Baking challenge

[piccola]

I work on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. I usually bring in some food for my colleagues, and I'd like to bring in some homemade baked goodies.

Here's where it gets tricky. Two different shifts come in during the day, so I'd like this to work either for breakfast or an afternoon snack. It has to stay fresh and tasty (not stale) without refrigeration or toasting. And it has to be somewhat healthy, since a lot of my colleagues have weight/cholesterol/diabetes issues.

Other than that, I'm not picky. It can be a yeast or quick bread; a muffin, scone, bread, roll, etc.; savoury or sweet; and from any part of the world.

[NiKoLe1625]

Banana bread is always a crowd pleaser although it can be really fattening. As a healthier alternative, try making an oatmeal banana bread. It doesn't use butter (veg. oil instead) and still tastes great! Also, muffins are a great option. If you want to stick to something a bit healthier, try whole wheat corn muffins! They are great!

[Pei]

You can also sub out some of the oil or butter with sugar free applesauce.

[piccola]

I'm always scared of using whole wheat in muffins - how can I prevent them from becoming heavy and dense?

I'm leaning towards muffins - maybe one batch sweet and one batch savoury.

[Pei]

I substitute whole wheat pastry flour (finer than regular whole wheat) for all-purpose flour. I start with substituting a third or half or the all-purpose, then work my way up the next time I use the recipe if it tasted okay.

[morebubbles]

I start with substituting half of the flour with reg.whole wheat flour (I'd use w.w.pastry for lighter cakes or cupcakes), then using unbleached white flour for the other half. (if you don't want dense, omit the soya flour I suggested above which tends to do that...). Spelt or kamut flour are good too.

[KeriT]

Whole Wheat White flour from King Arthur has been a success for me, I use it in pancakes now instead of regular. Significantly lighter.

[LauraB]

Pumpkin bread would work very well for something like this. I make something very similar to the following recipes with a few changes. I use 2 and 1/4 c. sugar instead of 3 c. and use 1/2 c. oil and 1/2 c. applesauce instead of 1 c. oil.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/rec...

[morebubbles]

How about a savoury muffin, one with chopped ham, pepper, maybe jalapenos...? Made with part cornmeal/part whole wheat, and buttermilk. I think that would work for morning or afternoon. Cheesy topping perhaps..
If I were making them, I'd add some extra goodies by adding 1 Tbs each: ground flax seeds, bran (I have rice/wheat/oat mix), soya flour. Perhaps 1 tsp wheat germ.
I have a fav. banana loaf/muffin recipe that I like (I've posted it here before); when I put in the additional ingredients, I just add an extra little splash of buttermilk to make up for the extra dry ingredients-it works.

[mojoeater]

I made rice crispy treats with Kashi puffed cereal instead of the typical kind. And I added dried cranberries. Realy good.

[rds246]

Lemon bread! or banana bread. You could make them in muffin tins instead of a loaf for easy single serving options...