Gluten-Dairy-Soy Free Raisin Bran Muffins

This is a recipe that I've adapted from my adaptation of the Company's Coming Muffins and More cookbook. These muffins have been a favourite, and I've missed them since going gluten and dairy free. They freeze well, and mix up quickly, and since they work for the new diet- I've been in heaven again. My FAVOURITE thing is coffee or tea and a raisin bran muffin with Becel Vegan Margarine and honey. This has become my "go-to" bring along muffin for travelling. A double batch makes 18 muffins that really travel well. I bring them in a freezer-type storage bag and  borrow fridge space along the way. With peanut butter, (I bring Kraft Extra-Smooth or a natural PB- the only ones I've found without soy oil) one of these muffins is a good breakfast when the hotel is serving up a "continental". Also a good lunch option, snack or supper supplement. So far the record is tasty for 2 weeks on the road.

150 ml (2/3 cup) Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour* 
250 ml (1 cup) ground flax (or 125 ml/1/2 cup ground flax+ 125 ml/1/2 cup oat bran)

3 ml (1/2 tsp) Xanthan Gum
5 ml (1 tsp.) baking soda
5 ml (1 tsp.) baking powder
5 ml (1 tsp.) cinnamon (optional)
175 ml (3/4 cup) raisins
250 ml (1 cup) non-dairy milk
5 ml (1 tsp) vinegar
50 ml (1/4 cup) canola or olive oil
50 ml (1/4 cup) molasses
1 egg
5 ml (1 tsp.) vanilla

In a large bowl, combine flour, flax/oat bran, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and raisins. Mix well with a whisk. Push up around sides of bowl, making a well in the center.

In med. sized bowl, stir milk, vinegar, oil, molasses, egg and vanilla together. Whisk together until well blended.

Pour milk mixture into well in dry ingredients. Stir vigorously to combine well. You can't beat this too much.*

Let better stand 30 minutes.

Divide into greased or paper lined muffin cups. Bake at 350 * F., for about 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Remove from pan. Makes 8 large muffins.
 

Note: To make the Husband's Favourite "Raspberry Bran Muffins", use 1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen (un-thawed) instead of raisins, and add 25 ml., (1/8 cup) Splenda sweetener or 1/4 cup brown sugar to the flour mixture.

 Another Note: I made a batch (without cinnamon), divided the batter, added raisins to half for me, some brown sugar and raspberries to the other half for him, and he thought they were just fine. In spite of a slight prejudice against "gluten-free" things. 

Nutty Fruit Crisp Topping

Crisps are crisps- rhubarb, apple, peach, plum... basically whatever fruit you have on hand or in the freezer makes a nice crisp. (1/3-1/2 cup sugar or sweetener and 1/8 cup of flour or cornstarch per 2 cups of fruit) When I make fruit crisp I rarely look it up; I usually just "wing it". Tonight I made a rhubarb/apple crisp, and I caught myself remembering the ingredients that I used for the topping. Good thing, as I did something a little different and it was really good. I give you "Nutty Fruit Crisp Topping"


1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cashews, fairly finely chopped
1/4 cup hard margarine

Mix flour, oatmeal, salt, brown sugar and cashews together in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers, cut/blend the margarine into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbled together. Spoon/spread over fruit in greased casserole dish and bake at 350*F for 45-60 minutes, until fruit is bubbly and topping is crisp and toasted golden brown.

This made a substantial topping for a rhubarb-apple crisp in an 8 inch, round casserole pot. The chopped nuts added a nice texture and flavour.

Two-Fer Scones

Or, "Six of One, Half Dozen of The Other". Originally from "Company's Coming Muffins & More" Cookbook, the "Rich Scones" quickly became a family favourite. When I started needing to kick up my fibre, I began to add a batch of the "Bran Cereal Scones"- a variation of "Current Scones", without the sugar.  Being down in numbers doesn't mean we've ceased to enjoy scones and tea for a Sunday supper, it just means we don't eat two dozen scones at a time. I've been making half a batch of each of our favourites, and it works very well. If you want to make 12 scones of either variety, simply double the ingredients as I've given them here, and use the whole amount of liquid in it. (1 egg + 2/3 cup milk) To make a dozen of each, you'll need two eggs and 1 1/3 cups milk. But you're smart. You figured that out.

Preheat oven to 425*F.

Set two medium/large sized mixing bowls on the counter. One is for the Current/Bran Cereal Scones, and one is for the Rich Scones.

Measure the following ingredients into the bowls as follows:

Bran Cereal Scones                            Rich Scones

1/3 cup all-purpose flour                  1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour                1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lightly crushed
    bran flakes cereal*
2 teaspoons baking powder              1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt                             1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/3 cup currents, if desired

Mix the dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers, cut in margarine until crumbly- 1/8 cup margarine into the Bran Cereal Scones, and 1/4 cup margaine into the Rich Scones.

In a small measuring cup, measure 2/3 cup milk. Add one large egg and beat to blend well. Pour half into each bowl. Stir each batch of scones with a fork to form a soft dough.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet. Form scones into a 6 inch circle, one on each end of the baking sheet. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Gently cut each circle into six pie shaped wedges.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until risen and browned slightly. Serve hot with butter and jam.

Yields 6 Bran Cereal and 6 Rich Scones.

*I've used Bran Flakes, Raisin Bran (and omitted the currents), Vector and, in a pinch, Strawberry Special K. Any multi-grain flaked cereal should be fine.

Best Brown Bran Bread

My Mother-in-law made the best brown bread this summer. When I probed, she showed me the recipe in the Mennonite Treasury. Page 29 in my cookbook, Brown Bran Bread had a wonderful texture and delicious flavour. When I got home I experimented with the 10 grain cereal, and I've perfected a scaled down version with the addition of some whole grains.

2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon instant/bread machine yeast*

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup natural bran

1/2 cup multi-grain cereal (Bob's Red Mill 10-grain cereal is my favourite)

1 1/3 cups very warm water

1/4 cup vegetable/Canola oil

*if using active yeast, dissolve sugar in 1/3 cup of the warm water, then sprinkle yeast over water to proof for 10 minutes while you assemble the rest of the ingredients.

Kitchen Aid Instructions:
Add salt, sugar*, instant yeast*, bran, cereal, and 2 1/4 cups of the flour to your largest Kitchen Aid mixing bowl. Add warm water* and oil. Mix on lowest speed with dough hook, for about 10 minutes, until flour is incorporated. Add more flour, 1/8 cup at a time, until dough no longer sticks to your fingers when you test it.

Take dough off dough hook, and form into a ball with your hand. Remove from bowl, (either hold in one hand or rest on clean breadboard) and add a drizzle of oil to bottom of bowl. Put dough in bowl, swishing it around to cover the bottom with oil, then flip the dough to cover the other side.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2- 2 hours.

When bread dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and roll/ shape it into a 6 1/2 inch long roll, and place in lightly greased bread pan. Set in warm place to rise again for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350*F, then bake for 30- 50 minutes until nicely golden.

Take the pan out of the oven, and carefully tip the bread out of the pan. Cool on baking rack.

Regular Instructions:
Add salt, sugar*, instant yeast*, bran, cereal, and 1 cup of the flour to a large mixing bowl. Add warm water* and oil. Using electric hand mixer/ beaters, beat batter together for 3-5 minutes, until mixture looks gelatinous, (kind of gooey/ glue-y) It will be very sticky.

Now, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix in 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups more flour. As the flour is incorporated, the dough will get stiffer and you'll find it easier to just transfer it to a lightly floured board and mix with your hands.

When the dough starts to feel less sticky, and the flour is mixed in, begin to knead the dough, adding a little flour at a time as needed to keep dough from sticking to your hands. As you knead it, the dough will get less sticky and the less flour you add, the lighter your bread will be.

To knead: Gather the dough into a ball. With the heel of your hands, push the dough away from you. Now with your fingers pull the dough back towards you into the ball. Repeat with pushing away and pulling it back 4 or 5 times. The dough should start to get longer, side to side. Rotate the dough, (1/4 turn), so it is long-wise to you; gather the longer end up into a ball with your fingers, then push it back out in the kneading motion as before. Continue kneading and turning the dough for at least 10 minutes. The longer you knead, the better your bread will be.

Put a drizzle of oil in the bottom of the bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, swishing it around to cover the bottom with oil, then flip the dough to cover the other side.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2- 2 hours.

When bread dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and roll/ shape it into a 6 1/2 inch long roll, and place in lightly greased bread pan. Set in warm place to rise again for about an hour.

Preheat oven to 350*F, then bake for 30- 50 minutes until nicely golden.

Take the pan out of the oven, and carefully tip the bread out of the pan. Cool on baking rack.

Yield: 1 large loaf

Better Banana Bread

Better because it has wheat germ added to kick up the fibre, and Splenda added to replace half of the sugar. There's still sugar in it, so your anti-sweetener, "if it's good for me I don't like it" children will like it. Just don't tell them about the wheat germ. Or the lowered sugar.

1/2 cup (125 ml) hard margarine, softened

1/2 cup (125 ml) granulated sugar

1/4 cup (50 ml) Splenda artificial sweetener

2 eggs

3 medium (about 1 cup/250 ml) mashed ripe bananas

1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla

1 3/4 (375 ml) all-purpose white flour

1/2 cup (125 ml) wheat germ

1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) baking powder

1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt

Cream together margarine, sugar and Splenda. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Add bananas and mix until fairly smooth.

In another bowl (unless you're like me and you just add everything together in the Kitchen Aid standing mixer and then mix it up...) mix together flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to banana mixture stirring only to moisten.

Bake at 350* F in a greased loaf pan for 50 minutes to an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Yield: 1 tasty loaf

Adding Fibre

To add some fibre to quick breads and muffins, try substituting wheat germ for some of the all-purpose white flour.

1/4 cup wheat germ has the same amount of fibre as 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, and twice as much fibre as the same amount of white flour. While it has 3x as much fat (1.5 g compared to .5 g) it has less than half the calories, a third fewer carbohydrates, and as much protein.

Consider that 1/4 wheat germ weighs about half as much as 1/4 cup of all-purpose white or whole wheat flour. This means that you can effectively take out 1/4 cup of flour and add 1/2 cup of wheat germ, giving you 4x as much fibre as white flour alone without altering the texture of your quick breads or making them too heavy.

If you have a kitchen scale, you can substitute wheat germ by weight: simply measure the flour and weigh it, then remove 1/4 or 1/2 cup of flour and add wheat germ to make up the weight. I recommend starting with 1/2 cup wheat germ for 1/4 cup flour. I've had good results with that amount.

Italian Style Bean Soup

Company's Coming Slow Cooker (1998) Recipes' "Beef Minestrone" soup revamped. It's now a vegetable and bean soup with Italian seasoning. Use OXO beef bouillon (make sure "wheat protein" is NOT listed in the ingredients) to keep it Gluten-free. A quick, hearty, satisfying soup.


1- 796 ml (19 oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1- 398 ml (14 z) can kidney or mixed beans with liquid
2 cups water
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup finely sliced carrots
2 cups diced potato
1 cup diced zucchini
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
3 teaspoons OXO* bouillon powder
1/2 teaspoon salt/ to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper/ to taste

Combine all ingredients in large pot. Bring to a boil then simmer, covered 15-20 minutes until vegetables are cooked. Serve with Parmesan cheese if desired.

Serves 4

*read the ingredients. To make Gluten-Free soup, make sure "wheat protein" is not listed as an ingredient. OXO bouillon powder should be good, but always check the ingredients first.

Oatmeal Honey Cookies

NEARLY like the original "Honey Oatmeal Cookies" recipe in Company's Coming Cookies...

I reduced the margarine, replaced sugar with Splenda, increased the oats, decreased the flour and replaced the white with whole wheat. Oh, and I added a little baking powder. They're quite good. Last time I made them I used part raisins and part chocolate chips, which was nice. If you use "mini" chocolate chips you get the essence of a chocolate chip cookie without quite as much chocolate. Very yummy, even if they are sort of good for you.


1/2 cup (125 ml) hard margarine, softened
1/2 cup (125 ml) Splenda, artificial sweetener
1/2 cup (125 ml) creamed honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
2 1/4 cups (550 ml) Roger's Porridge Oats
1 cup (250 ml) whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
1 cup (250 ml) raisins

Cream butter, Splenda and honey together well. Beat in egg and vanilla.

Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Drop by spoonfuls onto greased baking sheet. Shape into balls, and press lightly with a fork. Bake at 350*F. for about 10 minutes.

Makes about 3 dozen.

Oatmeal Muffins Your Kids Will Eat

These Company's Coming Muffins & More Banana-Oatmeal muffins have been twigged a bit. The substitutions qualify it as a lower fat, higher fibre, no-sugar-added breakfast or snack break. And besides all that- they taste really yummy.

1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 ml) whole wheat flour
1 cup Roger's Porridge Oats
1/2 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 teaspoons (10 ml) baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125 ml) peanut butter (to keep sugar lower, use a natural peanut butter or Kraft No Salt-No Sugar added Peanut Butter)
1/4 cup (50 ml) skim milk
3 over-ripe mashed bananas
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup raisins
1 medium apple with peel, cored and chopped

Preheat oven to 400* F. (200*C)

*Kitchen Aid method: Into large mixer bowl put: eggs, peanut butter, milk and whole bananas. Mix on lower speed until all are blended and fairly smooth.

Stop mixer and add: flours, Oats, Splenda, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix slowly, (with pulsing motion for the first minute or so) until dry ingredients are blended. Stir in chocolate chips, raisins and apple.

Grease, or line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Put muffin pans in preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350*F (180*C) and bake for about 20 minutes. Until centre of middle muffin bounces back to the touch and/or a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

*Non-Kitchen Aid method: In large bowl, mix together flours, Oats, Splenda, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the centre.

In a second, smaller bowl, mash bananas, then add eggs, peanut butter and milk. Mix with electric mixer or by hand until well blended and fairly smooth. Pour into the well in the dry ingredients.

Mix until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips, raisins and apple.

Grease, or line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups. Put muffin pans in preheated oven. Reduce heat to 350*F (180*C) and bake for about 20 minutes. Until centre of middle muffin bounces back to the touch and/or a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Fruity Oatmeal Muffins

Originally "Company's Coming Muffins & More" Oatmeal Muffins, these have had the fruit and fibre kicked up. Great for breakfast, a quick snack or even a fairly guilt free dessert. Try them with a little butter and honey.

1 cup (250 ml) whole wheat flour
1 cup (250 ml) rolled oats
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal
1 Tablespoon (15 ml) baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) cinnamon
3/4 cup (175 ml) raisins
1 cup (250 ml) chopped, cored, but not peeled apple (about 1 small)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) molasses, treacle or black treacle
1/4 cup (50 ml) Canola oil
1 cup (250 ml) skim milk
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, Splenda, 10 grain cereal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, raisins and apple in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

In a small bowl, beat egg until frothy. Mix in molasses/treacle, oil, milk and vanilla. Pour into well. Stir only to moisten. Let stand 5 minutes.

Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups. Divide between 16 cups.

Put muffin tins into 400* F oven. After 5 minutes reduce oven temperature to 350*F. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until tops are browned and bounce back when touched, or a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove paper lined muffins to cooling rack. Let un-lined muffins rest for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.

Makes 16 muffins.

Buckwheat Pancakes

Very "crunchy", but really good! Especially with fresh No Sugar Added Raspberry Syrup... Yummy!


1 cup Bob's Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat cereal
1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar or artificial sweetener
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons additional buttermilk if needed

The night before: combine buckwheat cereal and buttermilk, cover and store in fridge overnight.

Stir together flours, sugar (or sweetener), baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add egg, oil and vanilla to buckwheat mixture; stir into dry ingredients. If batter is too thick, add the additional amounts of buttermilk.

Fry pancakes on a lightly greased griddle or skillet. When bubbles appear and top gets "dull" looking, turn the pancakes to cook the second side. If they're getting very brown on the first side before the bubbles have time to appear, the griddle is too hot, so turn the heat down and cook them a little slower.

Makes about 8 pancakes.

Carrot Cake

Or, "Have my Birthday cake and eat it too." For a long time now I've been thinking that Carrot Cake would be a good one for tweaking. I decided to work on it for my Birthday, and it came out pretty well. Porridge oats increases the fibre, the sugar is replaced with Splenda, and I've cut out 1/4 cup of the fat, and then replaced half of the remaining amount with unsweetened apple sauce. The cake didn't really smooth out during baking, so I'd advise making the top as smooth as possible before putting it in the oven. Give it a try, then let me know how yours turned out!


1 cup orange juice
1 cup Roger's Porridge Oats
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 cups all-purpose white flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 cup unsweetened coconut
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
2 cups grated carrots*

*If using commercially shredded carrots, (which I did, and which are fairly thick and coarse) measure them into a microwaveable bowl, add 2 Tablespoons of orange juice, and microwave 2-5 minutes, until carrots are slightly tender. Let cool while you mix up the rest of the batter.

Heat orange juice to just before boiling point.

Measure oats into large mixing bowl. Pour orange juice over oats. Let stand about 5 minutes, until cooled to lukewarm. Add eggs, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Mix well.

Add coconut and walnuts, stirring to mix well.

Stir together flour, Splenda, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients. Mix gently until well combined.

Add carrots and raisins.

Pour into greased 9" square pan. Bake at 350*F for 30-40 minutes, until brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Cool, in pan, on wire rack until completely cool. Ice with cream cheese icing as desired.

The cake is good without icing, too, so for an easier conscience, try just a dusting of icing sugar over the cooled cake, or a very thin layer of frosting.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

These started life as Dad's Cookies (from the Mennonite Treasury), but I think, from here on in, they'll be known as "Mom's Cookies". Not sugar free, but sugar reduced. I've cut the recipe in half, as Splenda baking tends to dry out quicker than its sugar laden counterparts, so a smaller batch will be eaten quicker when the cookies are freshest. I promise to do the math on these ones, as I'm also curious about how the nutritional analysis will shape up. So, keep checking back. Until then, go with one at a time, and keep an eye on your sugar levels if you're in doubt.

1/2 cup hard margarine, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/4 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup Roger's Porridge Oats (a combination of large flake oatmeal, oat & wheat bran and flax; follow the link for more info. Scroll down past Large Flake Oats)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup raisins

Cream margarine, brown sugar and Splenda together until light. Add egg and vanilla. Mix well.

Add the coconut, oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix well. Stir in raisins.

Divide into 24 balls, and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Flatten each ball with a fork. Bake at 350*F, for 8 - 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Let cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to cooling racks. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

Multi-Grain Banana Bread

This is good. It turned out very nicely. It didn't rise as high as the regular sugar-laden loaf, but has a light and slightly crunchy texture. The cake & pastry flour is a little lighter than regular all-purpose flour, and seems to be a good companion to the whole wheat flour and whole grains. I have to get it written down before I forget what I did...

1/3 cup hard margarine, softened
1/3 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1- 100g container fat-free, no sugar added yogurt, any flavour
1/2 cup multi-grain cereal (such as Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal)
3/4 cup cake & pastry flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350*F.

(I used the Kitchen Aid mixer...) Beat margarine, Splenda, eggs, bananas and yogurt together. Add multi-grain cereal and continue beating until ingredients are well mixed.

Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add to banana mixture and stir to combine. Mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated.

Spread batter into a lightly greased loaf pan, and bake for 45-55 minutes, until loaf is browned and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Makes 1 loaf.

A Great Grain Pancake Idea

If you have a mixed marriage as I do, (1 Diabetic- me, + a bunch of regular people), and you have Anti-Grainites in the bunch, you might give this a try:

Mix up a batch of Basic Pancakes, then add 2 or 3 Tablespoons of multi-grain cereal (like Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain cereal) to the last bit of batter. I've found that with the Basic Pancake batter, I can make 8 x 4-5 inch pancakes for "them" add the cereal and get 2 or 3 pancakes for me.

I've used this trick when making waffles as well. Try it with whatever pancake or waffle mix you use- just make enough for the family, then add the cereal for yourself.

I've found E.D. Smith No Sugar Added Syrup to be not bad, (it was better when I added half a teaspoon of maple flavouring to it...) but I often have pancakes with no sugar added jam or peanut butter and jam (for the extra protein).

Mulit-Grain Bread

I promised Gwen that I'd post this... so here it is. I got tired of putting out $4 a loaf for multi-grain bread, so I worked on this. Many, many loaves later I've had consistent results long enough to be ready to share the recipe. It's a fairly light bread with a nice crunchy texture from the grains. The amount of oil can be halved to lower fat content, but the bread will be a bit denser. I often mix up a loaf of this bread on a day I've planned hamburgers, hot dogs, or soup then I'll cut a piece off to make myself a bun for supper and put the rest into a slightly smaller loaf. If the bread is too "grainy" for you, try it with less multi-grain cereal. The amount of flour you need will increase proportionately. Makes 1 large loaf, 9 large buns or 12 medium sized buns.

1/2 cup multi-grain cereal. ("Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain Cereal" makes a really nice loaf)
1 cup very warm water
1 Tablespoon/ package active yeast (not instant)
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup Canola or vegetable oil
2 - 2 1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 Tablespoons Canola or vegetable oil

Cover multi-grain cereal with water in large mixing bowl/ Kitchen Aid bowl, and sprinkle yeast on top. Sprinkle sugar over yeast and let stand about 10 minutes, until yeast is puffing up and foamy looking.

*Kitchen Aid Instructions:
Add salt, egg, first amount of oil and 2 cups of the flour. Mix on lowest speed with dough hook, for about 10 minutes, until flour is incorporated. Add more flour, 1/8 cup at a time, until dough no longer sticks to your fingers when you test it.

Take dough off dough hook, and form into a ball with your hand. Remove from bowl, (either hold in one hand or rest on clean breadboard) and add second amount of oil to bottom of bowl. Put dough in bowl, swishing it around to cover the bottom of the dough with oil, then flip the dough to cover the other side.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2- 2 hours.

When bread dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and roll/ shape it into a 6 1/2 inch long roll, and place in lightly greased bread pan. Set in warm place to rise again until the top of the bread is at least an inch and a half above the rim of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350*F, then bake the loaf for 30- 50 minutes until nicely golden.

Take the pan out of the oven, and carefully tip the bread out of the pan. Cool on baking rack.

*Regular Instructions:
Add salt, egg, first amount of oil and 1 cup of the flour. Using electric hand mixer/ beaters, beat batter together until oil and flour are incorporated, and mixture looks gelatinous, (kind of gooey/ glue-y) It will be very sticky.

Now, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix in 1 to 1 1/4 cups more flour. As the flour is incorporated, the dough will get stiffer and you'll find it easier to just transfer it to a lightly floured board and mix with your hands.

When the dough starts to feel less sticky, and the flour is mixed in, begin to knead the dough, adding a little flour at a time as needed to keep dough from sticking to your hands. As you knead it, the dough will get less sticky and the less flour you add, the lighter your bread will be.

To knead: Gather the dough into a ball. With the heel of your hands, push the dough away from you. Now with your fingers pull the dough back towards you into the ball. Repeat with pushing away and pulling it back 4 or 5 times. The dough should start to get longer, side to side. Rotate the dough, (1/4 turn), so it is long-wise to you; gather the longer end up into a ball with your fingers, then push it back out in the kneading motion as before. Continue kneading and turning the dough for at least 10 minutes. The longer you knead, the better your bread will be.

Put second amount of oil in the bottom of the bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, swishing it around to cover the bottom of the dough with oil, then flip the dough to cover the other side.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2- 2 hours.

When bread dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and roll/ shape into a 6 1/2 inch long roll, and place in lightly greased bread pan. Set in warm place to rise again until the top of the bread is at least an inch and a half above the rim of the pan.

Preheat oven to 350*F, then bake the loaf for 30- 50 minutes until nicely golden.

Take the pan out of the oven, and carefully tip the bread out of the pan. Cool on baking rack.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Serving Size: 1 Slice (1/13 of loaf)

Calories 170, Calories from Fat 70, Total Fat 7g, Saturated Fat 0.5g, Cholesterol 15mg, Sodium 190mg, Total Carbohydrate 22g, Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 0g and Protein 4g.