Pear Cardamom Muffins (Low Fat)

I love love love pears. From happy Bosc to crunchy Korean, pears are a delicate and delicious fruit. I love them poached, in salads, the JellyBelly version - you name it, its delicious. So after making three batches of the Apple Cinnamon Muffins, I needed a little change and pears just happened to be on sale!

This version stays pretty true to the Apple Cinnamon recipe, incorporating applesauce (or in this case pear-sauce) rather than using oil. The pear sauce is cooked with cardamom, which is a fragrant Indian spice that is often used in chai tea, kheer (rice pudding), and other sweets. The cardamom lends an exotic feel to a rather homey muffin. I also added a bit of low fat yogurt to this recipe to add a bit more moisture and fluff. The yogurt has this way of making the muffins more cakey.

Yes,  its the same picture for the apple cinnamon muffins. Sue me, they look exactly the same!

Pear Cardamom MuffinsMakes 1 dozen regular muffins or 9 larger muffins

1 1/2 cup flour3/4 cup sugar1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder1 teaspoon cinnamon1/4 cup chopped almonds or walnuts
pinch of salt 1/2 cup milk1 1/2 cup pears, diced
4 cardamom pods, seeds only and chopped1 egg, beaten
3 tablespoons low fat yogurt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl. (Flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, nuts).
3. Make pear sauce. Place 1/2 cup diced pears in a microwave safe mug, then add a teaspoon of water and the cardamom seeds. Cover with a small plate. Microwave on high for two minutes. Mash with a fork and microwave until the pears have broken down to an applesauce texture. A little over or under cooked is fine. 
4. Add all wet ingredients: diced pear, pear sauce, egg, milk, and yogurt. Mix by hand to incorporate, but don't go crazy, since over mixing yields denser baked goods. Mix only as much as necessary.
5. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or a few sprays of Pam or canola oil. Spoon about a 1.5 tablespoons into a each liner. (Or two tablespoons for the larger muffins, which the batter will fill almost the whole cup.)
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool before eating.

Chocolate Almond Muffins (Low Fat)

On my never ending quest to make breakfast a priority rather than an after thought, I proudly present you with Chocolate Almond Muffins. Reminiscent of Cocoa Puffs and the cocoa dusted Diamond brand almonds, the muffin is chocolately, but not overly so, and chock full of nutty goodness. I modified the recipe from Sparkpeople (link) and used ingredients I had on hand. Unfortunately that meant the muffins would be low fat rather than fat free, but its not like I'm counting calories anyway.

Chocolate Almond Muffins
Makes 12, takes 20-30 min


1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup slivered almonds

3/4 cup (6oz. container) low fat yogurt
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl, sifting to avoid large lumps. Include the almonds here.
3. In a different bowl, mix all the wet ingredients.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry bowl and fold. Be careful not to overmix the batter as this will make the muffins too dense. Its okay if there is still some dry powder here and there.
5. Bake for 12 minutes. 
6. Cool and enjoy.
    

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I'm always hunting for ways to make sure I eat breakfast. A simple apple muffin recipe caught my eye, and oh, do they make the kitchen smell heavenly! I modified the original recipe to eliminate the oil, add a kick of candied ginger, and add some crunch with slivered almonds.

If you don't want to add oil to a recipe, you can replace the oil with applesauce or pureed pumpkin in a 1:1 ratio. I didn't want to use oil or open a jar of applesauce just for one batch of muffins. So I made my own applesauce in the microwave. I put about 1/2 a cup of diced apple in a mug, covered it,  microwaved it for a minute and a half, and mashed it with a fork. To remove excess water, I microwaved it for another minute to get the right consistency for applesauce. I did not add extra sugar or cinnamon for the applesauce, just used it straight out of the microwave. The muffins came out great without the oil or processed applesauce!

Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Makes 1 dozen muffins

1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup applesauce or canola oil
1 egg, beaten
1 cup finely diced apples
1/4 cup slivered almonds or walnuts
2 tablespoons diced candied ginger
brown sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees
2. Sift all dry ingredients together in a bowl. (Flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt).
3. Add all wet ingredients, apple, nuts, and ginger. Mix by hand to incorporate, but don't go crazy, since over mixing yields denser baked goods. Mix only as much as necessary.
4. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Spoon about a 1.5 tablespoons into a each liner, then top with about a teaspoon of brown sugar (optional).
5. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool before eating.

Easy Pumpkin Muffins

If you know anything about Kelly and I, you know we're suckers for pumpkin goodies. Pumpkin spice latte's, pumpkin loaves, pumpkin cheesecake - you name it, we want it. Its almost a shame that pumpkin is an autumn-only food.

Today's post celebrates pumpkin season in the spirit of my recent breakfast goods kick. When you Google "pumpkin muffins," the first result isn't the Food Network or Recipes.com. Its a food blog called "Smitten Kitchen" Of course, I modified the recipe, adding a few other fall ingredients.

Pumpkin Muffins

Adapted from the American club, in Kohler, Wisconsin via Gourmet Magazine via Smitten Kitchen

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin (from a 15 ounce can)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon clove

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup chopped cranberries

1/2 teaspoon orange zest

1 tablespoon grated ginger

1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon to top

1. Put oven in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter muffin tins.
2. Whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, spices, 1 1/4 cups sugar, ginger, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth. Add walnuts and cranberries. Then whisk in flour and baking powder until just combined.
3. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in another bowl.
4. Divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full). 
5. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. 
6. Bake until puffed and golden brown and wooden pick or skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.
7. Cool in pan on a rack five minutes, then transfer muffins from pan to rack and cool to warm or room temperature.

Yields about 12-18 muffins. Sorry no pictures - I ate them too quickly!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

What do you give at engagement parties? While most cases I'd fall to a bottle of wine, in this case, the couple didn't drink often. So what to do?

The future bride mentioned a penchant for chocolate chips. The party was happening at brunch - so what better than homemade muffins?

I followed the recipe on Food.com which got really good reviews, and actually argued the recipe called for too MANY chocolate chips! Like. And it was fast. I would totally make them again.

Tropical Paradise Muffins, or Kelly's Fruity Muffins

It's finally fall! I love fall - the beautiful, cool weather; the changing leaves; the hearty foods! And of course, now that the weather's cooling off, it means a lot more baking.

I woke up this morning and wanted something sweet. I thought about pancakes, but they can be so cliche. So, as I surveyed my kitchen (and found an overabundance of fruit), these muffins sort of materialized in my head.

They're a perfect transition from summer to fall: they take the tropical flavors of summer and marry them into a very dense, sticky, baked treasure of delectable yumminess. Mmmm!

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups cubed watermelon (all seeds removed!)
1/3 cup of strawberry-banana juice
2.5 ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 heaping tbs. apple sauce
3/4 cup shredded coconut, unsweetened
1/2 cup oatmeal

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease muffin tin. (I used muffin liners, but they stuck to the muffins big time. Therefore, I highly suggest greasing your pan instead!)
   
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, sugars, and applesauce.
4. In a blender, puree watermelon, juice, and bananas.
5. Add half of the puree to the flour mixture and blend well, making sure to scrape down the sides. Repeat with second half of puree.
6. Fold in coconut and oatmeal.
7. Pour into muffin tin and bake until top is dark golden brown and springs back when pushed. You can also use the toothpick test - insert a toothpick and if it comes out clean, the muffins are done! **Note: This batter doesn't rise very much, to fill your pans almost to the top.

Yields approximately ten to twelve muffins.