Showing posts with label #MuffinMonday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #MuffinMonday. Show all posts

Monday, August 11, 2014

Blackberry Date Buckwheat Muffins #MuffinMonday #GlutenFree #Vegan

With dates for sweetness, coconut cream for richness and fresh blackberries mixed through, these blackberry date buckwheat muffins may not be the best looking on the block but they sure are tasty.

Food Lust People Love: With dates for sweetness, coconut cream for richness and fresh blackberries mixed through, these Blackberry Date Buckwheat Muffins may not be the best looking on the block but they sure are tasty.


We’ve raised our daughters to follow their hearts and find their own ways, while guiding them in what we think is right. But I tell you true, this learning thing goes both ways. I value their opinions and really do try to listen when they send me links or tell me about things I should know or reconsider. Both of them now eat mostly vegetarian fare, limiting their meat consumption to the rare burger (no pun intended) and special occasions.

They have friends who eat only vegetarian with a vegan or two in the mix. Add in a gluten-free friend or three, some my own, and all of this has made me more open to trying new dishes and new methods and even some substitutions that I would never have considered four or five years ago.

I’m still not a fan of most of the faux meats but, I've discovered, prepared properly, they can be delicious. (If you are ever in the Boston area, I can highly recommend a little Thai place called My Thai Vegan Cafe, where every dish we’ve tried is fabulous. My only complaint was that the curry “duck” didn’t have enough sauce, because it was that good.)

Our younger daughter is in London now for an eight-week internship and it has given her a chance to catch up with some old friends from our Kuala Lumpur years. She and her roommate took the train down to Brighton to see the sights, pick some blackberries and hang out. I understand there was a great deal of laughing over old photos as well. We were chatting yesterday and she told me about the wonderful vegan buckwheat pancakes that they had made for breakfast one morning, using dates, coconut milk and some of those blackberries. That was all the inspiration I needed for this morning’s muffins.

If you’ve never baked with buckwheat before, it’s pretty dark and, I must admit, doesn’t make the prettiest muffin. Even using half buckwheat and half white gluten-free flour, these guys are very dark, which I am sure was not helped along by the pureed dates and mashed blackberries. Maybe I’m blaming buckwheat flour when the dates are really more responsible! But the bottom line is that they weren’t heavy and actually have a light texture. If the color puts you off, just close your eyes and bite!

Blackberry Date Buckwheat Muffins


The recipe for these tasty muffins was adapted from this recipe for Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 355ml coconut cream (unsweetened)
1 cup or 145g dates, pitted (weight with pits = about 5 3/4 oz or 165g
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup or 150g fresh blackberries or berry of your choice
1 cup or 130g buckwheat flour
1 cup or 150g gluten-free white flour blend (I use Dove Farms.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Optional: 1-2 tablespoons pearl sugar for decorating before baking

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining it with paper muffin cups.

Pit your dates, if they haven’t come already pitted, by slicing them open with a sharp knife and pushing the pit out.

Process them in a blender or food processor with the coconut cream until they are reduced to mostly small pieces. The occasional larger bit is okay, in fact, possibly desirable for added texture and chewiness in the muffin. (This, according to my daughter. She suggested adding even more chopped dates but I decided that the blackberries were enough.)



In a large mixing bowl, combine your flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

That's the buckwheat flour on the right, peeking out from under the baking soda, baking powder and salt. Apparently buckwheat, despite its name, has no relation to wheat but comes from the rhubarb family. Who knew?!




In a small bowl, mash your blackberries lightly with a fork and cut any really large ones in half.

Add in the blended date/coconut cream mixture and mix well with the fork.



Pour the wet ingredients into your dry and stir until well blended.



Divide the batter between the muffin cups.



Top with pearl sugar to decorate, if desired.

I know, I know, it doesn't really help their looks but I was trying!

Bake for 15-20 minutes. You can’t really tell doneness by golden color with these, so test if an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Food Lust People Love: With dates for sweetness, coconut cream for richness and fresh blackberries mixed through, these Blackberry Date Buckwheat Muffins may not be the best looking on the block but they sure are tasty.


Remove from the pan to cool on a wire rack.

Food Lust People Love: With dates for sweetness, coconut cream for richness and fresh blackberries mixed through, these Blackberry Date Buckwheat Muffins may not be the best looking on the block but they sure are tasty.
Enjoy!

Food Lust People Love: With dates for sweetness, coconut cream for richness and fresh blackberries mixed through, these Blackberry Date Buckwheat Muffins may not be the best looking on the block but they sure are tasty.
An inside shot! 

Monday, August 4, 2014

BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) Muffins #MuffinMonday

Sun-dried tomatoes, crispy smoked bacon and still crunchy baby gem lettuce cooked briefly in bacon fat make a fabulous BLT muffin! Perfect for breakfast or snacking on the go.

Baby gem lettuce, quick fried in bacon fat, is a treat all on its own. Added to muffin batter with crispy bacon and sun-dried tomatoes, it makes a fabulous baked BLT that is handy for breakfast or snack time on the go.
I pride myself on being an adventurous eater. That said, the first time I encountered cooked lettuce was in the kitchen of a Dutch friend who was making lettuce soup. The sound of it didn’t appeal to me at all so I was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was.

Since then I have enjoyed peas simmered with lettuce and butter the French way, grilled Romaine in salads and wilted lettuce cooked in bacon fat, in the Southern tradition. It wasn’t something I remember either of my grandmothers making but that doesn’t stop me from adopting it now.

For this week’s Muffin Monday and the start of Bacon Month, a BLT muffin with baby gem lettuce seared in bacon fat seemed like the obvious choice! I used my easy to make homemade sun-dried tomatoes but store bought would work just as nicely.

BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato) Muffins


Ingredients
4 1/2+ oz or 130g streaky smoked bacon (I used two thick cut slices and two normal slices because that’s what I had on hand.)
3/4 oz or 20g sun-dried tomatoes
3 small baby gem lettuces – about 7oz or 200g in total
2 cups or 250g flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon English mustard powder
Black pepper
1/4 cup or 60ml bacon fat and/or canola or other vegetable oil
1 egg
1 cup or 240ml milk

Method
Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in hot water and set aside to plump.



Fry the bacon until crispy and pour the fat into a 1/4 cup or 60ml measuring cup. Top up, if necessary to the full amount with oil.  Set aside. Do not wash the residual grease out of the pan! We are going to fry the lettuce in it. Drain the bacon on some paper towels.



Trim the brown end off of your baby gem lettuces, being careful to leave enough of the cores so they don’t fall apart. Now cut them each into halves.



Heat the bacon pan until quite hot and lay the baby gems in it, cut side down. Fry just a few minutes until browned and then turn them over carefully.

Brown the other side. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.



Cut the cores out of the lettuces and chop the leaves. I ended up with about 1 cupful of lettuce.


Drain the tomatoes and chop them into smaller bits, reserving 12 bigger pieces to garnish the muffins, if desired. Chop the crispy bacon finely, once again reserving 12 bigger pieces to garnish the muffins, if desired.





Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with paper muffin cups or by greasing it thoroughly.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and mustard powder plus a few good grinds of fresh black pepper. My grinder actually has a mix of peppercorns, if you are wondering about the pink and green flecks.



In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together the egg, milk and room temperature bacon fat/oil.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredient bowl and mix slightly.



Add in the chopped bacon, chopped lettuce and chopped tomatoes. Fold gently to combine.



Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Top with reserved bacon and tomato, if you kept some aside.



Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool slightly in the pan. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.


Enjoy!






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Monday, July 28, 2014

Beet Cornbread Muffins for #MuffinMonday


Beets give these muffins their distinctive bright color but the corn and cornmeal mellow the beety flavor making these muffins light and delicious. 

When I starting dating my husband more than 30 years ago, he would not eat three things: olives, beets and asparagus. He’s overcome his dislike of olives and asparagus, and actually really likes them both, but I am still working on getting him to eat beets. When I saw this recipe in the free supermarket (Waitrose) recipe booklet, it seemed worth a try. Let me just admit right now that he wasn’t crazy about these muffins. But my friend Glenys and I, beet lovers both, really liked them. I'll just keep on trying.

Ingredients
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons or 200g fine cornmeal or polenta
Generous pinch dried chili flakes or crushed red peppers
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 heaped cup or 195g canned corn, drained
8 2/3 oz or 245g cooked beets (I bought these in a vacuum pack in the supermarket – four small to medium-sized beets)
1/4 cup or 50g butter, melted and cooled
Scant 2/3 cup or 150g thick, Greek-style yogurt
2 large eggs

Method
Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by lining it with paper muffin cups or greasing it.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your cornmeal with dried red pepper, baking powder and salt.



Puree your corn and beets together in a food processor or with a hand blender until relatively smooth. A few corn kernels left here and there are fine.



Add in the eggs, yogurt and melted butter and process or blend again.



Pour the wet ingredients into dry mixture and stir until well combined.



Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin cups.



Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.



These make a great addition to any brunch or luncheon menu.



Enjoy!


Monday, July 21, 2014

Pink Lady and Walnut Muffins #MuffinMonday #glutenfree

Walnuts and beautiful Pink Lady apple chunks bake up lovely in gluten-free muffins for the perfect breakfast or snack. 

This week I am blessed to be staying at a dear friend’s house in London. We’ve settled my younger daughter in her temporary housing for her summer internship, with a new sim card for her phone and some essential toiletries. Hard goodbyes were made easier by plans to meet again for dinner later in the week. So now it’s time to play. We are off today on the train to Brighton to visit my friend’s daughter and treat her to lunch. Since it’s Muffin Monday, we decided to make some muffins to take along for the trip.

Ingredients
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 cup or 240ml buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups or 240g gluten-free flour blend (I used Dove’s Farm.)
1/2 teaspoon xanthum gum
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup or 60g walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large Pink Lady apple
2 tablespoon brown sugar for topping, optional

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your muffin tin or line it with paper liners.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, canola and vanilla extract.



Peel, core then chop the apple.

Aren't the Pink Ladies just the most beautiful apples?
Add it immediately to the egg/buttermilk mixture, stirring well to make sure all the little pieces of the apple are covered so they don’t turn brown.  Set aside.



In a large bowl, mix together the flour, xanthum gum, sugar, baking powder, baking powder, walnuts and salt.


Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.



Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and top each with a sprinkle of brown sugar, if desired.


Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.



Enjoy!


Monday, July 14, 2014

Fresh Rhubarb Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins
Fresh rhubarb is tart and wonderful in baked goods, from pies to crumbles to muffins. These will start your morning off right! 

Twenty-one years ago today, we were enjoying a warm summer day in Paris and the festivities of the Bastille Day holiday, counting down the days to the scheduled caesarean section that would bring our second daughter into the world. Since she was being born in France, I had tried to convince the doctor that Le Quatorze Juillet would be an appropriate day for her birthday, so we could celebrate her and La Belle France every year with fireworks, picnics and overhead aerial displays. But he wasn’t having any of it, the party pooper. What’s the point of being able to choose your child’s birthday if you can’t pick a fun date, right? As it turns out, we moved away from Paris before she turned two years old so the 14th of July lost significance in our daily lives. But it still comes to mind every year as we prepare to celebrate our daughter's birthday.

Reminiscing about Paris also makes me think of rhubarb. I’ve told the story briefly here, about the late discovery of rhubarb in our Paris garden. Ever since that time, I’ve made every effort to take advantage of it when I see it in my market or nearby grocery store. Rhubarb is the best and it’s one of our favorite things.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup or 160ml canola or other light oil
3/4 cup or 180ml buttermilk (or almost 3/4 cup milk plus 2 teaspoons vinegar)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup or 130g chopped fresh rhubarb

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Put liners in the muffin cups or grease them well with butter or non-stick spray.

Cut your rhubarb into pieces, about 1cm or 1/2 inch wide. Set aside the prettiest 12 for decorating the tops before baking.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins


Whisk together your flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins
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Whisk together the canola, buttermilk, vanilla and eggs in another bowl, until combined well.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins
Add caption

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. There should be a little dry flour still showing. Gently fold in your sliced rhubarb.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins

Divide the batter among the muffin cups.   Decorate each with a pink piece of rhubarb.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins


Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins
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Enjoy! To my French friends, I also say, Bonne Fête Nationale!

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins

And a very happy birthday to my good friend, Margaret, who does indeed share a birthday with France. I'm sure the fireworks are just for you, MJ!

Food Lust People Love: Fresh Rhubarb Muffins


Two more rhubarb recipes for your enjoyment! 

Food Lust People Love:
Rhubarb Nectarine Puff Pastry Tarts

Not the prettiest, but this one is delicious and easy!