Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Stevia Protein Muffins

Lately I have been trying to increase my protein consumption and have been getting a little sick of egg white omlettes in the morning, so I decided to do some experimenting with baking using protein powder. Waking up to the delicious smell of freshly baked muffins in the morning was such a treat.If you don't want to use protein powder in these muffins, you can substitute it with more oats and flour.

Another addition I made was continuing my baking adventures with stevia. I've had some real trial-and-error recipes using this stuff and its taken a little while to get used to it, but I'm really starting to come around to liking stevia. The trick seems to be not to use just stevia, but to mix it with sugar or sugar sources into the recipes. You'll use less sugar, but still have plenty of sweetness. In lieu of sugar in this recipe, I used apples and raisins. Very tasty!

What you'll need:
3/4 cup Rolled Oats
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup Protein Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
3 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp Stevia
3/4 cup Milk
1/4 cup Oil
2 Egg
1 medium Apple, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup Raisins

Preheat oven to 400°C

In a medium bowl, mix oats, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and stevia with a fork until well blended.

In a large bowl, mix together milk, oil, egg, apple and raisins.

Gradually fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix until just blended.

Spoon into greased or lined muffin tins. Bake 15-20 minutes or until set.

Serve with a nice cup of tea.

Makes 12 muffins.

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Pumpkin Spice Raisin Mufffins

While getting the apartment all spruced up for Fall, I got inspired to make some Pumpkin Spice Raisin Muffins. The warm, spicy pumpkin smell, made the entire place smell amazing. The perfect fall breakfast treat!

What you'll need:
2 cups Flour
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Cloves
1 cup Pumpkin Puree
2 large Eggs
1/3 cup Oil
3/4 cup Plain Yogurt
1 tsp Vanilla
1 cup Raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F

In a medium bowl, add flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

Whisk together dry ingredients.

In a large bowl, add pumpkin, eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla.

Mix until well combined.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients until almost combine. Stir in raisins.

Spoon into paper lined muffin tins.

Bake for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for a bit before eating.

Delicious fall muffins!

I think I need to incorporate more pumpkin into my cooking. I forgot how great it is.

Makes 18 muffins


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Mom's Blueberry Muffins

If there is one thing that I look forward to most in the Summer it is the incredible fresh produce that we get here in Ontario. Whether it is heirloom tomatoes, juicy peaches or rich green kale, we are lucky ducks when the warm weather arrives.

But nothing beats fresh Ontario blueberries. Every year my mother buys them in huge containers and we eat them by the handfuls. They are so small and perfect that I just can't get enough.

Our all-time favorite family recipe for blueberries would have to be my mother's Blueberry Muffins. We love them so much that she flash freezes blueberries every year in little baggies with the right amount to make this recipe. She has to kind of hide them in the freezer though, because its awfully tempting to just slip your hand into the freezer and grab a few from the bags. She learned that the hard way when she went to make muffins only to find empty blueberry bags.

I don't have step-by-step photos on how to make these because I woke up to them already made (don't you just love that!), but I wanted to share this great recipe with you anyways. Its easy to follow and they're absolutely scrumptious!

What you'll need:
2 cups Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup Milk
1 Egg
1/4 cup Oil
3/4 cup Blueberries

Preheat oven to 400°F
In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients.
In a large bowl combine milk, egg and oil.
Stir dry into wet, only until moistened.
Spoon batter into 12 paper lined muffin tins.
Bake for 12 minutes.

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Healthy Carrot Muffins

There is something about waking up to fresh warm muffins that just makes these winter months more bearable. Especially after Punxsutawney Phil told us today that we're in for another six weeks of winter!

I'm a huge fan of baked goods, but I know that you can't eat the sweet stuff all the time, so this is a great recipe for heathly carrot muffins that pack a lot of punch without packing on the pounds. The carrots, pineapple and raisins in this recipe give it a great sweet taste without a ton of refined sugar.The whole wheat flour adds a mild nutty flavour and is packed with healthy fiber, but you can substitute half of it for white flour if you prefer.

What you'll need:

1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour (or use half White and Whole Wheat)
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1 Egg, slightly beaten
3 tbsp Oil
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Low-Fat Milk
1 (8 ounce) can Crushed Pineapple, well drained
1 1/2 cups grated Carrots
1/2 cup Raisins
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 12 muffin tins with paper liners

First things first, grate the carrots. I use my handy dandy cheeze grater, but you can do the same thing in a food processor. Squeeze the moisture out of the carrots and set aside in a small bowl. I like to just leave mine in the pyrex measuring cup, but thats because I love my pyrex like nothing else.

Now usually I use crushed pineapple, but I found a can of pineapple rings in the cupboard and decided to use that instead. I get incredible satisfaction from using up things in the cupboard.

Chop up the rings and mix them in with the carrots.

In a large bowl mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and brown sugar.

In a medium bowl whisk together egg, oil, milk and vanilla.

Add in the carrot mixture into the egg mixture and mix well to combine.

Then add to the dry ingredients and mix until JUST combined. Add in the raisins.

Spoon mixture into the prepared muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes. I know that I should get newer, nicer looking muffin tins, but these have been in the family for years and I love how beat up they are. Makes me think of all the great things that have been made in these over the years.
 

Yummy, healthy muffins. These freeze really well, so I like to make a big batch of these and pop them in the freezer. Pack them in lunches and they'll be thawed by snack time.
 
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