Cascadian Farm Organic Goodness

Growing up I loved what we here called "bars." Maybe it's a Midwest thing, but cereal bars, cookie bars, bars with pretzels crusts and raspberry toppings, 7-layer bars were all things you'd see at a church basement potluck or even off to the side during Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

My mom would melt chocolate and mix marshmallows and scoop peanut butter, and pretty soon there'd be a chewy snack for after school or sitting around on a lazy Saturday afternoon. These bars are modeled after some of my favorites, but I've swapped corn syrup for honey and almond butter in place of peanut.

Almond Butter Honey Nut O's Bars

3 cups Cascadian Farm Honey Nut O's

½ cup sugar

½ cup honey

2/3 cup almond butter

4 ounces of dark chocolate

Measure cereal into a large mixing bowl. In a small saucepan heat sugar and honey just until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in the almond butter. Pour over cereal and stir to combine. Press into an 8" square dish. Allow to cool.

In a double boiler, melt the chocolate. Drizzle over the top of the bars. Allow to set. Cut into 2" squares.

Makes 16 bars.

Photos by Shaina Olmanso

Growing up we always had a giant jar of honey in the cupboard. My grandma's sister and her husband had a beehive on their property, and when they would harvest, they'd send honey to all of the kids, which included our house. I grew up with a giant glass jar and a chunk of honeycomb, never knowing that honey supposedly came in a bear-shaped plastic bottle.

When I was in the position to start stocking my own cupboard with honey, the plastic bear just wouldn't do. I'd been spoiled with fresher, more complex honey my entire life. I soon sought out the honey vendor at the farmers market. There I found multiple varieties of honey, processed and unprocessed, ranging in color from dark to light. Nowadays I tend to buy two or three varieties for different purposes, but my go-to favorite is buckwheat. I love the dark, molasses-like flavor on biscuits and cornbread.

I recently had quite a bit of unprocessed honey gifted to me, and it is fantastic to work with. The texture is between a liquid honey and creamed honey, with a bit softer texture. I started off with the pannekoeken, and then I moved on to baking. For these muffins I chose a blueberry blossom honey, which is just slightly reminiscent of blueberries.

These muffins are dairy free, using coconut oil and coconut milk in place of the butter and milk you'd generally find in muffins. They're soft and moist, and are a great way to serve the last of the raspberries as we head into fall. No fresh raspberries there? Substitute peaches, blueberries, cherries or any frozen fruit you have on hand.

Raspberry and Coconut Cream Muffins

1 egg

½ cup coconut oil

¼ cup honey (I used unprocessed)

2/3 cup spelt flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¾ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup coconut milk

1 ½ cups fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 350º F. In a large mixing bowl, mix together egg, coconut oil and honey. In a separate bowl mix flours, baking powder and salt together. Add to the egg mixture and mix together. Stir in the coconut milk just until all is incorporated. Fold in raspberries.

Line 12 muffin cups and fill with batter. A large-sized scoop works perfectly for this. Bake at 350º F for 20-25 minutes until tops are lightly brown and bounce back when tapped in the middle. Allow to cool partially. Top with coconut cream icing (below) and garnish with fresh raspberries, if desired.

Coconut Cream Icing adapted from Elana's Pantry

¼ cup coconut milk

3 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons arrowroot powder or cornstarch

½ teaspoon water

1 ½ tablespoons coconut oil

Heat coconut milk and honey in a small saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes. Mix together arrowroot powder and water to form a paste. Whisk into saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut oil. Freeze for 20-30 minutes. Whip again and add to piping bag. Pipe onto muffins.

Photos by Shaina Olmanson

Also known as a Dutch baby, pannekoeken are Dutch pancakes baked in the oven that become puffed along the edges. They are then filled with every variety of fruit, jams, baked apples and savory varieties with bacon and sautéed vegetables and a bit of shredded cheese and served for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.

These were a favorite of mine when I was younger, made by the neighbor across the street. She shared her recipe with my mom one day and my love affair with the simple pancake was set in stone. Pannekoeken are easy to throw together, and they bake just long enough that you can whip them up, toss them in the oven and sneak in a morning shower while they bake.

We are finally seeing peaches here, and I have been patiently waiting for them as others talk of crumbles and cobblers. I ate half of mine fresh with my kids, not bothering with batters and baking, and then the other half were lightly cooked in a pannekoek after being tossed with some raw apple blossom honey for dinner later the same night.

Honey Peach Pannekoeken

¼ cup butter

4 eggs

1 cup milk

1 ½ cups flour

¼ teaspoon salt

2 ½ sliced ripe peaches

2-3 tablespoons of raw honey

Heat oven to 400º F.  Place the butter in a heat-proof 10" or 11" frying pan with rounded edges or cast iron skillet or a 9"x13" glass baking pan and set in the oven.  Beat together eggs and milk.  Add in the flour and salt and whisk until batter is smooth.

When the oven is preheated and butter in your pan is completely melted, carefully pour the batter into the pan.  Close the oven door and bake for 20 minutes until pancake is puffed around edges.  Mix together peaches and honey.  Place peaches in the center of the pancake and continue cooking 5–10 minutes more until edges are a light golden brown.  Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Makes 4-6 servings.

Photos by Shaina Olmanson