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Muffins get a bad rap, and none more so than bran muffins. See, regular muffins are sugar-and-oil fests, full of empty calories, and most bran muffins are healthy but, well, made of twigs. Can there be a happy medium between these two extremes?
Of course there can be! Enter my breakfast-on-the-go juggernaut, the 150% whole grain banana nut muffin! Now, you may be asking yourself how the hell something can be 150% whole grain, and here's your answer: grains are made up of the germ, the bran, and the endosperm. White flour and other processed grains get poo-pooed (and deservedly so) because the nutritious and tasty germ and bran are removed, leaving behind the starchy endosperm which, while semantically being a complex carbohydrate, is treated by your body just like sugar, a simple carbohydrate. While most muffins are made of only white flour, this recipe is made up of whole-wheat flour (germ, bran, endosperm), oats (again, germ, bran, endosperm), wheat germ, and oat bran. Lots of good-parts-of-the-grain yumminess, see?
An astute reader like yourself may have picked up on the fact that while a couple of those ingredients are the fiber- and nutrient-rich parts of the grain, they do not in fact contain all three parts. So I guess it's not technically whole-grain, but really, when you're only removing the bad stuff and keeping the good stuff it's easy to see that it has way more of the good stuff than the bad stuff, so it's like an endosperm with twice the bran and twice the germ, and hence, 150% whole grain! Don't argue with me on this one, I majored in math and I'll come up with some convoluted argument to prove that It Is So.
So that's enough science geekery, let's stop talking nutrition and start talking yumminess!
This recipe is awesome because it manages to be low-fat without tasting overly low-fat. Yes, when you bite into these muffins you can tell that they are healthy and nutritious, but they are still wonderfully moist and flavorful. That's because applesauce, oil's favorite understudy, has gotten its chance to shine in this recipe, and when it teams up with the bananas you get a moist, remarkably un-twig-like consistency. When you add in things like toasted pecans, flax, raisins, and the grains, you get a complex flavor profile that keeps your tastebuds happy.
These are ideal for early-morning athletes and snooze-button-hitters since they are easy to take with you and eat, ensuring you get those morning calories your metabolism needs to function properly throughout the day. I always eat one on the way to swimming in the morning and if I think there's a chance I won't get to eat my daily oatmeal I always bring along a couple extra to tide me over until lunch. That's another benefit to this muffin's ingredients: in addition to being flavorful, they also keep you full for a long time. So what's not to love? Skip that chemical delight breakfast you were going to grab on your way out the door and eat one of these instead!
Click here for the recipe for "150% whole grain low-fat banana nut muffins" »
Who doesn't love a good scone for breakfast? It's like a waffle that way. Most of us have probably had blueberry or chocolate or maybe even cinnamon chip scones, but how common is a savory version?
I had run across this recipe about six months ago, and it sounded so unusual and so delicious that I tucked it away, ready to be pulled out in the right occasion. That occasion came around when I planned my Thanksgiving menu. Breakfast has a history of being all too often overlooked on that certain day, so on this Thanksgiving, my first un-adult-supervised one, I decided to start it off right.
These were perfect for the occasion - hearty, but not overly so, they satisfied without stuffing. And the bacon/smoked cheddar/scallion/fresh-ground pepper combo was fantastic and bold. Try them next time you have overnight guests - they're a very welcome surprise.
Click here for the recipe for "Savory bacon and scallion breakfast scones" »
Ever since I first tried my hand at Olive Rosemary bread for an Easter feast this year, I've been a big fan. The olive and rosemary complement each other extremely well and have a warm, not-too-olivey flavor.
Yesterday I was craving this bread something fierce. The problem? Well, I was sick and was really not liking the idea of mixing, kneading, fermenting, shaping, proofing, and baking two whole loaves. Incidentally, the six hours it would take to get the bread in my belly wasn't really working either considering I was craving it then. Quick breads came to mind, but I didn't know any savory recipes besides cornbread (and my blueberry buttermilk pancakes had exhausted my supply of cornmeal) and as much as I love a good whole-wheat pumpkin spice loaf, I just wasn't wanting a sweet bread (or a sweetbread, for that matter).
So, of course, I turned to my favorite cooking friend, The Joy of Cooking. I flipped through their quickbreads section, considering zucchini bread (but was foiled by a lack of the namesake ingredient), coffee cakes (but then remembered that I didn't want something sweet), and muffins (ditto), before my eyes rested upon a Mediterranean olive loaf recipe. Ye gods, had I just found a quick version of the very bread I was craving? Indeed I had! I immediately went into the kitchen and ten minutes later my loaf was in the oven.
The bread came out wonderfully moist with a very crumbly texture, and as my venerable printed friend suggested, the bread was excellent with some goat cheese. Move over, chicken noodle soup -- that's some good comfort food.
Click here for the recipe for "Olive rosemary quick bread" »