Snow Comes to the District

I love, love, love winter. I love running in the cold temperatures, accenting my outfits with scarves and boots, and sipping a hot beverage during my morning walks to the metro. My first winter on the east coast was the year of Snowmageddon, or as I like to call it, indoctrination by fire. While I was slightly traumatized by the feet of snow that seemed to never leave, part of me has spent the years since craving the return of such a wondrous display. So far, my dreams have not come true. In fact, most of the time this year I'm fairly certain I will never see winter. While I didn't have high expectations for this weekend's snowfall, awaking to a mini-winter wonderland still made me smile...and want to bake. 

In honor of spending the afternoon nestled inside with my Aussie, Bax, today's new recipe: apple banana oatmeal bread. Having gotten the opportunity to visit my beloved Costco last weekend, I had a plethora of both oats and apples that I was dying to incorporate into my cooking. After spending some time on the google, I found a recipe that, with some alterations, hit the spot. First loaf = major success!

Apple Banana Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats (I also used additional oats as a topping prior to baking)
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup chopped apple
• 2 mashed bananas

Pre-Baking

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl
3. Add eggs and milk, mix until well blended, mix in bananas
4. Fold in chopped apple
5. Coat loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray, pour in batter, top with oats (and cinnamon if desired)
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes

Finished product!

And, in honor of this semi-snow day, some additional fun pictures completely unrelated to cooking

View from my apartment. By the time I thought to take a picture of my snow covered neighborhood it had sadly already started to melt 

While I was cooking, Bax chose to spend the day sleeping. She loves nothing more than to be warm and dry

I'm often jealous of her life

Happy Weekend!