Sweets
Ditty’s Hearty and ever so Healthy Breakfast Muffins
My dear sister has been baking various renditions of her ever evolving hearty breakfast muffins for as long as I can remember.
Like so many home cooks these days she has been updating and adapting her muffin recipe to accommodate her extended family’s food intolerance issues. Lactose and gluten intolerance are as common these days as is an awareness for reducing fats and sugar in our everyday
diets.
There is such an abundance of healthy nutritional ingredients baked into these breakfast muffins to fuel even the busiest of mornings!
Ditty’s Healthy and ever so Hearty Breakfast Muffins
makes 12 muffins
Equipment: 12 muffin baking tin lightly spritzed with cooking spray
preheat oven to 400 f /180 c with oven rack set in the center position.
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups gluten free flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 1/4 cups old fashioned rolled oats
- ¾ cup chopped dates, golden raisins, or dried cranberries
- ½ cup broken pecans, walnuts, or slivered almonds, + 12 whole nuts for garnish
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 large organic eggs
- 2 cups almond milk
- ½ cup applesauce or Greek yogurt, or a combination of both
- 1cup peeled and diced apples or pears, optional
For the Holidays add the following :
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree to the batter;Â omitting the of Greek yogurt
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- a pinch of clove
- Topping:
- 1 egg white, whisked
- 1 tablespoon each of cinnamon and sugar, combined
- 12 whole nuts for garnish
In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and rolled oats all stirred together until well combined. Add the dates, or other dried fruit, and pecans, or other nuts, and the sugar. Using your hands massage all the ingredients together until well incorporated.
In a separate bowl combine the eggs and almond milk and whisk until combined.
Begin adding the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients while stirring with a wooden spoon. Continue adding the liquid mixture and folding it into the batter until well combined.
Add the applesauce and / or the Greek yogurt and fold in until well combined.
Then fold in the diced apples or pears if using.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin tin until each cup his fully filled with batter and the batter that is mound up slightly in the center of each muffin.
Whisk the egg white and lightly brush the tops of each muffin. Place a whole nut atop each muffin and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture.
Transfer the muffins into the preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes. Test by inserting a skewer into the center of a muffin. If the skewer comes out clean when withdrawn the muffins are done.
Transfer the muffins in the tin to a cooling rack and set aside to cool.
Best to Serve the muffins while they are sill warm!
Lancaster County Peaches
PEACHES
Nothing compares to the exquisite taste of ripened peaches just plucked from the trees here in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Farm stands that dot the verdant green landscape are laden with an abundance of peaches, sweet corn, green beans, patti-pan squash, zucchini, eggplant, and of course the very best vine ripe tomatoes you will ever taste!
PEACHES
No recipes required!Â
Limoncello Pound Cake
A chilled Limoncello is hands down my favorite summer aperitif, equally refreshing straight up or on the rocks with a splash sparkling water. Limoncello captures the essence of summertime in southern Italy where Lemon trees dot the sun drenched landscapes of of Naples, Capri, Sorento, the Amalfi coast, Calabria and Sicily.
Happily, the region’s spectacularly lemony flavored limoncello is exported and most likely available at your local spirits shop. Otherwise you could make your own. All that’s need is a bottle of 100 proof vodka and the zest from 12 organic or California meyer lemons. Combine both in a jar, seal, and set aside for about a month to infuse the vodka with an intense lemon flavor. A simple sugar syrup is then added to sweeten the limoncello to your liking.
O course, as a cook, limoncello also inspires all sorts of other applications.
The Limoncello Pound Cake recipe that follows is a versatile summer delight personified. Serve it with coffee in the morning, sliced and toasted and topped with fresh seasonal fruits for a picnic, or a leisurely alfresco lunch, or as a zesty sweet finale for a supper under the stars.
Limoncello Pound Cake
Makes one 10†loaf or a 9†& a 6†loaf
Ingredients:
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup full fat Greek yogurt
- 1/3 cup limoncello
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 4 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest
- 3 tablespoons slivered almonds
For Limoncello Yogurt Sauce
- 1 ½ cups full fat Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup limoncello
Preheat the oven to 350 f /180 c
Prepare a 10 inch†loaf pan or an 8 “ & and a 6â€loaf pan, lined with parchment and buttered.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt n a bowl. Whisk until evenly combined, and set aside.
In another bowl combine the Greek yogurt and limoncello. Stir until smooth and set aside.
Place the butter in a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat on medium speed until fluffy. Then add the sugar in three additions while continuing to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Add the eggs in three additions while you beat on medium sped until the mixture is nearly smooth.
Reduce the speed to low and begin adding the dry ingredients and the Greek yogurt mixture alternately. Continue until the batter is relatively smooth and evenly mixed. Then mix in the lemon zest until combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pans. Gently shake the pan to even out the surface. Scatter the sliced almonds evenly over the surface.
Place the cakes in the center of the oven and bake for approximately 45 to 50 minutes, rotating the cakes after 25 minutes.
The cakes are done when they are nicely browned. Test by inserting a toothpick or skewer into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean with a few crumbs the cake is done. If the cake requires more time return it to the oven for five minute intervals until the cake test done.
Transfer the cakes to a rack and allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the yogurt limoncello sauce. Combine the yogurt and the limoncello and whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve the pound cake.
Once the cake are cool enough to handle, inspect the rim of the cake and remove any excess cake that may have spread over the edges of the cake pans. Gently run a knife around the edges of the cake pan and tip the pan onto a cutting board to release the cake. Turn cake upright and set aside until you are ready to serve.
Serving:
Serve generous slices of the pound cake with the Limoncello yogurt sauce to the side.
Berry season has arrived with bounteous displays of fresh blueberries wherever you turn that are ripe for baking up all those favorite blueberry cobblers, muffins, or tarts.
The muffin recipe that follows is a favorite of mine, adapted from a recipe in Nancy Silverton’s Pastries from the Labrea Bakery cookbook, 2000. Light and fluffy muffins busting with blueberries are guaranteed! This is also a reliable master recipe for other fresh berries as well as peaches, pears, or nectarines throughout the summer.
Blueberry Muffins with Almonds, Pecans, or Walnuts
Makes 12 muffins
- ½ cup (3 ounces) whole almonds pecans or walnuts
- 1 cup sugar 1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (5 ounces) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped orange zest
- 1 tablespoon pus 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 extra-large eggs, lightly beatenÂ
- 1½ cups buttermilk
- 3 cups unbleached all purpose flourÂ
- 2½ cups blueberries, divided
For the topping:
- 1 tablespoon egg white
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- pinch of ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sliced blanched almonds, or pecan or walnut pieces
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 f / 165 c
Prepare a ½ cup capacity muffin tin, lightly coated with melted butter.
Spread the whole almonds or pecans on a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, shaking the pan halfway through to ensure that the nuts are evenly toasted. Remove from the oven and sat aside to cool.
Turn the oven temperature up to 350 f / 175 c
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the almonds, pecans, or walnuts with half of the sugar and process until it’s the consistency of fine meal.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, orange zest, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low for 2 to 3 minutes, until softened. Add the remaining sugar and ground nut mixture, and mix on medium for 3 or 4 minutes until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well between each addition. Slowly pour in the buttermilk and mix on medium, just to combine.
Add the flour in 3 batches, turning the mixer off before each addition and mixing on low until just combined.
Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in 2 cups of the blueberries.
To prepare the topping: in a small bowl whisk the egg white until frothy. Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the almonds, pecan, or walnut pieces.
Fill the muffin tin with batter to the rim. Push the remaining ½ cup of blueberries onto the tops of the muffins. Then spoon about a tablespoon of the topping over each muffin, concentrating the nuts on top of each muffin.
Bake for about 20 to 35 minutes, until the to topping is nicely browned and the muffins are firm to the touch. If the batter has cracked through the topping, gently press it downward with your fingertips to deflate.
Serve warm.
