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Tag: muffins

  • Amazing Pemberton Apple Muffins (and healthy too)

    Amazing Pemberton Apple Muffins (and healthy too)

    This is the time of year when the freezer can be very full (a good problem to have). If there is deer meat to go in, something must come out. In my case, the many bags of apples I peeled and sliced two months ago! This is a recipe that uses up those apples well and is seriously the best apple cake I’ve ever had – in convenient muffin form. It is also fairly healthy with good fats and whole grains.

    These apple muffins are an adaptation of Shelley Adams’ “Joey’s Apple Cake”, found in her first cookbook Whitewater Cooks – Pure, Simple and Real (2005). Shelley Adams is my food mentor (she doesn’t know that) and I have adapted so many of her recipes over the last 12 years. Her recipes have good bones. I have usually adapted them to be whole grain, reduced sugar and sometimes grain-free. This recipe was also altered by making muffins instead of cake (which is quite finicky as it calls for a Bundt pan and the cake always stuck to it). Enjoy!

    Whole Grain Apple Muffins (yield: 36 muffins)

    Ingredients:

    3 cups spelt flour (*you can also use 2 cups spelt and 1 cup almond meal OR you can use 2.5 cups spelt flour and 1/2 cup oat bran)

    1/2 cup white sugar

    1/4 cup brown sugar

    3 tsp cinnamon

    1/4 tsp cardamom

    1 tsp baking soda

    ½ tsp salt

    1.5 cups grapeseed oil

    3 Pemberton eggs

    3 tsp almond extract

    4 cups finely-diced Pemberton-grown peeled and cored apples (I use a Cuisinart and pulse the apples until they are just shy of applesauce texture. They should still have lumps).

    Method: 

    Preheat oven to 350C

    Blend pureed apples, oil, eggs and sugars in stand mixer. Blend well. Add cinnamon, cardamom, flour, baking soda and salt. Blend well.  

    Scoop batter into silicone muffin pans (I like silicone pans because the muffins don’t stick).

    Bake at 350C for 26 minutes. Cool 15 minutes in pans, then invert onto cooling rack. 

  • Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins

    Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins

    These muffins are a great staple to have on hand at any time of year. And they make good use of “all the Pemberton blueberries you froze last summer”. You did that of course.

    Lisa has asked me to explain why I substitute spelt for wheat flour on every occasion. Well, a number of years ago my mother warned me that wheat is inflammatory and can cause arthritis-like symptoms in people after the age of 40. And like clockwork, after I hit 40, sure enough, my hands got stiff after I ate wheat. Didn’t matter if it was crackers or bread: after I ate wheat my hands were stiff the next day.

    So it was a no-brainer to switch to spelt. If you can get to Costco, some locations sell Anita’s Sprouted spelt flour which I really like. Some brands don’t work well. I tried the Everland brand from Amazon and my muffins did not hold together at all.

    Thank you Mum for this invaluable advice. I hope others will give it a go. Stiff hands and fingers are no fun at all, and it really is an easy switch to transition to spelt. I have no time for white flour anyway. No nutrition content and I prefer the nutty, complex taste of whole grains in most of my baking – with the exception of brownies and birthday cakes!

    Pemberton Blueberry Banana Muffins (yield: 15-18 muffins depending on size)

    Ingredients:

    1 cup plus 2 tbs whole grain spelt flour

    2 tbs corn meal

    1 tsp baking soda

    2 eggs

    ½ cup grapeseed oil

    ½ cup white sugar

    2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

    3/4 cup blueberries

    1 tsp cinnamon

    1/4 tsp sea salt

    Method:

    Place mashed bananas, oil, eggs, sugar, cinnamon and baking soda in stand mixer and beat well until combined. Add flour and cornmeal and mix until just combined.

    Preheat oven to 350F.

    Use a 3 tbs spring-loaded cookie/muffin scoop (I like the OXO brand) to place scoops of batter into buttered muffin pans. (I like silicone muffin pans as they clean easily in the dishwasher.)

    Press 3-4 blueberries into top each muffin. (I prefer adding my blueberries this way as then they look nicer but you can always add during mixing process.)

    Bake 20 minutes and check for doneness. May need another 5 minutes. Oven temperatures vary so baking times are not set in stone. Enjoy!

    ** Coming Soon: another cookbook review – thanks to Lisa. I tried one recipe from a very recently-published Japanese cuisine cookbook, but the result was ho-hum so it needs some more time and patience!

     

  • Counting Points – Banana and Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

    Counting Points – Banana and Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

    It had to be done. Well, something had to change, and so on 1st April I re-joined Weight Watchers Online. No joke!

    My goal is to lose 10% of my starting weight and then see what happens from there. One thing that is for sure, I have to make better food choices and become a fitter, healthier version of myself. The hard part will be keeping it off and not allowing myself to go back to where I was, and where I was heading. But I have done it before so can do it again, and learn better habits this time round.

    I know that Weight Watchers is not for everyone, and in this village, many people lead such an active lifestyle that they don’t suffer with weight problems. At least they don’t appear to. But for some of us we need to track what we eat so that we can see where we are going wrong and then make a conscious decision to do better.

    The Freestyle programme is different to the plan that I was on before and I am having to learn it all again but, so far, it has encouraged me to eat more fruit for snacks, instead of the junk I was tucking into before. Also I don’t eat meat, with the exception of turkey, chicken and fish which are all zero points on this plan, so I am learning to eat more balanced meals throughout the day. And having the new puppy has helped me become more active as he needs to go for walks every day. I no longer have an excuse!

    However, sometimes a treat is in order, so I looked for a recipe on the Weight Watchers site and found this one for Banana and Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins. They did the trick and were a healthy option. (I even made them better for me as I didn’t have any chocolate chips to hand – bonus! Plus I made a half batch and then shared them with friends so they wouldn’t be hanging around in my kitchen providing an unnecessary temptation). So, I am pleased to share this recipe in an effort to show that diet food doesn’t have to be just salads and that everything in [reduced fat and sugar] moderation can help move the number on the scales in the right direction! Look out for more healthier recipes over the next coming months.

    Ingredients

    • 1 cup low fat vanilla yogurt
    • 1⁄2 cup fat free skim milk
    • 1⁄2 cup uncooked quick oats
    • 1⁄2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 large egg, beaten
    • 1 large banana, mashed
    • 11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1⁄4 cup unpacked brown sugar
    • 2 tsp baking powder
    • 1⁄2 tsp baking soda
    • 1⁄2 tsp table salt
    • 1⁄2 cup mini chocolate chips, divided

    Directions

    1. Preheat oven to 375ºF. Coat 36 mini muffin holes with cooking spray (use three 12-hole pans).
    2. In a large mixing bowl, combine yogurt, milk, oats, vanilla extract and egg and set aside 5 minutes for oats to soften and then stir in banana.
    3. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir flour mixture into yogurt mixture to moisten ingredients (do not beat – the dough will be very thick). Reserve 1 tablespoon chips; stir in remaining chips.
    4. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoons into prepared muffin holes; sprinkle each with a few reserved chocolate chips. Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted in centre of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 to 18 minutes.
    5. Yields 1 muffin per serving which equals 2 Weight Watchers Freestyle points. (Or 1 point if you leave out the chocolate chips! 😉)