Leftover Takeover: Seed Bars Round 2

I love this shot. It is a baker’s kaleidoscope, and the focus is prime.

This recipe is essentially all the leftover seeds I had in my cupboards + more overripe bananas. They are an extremely easy and healthy snackfast.

All the kinds of things you need in the middle of November what with the weather and the family and the crazy. For another easy snackfast, see Seed Bars Round 1, which blew my mind this summer. You don’t even have to bake them. Also the first seed bars posts included better quality writing than you have seen out of me for like, the past two months.

Haha better quality writing, as if. Maybe just more writing. We all know that when all else fails, just keep saying more and more words, because that will fix everything, amirite?

Bye now,

Lauren

Seed Bars

Adapted from Eat Your Greens

1/2 cup whole flax seeds
1 cup shelled sunflower seeds
1/2 cup millet
1/4 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
3 small ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-by-9-inch square pan with parchment.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, seeds, nuts and dried fruit. Place the bananas, vanilla, salt and cinnamon in a bowl and mash until smooth. Pour the banana puree over the oat mixture and stir until all the dry ingredients are evenly moist. Press mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes, until firm and lightly browned on the edges. Let cool completely and cut into 6 bars.

Leftover Takeover: Banana Poppyseed Muffins

A little reminder of what miniature green things look like for your Monday.

When life gives you overripe bananas that you can’t finish because you’re busy eating all the Thanksgiving leftovers, it’s time to get to mixing.

Huckleberry THEREFORE SYMBOL sunken muffins. Decent flavor.

Post-holiday hanging,

Lauren

Banana Poppyseed Muffins

Adapted from Huckleberry

Cookie Swap! Swedish Rye Cookies

Here’s a sweet little rye cookie to take to all of your cookie swaps this holiday season, brought to you courtesy of the Swedish realm and yours truly.

It’s a nice departure from Russian tea cakes, no? It has to be cheap to just fly right on over to Scandinavia from Eastern Europe. Everything is so close there.

More rye flour, because I’m obsessed with its delicious nutty tangy self.

Sprinkle with some turbinado sugar before putting it in the oven, or dust with powdered sugar post-baking, and enjoy with a cup of something warm. They freeze well, too!

So Europe rn,

Lauren

Swedish Rye Cookies

Adapted from Food52

1 cup rye flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1/2 cup cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup fine grain natural cane sugar, sifted

Powdered sugar

Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the flours and salt. Set aside. In an electric mixer (or by hand) beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy, add the butter and do the same, mixing until the two are well combined. Beat in the sugar and mix until well-incorporated. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir only long enough to combine the two. Turn the dough out onto the counter, knead once or twice to bring it together, shape into a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic and chill it in a refrigerator.

Heat your oven to 350° F degrees. Lightly flour a work surface and roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with the cookie cutter of your choice. Place on the prepared baking sheets an inch apart, and bake for six or seven minutes, just until cookies are fragrant, and getting a bit golden at the edges — avoid over-baking or they will come out on the dry side. Allow to cool, and dust cookies with a bit of powdered sugar.