April 24, 2009
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Yogurt Crisis Muffins
My new muffin recipe, like most of my original recipes, happened by accident. I had already measured the usual amount of yogurt into the other liquid ingredients, and was pouring off a small amount of thin clear liquid that I’d rather have in the muffins than tossed out, next time I want to scoop some thick yogurt onto a baked potato or sweeten it for filling not-cheese not-blintzes. The entire blob of yogurt in the container slid out into the bowl of muffin ingredients.
The result is understandably creamier than usual, and the crumb holds together very well. Until a year or two ago, I used to put xanthan gum in my batter to hold it together, but I didn’t like its mouth feel. I had been putting up with crumbly muffins, but not this time.
Recipe:
Gluten Free Sugarless Yogurt MuffinsBegin by lining muffin pans with 3 dozen paper baking cups.
Whisk together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups sorghum flour
1 cup garbanzo and fava bean flour
1/2 cup masa harina (corn flour)
1/2 cup corn starch
3 cups nonfat dry milk solids
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. double acting baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. saltIn a separate bowl, beat:
6 large eggsThen add, beating after each addition:
1 1/2 cups puréed fruit (I used 3 jars of Gerber’s strained pears — a long story I’ve told before*)
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (substitute any cooking oil you prefer)
approximately 6 cups plain yogurt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extractStart heating the oven to 375°F and spooning batter into cups in 1/4 cup portions.
Bake at 375°F about 20-23 minutes, until tops are golden brown. Cool in pans on racks ten minutes before removing muffins, then continue cooling on racks. Pack into air-tight containers and freeze. Microwave frozen muffins briefly, until they’re warm, and they’re as good as fresh-baked.
I’ve got about a month’s worth of breakfasts now. I ate three muffins while I was writing this, but that overindulgence has to stop.
* Update to the baby food story: About a year ago, Greyfox (poet, shaman, arms merchant, dumpster-diver extraordinaire, my soulmate, significant other, and partner in crime) found and gave to me several cartons of discarded baby food, assorted strained fruits. The bananas went first. They made marvelous additions to muffins. Then I used up the applesauce and strained peaches. A few weeks ago, all I had left was three little jars of strained pears, when he found two more cartons of assorted baby fruits. This batch of muffins used up the last of the old stuff.
Comments (7)
Sounds very good. Too bad I don’t cook.
NUM….I’m contimplating a transfiguration into a naughty racoon if pleading eyes and a please may I be invited to the party here? (Yes, of course, I’d like to run away with the recipe too)
Hi Susu,
This recipe sounds great!
Since you’re into herbal/natural, can you tell me of an herb/plant (or extract of same) that can be used as natural sweetener?
I’ve recently been diagnosed as Type II diabetic. Normally, I drink sugar free drinks anyway. And in my tea, I might use 1/10th of a package of Sweet and Low (just enough to cut the bitter taste).
As for using it as a sweetener in cooking, I don’t think I’d like the taste of that at all.
I’ve wanted to use Splenda but every time I mention it, someone goes berserk about how BAD it is to use (without explanation, mind you).
Do you know of anything I can use instead — in my tea (miniscule amount) and in cooking, such as what might equal up to 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar?
Thank you very much … and if you don’t know, sincere thanks anyway.
BTW,I continue to love your photography!
Laura
First off, I use Splenda and so do my husband and son, and the only bad things I have seen or heard about it come from Dr. Mercola, and you can find more bad things about him on Quackbusters than you can find about Splenda anywhere. The only problem I’ve had with Splenda is that since I’m a sugar addict and I get the sweetness without the buzz, I can overeat unconsciously, chasing that buzz. I just have to keep my wits about me, and that’s true with any food I eat.
Stevia herb is very sweet, but most of it has some bitterness, too. Extracts are not quite as bitter as the whole herb, and there is a new super-sweet hybrid strain on the market. I forget the name of the grower/breeder I bought mine from, but you should be able to find it by googling “super sweet stevia.”
@LauraXF - Just wanted to add to what I wrote before: stevia can lose its sweetness in cooking, as with some artificial sweeteners. Splenda doesn’t, but it does not satisfactorily replace sugar in baking where the physical bulk and chemistry of sugar is important. Splenda does okay to sweeten pancakes, for example, or custard, pudding, fruit, etc, but most cookie recipes where the sugar is creamed with butter, or fudgy brownies, are impossible with Splenda.
have you ever tried stevia extract?
vaporizer
stevia is a lil bitter