Displaying items by tag: vanilla
Friday, 29 January 2010 19:32

Banana Nut Muffin

Take any of the banana bread recipes you know, cut the baking time to 20 minutes and you’ve got a great banana muffin recipe. However, if you’re new to this kind of sweets, you can try our banana nut muffins easy recipe by following the instructions below. It’s easy to prepare and even easier to eat.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups flour (all purpose flour is good, whole-grain flour is even better)
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 3 bananas, mashed (pick really ripe bananas, the kind than nobody feels like eating them anymore)
  • 1 cup nuts, chopped, raw or toasted (pecans or walnuts are also great)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar (if you want them sweeter, make it 3/4 cup)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

How to cook the banana nut muffins:

As usually when baking muffins, the dry ingredients need to be mixed together in a bowl and the wet ingredients in another one. Beat the eggs before mixing them with the rest of the stuff. Then gently add the wet ingredients mix to the dry mix, stirring carefully, until you get a thick and chunky batter. When ready, with a spoon or an ice scoop, fill the cups in the muffin tin, previously greased or lined with paper cups. Greasing the tin is fine, but paper cups ease very much your cleaning work after the cooking is done. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, then try them with a toothpick to check if they are done. Let them cool a little before taking them out of the pan.

Published in Banana Muffins
Saturday, 23 January 2010 19:24

Low Carb Muffins

Such muffin recipes can help you satisfy your sweet cravings even when you’re on a low-carb diet. Basically, any muffin recipe can be turned into a low-carb one by replacing the sugar with a sweetener and the all purpose flour with whole-grain flour or with almond flour or soy flour. In this recipe we’ve used almond flour and ground flax seed.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1 cup ground flax seed
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/3 cup liquid sweetener (instead of sugar)
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Cooking procedure:

Stir together in a bowl all dry ingredients, then make a well in the middle of the bowl. In another bowl, mix the eggs with the heavy cream and with the sugar substitute. Add about 1/3 cup of water or soda, then pour them over the dry mix and stir everything well. Prepare the muffin tin by greasing it with butter or by lining it with muffin paper cups. Fill the cups 2/3 with the muffin batter. Take care to spoon equal amounts in each cup, so they can get baked all in the same time. Bake them for about 20 minutes, then try one with a toothpick to see if they are ready. The toothpick should come out clear, that’s the sign you’re done. If you’re a long term low-carb dieter, you may welcome some variations of this recipe. Bananas, blackberries, pumpkin, apricots or sugar-free fruit jam would make great muffins, healthy and low on carbohydrates, perfect for breakfast or for snacks over the day.

Published in Healthy Muffins
Wednesday, 20 January 2010 19:20

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins are in top of many people’s preferences when it comes to muffin recipes. If you use high-quality ingredients and keep fats and sugar to a minimum, blueberry muffins can make a delicious and healthy breakfast. Blueberries have an excellent taste when cooked, that’s why they make such a nice addition to many sweets recipes. This recipe is tasty and very easy to make.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups whole-grain flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, finely ground
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup mashed bananas (choose only ripe ones and mash them in a blender)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup milk (you can replace it with soy milk if you want)
  • 1 cup blueberries (organic are best, but others can do as well)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Cooking Directions:

Grease the muffin pan or line it with paper cups. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl: the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the sugar and the cinnamon. Stir them well and add the blueberries. Separately, mix the mashed banana with the milk, egg and vanilla extract, then combine the dry and wet mixtures to make the muffin batter. Then spoon it into the muffin cups, taking care not to fill them up to the top edge. Bake muffins for about 20 minutes. You can use a toothpick to test if they are ready: stick it into one muffin and if it comes out clean, it means you can take them out of the oven and let them cool for a while before taking them out of the pan. Serve them at room temperature.

Published in Blueberry Muffins