sweet bread – That's Just Me

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffins – Recipe

I wanted to bake some muffins for my aunt when we visit next week, so I googled recipes for oatmeal raisin muffins, and found this recipe:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/breakfast/recipe-quick-and-homey-oatmeal-raisin-muffins-126095

The author wrote that the recipe was adapted from the More-With-Less Cookbook so I rushed to put a copy on hold at the library to check it out. Reviews on Amazon are glowing, but there are a few negative reviews scattered as well, so it’s a great book to borrow before purchasing.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Muffin recipe

inspired by thekitchn.com – makes 10-12 muffins

whole wheat oatmeal raisin muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oats – old fashioned or quick
1/4 cup Wheat Germ (or additional oats)
1 Tbsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup molasses
6 oz container yogurt
water
1 large egg
1-2 tsp Sucanat or brown sugar (Optional for topping)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375°
Grease a muffin pan, or line with muffin papers
Combine the flour, oats, wheat germ, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together in a medium bowl.
Add in raisins and stir to coat with flour mixture
In a large measuring cup, pour 1/4 cup molasses and container of plain yogurt and add enough water so all liquids total 1 cup. Mix very well with fork or whisk so all ingredients are combined.
Whisk the large egg with olive oil, then stir together with the yogurt mixture.
Pour all liquids into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin and then optionally sprinkle a little bit of sucanat over each one.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for a minute or two. Then transfer each muffin to a cooling rack.

Enjoy!

whole wheat oatmeal raisin muffins

My Notes:

Sodium is pretty high, I assume due to the large amount of baking powder. I think I’ll reduce that next time, possibly by half.
I think it would be difficult to divide the batter into 12 muffin tins. I got 10, and they were just the right size. I think 12 would be a bit on the small size. It could be because I used a package of instant oatmeal instead of the old fashioned oats. Play it by ear.

Nutritional Data:

Calories 186
Fat: 7g
Saturated: 1g
Monounsaturated: 4g
Cholesterol: 22mg
Sodium: 328mg
Potassium: 130mg
Carbs: 28g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 10g
Protein: 5g
Calcium: 16%
Iron: 10%

Recipe: Ginger Lemon Muffins (Made with Fresh Ginger)

UPDATED 2011-05-11

These ginger lemon muffins were a big hit! They are light, healthy, and bursting with fresh zesty ginger flavor! The fresh ginger requires a bit more work, but it’s worth it!

ginger lemon muffins made with fresh ginger

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Williams Sonoma Muffins & Quickbreads Book Review

I found the cook book Muffins & Quick Breads (Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library) at the library a few weeks ago; After browsing through the pages, I found so many awesome recipes I wanted to try. A lot of the recipes were lower in sugar, and I really loved that!

I searched for it on Amazon and was thrilled to find a used copy for less than $4. Yay! It was from a 3rd party seller, but “fulfilled by Amazon” which means it qualified for free shipping if your total order was $25 or more. There are lots of other 3rd party sellers also selling used copies for under $5 (including shipping).

I ordered it immediately! It arrived fairly quickly, and it was in very good shape. I couldn’t even tell that it was a “used” copy, it only had a few blemishes on some of the pages. Nothing big.

The big thing I did notice was that it was an older version than the copy from the library. I compared each page, and I did find some discrepancies in the flour weights (2 cups should be 10 oz or 315 grams) along with a few other ingredients like raisins. It wasn’t very difficult to hand corrected a lot of the recipes. So, all in all, I am very happy with the book.

I highly recommend this book if you are into muffins and quickbreads. Because I was so impressed, I found other older Williams Sonoma books from the library. I didn’t find any that made me want to order as quickly as this book though.

I did enjoy the Soups book as well as the newer Muffins book from 2003, but the recipes were much more sugary. I still am keeping several in mind for a future order.

The first recipe I baked was Blueberry Muffins (pg 36). Check out my recipe details. Yum!

I’ll be baking more recipes as autumn and winter move on!

Disclaimer:
I love reading cookbooks, like some people love reading novels! I am inspired by recipes, and enjoy learning ideas from cookbooks; I like putting my own spin on a recipe rather than exactly following it. Please keep in mind that my opinions might be completely different from the other home cooks.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

whole wheat blueberry muffins

I found the book Muffins & Quick Breads (Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library) at the library a few weeks ago and after browsing through the many recipes, I found so many that I was excited to try! A lot of the recipes were lower in sugar, and that was even better.

I ordered it immediately! I highly recommend this book if you are into muffins and quickbreads. Read my review for more details.

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Whole Grain Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Muffins

UPDATED 2011-07-14

This recipe is inspired by the “Peanut Butter Bread” recipe found in Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook: The Best Recipes from Southampton’s Favorite Bakery.

whole grain peanut butter dark chocolate muffins

I altered the sugar quantity, added dark chocolate & sunflowers, and of course replaced the white flour with whole grains (whole wheat and barley flours).

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Whole Wheat Oat Bran Raisin Muffins

Baked some yummy healthy muffins this afternoon! I’ve been dying to try some of the recipes from the book Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook: The Best Recipes from Southampton’s Favorite Bakery for Homestyle Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Muffins, and Breads. I found it at the library months ago, and copied a few of the recipes I wanted to try.

My muffins were inspired by her Whole Wheat Quick Bread recipe.

Makes 11-12 large muffins

homemade whole wheat oat bran raisin muffins

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Whole Wheat (fresh) Apricot Nut Bread

I bought a box of fresh local apricots the other day and I wanted to use them up, along with one overly-ripe lonely banana. Wouldn’t a nice loaf of whole wheat sweet bread would do the trick!

fresh local apricots

So, I googled, and would you believe most of the apricot/banana bread recipes use “dried” apricots. These were yummy FRESH apricots. Then, I thought, wait, apricots are just like peaches, so why not find a nice peach bread recipe and modify it with apricots instead.

I found what looked like a good ginger peach bread recipe over at honestfare.com – yummy, never thought of adding ginger. Great idea! So, this recipe is inspired partly by Honest Fare and partly by my other two sweet bread recipes. Of course, it’s made with whole wheat flour, and it’s got less refined sugar and more fiber than most sweet breads.

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100% Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread (with Dark Chocolate, Nuts & Sunflower Seeds)

whole zucchini

I got two larger zucchini squash this week in my CSA share and I decided to try baking a zucchini bread. To add a little extra flavor & nutrition, I tossed in wheat germ, dark chocolate, walnuts and sunflower seeds too. Yum! DH is not a fan of zucchini, and he even thought it tasted good.

yummy slices of zucchini bread

I found inspiration from the Zucchini Bread recipe on All Recipes, but similar to my banana bread, I wanted to reduce the sugar. I think I’ve done that for this particular recipe.

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100% Whole Wheat Banana Nut Bread

IMPORTANT: I had originally calculated the nutritional data incorrectly. It’s been updated!

I had three over-ripe bananas, and of course I thought of baking some delicious banana bread! I wanted to utilize a lower sugar (or at least lower processed sugar) recipe that uses whole wheat flour, and I think I have it!

delicious healthy moist banana bread

At ~~211~~ 274 calories, it’s a good afternoon snack. Add a scoop of peanut butter (+100 calories) and it’s a nutritious healthy breakfast!

I originally found the Moist Whole Wheat Banana Bread recipe on the web site Breadtopia.com. It’s a great recipe (originally from the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book), and there are lots of helpful comments and even an instructional video!

I modified some of the ingredients from the original recipe, using coconut butter/oil in place of butter, adding more nuts, and lowering the sugar content slightly.

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