Saturday, January 31, 2009

Mmmmmmuffins!

Milled flax seed is just one of those really awesome foods I didn't know anything about until relatively recently.  It's chock full of OMEGA-3 oils and fiber.  We are adding it to Zoodle's baby food and seem to have successfully conquered some pretty bad constipation this way--hooray! 

Today I noticed a muffin recipe ("Whole Wheat Flax'n Apple Muffins") on the back of my Hodgson Mill brand Milled Flax Seed.  I decided to try it, but I made some changes to make it even healthier.  

And these muffins turned out delicious.  One of the changes I made was using 100% whole wheat flour instead of half whole wheat/half white.  The muffins were light and fluffy, without the density I often expect from whole wheat breads.  Their sweetness comes from maple syrup and apples, without any white sugar.  In fact, they were quite sweet, and if you prefer to use less maple syrup they'd still be delicious.

So here it is, the new and improved recipe....

Beth's Bodacious Apple Nut Muffins
1/4 cup milled flax seed
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup (for less sugar, use 1/4 cup)
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
2/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples with peels left on (approximately 2 smallish apples)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and either grease 12 muffin cups well, or put paper liners in 12 muffin cups.

2.  Mix first five dry ingredients in a bowl.

3.  In a separate bowl, beat the egg.  Mix with maple syrup, vegetable oil, and milk.

4.  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just blended.

5.  Fold in apples and nuts.

6.  Pour batter into 12 muffin cups (about 2/3 to 3/4 full.)

7.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes, until tops of muffins have started to brown, and knife inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Photobucket

11 comments:

Rachel Cotterill said...

Sounds delicious, apple & maple syrup is a great combination at any time :)

Shannon said...

They look delicious! And I like the use of the word Bodacious!

Call Me Cate said...

Mmm, and I love that the picture has melty butter because not only do they look good, they look warm. And I haven't had breakfast yet. I want muffins!!!

C. Beth said...

Rachel--I agree, apple+maple=yum!

Mama to a diva--Isn't that a great old word?

Cal Me Cate--Oh, yes, they were still warm from the oven when I took that pic. Yummm.

Sandra said...

I don't suppose you have a calorie count? They look great.

C. Beth said...

Sandra--Unfortunately, I don't know the calorie count. Does that mean you can pretend it's zero? No, I guess not. :)

Anonymous said...

Not to sound like an idiot, but where would I find milled flax seed?

C. Beth said...

Teresa--Good question, and one I should have answered before it was asked! Check two places--baking aisle, near the flour, and natural foods section.

C. Beth said...

P.S. You can also buy whole flax seed and grind it in a coffee grinder. That's what my mom does.

Anonymous said...

Beth,

Thanks so much for this recipe. I made them today with my son (Jan. 06). They tasted great! My son has been having some major pooping issues and I'm trying to incorportae as much fiber in his diet as possible!! This recipe couldn't have come at a better time.

Thanks so much!

C. Beth said...

Julie--That is awesome! I'm really glad you enjoyed them--thanks for reporting back!