Muffins so Very Delicious and Low Fat

Muffins are really good. Still, I generally prefer biscuits or scones. Once in a while, I see a recipe and think I might try it, then somehow, it just doesn't happen. 

A few nights back, I was looking through Facebook, and came on a recipe for Turmeric Carrot Muffins with Chia & Coconut, from VeganRicha. Just the title alone had me riveted, right there, because each ingredient in the title is one I use regularly, and love. If you are vegan, or must be gluten free, please check out her recipe by clicking on the link to her recipe, above.

Turmeric Carrot Gingerbread Muffins

Okay, I looked up the recipe and saved it, and apparently my subconscious mind percolated and filtered through the recipe all night and into next day and finally I sat to think it through with my conscious mind. First off, I am not vegan, or vegetarian. Secondly, I don't have to be gluten free. So, I could make the recipe without those strictures, making it more a regular muffin recipe. I opted to use eggs. If milk was needed I would use it instead of a nut milk or coconut milk (I absolutely love coconut milk, but didn't want to open a can to use only a half cup!).

As it all turned out, I changed a lot of things. I truly didn't deviate much from the spirit of the recipe. I used almost everything in the recipe as stated, but changed amounts. 

• I used a tiny bit more oil, but added a little snack cup of applesauce. 

  

  Turmeric Carrot Gingerbread Muffins
  
  

  
  
• I opted to not use maple syrup, as it is expensive and I can never tell by taste that it is even in a recipe like this. I waffled between using honey or agave syrup, then switched to molasses. 
• Mixed spices were in the original recipe, and cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg mentioned as possibilities. I changed this to cardamom and ground ginger. 
• I used a fair bit more fresh ginger than called for as well, as I truly love ginger. 
• As the recipe called for coconut milk and lemon juice, I changed that to buttermilk, thereby eliminating the lemon. Lemon would bring acidity up to work with the baking soda, but buttermilk will as well.
• I used more flour, as I was adding both eggs and applesauce, so it was 2 cups of flour total. I used 1 cup of a mixture of barley and buckwheat flour, and the other cup plain all-purpose flour. If preferred, use all purpose flour for the whole 2-cup amount, or substitute whole wheat or other whole grain flour for part of the whole amount. In another attempt, I may use a bit of wheat bran as a part of the two cups of "flour."

I will caution that this recipe needs initial prep work, in that there are so very many little amounts of things to be measured out. I got out all my little cups I use for measuring out sets of spices and things (I save the little 1/2-cup applesauce snack containers for this type of use) and set out all the individual dry ingredients (mixed spices, raisins, coconut, chia, sugar, and the freshly grated ginger). I set the finely grated carrots in a bowl (Richa's recipe calls for blending carrots and other wet ingredients together, but I see no need for extra dirty utensils).

Ultimately, having used extra fresh ginger as well as adding dry ground ginger, along with the molasses, made these smell like the most heavenly gingerbread as they baked. All the extra textures and flavors, while not eclipsed completely, do give great texture. Carrots always make cakes moist, and that works here as well. These are exceptional muffins, and exceptionally good. Thank you Richa, for such an amazing combination!

Turmeric Carrot Gingerbread Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Turmeric Carrot Gingerbread Muffins

DRY INGREDIENTS:

1 cup all purpose flour (130 grams / 4.6 ounces)

1 cup whole grain or other flour, or simply use all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3 tablespoons chia seed (32 grams / 1.15 ounce)

1/4 cup sugar or palm sugar (41 grams / 1.4 ounce)

1/4 cup raisins or chopped dates (34 grams / 1.2 ounce)

1/4 cup dry, unsweetened coconut shreds (18 grams / 0.65 ounce)

SPICES:

1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon dry, ground ginger

WET INGREDIENTS:

2 carrots (155 grams / 5.25 ounces), finely grated

1/3 cup molasses

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup plain applesauce

2 tablespoons sunflower oil or coconut oil

1-inch fresh ginger, finely grated (15 grams / 0.55 ounce)

2 large eggs

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1 1/2 teaspoons each chia seed and shredded coconut for topping, optional

Turmeric Carrot Gingerbread Muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease, or spray with cooking spray, the wells of a 12-well muffin tin. Set aside.

This is easiest to first measure out all the little ingredients and have at hand, "mise en place." A personal choice, but recommended.

In a medium mixing bowl, place all the dry ingredients together, plus the spices and stir together.

In another bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and stir well to combine, then pour all the wet into the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or silicone spatula until no dry ingredients remain. Fill the muffin tin wells equally - the mixture is very generous. Separately, sprinkle some of the coconut for topping over each portion of batter, then repeat with chia seed.

Bake the muffins for 12 to 15 minutes. Test with a toothpick, as for cakes, at about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes before trying to remove from the tins. (Muffin papers may be used, if preferred.) After 10 minutes, the muffins will release from the tins with very little coaxing. Set them aslant in the wells to continue cooling. Store at room temperature for up to 2 days, or freeze some in zip-top freezer bags for another time.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Bran Muffins are a Very Old Favorite

Long, long before bran and fiber became a health food, I loved bran muffins. Kellogg's® All-Bran® was common in our house when I grew up, and I recall my Grandma eating it as well. Of course, as a child, I didn't grasp what the reasoning was for this cereal, but I liked it. Even better though, were the bran muffins. No matter what, I have loved bran muffins.

Despite that, I hadn't eaten them or made them in a very long while, back when I started this blog back in 2012. And it wasn't until 2014 that I received all the bread cookbooks that started my journey into coaxing flavor from whole wheat, and not yet for another year or so that it came to be that I had a lot of accumulated bran at my disposal. I had long ago stopped eating cereal of any kind but oatmeal, so I wasn't keeping the All-Bran cereal at home, either. Many of the new bread recipes called for sifted whole wheat flour. As I was grinding my own wheat berries, for even better flavor (read more about why, here), some needed only the largest of bran flakes sifted from the flour, resulting in varying amounts of bran leftover. 

Bran Muffins with Raisins and Walnuts

It was still quite some while of accumulating bran that I reasoned, "I can make Bran Muffins!"

Once I finally sat down to create a bran muffin recipe, first looking into recipes all over online at the time, to compare what was done, read comments about them and such, I cobbled together a plan. And it was still a while before I got to the point of making them. I cannot recall why it took so long to actually get around to making them, except for the fact of a whole lot of things happening in my life back then. Once I did, I made them quite a few times, and quickly ran out of all the accumulated bran I had stored, and once again I lapsed. 

I did include the recipe in my Newsletter, which is now defunct, so once more I am placing it here to keep.

 

Bran Muffins with Raisins and Walnuts

Makes 12 muffins

Bran Muffins with Raisins and Walnuts

1 cup wheat bran 
1½ cups whole wheat or whole Kamut flour 
2½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt)
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts 
¼ cup sugar, or palm sugar 
¾ cup milk
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup molasses 
2 tablespoons cooking oil of choice
2 large eggs, beaten lightly

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease or spray with cooking spray the wells of a 12-well muffin tin, or line wells with muffin papers Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the first 8 dry ingredients and stir them together, ensuring the raisins are all separated from one another for even distribution. The raisins may be substituted with dates, if preferred.

Separately, whisk together the milk, applesauce, molasses, oil and eggs. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula, just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Quickly, scoop the batter into the prepared muffin wells, dividing the batter evenly between the wells, and pop the tin into the oven on a middle rack for about 15 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean.

Remove the tin from the oven and set aside for 5 to 9 minutes, at which time the muffins will release quite easily from the tin. Serve warm, preferably with butter, for a treat any time.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

When Life Hands You Bananas Part 2

A couple of years ago I wrote about a banana cake in my first blog titled, "When Life Hands You Bananas." Well, once again, with some bananas that had gone way past where they were really edible, I created a recipe for Banana Nut Bran Muffins. These turned out absolutely amazing; light and fluffy, moist and tender. 

Banana Nut Bran Muffins

Banana nut muffins are nothing new, for sure. Every grocery store deli has them. Recipes abound. Still, I didn't go looking for recipes online, as is my wont. Instead, I wanted to create something that was midway between banana cake and banana bread. Not too heavy but not too light and not too sweet. As it happens, they were sweeter than I intended, but that was no deterrent for my husband - or for me, for that matter. They were delicious. I looked at my Banana Cake recipe, and at an old recipe for a "Banana Coffee Bread," from my (very) old "Better Homes and Gardens" binder cookbook. I opted in most cases to go in between amounts called for. The Banana Coffee Bread had very few ingredients. I also went with a streusel on top of the muffins, though this can be left out if preferred, for a less sweet version. In the end, this is what I came up with, and I am very pleased.

Banana Nut Bran Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Banana Nut Bran Muffins

¾ cup mashed over-ripe bananas
2 teaspoons lime or lemon juice
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6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
¼ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
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1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup wheat bran
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
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¾ cup sour cream

STREUSEL:
¼ cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

Line a 12 well muffin tin with muffin papers or simple spray the wells with cooking spray (I sprayed the wells - no papers). Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Make the streusel by combining all the ingredients and cutting them together - or work the ingredients with fingers. Set the bowl into the fridge while making the muffins. 

In a medium bowl, stir together the 1 cup flour and the following 5 ingredients and set aside.

Mix the bananas and lime juice together and set aside. Beat together the 6 tablespoons butter with the ¼ cup granulated sugar and the ½ cup brown sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the banana mixture. Once well blended, add in the bowl of dry ingredients and mix on low speed for a minute, then add int he sour cream all at once and continue to beat until the mixture has no white streaks left.

Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin tins and rap the tin sharply on the counter to settle the batter. Remove the streusel from the fridge and cut through it with a fork to loosen. Divide the mixture evenly on tops of all the muffins. 

Place the tin in the oven, then immediately lower the oven temperature to 350 and time them for 20 minutes. Once done, allow the muffins to set for about 10 minutes before turning out of tins, at which time, if you have only greased the tin and not lined with papers, the muffins should easily release. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Savory Dinner Muffins

I've been spending all my time of late working on identifying plant and flower photos I have taken while visiting (and now living in) Arizona. I have taken a lot of photos. And generally I take closeups, with no thought to really being able to identify them later. It has been an arduous task. A task I love and have been enjoying, and it keeps me very busy, to the exclusion of just about everything else. Including this blog. 

Shallot & Pesto Muffins

I have been occasionally making something new, such as these savory muffins. 

One day recently I was planning to make my Roasted Corn & Poblano Chowder for dinner and wanted something bread-like to accompany the soup. My first thought was corn muffins, but the soup is full of corn and to top it off, with corn masa flour added, both for thickening and for flavor. Maybe I needed something other than corn for the "bread." The more I pondered, the less I was able to come up with. I didn't want just plain muffins, or plain anything. Even without sugar, plain muffins might go okay with the soup, but to me somehow they just didn't sound appetizing.

So I went online. I found ideas. Some were appealing. Others just gave more ideas. So, with what I had on hand, I went to work. While the muffins stayed very light colored, their flavor was excellent. And, best of all, they went so great with the chowder! We enjoyed every last one of them, over the course of a few days. If I had had chives available, I would have added some of those, minced finely as well, but at this time I did not. They came out excellently.

Shallot & Pesto Muffins

Shallot & Pesto Muffins

Makes 12 regular sized muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 small shallot, minced
¼ cup fresh cilantro, minced finely
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¾ cup buttermilk
½ cup sour cream
3 tablespoons pesto
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the wells of a 12-well muffin tin: set aside.

Place the first 6 ingredients in a mixing bowl and toss well to combine; set aside.

In a large measuring cup or smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the next 5 ingredients until well combined, then pour into the dry ingredients and mix just to combine, until no dry ingredients are left. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin wells and bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Great Muffins from Rye Flour and Rye Bran

The Rye Baker by Stanley Ginsberg

I had been busily making rye breads before Christmas, particularly having just received my latest bread cookbook, "The Rye Baker," by Stanley Ginsberg. Between the two new bread baking books, I made a lot of breads of many varieties, to be covered when guests were here over the holidays. I have my own electric grain mill, making quick work of grinding most things into flour; wheat berries, rye berries, Kamut Khorasan, red rice, dried garbanzo beans and more. The difficulty lies in that with rye, most breads call for at least medium rye, which is rye flour with the bran sifted out. Let me say, I spent a lot of time sifting the rye flour. That I need a better, faster way to accomplish that is a no-brainer. Since the holidays, however, I have still been noshing on the already made breads I have in the freezer.

Maple Bacon Rye Muffins

That comes back to the fact of all the leftover rye bran that I had sifted out. I have lots and lots. I made some muffins a few weeks ago, using mainly the rye bran, and while they were good, they were not exciting. In the meantime, I had been reading about the whole grains and the problem with phytic acid, after talking with a friend whose doctor warned her against whole grains. This is a quote from one website:

"High-phytate foods, such as grains, nuts, and legumes, can raise the risk of iron and zinc deficiency. As a countermeasure, strategies such as soaking, sprouting and fermentation are often employed. For those who eat meat regularly, deficiencies caused by phytic acid are not a concern."

Another site, precisionnutrition.com, and another quote:

"Some experts even suggest that it’s the phytic acid in whole grains and beans that lends them their apparent protective properties against cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes."

Most all of the whole grain breads I've been making call for very long, slow fermentation periods, some including overnight cold rising in the fridge. This slow fermentation mitigates phytic acid binding the minerals. Many of the newer bread recipes call for soaking and sprouting the grain, then drying and grinding, so that long soak also balances out any harm. But when it comes to the rye bran, which is culled from just plain rye berries not previously soaked, sprouted or other, the bran is then high in phytic acid. 

As one of the things to do is soak, I thought I would soak some of the rye bran in buttermilk (double whammy, as an acidic environment is also supposed to help, along with soaking in general). Then I read more and found that the soaking medium should be hot. And, that it requires a long soak. 

I mean, REALLY! What's a girl supposed to do to have a healthy breakfast anymore???

Maple Bacon Rye Muffin texture

Long and short, a few days back I thought I would heat some buttermilk and soak the rye bran while prepping the rest of the ingredients to make some more muffins, and have done with it. I am not vegetarian, so I shouldn't fall into the risk of iron and zinc deficiency. All this aside, most readers will not own their own electric grain mill, grind their own rye berries to make bread, and sift out rye bran. And if this is the case, oat bran would work just as well in these muffins. Rye flour is easily found these days. Bob's Red Mill carries at least 3 different grinds: Light Rye (the rye equivalent of white all-purpose flour, but with less gluten), Medium Rye (what I approximate when sifting out the bran), and Pumpernickel Rye (more coarsely ground and with all the bran and germ), plus all the organic options. There are other types and grinds, but these are the most easily available. I happened to have some of my sifted "medium rye flour" in a baggie I found pushed back behind some things, so decided also to use this in the recipe. 

Okay, so I knew what I was doing with the rye part of the recipe. I happened to have some bacon in the fridge. I don't eat it often, so I thought I would use some in the muffins. Maple is always an excellent flavor combination with bacon, so I used maple syrup as the sweetener. 

This time, the muffins were fantastic. Oh my! The texture was light and just perfect. Even my husband, generally not one to actually eat anything whole grain if he can help it, actually asked if he could have a couple! They must have smelled really good to him, too! He said they were great, and that is just about the biggest endorsement I could possibly give to a whole grained food! 

Maple Bacon Rye Muffins

Maple Bacon Rye Muffins

Makes 12 regular sized muffins

1 cup buttermilk, heated
½ cup rye bran (or oat bran)
5 strips thick sliced bacon
¾ cup medium rye flour
¾ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
¼ cup real maple syrup
½ teaspoon maple flavor
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the bran into the heated buttermilk in a medium bowl, stir, and set aside.

Cut the bacon across into ¼-inch pieces and fry until just crisped. Drain on paper toweling. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk or sift together the rye and all-purpose flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the eggs, maple syrup and melted butter to the bowl with the buttermilk and bran. Stir to mix well. Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and stir to combine, then add in the Maple Flav-r-Bites and stir in.

Grease the wells of a 12-count muffin tin, using cooking spray. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 wells and bake the muffins for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out with only a crumb or two. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

More Morning Muffins

"BAKE from scratch" Beet & Goat Cheese Muffins

Muffins are a lovely start to a morning. I surely don't make them too often, but I do love them. This quarter's issue of "BAKE from Scratch" had a feature with (I believe) 7 different muffin recipes. I went a little wild with the last quarter's issue with the 8 different kinds of scones. I somehow cannot get quite as excited about the muffins for some reason. There are some that certainly piqued my interest. One of them was a recipe that contained pureed beets (making them prettily pink in color), goat cheese (for a little piquancy), lots and lots of orange zest and a whole lot of streusel.

I made these last because I happened to have pureed beets in my freezer. I used them to make a most excellently moist Chocolate Beet Cake, though if any of my readers have kept up with my blogs, they will know that chocolate is very low on my list of things to make or eat. Ergo, I still have lots of pureed beets in the freezer!

Matcha & Black Sesame Muffins

Another of the muffin recipes that called my attention was one that used Matcha Green Tea powder and black sesame seeds. I love using Matcha powder in recipes and have made many things this way. I made some really excellent molded individual Black Sesame Matcha Cheesecakes once. They were to DIE for. I made some Green Tea Lime Sables about a year ago, and a GF Angelfood Cake with Green Tea Pistachio Swirl a year ago March. I love the Green color in things, though the flavor does not always come through strongly. 

Matcha & Black Sesame Muffins

While reading the recipe for the muffins in "BAKE from scratch", I rather disagreed with the method for making the muffins, and also with the streusel for the top. I followed the recipe for the pretty beet muffins to the letter. I was unsure how much beet flavor would come through for one thing, but the streusel seemed excessive, and excessively sweet. There was as much sugar in the entire muffin recipe as was in the streusel part. To me, that was just plain overkill. The same went for the Green Tea muffins. I love sweets; don't get me wrong. I do love sweets. But sometimes, there can be too much of a good thing. I opted to skip the streusel entirely on the green tea muffins and instead use the black sesame in the recipe. One thing I particularly liked in the recipe as it was presented was the use of almond meal. This would automatically make them moist. I kept that idea. Instead of streusel, I just sprinkled the muffins with sliced almonds before baking, to make them look pretty.

All the recipes in the magazine were sized for jumbo muffin tins. I do not own jumbo muffin tins, though I do have a 12-well square holed tin. I believe the square shape holds a larger amount than a regular muffin tin, though I have not officially measured. I know when making this recipe, it all fit into the square holed 12-well tin, though when I made one of the other recipes in a regular muffin tin, I had to use 3 extra wells in a regular tin to accommodate. Be aware of

this when pouring into the tins, and also when baking. Larger, jumbo muffins will take longer to bake through completely. I was so very pleased with what I did and how they came out. Here is my method:

Matcha & Black Sesame Muffins

Makes 8 jumbo muffins or 12 - 16 regular muffins

Matcha & Black Sesame Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons Matcha green tea powder 
1 tablespoon black sesame seeds
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs 
1 cup milk
¼ cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup sliced almonds, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the wells of 12 - 16 regular muffin tin wells with cooking spray, or simply use muffin papers.  Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the first 6 ingredients. In another bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, milk and melted butter. Pour the liquid ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir well with a silicone spatula or a spoon, until no dry ingredients are left. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins and sprinkle the tops with the sliced almonds.

Bake the muffins for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean. Remove the muffins from the tin to cool on a rack. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Making Muffins on this Cold Day

This morning with temperatures at -12 degrees, I was in the mood for muffins. I have had some white whole wheat pastry flour in the pantry for a while and hadn't gotten around to using it. This flour is ground from white wheat berries, instead of red wheat, so the color is only a little off of the white of unbleached flour. My first intention was to use half cake flour and half all-purpose, but it just happened that I was out of cake flour. There wasn't enough to make the 1 cup I wanted for the recipe. This was when I noticed the white whole wheat pastry flour. Aha! Inspiration. The recipe can easily be made without the white whole wheat pastry flour; just use the whole 2 cups of all-purpose flour. If you do, try using only ½ cup of buttermilk. Whole wheat flours tend to soak up more moisture, and I used ⅔ cup of buttermilk. Just be advised.

Next step was to create a recipe. Usually I just sit there on my own and compile what I think will work. Sometimes these things work better than others, and this morning the muffins turned out just perfect. They were tender and light, with a nice amount of sweetness and lots of flavor. I wanted to use sour cream in these muffins, but I was out of sour cream, too. All the holiday cooking and baking just wiped out my pantry. I did still have buttermilk in the fridge, so I used that. The rest was simple.

Cranberry Walnut Muffins

Cranberry Walnut Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon dried orange peel, or 1 tablespoon fresh
2 eggs
⅔ cup buttermilk
½ cup craisins (dried cranberries)
½ cup walnuts, broken

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (350 on Convection). Cream together the butter, sugar and orange peel until light. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Separately, sift or whisk together the flour(s), baking powder, baking soda and the salt. Add this alternately with the buttermilk to the creamed ingredients, mixing just until combined. Fold in the craisins and walnuts.

Grease a 12-well muffin tin, or use muffin papers. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
This worked so well, I will likely be trying other combinations soon. I hope you will try these out sometime soon.



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Caramelized Sugar Cake, Regular or Gluten Free

The other day I was making cupcakes to decorate with Super Bowl contestant logos. I wanted to make a cake I hadn't made in ages, called Caramelized Sugar Cake. It is a scrumptious recipe, for sure. I made part of the recipe into cupcakes, and the rest I poured into an 8-inch cake pan and made one layer. I cut the layer in half and iced it prettily. It was as delicious as I remembered. The cake requires first taking the time to caramelize the sugar, then add boiling water and cook it down to a syrup. A little tedious, but no big deal really. 

Caramelized Sugar Cake

Caramelized Sugar Cake

Makes one (2-layer) cake, or one (13 x 9) pan

½ cup shortening
1½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2½ cups cake flour, sifted
3 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup water
3 tablespoons Caramelized Sugar Syrup (recipe below)


Cream shortening and sugar till light. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the creamed mixture alternatively with the water, beating smooth after each addition. Add the sugar syrup and beat thoroughly for 4 minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer.

Bake in 2 greased and floured 8-inch round cake pans at 350 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool completely before frosting.

CARAMELIZED SUGAR SYRUP
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup boiling water

Melt (caramelize) the sugar in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly. When a deep golden brown, remove from heat and SLOWLY add the boiling water. It will splutter alarmingly - keep your distance. Back on heat, stir constantly until all dissolved. Recuce to about ½ cup. Cool. This is enough syrup for both this cake and some left to make a caramel flavored frosting.

NOTES: This recipe can be made substituting your favorite gluten-free flour mixture for the wheat flour. Add 1 teaspoon Xanthan gum and one extra egg yolk to the recipe.

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These days though, most times I make a cake I am also curious how it would turn out if gluten-free? I am not gluten-intolerant (that I know of), but have friends who are, and I am always on the lookout for recipes that turn out well if made with gluten-free flours. I do use xanthan gum in the recipes, though I am now hearing that some have difficulty with that ingredient, also. If so, I will say this cake comes out great with the xanthan gum added, so if you have a substitute that has worked for you, go for it and make that substitution.

Today I got up with the intent of trying this recipe with a gluten free flour mix. I have used Namaste Flour blend for other cakes before, with perfect results. Today I had my own mix on hand: 

GF All-Purpose Flour

Caramelized Sugar Cake, gluten-free flour

6 cups of brown rice flour
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch

Combine thoroughly in a tightly sealed container.

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I felt the batter seemed just a little bit too loose, so I added in an extra egg yolk. The cake came out great. More fluffy of texture than the one made with all purpose flour a few days ago, but equally delicious. I don't believe anyone who didn't know, would ever guess this cake was gluten free.

I made a coconut pecan filling to put between the layers, and used up the rest of the icing from the other day as the topping. This is incredibly good cake made either way, so I really encourage you all to give it a try.

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Coconut Pecan Filling

Coconut Pecan Filling

Makes about 2 cups

¾ cup evaporated milk
¾ cup sugar
6 tablespoons butter
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup shredded coconut
¾ cup chopped pecans, or nuts of choice

Combine milk, sugar and egg yolks in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat, stirring, for about 12 minutes, or until thickened and golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until of spreading consistency.

I used this both between layers and on top, in this photo.
 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Maple Bacon Muffins - Hungry anyone?

This morning I was thinking of something different. I hadn't made muffins in a long time. I haven't kept bacon around either, but I happened to have some just now. I started thinking on this last night, so it played in my brain all night, and this morning I tried out making muffins with bacon and maple syrup.

I started putting things together, and frying the bacon. I was wondering if the muffins would turn out too sweet. I needn't have worried. To my taste, they are perfect. The bacon provides enough saltiness to offset the sweet. I ate two of them for breakfast. Oh were they ever good. Mmmm-mmm.

Maple Bacon Muffins

Maple Bacon Muffins

Makes 12

MUFFINS:
12 strips thin sliced bacon (or 6 slices of thick sliced bacon)
2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup maple syrup
1 stick of butter1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs

STREUSEL:
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry to your desired doneness. Set on paper towels to drain. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or spray with cooking spray a 12 cup muffin tin.

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Separately, combine the milk and maple syrup. Cream together the butter and brown sugar, then blend in the eggs. Add in the flour mixture and stir, alternately with the milk mixture until just combined. Do not over beat. Fold in the bacon. Divide batter between the muffin cups.

Some might feel the streusel is too much, in which case, omit.  I love streusel, so I used it, and the muffins were great.

Make the streusel. This is easiest with fingers. Combine the 3 ingredients until they are well mixed and crumbly. Put about 2 or so teaspoons of streusel on top of each muffin in tin. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn muffins out of tins to cool.


My passion is to teach people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and help pass along my love and joy of food, both simple and exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, trying new things weekly. Join me at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook and Pinterest.