Sugar-Free, Grain-Free Banana Muffins

I wanted to share with you a recipe I came across for some healthy, but still yummy muffins. They're sugar-free (except for the handful of dark chocolate chips I added) and grain-free Banana Granola Chocolate Chip Muffins. Working in a bakery, as wonderful as that is, it's not so great for one's waistline. These are nutritious and the whole family enjoyed them.

I came across the recipe here.

I used almond butter for my nut butter, maple syrup as my sweeter, and homemade granola and a few dark chocolate chips as garnish. 

The granola is something I make without a recipe. It's oats, unsweetened coconut, sliced almonds, pecans, walnuts, chia seeds and golden flax seeds all thrown on a sheet pan and toasted for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees. While that is toasting, I bring 1/3 cup of maple syrup, a few tablespoons of water, a bit of vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon to boil for a few minutes. Then I pour it over the toasted granola and stir. It goes back in the over for another 10 minutes to crisp up. I let it cool completely before putting it away in my jar. It makes about 6 cups. 

It's easy to switch it up too! In the Fall I add cranberries and pumpkin seeds with Pumpkin Pie Spice to make it more Fall-like.

We prefer to sprinkle it on our Greek yogurt.

Give them a try! They're delicious.

Carrot-Bran Muffins with Dates

[All Photos - The Grower's Daughter]

In the past month, I have barely baked a thing. Unless it's being brought with me somewhere, I just can't. I've been attempting to fulfill my resolutions to eat healthier and be more active, and that just doesn't happen with a batch of delicious chocolate brownies tempting me all day.

This past week, however, I have been spending a lot of time researching and browsing through my cookbooks. I've tested a few favourite recipes with simple substitutions like using whole grains, and omitting a lot of the excess sugar and fat. So far, I've been fairly impressed with the results.

Since we'll be heading to the Lake for a while this weekend, I've been freezing some baking here and there for when we're away. There's nothing like a coffee and something sweet on the dock early in the morning.

Here is a recipe I found from a Weight Watchers cookbook for a version of carrot muffins. I was really happy with these, as they came out moist and delicious.

Carrot-Bran Muffins with Dates

3/4 c. white flour

3/4 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. unprocessed wheat bran

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1 c. unsweetened pineapple juice

1/4 c. canola oil

1/4 c. brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 large egg white

2 small carrots, shredded, about 1 c.

1/4 c. pitted dates, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cups.

Whisk together flours, bran, baking powder, baking soda and allspice in a large bowl. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together juice, oil, sugar, egg and white.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir only until flour mixture is moistened. Stir in carrots and dates.

Divide batter evenly among cups. Bake until a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool for about five minutes before removing from pan to cool completely.

For anyone interested in the points value of these, it's only 4 (in comparison, a fast food carrot muffin is 10!).

Enjoy!

I love the look of farm fresh eggs, these are from my Aunts farm not too far from our place.

Willen thought we were having a little tea party. He just climbed right up on the chair and started drinking my tea!

PS. I picked up a set of four of those pretty ironstone cups from a flea this weekend. They were disgusting and buried in piles of old dishes, rusty and full of old nails, but for $1 they cleaned up perfectly!

Baking Day - Blackberry, Bueberry Muffins

One of my cousins, whom is really more like a best friend, called this morning to let me know she needed to get out of the house, and was on her way over for tea. I've been trying to not keep anything too sweet around, because it's a major weakness of mine, so I thought I would whip up a batch of my go-to muffins. They're easy, they're quick and most importantly, they're delicious!

Blackberry, Blueberry Muffins

[adapted from Martha Stewart's Basic Muffin Recipe]

Makes 1 dozen muffins.

1 stick (1/2 c.) of butter, softened

1 1/4 cup of sugar

2 cups of flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/2 cup of milk

2 cups of berries

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with large baking liners. In a small bowl, combine flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside. In your mixer, on medium high, cream butter and 1 cup of sugar together. Add one egg at a time and mix until incorporated. Add vanilla. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour mixture and mix just until combined. Add milk and mix until incorporated and then final amount of flour mixture. Mix only until just combined.

In the small bowl from the flour mixture, add berries and toss with a good sprinkling of flour. Fold into the batter and divide evenly, with an ice cream scoop, among the cups. In a remakin, mix remaining 1/4 cup of sugar with nutmeg. Generously sprinkle over muffins. Bake for 15 minutes, rotate, and the finish baking for another 15 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes and the transfer to a wire rack.

Coating the berries with flour will keep them suspended in the batter so they won't sink to the bottom. I use 3 parts blueberries to 1 part blackberries but you can use 2 cups of whichever. Or, switch it up and use cranberries or cherries or raspberries. If you're going to try raspberries, switch out the nutmeg for some fresh ground cinnamon. Or, with cranberries, through in some freshly grated lemon zest.

Doesn't the batter look divine? I really only use the blackberries because they streak the batter with pretty pinkish swirls.

The nutmeg adds an earthiness to the muffins, which compliments the blueberries perfectly. Plus, the muffin tops are better with a sugary crunch and they look more rustic.

For an extra special treat, I like to have one warm with a cup of Earl Grey tea. I use the remaining nutmeg and sugar mix instead of plain sugar, which tastes so delicious in the tea!