JBR's Banana Pecan Muffins (Gluten-Free)

Dear Readers,

I love pecans. But, first of all if you are allergic to pecans, like my Catherine & Mary are, then substitute some other nuts or omit them entirely in this recipe. Nuts are not crucial in life. And, you don't want to miss out on these muffins according to my friend JBR. We ate these muffins for our morning snack all week at work. She loved them and raved about their taste. I strongly liked them. So, I'm naming them after her. I find the gluten-free flours to have an odmd texture I'm not used to and they seem a little crumbly to me. I don't imagine I'm the only person who's experimented with gluten-free to express these same two concerns. I used the Bob's Red Mill brand Gluten-Free All Purpose Baking Flour. I omitted the Xanthum gum that most gluten-free baking recipes call for because it's like $16 for a small bag and that's totally out of my budget these days! Maybe that's why they were slightly crumbly. Regardless, the flavors were great and I felt good about eating them because they were gluten-free. Enjoy!


In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann









JBR's Gluten-Free Banana Pecan Muffins
Makes 10-12 muffins

1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup honey
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped pecans












1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan.
2. In a small bowl combine the canola oil, eggs, vanilla and honey. Beat with whisk until well mixed and fluffy. Add the bananas and stir until combined.
3. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir until well mixed.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture in your large bowl. Stir until combined. Do not over mix. Add the pecans and stir.
5. I like big muffins so I use about 1/3 cup batter to each muffin tin. (And, really, who doesn't like big muffins??) Fill the muffin pan with all the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Let cool only a little before eating. Optional serve with butter or vegan spread. Extras keep well in the refrigerator for about 3 days.

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Muffins

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Muffins
Original Recipe by Miss Jolie Ann

Hi everyone!

It's the beginning of raspberry season in Portland. My raspberry patch still has a ways to go until it's ripe enough for eating. I picked up 2 baskets of raspberries from the east bank farmer's market on Thursday-one red, one yellow. The red raspberries were not quite ripe, still pretty bitter. Unfortunate. The yellow's were sweet and delicious. Today I'm enjoying a relaxing "pajama's" day staying in relaxing, reading. So I decided to whip up this muffin recipe to use the yummy raspberries. I created this recipe with all ingredients I happened to have on hand this afternoon. Including the shining star--homemade lemon curd given to me for Christmas by my friend Jemae. I think the sweet & tart lemon curd nicely compliments the raspberries. Enjoy!

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Muffins
Makes 1 dozen muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup spelt flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp all spice
2 brown free-range eggs
1 cup butter, melted OR 1 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup lemon curd
1 cup unsweetened plain soymilk
2 cups fresh raspberries

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease a muffin pan.
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir well until combined.
3. In a smaller bowl combine the eggs, butter & vanilla. Mix well. Add the lemon curd and stir. Add the soymilk and stir.
4. Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients in the large bowl. Stir until everything is just mixed. Add the raspberries and stir to fold them into batter.
5. Fill muffin tin with about 1/4 cup batter to each muffin.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 20 minutes until muffins are brown on the top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Oatmeal Spelt Muffins with Banana & Blueberries

Oatmeal Spelt Muffins with Banana & Blueberries
Original Recipe by Miss Jolie Ann
Yields about 9 muffins

These muffins are so easy to make and actually good for you too! You may notice these muffins have no sugar, honey, etc. The ripe bananas & blueberries sweeten them and really who needs all that sugar anyways? I love um just warmed up with some melted butter. Mmmm so good for breakfast. Enjoy!
In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup spelt flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen (thawed)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 brown egg

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease a muffin pan.
2. Place oatmeal in a large mixing bowl. Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix all dry ingredients.
3. In a small bowl combine the bananas, blueberries, oil and egg. Stir until mixed.
4. Combine wet ingredients with dry ingredients in large bowl. Mix until just combined.
5. Pour batter into greased muffin pan. About 1/4 cup batter per muffin.
6. Bake in 375 degree oven for 18 minutes.
7. Let cool and enjoy warm with butter.

Blueberry-Lavender Cornbread Muffins with Maple Butter

Original Recipe by Miss Jolie Ann

Blueberry season in the northwest is quickly approaching, so I thought I'd provide some inspiration with this downright scrumptious muffin recipe...

In Health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Author's Note 7/14/08: Um, Mary (bff) LOVES these muffins & I think that I've created a "muffin monster" because she keeps asking for them all the time!

BLUEBERRY-LAVENDER CORNBREAD MUFFINS

WITH MAPLE BUTTER

Makes about 7 muffins

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a muffin tin.

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

1 cup organic cornmeal

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried lavender (crush blossoms, whole ones can be overpowering!)

2. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl until combined.

5 tbsp organic butter (or canola oil)

2 tbsp organic honey

2 organic large brown eggs

1 tsp organic non-alcohol pure vanilla extract

1 tsp fresh organic lemon zest

3. Mix all wet ingredients in a smaller bowl until combined.

4. Combine the wet mixture with the dry. Stir until just combined, do not over-stir.

1 cup fresh organic blueberries

5. Stir in the blueberries until just mixed.

6. Pour muffin batter evenly between 7 muffin spots. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes. Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan.

MAPLE BUTTER:

1 Stick Organic Butter

3 tbsp organic pure maple syrup

7. With an electric hand mixer, beat butter and maple syrup until light and fluffy. Yum.

Lemon Yogurt Muffins with Poppy Seeds

This morning I tried a new muffin recipe from The Moosewood Cookbook: Lemon Yogurt Muffins. I made several adjustments. First, the temperature of 375 was too high and 25 minutes cooking time was too long. The first batch of muffins were overcooked and really browned. I also added poppy seeds, because I love them in lemon baking. I was seeking a stronger lemon flavor so I increased the lemon juice and rind. And I switched the butter to canola oil and reduced the honey. The recipe was unspecific calling for "1 cup yogurt." I used Annie's brand organic nonfat vanilla yogurt. I use Annie's because it's local-produced at Springfield Dairy in Eugene Oregon. Also, this yogurt is sweetened with natural agave sweetener as opposed to most conventional and even natural yogurts that are loaded with refined sugars. With some adjusting I came up with a muffin that is fluffy lemony not too sweet and satisfying. Check it out...

Lemon Yogurt Muffins with Poppy Seeds

Yield 1 dozen muffins

4 tbsp pure honey

4 tbsp organic canola oil

1 cup organic nonfat plain or vanilla yogurt

1 organic brown egg

1/2 cup fresh squeezed organic lemon juice

1 tsp freshly grated organic lemon rind

1 cup organic unbleached white flour

1 cup organic whole wheat flour

a few dashes of organic nutmeg

1.5 tsp organic baking soda

1/4 tsp organic sea salt

1 tbsp organic poppy seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat melt the butter and honey together. Set aside.

3. Beat together the yogurt, egg, lemon juice, and lemon rind. Add melted butter and honey. Beat well until thoroughly mixed.

4. Sift together the dry ingredients (excluding the poppy seeds). Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients. Stir briefly, using the least amount of strokes to just combine the batter. Add the poppy seeds and stir minimally.

5. Grease a muffin tin-I use Trader Joe's Canola Oil Baking Spray. Fill the cups 2/3 full with batter. (These muffins rise a lot!) Bake approximately 20 minutes.

Banana Nut Muffins

Happy Valentine's Day! This morning my 2 1/2 year old friend, Jasper, and I enjoyed baking these muffins together. Baking is a great activity to share with young children-it teaches them math, how to follow directions, & develops their fine motor skils and eye-hand coordination. (Yes, in my other life I am a Child Development Specialist!) We had a great time together and the baking muffins made the house smell yummy delicious.

I try to bake a batch of muffins every week to enjoy as a snack. I bake this recipe when I have a few bananas turning brown and really ripe. Today I was using all ingredients that I already had on hand, so the entire muffin recipe cost me nothing out of this week's food budget. You can't beat that! I like to make large muffins, so this recipe yields 6 large muffins or 10-12 smaller muffins. 6 muffins is a perfect amount for me. I can eat one a day for the week before they start going hard and stale. ( I store my muffins in a sealed container in the fridge) If you are preparing banana nut muffins for a family or a brunch just double the recipe to make a dozen.

In health,
Miss Jolie Ann

Banana Nut Muffins
This recipe makes 6 large muffins or 10-12 small muffins

2 very ripe organic bananas
1/3 cup organic canola oil or organic melted butter
¼ cup organic honey
2 organic brown eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon alcohol-free pure vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 cups organic whole wheat flour
1 cup organic walnuts, chopped
organic canola oil spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Peel and mash bananas in a large mixing bowl.

2. Mix in the canola oil or melted butter, beaten eggs, honey and vanilla.

3. In another bowl combine the baking soda, sea salt and flour and mix well.

4. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until it is just incorporated.

5. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

6. Spray the muffin pan with canola oil until very lightly greased.

7. Pour mixture into prepared muffin pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes. You'll know they are done with they are lightly browned, big and fluffy, and when you insert a toothpick into the center of one it comes out clean. Let cool (or not) and then devour!