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It's time for a recipe using buckwheat. If you missed last weeks post on buckwheat, you can check it out here: Great Grains: Buckwheat

There are tons of great granola recipes out there that use buckwheat. And why not? It makes a crunchy delicious addition and it's healthy. Granola was definitely on my mind, but I thought it would be fun to try something a little different and create a recipe for a good soft, chewy granola bar instead. I'm not very fond of certain store bought bars that are so called 'healthy' when they have something like a bucket of sugar in them. Yik!

These buckwheat granola bars are thick and soft, unlike some bars that are hard and hurt your teeth to chew. I much prefer soft bars that are fabulously dense. Think larabars + Cliff Bars. They are sweetened with local Dickey Bee honey and juicy raisins. The addition of buckwheat groats add a nice little crunch to the texture too.

The nice thing about this recipe is that the ingredients are flexible. For example, you can substitute maple syrup for honey if you wish. If you don't like peanut butter *gasp* you can use any nut butter you like, including sun butter. If you're sensitive to gluten and wheat be sure to use certified gluten free oats.

Who doesn't love a good pick me up snack in the middle of the day. Something to get you from lunch to dinner. These will surely keep you energized. They're the perfect grab-and-go snack.

Soft Buckwheat Granola Bars {Gluten Free & Vegetarian}

(makes 9 - 2" x 2" squares)

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Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup buckwheat flour (ground from raw buckwheat groats. Not kasha.)
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp natural peanut butter (135 grams)
• 2 tbsp coconut butter
• 2 tbsp water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line an 8" x 8" baking pan with parchment paper. Allow the parchment to drape over either side of the pan for easy lifting.
2. First, use a food processor (or coffee grinder) to grind the raw buckwheat groats into flour.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all dry ingredients excluding the raisins.
4. Warm the honey, peanut butter, and coconut butter in a small saucepan on medium heat, stirring until smooth and melty. Remove from heat. Stir into the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Stir in raisins.
6. Press firmly into prepared pan.
7. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool the bars cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then place the pan in the fridge to let them set and finish cooling.
8. Cut into bars. Store them at room temperature in an airtight container or wrap individually for grab-and-go convenience.

Related Buckwheat recipes:

Choc-a-lot Chip Cookies

What's your favourite type of granola bar? Soft or hard?

I have 3 words for you.

Big. Honking. Cookies.

Now I warn you, these are probably the most indulgent treat I have posted to date. Stuffed full of huge chunks of chocolate and local sweet Bala cranberries, these cookies are the size of your face. I kid you not! If you don't believe me just look at how ridiculously big they are against the palm of my hand.

Anyone who says they don't love a good oatmeal cookie are either lying or hasn't had a real one. It's just one of those classics. But the real star of the show here is the chocolate! Camino organic & fair-trade semi-sweet chocolate to be exact. Bars of gold I tell you.

These cookies are adapted from my favourite oatmeal cookie made by Giada. The original recipe is from her cookbook Weeknights With Giada. I've seen her make these a few times now. They're hearty and delicious, and they only use a half cup of unsalted butter so they're not greasy. The cinnamon in these also give it something extra special. LOVE cinnamon!

Giada's recipe says it makes a dozen cookies, but if you want big giant ones it will only make about 9. Make sure you keep an eye on them while they bake so they don't burn. They took the full 15 minutes in my oven to be perfectly baked and golden. The hardest part was waiting for them to cool. Now where's the fun in that?!

Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies
Makes 9 big cookies

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Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 6 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into large chunks
  

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350* F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
4. Then add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. With the machine running, gradually add the flour mixture.
5. Add the oats, cranberries and chocolate chunks, mixing until just incorporated.
6. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, scoop slightly rounded mounds of the dough into 9 4-oz balls.
7. Arrange 6 balls of dough, spaced evenly apart, on each baking sheet. Using the back of a spoon, flatten the tops and bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, about 13 - 15 minutes.
8. Transfer the cookies to a wire cooling rack and cool for 20 minutes (if you can wait that long) before eating.

*Tip* To bring the egg to room temperature, fill a small bowl with hot water and place the egg in it for 2 minutes.

Now to sit down with a cookie and a nice cup of tea for a relaxing end to the day.

Overnight oats are a wonderful way to get breakfast quickly in the morning because of their make ahead convenience. It's also perfect for those who are on the go and need to take something with them. So what are they? Simply put they are just oats that have absorbed the liquid they have been soaked in. There's no cooking involved. Plus eating overnight oats is another way to add chia seeds to your diet. If your looking for some good info on them, check out this post.

As an added benefit to soaking your oats, your body will have an easier time digesting and absorbing their nutrition. This is because they are already partially broken down after soaking. We all know how good oatmeal is for us - it's full of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, and is a great way to lower cholesterol. And as the oats soak, their vitamin content actually increases. Especially the B vitamins, which among many things help keep a strong healthy metabolism, heart and nerve function.

There are a few different version floating around out there on the internet. The most common uses milk, yogurt and chia seeds. This version is vegan so there's no yogurt, and it's pretty basic.

Now I love having oats for breakfast, but I just can't seem to bring myself to eat cold oatmeal. Just the thought of eating it cold turns me off. So these overnight oats have a little twist to them. They are still soaked overnight, but instead of using a liquid to oat ratio of 2:1, I added a little more liquid in order to allow for a few minutes of microwave time the next morning.

The result: a super creamy bowl of oatmeal that comes close to tasting like pudding!

The best part is that it only takes a minute or two to throw everything together the night before.

Basic Overnight Oats (Serves 1)

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Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup of almond milk (any milk you like will do)
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Add oats, chia seeds, cinnamon and milk to a bowl or microwave safe container and stir together. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
2. In the morning, remove lid and put oats in the microwave on high for 2-5 minutes depending on how powerful your microwave is. Watch it closely. When it starts to bubble and rise take it out and let it sit covered for another 2-3 minutes (the longer you let it sit the thicker the oats will get).
3. Top with fresh fruit or something crunchy like a sprinkle of granola or cereal, and 1-2 tbsp of nut butter for healthy fats.

To this bowl I added sliced banana and a tbsp of maple cinnamon almond butter, and it tasted like heaven!

Of course if eating cold oatmeal doesn't bother you, you can still use this recipe to make traditional overnight oats as long you use 2/3 of a cup of milk instead of 1 cup and skip the microwave. Either way you choose it's a great breakfast.

It's exciting to get up in the morning and know it's already waiting for you.