Blueberry Muffins (whole wheat, honey-sweetened)

We ate these muffins again a few days ago--a classic Family Favorite--and I took an updated picture, feeling re-inspired by their deliciousness.

First posted October of 2011:
My kids love muffins and there are smiles all around when I serve these! I like to make them more like bread than cake so we can have them for a meal. 

The original recipe is from my Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, p. 115. I modified it to substitute whole wheat flour and honey for the white flour and refined sugar.


BLUEBERRY MUFFINS
Yield: 12 muffins

1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 beaten egg

3/4 c. milk

1/4 c. cooking oil

1/6 c. honey

3/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel, optional (but really best with it)

Grease twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups or line with paper bake cups.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Make a well in center of flour mixture.  Set aside.

In another bowl combine egg, milk, oil, and honey.  Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy).

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full.

Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until golden (or inserted wooden toothpick comes out clean).

German Pancakes

I originally posted this recipe over three years ago and it has remained a beloved family favorite.

Original post:
This is one of our Saturday morning breakfast variations. Super easy to make, as well as delicious and filling.

German Pancakes

1 c. milk
1 c. whole wheat flour
6 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
6 Tb. butter

Mix all ingredients except butter in blender until smooth.
In a 9x13" baking pan melt butter in oven until hot and sizzling.
Remove pan and pour batter into hot pan.
Bake immediately at 480 degrees for 15-25 minutes (varies depending on your altitude).
Cut in squares and serve with honey drizzled over the top.

Pumpkin Pancakes and Homemade Maple Syrup

We have consistently loved this recipe for a couple years now, which means it is now officially a Family Favorite. So filling and so tasty!

My original post:

Every now and then I'll make pancakes for dinner, which delights my kids. The other night, since we had the fresh pumpkin puree I had just made, I revisited last year's pumpkin pancake recipe. It was just as good as we remembered. (The only variations I made were to substitute honey for sugar, and whole wheat flour for white):

Pumpkin Pancakes
Yield: 12-16 pancakes

1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1/2 Tb. honey
1 c. milk
2 eggs, separated
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tb. vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients and spices in bowl.
In second bowl, whisk together, pumpkin puree, egg yolks, milk, and vegetable oil.
Stir wet ingredient into dry ingredients.
Use mixer to beat egg whites until peaks form. Then, fold them into the batter.*
Pour 1/4 cup of batter onto greased griddle/fry pan and cook until golden brown.
Serve with syrup (or honey).

*I recently tried making things easier on myself by not worrying about this step with the egg whites and the pancakes turned out just as good!

Last year we preferred the taste of syrup to honey on these particular pancakes, so this year (wanting to avoid the corn syrup, etc), I made my own syrup, using the (modified) recipe below.

Homemade Maple Syrup
Makes 2 cups

1 c. water
2 c. raw sugar
1 Tb. maple flavored extract*

Bring water and raw sugar to boil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir in maple extract; simmer 3 minutes longer.

* If you don't have the maple flavoring, use 1 Tb. vanilla extract and 2 Tb. butter instead.

(Note: I would love to use real maple syrup, which would be even better-tasting and also more nutritious, but its cost, particularly in the western part of the United States, is prohibitive for us.)

Zucchini Bread

I originally posted this recipe a couple years ago. Since it continues to be a Family Favorite, I'm reposting it now, with an updated picture. Don't finish up zucchini season without making this at least once!

Original post:
This is--so far--the only guaranteed way I've found to get my kids to eat (and enjoy) zucchini. I'll continue trying other ways--which my husband and I like--but for now, thank goodness for this recipe! It makes a good dessert, yet is healthy enough for a snack or even breakfast.

ZUCCHINI BREAD

Makes 2 loaves

3 eggs
1 c. oil
1 c. honey
3 tsp. vanilla
2 c. grated zucchini

3 c. whole wheat flour
3 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

Beat eggs. Add honey, grated zucchini, vanilla, and oil. Mix well.

Add dry ingredients, mix well. Pour batter into well greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour or until done.

Zucchini Pancakes

We still have shredded zucchini in our freezer from last harvest, so I decided to look for a zucchini pancake recipe last weekend. They turned out so good! Everyone was a fan--but I should've doubled the recipe. They went so fast I had no chance to take pictures. So check out Smitten Kitchen's beautiful photos and hilarious commentary. The only modifications I made were (as usual) to use whole wheat flour instead of white and honey instead of brown sugar.

Zucchini Pancakes
Yield: 10-12 small pancakes

2 large eggs

3 Tb. olive oil
2 Tb. honey
1/4 c. buttermilk or 2 Tb. each of milk and plain yogurt, whisked until smooth (I only had milk and that worked great too)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. shredded zucchini (from about 9 ounces whole, or 1 1/2 medium zucchini), heaping cups are fine
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
Butter or oil, for coating skillet

In a large bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, honey, buttermilk and vanilla until smooth. Stir in zucchini shreds. (I opted to puree all the ingredients together in my blender.)

In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir dry ingredients into zucchini batter, mixing until just combined. (Or just add it all to the above mixture and puree in blender, as I did.)

Preheat oven to 200°F and place a tray on a middle rack.

Heat a large, heavy skillet (or if you're like me and only have fry pans, they work too) over medium heat. Once hot, melt a pat of butter in pan and swirl it around until it sizzles. Scoop scant 1/4-cup dollops of batter 

 in pan so the puddles do not touch. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, about 2 to 3 minutes. Flip pancakes and cook another minute or two, until golden underneath. 

Transfer pancakes to prepared pan to keep warm inside oven, and to ensure they’re all cooked through when they’re served. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm with desired toppings.

Pumpkin Muffins

I found this recipe on Very Best Baking, and with the modification of whole wheat flour and honey (instead of refined flour and sugar), my family loved these muffins! Yet another tasty dish to make with pumpkin.

Pumpkin Muffins

3 c. whole wheat flour
1 Tb. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. honey
1 can (15 ounces) pure pumpkin--or use your own homegrown pumpkin puree
4 large eggs
1/2 c. canola oil
1/2 c. water or orange juice (I didn't have orange juice this time, but would love to try it next time)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Paper-line or grease about 24 muffin cups.

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.

Combine honey, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in large mixer bowl; beat until just blended. 

Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling 3/4 full.

BAKE for 25 to 30 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Store muffins in covered container or resealable plastic bags. These also freeze well.

Don't You Spend a Long Time Cooking?

This is a common question people ask me, so I thought I'd write a general response here.

In thinking about the best way to answer this question, I've decided I should ask back this question: "How long is a long time?" If you're used to spending a maximum of 30 minutes a day on food preparation, then yes, I do spend longer. On average, I spend about three times that--on those nights I cook.

But what is the nutritional content of your 30 minutes of preparation? And how important to you is your family's nutrition? It's one of my top priorities, which is why I:

• Grind my own flour (See here for details on money saved with this practice);
• Cook from scratch -This means no prepared items (or very few). In other words, no boxed or frozen dinners (I do use dried spaghetti and other pastas on occasion, but they're always wheat/whole grain pastas), and no canned soups (although I will use canned broth if I don't have any homemade broth) since they're full of MSG and/or sugars;
• Use lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, thanks to the Bountiful Baskets program, which makes them plentiful at our house and very affordable.

Something else to keep in mind is that we eat simply. Good, healthful, hearty food, but simple: 

Breakfast at least 5 days a week is either hot cracked wheat ("mush") or oatmeal, which takes a total of 5 minutes to prepare--every other day, since I make enough for two days each time and we warm it up in the microwave. 

Lunch is sandwiches made with homemade 100% whole wheat bread (which I schedule time to make every two weeks) and maybe some fruit. This takes me 15 minutes at the most, depending on the type of sandwich: grilled cheese take longer to make than peanut butter and honey.

That leaves dinner, which is the only meal I have to plan each day. Since our dinners are based on the contents of our Bountiful Baskets, all I have to do is plan what meals to make those veggies into (since the fruit gets eaten quickly and with little preparation needed). And most days I spend a total of an hour and a half (90 minutes) cooking this vegetable-based meal. Nearly every time I cook dinner, I make enough for at least one night of leftovers, which means I'm not cooking 7 dinners a week. In fact, it's more like 3 or 4.

True, too, I will often make, say, a large salad one night as the main course (see Super Salad), and then pull it out another two or three (or more) nights as a side dish. So while I usually offer a main course and two side dishes for dinner, very often one or both of those sides was made for another meal (for example, if I made breadsticks or rolls to go with a soup that we've already eaten), I still have a bread item available to serve with a different main course, perhaps along with the salad I've previously made.

As Liz Edmunds, the Food Nanny, points out, good, healthful food often takes longer than 30 minutes to make, but that's not a bad thing. Just plan for it and make the necessary adjustments. Your family will thank you!

P.S.  A bonus to the time spent in food preparation (and this keeps me going because I don't love cooking) is that while I do it I can listen to a book on CD, to my daughter read to me, or to music. And quite often, one of my daughters will ask to help me, which means quality time together talking and learning.

Strawberries and Cream

When I was a missionary for my church, a couple of fellow missionaries introduced me to this simple, yet delicious way of eating strawberries and cream. I remembered how wonderful it was and it has since become part of my family's tradition. Nowadays, I have modified it from brown sugar to raw sugar, and it's just as yummy.

Strawberries and Cream

Whole strawberries, washed
Sour cream
Raw sugar

Dip whole strawberries into bowl of sour cream until thinly coated. Roll in plate of raw sugar until coated. Enjoy!

Note: As you can tell from the picture, these need to be dipped immediately before eating (in other words, everyone dips their own while they're eating), as the sugar and cream tend to melt and slide off quickly.

Breakfast

Yesterday, Katrina's Kitchen was featured at Word of Wisdom Living. What an honor to be mentioned in such a wonderful health blog! The topic was breakfast. and how to incorporate what we know about health to that meal. In other words, if you can't do no sugar, which is the ideal, at least make sure you're getting more dietary fiber than sugar (which is a hard criteria to meet in store-bought cereals). And don't skip breakfast (as you've heard a zillion times before)--there are so many reasons why! Check out Skip's breakfast post, here.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

Here is a variation on our family's regular zucchini bread. Much of my extended family prefer the chocolate version and so do my little girls (though they like the regular, too).  I love that either way, we have a tasty, hearty treat with whole wheat flour and no refined sugar!

CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BREAD

1/2 c. shortening
1/3 c. applesauce
1 c. honey
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
4 Tb. cocoa
½ c. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cloves
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ c. whole wheat flour
2 c. grated zucchini

Cream together shortening, applesauce and honey. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

Add cocoa and sour cream. Mix well.

Add remaining dry ingredients. Mix well.

Mix in zucchini.

Pour into 2 greased bread pans.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Carrot Pancakes

Everyone loves pancakes at our house, so I can always use another pancake recipe. In this case, I was actually searching for a way to use some of our carrots. And I figured since my family loves carrot cake, they would also love carrot pancakes.

This is our traditional, family pancake recipe (whole wheat, of course); this is the one we love in the fall when we have fresh pumpkin on hand; and here is the one I just tried from the Taste of Home website, modified a bit, as usual. By the way, they were a hit, especially with homemade maple syrup--though I'm sure they would be as yummy with just honey, and are honestly quite tasty without any topping. (Modifications: Substitution of honey for sugar, and the addition of the oil. The original recipe has you grease the pan in between each pancake, but I prefer not to do that and feel that I actually use less oil by adding it to the batter.)

Carrot Pancakes

1-1/4 c. whole wheat flour

2 Tb. finely chopped pecans (I'm sure these would be good; I didn't have them)

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1 egg

1/3 c. oil

1/6 c. honey

1 c. milk

1 c. grated carrots

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Pulverize carrots in blender, using some of milk, if needed. When carrots are blended well, add milk, egg, and honey

Add flour, oil, and remaining ingredients. Blend until completely mixed.

Drizzle batter onto heated pan(s) to make pancakes of desired size.

Serve with homemade maple syrup (see link above).

Homemade Granola

I love granola but I hate buying it, because it's so expensive. It's also typically full of sugar (and other unnecessary ingredients). But why buy it when it's so easy to make your own? I have tried a couple of different recipes over the years, but this one from my friend, Jennalee (which she got from Beverly Nye's recipe book, "A Family Raised on Sunshine") is my favorite. It doesn't have a lot of ingredients and it doesn't take hours (or even one) to bake. Of course, the best thing about making your own granola (and everything else)--besides the improved health factor--is that you can put in it whatever you and your family like most. For example, the original recipe calls for peanuts, but I'm not a fan of peanuts in my granola, so I have used either a different kind of nut, or eliminated it altogether (which is how my children prefer it).

Homemade Granola

Spread 4 c. rolled oats on ungreased sheet cake pan and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Stir in:
1 c. flaked coconut
1 c. peanuts, coarsely chopped (see my above comment)
3/4 c. wheat germ

Then add:
1/2 c. honey
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until dry ingredients are coated. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally. After baking, stir in 1 pkg. dried fruit or 1 cup raisins (I prefer to use 1 c. dried cranberries, if possible, or a mix of cranberries and raisins).

See how easy? The only sugar in this granola is the small amount in the sweetened coconut (or you can use unsweetened) and dried cranberries, if you use them. And it's so tasty and sweet, there's simply no reason for refined sugar.

Fruit Crisp (Sugarless)

This is an extremely versatile dish that is one of my favorite sugarless fruit recipes. We have eaten it as dessert, but because it has no refined sugar, we have also eaten it as part of breakfast, or simply as a snack. I adapted and modified it from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (p.246). I prefer my "crisp" more like cobbler and have therefore. over time, learned to triple the amount of topping (which includes the oats, honey, flour, butter, and coconut). If you prefer yours with less topping, just cut it back down. So far, one of my favorite fruit combination has been fresh apples with several sliced fresh strawberries. Strawberries and rhubarb is also wonderful, and is what is shown in this picture.

Fruit Crisp

5 c. sliced, peeled cooking apples, pears, peaches, apricots, berries, or a combination (can also use frozen, unsweetened fruit in place of fresh)
1 1/2 c. regular oats
1 c. honey (or less, depending on how sweet you want it)
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, ginger, or cinnamon (or, if you're like me, you might add skimpy 1/4 teaspoons of two or all three of these)
1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. shredded coconut (optional)

For fruit filling, thaw fruit if frozen. Do not drain. Place fruit in a 9 X 13 baking dish.

For topping, in a medium bowl combine the oats, honey, flour, and nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in coconut, if using. Sprinkle topping over fruit.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until fruit is tender and topping is golden.

Note: At higher altitudes, like mine, (and with the soft winter apples I last used), cooking it this long would turn it into mush. So I would suggest setting your oven to 15 minutes and then checking how tender the fruit is at that point.

Christmas Cranberry-Orange Bread

I used to try to make our family's traditional Danish pastries to have on hand for Christmas morning's breakfast--the authentic kind that was passed down from my Danish great-grandmother. While we really enjoy even the healthier version of these pastries, it requires such a time commitment on my part that I have come to realize I just can't plan on doing it each and every year. So over time I have come up with a different Christmas breakfast bread that we all love, that is healthful and way easier/faster to make than Danishes!

Christmas Cranberry-Orange Bread
Yield: 1 loaf

1 1/4 c. warm water
1/3 c. honey
2 Tb. butter, softened
2 c. bread flour (I usually just use whole wheat for all the flour)
1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 c. sweetened dried cranberries
1 Tb. grated orange zest
Directions for mixer or for hand mixing:

Combine warm water and yeast. Let sit until yeast is softened.
Add salt, honey, and butter.
Add remaining ingredients while mixing, except cranberries.
When dough is correct consistency, add cranberries.
Place in greased bread pan, cook at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes, or until browned and cooked through.

Directions for bread maker:

Place all ingredients (except cranberries) in pan of bread machine in order recommended by manufacturer. Select Sweet Bread cycle; press Start.

If your machine has Fruit setting, add cranberries at signal, or about 5 minutes before kneading cycle has finished.

Banana Bread

The other day I went to make this and realized (with some amazement) that I hadn't posted the recipe yet! This isn't your typical banana bread recipe, since it has no refined sugar and uses whole wheat flour. That means that, while it is sweet and delicious, it is also much healthier for you than the dry, white (often bland) stuff most people make. :)


Banana Bread

1/2 c. butter
3/4 c. honey or less
2 eggs
2 c. whole wheat flour (or if you are using red wheat, 1 c. white and 1 c. wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg (or more, if you like it as much as I do)

Cream butter and honey.
Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth.
Add smashed bananas.
Combine flour, soda, salt, spices. Stir. Add to creamed mixture and mix until smooth.
Pour into greased pan. (Makes one regular loaf or 12 muffins.) Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes (less time for smaller loaves or muffins--about 45 min), or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. If needed, cover with foil last 10-15 min to avoid overbrowning.

Carrot-Zucchini Muffins

Remember that carrot-zucchini cake I made? Well, I had some shredded carrots and zucchini left and decided to make some muffins. Much to my surprise, I found a recipe that already called for both veggies (and modified it, of course). We loved the result, but next time I make it I'll cut down the honey some, since it was too sweet for me. (I cut it down here.)

Note: I wasn't sure if the way my food processor shredded the veggies was fine enough for muffins, so I put them in the blender with a little water and turned them to mush, and that worked just fine.

Carrot-Zucchini Muffins

2/3 c. vegetable oil
2 large eggs
2/3 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. finely shredded unpeeled zucchini
1/2 c. finely shredded carrot

Grease 12 muffin cups (or use those little muffin papers).

In mixing bowl beat oil, eggs, honey, and vanilla.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Add to wet ingredients; stir until blended. Fold in shredded zucchini and carrots.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with cinnamon and/or raw sugar, if desired. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

A friend of mine sent me several of her favorite recipes (thanks Jessi!) and I tried one out tonight. It's definitely a keeper! I've tried quite a few biscuit recipes and they've always been just okay, but I had to force myself to stop eating these.

Jessi says: "I love, love, love these biscuits because it adds bread to the meal but yet no rolling or rising. Really fast to mix up and delicious with jam in the middle for dessert or a breakfast pastry."

Cloud Biscuits

combine:
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 Tb. honey
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Cut in
1/2 c. butter

Stir in
1 egg, beaten with fork first
3/4 c. milk

Cool in fridge. (Not required but does make them less sticky to handle).
Drop on cookie sheet.
Bake at 350 for 12 min.

Whole Wheat Pancakes

This is another breakfast variation that my family loves, and very easy to whip up. (If we're ever served white pancakes, we think they taste like cake, notice they don't keep us full very long, and we also don't feel as good after eating them.)

WHOLE WHEAT PANCAKES

3 eggs
2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. oil
1 1/2 Tb. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
2 c. or more milk (until batter is desired thinness)

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth, while pans heat on stove top. Then make pancakes, as usual.

Our favorite topping is butter and honey, but we have also done syrup, jam, peanut butter, and applesauce.

Hot Cracked Wheat (or "Mush")

This recipe can easily be modified to make less or more, depending on the size of your family. As is, this makes at least a double batch for my family, leaving leftovers that reheat easily in the microwave for a quick, no fuss breakfast that fills us up, keeps us healthy, and keeps us satisfied till lunchtime. Even my small kids can tell a difference in how they feel if we go more than a couple days eating something else for breakfast (such as when on vacation) and will actually request "mush."

"Mush" (Hot Cracked Wheat Cereal)


about 10 c. water
2-3 c. cracked wheat (depends on how course it is and how thick you want your mush)
honey to taste

Heat water to boiling.
Remove from heat, slowly stir in cracked wheat.
Stir a few minutes to mash out all lumps until smooth.
Replace lid, allow to sit for about 15 min.
Stir in honey to taste.
Let sit another 5-10 min.
Dish into bowls, top with fruit and/or cereal.