I've been cooking and experimenting with new recipes more than usual lately. It's great to get me out of a rut, and with the seasons changing it's also nice to eat with what I can get at my local Toronto farmer's market and what I get in my every changing organic fruit & veggie delivery box. A friend recently suggested that I check out the Sarah Britton line of cookbooks and I'm enjoying the experiment. I recently tried her quinoa risotto with arugula which was a hit in my family!
As a Naturopathic Doctor, I'm always looking for simple and healthy breakfast ideas since I'm often in a rush in the morning - so I also tried her Breakfast cookies/bars and I really like them! I liked the idea of the extra fibre & protein found in the beans, and also that they were free of wheat and refined sugar. I feel like we're bombarded with wheat in the typical North American diet so I'm always happy to find a good wheat free recipe. As always, I changed things up a bit from Sarah's original recipe because I'd hate to actually stick to a recipe :).
1 tablespoon chia seeds 3 tablespoons water 3-1/4 cups rolled oats 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1.5 cups white beans ¼ cup melted coconut oil ¼ cup maple syrup or raw honey (I used maple syrup)
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1. add the chia seeds and water and let sit while you preheat the oven to 350F
2. blend 1/2 the oats until they are the consistency of a rough flour
3. blend the beans & coconut oil (or whatever other kind of oil you like to use) until creamy, then add the maple syrup, apple sauce, and vanilla
4. combine oats, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder
5. mix wet and dry ingredients
6. mix in raisins (and feel free to add different dried fruit or nuts or seeds!)
7. shape into 12 balls and then flatten into a patty
8. bake for 15-18 minutes
9. enjoy!
