Showing posts with label Quick Breads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quick Breads. Show all posts

Thursday, March 08, 2018

Quarter Cup Muffins

Oatmeal muffins reinvented, using one bowl and two measuring utensils. There are a lot of things you can personalize about these low fat, low sugar muffins. Change up the sweetener or the nuts, add a small apple, finely chopped, or leave out the cinnamon or raisins. Basically, a very nice, hearty muffin that makes a lovely breakfast or snack. If you don't have parchment liners, you might want to either use oil instead of apple sauce, or grease the muffin tins instead of using paper. (the muffins will stick to regular paper liners because they don't have any oil in them.)


1/4 cup sweetener (xylitol, Splenda, white or brown sugar, Stevia)
1/4 cup all purpose Gluten Free flour blend
1/4 cup almond flour
3 x 1/4 cup quick oats
1/4 cup coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are nice)
1/4 raisins
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 x 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 x 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 x 1/4 cup milk (I use dairy free almond milk)
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or vegetable/ Canola oil)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

Measure ingredients into a medium sized bowl in order given, then mix very well. Actually, mix the heck out of it, then let it stand for 1/2 hour to give the flours time to soak up the liquid and thicken up, while the oven preheats to 350* F. 

Using parchment muffin papers, line 9 muffin cups, then divide the batter between them. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned, and the top bounces back when pressed, and when a toothpick inserted into the middle of one comes out clean.

Cool completely before storing in an airtight bag or container. Can be frozen or stored in the fridge to last longer.

I like these eaten with Becel Vegan margarine and honey or marmalade, or with slices of goat cheddar.

Makes 9 medium sized muffins.







Sunday, March 27, 2016

Hot Cross Muffins

A delicious take on Easter's Hot Cross Buns that's adapted from the Company's Coming Mostly Muffins cookbook. If you love hot cross buns but don't have the time or inclination to bake them, you should check out the Mostly Muffins cookbook and bake up a batch of  Spiced Fruit Muffins. If you can't tolerate gluten or dairy, give this adapted recipe a try. If you like hot cross buns you will like these muffins. If you've been missing the joy of hot cross buns because of food intolerance, I promise you will LOVE these muffins. 

1 1/3 cups gluten-free, all-purpose flour blend
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp each nutmeg, allspice and ground cloves
1 large egg
1 cup non-dairy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup dark raisins or currants
1/2 cup chopped mixed glazed fruit

Measure all dry ingredients into a medium/large bowl. Stir together with a wire whisk. Add egg, milk and oil. Whisk together vigorously for several minutes until very well incorporated and smooth. Stir in raisins and glazed fruit. Let stand for 1/2 hour.

Heat oven to 350*F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Divide batter between lined cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until tops are browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Let stand a few minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely before adding icing crosses.

ICING

Mix 1/2 cup icing sugar, 2 tsp non-dairy milk and 1/8 tsp vanilla together to make a smooth paste. Spoon it into a small freezer bag; snip a small hole in one corner and squeeze icing to/through the hole to pipe crosses onto the cooled muffins.

Makes 10-12 muffins.


Friday, March 18, 2016

The "Minus 1/3" Gluten Free Baking Solution, or "The 30% Solution"

I've discovered a four-part trick to easily convert regular muffin, quick bread and cake recipes:

1. Remove 1/3 of the required amount of regular all-purpose flour and substitute an all-purpose gluten free flour blend.
2. Add 1/4-1/2 tsp xanthan gum, if it's not already in your flour blend (I generally do 1/2 tsp per cup of flour)
3. Beat the batter to death (opposite of normal quick breads and muffins)
4. Let the batter stand for 30 minutes before filling muffin tins/cake pans

Mixing the batter up and letting it stand for half an hour allows the gluten free flours to absorb the liquid. As the flours are absorbing the liquid, the batter gets thicker, so it makes sense to reduce the amount of flour used. I've had success with this formula for numerous muffin recipes, for banana bread, pancakes and waffles. Also a chiffon cake, surprisingly. The baked food is noticeably less "dry/ grainy" than previously, and it doesn't dry out as quickly- lasting several days longer than usual.

These pancakes worked, these Cranberry Orange Muffins, (using 2/3 cup + 1/4 cup GF flour blend) and Blueberry or Chocolate Chip Muffins, (2/3 cup GF flour).

The secret seems to be reducing the flour, really beating the batter and then letting it rest for half an hour.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Gluten and Dairy Free Baking Powder Biscuits

I just tried Baking Powder Biscuits using this formula. Success! They didn't brown very well, but they had a good biscuit texture, didn't taste at all "grainy/dusty" and were delicious with the hamburger soup I made for supper. 

1 1/3 cups Gluten Free flour blend
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup Canola oil*

Measure flour blend, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum into a medium sized bowl. Whisk together until well blended. Add milk and oil. Beat with a whisk or rubber tipped spatula until very smooth and dry ingredients are well incorporated. Batter will seem too runny, but let it stand for 30 minutes, and the flours will absorb the liquid, making it thicker. Set the oven to 350* F. After a 30 minute rest, drop batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet into 9 mounds.  Smooth and shape the batter mounds (with a spoon or fingers dipped in cold water) and bake for 20-30 minutes, until the tops are firm and slightly browned. The biscuits didn't get as golden brown as traditional/wheat flour biscuits, but they had a good texture and tasted quite delicious.

To turn these into "scones", add 1/4-1/3 cup sugar to the dry ingredients, brush the tops of the biscuit rounds with almond milk and sprinkle with sugar. The dough can also be formed into one large round, brushed with almond milk, sprinkled with sugar and scored with a knife into 6-8 pie shaped wedges to create more traditional scones. 

*I've also used Becel Vegan Margarine with good results. Biscuits were pretty much the same with the vegan margarine as they were with the oil, so I've been using oil as it's less expensive than the margarine, choosing to save the margarine for eating on the biscuits.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Baking Powder Biscuits

One of the first things we were taught to make in Grade 8 Home-Ec. A great, versatile standard. If you add a little extra milk, (on purpose or by accident) to make a stickier dough, you can either drop them onto the top of a bubbling stew to make dumplings, or drop them onto a greased cookie sheet for "drop biscuits". Add cheese and bacon! Add chopped green onion or chives! Add sugar and bake in round "cakes" to make scones! You can even use the baking powder biscuit as a pizza crust in a pinch. Perfect with soup or stew for dinner, or for breakfast, hot and fresh with jam or to hold an egg and ham sandwich.


2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup of butter or hard margarine
3/4 to 1 cup milk

Lightly grease a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 375*F.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium sized bowl. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender. If you don't have a pastry blender, you can use a couple of knives to cut at the butter, or just use your fingers, kind of squishing the flour and butter together until the butter is broken up into little flour covered pieces and the mixture sort of resembles oatmeal.

Add the milk- start with 3/4 cup, and add a bit more if needed, gently folding it into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until it holds together. (*if you use whole wheat flour, it will take more milk than with white flour) Dough should be in a lump together but not sticky. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and gently roll out to 2 inch thickness. Either cut into circles (or hearts, or shamrocks or Christmas trees...) and place on prepared baking sheet. You can gently gather the scraps together and recut it. OR (as I usually do) just cut the rolled dough into 12 squares and place on cookie sheet. 

Bake for 15-25 minutes, until biscuits are risen and golden brown.

If you add too much dough and it's quite sticky, just drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, dividing it into 12 mounds. Bake as indicated until risen and nicely browned.

VARIATIONS: 

To make dumplings for stew, add 1 cup to 1  1/4 cups milk to make a soft, sticky dough. Drop by Tablespoons onto hot stew. Cover and let the stew simmer for 15-25 minutes until the tops of the dumplings are firm to the touch. To make dumplings in the Slow Cooker, cover the top of the slow cooker (under the lid) with a clean tea towel. This keeps the condensing steam from dripping back onto the dumplings which keeps them from getting cooked properly on top.

Cheese Biscuits: Add 3/4 to 1 cup of grated cheese with the flour, either before or after you cut in the butter.

Cheese and Bacon Biscuits: Add 3/4 cup of grated cheese and 1/2 cup of cooked, chopped bacon before you add the milk.

Cheese, Bacon and Onion Biscuits: Add 3/4 cup of grated cheese, 1/2 cup of cooked, chopped bacon and 1/3 cup of chopped green onion before you add the milk.

Easy Scones: Add 1/2 cup of sugar to the flour mixture, and increase the butter to 1/4 cup. Divide the dough in half, after the milk is mixed in, and shape it into two 6 inch circles. Score the circles with a knife, cutting each into 6ths. Brush the tops and sides with a little milk or cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake as directed for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

If you like to bake, or to eat baking, and you have food sensitivities, you must-must-MUST get yourself one of the Babycakes cookbooks by Erin McKenna. "Babycakes" and "Babycakes Does The Classics" are both awesome vegan cookbooks. This Pumpkin Spice Muffin recipe is in the first book, but I've replaced 1/4 of the flour with ground flax and quinoa flour. I also added pumpkin seeds and raisins because I like raisins in spice cake and muffins, and because I thought the texture of the seeds would be nice. These muffins freeze well and travel well. They are equally fabulous with  Becel Vegan margarine or Kraft No-Sugar-No-Salt-Added Peanut Butter. Easy to mix up and satisfying for breakfast, lunch or snacks on the go.

1 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Baking Flour*
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup quinoa flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon xanthan gum*
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 cup Canola oil
2/3 cup agave nectar*
2/3 cup rice milk
2 Tablespoons vanilla extract
1-398 ml (about 13 oz) can pure pumpkin puree
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
*readily available at Nutter's Bulk and Natural Foods

Preheat the oven to 325*F.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Add oil, agave nectar, rice milk and vanilla to the dry ingredients. Stir with the whisk until batter is smooth and thick. Using a plastic/silicone spatula, fold in the pumpkin, hot water, raisins and pumpkin seeds until batter is smooth and everything is evenly distributed throughout.

Fill paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Muffins won't rise much during baking. Bake on center rack for 22-30 minutes, switching the pans and rotating them 180* after 12 minutes. Finished muffins will be soft to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean.

Let muffins stand in the tin for 15 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Store muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for a week, or in the freezer. Pop a frozen muffin in the microwave for 15-20 seconds or so to heat it up, or throw it in a bag or reusable container and take it along to eat at your next Starbucks coffee date.

Makes 18-22 delicious muffins

Monday, June 11, 2012

Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Pancakes For One

I'm really liking Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Biscuit and Baking Mix. As I'm just cooking gluten free for myself, it seemed prudent to downsize the recipe on the package, and so I have. One serving size (37g of dry mix) is 1/6 of the package's pancake recipe. This gluten free pancake has become a breakfast, lunch and, in a pinch, a supper staple for me. When I'm going to be away from home for the day, I've made the two pancakes into a peanut butter and jam sandwich in case I need a snack or an option at lunch. The pancake sandwich travels well. I've also forgotten to add the oil to the batter on occasion, and the pancakes were no less delicious or light and fluffy.(you can subtract 120 calories and 14 g of fat if you leave out the oil) Enjoy.

1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Biscuit and Baking Mix
1 egg
1 Tablespoon vegetable/Canola oil
1/4 cup water

Whisk all ingredients together until just mixed. Cook on lightly greased hot griddle or frying pan until bubbles form and surface puffs up. Flip to cook other side until lightly golden brown.

Makes 1 large pancake, or two 4 1/2 inch pancakes.

Nutritional Analysis: (pancakes alone, without butter, syrup, or other toppings)

Calories: 320
Total fat: 20 g
Cholesterol: 190 mg
Sodium: 455 mg
Carbohydrates: 25 g
Fibre: 4 g
Sugars: 2 g
Protein: 10 g

Saturday, May 07, 2011

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I went searching for a poppyseed muffin recipe, but couldn't find any that matched the vision in my head; I envisioned something lemony with a lemon-sugar glaze, like my favourite, old-fashioned lemon loaf. When I stumbled upon "Lemonade Muffins" in the Better Homes And Gardens "Homemade Bread Cook Book" from 1973, I knew I had found what I was looking for. I adjusted the ingredients just enough to add poppyseed and remove walnuts, and to make 18 muffins instead of 12. Very quick to assemble and a delightful addition to any tea party, I hope you'll try them. If you like lemon and poppyseed, you'll like these.

3/4 cup frozen lemonade, thawed
1/3 cup milk
3 Tablespoons poppyseed
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, well beaten
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Combine lemonade, milk and poppyseed in a small bowl. Let stand.

Thoroughly combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.

Add egg and oil to lemonade mixture. Pour into well in dry ingredients and stir just to moisten.

Divide batter into 18 greased or paper lined muffin cups. Bake at 400*F for about 20 minutes. Remove from pans, and brush tops with additional thawed frozen lemonade concentrate then sprinkle generously with granulated sugar.

Makes 18 muffins.

NOTE: A can of frozen lemonade made 2 1/2 dozen muffins with a good amount left over for brushing the tops. To do the extra 1 dozen, follow directions using 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup lemonade, 2 Tablespoons poppyseed, 1/3 cup oil, 1 egg, 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 3/4 cup salt.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Potato Scones

Top o' the mornin' to ya, and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon margarine
1/8 cup + 1 Tablespoon milk
1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon instant potato flakes
1/8 cup butter or hard margarine melted
3/4-1 cup milk
1/2 cup coarsely grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400*F.

In small saucepan heat water and the teaspoon of margarine. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in first amount of milk and potato flakes with a fork. Don't over stir.

Mix together flour and baking powder. Stir in cooled mashed potatoes (those you've made from instant flakes OR 1 cup leftover, cold mashed potatoes). Moisten with second amount of milk* and melted butter to form a soft dough. *Start with 3/4 cup; if dough is very stiff, add up to 1/4 more milk.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead dough lightly, then divide into 8 pieces. Roll pieces into strips, and shape into knots. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with a little milk, and sprinkle with the cheddar cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden and cooked through.

Serve warm with butter.
Yield: 8 large scones.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Bacon And Cornmeal Muffins

One flop and three successful trials later, we have an acceptable Corn Muffin. If you leave out the bacon and make them plain, they're good with butter and jam. With bacon (and maybe 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese and some red pepper flakes, she said suggestively) they're a nice, savoury breakfast muffin.

6-8 slices of bacon
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1  1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Fry/cook bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towel, then chop into small pieces and set aside.

Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

In a second bowl, measure milk and oil. Beat in eggs until well combined. Pour into centre of the well, and mix gently until just combined. Stir in the bacon, then spoon into greased or paper lined muffin tins.

Bake about 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve hot or warm with butter.

Makes 12 large muffins.

Monday, September 06, 2010

Twisted Peanut Butter Muffins

The Fall '10 What's Cooking (Kraft Foods magazine) came the other day, and there was a recipe for peanut butter muffins that I thought looked good. As I lay in bed this morning I contemplated these muffins for breakfast, and decided that plain peanut butter muffins might be a bit boring. "What goes with peanut butter?" I asked myself. Bananas, chocolate, and jam sounded good to me, so I mixed up a batch of muffins and divided the batter three ways to try them all! I think my favourite is peanut butter and jam. They were quite delicious for breakfast, still warm, with coffee. Yum!


Twisted Peanut Butter Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (Kraft light) crunchy peanut butter
1/4 cup hard margarine
1 cup skim milk
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat oven to 375*F and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin- grease, or line with paper liners.

Mix flours, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Cut in peanut butter and margarine with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (as for making biscuits or scones). Add milk and eggs, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. (batter will be lumpy)

Peanut Butter & Banana Muffins: add a large, not over-ripe banana, cut into small chunks. Gently stir in banana pieces to distribute them evenly throughout the batter. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until risen and golden brown on top. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack and cool completely before storing in airtight container.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins: add 3/4 cup chocolate chips to batter, stirring gently to mix them in. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until risen and golden brown on top. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack and cool completely before storing in airtight container.

PB & J:  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Add a teaspoonful of strawberry jam* to the centre of each muffin-cup of batter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until risen and golden brown on top. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack and cool completely before storing in airtight container. *cut down calories/carbs and increase fibre by adding a cup of chopped fresh or frozen strawberries.


Nutrition Facts (as supplied by Kraft Canada, for plain muffin made with light peanut butter) 
per muffin: 200 calories, 9g fat, (1.5g saturated fat) 30 mg cholesterol, 270 mg sodium, 26g* carbohydrates, 2g fibre, 11g sugars, 6g protein.
*add 2.5g carbs (for 28.5g carb) to PB&Banana muffin
*add 7g carbs (for 33g carb) to Chocolate PB muffin
*add 2-5 carbs (for 28-31 carb, depending on the jam you use-check the label) to PB&J muffin. Strawberry pieces will add about 1g carb per muffin.
*you can lower the carb count further by using Splenda artificial sweetener instead of sugar. Try 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup sugar. 

Sunday, July 04, 2010

Two-Fer Scones

Or, "Six of One, Half Dozen of The Other". Originally from "Company's Coming Muffins & More" Cookbook, the "Rich Scones" quickly became a family favourite. When I started needing to kick up my fibre, I began to add a batch of the "Bran Cereal Scones"- a variation of "Current Scones", without the sugar.  Being down in numbers doesn't mean we've ceased to enjoy scones and tea for a Sunday supper, it just means we don't eat two dozen scones at a time. I've been making half a batch of each of our favourites, and it works very well. If you want to make 12 scones of either variety, simply double the ingredients as I've given them here, and use the whole amount of liquid in it. (1 egg + 2/3 cup milk) To make a dozen of each, you'll need two eggs and 1 1/3 cups milk. But you're smart. You figured that out.

Preheat oven to 425*F.

Set two medium/large sized mixing bowls on the counter. One is for the Current/Bran Cereal Scones, and one is for the Rich Scones.

Measure the following ingredients into the bowls as follows:

Bran Cereal Scones                            Rich Scones

1/3 cup all-purpose flour                  1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour                1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lightly crushed
    bran flakes cereal*
2 teaspoons baking powder              1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt                             1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/3 cup currents, if desired

Mix the dry ingredients together. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers, cut in margarine until crumbly- 1/8 cup margarine into the Bran Cereal Scones, and 1/4 cup margaine into the Rich Scones.

In a small measuring cup, measure 2/3 cup milk. Add one large egg and beat to blend well. Pour half into each bowl. Stir each batch of scones with a fork to form a soft dough.

Lightly grease a large baking sheet. Form scones into a 6 inch circle, one on each end of the baking sheet. Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Gently cut each circle into six pie shaped wedges.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until risen and browned slightly. Serve hot with butter and jam.

Yields 6 Bran Cereal and 6 Rich Scones.

*I've used Bran Flakes, Raisin Bran (and omitted the currents), Vector and, in a pinch, Strawberry Special K. Any multi-grain flaked cereal should be fine.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Better Banana Bread

Better because it has wheat germ added to kick up the fibre, and Splenda added to replace half of the sugar. There's still sugar in it, so your anti-sweetener, "if it's good for me I don't like it" children will like it. Just don't tell them about the wheat germ. Or the lowered sugar.


1/2 cup (125 ml) hard margarine, softened
1/2 cup (125 ml) granulated sugar
1/4 cup (50 ml) Splenda artificial sweetener
2 eggs
3 medium (about 1 cup/250 ml) mashed ripe bananas
1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla
1 3/4 (375 ml) all-purpose white flour
1/2 cup (125 ml) wheat germ
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt

Cream together margarine, sugar and Splenda. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat well. Add bananas and mix until fairly smooth.

In another bowl (unless you're like me and you just add everything together in the Kitchen Aid standing mixer and then mix it up...) mix together flour, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to banana mixture stirring only to moisten.

Bake at 350* F in a greased loaf pan for 50 minutes to an hour, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Yield: 1 tasty loaf

Thursday, April 02, 2009

Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins

I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free"Biscuit & Baking Mix" for these. I am very impressed with the results. I bought the baking mix at Safeway in the baking section- near the flour and sugar. The package says you can use it with recipes that call for a baking mix, and so I did. When the kids were little I used to make a "master mix" from flour, lard, salt etc., and this was the base for pancakes, muffins, cakes... a wonderful time saver when I had 3 little twerps running around. I used the master mix recipe (the recipe for muffins that used the master mix) with the "Biscuit Baking Mix". I added oil, as this is just a flour mix. But I was impressed.

2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Biscuit & Baking Mix
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup frozen blueberries, not thawed. (or fresh, when they're in season)

Combine Baking Mix and sugar.

Combine egg, milk, vanilla and oil, and add to dry ingredients. Only mix together until just incorporated.

Gently fold in frozen blueberries.

Spoon into paper lined muffin pans and bake at 375*F for about 20 minutes.

Yield: 12 large muffins.

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Mmm... coffee cake for breakfast. Company's Coming Muffins And More cookbook has a good recipe that I thought could be made better for you. I made it the night before so I wouldn't have to be up really early.

The night before you could mix the "topping" ingredients together in a small bowl, the dry ingredients together, and then the wet ingredients together- except for the baking soda. I would cover the butter/egg/sour cream mixture and put it in the fridge for the night. In the morning, the first thing I would do is add the baking soda to the sour cream mixture. Then I would turn on the oven and prep the baking pan. Now just mix the dry/flour ingredients into the wet, and follow the instructions for layering the batter and the topping in the pan and stick it in the oven. You've got about half an hour to shower now. Go!



1/2 cup hard margarine, softened
1/2 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 cup low fat buttermilk

1/2 cup all purpose (white) flour
1 cup all purpose whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup Demerara sugar (beside the brown sugar at the store)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Cream margarine, Splenda and first egg together in a large bowl. Add second egg. Beat well. Add baking soda, sour cream and buttermilk. Mix well.

In a smaller bowl, mix flours, baking powder and salt. Add to batter. Stir to mix. Put half the batter in a well greased Bundt cake pan*.

Stir Demerara sugar, cinnamon and walnuts together. Sprinkle half over the batter. Spoon the second half of the batter here and there over the top. Sprinkle the second half of the cinnamon mixture over all.

Bake at 350*F for half an hour, until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Serve warm. (or cold the next morning... or reheat for a few seconds in the microwave...)

*After I chose the Bundt pan and put it in the oven I realized that I might have trouble serving the cake. The pan was well greased, though, and it came out very well. The benefit of using the Bundt pan was even baking throughout, without the edges drying out before the centre was baked. The original recipe calls for a 9" square pan; If you use a square pan it should work, but it might take a little longer to bake. (45 minutes in the original recipe) Check it frequently after half an hour so you can catch it as soon as the centre of the cake is baked, before it gets too brown on the edges. You might find that an 8" square pan is big enough for this recipe, as replacing the sugar with Splenda reduces the volume of the batter quite a bit.

Per Serving:(1/8th)

Calories: 345
Fat: 19 g
Saturated Fats: 0.86 g
Cholesterol: 48 mg
Sodium: 415 mg (-74 mg if you omit the salt in the recipe)
Carbohydrates: 37 g, 1/16=19 g
Fibre: 2 g
Sugars: 29 g, 1/16=14 g
Protein: 9 g
Potassium: 15 mg

Per Serving: (1/12)

Calories: 230
Fat: 13 g
Saturated Fats: 0.57 g
Cholesterol: 32 mg
Sodium: 277 mg (-49 mg if you omit the salt in the recipe)
Carbohydrates: 25 g
Fibre: 1 g
Sugars: 19 g
Protein: 6 g
Potassium: 10 mg

(1/16th of the cake = 19 g carbohydrates, 14 g of those from sugars)

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Fruity Oatmeal Muffins

Originally "Company's Coming Muffins & More" Oatmeal Muffins, these have had the fruit and fibre kicked up. Great for breakfast, a quick snack or even a fairly guilt free dessert. Try them with a little butter and honey.

1 cup (250 ml) whole wheat flour
1 cup (250 ml) rolled oats
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) brown sugar, packed
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal
1 Tablespoon (15 ml) baking powder
1 teaspoon (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) salt
1/2 teaspoon (2 ml) cinnamon
3/4 cup (175 ml) raisins
1 cup (250 ml) chopped, cored, but not peeled apple (about 1 small)
1 egg
2 Tablespoons (25 ml) molasses, treacle or black treacle
1/4 cup (50 ml) Canola oil
1 cup (250 ml) skim milk
2 teaspoons (10 ml) vanilla

Preheat oven to 400*F.

Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, Splenda, 10 grain cereal, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, raisins and apple in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.

In a small bowl, beat egg until frothy. Mix in molasses/treacle, oil, milk and vanilla. Pour into well. Stir only to moisten. Let stand 5 minutes.

Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups. Divide between 16 cups.

Put muffin tins into 400* F oven. After 5 minutes reduce oven temperature to 350*F. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until tops are browned and bounce back when touched, or a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove paper lined muffins to cooling rack. Let un-lined muffins rest for 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.

Makes 16 muffins.

Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Buckwheat Pancakes

Very "crunchy", but really good! Especially with fresh No Sugar Added Raspberry Syrup... Yummy!


1 cup Bob's Red Mill Creamy Buckwheat cereal
1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar or artificial sweetener
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 Tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 Tablespoons additional buttermilk if needed

The night before: combine buckwheat cereal and buttermilk, cover and store in fridge overnight.

Stir together flours, sugar (or sweetener), baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Add egg, oil and vanilla to buckwheat mixture; stir into dry ingredients. If batter is too thick, add the additional amounts of buttermilk.

Fry pancakes on a lightly greased griddle or skillet. When bubbles appear and top gets "dull" looking, turn the pancakes to cook the second side. If they're getting very brown on the first side before the bubbles have time to appear, the griddle is too hot, so turn the heat down and cook them a little slower.

Makes about 8 pancakes.

Friday, February 01, 2008

Multi-Grain Banana Bread

This is good. It turned out very nicely. It didn't rise as high as the regular sugar-laden loaf, but has a light and slightly crunchy texture. The cake & pastry flour is a little lighter than regular all-purpose flour, and seems to be a good companion to the whole wheat flour and whole grains. I have to get it written down before I forget what I did...

1/3 cup hard margarine, softened
1/3 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
1- 100g container fat-free, no sugar added yogurt, any flavour
1/2 cup multi-grain cereal (such as Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal)
3/4 cup cake & pastry flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350*F.

(I used the Kitchen Aid mixer...) Beat margarine, Splenda, eggs, bananas and yogurt together. Add multi-grain cereal and continue beating until ingredients are well mixed.

Mix flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add to banana mixture and stir to combine. Mix just until dry ingredients are incorporated.

Spread batter into a lightly greased loaf pan, and bake for 45-55 minutes, until loaf is browned and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Makes 1 loaf.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A Great Grain Pancake Idea

If you have a mixed marriage as I do, (1 Diabetic- me, + a bunch of regular people), and you have Anti-Grainites in the bunch, you might give this a try:

Mix up a batch of Basic Pancakes, then add 2 or 3 Tablespoons of multi-grain cereal (like Bob's Red Mill 10-Grain cereal) to the last bit of batter. I've found that with the Basic Pancake batter, I can make 8 x 4-5 inch pancakes for "them" add the cereal and get 2 or 3 pancakes for me.

I've used this trick when making waffles as well. Try it with whatever pancake or waffle mix you use- just make enough for the family, then add the cereal for yourself.

I've found E.D. Smith No Sugar Added Syrup to be not bad, (it was better when I added half a teaspoon of maple flavouring to it...) but I often have pancakes with no sugar added jam or peanut butter and jam (for the extra protein).

Basic Pancakes

A good, basic scratch batter. You can kick it up by replacing the oil with applesauce and adding a half teaspoon of cinnamon and a finely chopped apple, or make blueberry pancakes by adding a cup of blueberries, or- use your imagination!

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups milk
2 Tablespoons oil

Preheat your griddle, skillet or frying pan. (I use a flat griddle- one that lays across 2 burners on the electric stove, or a 10 inch skillet, and I turn the stove to setting "3" or "4" out of 10.)

In a medium sized mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a small mixing bowl, beat together egg, milk and oil.

Gently mix the milk mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir just to combine. Mixture may be a little lumpy, and that's alright.

Lightly grease the griddle/ skillet and spoon batter onto hot cooking surface. (I use a gravy ladle for spooning the batter, at about 1/4 cup batter per pancake)

Cook on first side until bubbles form on the uncooked surface of the pancake and the top gets dull looking, and loses it's shine. Then flip pancakes over and cook until the second side is brown. (just give them about 3 minutes , then check the bottom by flipping one over to see how brown it is getting.)

Serve hot with butter/ margarine and syrup or jam.

Makes about 12 - 4 inch pancakes.