Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins (★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆)

     

It was my turn to bake for the cafe again.  I decided to take a slightly different approach this time because, whelp, my french toast muffins hadn't gone over as well as I'd hoped. WHA??!  How could they not, right? But you can't argue with the facts and the facts of our church cafe are these:

      1) Quiche sells.  You don't have the quiche and you brace yourself for the  

          repercussions. Must have quiche.

      2) We have a lot of healthy eaters.  Whether they really are or not, the title "french 

          toast" alone is enough to keep away even the most easily swayed of healthy 

          eaters.

      3) Most people have already eaten breakfast so they are looking for either a snack 

         (not a large muffin) or something more akin to lunch (once again...not a large 

         muffin).  

Since I am a baker and not a quiche maker, I went with...what I thought was...a very reasonable compromise: Blueberry Banana Bran Muffins

Banana and Blueberries = Fruit

Bran = Fiber

Fruit + Fiber = Healthy

Right?  Just go with me, k?

I went with a recipe very similar to this one: Best Banana Bran Muffins

Can't go wrong with a crumb topping. Yum!

Instead of wheat bran, I used crushed up fiber cereal.  All Bran is my favorite.  

These turned out really well.  The tops were especially delicious.  The bottoms could have used more oil for increased moistness, but then we'd be creeping into "fattening" territory. It's a catch-22 really.  

I ate one.  That's all that matters.  

Oatmeal Apple Crisp (★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆)

After I made that "Simple Apple Tart," I was left with quite a few apples. So I 'obviously' needed to bake something with them. This time though, I wanted to aim for something a little sweeter...more on the "comfort" food side of the spectrum.

I found this recipe for an apple crisp on the Southern Food section of about.com that fit the bill: Apple Crisp

First you cut the butter into the flour mixture.

Add in the oatmeal and your nut of choice (I recommend pecans).

It's not gorgeous, but that's not the point of this type of dessert.

Sloppy and delicious is the way to go.

I would definitely make an Apple Crisp again. It's super easy and uses minimal ingredients. Topping it off with ice cream makes it infinitely better. A al mode is always best. I can't say that I'm attached to this recipe though. I know there is better out there...one that will blow my socks off. Although, that probably means more work, more ingredients, and more calories.

But I'm up for the challenge.