Category Archives: Breakfast

Classic Bran Muffins

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by: Robyn Youkilis

I always say I learned to cook as a baby and that is in thanks to my incredible chef of a mom.  My mom would cook a huge family dinner every single night and put me down for my nap in the bassinet beside her while she made each meal with love.  Coq au Vin, Chocolate Souffles and Chicken Piccatta (all from scratch) were regular nightly occurrences.  You’d think she was born in the kitchen but that certainly was not the case!  Before my mom met my dad she could barely boil water!  My dad’s favorite thing in the world was to eat (I come by it honestly!) and so she figured she’d better get cookin’!  She enrolled in some cooking courses with the famous chef Paul Martin, found her love of cooking and the rest is history.

As soon as I could hold a spoon I was begging to mix whatever she would allow me to and this was the recipe I was typically mixing (while she begged me to stop mixing so I didn’t ruin her creations!).  I followed my mama everywhere and it seemed that these classic Bran Muffins did (and still do) too.  They’re her favorite breakfast, toasted with a little jam and butter, a perfect treat for Mother’s Day.

So Happy Happy Mother’s Day mama and thank you for being my biggest cooking inspiration, fan and best friend.  I can’t thank you enough for all the hours we spent together in the kitchen while I sat on the counter mixing away just talking about our days.  I wouldn’t have any of this without your patience, and love, inside and outside of the kitchen.  Love you always.  And I promise to make you a healthier version of these muffins ASAP.  :)

This recipe uses traditional baking ingredients but I’ve included some swaps in parentheses below if you’d like to make it a little more {Healthy} Cooking Campified.  They contain a lot of fiber, perfect for busy moms.  ;)
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Classic Bran Muffins
Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 12

Dry Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup brown sugar (swap for coconut sugar)
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup cranberries, raisins or chopped dried apricots (Robyn’s favorite) -Optional
Wet Ingredients
  • 1 cup All Bran cereal
  • 1 cup of milk (cow’s, almond, soy or coconut would all work)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil (swap for melted coconut oil)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Take one large bowl and mix your dry ingredients together.  In another bowl mix the cereal and milk and allow to sit for a couple of minutes to soften.  Add remaining wet ingredients and dried fruit if using and combine.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just barely combined (don’t pull a baby Robyn and over mix!).Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (we recommend coconut oil) and divide muffin mixture evenly.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Pull from oven cool and serve.

Our Favorite Cookbooks Right Now

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As constant cookers (is that a word?  Quinn’s grandma says it, so let’s roll with it) we are constantly looking for new and fresh ideas.

Sometimes divine inspiration strikes when strolling through the grocery store or farmer’s markets, but sometimes we need to take it up a notch and seek it out at a stellar farm-to-table restaurant or in a kickass cookbook…

And our video below is all about the latter!  Watch to see our current faves for getting our “foodbrain” juices flowing and make sure to stay tuned until the end because we have a special announcement.

We created our own cookbook!

We are SO freaking excited to announce the arrival of our new baby, {Healthy} Cooking Camp’s {Healthy} Basics Cookbook!

It includes over 30 of our most tried and true recipes for mind-blowingly delicious, healthy food, and features some of our signature dishes that can only be found in this cookbook, like:

  • No-Bake Brownie
  • HCC Grab-n-Go Bar
  • Gorgeous Glazed Salmon
  • Mmm mmm Miso Pesto
  • Free Up Your Fridge Frittata

This is the perfect cookbook for someone who wants to start cooking healthier food but needs to know exactly where to begin. 

We totally break it down so you know exactly how many servings each recipe yields, how long it will take AND for each recipe we include 5 suggested “swaps” so you can play around with the ingredients and really make these recipes feel like your own.

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To purchase our brand new cookbook, click here!  

We hope you’ll add {Healthy} Cooking Camp’s: Healthy Basics Cookbook to your list of favorites too.

And a quick lil favor, we would reeeeeally appreciate if you could help us spread the word about our new cookbook so click here tell all your tweeps!  Think of all the recipes you and your friends can make together!  (And as we can tell you, together is oh so fun.)

We’d also love to know, what are your other favorite cookbooks for culinary inspiration?  Please share in the comments!

 

 

Everything Free Banana Bread Muffins

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Posted by: Robyn

These muffins have been eaten by all sorts of folks in dietary land and have been loved through and through. My hubs even proclaimed that if I made 3 batches and zip-locked them for him to take to work he would be good for breakfast FOREVER! Bold statement!

I hope you enjoy my favorite baking adventure treat. Feel free to make them in a loaf pan but be sure to bake the bread for 45-60 minutes and insert a toothpick to check when it’s cooked through (the toothpick should come out clean and the bread should feel firm in the middle when gently touched). Look at me getting all baking language up in this joint!photo 1

 Everything Free Banana Bread Muffins
Servings: 10-12
Time: 45 minutes

  •  4 bananas, yellow (they do not need to be overly ripe)
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup almond butter
  • 4 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine your bananas, eggs, nut butter, and butter in a blender, food processor, or mixing bowl and mix well (if using a mixing bowl you need a good hand-mixer).

Once all of your ingredients are blended move mixture to a mixing bowl and add in coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla, and sea salt and mix well.

Add natural cupcake liners to a muffin pan and pour in your batter evenly throughout the pans. You should be able to fill one standard 12 muffin sized pan.

Place in your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, the tops should be a golden brown. Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool on a baking rack (if you don’t have a baking rack you can just tilt them sideways in the pan to allow air to circulate underneath the muffins (I obviously do not own a baking rack).

Feel free to serve with chopped toasted pecans or walnuts and a little drizzle of honey. You could also include 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips or chopped nuts in the batter. I’ve heard they’re delicious this way. :)

Two Food Filled Holidays!

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Passover and Easter.  Easter and Passover.  Both awesome holidays and both have their own fun food traditions.

Since we’ve been mega busy this time of year traveling, giving cooking classes and loving up our clients, we turned to the blogosphere for divine recipe inspiration.

If you’re looking to make your own matzoh or enjoy Easter the naturally sweetened way, our foodie friends have got you covered!

Passover159

Institute for Integrative Nutrition’s Gluten-Free Passover

Sweet Loren’s Homemade Matzoh

Health Coach Quinn’s Vanilla Mint Macaroon’s


 

Eastersamoa

Mixed Greens w/ Granola Croutons + Yogurt Dressing

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Usually when you think of breakfast for dinner you think pancake night or bowl of cereal.

But here at HCC we’re taking the breakfast for dinner concept to a whole ‘nother level…and [wait for it...] we’re adding granola on your salad!

That’s right, being the gluten free gurus that we are, we’ve come up with some pretty clever crouton replacers in our time.  Some good ones were, roasted root veggies (aka Root Crouts), popcorn (so fun!) but have landed on Granola as the winner: try this recipe and we think you’ll agree that it’s not just a swap, it’s upgrade!

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Mixed Greens w/ Granola Croutons + Yogurt Dressing

Servings: 2
Time: 5 minutes

  • 2 handfuls of mixed greens (we love kale, romaine or a spring mix)
  • 5-7 mint leaves, finely chopped
  • 1 small handful of sprouts (optional)
  • 1 heaping handful of granola.  We recommend KIND vanilla blueberry clusters

Lemon Yogurt Dressing

  • 1/2 cup plain sheep’s milk yogurt
  • Zest and juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions

In a bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon zest, juice and salt and pepper.  Mix well to combine.

In a medium salad bowl toss together your greens, mint and sprouts.  Top the salad with a heaping handful of Vanilla Blueberry Clusters and drizzle the dressing over top.