thecookscottage

Soya, Sunflower seeds and Whole Wheat Muffins

 

For a person who is inherently resistant to moderation in anything it is pretty tough to write this with conviction- "A balanced diet is essential to a healthy and happy life".  Sadly considerations of health hit  everyone, sooner or later. Hopefully for you, dear reader, it will be later.

So while I'm on this health kick, here are a few tried, tested and tasted  recipes.First up- another simple and yummy muffin recipe. It makes a quick breakfast for those watching their calories and their cholesterol.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup soya flour
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 tbsp cane sugar

1 egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup milk

2 tbsp chopped orange peel

Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Oil and lightly flour the muffin pan or line with paper muffin cases. In the meanwhile mix the flours with the salt,sunflower seeds, baking powder and sugar. Beat the egg, milk and oil together. Stir into the dry ingredients swiftly, add the chopped peel, and mix with a wooden spoon or a hand beater until the flour is just mixed in. Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake until done 12-15 minutes. Let them cool and then store in an airtight container. Makes 12 muffins.

Oatmeal and Cinnamon Muffins

One unkind reader once asked..."aren't you obese eating all this oily food?" I was a bit put out to be frank and had to point out to him that Alabama, his place of origin, was known for high levels of obesity among both adults and young people because of their tasty but heavy cuisine.

But,yes, putting on weight is a distinct possibility when trying out new  recipes constantly, even if the food is NOT oily.So cutting down on intake is very necessary from time to time.I try and make lunch my lightest meal. It is common knowledge that there is one meal you cannot do without; that is breakfast. Even if you intend to lose weight, never skip that first meal of the day. Just make sure you make it a healthy one.

Oats are known to reduce cholesterol, and cinnamon has hit the headlines because it helps type 2 diabetics to control sugar levels by stimulating their insulin receptors. With the use of brown sugar and oil, instead of refined sugar and butter, these muffins are positively good for you. Add a piece of fruit to your meal and, hey presto, you are ready to face the day.

Oatmeal, Date and Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

Makes about 9 muffins

150 gms flour

1 heaped tsp baking powder

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 heaped tsp cinnamon

50 gms powdered brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

3 tbsp sunflower oil

3 tbsp milk

100 gms dates, chopped fine

1 tbsp brown sugar

Heat oven to 170 degrees C.

Sift flour and baking powder together twice. Add the powdered sugar , cinnamon and oats and mix. Beat the egg, measure out the oil and milk and pour all wet ingredients into a well in the centre of the flour mixture. Combine all together with swift strokes and add the chopped dates at the end. Spoon mixture into a muffin pan lined with paper cups. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven till golden brown. Set out on wire rack to cool.

I bake several batches and keep them refrigerated, heating them up for a couple of seconds in the microwave before serving.

Sonar Lemony Cake

One of the difficulties encountered while using lime to flavour baked goods, is that the taste tends to dissipate the moment it is exposed to heat. When I received a precious batch of Gandh Raj, (pronounced Gondho Raj) a fragrant lime from Bengal, I was determined to capture its essence in a cake. A simple yellow cake seemed the right thing but I find many sponge cakes either greasy and dense, or dry and dusty, in short a bit sick making. It was a question of tweaking the amounts of those basics- flour, sugar and butter, to get the right texture while preserving the tang of the lime.

The secret lies in using buttermilk instead of milk and in adding limejuice to the icing. Now Gandh Raj may not be within your reach but don’t let that stop you from trying out this recipe as ordinary lime will do just fine. Maybe not as "Sonar".

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

200 gms butter (at room temperature)

325 gms or 1 ½ cups sugar (preferably ground into a powder)

3 eggs and 1 egg yolk

3 tbsp limejuice

1 tbsp grated zest of lime. ( Mix the zest with the juice and set aside)

¾ cup buttermilk

1 tsp vanilla essence

Mix the four ingredients above .

Icing:

1 cup confectioners sugar (use powdered sugar if you don’t have confectioners sugar)

1 1/2 tbsp limejuice

1 tbsp buttermilk

Heat oven to 175 degrees C. Butter cake tin lightly. Sift the flour baking soda, baking powder and salt together twice. Beat eggs with the yolk in a small bowl till well mixed. In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar well by beating with a hand mixie for at least 6 minutes, first at high speed and then at medium speed. The mixture should really look like cream.

Now add the egg mixture in two halves, beating well on low speed after each addition. Add one cup of the flour mixture and beat till just incorporated into the mixture. Now add the buttermilk and lime juice mix alternating with the flour mixture. Each time you make an addition mix the batter for just about 10 seconds.

Spoon the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 35- 40 minutes till golden brown on top. Insert a skewer or fork to check that the inside is cooked (the fork should come out clean without any attached crumbs or batter.)

Mix the caster sugar, buttermilk and lime juice to make the icing and drip a bit on top while the cake is hot. Wait till it has cooled before dribbling the rest of the icing on. The icing gives it a nice tartness and distills the lemon essence while dressing up the cake for presentation.

In spite of my temperamental oven this turned out pretty darn good !!