Healthy Doggie Cupcakes

I got the original recipe for these doggie birthday cakes from Allrecipes and modified it a bit for Oscar's particular dietary goals. Here is my version:

Ingredients

1 cup cooked sweet potato

2 egg whites

1/4 cup peanut butter (unsweetened and unsalted)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cups ground oats

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

2) Prepare your oats. I buy old-fashioned rolled oats and grind them in a food processor until they are about halfway between quick-cooking oats and flour (less than 30 seconds). This is what I do every time a baking recipe calls for oats so they aren't too chewy or dry. Set aside.

2) Mash the cooked sweet potatoes, either with a potato masher or an electric mixer (I did all of this manually). Then add the remaining wet ingredients (egg white through vanilla) and combine thoroughly.

3) Add baking soda and mix thoroughly. 

4) Add ground oats and combine thoroughly. Batter should be a clumpy texture, neither dry nor pourable.

5) Spoon the batter into your cupcake liners until filled to the top. My batch made seven.

5) Bake in preheated oven 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick poked into the center of one comes out clean.

6) Allow to cool for 10 minutes in tin and then remove to finish cooling on a rack (or plate or countertop).

While not wild with flavor (lack of salt will do that), I personally liked the finished product, as did Sameer. Sameer and/or I will finish off the batch for breakfasts this week. 

Bran Muffins

 I made these muffins last week to use up a bag of oat bran that was taking up space in my freezer. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt

• 2/3 cup water

• 1/2 cup date sugar

• ⅓ cup unsweetened applesauce

• 1 tbs ground flaxseed

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 ½ cups bran (wheat and/or oat)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or substitute another whole grain flour)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup Craisins (or raisins or other dried fruit)

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine wet ingredients (yogurt through vanilla extract). Combine dry ingredients (bran through salt). 

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add Craisins and mix until combined.

4. Fill muffin liners in muffin tin and bake 15 to 20 minutes. 

Pumpkin Spice Groatnola

This is my new favorite breakfast, courtesy of NutritionFacts.org's Instagram account. I eat the groatnola as a cold cereal with golden raisins, pumpkin seeds, and unsweetened soy milk. It's not really sweet at all on its own, but the addition of raisins and milk makes it really good, kind of like a raisin bran crunch flavor.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup uncooked buckwheat groats, rinsed
1 large cooked sweet potato (1¼-1½ cups mashed)
1-2 teaspoon(s) cinnamon, or more to taste
2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice, or more to taste
8-12 cups rolled oats

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Preheat the oven to 250F

2) In a sauce pan, bring 1½ cups water to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and add the uncooked buckwheat groats. Cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes or until soft.

3) Add the cooked buckwheat and sweet potato to a large mixing bowl. Using a potato masher or a fork, mash together until well combined. Add the pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon, and continue mashing together.

4) Add 8 cups of rolled oats and stir until the mixture is well combined and forms clumps. 

5) Line baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicon mat. Spread the granola on the cookie sheets. Bake for 2½ hours.