Apple Cinnamon Millet Muffins & Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Rather than playing the blame game, in which I would come up with a list of reasons why I haven't blogged IN OVER A YEAR, I am going to take my own high road and jump right into a new post. So there.

A while ago, my friend Sarah and I participated in a weekend yoga retreat at Shanti on Wolfe Island near Kingston, Ontario. I have written about the retreat in two blog posts already (http://richlerrecipes.blogspot.com/2014/10/herb-buttermilk-biscuits.html AND http://richlerrecipes.blogspot.ca/2014/10/red-lentil-dhal.html ).

I remember fondly the ‘silent breakfast’ in the mornings and Sarah and I trying hard to keep it together as the other guest at our table would not stop talking. All the yogis were giving her dirty looks (in a non-judgmental yogi way, of course). Hilarity. I also remember the walking meditation and me, after walking for about 15 minutes, walking right back into my room because I COULD NOT HANDLE WALKING MEDITATION. It’s just not for me, OK? Get off my back!

Since that retreat, I have tried and tested many of the recipes in the Shanti cookbook that I brought home with me. Pretty much everything has been fabulous and I make our favourites often.

Today I am sharing the Shanti recipe for Apple Cinnamon Millet muffins. On the day that Sarah and I ventured into town for a walk, these muffins were waiting for us upon our return. There was a basket on the food table just as we walked in the door and the foyer smelled like apple pie. The muffins were nestled in a plaid napkin, with preserves and knives alongside ready and waiting to be used. We each had a muffin and wondered if it would be greedy to go back for another one. Yes, yes it would, so we didn’t. Instead, I bought the cookbook and made them as soon as I returned to Toronto.

The recipe in the book is for Apple Cinnamon Millet muffins, and I am also providing an adapted recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins. As always, my adaptations to the original recipe appear in brackets.

Important to note is that if you have any kind of thyroid issue you probably should leave the millet out (http://www.diagnosisdiet.com/foods-and-hypothyroidism/). You’ve been warned.

Shanti’s Apple Cinnamon Millet Muffins

Ingredients for the muffins:

Dry

2 cups spelt flour

2/3 cup millet

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp sea salt

Wet

1 cup non-dairy milk (I use almond milk or buttermilk – all to say, you can go dairy or not – it’s all good)

½ cup apple sauce (I use unsweetened or I puree some of the baked apples in lieu of the sauce)

½ cup maple syrup (this can easily be cut back)

1/3 cup coconut oil (I melt it for easier blending)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups baked apples (Or any fruit – you can use berries if you like, or peaches, or rhubarb. Fresh or frozen, but not thawed.)

Ingredients for the baked apples:

5 apples, peeled and diced (3 cups)

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tbsp cinnamon (I also add pinches of mace, nutmeg, allspice, and powdered ginger)

1-2 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup (I leave this out completely. Apples are sweet enough.)

For the baked apples:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Peel and dice the apples into 1 inch cubes (I don’t quite make them into cubes. They are more like chunks.) Place the apples in a baking dish with the coconut oil and the spices (and the sugar, if desired). Stir and bake for 30 minutes, stirring at least once during that time.

I actually do this on the stovetop in a pot. I stir often, on medium heat. It doesn’t take 30 minutes. Up to you.

For the muffins:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Line muffin cups with oil, butter, or a spray of oil. This recipe claims it makes 12 muffins but I consistently get a yield of 16.

Measure dry ingredients into a large bowl.

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Measure and then melt the coconut oil in the microwave (about 45 sec).

Whisk together the wet ingredients (except the baked apples) in another bowl or use a blender (I like the blender).

Combine wet with dry until just absorbed. 

Fold in the baked apples.

Spoon the batter into the muffin pans.

Bake for 25 minutes. Let them sit in the pan for 1 minute before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool. You might need the help of a knife to get them out of the pan.

Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

P.S. These spoil very quickly so I recommend keeping half the yield in the fridge, and the other half in the freezer.

The banana chocolate chip version is below:

Ingredients for the muffins:

Dry

2 cups spelt flour

2/3 cup millet (I leave the millet out of this recipe because my kids don’t like millet)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp sea salt

1 1/4 cups chocolate chips

Wet

1 ¼ cup non-dairy milk (I increase the liquid because the bananas replacing the apple sauce are not as wet as the applesauce. You can use buttermilk or almond milk.)

½ cup mashed bananas (to replace the apple sauce)

1/4 cup maple syrup (less syrup because bananas are naturally sweet)

1/3 cup coconut oil (I melt it for easier blending)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups mashed banana

The method is the same.

Measure dry ingredients into a large bowl (except for the chocolate chips), and whisk together.

Measure and melt coconut oil. Measure rest of wet ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth (including the coconut oil).

Add wet to dry and whisk together until just blended.

Add chocolate chips.

Spoon into the prepared pans (I made 12 larger muffins this time), and bake for 25 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let cool for a minute before turning them out of the pan.

ENJOY EVERY BITE!

Raspberry Millet Muffins

On the last day of our yoga retreat when we returned from morning yoga in the yurt, there was a basket of something yummy on the big wooden table in the front hall. Whatever was in the basket was covered with a colourful napkin, and there was a sign next to the basket and a little ramekin as well. The ramekin had a couple of dollars in it. Interest piqued, and smelling something delicious, Sarah and I approached the table to read the sign.

It went something like this: muffins, homemade and fresh out of the oven. Please leave $2 and enjoy a muffin. An honour system for baked goods - how very Zen.

The Shanti yoga retreat also had a store of sorts, selling things like blankets made from yak wool, books on yoga and meditation, hand made soaps, lip balms, and salves. Yoga clothes and props, candles and incense. There was an exercise book (or 'scribbler' for you fellow Newfoundlanders) on the floor next to the credit card terminal, and a price list. If you wanted to buy something you just had to write it down and pay before you left. This is the kind of world I want to live in.

But I digress. Back to the muffins. We ran upstairs to our room hoping to find some coins and lucky for us, we did. $4 and two muffins later, we were replete. I pushed my chair back from the table and went to rinse my tea cup, then I noticed the Shanti cookbook open to the recipe for the muffins. That kind of sealed the deal - a cookbook would be coming home with me.

The recipe in the book is called Apple Cinnamon Millet Muffins, but the version we enjoyed was made with local blueberries that day, since that was what was on offer at the market on Wolfe Island. When I returned home I decided that I would make these muffins for myself. The challenge would be to make them without sugar.

I had decided (been inspired by Sarah, actually) to go sugar-free for a month when I returned from Shanti. So I had to modify the recipe to suit this dietary restriction. It was pretty easy to do and the muffins were still amazing. I made them on a Sunday afternoon and one warning for you bakers out there - by Wednesday they had mould growing on them and 6 whole muffins ended up in the compost. Sadness. So my advice to you would be to freeze whatever you don't consume on the first day. This of course, really makes you think about baked goods that you purchase from the grocery store. You know the ones that have a shelf life of 10 days or so? What do you think is in them to make them last that long? Indeed.

You've waited long enough. Here is the recipe for the muffins, my adaptations are in brackets, as always.

Ingredients

2 cups spelt flour
2/3 cup millet (looks kind of like big grains of cous cous)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

1 cup non-dairy milk (I used skim milk from a cow)
1/2 cup apple sauce (I used unsweetened applesauce)
1/2 cup maple syrup (I used 1/4 cup of pureed prunes, but next time I will use 1/2 cup as they could have been a tad sweeter)
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups fruit (either apples and cinnamon, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or whatever you want! I used frozen raspberries.)

Method

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and coat 12 muffin cups with a light coating of oil.

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Whisk together the wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Combine the wet with the dry and stir until the flour is just absorbed.

 Then fold in the fruit.

Spoon the batter into the muffin pan and bake for 25 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy! And Namaste.

“Healthy” Chocolate Chip Cookies

A couple of summers ago I took the kids to the US to visit our friends, Karen, Chris, Abby and Bridget. When we arrived, thankfully Karen had baked. It had been quite a long trip and we needed sustenance. One of the Tupperware containers sitting on the counter had her Mom’s tea biscuits in it – yummy and not at all good for you because they are baked with white flour and other bad things.I will share this delicious recipe later with Karen's (and Pat's!) permission.

The other container had these cookies in it. I immediately grabbed one because I have a serious problem with chocolate and I simply cannot pass it up. These cookies looked like regular cookies, but when I took my first bite I realized that there was something different. I thought I detected a hint of maple, but just to be sure, I took another cookie. In the second cookie I confirmed to myself that there was definitely maple in there, but I still could not put my finger on what else was different. So I thought I had better try just one more, just to be certain. I still could not put my finger on it, but knew I could not possibly have a fourth. Instead, I asked Karen for the recipe.

The title was Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies, which I immediately objected to. Who’s fooling who, I thought to myself. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the cookies were made with spelt flour. OK, that’s fine, but that doesn’t make them “healthy”. Then I noticed no eggs – OK, that makes them have low cholesterol, but “healthy”? The recipe also contains oatmeal – so they had extra fibre, maybe that’s a little big healthy. Finally I noticed that instead of sugar, they used maple syrup. So in summary, there is no refined sugar or flour, no eggs, and oatmeal to give extra fibre.

I am still not sure if that is enough to make these cookies “healthy”, but one thing I can tell you for sure is that they are delicious. So here is the recipe, with props to Karen.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups whole spelt flour

1 cup chocolate chips (the recipe calls for non-dairy chocolate chips; I use regular semi sweet)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional; I don’t use them because my kids don’t like nuts in cookies)

¾ cup rolled oats

½ tsp sea salt

¾ tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp cinnamon

Wet Ingredients:

2/3 cup maple syrup

2/3 cup grapeseed oil (or safflower, or olive)

2 tbsp filtered water (I use tap water, let’s get real here people)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Place dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Combine wet ingredients in another large bowl. Add to dry and mix well. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. (Note: I put it all in one bowl because I don’t like to clean too many dishes. And try not to refrigerate for longer than 15 minutes because the dough gets crumbly.)

Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Makes about 3 dozen.

Spiced Nuts from David Lebovitz

In April of 2011 the King of Soup and I traveled to Paris and Barcelona to celebrate our ten year wedding anniversary. We had an amazing time in both cities – we rented apartments and tried to live like the locals. We ate, walked, ate some more, walked some more, and enjoyed each other’s company (without our children around!). I loved both cities, but definitely felt more at home in Paris. Ever since we returned, I find myself drawn to anything that is from Paris, says Paris on it, smells like Paris, etc. I admit that this could become a problem in the future, but for now I am embracing it (until I can get back to Paris and experience that city again in person).

As we were preparing for our travels, one of my friends who gets to go to Paris regularly, told me about David Lebovitz. David has written a book called The Sweet Life in Paris, and also writes a blog. I started following the blog in preparation for the trip, and continue to read it daily now that I am home.

About three weeks ago, I was reading a recent post and at the bottom of the post there were some links to older recipes. The one that caught my eye immediately was called Spiced Glazed Nuts and Pretzel Mix. I decided to try it and immediately was hooked. Uh oh.

I have made this several times in the past three weeks. Each time I have shared it with other people – thank goodness or I might weigh 300 pounds very soon. I have two small adjustments: first, I used light brown sugar instead of dark, because it is what I had on hand in the pantry. Today I made it with dark, just to see if it would turn out differently. The only difference I can detect is that the mixture is darker in colour than my last three (maybe four) batches. But it tastes the same – wonderful. The second adjustment I made was to increase the cayenne pepper from ¾ tsp to 1 tsp. But that is up to you.

This would be a great holiday gift, packaged nicely in a Mason jar with a pretty ribbon around the neck. Or, you can keep it all for yourself.

Ingredients:

2 cups raw nuts (I used ¾ cup pecan halves, ¾ cup almonds and ½ cup cashews – you could also use hazelnuts and peanuts – whatever you prefer)

1 tbsp butter (David Lebovitz specifies unsalted, but I always use salted because I don’t buy unsalted butter – what’s the point?)

3 tbsp dark brown sugar (again, I used light brown sugar)

1 ½ tbsp maple syrup

¾ tsp cayenne pepper

½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups pretzel twists, small (I used sticks once when I could not find the twists – the twists definitely work better because they are more bite-sized)

1 tsp flaked or Kosher salt

Method:

Place the nuts on a cookie sheet and roast them for 10 minutes at 350 degrees F. Stir the nuts halfway through for even toasting.

Meanwhile, place the butter in a large-ish bowl and melt it in the microwave for about 20 – 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the microwave and add the sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. Mix it all up until the sugar is dissolved. 

Today I forgot to melt the butter first so I just put it all into the microwave.

Pour the mixture over the warm nuts when they come out of the oven. Stir to coat. 

Add the pretzels and the salt and stir again.

Return to the oven on the cookie sheet and bake for another 12 to 18 minutes. 12 is perfect in my oven. Be sure to stir halfway through for even toasting. David says to stir twice, but I only did it once and all was well with the world.

As the mixture cools, you can break it apart – it will stick together in clumps because of the sugar and maple syrup.

Additional Notes:

Today when I made the recipe, I bought already roasted nuts, just to see if it made a difference. In doing so, I eliminated the first 10 minute roasting period. The end result was pretty much the same so it’s up to you what you prefer to do.

Note as well that you add the salt at the end so it doesn’t dissolve. Be sure to use coarse salt so you get the texture that makes these nuts so delish.

The mixture can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week – but it won’t last that long, trust me.