7 posts tagged “muffins”
I have quite a few bloggers from the group Tuesdays with Dorie in my Google Reader. As a result, every Tuesday, I tend to drool all over my keyboard from all the lovely looking Dorie Greenspan recipes the bloggers conquer that week. I am pretty sure my pants get tighter just from reading those blogs. I haven't joined the group because I don't bake often and there's a reason for that--I wouldn't be able to fit into my pants, or the desk chair in which I blog any longer :P
But, still, I wanted to try my hand at a Dorie recipe. I came across her recipe for Oatmeal Breakfast Bread on Cast Sugar, and it looked perfect. For one, it's easy. I love easy baking. Secondly, the ingredients were also pretty nutritious and things I always have on hand. It was a no brainer.
This recipe is fairly healthy as it is, but I did make some modifications to make it healthier, like replacing some of the AP flour with whole wheat and reducing the amount of sugar (but adding a tsp. of vanilla for some sweetness). I also made this into muffins rather than bread, mostly for portion control. I got 16 muffins out of the mix just barely, so if you are not as concerned with calories, I'd probably shoot for 12-14 slightly larger muffins. For the 16, they were about 180 calories per muffin with my modificatins (the recipe below).
The batter for this is so light and airy. Make sure you don't overmix it (something of which I am frequently guilty, but luckily didn't do this time around) so that your muffins end up that way, too. These muffins are so tasty and I just love the streusel-like topping. It makes you feel like you are eating something worse for you than you really are and you won't miss all the sugar in the bread itself.
Oatmeal Breakfast Bread [/Muffins]
adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Makes 1 loaf or about 14-16 muffins
For the topping:
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp. chopped pecans
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
For the muffins/bread:
2 egg whites
1.25 cups unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup flavorless oil (I used canola)
1/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup sugar
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup dried fruit of your choice (I used raisins and cranberries as that's what I had on hand)
1 cup oats
Preheat the oven to 350 and place the rack in the middle of the oven. Lightly grease & flour a 9" loaf pan or about 14 muffin cups.
To make the topping, mix the brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon together. Set aside.
To make the bread, whisk together the egg whites, applesauce, oil, buttermilk and vanilla until blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together whole wheat and AP flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Remove about a teaspoon of the mix and toss it with the dried fruit. Stir the oats into the bowl with the flour mixture.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and using a rubber spatula, stir until just evenly moistened. Fold in the dried fruit. Scrape the batter into the loaf pan or muffin tins. Sprinkle the topping over everything. Bake for 55-60 minutes for the bread, or about 20 minutes for muffins, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Every time I think of muffins, I think of Elaine Benes. ;)
I make muffins a lot. I love having something quick to grab in the morning, if necessary, but mostly I just like eating one with a few egg whites. Between the protein from the eggs and the complex carbs in the muffin, I stay satisfied for quite a while. But if I made muffins with cups of oil and butter, like most (delicious) muffin recipes call for, I'd balloon. So, instead, I am always making new versions of healthy muffins, and here's another to add to the list.
It's no secret I love Trader Joe's. One of my favorite things there are frozen whole/pitted cherries, way cheaper than you can buy them fresh. But, the last time I was there, I picked up a triple berry frozen mix of blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries instead. When I came home today, I realized I had some buttermilk to use up, thought of these berries and voila, another healthy muffin (but tasty!) was born.
I entered these on SparkRecipes (a great tool for those who don't know about it) and got the nutritional information listed below.
Healthy Triple Berry Muffins
Makes 10-12 muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. citrus zest (I used lime...anything would be good really, and certain citrus pairs better with certain berries)
2/3 cup lowfat buttermilk
1.5 cups berries of your choice, fresh or frozen (not thawed)
Preheat oven to 375 and lightly grease a muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, sift together the whole wheat and all purpose flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a second bowl, beat the egg with the sugar until smooth. Mix in the vanilla, oil, zest, applesauce and buttermilk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold the berries into the mixture. Don't overmix the batter. Your muffins could become tough and the batter may start turning colors from overworking the batter.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin and bake for about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (12 Servings): Calories: 130.7 / Fat: 3.2g / Carbs: 23.5g / Fiber: 1.9g / Protein: 2.9g / Sugar: 11.2g
I love pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bars. You name it, I love it. Now that fall is (sort of) here, I felt the need to make something with pumpkin. You can bet this will be the first of many things pumpkin-related to be added to the blog in the next few months. I already have plans for some pumpkin madeleines to break in my new madeleine pan.
I was considering making a quick bread, but I just decided to make muffins for portion control and because I just love having muffins for breakfast, So, once again, I altered my basic healthy muffin recipe to make the pumpkin muffins. These are even healthier than usual because pumpkin is packed with so much nutritional goodness!
Healthy Pumpkin Raisin Muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (or vegetable oil, if you're not calorie counting)
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 400 and grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Sift together flours, baking powder and soda, salt and spices.
In a seprarate bowl, beat egg with brown sugar until well combined. Stir in vanilla, buttermilk, applesauce and pumpkin puree.
Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in nuts and raisins.
Pour mixture into muffin cups and bake approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Nutrition Info, per muffin: Calories: 143 / Fat: 3g / Carbs: 27g / Dietary Fiber: 2.4g / Sugar: 2.2g / Protein: 3.8g
Trying to bake without butter is not easy. I know what you're thinking--it's because baking without butter is a crime against nature. Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good, buttery, fatty dessert. And in the rare event that I *do* make desserts, I spare no additional calories for something completely sinful and delicious. But, when I make something like muffins, I really prefer they are not calorie bombs, since I tend to eat one or two a day until they are gone. Most of the time, my breakfasts consist of some sort of egg (usually 3 egg whites, "fried" in cooking spray) and some sort of carb (usually ezekiel toast, sometimes a healthy muffin when I have them). So, often times on Sundays I will bake muffins for the work week.
I created what I guess could be called a basic muffin recipe, that I adapt based on what flavors I feel like that day or, more likely, what I have sitting in my fridge/cupboards. Today, I had some pineapple, flaked coconut and even some buttermilk so I decided to go with that. The recipe below veers a little more from my original than usual.
I only made 6 muffins, but the recipe below makes 12. I might add a little more coconut next time but overall, I thought these were really moist and delicious for such a healthy muffin.
Pineapple Coconut Muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt.
2 eggs
2/3 cup lowfat buttermilk
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
1 small (8 oz.) can crushed pineapples, drained
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, divided
Preheat oven to 400. Grease or paper-line a 12-cup muffin tin.
In one bow, sift together whole wheat and all purpose flours, baking powder and soda, and salt. (Many times I am too lazy to sift but I find it's a good idea when it comes to whole wheat flour because you have a lot more hard little pieces/balls than with AP).
In a second bowl, beat eggs with sugar until well combined. Add buttermilk, almond extract, applesauce, pineapples and oil and stir to combine.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until mixed. Fold in 1/4 cup of the flaked coconut.
Pour batter into prefared muffin tin. Top each muffin with 1 tsp. flaked coconut.
Bake approximately 18 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Nutritional Information (per muffin): Calories: 154 / Fat: 4.5g / Carbs: 26.2g / Dietary Fiber: 1.7g / Sugar: 4.1g / Protein: 3.6g
Cara is currently hosting a five ingredient "Platinum Chef" challenge so I decided to take part in it. Lucky for me, more than one thing could be made to add up to the five ingredients, so long as you used 2 or more ingredients in the dish. Otherwise, I might have had a problem. Unfortunately, I tend to not like fruit flavors (save for citrus) outside of, say, dessert, and one of the ingredients was strawberries. The remaining ingredients were nuts, basil, zucchini and tomatoes.
I decided Tom and I were having breakfast for dinner: a veggie frittata and some strawberry nut muffins. I haven't made a frittata in my new apartment yet because the broiler leaves a lot to be desired. For one, I got used to the broiler at the top of the oven whereas this one is below. Secondly, my nonstick pan doesn't really fit very well into the broiler (in my head I could actually see the egg/zucchini/tomato mixture all over the floor as I tried to wedge it in there). So, I decided rather than doing stovetop to broiler, I would do oven to broiler and bake my frittata instead.
Now, I decided to make up a muffin recipe which, as you may guess, could very well have been a recipe for disaster (pun totally intended) seeing as I am certainly not much of a...err, platinum baker. But, I have typically had good luck with muffins so I decided to be adventurous. A while back I had seen a Cooking Light recipe for strawberry yogurt scones. I decided to tweak it a bit and make it into a muffin recipe. Oh, and add nuts, of course, to get that fifth ingredient of the challenge in there. The muffins tasted great. The only issue was the texture. Tom and I agreed it really was just that it was fresh strawberries. I know many people have had strawberry muffins and bread before, but we never had, so it was a little different to us. Nothing wrong with it, just a little softer inside than most muffins. I liked them, though, and think they base would also be good for freeze dried strawberries or dried fruits.
You should definitely take part in the challenge, which ends June 20. I'd love to see what everyone comes up with :)
Strawberry Nut Oat Muffins
1 cup oats
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. grated orange zest
2 Tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
2 Tbsp. strawberry yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
1/3 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
Preheat oven to 425 and grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.
Sift together AP flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and soda and salt together in a bowl. Stir in oats.
In another bowl, whisk egg. Mix in sugar, then add vanilla, oil, yogurt, orange rind, egg and milk until just combined. Stir in chopped strawberries.
Mix strawberry mixture together with dry ingredients. Fold in pecans.
Spoon into prepared muffin cups and bake about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Per muffin: Calories: 177 / Fat: 6g / Carbs: 27g / Sugars: 9g / Protein: 4.8g
(making muffins without nuts will eliminate about 20 calories and 2g of fat)
Veggie and Gruyere Frittata
5 eggs
5 egg whites
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp (divided) Gruyere cheese
1 Tbsp fresh basil
3 Tbsp milk
salt and pepper
1/4 cup sliced zucchini
1/4 cup sliced grape tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped mushrooms
a pat of butter, or some cooking spray
If baking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Whisk eggs and egg whites together. Stir in 1/2 cup gruyere, basil, milk and salt and pepper. Set aside.
Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat with a pat of butter or some cooking spray.
Add zucchini and mushrooms with a pinch of salt and cook until tender. Add tomatoes and cook just for about 30 seconds or a minute.
If making from stovetop to broiler, pour eggs over vegetables in skillet and cook until eggs are almost set but still have some wiggle at the top. If making in the oven, add vegetables to egg mixture. Pour mixture into a greased pie pan and cook about 20 minutes or until almost completely set.
Add remaining 2 Tbsp of gruyere to top of frittata and place under broiler to finish cooking/brown for about 1-2 minutes.
Four servings; calories per serving: Calories: 188 / Fat: 12g / Saturated Fat: 5g / Carbs: 2.8g / Protein: 16.2g
I have been sick since Monday and it is really starting to get to me. Every time I start to feel a little better, I get a new, super-heightened symptom. With today comes the feeling that I must have swallowed a flaming sword. Ugh.
Anyway I haven't been updating, partly due to that and partly because the only new thing I made this week was some tilapia for Ash Wednesday. I am not a fish person so I bought tilapia on the recommendations of others who said it wasn't fishy. It wasn't fishy but I also didn't find it terribly flavorful. Oh well, a little more lemon juice and it was fine. Unfortunately my camera batteries were dead that day so I couldn't take a picture but I basically topped it with a little yogurt-lemon juice-parmesan-garlic mixture and broiled it, a recipe I saw on allrecipes.
So, today I felt like baking. Not sure why, as I don't really like it but whatever. I wanted something relatively healthy. I used Ina's lemon yogurt cake for inspiration. I turned it into muffins (baked for about 22-25 minutes) and made the following modifications to make it healthier. (For me just making it into muffins already makes it healthier because it makes 12 portions and it is difficult to get 12 slices out of a loaf pan.) It ended up that each muffin was about 160 calories. I will say the texture was a little off, due to my modifications, but the taste was still good.
- Used fat free yogurt
- Cut sugar in batter down to 3/4 cup. Cut sugar in glaze down to 1/4 cup
- Changed all but 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil to applesauce
- increased vanilla to 1 tsp
- Didn't do second glaze (not necessarily to save calories but because I liked just the lemon-sugar glaze)
Now, I have been on the search for whole wheat noodles for what feels like ages. I found them once and then POOF they disappeared. I have been craving lasagna so just decided to do a baked pasta with lasagna ingredients.
This weekend I went on a marathon (5+ hour!) grocery shopping spree. I know I am a complete dork, but grocery shopping is one of those things that makes me happy, even when the places are madhouses (as Trader Joe's was, of course). This was my first time shopping at Sam's Club/Costco. I think I got some great deals on meat so I am interested to see how this alters our grocery budget (which, as it stands, is pretty outrageous).
Anyway, tonight I made some healthy apple muffins. I have been playing around with mixtures to try to minimize calories/fat but not taste. Although these are not as sweet or quite as moist as your usual muffin, I still think they are great and they are packed with nutritional goodness. I don't want to make them sound bad--they are by no means dry. But since they have under 200 calories and are made partially with whole wheat flour, they are a little more dense than a 700 calorie Starbuck's muffin.
I have also made these with mashed banana instead of apple. I think the apple ones turn out slightly more moist because of all the moisture you get from grated apples. Both are good, though!
Thanks to the wonder of calorieking.com I have even figured out the nutritional value for these muffins which is as follows (per muffin):
Calories: 188
Fat: 3.8g
Carbs: 32g
Protein: 6g
Fiber: 3.3g
Sugar: 11g
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (you can use a combo of brown & white if you'd like)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans...whatever you prefer)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
dash or two of nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup grated apples (or mashed bananas)
Preheat oven to 400*
Using a whisk, combine all your dry ingredients in one bowl: whole wheat and AP flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, nuts, spices).
Beat the egg lightly in a separate bowl. Whisk in milk, applesauce, vanilla to the eggs.
Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold apples in.
Divide the batter among a greased or paper-lined muffin tin.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Hmm, let's see, what else? Yesterday we had chicken stuffed with sundried tomatoes, basil, and feta over some wild rice mixed with spinach, mushrooms, garlic & pine nuts.
I pounded the chicken breast fairly thin, added sundried tomatoes (oil packed), feta, dried oregano and basil (and salt and pepper of course). Rolled it up.
I then browned it in some garlic-infused EVOO for a bit before removing it to the oven to finish cooking.
Friday's creation was a 10 minute beef teriyaki type thing. I marinated some flank steak in teriyaki marinade in the morning (I use and LOVE Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki marinade. It has no preservatives/ingredients you can't pronounce and tastes great).
When I got home, I cooked it in just a little vegetable oil with some onion, garlic, and a little crushed red pepper. I added peapods in right at the end. Meanwhile, in a bowl, I mixed about 2 tbsp beef broth, about a teasoon of corn starch, and a few dashes of Chinese 5 spice. I added the mixture toward the end, along with a squirt of honey and let it cook on low to thicken a bit.
I made (*gasp*) brown minute rice in the meantime. Hence the 10 minute meal!
