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Rustic Oat Muffins

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Two days ago, I was wearing shorts, and yesterday and today, I’m in autumn and winter gear as the weather has changed drastically here in Austin. When I was living in New England, the change of the seasons from summer to autumn triggered a ravenous appetite in me and so foods that I wasn’t normally eating throughout the summer suddenly appealed to me—like oats.  A warm bowl of oatmeal with nuts, seeds, spices, and fruit would inevitably hit the spot. To prepare the oats, like the few grains that I do eat now, I would soak them overnight in water with a little lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to make them more digestible, then rinse them and add my favorite milk and toppings.

The recipe below replicates a bowl of oatmeal, in muffin form as there is no added sugar or flour, although I have added eggs to keep them together. Rather than soaking the oats in water, I soak them directly in the milk to save time (similar to making overnight oats that are popular now).   They’re sweetened with mashed banana and a touch of blackstrap molasses and in this version, I’ve added a few chunks of chocolate—just because.   And since it’s pumpkin season, the next batch will have pumpkin in them!!

I love these with sunflower seed butter and one fills me up for the entire morning.  They also make a great snack.  They’re chewy, crunchy, slightly sweet from the chocolate, and tangy from the blackberries, although you can add other berries directly to the batter.

Rustic Oat Muffins

2.5 c rolled oats

1.5 c nut milk

1 c mashed banana

1 T blackstrap molasses

2 eggs

2 t cinnamon

½ t nutmeg

½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 T cocoa powder

½ t sea salt

2 t baking powder

½ c ground flax

¼ c sliced almonds

¼ c shredded, unsweetened coconut

½ c fresh or frozen blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries

¼ c chocolate chips (optional)

coconut oil for greasing muffin tins

Combine the oats and nut milk in a glass bowl and allow the oats to soak at RT for a couple of hours. Alternatively, soak them in the fridge overnight and remove them about an hour before baking the muffins.

Preheat oven to 350 °F.  In a large bowl, mash the bananas, then add the molasses, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cocoa powder, sea salt, and baking powder.  Stir well until everything is incorporated.

Fold in the soaked oats, flax, almonds, coconut, berries, and chocolate chips (if using).

Completely fill greased 12-cavity muffin tins with the batter and bake for 25 – 30 minutes, or until baked through.  Cool for 10 minutes in tins before removing and cooling on a rack.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Banana Zucchini Toaster Muffins

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For years I’ve been making low-sugar, grain-free muffins, breads, cookies, granolas—if for no other reason than to satisfy my own sweet tooth without putting me into a diabetic state, which is where I was over 20 years ago when I was subsisting on a high-carb, low-fat diet.  What a miserable nightmare that was.  At first, I felt like I had to completely give up all those “treats” that I love until I began to tinker with recipes to lower the sugar content and found that I could get away with it much of the time.

The first recipe I ever tried to make “lower-sugar” was for Peanut Blossoms, peanut butter cookies with the big Hershey kiss pressed into the top.  I needed to bring something into my daughter’s class one day and thought, “let’s see how well these go over.”  They actually came out looking “normal” and the kids didn’t seem to notice the difference–maybe because the giant drop of chocolate on the top masked the lower sweetness in the cookie.  From then on, I decided if I could get away with it, I would make lower sugar versions of our treats.   And now, after baking that way for so long, I prefer foods that are not so sweet.

There is nothing I love more than a cup of coffee and a muffin in the morning and it took years—actually decades, to arrive at the recipes I’m using now since over time, I’ve experimented with different sugars and flours as I slowly reduced the amount of grains I eat.

One thing that I had all but given up when I eliminated wheat from my diet (I do allow it occasionally) is English muffins.  As a kid, I used to slather them with butter and grape jelly, or peanut butter and bananas and I could easily eat that everyday.  Yup, I’m a creature of habit for sure and when I find something I like, I tend to stick with it.   At the moment, that means that I don’t need to go far when I want to enjoy a muffin in the morning.

Because of my slight obsession with English muffins growing up, I’m constantly looking at English muffin recipes online and they often contain ingredients that I don’t want to use in my baking and I haven’t given the process of coming up with a recipe of my own due diligence—someday.

A couple of years ago, I discovered my new favorite baking pan that is similar to a muffin pan, except it has only six, wider, shallow wells.  I’ve used the pan for making everything from salmon burgers, grain-free rolls, mini cakes and brownies, mini frittatas, and now toaster muffins.  The recipe below is one that I’ve been using for years to make muffins and mini breads, and now using the 6-well baking pan, I bake the batter into shallow muffins that are the perfect size for slicing in half and toasting.   Although not the same as a traditional “bready” English muffin, I feel like I’m having the same experience with one of these warm, toasty muffins with my favorite toppings.

Banana Zucchini Toaster Muffins

Whisk together the following “wet” ingredients: 

3 cups shredded zucchini

1 banana, mashed

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

¼ cup turbinado sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

¼ cup dried cranberries, minced

 

Whisk together the following dry ingredients:

2.5 cups almond flour

1 cup protein powder (whey or diary free)

4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven at 350 °C.  Add the whisked dry ingredients to the whisked wet ingredients and gently fold them together.

Spoon ~1/3 cup of the batter into each well of the pans* and bake for ~20 minutes or until the center pops back when gently pressed.  Allow the muffins to cool for 10 minutes before using a silicon spatula to loosen and remove them from the pan.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator, or wrap and freeze—they freeze really well.

Eat “as is,” or slice horizontally and pop in the toaster and top with whatever your heart desires—butter, nut butter, fruit spreads, hemp seeds, etc.

*Note:  The batter will also be enough for about 14 regular sized muffins or 5 mini bread loaves. Both take about 25 – 30 minutes to bake.

Noodles with No Carbs!

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If you’ve been cutting back on starches like pasta and bread, here’s a noodle to try that’s gluten-free, starch-free, and for the most part, calorie-free.  At this point, you’re probably thinking, huh?  How can a noodle be calorie-free?

shirataki noodles

Shirataki noodles are made from a tuber called devil’s tongue yam or elephant yam that is composed of mostly water and a soluble dietary fiber called glucomannan.  The noodles are formed through an extrusion process, so they’re 100% yam.  There is also a variety made from tofu that has 3g of carbs and 5 calories per serving.

The noodles shown here come packaged in liquid and should be drained and rinsed.  The directions on the package also say to boil them briefly in water to remove the bitterness, although I didn’t find it necessary.   Like tofu, the noodles are flavor-less and will take on the flavor of the dish and I found that they have the texture of a very tender cellophane noodle.

shir noodles and veg

The other night, after draining and rinsing the noodles, I sautéed some Vidalia onion, thin slices of green cabbage, and Shitake mushrooms, then added the noodles along with Tamari (a wheat-free soy sauce), fresh ginger, and some toasted sesame oil.   The result was a quick, easy, really tasty and surprisingly filling dish!!  I’m thinking the noodles would work well as a last minute addition to soups too.

shir noodle dish

Shirataki noodles are found in the produce section of most grocery stores and run about $2 for an 8-ounce package.  My word of caution for them is that because they’re not a major nutritional source, it would be best to eat them sparingly, rather than make them a staple in the diet.   For a noodle craving, though, I believe they’ll do the trick…

Simple Holiday Eating Strategy and Grain-free Cookie Recipe

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The holidays are just about here and we all know what that means!  You may be surprised to find out that I don’t go crazy worrying too much about what I’m eating at holiday parties.   I eat clean most of the time and over the holidays, I will prepare what I consider healthy dishes, but I do enjoy indulging a bit, because life is meant to be pleasurable!  With that said, I focus on eating what I like rather than trying to eat everything and I pay more attention to how I’m feeling so that I don’t overdo it and feel terrible later.   And I return to my typical diet afterwards without feeling like I’ve missed out on anything.

Last week, I found this cookie recipe online and simply worked with what I had to try these out.  I consider these indulgent and at the same time, on the healthier side and if you didn’t say a word to your guests, I bet they’ll love them!  What I love about the recipe is that it’s super simple to prepare.  One bowl, less utensils, and no mixer necessary; the batter is ready in a snap.

Compared to the original recipe, I used shredded coconut rather than flour, although you can also grind coconut in a high-speed blender or coffee grinder to make it fine.  I cut back on the amount of sugar because I also added raisins, which are sweet too and I found these plenty sweet for me.  I also added a little water because I used a dry sugar and I used olive oil.  You may be thinking it’s a strange choice for a sweet cookie, but I didn’t find that at all.   Hope you give them a try.

Finally, I want to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!  If you focus on what you have to be grateful for and enjoy everything the day has to offer, you may find yourself very well fed with less calories : ) 

 

Grain-free Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 c almond flour

2 T unsweetened, shredded coconut

1/3 c coconut sugar

½ t sea salt

½ t baking soda

1 T vanilla extract

½ c olive or coconut oil

2-3 T water

1/3 c each dark chocolate chips and raisins

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients together then add the vanilla, oil, and water.  Mix well.  The batter will be much less ‘doughy’ than traditional flour-based cookies.  After folding in the chocolate chips and raisins, use a small cookie scoop to drop 1-2 teaspoons full of batter onto a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.  Press the batter down to form round discs.  Bake at 350°F for  ~10 minutes.  Resist the urge to dig in for a few minutes while they cool.  They’ll hold together much better that way.   Makes about twelve 3” cookies.