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Brunch/ RECIPES

Refrigerator Buttermilk Bran Muffins

This is a great recipe.  I got it from a friend, and I now keep a batch in my refrigerator most of the time.  I double the recipe and it stays fresh in the refrigerator for at least a couple of weeks.  My family really like these muffins, and I love that I can just throw some in the oven in the morning.  I like how the aroma of baking muffins help my girls get themselves out of bed!  Whatever they do not eat in the morning, they finish off as an after school snack, I have even stuck them in their lunches.

I like to sprinkle the top of the muffins with dried cranberries before baking.  They add a bit of sweetness and make them pretty.  They are very moist and very good!

Refrigerator Buttermilk Bran Muffins

2 cups Bran Cereal
1 cup Boiling Water
3/4 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Oil
1/2 cup Unsweetened Applesauce
2 Eggs
2 cups Buttermilk
11/2 cups White Flour
3/4 cup Wheat Flour
1/4 cup Wheat Germ
21/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over the bran cereal.  In a large bowl, blend sugar, applesauce and oil.  Add eggs and beat well.  Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.  Add dry ingredients to the sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk.  Stir in  bran.  Spoon into well-greased muffin pans (or tins lined with muffin papers until 2/3 full).  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Batter will keep in refrigerator for at least a couple of weeks.  Stir well before baking refrigerated batter.

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Brunch/ Frugal/ HOME/ RECIPES/ Seasonal

Easy One Bowl Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

I have made this Easy One Bowl Pumpkin Bread/Muffin recipe TWICE this week and I really love it.   It is a “dump all ingredients into one bowl in no certain order and stir” recipe, so it takes minutes to whip up.  It is super moist, makes the house smell like fall, and fills up little tummy’s when they need a snack.  Another great thing about this recipe is that it has a few different options to make the original recipe healthier.  Love that!
*For the healthier version, keep reading.

Easy One Bowl Pumpkin Bread/Muffins

1 ½ c. sugar                                        ½ t. cinnamon
2 eggs                                                     ½ t. nutmeg
¼ t. baking powder                           1 2/3 c. flour
1 t. baking soda                                  ½ c. oil
¾ t. salt                                                ½ c. cold water
½ t. cloves                                          1 c. pumpkin (about half a 15 oz can)
Mix all ingredients together in one bowl. Put in greased loaf pan or muffin tin.  Bake at 325 degrees.
  • Bread (one loaf) = 75-90 minutes
  • 12 Muffins = 45 minutes
  • 24 Mini muffins = 25 minutes

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Cost:  about $1.50 !!!  
I was at my neighborhood natural market this weekend and they were selling freshly baked pumpkin bread for $7.99 a loaf!  That’s just craziness!!  They were skimpy little loaves, too.  I walked away smiling to myself, thinking about how I can go home and whip up a generous loaf of my own pumpkin bread that would be just as healthy as theirs!
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Easy Ways to Make It Healthy:

  1. Level one: decrease the sugar by 1/4 or even 1/2 cup (1 c. sugar total) or use honey
  2. Level two:  use half whole wheat flour
  3. Level three:  make the “oil” melted butter or applesauce

One Bowl Pumpkin Muffins Healthy Remake

3/4 cup honey                                     ½ t. cinnamon
2 eggs                                                    ½ t. nutmeg
¼ t. baking powder                           1 2/3 c. whole wheat flour
1 t. baking soda                                  ½ c. coconut oil
¾ t. salt                                                1/4 c.water
½ t. cloves                                          1 c. pumpkin (about half a 15 oz can)
1 Tbs molasses
Mix all ingredients together in one bowl. Put in greased loaf pan or muffin tin.  Bake at 325 degrees.
Baking Change: Only bake muffins for 30 minutes – honey browns faster!
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Both recipes call for only a half a can of pumpkin.  I wondered what to do with the other half, until I saw how quickly my family ate up the first loaf.  I made a second loaf the very next day.  You could double the recipe and freeze a loaf.  I knew we would be home quite a bit this weekend and I love to have something yummy baking in the oven, so I made the loaves on separate days.
 Tip: Make sure your spices are not dated and tired.  I could not believe the difference in my 2 loaves, the first one I made with spices I know have been in my cupboard since last fall, and although the texture was awesome, I wondered, “if the spices were super fresh, would taste any different?”
For the second loaf, I went to my market where they sell spices in bulk (you can help yourself to whatever amount you need and they charge you by weight).  DO THIS IF YOU CAN, the second loaf was amazing!  I love the buy spices in the bulk section option!

 I have been buying a small amount for whatever recipes I am going to make in the next week or two.  I did this for 2 recipes that I make all the time, chili and chicken curry, and both recipes tasted like they had a makeover, when all I did was buy super fresh spices.  It is very economical, and so very worth it!

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Brunch/ RECIPES

Whole Wheat Waffles

I have a childhood friend to thank for this awesome Whole Wheat Waffle recipe. (Thanks, Joy!) They are super yummy and very filling due to the high amount of fiber and protein.  They are also high in calcium and make an easy, nutritious breakfast.

This morning, my girls were busy downstairs playing a new Wii game their dad surprised them with when they woke up.   Can you believe the smell of these waffles were able to tear them away from the Wii game and make them come stomping up the stairs, to see what that amazing smell was?  They loved the waffles, ate 11/2 each, and their tummies stayed full past lunchtime.

I served them with 100% Real Maple syrup.  Nothing compares! Just walk past and give a polite nod to  Mrs. Butterworth and Aunt Jemimah.  I know their price looks nice, but they are not as nice as they look!  I pay extra for the real stuff for a few reasons. 1. Because it tastes good, 2. I like eating real, whole foods that are as close to the way nature created them as possible, 3. because almost all imitation syrups have high fructose corn syrup in them which I am trying hard to avoid in our home. (Here is a post about why with some of the links if you are interested)

My friend, Joy, mixes the dry ingredients together and stores them in a jar for a quick Waffle Mix, which I think is brilliant and I plan on doing the same.  This recipe makes about 12 waffles.  Whenever we have extra pancakes or waffles, I just freeze them in a gallon ziplock bag and the girls help themselves in the morning.  They reheat the pancakes in the microwave for a few seconds and the waffles in the toaster.

Whisk dry ingredients, add wet ingredients.  Pretty simple so far, huh?  I took a picture and poured at the same time, impressed?

I love this silicone basting brush.  You can buy one Hereon Amazon.  I pour a little oil into the oil lid (yes, the small lid of my oil) so I can dip the brush without dirtying another dish.  I do this anytime I need to grease a pan.  It is so much better than using a cooking spray that contains propellants, that can be flammable, cause sticky build-up on pans, and cost money!  It is less waste because there isn’t a can to throw away.

I will leave you with a tip from Joy-“to get the best waffle texture, cool COMPLETELY on a rack before you freeze them.  If you set them hot on a solid surface, they sweat and get quite soggy.”  I agree with her!  If fact, I do the same before serving to keep them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

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