Whole Wheat Wednesday

It's that time again! Honestly, I was planning on putting some pics from our weekend up, but haven't gotten around to it. Let this week be deemed Hope's Week of Chaos!! Anyhoo, I don't have anything new to share, so I will answer the fun questions and post a couple recipes!

#1~ Would you (or have you) attempt a whole wheat pie crust? I don't make pies. However, my mom always did/does!! I looked in my King Arthur cookbook and found this...

Whole Wheat Piecrust
1 C Whole Wheat Flour
1 TBS Buttermilk Powder (optional)
1 TBS Confectioner's Sugar
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
6 TBS cold butter
2 TBS Orange Juice (helps reduce the tannic flavor of the wheat in most recipes)
2-4 TBS ice water

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Mix with pastry blender or fork until crumbly. Sprinkle with OJ and toss to moisten. Add Ice Water 1 TBS at a time, mixing until cohesive. Grab a handful, if it holds well together you are done adding moisture. If it is still crumbly, add a little more moisture. You can cook as needed, however if you let it set in the fridge for a few days it will soften the bran that is in there for a less gritty texture.

I also have a recipe for an Oatmeal crust if you are interested!!

#2~ Have you ever made oatmeal (the regular kind) in the crockpot? Well, no. Mostly because (brace yourselves) oatmeal makes me sick. Literally, I gag and can't stand it. The only oatmeal I can stand to eat is Quaker Peaches and Cream. However I am still trying to warm myself up to it. I found this recipe online. Also, I have this one from King Arthur that actually sounds divine to me!!!

Baked Oatmeal

1 C Steel Cut Oats
4 TBS Butter
4 C Water
3 C Rolled Oats
1 C UNpacked Brown Sugar
1 1/2 C Peeled and diced apple
1/2 C diced dried apricots
1/4 C diced crystallized Ginger
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
2 Large Eggs
1/2 C Milk
1 tsp Vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 9-inch square baking dish. Place the steel-cut oats and butter in a large bowl. Bring water to a boil, and pour over the oats. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir in everything EXCEPT for the eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix those remaining ingredients in a separate bowl and stir into the main mixture. Pour into baking dish. Bake until center is set, 35-40 minutes. Serve warm with milk or 1/2 & 1/2 for breakfast or even with some sweet vanilla ice cream for dessert. It also recommends changing the fruit around a bit for variety (blueberries only, bananas in place of apples and walnuts in place of apricots, same banana recipe only add a cup of chocolate chips, etc.).

#3~ "Also, do you have a good recipe for whole wheat pancakes? I made WW waffles last week and my kids ate them but didn't really like them. Today I made my regular pancake recipe and substituted 1/2 the AP flour with ww and oat flour--they turned out really yummy."

I have taken my regular recipes for waffles and pancakes and just swapped ww for ap. It definitely needs some adjusting, but it usually is the best way to go. I have had to play with my waffle recipe more than the pancake recipe. For waffles, I recommend following your favorite basic recipe, except add a little more baking powder (or just use Rumford Baking Powder that has no aluminum which leaves a lighter result), one more egg and if needed a splash more milk. Also, if you only have regular Whole Wheat, try doing half ww and half oat flour all the way. Don't be afraid of eliminating all the AP flour. I have done my waffles with Soft White Wheat and the extra egg and they turn out almost like regular waffles!! One thing I started doing, because my mom always did this and it was yummy and memorable, is crisp up a few slices of bacon and crumble it into your batter. Bacon is mistaken as a bad thing, but when you use it as a flavor and texture enhancer, like in waffles or beans, it can give you the little extra flavor you need/want and add some protein.

Pancakes, I think your way of using the half ww and half oat flour is great. Just do it all the way like I mentioned before. Oat flour is pretty good, isn't it?! However, I do have a recipe, once again from the awesome King Arthur cookbook, for a whole grain pancake mix that you can use for a few weekends. But, maybe that will have to wait until next week!!

My tip for the week... Don't be afraid of the wheat! It can be odd at first, but once you introduce it you can start to just substitute it entirely in place of AP altogether.... Oh, and try sifting your wheat flour. It makes a difference!!