This coffee cake is perfect for both of us! I don’t mind a lack of sugar when there is a CINNAMON punch involved. I’m not talking about a hint of cinnamon, I’m talking about a PUNCH! It’s October, folks. Let’s get on board with cinnamon everything (including candles, obviously).

This is an excellent coffee cake to make when it’s dark and rainy out. It’s perfect for snacking on when your house is chilly and you’re walking around in sweats and Ugg boots. And it’s really perfect when you have a beach trip coming up and you’re trying not to eat eight zillion extra calories. It’s also good for midweek mopes. Let’s make some coffee cake!

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Applesauce Coffee Cake
Adapted from (never home) maker

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream (I used nonfat vanilla yogurt)
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup cinnamon chips

For the topping:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon brown sugar

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a square baking dish (9″ x 9″)  or pie plate and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

In a smaller bowl, combine the yogurt, maple syrup, vegetable oil and applesauce. Then add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Combine with a spatula until everything is wet/together — but resist over-mixing. Fold in cinnamon chips.

Pour mix into your prepared pan.

Then combine all the topping ingredients in a small bowl using a fork. Spread mixture over your cake batter.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes — until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack and cool completely.

I eat them out of hand, chopped up on top of my cereal, cooked into instant oatmeal, and sliced with a little peanut butter. And you’d better believe I’m baking with them! This weekend I made baked apple pie donuts and they totally tasted like apple pie. I wouldn’t kid about a thing like this.

We really love donuts, but we don’t love the greasy, slightly sick feeling we end up with after eating them. That doesn’t happen with baked donuts! I think I also enjoy them more knowing that I didn’t just eat an entire day’s worth of calories. And Ryan loves cake donuts, so baked donuts are just working for us right now. And I’m definitely putting apples in them.

Baked Apple Pie Donuts
Barely adapted from MomAdvice

Makes about 8 donuts

1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped apple (peeled), about 2 regular apples
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/3 cup cold butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
1 egg
1/4 cup milk

For sugar & cinnamon topping:
1/4 cup apple cider
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Whisk the flour, baking powder, sugars salt and and nutmeg in a bowl. Add the cold chopped butter, cut into tablespoons. Cut the butter with the flour mixture until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a pastry blender or fork.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg. Mix in the milk and fold in the chopped apples. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir using a spatula or spoon making sure not to overmix. Place two spoonfuls of batter into a greased donut mold pan.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the donuts are just golden. Allow to cool for five minutes. Pour apple cider into a small bowl; mix cinnamon and sugar into another small bowl. Unmold each donut gently; carefully dip each into cider and then cinnamon-sugar. Shake off excess sugar and serve immediately.

These zucchini muffins fall perfectly within those parameters. Zucchini bread is a classic summer treat, whether your zucchini is the result of a homegrown bumper crop or simply the rock-bottom prices on squash this time of year. It’s something I dearly love to eat, and healthy-ing it up a bit means I get to eat it more often. I win!

I love adding chocolate chips to my zucchini muffins and bread (and most other things), but Ryan’s less chocolate obsessed and prefers add-ins like dried fruit and nuts, which gave me the idea to go two different ways with this batch. I divided the batter in half, adding chocolate and unsweetened coconut to one half, and dried cranberries and sunflower seeds to the other half.

I can’t decide which version of these muffins I like more! Both are sweet and moist and, against my better judgement, I kind of love the nutty earthiness of the cranberry-sunflower seed variety. Make some of each kind or pick the one that suits your fancy — you can’t go wrong with these.

Zucchini Muffins
Adapted from Simple Bites

Makes 20-22 muffins (or 10 giant ones)

Because I wanted to make some of each variety of muffins, I divided the batter in half and used 1/4 cup of each add-in. Feel free to go this route or add in other tasty things — use what you’ve got! If you prefer a loaf, use a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and six muffin cups, and bake the loaf for about 50 minutes.

For the muffin batter:
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup plain yogurt*
1/3 cup buttermilk**
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini

For the add-ins:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, or
1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 muffin tins with papers and lightly spray the papers.

In a medium bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy; beat in eggs, yogurt, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Combine well. Stir in grated zucchini. Fold flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in add-ins.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool about 5 minutes in the pans. Remove muffins from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

*I used vanilla yogurt and omitted the vanilla extract.

**I used soy milk, but you could also use regular milk with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice added.

To be fair, I really don’t like oatmeal. I’m not a fan of the mushiness. But Ryan loves it and I figured this recipe had enough fruit and walnuts and cinnamon involved to be palatable for myself, the oatmeal snob. I still hedged my bets and made a half-batch.

I’ll be honest — this is the best breakfast I’ve had in a long time! I am in love with this oatmeal. It’s wonderfully rich and perfectly spiced. And it’s not mushy! Baking gives the oatmeal a wonderful, chewy texture, more akin to bread pudding than normal oatmeal: soft, but not slimy. Amen to that.

Berry Baked Oatmeal
Adapted from Super Natural Every Day via Shutterbean

I’m definitely making this again as soon as possible, and making a full batch this time! If you want to be a chicken like me and make a half batch, use an 8″ square baking dish.

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup cane sugar or maple syrup (plus more for serving)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 cups whole milk, plus more for serving*
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons salted butter, melted & cooled slightly**
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 cups mixed berries (frozen is fine!)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Generously butter the inside of an 9″ x 13″ baking dish.

In a bowl, mix together the oats, half of the walnuts, the sugar, baking powder & cinnamon.

In another bowl mix the milk, eggs, half of the butter and vanilla. Whisk until well combined.

Arrange the bananas in a single layer at the bottom of your baking dish. Sprinkle 2/3 of the berry mixture on top. Pour the oat mixture on top and then slowly drizzle the milk mixture on top of that. Give the baking dish a few thwacks (love that word!) on the kitchen counter to make sure the milk moves all around the oats. Scatter the remaining berries and walnuts on top.

Bake in the oven for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is nicely golden and the oat mixture has set. Remove from the oven and let cool. Drizzle the remaining butter on top and serve. Drizzle maple syrup on top and top with a little bit of milk. Enjoy!

*I used light soy milk here because I have lactose issues, but I’d recommend it for anyone in this case — it adds much more richness than dairy milk for about the same amount of fat as skim milk.

**If you use unsalted butter or margarine as I did, add a pinch of salt to the oat mixture.

I’d never had cornmeal pancakes before, but they sell them at Ryan’s favorite breakfast spot and I’ve been curious about them. And I honestly don’t know why I was so excited about making these with cherries, but shoot, I can’t stop eating the dang little things. And these were seriously good pancakes – maybe the best I’ve made.

The texture of these bad boys can’t be beat. Using the muffin mix made the pancakes come together so quickly and simply. I’ll definitely be making them this way again! They’re light but still hearty, flavorful but not overly sweet like so many pancakes – which leaves plenty of room for seriously sweet blueberry sauce. Oh yes, I went there. On Saturday morning. But let’s be real — I made the blueberry sauce sometimes around Thursday night. Saturdays are for sleeping in, right?

As for this blueberry sauce, it’s phenomenal. I bought several pounds of blueberries on super sale last week, and although we ate most of them on our cereal or out of hand, when I read the recipe for this sauce I stopped eating the blueberries and got in the kitchen with the rest of them. I zested a lemon and went to town. It was a pretty good Thursday night. And I’ve been eating the sauce ever since, on pretty much everything I could think of, but using it to top these pancakes was a high point. Seriously delicious – let’s do this!

Cherry Cornmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Shirley J

Makes 8-10 pancakes

2 cups (add water only) corn muffin mix
1 1/2 cups milk (of your choosing)
1 cup pitted, halved cherries

Preheat oven to 250°F, and place a small cookie sheet in the oven. In a large bowl, stir together muffin mix and milk thoroughly.  A few lumps are okay, but you don’t want dry clumps of cornmeal in your pancakes!

In a large skillet or griddle, heat a little oil on medium-high. Working in batches, spoon about 1/4 cup batter onto the skillet for each pancake. Place 2-3 cherries on the surface of each pancake, pressing each cherry down gently with one finger. Cook pancakes until bubbles form on the surface (about 2-3 minutes), and then flip gently and gently press down on the pancake with the back of the spatula for a few seconds. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. When each batch of pancakes is finished cooking, transfer pancakes to cookie sheet and return sheet to oven to keep pancakes warm. Repeat until you’re done cooking! And then eat some dang pancakes (with homemade blueberry sauce, if you’d like).

Homemade Blueberry Sauce
My Baking Addiction

Makes about 2 cups*

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar**
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/2 cup of water, sugar and lemon juice. Stir frequently, and bring to a low boil.

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of cold water.

Slowly stir the corn starch into the blueberries, taking care not to crush the blueberries. Simmer until the homemade blueberry sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and gently stir in vanilla and lemon zest.

*This can be made several days ahead! Do it. You’ll be all set come Saturday morning.

**Next time I think I’ll reduce the sugar – maybe to 1/3 cup? If you like your sauce super sweet, stick with 1/2 cup.

This is a sponsored post. Shirley J provided corn bread/muffin mix for my use, but my opinions (and the resulting calories) are definitely my own.

It’s Monday afternoon, my brain is basically fried, and I’m listening to Katy Perry (guilty pleasure) on repeat. Can you relate? Go make yourself some muffins!

These muffins taste like cherry pie in the best way. They’re sweet and flavorful while still being light and fluffy. And yes, I’m leaning towards the healthy these days (so that I can justify things like Chinese takeout on the weekends) — but you’d never know it on this one.

Cherry Coffeecake Muffins
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Makes about 16 muffins

scant 2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt
2 cups pitted, coarsely chopped cherries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line muffin tins and set aside.

Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Transfer 1/4 cup of the flour mixture to a small bowl and mix in the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter, and add to the cinnamon mixture. Toss gently with a fork until the butter is evenly distributed (mixture will look like large pea-shaped crumbs) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat remaining 3 tablespoons softened butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture followed by half of the yogurt. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining yogurt. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

In a small  bowl, (the last one, I promise!) combine cherries and the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Fold floured cherries into batter gently.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the batter. Bake about 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, or until the crumb topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

In the midst of a rather ridiculous streak of checking-things-off-the-list, I stopped for a few minutes to mix up these muffins. They are a lovely blend of whole wheat, carrots, apples, coconut, and peanuts (I know, weird). They’re hearty and delicious, and not too sweet for breakfast (not that there is such a thing).

Let’s all start the week on a bright note, shall we? Here, have a muffin and some coffee.

Morning Glory Muffins
Barely adapted from Marci Gilbert

1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped*
1/4 cup plus 2 T sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with papers or spray lightly.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add egg mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in apple, raisins, carrots, walnuts, and 1/4 cup coconut.

Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each muffin cup 3/4 full. Top batter with remaining coconut.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

*I didn’t have any walnuts in the house, but I did have about eight zillion dry-roasted peanuts, so I chopped some up and threw them in the bowl. I know, it sounds weird, but it worked!

Like this wheat bread, this is a perfect recipe if you’re a little afraid of yeast. Or a lot afraid of yeast. I made this bread at 6,000 feet and again at sea level, and both times it turned out beautifully. If that isn’t a vote of confidence for a yeast bread recipe, I don’t know what is.

Don’t be intimidated by the braid. It’s so easy – easier than braiding hair. I promise. And I have a little sister, so I’ve braided a lot of hair in my day. This gorgeous bread comes together remarkably quickly and bakes up just as fast. It’s perfect for breakfast — or for dinner, as I originally made it. Sometimes a girl needs some bread!

Braided Apple Bread
Adapted from La Fuji Mama via Eat, Live, Run

For the apple filling:
3 medium-size Granny Smith apples
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons lemon juice

For the bread:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil

For the glaze:
1/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
5 teaspoons milk (I used fat-free)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt
Pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Make the apple filling: Peel, core, and slice the apples into thin slices, then cut the slices in half. Toss the apple pieces with the sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Bake the apple filling in an 8-inch square baking pan (or 9-inch pie tin) for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Note: Do not turn the oven off at this point. You will be using it to bake the finished braid.)

Make the bread: While the apple filling is baking, begin preparing the bread dough. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and oil and mix the dough for 6 minutes using an electric mixer on medium-high speed.

Spray a smooth clean surface with cooking spray and turn the dough out onto the surface. Knead the dough briefly to give it a smooth surface (this will only take several turns of the dough to accomplish). Spray a rolling pin with cooking spray and roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 12-inches by 16-inches in size. Lift onto a greased baking sheet.

Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut each side into strips about 1-inch wide down each side, leaving the center third of the dough uncut. Spread the apple filling down the middle third of the dough. Fold strips of dough into the center, crisscrossing the filling by alternating strips from each side. Lightly press ends to seal, and straighten out the braid with your hands, if necessary, to straighten.

Bake the braid in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let the braid cool for several minutes.

Make the glaze: Whisk together the glaze ingredients in a small bowl until blended and smooth.

Brush the glaze in a thick coat over the entire surface of the apple braid while it is still cooling. Carefully transfer the braid to a cooling rack set on a baking sheet (to catch drips) to finish cooling and prevent the bottom of the braid from becoming soggy from sitting in any pooling glaze. Slice and serve.

Even though pre-packaged snack bars are super convenient (and I do occasionally resort to them), they just always seem to come up short. Either there are too many weird ingredients or too much fat or not enough protein. And there almost always seems to be too much sugar, which I’d personally rather save for an actual dessert.

So when sweet Annelies from Attune Foods sent me some cereals to try out, I saw cereal bars in my future. They’re all super healthy and low in sugar, and as a bonus, are gluten-free! Gluten is not an issue for me, but we do have gluten intolerance in our family and I always appreciate gluten-free products.

This recipe is infinitely customizable — I used almond butter because I love it, but you can definitely use peanut butter for a more traditional flavor. My favorite part of making these bars was how easily I could control the sugar level. And so long as nut butter and jelly are involved, I’m in.

Almond Butter and Jelly Cereal Bars
Inspired by Emily Eats Clean

Makes 16 bars

3 cups cereal*
1 cup natural almond or peanut butter
1/2 cup strawberry preserves
1 cup dried cranberries

Lightly spray an 8×8-inch pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cereal and cranberries and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, heat almond butter for about a minute or until it’s easier to work with. Stir in preserves and, if needed, heat again briefly. Pour almond butter mixture over cereal mixture and stir carefully until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture into pan and refrigerate for at least an hour before slicing.

These are delicious! Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator (especially if your almond butter requires refrigeration like mine does).

*I used one cup each of Erewhon Brown Rice Cereal, Erewhon Corn Flakes, and Uncle Sam Original. I loved the texture from this mixture! Yum.

This is a sponsored post. Cereals were provided for my use in this recipe but my opinions are my own.

I reread this recipe one more time and that was it. So at 9:30 on Saturday night I made Pop Tarts and they were awesome. I think Ryan thought he’d died and gone to teenage boy heaven. I kind of felt that way too.

I know this sounds kind of crazy, making something from scratch that you can buy at the grocery store for about $2 (and which is in its own right, delicious), but we enjoyed it! Honestly it’s pretty easy as far as pastry goes, and that’s saying something coming from me, because I really hate rolling out dough.

Homemade Pop Tarts
Ever so slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Makes 9-12 tarts

Pastry
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter or margarine, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk

1 additional large egg (to brush on pastry)

Cinnamon Filling
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

To make cinnamon filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter with your fingers, pastry blender or food processor until pea-sized lumps of butter are still visible, and the mixture holds together when you squeeze it. Whisk together the first egg and the milk and pour into the food processor, if using, and pulse until combined. Otherwise you can stir it in by hand, but it’s a little trickier this way!

Divide the dough in half, shape each half into a smooth rectangle, about 3×5 inches. Don’t skip this step – it will make rolling out the dough much easier! You can roll this out immediately or wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Assemble the tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8? thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9? x 12?. [You can use a 9" x 13" pan, laid on top, as guidance.] Repeat with the second piece of dough. Set trimmings aside. Cut each piece of dough twice lengthwise and twice width-wise – you’ll form nine 3? x 4? rectangles.

Beat the additional egg and brush it over the entire surface of the first dough. This will be the “inside” of the tart; the egg is to help glue the lid on. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each rectangle, keeping a bare 1/2-inch perimeter around it. Place a second rectangle of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around the pocket of filling, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Repeat with remaining tarts.

(At this point, if you’d like a couple of extra tarts, smush your dough scraps together, roll them out, and proceed from there. I got an extra two tarts out of my scraps and probably could’ve gotten one more, but I was tired.)

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Bake the tarts: Remove the tarts from the fridge, and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Cool in pan on rack.