Original Eggless Banana Oats Muffins

 "A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." - Ayn Rand.

I bake at my own pace. Blog at my own pace. There are a few disasters every now and then ofcourse. And those do not make it to the blog, most often not even to the dining table. Mom and me bury the secret right at the kitchen... That is only until the subsequent attempt is a success. No accolades, only lots of creative inputs from family and friends, plenty of tips and feedback from blogger friends... But the underlying passion to create and consume keeps me going. A creativity that fuels productive pursuits... And a product of that pursuit is this original recipe from my kitchen.

Ingredients

1/2 cup Oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup butter milk
1/4 cup butter
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
a pinch - salt
Blueberry or Chocolate syrup - optional

Method

To make Buttermilk
Measure 1 cup of milk minus 1 tbsp into a bowl. Add one tbsp of vinegar. Gently mix and let th emilk stand for 5 - 10 mins.

In a large bowl, whish together the all purpose flour, wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Place the oats in a large bowl and pour the buttermilk over it. Let it stand for 10-15 minutes.

Melt the butter and keep aside.

Mash the bananas and keep aside.

Make a well in the dry flour mixture and pour the oats-buttermilk mixture in the centre. Quickly combine the wet and dry ingredients using a spatula. Add the melted butter and mashed bananas and combine. Do not overmix or the muffins will turn out tough and rubbery.

Grease and line the muffin cups or muffin tray. I used a mini-muffin tray and 7 normal size silicone muffin molds

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Spoon the muffin batter to fill half the mold. Pour a few drops of blueberry or chocolate syrup and cover again with a spoon of batter. I just did this for some extra zing. The muffins turn out sticky in the middle. You can omit the syrup.

Bake the mini-muffins for 15 minutes and normal sized muffins for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.









Verdict
Super-soft spongy and yummy muffins. The mini muffins were downed in no time :)

Jam-swirled muffins - Eggless Baking Challenge June, 2013

Weekends come and go. There is so much domestic stuff to be taken care of. Laundry, finding the kid's stationary, getting her to complete her homework, cooking up something delicious to get her to eat properly. These take preference... and by the time that long pending curry you wanted to make for rotis is made and you have successfully made her eat a couple of spoonfuls of it, you realize that the weekend is already over. Pantry clearance is the last on the list. And sometimes, the monthly challenges from baking groups misses the list. In this rigmarole, I was late for last month's challenge. Unable to do much about my weekend routine, I was hoping this month's challenge will be something simpler to bake.

Thank you Priya for choosing a simple yet delicious recipe for this month's challenge. If it had been something like a Tiramisu I would have had to skip this months challenge too...

As always I will present the original recipe first.

Recipe Source: Technicolor Kitchen

Jam swirled muffins

Adapted from Dorie's lemon poppy seed muffins

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (133g) caster sugar
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup plain yogurt or sour cream
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
/3 cup jam of your choice – if too thick, thin it with a little lemon juice

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F; butter or spray 12 regular size muffin pans.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and mix. In a large glass measuring cup or small bowl whisk together the yogurt, eggs, vanilla and melted butter until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk lightly with a fork – do not overmix the batter, otherwise you’ll end up with tough muffins.

Add the jam and whisk lightly, to keep the marbled effect. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans.

Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, cool 5 minutes, then carefully unmold. Let cool completely on the wire rack.

Now for the eggless version:

Ingredients:
2/3 cup (133g) caster sugar
2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (originally 3/4 cup of yogurt, add 1/2 cup to substitute two eggs, I added 1/4 cup more for the consistency)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup Nutella

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F; butter or spray 12 - 16 regular size muffin molds.

In a large bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sugar and mix. In a large glass measuring cup or small bowl whisk together the yogurt, vanilla and melted butter until well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk lightly with a fork – do not overmix the batter, otherwise you’ll end up with tough muffins. 

Whisk the nutella vigorously with a fork to loosen it up. Add the nutella to the muffin batter and whisk lightly, to keep the marbled effect.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans. Bake for 20-26 minutes or until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, cool 5 minutes, then carefully unmold. Let cool completely on the wire rack.

Verdict: If you are wondering about the empty silicone mold in the above picture, here is the answer. The muffins had barely cooled down, and the little girl was munching away at one.

Low Fat Orange Cranberry Muffins

I bought a packet of "no-name" dried cranberries on my visit to Canada last year. I would have loved to purchase the whole range of dried and candied fruits, only the lack of luggage space discouraged me from doing so. We consumed most of the packet as such with dried fruits and nuts, but since this makes a wonderful ingredient in cakes too, I decided to try out orange muffins with cranberries. I had decided to make this the low-fat version using oil instead of butter.

Ingredients:

Flour - 1 1/2 cups
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Egg - 1 
Freshly squeezed orange juice - 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Cranberries - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Orange zest -  1 tbsp
Curd - 1/4 cup


Method:

Preheat oven to (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Grease and line cupcake moulds.

In a small bowl, combine the beaten egg with the orange juice and vanilla extract. Add the curd and baking soda and keep aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Blend the oil into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped cranberries. Pour into the prepared cupcake moulds and bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. 

Verdict:  As with most muffins, these are super quick and easy to make. The cranberries give and added dash to the whole baked goodie :)

Low Fat Eggless Orange Oats Muffins

Eggless bakes are welcome at home. And quick recipes not requiring me to pull out the hand mixer are welcome with me ;). So here goes a simple eggless recipe for orange-oats muffins. This is a recipe I put together from various recipes I have come across in the baking world. It is low fat and eggless! What more are you waiting for, please read through and then dig into your kitchen cabinets to make these delicious muffins.

Ingredients:

Wheat Flour - 1 cup
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Oil - 4 tbsp
Curd - 1/4 cup
Oats - 1/2 cup
Freshly squeezed orange juice - 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Orange zest -  1 tbsp

Method:
Soak the oats in the orange juice for 5 minutes. Sift the flour with the baking powder. Add the sugar and the orange zest to the flour mixture. Add the curd and oil to the oats-orange mixture and add them into the flour-sugar mixture. Do not mix the batter hard, it is enough if the ingredients are moistened.

Prepare mini muffin pans with liners. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Spoon the batter into the moulds and bake for 10-12 minute. The muffins will be slightly bouncy to the touch.

Verdict: The orange hue is due to the fresh orange juice and the light brown tinge of the wheat flour. The sugar is less and we use just 4 tbsp of oil. The oats contributes to the softness and chewiness of the texture. This is a simple healthy muffin recipe.

Banana Muffins - May challenge on Eggless Baking

Just a while after I started baking I experimented with fruits in baking and I have to admit, I have been smitten by bananas more than any other fruit. I have tried carrots, apples and strawberries too. But I cannot resist trying out a baked good with bananas in it. This is only next to my obsession with chocolate. There is something about the aroma that fills the house when these are baking in the oven, that is simply heavenly!

I was overjoyed at seeing this month's Eggless baking recipe. Gayathri had chosen Banana muffins for the May challenge. I earnestly preserved a couple of large bananas for this month's challenge. The substitution here is very easy too. The only difference from the original recipe is that I used 1/4 cup of creamy yoghurt instead of the 1 egg that the recipe requires.

Recipe Source: allrecipes.com
Ingredients:

Banana - 3 large (mashed) - about 1 cup

All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 cups

Butter - 1/3 cup (melted)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Baking Powder - 1 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Creamy Yoghurt - 1/4 cup

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (160 degrees C). Coat muffin pans with non-stick spray, or use paper liners. I used silicone muffin moulds and did not require any liners. 

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. Combine bananas, sugar, yoghurt, and melted butter in a large bowl. Fold in flour mixture, and mix until just combined. Overmixing the batter will result in tough muffins. Scoop into muffin pans.

4. Bake in preheated oven. Bake medium sized muffins for 18 - 22 minutes. Muffins will spring back when lightly tapped.

Verdict:

The very fact that it is a banana muffin is enough to tell you how this recipe turned out. In my opinion the sugar could have been reduced a bit as the bananas were a bit sweet by themselves. A 1/2 cup of sugar would have sufficed. One can also use buttermilk in place of creamy yoghurt, that would result in fluffier muffins as opposed to these dense ones.

Coffee Chocolate-chip muffins

Those irresistible coffee and chocolate cravings. I am getting those too often now. One afternoon it was too much and I decided to make these Coffee chocolate-chip muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups self raising flour (2 cups flour minus 3 tsp; add 3 tsp baking powder. Keep the 3 tsp flour aside)
3/4 cup vanilla sugar or 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup milk
2 tbsp - instant coffee powder
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 cup chocolate chips


Method:
Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.
Melt the butter in a small saucepan on stove-top or in the microwave for 40-50 seconds. Allow to cool.
In another bowl, combine flour and sugar. 
Crack the egg in a medium sized bowl, add milk and coffee. Whisk vigorously until the coffee dissolves.
Pour this coffee mix into the flour and sugar and add the melted butter.
Stir until just combined and fold in chocolate chips. Before mixing the chocolate chips, toss the chocolate chips in the 3 tsp flour removed while making the self-raising flour. The flour coating on the chips will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the cupcake moulds.
Full the muffin cups to 2/3 and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Verdict: These are incredible soft and tasty muffins. Quick preparation and awesome taste! If you are a chocolate and coffee fan, this one is a must-have  :)

August Punch - Banana-Mango Muffins

The recipe chosen for August Punch was Strawberry-Banana Muffins from JoyofBaking.com. I love strawberries and the idea of baking with those juicy red fruits was too tempting and I earnestly tried getting strawberries, during my weekly visit to the supermarket, throughout the month. I came across Plums, Figs and Dates but no strawberries. I was disappointed and so I finally decided to bake these muffins, substituting mango for strawberry. Since the lone mango left for my baking this weekend, turned out to be too ripe, I decided to mash it instead of dicing it.

Here is the recipe adapted from joyofbaking.com:

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

1 large ripe mango, masted (about 3/4 cup)

1 cup - wheat flour

1 1/4 cups - all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (160 grams) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon (4 grams) ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon (2.5 grams) salt

1/4 cup - milk

Method:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (170 degrees C). 

Line muffin cups paper liners or lightly butter or spray the muffin cups with a vegetable spray. I used silicone cupcake moulds and hence I did not grease the cups. With my cupcake moulds, this recipe makes around 18 muffins.

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Let cool to room temperature.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana and mango. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.  

In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result. The batter was too thick and hence I added 1/4 cup milk. The original recipe does not call for milk in this recipe.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored for a few days at room temperature.

Verdict: My daughter ate one whole muffin fresh from the oven as it was cooling down. So this recipe gets a thumbs-up :), but I definitely want to try it with strawberries once.