muffin – OwlCat Designs

November 10, 2011December 16, 2017

Super Muffins

I wanted to make muffins that taste good and you don’t have to feel super guilty about eating ~~six, four,~~ one. Not like I did that or anything…

Here’s the result, mightily loaded with chia (protein, omega-3 & fiber, essential minerals like phosphorus, manganese, calcium, potassium and sodium) and flax seeds (omega-3), coconut (medium chain triglycerides are more likely to be used as energy than stored as fat), sunflower seeds (essential fatty acids, B1, B5, magnesium, manganese and various other minerals) and ground almond (monounsaturated fats, vitamin E, fiber, B complex vitamins and essential minerals)

While I am in no way suggesting you should live on these, they have nutritional value versus just empty calories, which makes me happy.

Super as in mighty good and good for you too, yummo!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar (sucanat, coconut sugar or regular)
1/2 cup ground whole almonds
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup coconut, unsweetened
2 tbsp chia seed
3 tbsp raw sunflower seeds
2 tbsp flax seeds (brown or golden)
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 cup milk
2 lg eggs

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F
In a bowl, combine all the dry ingredients (up to ground flax seed)
Add the milk and eggs, mix just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated, (do not over mix or the dough becomes tough)
Drop into paper lined muffin cups and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and a tooth pick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool in the muffin pan for 5 minutes before removing individual muffins to a cooling rack.

unbaked…

…baked!

Okay, maybe I did have like 5… had to make sure they were really, really good before I posted it. You know, I am looking out for you guys 🙂

November 8, 2011December 16, 2017

Pumpkin Apricot White Chocolate Muffins

What to do if you were blinded by the fact that all pumpkins were the same price, but one person can only eat so much pumpkin and still you picked the BIGGEST one at the farmers marked? My solution was this: You make another pumpkin muffin! This one with dried apricots and some white chocolate chips. They are not super sweet, therefore the white chocolate chips make for a nice addition. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar ( sucanat, coconut sugar or regular)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp to 1/4 cup water
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 400
Combine dry ingredients up to cinnamon, add the chopped apricots by sprinkling them over the flour mixture so they don’t clump together
Add the chocolate chips
Stir in pumpkin puree, vanilla, oil and water. Stir until just combined and you can see no more floury pieces of apricot
Drop by the tablespoon full into prepared muffin tin
Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean

October 27, 2011December 16, 2017

Gingerbread Pear Muffins

Sugar and spice and everything nice… The temps are down and it’s getting darker earlier every day. Stealthily they already play Christmas songs at Home Depot (did I mention, I have been there quite a lot lately?), it’s not even past Halloween, yet they sneak in one ore two songs, then go back to regular music. Hoping no one would notice, but HA! as it so happens, apparently my brain was a sponge for this kinda thing this past weekend and kept doing an endless playback for me until I finally caved in and made these Gingerbread Muffins. …lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you…

Even thought the name in English is Ginger Bread, the French origin of this recipe had several spices, but originally no ginger in it. It is after all called pain d’épices (spice bread) and in German there are two words ‘Lebkuchen’ (no one knows what the ‘Leb’ really stands for, kuchen is cake) or Pfefferkuchen (Pepper cake) and that recipe, you guessed, contains pepper. So apparently there are regional differences in what goes into the Gingerbread Spice mix, and the one I used had ginger, cloves, cinnamon, coriander and star anis. But any old mix would work, heck, you can even make your own, if you’re so inclined. Or you could use Pumpkin Pie spice and add ginger … and comfy cozy are we…

They are super delish with a hot cup of tea (or coffee)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 ripe banana
1 1/4 cup chopped pear
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup granulated coconut sugar, sucanat or sugar
1 tsp gingerbread spice mix (if you like it real spiced, add up to 2 tsp)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2-3 tbsp water

Directions

In a mixing bowl, mash banana with a fork until well mixed
Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and spices and add to the banana
Add chopped pear, and stir to combine adding water by the tablespoon as needed (You don’t want the batter to be too dry)
Spoon into paper lined muffin tin and bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

October 25, 2011December 16, 2017

Pear Almond Muffins

Guess what was on sale at the farmers market this week-end? 🙂 Pears! Yumm! I love pears, when you get them when they are juuust right, juicy, ripe but not too soft. Which is a fine balance and therefore, having bought a bunch I now gotta ‘consume’ them rather quickly. I like apples but, let’s face it, pears are almost regal compared to a ‘commoner’ apple (No offense, Apple, love you too), maybe I just have this opinion because we can now get pretty good apples year round and they ceased to feel special, not being really seasonal anymore whereas pears are just never quite like they are in the fall… or maybe it’s because of this memory of my Mom saying ‘Pears are the queen of fruits’, who knows 🙂 Ahh the things we remember…

Besides eating pears fresh, melt chocolate chips as a sauce ( a personal favorite, use dark chocolate), roasting as a side, or baking a pear upside down cake or Tarte Tatin, oh and don’t forget, making pear vanilla butter (getting to that one later on, but it’s the very best thing you can do with your time if you have pears…and time, promise) what is one to do with a bushel of pears?

Muffins! Quick, easy and portable, now we are talking!

Makes 12 regular size

Ingredients

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I have used all whole wheat, it just gets a bit denser)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cup ripe but firm pear, diced finely (from 1 to 2 pears, depending on size)
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar, sugar or sucanat
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp oil (you can leave the oil out, the consistency will change a little, but it’s still yum)
1 lg egg
1/4 cup milk (dairy or almond milk)

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together the first four ingredients
add sucanat or coconut sugar, and diced pear and stir to coat
add the remainder of the ingredients and stir until just combined then drop by the table spoons into lines muffin pan
bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 15-20 minutes or until tester inserted into muffin comes out clear
Let cool slightly before serving.

And just like that, they are all gone:)

Gotta get back to the oven, I am seeing some Pear Gingerbread Muffins in my near future…