Banana & Oatmeal Scones

Once again we had some overripe bananas to use. I went looking for a new recipe to try and came up with this one for Banana and Oatmeal Scones at Food.com. For the most part we stuck to this recipe with a few additions after reading the comments.

First mix two cups whole wheat flour, 1/4 cup of ground almond meal, 1/4 cup (slightly less) sugar, one tablespoon baking powder, one teaspoon cream of tartar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, one teaspoon cinnamon, and one and a quarter cups of old-fashioned oatmeal. Hazel did most of the measuring (but she didn't want to be the banana masher this time so I did it).

Second blend 2 mashed bananas, 1/2 cup of melted butter, and 1/3 cup of milk (we used fat free).

Then add in dry ingredients and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts. In the end I used my hands to mix this a bit. It was very dry and I would add liquid next time--either another banana and/or some more milk. 

Turn out onto a floured surface and cut in half. Form each half into a 7 to 8 inch circle. Cut each into eight wedges and place on sprayed baking sheet.

Bake at 425 for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Let cool and then enjoy. We enjoyed them with some strawberry jam!

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Blueberry Oatmeal Bars

On Saturday Hazel decided instead of playing outside in the gorgeous weather she wanted to bake cookies. She was persistent so I gave in. We looked through a few recipe books and decided on Bert's Best Blueberry Oatmeal Bars from C is for Cooking by Susan McQuillan, RD. The nice thing about this book is it gives the instructions that the kids should be able to do. Of course, Hazel wants to do all of it, but that is besides the point. Hazel insisted I wear her chef hat. She had it on with her matching apron, but I was too slow with the camera. Sorry!

Blueberry Oatmeal Bars (adapted from C is for Cooking by Susan McQuillan, RD)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (ok the recipe calls for all purpose, but I used whole wheat)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (now you know Hazel will be happy with this!)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1/2 cup vegetable oil (we used canola)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups uncooked old-fashioned oats

2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13 x 9 inch baking pan with aluminum foil. Lightly spray  the foil with a cooking spray.

Hazel measured the flour herself!

2) KIDS: In a small bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

And she measured the cinnamon herself!

3) In mixer bowl, beat together brown sugar, granulated sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in oil, eggs and vanilla. With wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture until blended. Stir in oats and blueberries.

Apparently in our house, step 3 is for kids as well!

4) KIDS: Use a rubber spatula to spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

5) Bake until golden brown 30 to 35 minutes. Put pan on cooling rack. Once cool lift foil to remove from pan and then cut into 24 bars.

I found this neat site My Fitness Plan that gives you the nutritional breakdown from famous recipes including this one. (It may ask you to sign up but I just hit close and it gave me the information.) Then I used that information to calculate the Weight Watcher Points Plus and each bar is 4 points plus.

I would add walnuts next time to this recipe!! All of us enjoyed these and are still enjoying!!

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