http://www.joythebaker.com/blog/archives/24
While they may not be the prettiest muffins you’ve ever laid eyes on, they just might be the healthiest. These little gems are packed with banana, apple and flax seed goodness. For those of you who aren’t nutrition obsessed California dieters, flax seed are rich in fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids which helps protect against heart disease and cancer. In these muffins, flax seed meal (ground up flax seeds) replace butter and oil. How great is that!? No butter, no oil muffins! Just healthy fats in a yummy, moist, fruit muffin!
The fruit in this recipe help to keep the muffins deliciously moist. I used grated apples and mashed bananas, although the recipe calls for carrots instead of bananas. Really, use any reasonable fruit of veggie you like: zucchini, apple, carrot, banana, pear, pineapple. Go crazy!
And! This is also my entry into February’s Weekend Breakfast Blogging Event- created by Saffron Trail and hosted by Tasty Palettes. This month features Healthy Eats, and what could be healthier than fresh fruit and flax seed muffins? Serious Yum.
Gnarley Muffins
adapted from Bob’s Red Mill
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup flax seed meal (if you live near a Trader Joe’s, you can get flaxseed meal and oat bran there!)
3/4 cup oat bran
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups carrots, shredded
2 apples peeled and shredded
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Using a wooden spoon, mix together flour, flax seed meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Stir in carrots, apples, raisins and nuts.
3. Combine milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour liquid all at once into the dry/fruit mixture. Stir until ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix.
4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Yields 15 medium sized muffins.
Healthy trans fat free muffins. Your heart say ‘Thanks!’
Great looking recipe. I plan to try it with a few tweaks.
Please don’t buy or recommend pre-ground flaxseeds. They can become rancid within a couple of days of being ground (unless they have a preservative… hmmm). Instead, grind your own whole flaxseeds in a coffee grinder until you have 3/4 cup. You likely wouldn’t need the eggs either, except for the taste, because ground flaxseeds become a binder once they are ground and mixed with a liquid.
With a little tweaking this can become a vegan recipe, with almond or rice milk and agave nectar for sweetening (of course you’d use less liquid). For those who like honey, you could use that although it’s not strictly vegan.
I posted this remark at Joy's blog. I hope she approves it.
Flax seed and dried pineapple mixed in your unsweetened cornbread batter is excellent by the way.