Blood Orange and Chocolate Muffins

There's just something magical about citrus fruits that are in season: the plump sections of an orange fairly burst with bright, sparkling juices... In the United States, oranges are at their best during the winter months, and this season is no exception! 
Because of this citrusy abundance, there has been a proliferation of orange-inspired recipes on the internet of late(see here and here), and after doing some research in the muffin section of my handy dandy Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook, I'm jumping on the bandwagon with one of my own :)

*This recipe is adapted from the "Just Muffins" recipe in the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.

Ingredients:

   Dry:   

• 1 and 1/2 cups of unbleached AP flour, sifted
• 3 T of unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3 5 T of turbinado sugar
• 2 t of baking powder
• 1 t of salt

   Wet:

• 1 blackened (and therefore ripe!) banana, mashed
• 1 T of flax seeds, ground
• 3 T of warm water
• 3 caps of vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1 navel orange
• 1 blood orange

*My modification of the original recipe called for less sugar, but so much cocoa makes for a VERY strongly flavored muffin which not everyone may like, so you could up the sugar to 5 T or brush the muffins with a simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water, heated on the stovetop until dissolved, and then cooled before application), which will give them that extra *pop* of sweetness :)


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Grease your muffin tin.
3. Combine all dry ingredients together, and mix all wet ingredients together UP TO THE MILK.
4. Peel the oranges and process or juice (I used my food processor!).
5. Measure out 1/2 cup of orange juice (you can keep the pulp: it adds more fiber).
6. Add to the 1/2 cup of milk, which will make the milk curdle because of the acid.
7. Add this mixture to the other wet ingredients and mix until combined (do not overmix!).
8. Spoon your fluffy batter into the muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 of the way to the top
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Don't the oranges look like rubies?:)

 Look at all that yummy juice!

 The wets:

 Grinding the flax seeds:

 And mashing the banana:

Muffins, deconstructed:

 All the dries together:

 Adding the wet to the dry:

 It looks like a fluffy chocolate mousse!

And they're out of the oven!

With a sprinkling of sugar snow :) 

What new/unusual fruit have you tried lately?

Grandmother Muffins

   Grandparents are awesome: they shower you with stories, hugs, and mounds of candy, among other things. Mine are no exception, and today we are celebrating their birthday! In honor of this occasion, I want to share with you the world famous Grandmother Muffins :)

   This recipe is based on a couple different versions, but mostly the "Just Plain Muffins" recipe from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. Even if you aren't "doing" Weight Watchers, this is still an interesting cookbook because it is full of a variety of relatively healthy, and definitely interesting, recipes. I like the "New American Cooking" section the best :)

  Anywhoo, here is the recipe (with my modifications):

Ingredients:

    Dry:

• 1 and 1/4 cups unbleached AP flour + 1/2 cup WW flour, sifted
• 4 t of honey
• 2 t of baking powder
• 1/2 t of salt
• 1 T of cinnamon (b/c I LOVE cinnamon!)

   Wet:

• 1 T of flax seeds, ground and mixed with
• 2 T of water (preferably warm/RT)
• 1 cup of milk (I used vanilla dairy-free, but I'm sure regular milk will work fine)
• 4 t of melted coconut oil

   Garnish:

• jam (I used apricot!)
• shredded coconut (your call as to sweetened or not)

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Grease a muffin tin.
3. Mix all dry ingredients together, and all wet ingredients together.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until all the flour is incorporated.
5. Add more liquid to the batter if it's too dry (milk OR water work fine!).
6. Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way to the top.
7. Garnish with shredded coconut, jam, or both! If you're using jam, make sure you press it down into the batter a little.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

   I'm taking these to a party tonight, so I can't taste-test them yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I do. In the meanwhile, try them! :)


When my SD card decides to cooperate, photos will follow!
My ingredients:

 Flours sifted together:

 The other "dry stuff":

And with all of the wets (I know: it looks a little gross!):

 Adding dry to dry:

Adding wet to dry:

All together now!

 All dressed up, with somewhere to go :)

Nutrition Facts*:

12 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		97.8
Total Fat		2.2 g
	Saturated Fat	1.4 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.3 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.2 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		283.5 mg
Potassium		36.0 mg
Total Carbohydrate		17.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.6 g
	Sugars	2.8 g
Protein		2.6 g

*recipe calculator from http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipecalculator.asp