best healthy muffins so far

Over coffee-after-the-gym the other morning Corry brought out a new mag to show us- BBC Australian Good Food. I hadn't seen it in the supermarket but a quick look through made me interested enough to buy it. As if I needed any more food mags. It looks quite similar to delicious, and features some well-known chefs like Gordon Ramsay and Kylie Kwong. But unlike delicious, whose recipes are featured on taste.com.au , I couldn't find any of the recipes online.

There was a nice-looking and fairly healthy-sounding carrot and walnut cake recipe featured, so I tried it out (tho' I made muffins). They were terrific - really soft with a great flavour - and probably the nicest of the healthy muffins I've made lately. I modified the recipe a bit, substituting buttermilk for the full-fat milk soured with lemon juice, and CSR Smart for the sugar. I didn't make the cream cheese frosting either but they really didn't need it and neither do my hips. Here's my version :

Carrot & Walnut Cakes (makes 15)

1/2 cup (80g) sultanas

juice of an orange

2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk (or milk soured with 2 t lemon juice)

2 cups (320g) wholemeal SR flour

1 t bicarb

1 t mixed spice

160g CSR Smart or 1 1/2 cups (330g) raw sugar

1/2 cup (50g) walnuts, chopped

3 medium carrots, grated

1 granny smith apple, peeled, grated

grated rind of 1 lemon

1/2 cup (125ml) rice bran oil

3 eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 180C. Line 15 holes of 2 x muffin tins with paper cases and spray lightly with non-stick spray.

Combine sultanas and orange juice in a small bowl and let stand for 10 mins.

Combine buttermilk, oil and lightly beaten eggs in a separate bowl.

Sift flour, bicarb, spice and 1/4 t salt in a large bowl and return husks from sifter to bowl. Stir in CSR Smart, carrots, apple, lemon rind and sultana mixture. Pour in the buttermilk mixture and stir until well combined. Fold in chopped walnuts.

Spoon into paper cases and bake for 20 mins. or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.

If making one big cake, use a greased and lined 25cm springform tin and bake for 50-55 mins.

yet more healthy muffins...

I wish I'd kept my copy of Julie Stafford's mid '90's muffin book. I donated it to the choir garage sale a few years ago which I now regret. I'm going to try and get another one, although I'm not sure it's still in print. In the meantime I found a recipe from the book on the net for Rhubarb and Ginger muffins. It sounded similar to Rhubarb Daisy Cake (recipe here) created by Jamie Oliver's mum. It's an upside down cake topped with a pinwheel of rhubarb sticks and glazed with a mixture of golden syrup and ginger syrup which I've made and which looks and tastes divine. The muffins were never going to taste as good as the cake seeing as there's no butter or syrup, but they're pretty good. Here's my version :

Rhubarb and Ginger Muffins (makes 15)

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

1 1/2 cups SR flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
300 g rhubarb (1 bunch), finely chopped (choose nice red thin stalks)
1/4 cup finely chopped glace ginger
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup CSR Smart
1/2 cup apple juice
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 180C. Line 15 holes of 2 muffin tins with paper liners and spray liners lightly with non-stick spray.

Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the rhubarb and ginger.

In another bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then beat in the oil, followed by the apple juice and the buttermilk.

Add the liquid mix to the dry mix and stir well.

Spoon into muffin tray and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove muffins from tray and cool on wire rack.

As there's no sugar in them they look a little anaemic but a dusting of icing sugar makes them look more appetising.

more healthy muffins

Here's another great low GI muffin recipe from the same cookbook as yesterday's. The original recipe uses blueberries which I don't like much, so I use frozen raspberries instead.

Low GI Lemon Raspberry Muffins (Makes 10)

All ingredients should be at room temperature except the raspberries.

180g wholemeal plain flour

30g wheat bran

80g sugar substitute (eg Splenda)

1 T baking powder

1/2 t salt

240ml buttermilk

1 egg

50g soft margarine, melted, or rapeseed oil (I use Nuttelex)

1 T grated lemon rind

140g frozen raspberries - don't thaw first

Preheat oven to 190C. Line 10 holes of a muffin tin with papers and lightly spray them with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl stir together all the dry ingredients.

In a small bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, margarine and lemon rind. Pour over the dry mixture, add the raspberries and stir until just combined.

Spoon into muffin papers and bake for about 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack. These will freeze well for a few weeks.

low gi muffins

I'm on a health kick at the moment. I've joined a gym again after a 10 year gap - and have amazed myself by going every weekday for the last 2 weeks - and am trying to cut out empty calories. I've found the hardest part of the day to get through is late-afternoon to dinnertime, even with a mid-afternoon snack. I've tried a few of the high-protein bars that they sell at the gym and they were all dreadful. This is my version of a muffin recipe I copied a couple of years ago from a Low GI cookbook. They taste pretty good, and if I eat one in the afternoon it keeps me going 'till dinnertime and cuts out the craving for dangerous pre-dinner nibbles. They also freeze well.

Low GI Cinnamon Bran Muffins (Makes 12)

All ingredients should be at room temperature.

50g wheat bran

30g All-Bran

pinch salt

120ml boiling water

240ml buttermilk

150g sultanas (you can use dried cranberries instead)

4 Tabs artificial sweetener eg Splenda

1 egg

60ml canola/rapeseed oil

150g wholemeal plain flour

1 1/4 t bicarb soda

1 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 190C. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with muffin papers and spray them lightly with non-stick spray.

In a bowl combine the bran, All-Bran and boiling water. Stir in the buttermilk and sultanas.

In another bowl, whisk together the sweetener, egg and oil. Stir into the bran mixture.

In a large bowl stir together the flour, salt, soda and cinnamon. Pour the bran mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide the mixture between the lined muffin cups and bake for about 20 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a rack.