Jam Filled Almond Muffins

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Ready in: 1 hour
Yield: 1 dozen muffins
Ease of Prep: Easy
Recipe Ingredients
1 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk (see Tip)
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup blackberry, blueberry, raspberry or cherry jam
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tablespoon granulated sugar


Recipe Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.
3. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Add buttermilk, orange juice, oil and vanilla; whisk to blend. Add to the dry ingredients and mix with a rubber spatula just until moistened.
4. Scoop half the batter into the prepared pan. Mix jam and almond extract; drop a generous teaspoonful into the center of each muffin. Spoon on the remaining batter, filling each muffin cup completely. Sprinkle with almonds, then sugar.
5. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Tip: You can use buttermilk powder in place of fresh buttermilk. Or make "sour milk": mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1 cup milk.

Health Advantages: low calorie, low sat fat, low sodium, heart healthy, healthy weight.
Nutrition Information
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per muffin
Calories: 229 cal Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Carbohydrates: 33 g Dietary Fiber: 2 g Cholesterol: 36 mg
Fat: 8 g Sodium: 182 mg Saturated Fat: 1 g
Protein: 6 g Potassium: 77 mg Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 fat

Morning Muffins

Hands-On Time: 5 minutes
Ready In: 25 minutes
Makes: 12 muffins
Ingredients

1 cup sour milk*
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup oat flour**
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup instant oats
1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/4 cup almonds, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease 12 muffin cups.
2. Combine sour milk, applesauce, butter, vanilla extract, egg and brown sugar and blend well.
3. Stir together oat flour, wheat flour, baking soda and cinnamon.
4. Add flour mixture to wet mixture and blend well.
5. Fold in oats, almonds and apricots.
6. Fill muffin tins. These do not rise very high, so a full muffin cup is fine.
7. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

*Ingredient Tip
*Sour milk is easy to make -- add a tablespoon of vinegar to a one cup measure and fill to the top with milk. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Note
**Oat flour doesn't need to be bought -- make your own by pureeing instant oatmeal in the blender until a fine dry powder is formed.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Hands-On Time: 15 minutes
Ready In: 45 minutes
Yield: 1 dozen rolls

Ingredients
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup mini chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling on top

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin, or line with paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, oil , eggs and sugar until well blended.
3. In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Add to the pumpkin mixture and whisk until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each about 2/3 full. Sprinkle a few more chips on top of the muffins.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick, inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack.

Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Ready in: 40 minutes
Yield: 1 dozen muffins
Ease of Prep: Easy
Recipe Ingredients
1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk (see Tip)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white whole-wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour (see Shopping Tip)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries


Recipe Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.
3. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.
4. Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

Wrap each in plastic and freeze in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. To reheat, remove plastic, wrap muffin in a paper towel and microwave on High for 30 to 60 seconds.

Tip: No buttermilk? Mix 1 tablespoon lemon juice into 1 cup milk.

Shopping Tip: White whole-wheat flour, made from a special variety of white wheat, is light in color and flavor but has the same nutritional properties as regular whole wheat. Whole-wheat pastry flour can be used as a substitute here. Both can be found in the natural-foods section of the supermarket or online from King Arthur Flour, bakerscatalogue.com.

Health Advantages: low calorie, low sat fat, low cholesterol, low sodium, heart healthy, healthy weight.
Nutrition Information
Servings Per Recipe: 12
Amount Per muffin
Calories: 185 cal Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Carbohydrates: 27 g Dietary Fiber: 2 g Cholesterol: 18 mg
Fat: 7 g Sodium: 245 mg Saturated Fat: 1 g
Protein: 4 g Potassium: 42 mg Monounsaturated Fat: 4 g
Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 other carbohydrate, 1 1/2 fat

Homemade English Muffins

Homemade English Muffins

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 1/4 t instant yeast
• 1 T butter (at room temperature)
• 3/4 cup milk (at room temperature)
• cornmeal for sprinkling

In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt and yeast. mix in the butter and 3/4 cup of the milk. Add a little more milk if the dough is too dry. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, place in lightly oiled bowl and roll to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about an hour. Divide the dough into 6 or 8 pieces and shape into balls. Lay parchment paper on a baking sheet and lightly coat with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal. Move the dough balls to the baking sheet evenly spaced apart (giving them room to rise more). Cover pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow them to rise for another hour. Heat the oven to 350 F and heat up a skillet on medium heat on the stove. Brush the skillet with oil and gently transfer the dough balls to the skillet a few at a time. Allow them to cook on the skillet for 5-8 minutes, until the bottoms are nicely browned. Flip and cook the other side for about 5-8 minutes more. Next transfer quickly to a baking sheet. bake for about 5-8 minutes. Transfer the baked muffins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing or serving.

*I need to try this... haven't tried it yet.