Pumpkin Oat Maple Muffins

A friend and I were talking muffins a few weeks ago, and I asked her to share a recipe she had found for for Pumpkin Oat muffins. They sounded so delicious, and despite having never made this recipe before, I threw caution to the wind and made my own modifications on the first run. Ha! I am such a rebel. I am currently basking in the glory of muffin success, gloating over my incredible muffin skillz, and soaking up the muffin love from coworkers. Hey take it while you can get it eh! Tomorrow might bring some horrible mashed potato mishap or grilling disaster.

I admit I had to borrow this picture, as I did not have time to take one before the muffins were inhaled. I searched the internet far and wide to find a picture that looked like my muffins, and looked like a picture I would take. This is close, I even have that plate!

Now lets talk muffins. These little beauties are packed full of what a friend calls "West Coast healthiness". Spelt and whole wheat flour, oats, oat bran, ground flax, and pumpkin make up the foundation of these muffins, with added deliciousness from raw sugar and maple syrup..so much so that I thought maple should get a front seat too! It's important to not overcook these, they have such wonderful moistness it would be sad to cook it away. I cut down the cooking time to 25 minutes and I think that was just perfect. Next time I might add something with texture, like apple bits or grated carrot or walnut peices. All would be awesome additions!

Pumpkin Oat Maple Muffins
modified from foodnetwork.com

•1 cup spelt flour
•1 cup whole wheat flour
•1/2 cup rolled oats
•2 Tbsp oat bran
•2 1/2 tsp baking powder
•1/2 tsp baking soda
•1/4 tsp sea salt
•1 tsp cinnamon
•1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
•6 Tbsp raw sugar
•3 Tbsp maple syrup
•1 Tbsp flax meal
•3/4 cup low fat milk
•1 can (397ml) pumpkin
•2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
•1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
•2 Tbsp olive oil
•1 egg

Topping
•2 Tbsp raw sugar
•2 Tbsp rolled oats
•1 tsp olive oil
•pinch sea salt

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375°F.
2.In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients, sifting in the baking powder and baking soda. Stir through until well combined.
3.In another bowl, add the remaining wet ingredients, and stir through until well combined.
4.Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, and gently fold and mix through, until just combined (do not over mix).
5.Spoon the mixture into a muffin pan lined with cupcake liners.
6.In a small bowl, mix the sugar, oats, oil, and salt together with your fingers, and then sprinkle on top of each muffin.
7.Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Nutritional values: Each muffin is 166 calories, 4g fat, 5g protein, 31g carbs, 3g fibre, 100mg sodium.

Peanut Butter and Honey Baked Oatmeal

I've never been keen on oatmeal. I remember having to eat it as a kid, to sustain us through the frigid prairie winter mornings...it was ok but I preferred Fruit Loops, you know? As an adult, I have only experienced the packet-version of oatmeal, those sugary sludgey boil-in-a-cup things that I never found very sustaining at all. I wondered what all the hoopla was about oatmeal being so filling and whatnot. Then I realized those packets were not really oatmeal at all; well only as much oatmeal as, say, cheez whiz is cheese. Time to try some of the real stuff.

I've been seeing a lot of baked oatmeal recipes around lately, and that sounds better to me than the gluey potfuls I remember from childhood, so I thought I'd give one a go. I ended up using several recipes and creating a hybrid of them. My very own Franken-oatmeal. All it needs is a brain and it is ready to take over the world, muah ha ha! It's hearty and filling and warms the belly, and the brown sugar crust gives each spoonful a hit of sweetness without the whole dish being over-sweetened. And it totally passed the late-morning hungries test. I didn't even notice it was lunchtime until 12:30! That doesn't happen often for me. So two thumbs up on the Baked Oatmeal: one for taste, one for sustainability.

This recipe makes two hearty portions. If you prefer a smaller breakfast, you could easily make this into three portions instead.

Peanut Butter and Honey Baked Oatmeal

1 C wild or rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 C milk (I used 1%)
1/2C water
2 Tbsp peanut butter
2 tsp honey
2 tsp demerera sugar

Preheat oven to 375F and spray two large ramekins with cooking spray. In a large bowl, beat egg, milk, water, peanut butter, and honey together. Add oats and cinnamon and combine well.Pour into ramekins, dividing evenly, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and turn on broiler. Sprinkle each ramekin with 1 tsp demerera sugar and broil until sugar melts and bubbles, about 90 seconds. Serve with extra milk.

Nutritional values: 430 calories, 13.5g fat, 19.6g protein, 60.2g carbs, 7g fibre, 176mg sodium.

Multi-grain English Muffins

I've been wanting to try my hand at homemade English muffins for a while now. Why? Who knows. To see if I could, I guess. And because I have heard they are way better than store-bought. And because I wanted to make them multi-grain.So I got up early on Sunday morning ad whipped up a batch for breakfast....they turned out great! I'm so proud. Look at those lovely golden pillowy babies! They were delicious, too.

I based my recipe on Alton Brown's from the Food Network. I love his show, they way he teaches about the science of food. The recipe sounded easy and did not require a lot of rising time, so I gave it a go, and would recommend it...with a few adjustments, of course! I cut back the sugar, used multi-grain flour instead of white, and changed a few of the instructions to produce a better final product.

English Muffins
adapted from Alton Brown's

1/2C non-fat powdered milk
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp shortening
1/2C hot water
1/2C cold water
2 tsp quick-rise yeast
1/8 tsp sugar
1/3C warm water
240g (2 scant cups) multi-grain bread flour
1 tsp baking soda
non-stick vegetable spray
cormeal for dusting

Directions
In a bowl combine the powdered milk and cold water. In another bowl, combine the hot water, , 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening, and stir until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Combine with the milk water and whisk briefly. In a separate bowl combine the yeast and 1/8 teaspoon of sugar in 1/3 cup of warm water and rest until yeast has dissolved. Add this to the milk mixture. Add the flour and baking soda and beat thoroughly with wooden spoon. Cover the bowl and let it rest in a warm spot for 30 minutes.

Preheat a griddle or cast-iron pan to to 300 degrees F (med-low heat)and the oven to 350F.

Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt to mixture and beat thoroughly. Place metal rings* onto the pan and coat lightly with vegetable spray. Sprinkle cornmeal onto pan and place 2 spoonfuls into each ring, filling to about 2/3. Cover with a pot lid or cookie sheet and cook for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the lid and flip with metal spatula. Cover with the lid and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until golden brown. Romove the metal rings and place on a baking tray, bake for another 6 minutes. Remove to a cooling rack. Split with fork and serve. Makes 8 muffins.

*If you don't have metal rings, tuna cans with both ends cut off works well.I did two at a time and cycled them through the pan and oven, two by two like Noah's ark.

Nutritional values: each muffin has 137 calories, 2g fat, 6.3g protein, 24.8g carbs, 2g fibre, 332mg sodium.

Oaty Banana Blueberry Muffins

It was really hard to pick which ingredients were the most compelling for the title of this muffin recipe. They all seem equally important and exciting to me, but Oatmeal-Whole Wheat Flour-Bran-Flax meal-Applesauce-Blueberry-Banana Muffins seemed a bit unwieldy. My awesome boyfriend's mom (or is that "boyfriend's awesome mom"? Hmm both) shared this recipe with me, and I only changed it a little, as I am wont to do. Best muffins EVER. I declared them Heaven Muffins when she served them to us. I would have just called them that, but I really like the word Oaty (sounds like goaty, heh) and Oaty Heaven Muffins just sounds wrong. Anyway, they are filled with all things good for you, and are a fraction of the calories of a regular muffin. Enjoy!

Oaty Banana Blueberry Muffins

1 1/4C whole wheat flour

1C wild oats

1C wheat bran

2T flax meal

1/2C Demerara sugar

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1C blueberries (frozen or fresh)

Combine all that stuff in a big bowl. Then in another bowl, mix together:

1C applesauce (no sugar added)

1/2C skim milk

1T olive oil

1T corn syrup

1 large egg

1 large banana, mashed

Once it is well-combined, add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until just incorprated. DO NOT OVERMIX. Every time you overmix a kitten dies.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or line with paper muffin cups (or if you are fancy like me, line with silicone muffin liners). Divide the batter amongst the 12 cups, they will be heaping full. You can also make 24 smaller mini-muffins. Or one big loaf. Or eat the batter straight from the bowl while watching reruns of Friends, whatever.

Cook in a 375F oven for 18 minutes or until they spring back when you touch them lightly.

Nutritional values per muffin: 169 calories, 3g fat, 5g protein, 34g carbs, 5g fibre,

Mini-quiches: the perfect breakfast

I LOVE these mini-quiches. The recipe is adapted from one in Cooking Light magazine; often I find their recipes don't go far enough to make something low-cal (though I do appreciate that they don't go the fake-sugar route). But this recipe was an epiphany! Using low-fat cottage cheese in the quiche gives it a creamy, cheesy taste and texture without adding a ton of high-fat cheese. It's brilliant. And I don't often say that in reference to something I didn't myself come up with ;).


Ham, Swiss and Spinach Mini-Quiches

200g cubed low-fat ham (about 1.5C)
1/2C chopped onion
1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
75g reduced-fat swiss cheese, shredded (scant 3/4C)
1C fresh baby spinach leaves
1C low-fat cottage cheese (1%m.f.)
1/2C 1% milk
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1/4C flour (any flour, but ideally garbonzo bean flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1T finely grated parmesan cheese

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat with cooking spray and add ham, onions, and pepper. Saute until ham and onions are slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray and sprinkle a bit of the grated swiss cheese in each cup, using 1/4C in total. Divide ham mixture between cups. Top with spinach leaves.

Combine remaining swiss cheese, cottage cheese, milk, eggs, flour, and baking powder in a large bowl and whisk until your arm is sore. Unless you have guns like Sheila, in which case just beat for a minute or so. Divide mixture amongst cups. The spinach leaves will not want to let the mixture underneath; do not oblige them. Poke them down as you go, be firm with them as they like to misbehave and if you have too much spinach sticking out of the egg mixture it will dry up in the oven and get all crunchy. This seems like an unnecessarily laborious step but trust me, the results are way better than if you just chop the spinach up small and mix it in. Once you have poked all the spinach and mixture into submission, top with a sprinkling of parmesan and cook in a 350F oven for 40 minutes or until golden brown on top.

One of these little beauties is just 86 calories, 3g fat, 11g protein, 4g carbs and 325mg sodium. No fibre of note but hey you can't have everything. Eat a banana or better yet, a kiwi with the skin on. That's right!
Sherylyn's tip of the day is kiwi skin has loads of excellent fibre so wash your kiwi thoroughly, slice thin and eat it down. It's actually really yummy!

Vegetarian Option: Replace the ham with some chopped mushrooms and/ or bell peppers and sauté with the onions. Sauté well to get the moisture out, otherwise you will risk a soggy quiche!