Dec 12, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Dec 12, 2011 in breakfast, eggs, kid friendly | 6 comments

Pancake Muffins with Chocolate chips & winner of Muir Glen tomatoes!

I have Joan from Foodalogue to thank for the inspiration for these muffins. She made some using a pumpkin pancake mix which sounded amazing, but since I didn’t have a mix already – I made a new variation of a pancake recipe which I hoped would turn into a great muffin.

This recipe makes 24 regular sized muffins. They do freeze well so you can always freeze any extras for a quick breakfast on the go. When they were cool enough to taste, my daughter Claire took the first bite. She said “these taste like pancakes!” I said “I know – that’s what I was going for!”

Ingredients

3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups buttermilk*
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 1/2 cups bread flour (you could also use all purpose flour)
1.5 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate flavor)

In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients and mix well. In a mixer add the 3 egg whites and beat for about 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.

Now add the wet ingredients (except egg whites) to the bowl of flour/sugar/baking soda and salt and stir gently until all the flour is incorporated. Now a little at a time fold in the egg whites. I let the batter stand for about 15 minutes and it gets all bubbly.

Since I wasn’t sure how much these would rise, I filled each muffin tin (which I coated in cooking spray first) about 3/4 full. They don’t rise too much so it wasn’t an issue.

And I figured out the calories using www.caloriecount.com

Each muffin is 115 calories 4.5 grams of fat 15 carbs which I didn’t think was that bad!

For one of the muffins, I opened up a little hole in the top and drizzled about a teaspoon of sugar free syrup in it, then plugged the hole up so when you bit into it, you had this ooze of syrup – so good!

*If you don’t have buttermilk you can use regular milk (skim, 1%, 2% or whole) and for each cup add 1 tsp. of white vinegar and let stand for 10 minutes. It will start to curdle the milk, but that’s what you want it to do.

Later I was reading an old cooking light where an article was talking about buttermilk and buttermilk tenderizes the protein in flour resulting in light and delicate pancakes (or muffins in this case).

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So last week, I had a Muir Glen Give a way and using Random.org the winner was #2 and that is HELEN!!. Congrats Helen! E-mail me your address at slim-shoppin@comcast.net so you can receive your prize!

Nov 30, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Nov 30, 2011 in breakfast, dessert, Muffin of the Week | 4 comments

Low Calorie awesome double chocolate chip muffins

I haven’t made muffins in a long time! I used to make a different kind of muffin every week. Since it’s an easy go-to breakfast on a busy morning, I love creating new recipes that are lower in calorie, but still taste good so I can avoid the bakery on my way to work!

These muffins taste amazing, moist and chocolatey!

Makes 12 regular size muffins

Ingredients

2 cups bread flour (all purpose flour could work here too)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1/4 cup Canola oil
1 egg
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

I actually just put all the ingredients into a bowl and mixed it by hand using a wooden spoon. Just stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and there are no patches of flour anywhere.

Bake in a muffin tin coated with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I will definitely make these again!

On the bottom of this page, under categories, I have a category for “MUFFIN OF THE WEEK” where I have at least 20 different low/cal healthier muffins.

What’s your favorite kind of muffin?

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 83 g
Amount Per Serving
Calories 213
Total Fat 7.0g
Saturated Fat 1.9g
Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 2mg
Sodium 120mg
Total Carbohydrates 34.6g
Dietary Fiber 1.5g
Sugars 15.5g
Protein 3.7g

(calories figured out from www.caloriecount.com)

Oct 27, 2011 Posted by Jennifer on Oct 27, 2011 in breakfast, eggs, kid friendly, Muffin of the Week | 7 comments

Nigella Lawson’s chocolate chocolate chip muffins

You all know how much I love muffins and I wanted to make some for breakfast for my family. I’ve made all sorts of muffins, mostly exchanging less healthy ingredients or amounts to something healthier – but for these I made them just as the recipe intended.

I used to not be such a huge fan of Nigella – but as I’ve watched more and more of her shows, her cooking is really simple – but looks amazing. I remember watching an episode where she made this really simple pasta dish called Slut’s Spaghetti. (I somehow don’t remember her calling that in the show, but that’s the recipe I found at Food TV! ) She made it and served up a huge bowl and then walked into her bedroom and got all comfy and ate the pasta in bed! I thought that was pretty awesome

Here is the recipe, approved by all three of my kids

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder (I didn’t have that so I left it out)
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling
1 cup milk
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and then bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

Amazing. What is your favorite kind of muffin and if you’ve got a recipe for one – post a link in the comments, I would love to check them out!