I'm back from China, and that means I'm back in the kitchen . . . Baking. I'm trying not to go crazy and make every cookie, brownie, and cake recipe I've pinned on Pinterest, but it's tough knowing that come August, I won't have my own kitchen (much less oven). Life in Libo, China will be decidedly less sweet, but on the bright side, I will get to eat as many sea cucumbers and chicken feet as my little heart desires. Oh, no. Sad face. So I've been back for a few weeks now, and I've only baked two things! (I think that means I get to bake more things soon! Maybe even today!) We had six over-ripe bananas in our kitchen when I returned from China, and I know my mom was leaving them out (and not throwing them in the compost) as a hint for me to make something. Even if she denies it . . . We also had half a bag of Ghiradelli mini chocolate chips in the pantry, and to prevent my younger brother from consuming the rest of the bag before I got to use them, I threw them in the muffins. I doubled this recipe since we had six bananas, and it made a TON of batter--probably enough for 30 muffins. I only have two muffin trays, so I filled the cups up high and put the remaining batter in a ramekin, resulting in 24 regular muffins and one GIANT muffin.Recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip MuffinsFrom Keep Your Diet RealMakes 12 regular sized muffins.Ingredients:1 cup whole wheat flour1 cup all-purpose flour1/2 cup packed brown sugar1 tbsp baking powder (I know, it seems like a lot!) 1 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt1 cup mini chocolate chips3 mashed ripe bananas1/3 cup canola oil2 eggs1 tbsp vanilla extractInstructions:Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and place liners in a muffin pan. In a large bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add the sugar, oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla; mix well. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and stir with a spatula just until combined. Do not overmix, or the muffins will be tough. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill the muffin cups with batter and bake for about 20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins spring back (and do not sink) when pressed with a finger and a toothpick comes out clean.
Don't be mad at me. I had to try this (again). And this time, it worked! I made some pretty darn good muffins without using flour or sugar. Some people are content with eating eggs every morning, or having a few bites of leftover steak and some salad for breakfast. I cannot do this. I can have an omelet on occasion, but to me, it doesn't count as breakfast if it isn't sweet. I won't apologize and I probably will never change. I'm convinced it's hereditary, so if you need to blame someone, blame my father. I've been doing a Lara bar for breakfast on the go or making myself a smoothie if I have a few extra minutes, but it's been two weeks and this morning, I had time to get creative. I've tried baking with almond flour with little success in the past, but today was my day. They would have turned out even better if I had had the patience to wait a few more days for my bananas to get riper (aka sweeter), but oh well. They taste great as-is, and the texture is perfect! Recipe for Carrot-Raisin MuffinsAdapted from TGIPaleoMakes 12+ muffinsIngredients:2 cups almond meal1/4 cup flax meal4 mashed bananas4 eggs2 tsp baking soda1 tsp almond extract2 tsp cinnamon1/2 tsp nutmeg1 cup raisins1 cup grated carrots (about 2 medium)Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine almond meal, flax meal, baking soda, and spices in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, stir together bananas, eggs, almond extract, and carrots. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir just to combine. Fold in the raisins. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. This recipe made 12 large muffins and enough left over to put into a little ramekin for an extra somethin-somethin.
Yeah, muffins again. I know. Inappropriate for recipe #3 on my blog when recipe #1 was also for muffins. But this recipe for Cranberry Pumpkin Bran muffins is so delicious and so non-bran-muffiny that I just have to share it. The second issue with this whole situation is that I haven't taken any pictures at all of my beautiful muffins and their white chocolate glaze. If you want to get an idea of what they look like, click here. I combined Sydney's recipe from Crepes of Wrath with my bran muffin recipe (which you might find is raaaather similar to the recipe for bran muffins on the back of a Kellog's cereal box--whatever) to make this latest creation. Also, a note about the Crepes of Wrath blog: I love it. I click on several Foodgawker pictures each week that look good to me, and often they end up being from her site. And the most exciting part about the whole thing is that Sydney and I actually have a mutual friend! My best friend from college, Katie, rowed with her on their high school crew team. Small world. Since I don't have muffin pictures to show you, here's a picture of Katie and me at our holiday party senior year of college: Recipe for Cranberry Pumpkin Bran Muffins
Ingredients:
3 cups Kellog's All Bran cereal
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups lowfat buttermilk
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!)
zest of 1 orange
1/2 of one 12 oz. package fresh cranberries, rinsed and patted dry
1 tbsp flour
8 oz. white chocolate, for drizzling (I used white chocolate chips)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup cereal with 1/2 cup boiling water. Add in oil and stir. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Stir with whisk until combined and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix rest of cereal with sugar, eggs, and buttermilk. Add bran/oil mixture, pumpkin puree and orange zest; stir to combine. Mix in dry ingredients and stir just until fully incorporated.
In a small bowl, combine cranberries with 1 tbsp flour. Toss gently to coat. (This prevents berries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins.) Fold into batter.
Bake in lined muffin tins for approximately 20 minutes. I made a combination of 12 regular-sized muffins, 12 mini muffins, and 4 mini loaves.
For drizzle: Melt white chocolate in microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each cycle. When chocolate is melted, transfer to plastic bag and cut a hole in the corner. Drizzle over completely cooled muffins, and enjoy!
Now that my blog has been formally introduced by me and (I hope) talked up around the water cooler by you, it's time for me to share my first recipe. It's a big deal, this post. First impressions are important. I don't want to set the bar too high (rabbit stew and handmade croissants) or too low (PB & J's and ants-on-a-log). I should go with something basic, something classic, maybe something that I think is a good representation of my culinary style.
But in the end, I'm going with what I felt like making yesterday.
They're healthy.
They're hearty.
They're delicious.
And they are so, so glamorous. People, I give you:
The Bran Muffin.
These are not your average bran muffin. They are moist. They are dense, but not too dense. And best of all, they are the perfect autumn breakfast. I am a perfectionist, fall is my favorite season, and I think breakfast is the best meal of the day. Remember that time I said that my first post should be representative of my culinary style?
Looks like my style is a bran muffin. Like I said: G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.
Recipe for Apple Butter Bran Muffins
Ingredients:
3 cups Kellog's All Bran cereal
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 cup oil
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups lowfat buttermilk
2-1/2 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
12 oz. apple butter
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup cereal with 1/2 cup boiling water. Add in oil and stir. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix rest of cereal with sugar, eggs, and buttermilk. Add bran/oil mixture and flour; stir just to combine. Finally, stir in apple butter and mix until dry ingredients are full incorporated; do not over mix.
Bake in lined, regular-sized muffin tins for 20 minutes. Makes approximately 36 muffins.
Nutrition Information: 133 calories, 3.7 g fat, 24.5 g carbohydrate, 2.1 g fiber, 2.4 g protein per muffin.
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