Sweet Mary

Quick and Easy Banana-Oat Muffins

I'm on a quest for healthy baking recipes this week. No, I didn't make any New Year's resolutions. I'd just really love to be able to post a recipe once a week; however, who the heck can eat all the sugar and fat! Lord knows, I've given enough baked goods away to work colleagues, friends, and family. I have to slow down lest we all develop health and weight issues. Consequently, I am going to start incorporating some lighter healthier recipes for desserts and baked goods.

In addition, I am also toying with the idea of adding culinary recipes. Yes, I do cook, too. In fact, I like to make at least one new recipe a week and tend to eat light and healthy. More on that later.

So, sometimes I get tired of eating the same old breakfasts of cereal, eggs, or oatmeal. And, sometimes I like a good muffin. But, what about a lower fat muffin? A healthier muffin? I found the following recipe on the Cooking Light website. The ingredients include whole wheat flour and quick oats. That seemed like a start, at least. Each muffin contains 152 calories and 5 grams of fat, which might seem a little high. I'd like to compare some other lower fat muffin recipes to see where this falls.

Anyway, the taste is a bit heartier than a normal old muffin. They were moist. I loved that the recipe only yielded 9 muffins; however, they came out very small. Not sure if there is a leavening issue here or what. But, small is OK. Maybe not enough for a breakfast, but enough for a snack. I drank my coffee, poured over some recipe books, and ate one on this fine Sunday morning.

2 mashed ripe bananas
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup fat-free milk
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375. Combine bananas, canola oil, egg, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Mix well. Set aside. Whisk flour and the rest of the ingredients together in another bowl. Stir the flour mixture into the banana mixture until they are just combined. Spray 9 muffin cups with cooking spray and spoon 1/3 cup batter into each cup. Bake 16 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.

Olive Oil Muffins

Baking through this heat wave was truly out of the question. Seriously, I wasn't even cooking. The heat the gas burner threw off seemed to be too much for me to bear in my sticky apartment. You see, I am in a first floor apartment next to a vacant lot. So, there is no shade on the east side till well into the afternoon. That coupled with the fact that my old Portuguese landlord has been constructing what I believe will eventually be (maybe sometime next year?) new front steps right smack outside of my front two living room windows has made for one super hot space. He's out there morning, noon, and night. Working away. He doesn't leave till well after dark. And, typically, he usually has one or more other men with him. Talking. Pointing. Hammering. Drilling. Morning, noon, and night. Six days a week. So, to lessen the noise and attempt to increase my sense of privacy, the windows and blinds have been closed. A year and a half ago, his presence was endearing. Now, it's just annoying!

Needless to say, between his "construction" and the heat, just call me Cranky Mary.

The humidity finally broke last night when night fell. I was cruising around a coastal town called Newburyport and after dinner when the stars were emerging, the air was lovely, light, and cool. I instantly forgot about the previous train of days that reminded me of those 6 summers in Baltimore where all it ever seemed I did was sweat and sweat some more.

When I awoke, I was all about turning that oven on and whipping up some muffins for Sunday breakfast. Now, people say New England is cold and unfriendly. And, it can be. However, I will say that I have found some truly friendly people here just about everywhere I go. A woman in my chiropractor's office is one of them. She loves to bake and cook; consequently, that's what we talk about. Recently, she's been passing on some recipes and telling me about the things she's cooked and baked. I, of course, never tire of such stories and always enjoy sharing my interest and love for food.

So, Barb likes Giada de Laurentiis from the Food Network. Yes, of course, I know who this chef is and have seen her show. However, I never have cable TV in my house so I only catch all the super-chefs and TV stuff when I am home at my mom's. I want to tell you that I love this recipe. Mostly because the muffins are not overly sweet or cake-like. I am not a fan of cakey muffins. If I want cake, I will eat cake. I love the way the olive oil combines with the balsamic vinegar followed with some crunch from the toasted almonds and a little zing from the orange and lemon zest. It is really nice. You can whip these up in no time and just watch that you don't over bake them. Moist is better, of course.

Olive Oil Muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons lemon zest
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons whole milk
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
Powdered sugar, for sifting

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
Blend together flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Then, with an electric mixer beat sugar, eggs, and zests till pale and fluffy. Beat in vinegar and milk. Gradually beat in oil. Add flour mix and stir just until blended. Crush almonds in your hands as you add them to the batter. Stir until mixed. Fill muffin tins just about to the top of the liners. Bake until golden and until a tester comes out with moist crumbs attached. Should take about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to wire rack. Cool about 10 minutes. Remove muffins and let cool another 5 minutes. Sift powdered sugar over the muffins and serve.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

Here's a nice fall muffin for you.  I believe it is from All Recipes.  The mix of apples and pumpkin is really tasty and would go well with some hot cider.

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple

For the Streusel:

2 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 teaspoons butter

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.

In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups of flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix eggs, pumpkin and oil.   Add pumpkin mixture to flour,  Stir only to moisten.  Fold in apples.  Spoon batter into  muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon.  Cut in butter until mixture looks like course crumbs.  Sprinkly the streusel topping evenly to cover the muffin batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.