Q is for Quaker Oats

Last winter I developed a craving for the warm, gooey taste of oatmeal... my favorite way to eat it is just with brown sugar and maple syrup stirred in. If I want some quick, I love the Banana Bread instant variety that Quaker Oats makes.

However, I bet Coconut Cream Pie Oatmeal would also be good:



Or Steel Cut Oatmeal with Caramelized Apples:



Plus that bowl is just way cool.

But since this is ABCBaking, we shall now focus our attention on a baked good that uses oats: oatmeal cookies.



A couple of weeks ago I baked Banana Oatmeal Cookies that were delicious (I made them without the chocolate chips). Here are some more oatmeal cookie recipes I'm bookmarking for future enjoyment:

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Oatmeal Butterscotch Cookies
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Spiced Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Oatmeal Raisin Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Filling... or rather, your very own homemade Oatmeal Creme Pies!

P is for Peanut Butter

I keep meaning to bake something with a peanut butter frosting. Chocolate cupcakes would be good, banana cupcakes would also be interesting, or I bet it would be good on a chocolate or banana cake.



More fun recipes with peanut butter:

Ooey Gooey Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake
Peanut Butter Crumble Cake
Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cheesecake
Peanut Butter Pound Cake

Speaking of pound cake (which also starts with P!), I have a bundt cake pan that I have never used. A pound cake would be a perfect choice to try it out... but there was also that Maple Syrup Cake I mentioned a couple posts back that would also be great. Decisions, decisions...



Plus, if I make pound cake... I can make those grilled cheesecake sandwiches I mentioned earlier...yummmmm.....

And one final "P" favorite... pancakes, of course. Here are some recipes I have tried or am dying to try.

Apple Pie Pancakes (I have made these twice now...I think this is the same recipe I used...it is from Midwest Living and I'm pretty sure that was the magazine I copied the recipe out of)
Brown Sugar Pancakes with Brown Sugar Maple Syrup (have tried, but mine came out flat due to bad baking powder)
Coffee Cake Pancakes
Banana Pancakes
Best Buttermilk Pancakes (made these... yum!)
Pumpkin Pancakes



Pass the syrup, please...

O is for Orange Smoothie

Ok so you don't bake it, but it is sweet and delicious, and I've been making more of them lately. Great summertime treat. I just use about 3/4 cup of orange juice, 4-5 frozen strawberries, half a banana, and some ice, and blend it up. Delish.



My other favorite smoothie to make is a Chocolate Banana smoothie: 3/4 cup milk, half a banana, a tbsp of cocoa powder, and ice.



I do heart bananas. In fact, (and this DOES have to do with baking!) I am baking up a loaf of Apple Banana bread tonight. Just because I have some mushy bananas to use. I guess I didn't make enough smoothies!

N is for No Peek

I'll take a break today from the sweet stuff to do a delicious main course post. My mom taught me to make "No Peek" chicken, basically a chicken/rice/condensed soup bake. It's super easy and reliable.



All you need is some chicken (a whole chicken cut up, or just parts you like), rice, a couple of soups (I like cream of chicken and cream of celery), and a packet of dry onion soup mix. Mix together the rice and cream soups, layer the chicken on top, then sprinkle on the onion soup mix. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 325º for 2 hours (no peeking!) Easy peasy.



(The pictures are actually taken from this blog post which added a nice bacon spin to the whole chicken/rice/soup bake. Might have to try that sometime...)

M is for Maple

I love maple syrup. I love pancakes and waffles and french toast, but what I love most about them is that you can soak them in maple syrup. No fruit or whipped cream or powdered sugar, I just want syrup-dense cakey joy.



So naturally I like to bake with maple syrup. Not too long ago I made Maple Cornbread for a co-worker's baby shower. Ok so I don't know what cornbread has to do with a baby shower. I just wanted to make the stuff.



Also at work, I scribbled down a recipe from some cooking magazine I found some time ago, for Maple Syrup Cake. It's a bundt cake with a maple syrup glaze. Sounds yummy delicious and I can't wait for the right opportunity to bake it.

I also found this recipe for Maple Cupcakes with Maple Butter Frosting. Whoa.



Speaking of maple butter... I will never forget the delicious maple butter on honey wheat bread I had at 54th Street Grill & Bar in Wentzville. I think I ate a whole loaf.

L is for Low Fat/Cal

I love my sweets, but I also love staying in shape. It's a never-ending battle. While I would love to indulge in some sugary carbohydratey treat every day, it's just not smart. Or it's just too much work to stay on top of the calorie intake.



So whenever I bake, I cut cals or fat at every chance I get. I try to use low-fat versions of sour cream, cream cheese, butter, and milk; and purchase reduced-sugar versions of cake mix and brownie mix whenever I use them. I never tell a difference in the final product. Now whether or not the trade-off is actually positive due to other chemicals those products have to make them low-fat or low-cal, could be a whole other debate. But I will stick with stemming the caloric load for now.

Here are some low-cal recipes collected from BakingBites that I'd love to try out sometime:

Low Fat Fudgy Brownies
Low Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Lower Fat Carrot Sheet Cake
Light Chocolate Mousse
Low Fat Lemon Curd (to use as filling in cakes, pastries, lemon cupcakes, etc.)
Whole Wheat Maple Muffins

I've also mentioned before, the Applesauce Layer Chocolate Cake and the Low Fat Vanilla Pastry Cream and Mini Eclairs.

K is for Kahlua

My contribution to Cinco de Mayo this year was Kahlua Fudge Brownies. I had almost a full bottle of Kahlua in my pantry (still do) and wanted to use it for something, and I thought brownies were a good match. They turned out well, but people at work were saying I should've used more Kahlua. I'll remember that for next time...



I also found a recipe for Kahlua Fantasy Chocolate Cheesecake... that is on the "To Bake" list for SURE. My Baking Addiction has a pretty simple-looking recipe as well...



I'm sure there are other things that can be baked with Kahlua as well... it's also pretty good with a bit of milk. :)