Baked

How's your week so far? I've been slightly under the weather, and editing hundreds of images. Wednesday popped up out of no where!

Picked up some peaches and made a quick batch of muffins. These are so good, not too sweet and not too hideous for you either ;)

Peach Cornmeal Muffins - makes 12

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup almond meal
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain yogurt
3 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 peaches, peeled and chopped
zest and juice of 1 lemon
brown sugar and flaked almonds for topping

Preheat oven to 400f/200c. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, egg, honey, yogurt, and almond extract, until smooth, then add the applesauce and vegetable oil.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, almond meal, cornmeal, baking soda, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir in the liquid mixture until just combined. Batter should be lumpy. Carefully fold in the peaches.

Spoon the batter into each muffin cup and top with a sprinkle of almonds and brown sugar. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until lightly golden in colour. Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, before turning out onto a cooling rack.

Baked

How's your week going? I've had a couple of crack-of-dawn photo shoots rescheduled, as the weather just didn't cooperate....but not until we were already at the shoot location.  I made these muffins since I had suddenly had some spare time ;)  I've had rosemary and orange in a salad dressing, and it turns out this combo works really well in a basic cornmeal muffin. Love it.

Orange & Rosemary Cornmeal Muffins - makes 10-12 

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour (I used 1 cup gluten free flour*)

1/4 cup raw sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs

2 tablespoons orange zest

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

* mix together 6 cups brown rice flour, 2 cups potato starch, 1 cup tapioca flour. Store in the fridge in a jar.

Preheat oven to 375f. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. 

In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, and eggs. Pour into flour mixture and stir to combine. Fold in the orange zest and rosemary. 

Pour batter into baking cups and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in centre, comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool a little before eating. 

If you try them out, let me know what you think. 

Have a nice day! Back soon.

Janis

 

Baked

I hope you're having a good week! The weekend is just around the corner...

It's been a couple of weeks since I baked, but I had a craving for a banana/peanut butter combo of some sort. My husband isn't huge on peanut butter, as he grew up on Vegemite. PB just wasn't part of his world in Australia. All I know is I've embraced his Vegemite, but he just won't embrace my peanut butter. ;)

Banana Peanut Butter Muffins - makes 12

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened peanut butter
3/4 cup milk
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Place a paper liner in each cup, and set aside.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. In another bowl beat together oil, eggs, peanut butter, milk and banana. Add wet ingredients to the dry mix, and stir to combine. Don't over mix.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Serve with a little honey, and enjoy!

If you like this flavour combo, you really should whip these up. Quick and easy, and so good.

I'm off to NYC tomorrow for a shoot with Jen of Made By Girl. Can't wait! I'll try to post while there.

Back soon!

janis

Baked

I hope your week is going well! Mine has been full of torturing my husband over my photography website redesign and, whew, it's taking a lot out of him me.

I baked some muffins over the weekend, that are pretty tasty. I should bring a few of these for the next long day shoot I have instead of eating them all myself.

Cherry Walnut Oatmeal Muffins - makes 12

3/4 cup rolled oats, toasted
1 cup gluten free all purpose flour* (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup almond meal
1/3 cup ground flax seed
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon guar gum
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs
zest of one large orange
3/4 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
* feel free to swap the g-free flour, almond meal and guar gum, for 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (white or whole wheat). I've made these both ways, I'm just trying to stick to g-free where I can!

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a muffin tin with paper liners.
Spread oats out on a baking sheet, and toast for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to bowl and set aside to cool. Add the flour, almond meal, flax seed, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, guar gum and salt to the cooled toasted oats. Stir to combine.

In another bowl, mix together yogurt, melted butter, eggs, and orange zest. Make a well in the centre of dry mix and pour in yogurt mixture. Stir ingredients together until just blended. Fold in cherries and walnuts.

Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake for about 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre, comes out clean. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Just add butter, and enjoy!

Back soon,
Janis

Baked

Happy hump day! Hope your week (and year!) is off to a good start.

Speaking of good starts, I'm trying to be just a touch healthier for at least the first month of 2012 ;) Cutting out gluten and a little sugar, when I can, is a start, and it needn't be dry, dusty, and boring. I found a recipe awhile back while in a waiting room. I couldn't tell you where it's from as there were too many people around to rip out the entire page, so I wrote it down. Heh, heh. These are so flipping good - I hope you give them a try!

Mini Chai Tea Muffins - makes 48 mini muffins

1/4 cup cane sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup apple butter or applesauce, unsweetened
1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
2 tablespoons unsweetened powdered cocoa
1/2 cup wheat free oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup chai tea mixture - steep 4 chai tea teabags in 1/2 cup hot milk. Allow to cool.
1/2 cup diced apple

Preheat oven to 350f/180c. Line a 24 cup mini muffin tin with paper liners and set aside. Heat milk and steep 4 chai tea teabags, and set aside to cool.

Beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs. Stir in apple butter and honey until well combined. Stir in the flour, almond meal, flax seed, cocoa, oats, baking powder and baking soda, while slowly pouring in the chai tea mix. Stir batter until smooth. Fold in the diced apples.
Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full and bake for about 10-12 minutes or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.

Baked

Did you have a good weekend? Hope so! If you are in the Vancouver area, did you thoroughly enjoy our little blip of summer? I'm sure there is more to come ;)

I baked some healthy muffins over the weekend. I just call them "Morning Muffins", as I don't want to call them Raspberry, Brown Rice, Almond, and Orange muffins. When I first tried these out, I thought they might have a have real rice flavour, which I didn't want, but they don't. The orange flavour comes through the most - they're really delicious, especially warm.

Morning Muffins - makes one dozen

1 cup cake and pastry flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup toasted, finely ground almonds
1 cup short grain brown rice
1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest
1 cup plain yogurt, at room temperature
1 egg, at room temperature
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 375f.
Whisk together the ground almonds, flours, baking powder, baking soda, rice, salt and orange zest. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, egg, butter, sugar and vanilla. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir just to combine. Do not over mix. Fold in raspberries.

Line a 12 hole cupcake tin with paper cups, and fill to 3/4 full with batter. Bake in centre of oven for 15-18 minutes, or until golden on top and a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean.
Transfer muffins to a wire rack and serve warm.

Baked

First let me say, that game last night almost polished me off. I love the Canucks, but why do they insist on torturing us? Game 7 is tomorrow, and the Stanley Cup will be given to the winner. Please let that be the Vancouver Canucks.

Back from a few days in Victoria, and now just doing some post production and a little baking. I have to keep up my energy for this. ;) Hope your week is off to a good start! Did you all have a good weekend?

I originally found this recipe via Alton Brown, but then a lovely woman I worked with once, suggested I add some baking soda to the mix. I also added a sprinkle of corn meal. Worked out well, so I thought I'd share it with you guys. These are not, technically, "baked", they're similar in cooking method to crumpets.

English Muffins - makes one dozen

1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
1 cup hot water
1 packet of dry yeast
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup warm water
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
A little cornmeal for sprinkling
(This recipe suggests using an electric griddle, but I don't have one, so I used a large cast iron pan.)

Combine the powdered milk, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, shortening and hot water, in a bowl and stir until salt and sugar are dissolved. Let cool. In another bowl combine the yeast, 1/8 teaspoon of sugar and 1/3 cup warm water and let sit until the yeast starts to foam. Add the yeast mixture to the dry milk mixture, then add the sifted flour and beat thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let rise for 30 minutes in a warm spot.

If you have an electric griddle, preheat to 300f. I set my cast iron pan on the stove on medium low heat.
Add the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of baking soda to the dough and mix again, with wooden spoon, thoroughly. Lightly coat the metal rings with vegetable oil and place on griddle/pan. Spoon dough into rings, filling only 1/2 way. Sprinkle a little corn meal on top of each. Sit a cookie sheet, or in my case, a small cake pan, on top of rings and cook for about 5-6 minutes.

Remove lid and flip rings using tongs or a spatula. Cover with lid again, and cook for another 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow to cool on a wire rack, then enjoy any which way you want!

I like mine with a hard boiled egg, basil and cheese. My husband goes for Vegemite. 

Have a great day! Back soon.
janis

Baked

This weekend I made some very simple lemon poppy seed muffins with my nephews. Actually, they really love lemon and poppy seed, but said they didn't like "muffins" so I told they they were cupcakes. They loved them ;)

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins - makes about 36 mini muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup plain yogurt
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons lemon rind
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Preheat oven to 350f. Butter mini muffin tins or use paper liners.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Blend lemon juice and yogurt in a separate bowl. With an electric mixer, beat butter, lemon rind and sugar in a large bowl until just combined. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy.

Beat in dry ingredients alternately with yogurt mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in poppy seeds. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup.

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, or until a skewer, inserted in centre, comes out clean. Cool in pans for a few minutes, then remove muffins from pans to a wire rack.

Have a great day! Back on Wednesday.

janis

Baked on Monday - Oatmeal Raspberry Chocolate Muffins

By the sound of some of your comments regarding Friday Fantasies, you all had lovely weekends. Happy to hear it!

This week I've baked a batch of oatmeal raspberry chocolate muffins. They seem a bit more sensible and slightly less sugary and fatty than past recipes! Having said that, they are pretty bloody delicious.

Oatmeal Raspberry Chocolate Muffins - makes 12

1 cup milk at room temperature
1 tsp white vinegar
1 cup rolled oats (do not use 'quick' oats)
1 large egg at room temperature
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter (allow to cool a little before adding)
1 cup plus 2 tblsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly ground
1/2 tsp cinnamon, freshly ground
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 dark chocolate chips or chunks

Combine milk, vinegar and oats in a bowl and let stand for one hour.
Preheat oven to 375f. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin and line with papers.
Crack egg into the oat mixture then sugar and stir to combine. Stir in melted butter. Sift remaining ingredients into the bowl  (flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, spices). Fold in to batter, gently, taking care not to over mix. Add raspberries and chocolate and fold in gently.

Scoop batter with a 1/3 cup and place in each cup. Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until light brown on top. When ready, tops should spring back when touched. Allow to cool in tins....if you can wait that long.

Eat up!