2) Healthy Spiced Carrot Buttermilk Muffins with Fruit and Nuts
Hello again. It's your non-essential chef (say, that would have been a better name for this blog than the one I chose) back with another recipe. A few weeks ago, Lynnea and I hosted some people from our church for dessert, where I made dark chocolate truffles and baked Bristol's famous three-layer carrot cake. It was my second attempt at the latter, and I wish that I had remembered to write down what I learned the first time: that the recipe yielded enough frosting and filling for at least five cakes. But I didn't, and was stuck with a sugary surplus. Baking that cake is labor-intensive, to say the least ("Sift all the dry ingredients three times..."), so I thought I would take the easy way out and make some sort of carrot cupcakes to make use of my remaindered frosting. For whatever reason, it didn't happen.
Fast-forward to last night. I remembered the carrots I bought back then for that purpose, and was surprised to see that they hadn't gone bad in the meantime. I'm trying to lose weight, so I decided to go a healthier route and baked these muffins instead. They are very good, but to be fair they are not Bristol carrot cake good. They're good in a "these are good because/and they're good for me" sort of way. I was able to make them entirely from ingredients I had in the kitchen, which is always a bonus. You'll probably have to buy the buttermilk, and contrary to what you read online, there are no proper substitutes for the real thing. I've tried cream of tartar with milk, vinegar with milk, melted butter with milk, and lemon juice with milk. They were all TERRIBLE. Don't be fooled by the promise of anyone's instant homemade non-buttermilk buttermilk "replacement" (which also reduces wrinkles and whitens your teeth!). Just go to the store and buy some.
The Lucky folks were on to something: toasting is good. Almost any variety of nut is toast-able, and toasting maximizes crunchiness and unlocks flavor. I toast oatmeal as well by default. To toast nuts, simply place them in a large, dry pan over medium heat for about 4 or 5 minutes, shaking the pan every so often. You know they're done when they are slightly brown and fragrant. Let your nose guide you. Be careful not to let them burn, as that burnt taste will be pungently present no matter what you do (if that happens, toss the scorched nuts and start over). For toasting oatmeal, simply place the oats on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven for about 6 or 7 minutes, shaking the sheet at least once during that time to promote even toasting. Again, your nose will tell you when they are done, and the oats will have browned slightly.
This recipe (along with others in the future, I imagine) calls for juice concentrate. I've found it handy to keep a couple of cans of apple juice and orange juice concentrate in my freezer for cooking purposes only. You should do likewise. It's a great way to impart flavor.
A note about ginger: throw away that powdered stuff in your spice cupboard. Nearly every grocery store carries fresh ginger now, and it's really cheap. Three or four recipes-worth of ginger costs about 50 cents. When buying, try to find a piece that doesn't look too dry. Since you'll have to remove the skin with either a knife or a peeler before you use it, do your best to find a piece with as few stubby nubs as possible. Break off about an inch-long piece (yes, that's allowed) away from the bottom of the root and be on your merry way. Simple.
I used both a standard metal muffin tin and those newfangled silicone muffin cups. Beggaring belief, the muffins in the silicone cups were crispier than those cooked in metal. Who knew? They were identical in flavor, however. The recipe makes 24 muffins. Enough prologue.
Ingredients:
Fruit and Nuts:
-2 average-sized carrots (about 1 cup's worth), peeled and shredded (I used a box grater)
-1 teaspoon of shredded fresh ginger (I used a fine grater)
-1 apple, diced
-1 cup of raisins
-1/2 cup of walnuts
-2 tablespoons of apple juice concentrate (thawed)
Dry Ingredients:
-2 2/3 cups of all-purpose flour
-1/3 cup of ground flaxseed meal (you can buy this in the baking aisle near the flour; I recommend "Bob's" brand)
-1 cup of oatmeal
-1/2 cup loosely-packed brown sugar
-2 teaspoons of baking powder
-1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
-1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
-1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
-1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
Wet Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-2 cups of buttermilk
-1 tablespoon of canola oil
Baking Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place oatmeal on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant once oven reaches 350.
2) Toast the walnuts in a large pan over medium heat until fragrant and slightly browned.
3) Mix all of the fruit and nuts together in a medium-sized bowl.
4) Combine all of the dry ingredients (including the toasted oatmeal) in a separate large bowl.
5) Add the fruit and nuts to the bowl of dry ingredients and gently mix.
6) In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add the buttermilk and canola oil. Beat.
7) Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl and gently stir until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the batter.
8) After spraying muffin tins/cup with nonstick canola oil, spoon in enough batter to fill about 2/3s of the muffin mold.
9) Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick (or better yet, a tea tree oil-flavored chewing stick) comes out clean, with no muffin residue, when plunged into a muffin.
10) Eat and enjoy.
Till next time.
Fast-forward to last night. I remembered the carrots I bought back then for that purpose, and was surprised to see that they hadn't gone bad in the meantime. I'm trying to lose weight, so I decided to go a healthier route and baked these muffins instead. They are very good, but to be fair they are not Bristol carrot cake good. They're good in a "these are good because/and they're good for me" sort of way. I was able to make them entirely from ingredients I had in the kitchen, which is always a bonus. You'll probably have to buy the buttermilk, and contrary to what you read online, there are no proper substitutes for the real thing. I've tried cream of tartar with milk, vinegar with milk, melted butter with milk, and lemon juice with milk. They were all TERRIBLE. Don't be fooled by the promise of anyone's instant homemade non-buttermilk buttermilk "replacement" (which also reduces wrinkles and whitens your teeth!). Just go to the store and buy some.
The Lucky folks were on to something: toasting is good. Almost any variety of nut is toast-able, and toasting maximizes crunchiness and unlocks flavor. I toast oatmeal as well by default. To toast nuts, simply place them in a large, dry pan over medium heat for about 4 or 5 minutes, shaking the pan every so often. You know they're done when they are slightly brown and fragrant. Let your nose guide you. Be careful not to let them burn, as that burnt taste will be pungently present no matter what you do (if that happens, toss the scorched nuts and start over). For toasting oatmeal, simply place the oats on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven for about 6 or 7 minutes, shaking the sheet at least once during that time to promote even toasting. Again, your nose will tell you when they are done, and the oats will have browned slightly.
This recipe (along with others in the future, I imagine) calls for juice concentrate. I've found it handy to keep a couple of cans of apple juice and orange juice concentrate in my freezer for cooking purposes only. You should do likewise. It's a great way to impart flavor.
A note about ginger: throw away that powdered stuff in your spice cupboard. Nearly every grocery store carries fresh ginger now, and it's really cheap. Three or four recipes-worth of ginger costs about 50 cents. When buying, try to find a piece that doesn't look too dry. Since you'll have to remove the skin with either a knife or a peeler before you use it, do your best to find a piece with as few stubby nubs as possible. Break off about an inch-long piece (yes, that's allowed) away from the bottom of the root and be on your merry way. Simple.
I used both a standard metal muffin tin and those newfangled silicone muffin cups. Beggaring belief, the muffins in the silicone cups were crispier than those cooked in metal. Who knew? They were identical in flavor, however. The recipe makes 24 muffins. Enough prologue.
Ingredients:
Fruit and Nuts:
-2 average-sized carrots (about 1 cup's worth), peeled and shredded (I used a box grater)
-1 teaspoon of shredded fresh ginger (I used a fine grater)
-1 apple, diced
-1 cup of raisins
-1/2 cup of walnuts
-2 tablespoons of apple juice concentrate (thawed)
Dry Ingredients:
-2 2/3 cups of all-purpose flour
-1/3 cup of ground flaxseed meal (you can buy this in the baking aisle near the flour; I recommend "Bob's" brand)
-1 cup of oatmeal
-1/2 cup loosely-packed brown sugar
-2 teaspoons of baking powder
-1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
-1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom
-1/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
-1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
-1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
Wet Ingredients:
-2 eggs
-2 cups of buttermilk
-1 tablespoon of canola oil
Baking Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place oatmeal on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant once oven reaches 350.
2) Toast the walnuts in a large pan over medium heat until fragrant and slightly browned.
3) Mix all of the fruit and nuts together in a medium-sized bowl.
4) Combine all of the dry ingredients (including the toasted oatmeal) in a separate large bowl.
5) Add the fruit and nuts to the bowl of dry ingredients and gently mix.
6) In a small bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add the buttermilk and canola oil. Beat.
7) Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl and gently stir until all the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the batter.
8) After spraying muffin tins/cup with nonstick canola oil, spoon in enough batter to fill about 2/3s of the muffin mold.
9) Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick (or better yet, a tea tree oil-flavored chewing stick) comes out clean, with no muffin residue, when plunged into a muffin.
10) Eat and enjoy.
Till next time.
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