Cheddar & Bacon Monkey Bread Muffins

This recipe...was SO good. I wanted to post it up soon because it would make a great side dish to your Thanksgiving feast! Biscuit dough has always been a favorite of mine growing up, and the savory additions to this muffin made it so tasty!

I would just like to preface that this isn’t the most nourishing food, BUT it is part of MY food freedom that I’ve been experiencing, and definitely made for a tasty treat! This blog has healthy, wholesome recipes, and treat recipes, and I’ve come to a place where having foods like this doesn’t bother me or send me over the edge anymore. We have to learn how to nourish ourselves well so that we can enjoy the treats as well and not be so stressed around foo! I am so thankful for the food freedom and nourishment that I’ve been experiencing in this journey, and know that I am here to guide you through it as well, just reach out and we can chat! 

Anyways, onto zee recipe!  

These were super easy to whip up, and turned out so savory and delicious! I made a big batch since my hubby took them to work with him, but you could definitely cut the recipe down if need be!  

Cheddar & Bacon Monkey Bread Muffins

(makes 30-ish muffins) 

3 cans refrigerated biscuit dough

3 cups shredded cheddar-jack cheese mix

8-10 slices turkey bacon

1.5 tsp garlic powder

0.5 tsp onion powder

0.5 tsp sage

1.5 tsp thyme

0.25 tsp salt, or to taste  

1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then line a muffin tin with liners or parchment paper.  

First, chop the turkey bacon and fry them in a pan until they are crispy. Set aside to cool.

Then, open up the biscuits and cut into little cubes.  

Place them in a large mixing bowl, then mix in the cheese, bacon, melted butter, and spices. Toss until the biscuits are evenly coated with all the yummy add-ins!  

Place about 5-6 cubes of the biscuits in each muffin tin. Then bake for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden brown.  

These were so gooey and delicious fresh out of the oven, but tasted great with breakfast this morning too!!  

Hope y’all enjoy and Happy early Thanksgiving!  

Apple Crumb Cake

I don’t know about you, but apple desserts have always been my favorite. Apple pie, apple crisp, apple muffins, I love them all. Pumpkin pie has nothing on apple pie in my opinion!  

With fall finally here and thanksgiving around the corner, I wanted to bake up a fall treat that would satisfy all of my apple dessert cravings! This apple crumb cake did NOT disappoint! And it was super easy to whip up! I baked it in a smaller Pyrex (because we are packing and that’s all I had) but I think if you doubled the recipe, it could fit into an 8x8 dish! 

Here’s the recipe!  

Filling:

2 cups chopped apples

3 T coconut sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Topping:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup coconut sugar

1/4 water

1/4 cup grass fed butter, melted

Preheat the oven for 325 degrees.

Mix the filling and topping in two separate bowls.

Spray a glass dish with non-stick spray. Then pour the apple filling into the bottom of the dish and press down. Then press down the topping mixture evenly over the apples.

Bake for 25-30 mins or until it is golden on top and the apples are nice and soft. I even stuck a fork in there to make sure it was done since the top is more like a cake consistency. 

We let it cool for about 5 minutes before we dug in, with some vanilla ice cream of course! This dish was so simple and delicious; hope y’all enjoy it too! 

Copycat Panera Apple Cinnamon Muffins

If you know me, you know I LOVE Panera. Mostly because of their baked goods. One of my favorite items that they have is their Apple Crunch muffin. It's so delicious and fluffy and tastes like apple pie in a muffin form. I wanted to recreate the recipe in a healthier, gluten-free way, and I think this recipe is SPOT ON to how these muffins taste! My husband tried one this morning and immediately said that I have to blog this recipe because they are THAT good. So here we go! 

Makes 12-15 muffins

1 cup Pamela's Gluten-free all purpose flour

3/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup oats

3/4 cup sweetener of choice (I used sugar but usually use stevia, but I'm all out!)

1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

2 eggs

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 small apple, chopped 

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a muffin tin or use lining.

Mix all the ingredients together except for the apple. Then, chop the apple and fold it into the batter. Pour into muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy warm! Store in the fridge for 4-5 days. These taste so good with a cup of coffee in the morning! I hope you all enjoy!

Greek Yogurt Pancakes

I've always wanted to like Greek yogurt. I mean, with the probiotics and protein, why not right? I just can't seem to get myself to like it though! My husband swears by his yogurt, granola, and berry bowls, and I almost gagged when I tried a bite of his last week. And this isn't a pregnancy thing; I just have never seemed to like the tartiness of yogurt! Unless it's froyo...that's a whole different story...but I digress...

However, these pancakes, I can get behind! We were out of whole eggs yesterday morning, so I whipped up some pancakes with multigrain pancake mix, Greek yogurt, and liquid egg whites and they turned out delicious! Here's the recipe for the easiest pancakes ever! 

Makes 4 medium sized pancakes  (2 pancakes = 1 serving!) 

1/2 cup multigrain or gluten free pancake mix 

1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt  

1/2 cup liquid egg whites 

optional dash of cinnamon!  

Mix all the ingredients together, then heat up a medium skillet, grease it, and pour 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake. Flip when it starts bubbling! 

I topped our pancakes with frozen berries that I microwaved to make a nice syrup, without the syrup! So delicious! 

Hope you all get to enjoy this recipe soon!  

Lentil Patties (Vospov Kufteh)

I am SO sorry it took so long to get this recipe up!! But trust me, it's worth the wait! This was one of my favorite meals growing up, and I finally made it all by myself this past week! It's the perfect meatless Monday meal option and pairs perfectly with a fresh salad! In Armenian, it's called "vospov kufteh," but it's essentially lentil patties with cracked wheat and spices! This is my mama's recipe and it's delicious! Hope you enjoy!

Makes about 30-40 little patties

1 cup red lentils

1/2 cup cracked wheat (bulgar #1)**

1/2 cup diced onions

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp red pepper

3 T lemon juice

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

First, boil the lentils in 2 cups of water until soft and the water is almost gone. This took only about 20 mins for me! Then turn off the stove, add bulgar, and cover until bulgar gets soft and puffs up...about 20 more minutes.

While you are waiting, sauté the onions and cumin in the 1/2 cup of olive oil in a separate skillet. Once the lentils and bulgar are soft, add the olive oil mixture. Then add salt, lemon juice, parsley, and pepper.

It should come together well and if it doesn't, just add some water until it becomes almost like a dough. Then roll until little balls or patties!

I served this with a light cucumber-tomato salad, then had it again for lunch over some spinach and tomatoes! Fresh veggies are SO good with this meal!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe! Maybe try it next Monday for a yummy meatless meal!

**a note on the bulgar: my mom usually buys this for me from an Armenian market; however, I do believe places like Sprouts and Whole Foods carry it! It is probably called something like "cracked wheat fine #1." ;)

Banana White Chocolate Muffins

I've been on a baking kick lately...and I'm not mad about it. I've also been on a white chocolate kick...which I'm not mad about either. This past weekend, I spotted 3 brown bananas, so I knew I just had to bake! I decided to whip up these banana muffins with white chocolate chips and they turned out delicious!! So good fresh out of the oven and warmed up a bit the next day :) they also include chia seeds and flaxseed for some healthy fats, so you know you are getting some good stuff in there along with the treat! Here is my recipe, hope you enjoy!

Makes 12 muffins

3 bananas, mashed

1 1/4 cup Pamela's gluten free pancake mix

1/4 cup ground flaxseed meal

2 T chia seeds

1/2 cup stevia cup for cup measurement (or sweetener of choice)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2-3 T white chocolate chips

1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together and add some water until it becomes like a batter. Pour into muffin tins and fill about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean! Super simple and SO delicious!

I enjoyed these with my morning coffee...bananas with white chocolate are such a good combo! I'll definitely be making these on the regular! Have a great Monday everyone!