Muffins!!

[Bessie]

Got any favourite, easy to rustle up muffin recipes? Just getting into making the little beasties - fully tooled up with cases and baking tins. Did some cracking ones on my first attempt with orange juice and chocolate powder. They were tasty but a little dry. Any ideas for some really moist sticky ones?

My hubby always sniggers at the muffins they are given on the aircraft on some US trips - Spunkmeisters Moist Muffins! Just doesn't sound at all pleasant to an English ear!

Bessie xx

[Not Happy Hour-Happy Life]

Bessie- I'll have to look in my recipe box, but one of the tips to making moist muffins is to add applesauce...... if you create something tasty, please share!

[Determinator]

I love super heavy duty muffins stuffed with nuts and fruit that weight about 13 lbs each and would break a car window if you threw it.

[KatieSmiles]

I have made awesome banana muffins with a cinnamon crunch on top.
I could dig out the recipe if you'ld like.

[KatieSmiles]

He ain't heavy... he's my muffin

[MyOwnWoman]

Katie - you're a nut.

[KatieSmiles]

and your point is?

[The Londoner]

Bessie
Trawling through some emails today and found this recipe and thought of you.
Can you believe this-quinoa muffins!
I don't bake but this seems like a lot of sugar to me? What with the banana and apple juice and honey and all..
Anyway, see what you think
Annax

Adapted from The Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy by Michel Stroot (Gibbs Smith, 2003).

Many a muffin can be blamed for diet sabotage, but muffins from the renowned spa, the Golden Door, are light and lovely and rely on pureed fruits instead of butter and oil. This Golden Door recipe for orange quinoa muffins uses quinoa, oats and cornmeal to replace flour, making them not only super moist but also an excellent source of protein and other nutrients.


SIMPLE SOLUTION: When the Golden Door spa opened in 1958, they set the standard for fresh, colorful, flavorful "spa food." These muffins are no exception. And although they don't have wheat flour, they aren't gluten-free because the oats contain gluten—if you want to make them gluten-free, just double the quinoa and drop the oats.
INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
¾ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
¾ cup cooked quinoa
1 ¼ cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 oranges
1 large ripe banana
1/3 cup apple juice
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar (or one of Care2's recommended natural sweeteners).
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 egg
2 egg whites
2/3 cup chopped pitted dates

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil and set aside.

2. In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the rolled oats into a fine flour. Add it to the cooked quinoa and mix in the cornmeal, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

3. Grate the oranges to make 2 teaspoons zest. Peel the remaining oranges and separate the segments of all 4 oranges. Remove all the pith. Cut the outer membrane from the orange segments. Chop ¾ cup of the orange segments and place into a large bowl.

4. In food processor, process the banana with apple juice, brown sugar, honey, oil, egg and egg whites. Pour into the bowl with orange segments. Stir in the dates and orange zest and mix well. Pour the banana-orange batter into the dry ingredients and mix until well blended.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack; serve warm or let cool.

[Bessie]

Hey Londoner - they do sound good. Lovely and fruity. I'll be trying them out.

At the other end of the spectrum health wise, I had some muffins made by a friend and they were delicious. When I asked what the lovely moist fruity flavour was from, she told me she just threw in a tin of cherry pie filling Not something I'd normally touch with a barge pole but really made great muffins!

Bessie xx

[realityrocks]

Today I brought some pumpkin quinoa muffins I made to work and they were quite a hit! Here's the recipe link: Bob's Red Mill - Whole Grain and Gluten Free Products and Recipes
I cut the sugar down to 1/2 cup, and sprinkled walnuts on top instead of sunflower seeds. Thought I'd share since so many of you are quinoa lovers.