Saturnday, October 8th - Wholewheat Oatmeal Everything Muffin

Wholewheat Oatmeal Everything Muffin

It's taken 6 months but I think I have managed to find a way to bake with a baby.  I pre mix the night before.  I don't combine the full batter because I don't like to activate the leavening too early but I assemble all the ingredients on the counter and mix the dries in a bowl and leave it covered.  It was particularly important to do this ahead because well, lil T's room is underneath the kitchen. 
Wholewheat Oatmeal Everything Muffin
1 c Wholewheat Flour
1 c Wheat Bran
1 c Rolled Oats, not quick Oats, milled fine
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Salt

1 ripe Banana
1 c Milk
1 t Vanilla Extract
1-2 T Vegetable Oil
1/2 c packed Brown Sugar
2 Eggs

1/2 c each of Pecans, Dark Chocolate Chips, Macadamia Nuts, and dried Cranberries

So if you are starting the evening before to save time and minimise early morning noise then mill the Oats when baby is awake but perhaps in another room.  Lil T does not like the sound of the coffee grinder, blender or Baby Bullet.  In a mini food processor or your baby bullet with the flat milling blade on, grind your Oats until a floury consistency. 

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dries.  Cover and set aside until the next morning. 

In the morning. Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large 1 l mixing cup, mash the Banana with the Milk.  Add the rest of the Wet Ingredients (including sugar) but not the 'Everything' goodies.  You should have ~2c of Wet. 

Add to the Dry ingredients but do not over mix.  Gently fold by swooping around the bottom of the bowl and folding over to the middle of the top while turning the bowl.  Mix only just to combine.  Then fold in the add the 'Everything' goodies with only a handful of turns.  If you over mix, your Muffins will be tough and chewy. 

Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins.  Top with Pecan half (optional). Will make 12 medium muffins.  Place the filled muffin tin in the middle.  Close the door and reduce to 375F.  Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Check doness with a toothpick or skewer.  These were VERY FLUFFY and not dense like alot of 'healthier' muffins, even my own when I entirely eliminate most of the fat and eggs. 

Yummo!

Saturday, Jan 15th - Oatmeal Bran Cranberry, Pecan and Chocolate Chunk Muffins - Lowfat & Lowcarb butcha wouldn't know it!

Oatmeal Bran Cranberry, Pecan and Chocolate Chunk Muffins - lowfat & lowcarb

Had a Muffin craving for today but we had to have the house clean for people coming over and I promised D that I would only make them if I could contain. I was certain if I planned correctly, I could manage to limit the untensils and all the mixing to one bowl. 

I like a good, heathly feeling Muffin.  I can't stand Muffins that are cupcakes in disguise or really oily Muffins like Tim's Carrot Muffin. In the UK the only 'Muffins' you could get were Double Chocolate and Blueberry aka Vanilla sponge with Blueberries, both Cupcakes.  First stop visiting the folks used to be Tim's for a Bran or Oatmeal Muffin.  I used to have the best best Banana Bran Muffin which I call 'Brave da Bran' Muffin.  It's on a handwritten index card somewhere in storage.  I winged this one partially from memory and the desire to use dried Cranberries and my leftover Brownie Toppings.  I'm quite pleased with it. Yummo!

 

Oatmeal Bran Cranberry, Pecan and Chocolate Chunk Muffins

3 sm/med Over-ripe Bananas, mashed (about 1c)
1 Large Egg
1/4 c Milk (Soy Milk, unsweetened) (+/- 1-2 T)
1 1/2 t Pure Vanilla Extract
1/2 t Kosher Salt
1/4 c Brown Sugar, packed
1/4 c Butter, melted (totally optional)

1 1/2 c Wheat Bran
1/2 c Rolled Oats, ground fine
1/2 c Wholewheat Flour
1 t Baking Soda
1 1/4 t Baking Powder

1/4 c Dried Cranberries
1/4 c total of Chopped Pecans and Semi-sweet Chocolate

Preheat the oven to 403 F (400F is fine if you are sure your oven will hit 400F). Butter your Muffin Tin.  I have a 8 Muffin Tin but this makes only 6 large Muffins and I don't like to butter empty cups.  It scorches.  I use the melted Butter I plan for the mix and use some of it with a silicon brush to lube the pan.

In a small food processor, place 1/2 c of Rolled Oats.  You can use Instant Rolled Oats in a pinch but if it is unsweetened and unsalted, plain Oats.  Blitz until a fine meal that resembled Almond Flour.  1-2 minutes.

In a large bowl or in a mixer with the paddle attachment, I used a mixer because we're expecting visitors so I had to contain the fallout, place the Bananas, Salt, Egg, Vanilla and Melted Butter (remember the fat is optional!).  Mix on low for 1 minute.  I add the Salt now because I only have Coarse Salt and I wanted to be sure it dissolved.

Add the Sugar and 1/4c Milk.  I used Unsweetened Soy Milk because our local market had run out of Lactose Free milk and we were stuck with a carton.  Mix for another minute.

Add the Wheat Bran to the liquids and mix for a minute. I like to add the Bran first to help it soften faster.  Then lean the head of the mixer back and stack in the dries.  If you prefer you can mix in a separate bowl first but remember, I was trying to contain to 1 bowl.  So, add to the mixer bowl, Ground Oats, Wholewheat Flour, Baking Soda, Baking Powder in that order.  Careful on turning the mixer back on or you could create a dust storm.  Mix until combined.  You might need to stop to scrape down the sides.  If the mixter is looking too dry at a Table spoon or two more milk.  It will still be VERY dense batter like cookie dough.

Don't over mix.  Remove the bowl from the mixer and add the Cranberries, Pecans and Chocolate Chunks. Fold in with a large spoon or spatula.  Spoon into your Muffin Tin.  It will make 6 large muffins or 8 medium ones.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Let cool on a rack slightly and eat warm.  MMMMMM

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Saturday, Nov 20th - Lemoniest Wholewheat Oat Muffins

Lemoniest Wholewheat Oat Muffins

My sisters have accused me of having AADD, Adult Attention Deficit Disorder.  I prefer to call it a penchant for multitasking.  In any case, even for me, the fall gets very harry to maintain the blog with as much frequency as I'm taking my photos and recipe notes.  I will have to post the dinner that D made me for my Birthday Dinner last Monday.  He topped it off with his famous Cheesecake, topped with some Blueberry Freezer jam we made in the summer.  Watch for it!  Having eaten a slice every day this week, I can end the lament that I have not found a good New York style Cheesecake in Vancouver. 

Instead of backtracking on my posts, I thought I'd post this mornings baking.  It snowed last night.  When it gets this cold in Canada, it makes me need to do two things: Knit or Bake.  I used to knit alot more than I do now but I nearly gave myself carpal tunnel one year when I went on a marathon knitting session to complete a ski sweater.  I don't like leaving jobs have done.  So now I stick to quick projects.  Anyone need a hat?  This morning, I took out the needles but decided I needed breakfast first.  Given that I've been eating so much Cheesecake lately I decided I needed some Oats to help deplete my saturate fats and cholesteral.  I was going to make Pancakes but flipping through my notes and books, could not land on one I could knock out in under half an hour and sit down to without continual stovetop action.  Nothing wrong with it.  But D slept in and we usually tag team on breakfasts like that.  These muffins are the Lemoniest Muffins, seriously.  They have a texture and richness which is closer to Scones than a typical Muffin.  So Yummo!

Lemoniest Wholewheat Oat Muffins

(makes 12 regular or 8 large)

1 c Wholewheat Flour
1 c Cake Flour
1/2 c Rolled Oats (Quick but not Instant)
1/2 c Vanilla Sugar (regular sugar with used Vanilla pods stuck in it)
1 T Baking Powder
1/2 t Salt (do not use Coarse Salt)

1/2 c Butter (+2 T for the Pan), 1 stick
1/2 c fresh Lemon juice (3-4 Lemons, ours were pretty dry though heavy so it took 4)
Zest of 1-2 Lemons
2 Eggs, large
1/4 c Milk, room temperature

Preheat oven to 400F

Melt the Butter in a microwave safe bowl.  Let cool slightly.  Use a Brush use some of the butter to grease your pan.  Set the rest of Butter aside.

In your mini processor (ours is a handheld attachment), pulverise (great word!) the Oats.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the Flour, Oats, Sugar, Baking Powder and Lemon Zest with a fork. 


Microwave your lemons for 30s, for 2 reasons.  It helps them juice better and it will help the melted Butter from congealing when you combine them.  Measure the Lemon juice before adding it to the Butter.  It is your liquid so you do need the 1/2 c.  Add the Lemon Juice, Eggs, Salt, and Milk to the melted Butter.  Mix well. 

It will be quite thick and lumpy.  Just mix until all dry is incorporated.  The Cake Flour and Lemon Juice should help prevent gluten forming but still, you do not want to over beat if you can help it.

Spoon into your tins.  Fill only 3/4 full. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  They will not brown too much on top, but that's okay.  If you're a zealot of browned tops, you could broil it on low for 3 minutes. 

Eat warm.  Serve with Jam.  Wanted to incorporate frozen Blueberries but batter was thicker than I had anticipated so just used Jam on top instead

Monday, February 9th - the Case of the Mysterious Shrinking Tim Horton's Muffin

Breakfast was at mine. D had Vanilla and Almond Special K with Silk Soymilk, unsweetened. I had two little pots of Activia Yogurt with a handful of cereal flakes tossed in. I had a brew coffee but D prefers to wait until work where they have a proper capuccino machine.

Lunch, well, I was on calls most of the morning and half way through lunch so I left late and couldn't go where I was tempted, i.e. sushi. I grabbed a McDonalds medium coffee and Fruit and Fibre muffin. It's only 1.39 for the two together and it's just a couple of blocks away. I'd have gotten a decent muffin like from Urban Fare that does amazing muffins, $1.86 but well worth it. But they are too too far. The IGA muffins are not worth the $1.4. Far too oily. Tim Horton's? Where do I start? I used to lurrrve Tim Horton's muffins. When I lived away, the first thing I'd buy when I was back, often on the way home from the airport, was a Tim Horton's carrot muffin. Not anymore! Two reasons, the first I'm largely willing to ignore. They are very very oily and high in calories. Their classic carrot muffin is almost as bad as a burger and since it's all sugar, even worse really. So I switched to any muffin that looked 'healthy' with grains or bran. Still, it's hard to beat the coffee & muffin deals that abound so last fall, they finally caved and started offering Tim Horton's muffin and a coffee for 1.99$. Whoohoo, right? Wrong. I had one on the way to San Francisco at the airport, a month ago, finally. I'm not actually near one anymore, since I don't take the skytrain as much. Anyhoo, I was sorely disappointed. The reason they were finally able to do it or probably, rather, they only way the were willing to do it was by SHRINKING their muffins by 25%. They are puny now. Totally not worth it. The McDonald ones are about the size of the 'original' Tim Horton Muffins. And if you get the Bran or the Fruit and Fibre, they're not bad if not good. The Fruit and Fibre muffin has a banana base to cut the amount of oil but not moisture and had blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Yum. The coffee is acceptable.

Dinner, we're having BBQ'd portobello mushroom burgers with blue cheese. On the side we're having BBQ'd sweet potato fingers.

Sweet Potato Fingers
Peel two med/lg sweet potatoes
Cut into 1 inch wide strips
Toss with Olive oil and Dean and Deluca Chipotle BBQ rub
(I would have nuked them first for a bit but I'm not a BBQ pro)
Place the fingers in a BBQ veggie basket.
Cook and toss occasionally until fork tender.

Portobello Mushroom Burgers
De-stem and clean four Portobello Mushrooms about the size of a burger pattie or bigger, they will shrink.
Rub some BBQ sauce of your choice on them
BBQ briefly until they char slightly and turn once.
Crumble some blue cheese probably 1T per burger depending on how strong you like it.

Put two mushrooms per burger. Essential or you'll won't feel it's 'meaty' enough. Now here is the trick. If you were able to grill all the way (we had to finish in the oven when the BBQ ran out of gas) Put one mushroom guts side up, dress with onions and cheese and then put the next with guts side down so you you have sandwiched your filling. BUT BUT, if you haven't grilled all the way, your schrooms may still have quite a bit of moisture in them so you'll want to do it the other way so the tops are touching. That way the moisture from the innards of the mushroom will be soaked up by the bun.

On the side we have some white sliced onion and baby spinached, prewashed.

by the by, we had to nuke the sweet potato fingers before serving. the Broiling and BBQ'ing wasn't enough in the timeframe of the mushrooms. :-D