Eggless Carrot - Ginger Muffins

I was on a blogging hiatus again as I wasn't faring well this past month. What I assumed to be a slight reaction to something I ate tuned out be a case of hives and a viral infection that put me in bed for two weeks. Ironically, it took me another additional week or so of medication for the lingering effect of high doses of pain and allergy medications that I had consumed earlier to go away. Hopefully I am back and won't be on anymore blogging breaks until at least summer time. :)😌

I had signed up previously for blogging marathon and Bakeathon events for this month, not knowing how unprepared I was going to be for both the events. These muffins which I came across at  KAF site suited my purpose well for today as they involve baking (for bakeathon event) and have a vegetable sneaked in (for 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Vidyha this month with 'Vegetables sneaked in' theme). These muffins are really good according to my teenager though I wasn't that much sold as I usually do with KAF recipes though I could not pinpoint why. It maybe just because that I am not a fan of cinnamon flavor or partially maybe I deviated from the original recipe owing to the ingredients I didn't have on hand.

I had run out of wheat flour and used all purpose flour which shouldn't be a problem as such but one of the reviewers was mentioning that the all purpose flour one was a dud compared to the wheat flour version. I used about 1/2 tsp. ground ginger as I didn't have crystallized ginger. I added an egg substitute instead of an egg and threw in some sweetened, dried cranberries into the mix. I ended up adding a few tbsp. of extra liquid as my muffin batter appeared dry and also I had to bake a few extra minutes than the time mentioned originally. 

Ingredients: (Yield 9 medium sized muffins)
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. white wheat flour
1/4 cup oat flour
1/4 cup golden flax meal
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 - 3 tbsp. sweetened crystallized ginger
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts
1 egg substitute
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup grated carrot
2 tbsp. raisins / sweetened cranberries (optional)

Directions:
* Combine all the dry ingredients including ginger in a mixing bowl. Whisk together egg substitute, buttermilk and oil in another small bowl. 
* Stir wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold in the carrot and raisins if using. 
* Grease a muffin pan or add liners to muffin cups. Scoop in muffin batter, filling each cup almost full. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. 
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F while the batter is resting. 
* Place the muffin pan in the preheated oven and bake until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. 



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Golden Nugget Carrot Muffins

I had bookmarked these muffins from here sometime ago to try. These muffins are simple to prepare and are loaded with a generous sprinkling of nuts, raisins and of course carrot. These tasted good, accentuated with cinnamon flavor and would be a great addition to any breakfast / brunch or picnic table.

I ended up baking two batches as I forgot to turn off the oven accidentally during the first time and they ended up baked for double the recommended time. Those are the ones in green muffin liners which had tops turned crispy and to my surprise, they tasted still good with a crunchy top when eaten warm. And of course they softened by the next day. I baked a second batch which are in the blue muffin liners, remembering to sprinkle some extra nuts and raisins over the tops.

I halved the recipe and got around 7 to 8 muffins. I omitted the ground ginger from the recipe and used an egg substitute in place of the egg. The muffin batter was dry and I had to increase the quantity of liquid than the original recipe. And also I replaced half the quantity of water with fat free yogurt. Skip yogurt for a vegan version. 

Ingredients: (Yield 6 - 8 muffins)
1 cup + 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup raisins & chopped walnuts + Extra for sprinkling
2 tbsp. + 2 tsp. oil
1/2 cup water (I replaced half quantity with yogurt.)
1 egg substitute (I used Ener- G egg replacer.)
1/2 cup grated carrot

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 400 deg F / 22 deg C. Grease the muffin tray or line them with paper liners.
* Combine all the dry ingredients including raisins and nuts in a mixing bowl.
* Mix water, yogurt if using, oil and egg substitute in another bowl.
* Stir in the wet ingredients into dry ingredients. (If the batter appears too dry, add extra water in small increments.) 
* Fold in the carrot, gently stirring to combine.
* Spoon the mixture into muffin cups until almost full. Sprinkle some raisins and nuts over the tops, if preferred.
* Place the muffin tray into the preheated oven and bake until a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean, about 20 to 22 minutes.
* Remove the pan from the oven and cool.
 
This goes to Blogging marathon #76, under the theme 'Picnic Recipes'. Check out the page to read what other marathoners are cooking.

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Cardamom Flavored Pear Muffins

You can ask the other adult at home to shut up and deal with it if you hear complaints about evening hunger pangs. However if it is the question of kids and that too a couple of teenagers with voracious appetites and plenty of free 'summer' time on their hands, you don't and cannot ask them to deal with it. You learn to deal with it by stacking their favorite bunch of snacks so that you can escape the nagging and live in peace.

Fruit based muffins are one of the 'must have' snacks in my kitchen and at any given time, a jar of muffins could be found on my kitchen table. I opt for them since the prep work takes hardly any time and a couple of muffins with a glass of milk take care of 'one snack' time for the kids. It was the turn of these pear muffins for this week's stock. They were yummy besides being light and fluffy almost like cupcakes. I did not use any nuts upon my daughter's request but use chopped nuts of your choice if desired.

Ingredients: (Yield 8 muffins)
1 cup all purpose flour (Half the quantity can be replaced with wheat flour.)
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cardamom powder
1 big sized pear (About 1 cup peeled and cubed pear.)
4 - 6 tbsp. sugar
3 - 4 Tbsp. yogurt (Plus or minus 1 tbsp. depending upon the consistency of the batter.)
1 tbsp. oil / butter (I used canola oil.)
 
Method:
* Preheat the oven to 375 deg F. Grease a muffin tin or use paper liners.
* Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and ground cardamom into a mixing bowl.
* Grind finely pear cubes, sugar, oil and about 3 tbsp. yogurt in a blender / food processor.
* Combine dry ingredients and wet ingredients in a bowl, just until combined.
* Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling up to 2/3rd in each cup. Place the muffin tray in the preheated oven.
* Bake until the muffin tops start to brown and a tooth pick inserted at the center comes out clean; about 20 to 25 minutes.
* Transfer them to a wire rack to cool before storing them. 

This is my entry to
1. Blogging marathon #53.
2. Srivalli's 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Harini this month with the theme 'Fruits'.

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Banana - Walnut Muffins ~ No Egg, No Butter / Oil Recipe

As usual a couple of bananas were sitting on my kitchen table untouched until they went overripe. I knew if they were served in the form of muffins or a bread they would be gone in no time though my kids are not keen on eating the fruit itself. I have a few tried and tested recipes that I keep recycling when it comes to muffins but this time decided to try a new version and ended up landing here. I however tweaked the recipe to make them healthier and changed into an eggless and oil / butter free version and also added walnuts. I made a smaller portion and replaced half of the all purpose flour with wheat flour. The muffins were moist and good and it was hard to tell that there was no extra fat added to them. The color of the muffins were lighter when done. I turned off the oven and forgot to remove the muffins until a little later and they turned darker in shade though there was not a significant change in the texture of the muffins.

Servings: 8
Ingredients:
6 tbsp. whole wheat flour
6 tbsp. all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
5 to 6 tbsp. sugar
1/2 cup mashed banana (I used very ripe 1 & 1/2 bananas.)
2.5 tbsp. apple sauce
2 tbsp. yogurt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts (Optional)

Method:
* Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
* Grease a muffin tray or use the paper liners.
* Sift the flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt and keep it aside.
* Combine mashed banana, apple sauce, sugar, yogurt and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Fold in the flour mixture and mix just until combined. Finally add the walnuts if using and stir once.
* Spoon the mixture into muffin cups, filling up to 2/3rds.
* Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the center comes out clean. I baked for 28 minutes.
(Mini muffins need to be baked for about 10 - 15 minutes.)

Update:
Here is the crumb of the muffin though this was from another batch I baked later.

These muffins are going to be a part of
1. Blogging Marathon #52.
2. Srivalli's 'Kids' Delight' event hosted by Sandhya this month with the theme "Snacking all the Way".

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