Glass jars are perfect for storing the butter, especially if you have a tightly fitting lid. The butter will have a firm consistency once it has been refrigerated.
Interested in learning about essential oils? Check out my other blog - Oil Palooza!
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