Banana Date Muffins

I love dates - especially Medjool dates. Like all fruits that naturally have a pit, dates taste much better if you purchase them with the pit still intact. Can you imagine buying a pitted avocado or a pitted peach? It wouldn't taste very good. Buy your dates with the pit and always sample before purchasing. Dates can look sweet and juicy on the outside and be raw and dry and on the inside. At the Sunday Farmer's Market in front of the civic center on Market and 7th, there is a woman who sells a variety of dates. I usually sample one of each variety and I always buy the Medjool ones. I guess I just feel I have to sample the others in case I am surprised to discover that they suddenly taste superior. Keep your dates refrigerated for up to two weeks. Otherwise freeze them. Dates are nature's energy snack. Add them to bananas and yogurt in a smoothie. Add them to bitter green salads with goat cheese. Add them to a bowl of oatmeal, a banana and peanut butter sandwich. Dates - the food and the activity - are versatile, so have fun with them. I bought a huge bag recently and when we had some super ripe bananas, I decided it was time to bake dates in the muffins. Because dates have so much natural sweetness, you can omit all other sugar.


Banana Date Muffins :)


Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup flax meal
3/4 cup oat bran
1 cup chopped walnuts
3 heaping tablespoons peanut butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsps cinnamon
3 ripe bananas
2 cups Medjool dates, chopped
1  cup dried cranberries
1 cup soy milk
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, butter two loaf pans.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, flax meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. In a separate bowl mash the bananas, add in the mango chunks, dried cranberries, soy milk, eggs and almond extract. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until incorporated.
4. Spread the batter evenly into the loaf pans.
5. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

Healthy Blueberry Bites

I think that mini muffins are a very American comfort food. Who doesn't love to see these bite size goodies at home, work or a party. These ones are more breakfast / energy muffins than dessert muffins. Made with complete healthy ingredients and blueberries for sweetness. These blueberry bites taste great with almond butter or apricot jam. These recipe is adapted from the wonderful kid's cookbook Healthy Yummies of Young Tummies. 

Healthy Blueberry Bites

Makes 28 mini bites

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup oat bran

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs whites, lightly beaten

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup safflower oil

1 3/4 cups soy milk

2 cups frozen blueberries

Pumpkin seeds for garnish

Directions:

1. Lightly butter the mini muffin tins.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

3. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl beat the eggs whites, honey, oil and soy milk. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring until moistened.

4. Fold in the blueberries.

5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top.

6. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until lightly browned - Enjoy!

Nichole's Compost Muffins (aka Energy Breakfast Muffins)

My awesome roommate, Nichole, made these delicious and healthy muffins for a recent camping trip with her family. Lucky for me - her fam didn't eat them all so I got to try the left overs and they were fantastic! They are whole grain, feel-good muffins. Her recipe has been adapted from this Bob's Red Mill recipe. I learned from Nichole that in order to get the nutrients from flax seeds, they have to be ground up into flax meal. Ground Flax seeds are a good source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. You can buy flax seeds and ground them yourself, as we do, or you can buy the flax meal. The nutrients in ground flax seeds are more easily absorbed. HERE is a great source of information on flax seeds. These muffins taste great alone or with some peanut butter. My friends, Natalie & Maxine, love these muffins with a spread of butter too. Enjoy!



Nichole's Compost Muffins
(Makes about 15 muffins)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown flax meal
3/4 cup oat bran
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp maple cream
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots (about 3 carrots)
2 peeled and shredded apples (about 2 apples)
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts
3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
2 beaten eggs
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds


Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, flax  meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Stir in the carrots, apples, raisins and nuts. Combine milk, beaten eggs and maple cream. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle pumpkin seeds on top. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Cool, enjoy.

Blue Corn Muffins

On a recent date to Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill, I was inspired to: 1.) cook Southwestern food, 2.) do something with chutneys, and 3.) bake experimental breads. We went for brunch and it all began with a basket of freshly baked muffins. These were not just any kind of muffins; they included jalapeno cornbread muffins, coffee cake, cornbread with raisins, and a blue corn bread muffin. The basket came accompanied by a little tray of a delicious sweet and spicy mango chutney that both my boyfriend and I agreed was one of the best parts of the meal. Did I mention the bread basket was bottomless? Yes, we finished our first basket and they replenished it before our main entrees arrived! So my first Mesa-inspired cooking experiment were these blue corn muffins. I couldn't find blue cornmeal in Whole Foods, our local health food store, or Gristede's! Finally I found it in Kalustyan's, officially making that place my favorite store. I also picked up a small jar of Roland's spicy mango chutney which is not as tasty as Bobby Flay's but it will suffice until I learn how to make that too. Blue cornmeal has a slightly sweeter taste than yellow cornmeal and I felt like the texture was a little softer too, but I could be wrong about that. I tried to research the difference between blue and yellow cornmeal but I couldn't find anything useful so if any of you know, please share!

Blue Corn Muffins

(Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:
1 cup blue cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
5 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 cup white sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup fake eggs (or two real eggs)
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup corn kernels

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl mix together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Stir in the eggs, milk and olive oil. Add in the corn kernels.
2. Pour batter evenly into muffin baking tray. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool for 10 minutes on a rack before serving with mango chutney. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Walnuts and Raisins

These delicious and healthy muffins are courtesy of the 365 label on a Whole Foods can of pumpkin puree. I decided to alter the recipe a bit to add some texture and sweetness. These muffins tasted delicious with some apple butter and with some whipped frosting. I also added a lot more spices. These raised very nicely and were fluffy and very low fat. I will definitely make these again and perhaps swap out some of the sugar with honey. These would also taste great with some pieces of dark chocolate chips.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 cup fake eggs)

3/4 cup soy milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup golden raisins

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and sprinkle a little flour in a 12 muffin tin and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and make a little well in the center of the bowl. Add in the egg, milk, butter and pumpkin and whisk just until moist. Add the walnuts and raisins and mix just until in combines. The batter should be clumpy.

3. Fill the 12 muffin tins about 2/3 of the way. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Cool on a rack and enjoy! Best enjoyed with a spread of apple butter and some milk.