Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

(12 standard muffins)

When I first saw the Meyer lemons at the market I had visions of buttery pound cake in my head. I think these muffins turned out to be a good compromise. They are more "sugary" than my previous muffins, however they aren't laden with a ton of butter; I used olive oil.

Meyer lemons came from China where they were grown as ornamentals. They are thought to be a cross between a lemon and an orange or mandarin. The fruit is a bit larger than a standard lemon, with a beautiful golden hued peel. It's also less acidic and considered more flavourful than a conventional lemon.

muffin batter
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup unbleached flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup poppyseeds
zest from the entire Meyer lemon, minced (reserve 1 tsp)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup agave nectar or honey
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup lemon yogurt
1/4 cup olive or canola oil
2 eggs

glaze
1/2 cup icing sugar
1/3 cup fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice
1 tsp Meyer lemon zest, minced

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the muffin tins with paper or grease and set aside.

Combine the flours, flaxseed, poppyseeds, lemon zest, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Mix well.

In another bowl whisk together the agave nectar, applesauce, yogurt, oil and eggs. Pour this over the dry ingredients; stir until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin, dividing the batter evenly between the 12 cups.
Bake for about 17-22  minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean. Remove.

While the muffins are in the oven prepare the glaze. Stir together the sugar, lemon juice and zest until well combined.

Prick each hot muffin deeply a few times with a toothpick. Brush the glaze over each muffin allowing it to soak in, until it's all used up. Cool in the tins.

Pear and Ginger Muffins

(12 standard muffins)

I picked up some gorgeous pears the other day and set aside a couple to make these muffins. A few months ago I had thought about making a steamed pear and ginger pudding for Daring Bakers, but made a steak and kidney pudding instead. When I looked at those pears, I thought about that combination once again.

(There you go Lisa, stuck it on a plate for you :p)

I have been on a bit of a muffin roll lately. These pear and ginger muffins hit the spot; they were moist, not too sweet, with good ginger flavour and a hint of lemon. I'm pleased I have been using whole wheat flour, bran and flax in my recent recipes without turning out heavy and dense muffins; in part that was always a fear of mine.

I did end up reducing the amount of applesauce and yogurt for these because two chopped pears provide a lot of moist fruit. There was a tad more batter than usual, but it was also a bit stiffer, so I just used all of it to fill the muffin tins resulting in small domes which rose almost 1/2" past the tops. Once baked, I had slightly larger muffins than usual.

Oh, and if you are wondering about the freshly ground black pepper. It's often added to German gingerbread, so I added some here. It provides a very subtle sharpness which works, I think.

Then there's the agave nectar, wonderful stuff! I've been using it to sweeten my coffee.

3/4 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon zest, minced
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper (optional)
1/4 - 1/3 cup agave nectar, honey or maple syrup, to taste
1/4 cup unsulfured blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup plain greek style yogurt
1/4 cup olive or canola oil
2 large eggs
2 firm ripe pears, cored and chopped (I used Bosc)

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12 cup standard muffin tin with baking papers or grease and flour. Set aside.

Mix the flours, flaxseed, bran, gingers, cinnamon, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and ground black pepper (if using) in a bowl.

Whisk together the agave nectar, molasses, applesauce, yogurt, oil and eggs in a bowl until well combined.

Pour the liquid portion over the dry ingredients, add the chopped pear and stir to combine until everything is just moistened.

Divide and spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin tins; it will probably go a bit past the top of the tin. I just spooned the extra batter in the centres creating little domes resulting in larger muffins than usual.

Bake for about 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Healthier Blueberry Muffins

(12 standard muffins)


I decided to experiment a bit with my muffin recipe. I replaced some of the flour with whole wheat flour and ground flaxseed. It seems flaxseed is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, as well as protein and fibre. It's also rich in lignan, which has antioxidant properties. What's not to love?

I replaced the sugar with a lesser amount of agave nectar. The bottle mentioned it's 25% sweeter than sugar, as well as having a low glycemic index which prevents spikes in blood sugar.

Lastly, I replaced the butter with olive oil, and reduced that amount by using some applesauce. These muffins turned out a lot better than I thought possible; I will most likely make them again.

1 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce*
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries, about 1 pint

*These are not overly sweet muffins, and I like them that way. If you prefer something sweeter, then you could use sweetened applesauce instead.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with papers, or grease and flour. Set aside.

Mix the flours, flaxseed, salt and baking powder in a bowl.

Combine the agave nectar, oil, applesauce, eggs and vanilla extract in a large measuring cup, mix well with a fork and pour over the flour mixture, add the blueberries and stir until just combined.

Divide equally between the muffin tins; the batter will come almost to the top of each.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until done.

Chorizo and Scrambled Eggs

(serves 2)

1 tsp olive oil
1/2 red or green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green onion, sliced
1/4 lb chorizo
4-5 eggs, slightly beaten
2 tbsp milk
1-2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

tortillas


Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the bell pepper until it begins to soften. Add the onion and chorizo, breaking the mixture up as it cooks with a wooden spoon until the chorizo is cooked through.

Combine the eggs and milk and pour that into the skillet over the chorizo mixture. Cook, stirring the eggs into the chorizo until the eggs are set, but still moist.

Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve immediately with tortillas.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

(1 serving)

For years I have neglected breakfast, primarily because I'm usually rushed in the mornings as I like to stay in bed until the last possible moment.

Lately I have been making these smoothies. They are fast and easy to make, and I change up the fruit depending on what I have on hand.

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup mixed frozen berries
1/2 cup water
1 scoop protein and vitamin powder

Place everything into a blender jar, and process until smooth.

Bread Pudding with Caramelized Peaches

(6- 8 servings)

I had a loaf of bread go stale on me faster than I expected; a combination of not eating it quick enough and perhaps purchasing it later than I usually do. I always check the expiration dates of food and will spend an extra minute or two digging around until I find something slightly "fresher".

There's already a bag of breadcrumbs (from a previous loaf) in the freezer, so I decided to make a bread pudding out of this one. It reheats nicely and I like having some for breakfast (if I decide to eat anything at all) with my double espresso in the mornings.

I tried to get all creative and made this in a 6-cup bundt pan, hoping to cut it into pretty cake slices. Well, that couldn't have been further from the truth. The darn thing stuck, and when I finally banged it loose, there was a mini-mountain of warm stuff heaped on my serving platter.

Bread Mixture
5 cups of cubed stale sourdough bread, about 5-7 slices
2 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup brown sugar


Fruit Mixture
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 cups peaches, sliced
1/4 tsp pure almond extract

butter for the cake pan

heavy cream

Place the bread in a large bowl and pour the milk over it. Let stand about half an hour.

Meanwhile make the fruit mixture.

Heat the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and cook, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to bubble. Add the peaches and continue to cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens a bit and the peaches are well coated. Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract.

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar and add that to the bread and milk mixture.

Spoon half the bread mixture into a well buttered 1.5 quart oven proof souffle dish, spoon the fruit mixture evenly over that and top with the remaining bread mixture.

Bake for about 50 minutes or until the top is browned, and the pudding feels firm.

 Serve with heavy cream. This bread pudding reheats nicely.

Cheese Blintzes with Blueberry Sauce

(2  servings)

I had some ricotta cheese leftover from the gnocchi, and some blueberries in the freezer, so I decided to make these for breakfast.

Crepes
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unbleached flour

Filling
3/4 cup ricotta cheese (whole milk)1 egg yolk
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest, finely minced

1 tbsp butter

Sauce
1 cup small blueberries
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch

Whisk together the milk and eggs. Add the flour and mix well. Set aside the crepe batter.

Combine all the ingredients for the filling. Set aside

Heat a non-stick skillet on medium, and spray lightly with oil.

Pour about 1/4 cup (you'll be making 4 crepes) of the batter into the pan and swirl to coat the pan evenly. Cook for about 1 minute, or until the bottom is light brown and the top is cooked. You might have to adjust your heat slightly. Flip onto a plate so that the browned side is up. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Place about 2 tablespoons filling in the center on the browned side of each crepe. Fold in sides about 1 inch, then fold in opposite edges to enclose filling and form a rectangular shape.

Melt the butter in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the blintzes and fry for about 2 minutes on each side until they are browned and hot. You might have to adjust the heat slightly so they don't burn.

Place the blintzes on plate and quickly make the blueberry sauce.

Add the blueberries, sugar and cornstarch to the skillet. Turn up the heat and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until it comes to a boil.

Pour over the blintzes and serve.