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Since I've never been a fan of school lunches or breakfasts we do it home style. At breakfast we sit around the table to tasty homemade jams and jellies to pile on toasted English muffins or, if I over-estimate quantity, huge bowls of oatmeal topped with soft brown sugar and creamy half and half. We also use this time to make sure that everyone has everything for the day, I tell funny stories about when I was in school, and we generally act silly. There really isn't much else to do when we wake up because the night before everyone picks out their clothes, packs their book bags and, quite importantly, makes their lunches.
Lunch for my kids is not necessarily a sandwich. It includes things like leftover quiche, taco salads, and cold pasta with tomatoes and peppers. I know what you're thinking but you're wrong, they pick their entrée themselves. Not that they don't munch their share of pb&j, they just do it on 12 grain bread with homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam. In addition to a main meal, snacks are a must in lunch box fare. That's where today's recipes come in. The way we see it, why eat a Hostess cupcake when you can bite into one of these delicious muffins? Or gnaw on fruit snacks when you can tailor GORP to your tastes and moods?
Chocolate Ginger Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons crystallized ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup half and half
1 - 12 ounce package semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the top of a 12-cup muffin pan with butter and place muffin papers in each well. Sift flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl. Stir in finely chopped crystallized ginger and chocolate chips; set aside. Mix butter and sugar together in a large bowl until fluffy (I did this all by hand, but you can use a mixer). Add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in sour cream and half and half until well incorporated. Pour wet mixture on top of dry ingredients and, with a wooden spoon, mix until barely moistened. If you find that your mix is too dry, stir in a couple more tablespoons of half and half. Pile dough evenly between muffin cups (they will be bursting at the seams). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
This is a variation of the recipe I used for my blueberry muffins a few months ago and I have found that it produces the most consistently great muffins I have ever made. I plan to adapt it to fit different flavours throughout the year to make sure that the kids have a variety of muffins to choose from. Though I did find that it does not double well, the finished muffins do freeze nicely which means that several batches can be made at once and the stored for future use. Put a frozen muffin in a baggie, pack it in their lunches and by the time they are let out to eat, it will have defrosted and kept everything else in the lunch box cool.
This Week's GORP
2 small bags dried cranberries
1 small bag dried apricots, snipped into quarters
1 small bag dates, snipped into quarters
1 small container raisins
1 jar dry roasted peanuts
1 package mini marshmallows
1 bag plain M&Ms
1 bag peanut M&Ms
1 recipe homemade granola (see below)
Mix everything together in an airtight container and scoop out with a large measuring cup into baggies. Pack in lunch box and smile wickedly when everyone else wants to trade with you.
homemade granola
2 cups rolled oats
1 cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup dark honey
pinch of each:
nutmeg
cloves
cinnamon
ginger
allspice
salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a cookie sheet or pizza pan with heavy duty foil and lightly spray or wipe with oil. Stir together oats and coconut in a medium bowl. In a small measuring cup mix oil, maple syrup and honey. Stir in spices and salt and pour over dry ingredients. Stir mixture until well combined and spread out on foil-lined cookie sheet. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring at frequent intervals, or until mixture is lightly browned. Lift foil from pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Break into pieces. Tasty as is, served with milk and dried fruits as a ceral, or used in GORP as above.
