Monday, January 14, 2013

Healthier Muffins w/ Pomegranate and Clementine


I mentioned the Healthier Muffins on Saturday. 

We're striving to be more intentional about REAL FOOD-eating, striving to eliminate uber-refined ingredients whenever possible.  At least, that's my goal, and I'm dragging Joe with me!




They look good, don't they?

Here's how it's done...



1 Cup Unbleached Flour
1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1 Tablespoon Wheat Germ
1 Tablespoon Flaxseed
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
Pinch of Sea Salt

3 Eggs
1/2 Cup Apple Sauce (I was fortunate to have real, homemade applesauce with apples from our favorite, local orchard)
1/2 Cup Raw Honey
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2-3/4 Cup Pomegranate Seeds
1 Clementine, peeled, seeded and diced (I didn't this time, but next time I'll also add a bit of zest from the clementine because in this recipe, you couldn't really even tell it was there.)



Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin liners, or if you don’t have them like I didn’t, grease and flour your muffin cups.
In a large bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce, honey and milk.

Pour the egg mixture over the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Gently fold in the pomegranate and clementine.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.


There's still room for healthier improvement; sprouted grains, pastured eggs, raw milk, etc... but it's better than the all-purpose bleached flour and brown sugar ingredients in the original recipe!  The transition to this kind of purposeful eating is a process!




And the truth about these muffins is there's just something slightly off about the texture.  I'm not sure if it's because of the bit of whole wheat flour, or using applesauce instead of oil.

I've been reading about using coconut oil in cooking and baking.  I may try that next time and see if I like it even better.

They're still good and worth the effort.  Joe said they were good... and moist, which is important to him in a muffin.

The possible variations of this are endless; next time I may try banana/nut... and I think I may also try blueberry (I still have a bunch of those in the freezer from summertime) with a bit of lemon zest.  Mmmm...



This week, I'm participating in the Homestead Barn Hop!  Go check it out... you'll find some awesome blog links if you scroll down The Prairie Homestead's post.

 



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