Mulberry Muffins

 

Mulberries, I don't even remember the last time I enjoyed them. It was probably twenty-two years ago when I was 10 years old. My grandfather had a giant mulberry tree in his backyard and each summer when we visit him we spent hours up on that tree eating fresh mulberries with the neighborhood kids. Those were the best times of my childhood. Every year we waited for that time of the year. My father would arrange for great beach vacations and private villas with pools and we would still want to go to grandfather's house and climb up that mulberry tree, play with the neighborhood kids all day long. I remember how much my parents would get upset each time we left them alone at the vacation house and went to grandfathers. Then my grandfather passed away, and someone cut that tree. We never visited that house again. We started to spend summers at the beach, and it was never the same...

Recently, my dear friend Tammy had her mulberry tree cut down. Knowing how much I like them she brought me so many of them! that we wouldn't be able to finish them just by eating, so she gave me the idea of making muffins with them. I used my blueberry muffin recipe and replaced the blueberries with mulberries, if you don't have mulberries you can use blackberries they will be just as good.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup low fat milk/or buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mulberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

3. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, oil, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract until well-blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Gently fold in the berries.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove to the rack to cool completely.

Banana Walnut Loaf - Healty Tastes Better!

The best part of this recipe is the smell of bananas baking in the oven and it is also a perfect way to use your very ripe bananas (Another tip I learned from Alton Brown is to wrap them with plastic wrap and freeze for smoothies, they are really perfect for smoothies!). I would rather have my daughter eat the actual banana itself but if she is going to eat the banana bread, I want her tastebuds to get used to healtier options. Unlike the tradional recipes this recipe doesn't call for butter and it is made of whole wheat flour. And it is another proof that healty tastes better!

Ingredients

11/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (2 to 3 bananas)
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fat-free milk
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup walnuts
1/4 cup rolled oats

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 9"x 5"x 3" loaf pan with cooking spray.

2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir with a fork to mix.

3. In another bowl, combine the sugar, flaxseed, and eggs. Stir to mix. Add the bananas, oil, milk, walnuts and vanilla extract. Stir to mix. Add the flour mixture. Stir just until all the flour mixture is absorbed. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle with rolled oats.

4. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely.

Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup White whole wheat flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1 egg
1/2 cup turbinado sugar + 2 tbs agave nectar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup 1 % milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sliced strawberries
1/3 cup sliced almonds


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and grease 12 cup muffin pan

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.

4. Whisk sugar, agave nectar and eggs together until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in oil and milk until combined. Add the vanilla extract.

5. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and flour mixture until just moistened, do not overmix.Fold in sliced strawberries.

6. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin pan and sprinkle almonds on top of muffins

8. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 15-20 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Muffins with No butter, No Oil, Zero Bad Fat? Yes! Pineapple Sweet Potato Muffins

What is the last thing that a person with a meniscus tear should be doing? Baking:-) and that is what I am exactly doing, despite the knee injury and mandatory rest, I just can't sit and do nothing. To me even reading my magazines or surfing on the web has to be earned! and you can only cook certain amount of meals for a family of three. I have been avoiding baking for a long time, not that I don't enjoy or like baked goods just because it is usually fattening. For this reason I have been resisting to own a bread machine at home, I know we will be consuming far more baked goods than we actually need.  To me wholesome baking is still a challenge, but it is definitely worth trying, especially when your five year old daughter has very strong preferences about food:-) 

The great thing about this recipe is that absolutely no butter, or oil included! Usually most muffin recipes are loaded up with butter and I personally think if you put that much butter anything will taste good:-). We all liked the muffins, they turned out more moist than regular coffee house ones but hey I don't mind since there is no fat and crazy amount of calories involved.

Ingredients:

½ cup egg beaters (or 2 eggs)
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 Tbs flax seed
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sweet potatoes, pureed
1 cup crushed pineapple (I used fresh but if you are using can use 8 ounces), drained
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 or 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. In a medium bowl combine sweet potatoes, pineapple, orange zest, eggs and
sugar. Stir until well combined. Stir in walnuts.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, powder, soda and salt.
3. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and fold until dry ingredients are just moistened. Do not over

mix.

4.  Spray muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each cup. Bake for 16 to 20 minutes.
 
This recipe is the winner of Louisiana cooking 2005 sweet rewards recipe contest for the original recipe see: http://www.louisianacookin.com/2005-sweet-rewards-recipe-contest

Strawberry Smoothie for Breakfast and Smoothie Cake for Tea Time

It doesn't have to be mother's day to remind our loved ones how much we appreciate them. This Sunday grab mom's favorite magazines and make her a healthy smoothie or a fruit platter for breakfast. And if you have leftover smoothies or fruits  incorporate them into the following cake recipe and serve it with tea for a great afternoon snack.

Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup frozen (or 6 fresh) strawberries

1 medium banana, cut into 1 inch pieces (preferably frozen)

1 cup vanilla rice milk, or soy milk or low fat milk

1/3 cup orange juice

1 1/2 teaspoons honey (optional)

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend at high speed until smooth.

Spontaneous Smoothie Cake

The following cake recipe is not a conventional one; it is the outcome of  my efforts to use leftover smoothies and fruit platters. Why not enjoy the fruits and leftover smoothies in a different form? Re-using is better for the environment than recycling, of course you can compost your leftover fruits but here is a better way to use them. I know when baking exact measurements are very important, but depending on the amount of fruit or smoothie you have, you can adjust the amount of flour. The batter should  not be too watery or too thick.  The goal for this cake is to re-use leftover nutrient rich fruits, the cake will be moist with a pleasing fruity flavor.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 eggs

1/2 honey or 1 cup sugar

leftover fruits approx. 1 1/2 cup (I had sliced banana, orange, strawberry, and pineapple)

leftover smoothie1 or 1/2 cup (any type)

1 tsp vanilla extract (use only pure vanilla extract to avoid added corn syrup)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/4 cup canola oil

1/3 cup walnuts or sliced almonds

1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour one 9x13 inch pan. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon set aside. If you are using fruits or both fruits and smoothie put them into a blender with honey, sugar, vanilla and oil blend all the ingredients for 1 min.

2. Add the fruit mixture in a large bowl. Add eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each addition. Add flour mixture alternately with fruit mixture, beating just to combine. Finally, stir in walnuts and dried cranberries. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Strawberry Glaze

If you like you can add a touch of strawberry glaze made with fresh strawberries with no added butter and corn syrup just the flavor of fresh strawberries.  

Ingredients:
2 cups ripe strawberries, washed and hulled
1/3 cup agave nectar (1/2 cup or sugar)
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 cup cold water*
1 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

Crush the strawberries and place in a saucepan with sugar, water, salt and cornstarch. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly as it thicken it will turn clearer. Cool slightly before serve.

If you don't have cornstarch at home you can just add 3 tablespoons vanilla pudding. You don't need to add agave nectar if you are using vanilla pudding.

Light Whole Wheat Bluberry Muffin that Has Berry in Every Bite

One serving of blueberries contains as many valuable antioxidants as five servings of apples, carrots or broccoli. Can you think of a better way to pack more antioxidant power? This lightened up version of the bluberry muffins is a healthy alternative to usual coffe house muffins and also perfect for snacks and lunch boxes.

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup milk/or buttermilk(I used vanilla soy milk)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup splenda)
2 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, oil, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract until well-blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Gently fold in the blueberries.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove to the rack to cool completely.

* For beginner muffin makers it is crucial to know not to mix the batter too long or else you will end up with tough, poorly risen muffins. Combine wet and dry with the fewest strokes possible, there should still be some lumps and perhaps even light streaks of flour.

Carrot & Orange Muffins

Can you think of a better way to brighten up a rainy day? Carrots and Orange create a very light and delicate flavor combination, when combined with walnuts these muffins need no further adornment. The pitfall with all muffin batters is in over mixing the batter and ending up with a tough muffin. So make sure you only mix the batter until the ingredients are combined and moistened.

Ingredients:
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup canola oil (substitution: 1/2 cup apple sauce)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup brown sugar
1 medium carrot- grated
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick vegetable spray.
2. Beat together brown sugar, oil (or applesauce substitute), vanilla extract, carrot, orange juice and eggs.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and orange zest. Slowly blend into wet ingredients.
4. Add walnuts and mix until just combined.
5. Spoon approximately 3/4 cup of batter into prepared tin. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Zucchini Muffin

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup shredded zucchini (frozen)
1 large egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt  

1/3 cup raisins (optional)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions: 

1. Use 2 medium-sized zucchini for every 1 cup shredded zucchini that you need.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12 muffin pan and set aside.
3. In a bowl, stir the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and baking soda. Set it aside.
4. In a larger bowl beat with a hand mixer the sugar, zucchini and the egg. Now add the vegetable oil.
5. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the zucchini mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7. Take out of oven and let cool about 10 minutes then remove from pan.

Pumpkin Muffins

My absolute must for fall season. This recipe is from prevention magazine. I used whole wheat flour to make it healthier. I usually try to replace butter with apple sauce as much as I can but don't try on this recipe, I tried and it didn't work. Instead of butter you can still use healthier butter spreads and get good results. You can change the amount of pumpkin spice to your liking, I like mine spicy so added more pumpkin spice .

You can never go wrong with this recipe even if you lack the essential baking skills, it is simply delicious.

Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup canned solid-packed pumpkin
¼ cup milk
¼ cup dried cranberries/ or raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.

3. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin, and milk. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not over mix. Stir in the cranberries.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove to the rack to cool completely.