blood orange and sunflower seed loaf

this was a dense and hearty loaf. full of fragrant flavor from the blood oranges and a perfect crunch from the sunflower seeds. littlefoodie had 2 huge slices for breakfast this morning...i am pretty sure he loved it although he was hauling sweet booty so he could get to see that giant easter bunny so you never know these days.

when i have bigfoodie daddy tell me why the camera is producing raw, strange photos i will be posting picks once again! have no fear.

enjoy!




3/4 cup organic cane sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
juice of one blood orange
1 lg egg white
1 egg white
1 cup organic plain yogurt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic spelt flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/4 tsp cardamom
minced, grated zest of 1 blood orange
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup organic, raw sunflower seeds
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°. grease 8 in loaf pan.

beat sugar and butter in a mixer until light and fluffy.

add orange juice and eggs and beat well. add yogurt; beat well.

combine flour, oat bran, cardamom, orange rind, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

add flour to sugar and beat on low just until moist.

bake 45min-1 hr.

m is for mutigrain and muffins (multigrain banana nut muffins to be exact)

its been another long stretch in between posts. i've been finding it harder and harder to cook and bake how i used to with a growing boy pulling on my legs most of the day. littlefoodie has become enamored with the alphabet and letters....and EVERY time he sees a word he loves to tell me the sound it makes and say the first letter...then proceeds to "spell" in his own special 2 1/2 yr old way.
today m was the word and all day "m said muffin, m says muffin..evwey lettah makes a sound m says mulitgrain banana nut muffins". do you have this crazy leapfrog letter contraption/brainwasher? escape while you can. and yes, i do enjoy the constant conversation and curiosity but i'd like to get my baking on around here a little more than i have been...

i have been experimenting with different flours like organic spelt flour and organic quinoa flour and so far the results have been awesome. also, i have been using unsweetened almond milk in most of my baked goods and the results are incredible as well.
these muffins, despite being hearty and wholesome are very light and flaky. under bigfoodie dads supervision today littlefoodie jr. downed 3 and wanted more all day. these were definitley 2 thumbs up from the toddler palate and the parental palates gave it high ratings as well.

enjoy!

1 cup organic spelt flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic quinoa flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup oatmeal
2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 large organic eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup unsweetned almond milk
2 tsp pure natural vanilla extract
2 ripe banana, mashed
1 cup crushed walnuts
1/3 cup dried blueberries (preservative free)
sliced roasted almonds

preheat oven to 350F.

sift spelt, quinoa and whole wheat flour, baking powder, and baking soda into bowl. stir in oat bran, oatmeal, cinnamon and salt.

add flour mixture to mixer and beat in on low the butter and applesauce. add eggs, almond milk, vanilla, and bananas. beat just until moistened and combined.

add in walnuts and fruit.

spoon into muffin tins and top with sliced almonds. bake for 25 min.