Choco-Banana Muffins (Low-fat and eggless)

I generally do not eat banana as such, though I like its flavour. There was a big ripe red banana lying at home and I wanted to bake something with it. In general, red bananas are considered to be the most healthiest of all banana varieties and is rich in iron, when that is combined with the goodness of fibre rich oats, the resultant dish is assured to be super healthy and power packed!

These yummy choco banana muffins are eggless, butterless, do not contain maida/refined flour, low fat with just about a tablespoon of oil, 3-4 tablespoons of sugar and honey for 6 regular sized muffins! The result was soft and absolutely delicious muffins :) Let us get right to the recipe

Whole-wheat orange jaggery cupcakes with caramelized orange zest (Eggless and butterless)

A rainy evening, warm home-baked cupcakes with a hot cup of tea!! Sounds divine right? Well I just experienced the bliss with my family and I'm very happy to spread and share the cheer with you all!

I have adapted the recipe from two sources. The muffin recipe is from vegrecipesofindia.com and the idea for caramelized orange zest is adapted from Rachel Allen's show - Cake diaries!

The muffins can be had as such, without the glaze or zest and they are low in fat, as I have used only whole-wheat flour, jaggery and olive oil. To make it a little special, you can include the sweet and tangy topping. Try out this delicious recipe and do let me know if you liked it :)

You might also like to try out my other low fat cakes:

• Healthy Banana Walnut Loaf
• Whole-wheat brownies (Eggless and butterless)
• Carrot - wheat flakes cake (Eggless and butterless)
• Ragi Chocolate Cake (Eggless and butterless)

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins - Eggless

Happiness to me, is the smell of freshly baked goodies that surround my home! Here I am, typing this post, with such a satisfied happiness, after baking these sweet little goodies for my dear cousin who has come home for vacation. I am now happy to share the recipe that was enjoyed by her and ofcourse all others at home too. This recipe has been adapted from Madhuram's egglesscooking.com and I have spiced it up a little with addition of fresh spices!

INGREDIENTS:

• Flour - 1 cup (I used 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of maida)
• Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 3/4 teaspoon
• Garam Masala/All spice powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Ground ginger powder (sukku podi) - 1/2 teaspoon
• Pumpkin puree - 1/2 cup **
• Granulated sugar - 6 tablespoons
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Oil - 3 tablespoons
• Vinegar - 1 teaspoon
• Vanilla extract - 1/2 teaspoon
• Choco Chips - to garnish (optional)

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C
2. Line 6 muffin moulds with paper liners or grease them
3. Mix all dry ingredients together (flour, salt, baking soda, spices). Keep aside
4. Blend all the other ingredients together except choco chips (pumpkin puree, oil, sugar, milk, vinegar, vanilla extract)
5. Fold in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients
6. Fill 3/4th of each moulds with the batter
7. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes (Mine was done in 16 minutes)
8. Cool the muffins on a wired rack for 5 minutes and then remove from the moulds and cool completely
9. Enjoy this tea time treat with your family!

NOTES:

** Pressure cook the pumpkin for 2 whistles and puree it in a mixer or food processor 

Upma Muffins | Savory oat muffins

I am a big fan of upma in any form! So when I came across the savory muffins in showmethecurry.com, I immediately bookmarked it to try it out for a Sunday evening snack. I have made an eggless version and this yummy muffins are sure to make you want for more :) Try it out for an evening snack or make in huge batches, refrigerate them and re-heat and relish for a wholesome breakfast on a busy day!

Ingredients: (Makes 10 muffins)

• Quick Oats – 3/4 cup
• Oat bran -1/4 cup (This is optional, you can omit this and include 1 cup oats instead)
• Quick Oats Flour – 3/4 cup (grind Quick Oats in a mixer)
• Whole Wheat Flour – 1/4 cup
• Salt – 1 Tsp
• Baking Soda – 1/2 Tsp
• Yogurt – 1 cup
• Lemon Juice – 1 tsp

Seasoning:

• Oil – 1 Tbsp
• Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp
• Curry Leaves – 1 sprig, chopped
• Green Chillies – to taste, finely chopped
• Asafoetida – 1/8 tsp
• Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp
• Onions – 1/2 cup, finely chopped
• Ginger – 1 Tbsp, grated
• Frozen or boiled peas – 1/2 cup
• Carrots – 1/2 cup, finely chopped

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in pan on medium heat
2. Add Mustard Seeds and allow them to pop
3. Add curry leaves, Green chillies, asafoetida and turmeric powder, give it a quick stir and add onions and ginger. Sauté it for a minute
4. Add the veggies (You can include sweet corn too). Cook for a minute and turn off the heat.
5. In a large mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients - oats flour, quick oats, whole wheat flour, oat bran (if using), baking soda and salt
6. To the seasoned veggies, add yogurt, lemon juice and mix well
7. Pour in the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and gently give it a mix
8. Grease the muffin trays lightly with oil and pour in the prepared batter upto 3/4^th of each muffin moulds. Bake the muffins in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 15-20 mins (Mine were done in 16 minutes)
9. Serve them warm or cool them on a wire rack and they can be stored in air-tight containers and refrigerated. Re-heat in the microwave before serving! Upma muffins are ready to go!!

Eggless carrot wheat flakes cake

My quench for healthy yet tasty dishes never seizes! So when I came across carrot bran cake in Madhuram's eggless cooking, I bookmarked it immediately and tried it recently with some little variations. I have used Kellogg's All bran wheat flakes in this recipe but you could very well use any bran flakes/oat bran etc. Carrots add to the sweetness of the cake and hence this recipe calls in for a considerably lesser amount of sugar and also it has no butter! But absolutely no compromise to the taste :)

INGREDIENTS:

• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup **
• Maida - 1/4 cup **
• Brown sugar - 1/4 cup (White granulated sugar can also be used)
• Bran flakes - 3/4 cup, crushed coarsely with hands
• Carrot - 1/2 cup, grated
• Buttermilk - 1 cup
• Cinnamon powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Baking powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Baking soda - 1/2 Tsp
• Salt - a pinch
• Orange zest - from 1/2 orange
• Raisins - 1/4 cup
• Walnuts - 1/4 cup, chopped (optional)
• Oil - 1/8 cup

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 C for 10 minutes. Line muffin trays with cupcake liners or dust a cake pan and keep aside
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together - flour, sugar, bran flakes, carrot, cinnamon powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins, orange zest
3. Make a dent in between and pour in the oil and buttermilk and gently fold in. DO NOT over mix
4. Fold in the walnuts, if using
5. Fill the batter in the muffin molds or cake pan
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes. If you have used muffin molds then they take lesser time to bake than in cake pans. So keep a watch on your cake after 17 minutes
7. Cool completely and store
8. This cake tastes the best when it is completely cooled. I baked it on a Sunday and took it for my evening snack the next day and it tasted too good

Enjoy the yummy cake absolutely guilt free! Eating healthy can be tasty too!! 

** Note - This can be skipped and instead 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour can be used in the recipe to make it even more healthier! Or if you do not like too much of wheat, then only 3/4 cup of maida can be used. Absolutely your choice :)

Eggless wholewheat blueberry muffin

This weekend's healthy snack - Eggless wholewheat blueberry muffins!!! If you don't have blueberries, then no worries at all, you can replace it with any dry fruit of your choice like raisins, apricots etc. I could find so many recipes for blueberry muffins and I adapted the healthy aspects from all the recipes that I came across. I have used whole wheat flour, light brown sugar and very little sunflower oil and added to these, blueberries make these cute little muffins absolutely healthy! It turned out to be so soft and spongy and everyone at home loved the combination of tangy blueberries with the sweet muffin. So, as I always say, eating healthy can be tasty too :)

INGREDIENTS: (makes 5 medium sized muffins)

• Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Light brown sugar - 85 g (approximately half of 3/4th cup - Measure it first and then powder it. You can use white sugar too)
• Oil - 38 ml (I used sunflower oil, you can use rice bran or vegetable oil too)
• Milk - 65 ml (approximately a little more than 1/4 cup)
• Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
• Fresh or frozen blueberries - 1/2 cup (can be replaced by 1/2 cup of any dry fruits)

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C for 10 minutes
2. Wash and pat dry the blueberries/dry fruits and coat them with 2 to 3 Tbsp of flour (This is to avoid them from getting burnt while baking). Keep aside
3. Sieve together the dry ingredients - Whole wheat flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Keep aside
4. In another bowl, beat milk, sugar, oil and vanilla extract well until the sugar is dissolved and no lumps are left
5. Make a well in the center of the bowl containing the mixture of dry ingredients
6. Pour in the wet mixture in the middle and gently mix the batter (DO NOT over mix)
7. The batter should not be runny. If it is too thick or dry then add 1-2 Tbsp of milk to it
8. Now add the flour coated blueberries/dry fruits and fold into the batter very gently
9. Grease and dust the the muffin moulds or line them with paper liners
10. Spoon in the batter to 3/4th of each mould and bake in the pre-heated oven for 15-20 mins
11. Keep a check after 12 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the middle and if it comes out clean, then muffins are ready!! 
12. Cool them on a wire rack and serve them when they are mildly warm. You could serve them as a tea time snack or have them as breakfast with banana milkshake/fresh fruit juice to kick start your day with full power!!!

See you soon with yet another interesting recipe. Cheers!

Oats - Peanut butter lava muffin

Where there can be a choco lava cake, why not peanut butter lava cake??!! I know all chocolate lovers out there are not gonna agree with me. But I too am a very big chocolate lover and trust me, this dish is as interesting as the name I've given to it! I came across this recipe long back on YouTube and had bookmarked it but what was holding me back from trying it was that it used egg whites. I do eat egg cakes but when it comes to myself trying it out, I try to avoid eggs as I do not like the raw smell of it. But the peanut butter lying in my kitchen shelf tempted me a lot to try this out and I came up with my own eggless version by substituting egg whites with yoghurt! The best part is the entire preparation and baking was done within 20 minutes! So all peanut butter lovers... Here you go!!!!

INGREDIENTS (Makes 3 medium sized muffins)

• Oats - 1/2 cup heaped
• Banana - 1 medium sized (make sure it is very ripe)
• Yoghurt - 1/2 cup
• Cinnamon powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Vanilla essence - 1 Tsp
• Sugar/honey/any sweetener - This is optional, add as you need depending on how sweet you want the muffin to be (I just added a tsp of brown sugar. If you want it to be sweet, then I'd suggest you to add more)
• Peanut butter - 3 Tbsp

METHOD

1. Blend together all ingredients except the peanut butter into a smooth thick batter
2. Taste the batter and add more sweetener of your choice according to your taste (honey would be the best combo with oats)
3. Make sure the batter is thick and of soft dropping consistency (similar to vada batter)
4. Pre-heat the oven to 180C
5. Line muffin tray with paper liners or grease the muffin tray
6. Fill quarter of the muffin moulds with the batter
7. Now add a Tbsp of peanut butter in the centre and again pour the oats batter till 3/4th of the muffin mould
8. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes (Keep an eye after 10 minutes as the time would vary for each oven. Pricking the tooth pick to check if it is done will not work for this cake as the molten peanut butter would be in the center. So a better way to check would be to gently touch the center of the muffin with three fingers. If it bounces back, then it is done!!)
9. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes and dig in! As the cake cools more, the peanut butter would also become firm, so if you want the lava effect, then just before eating, microwave it for 15 seconds and then enjoy 

Eating healthy, can be tasty too :) 

NOTES:

• Peanut butter can be substituted with Nutella too
• Make sure the banana is very ripe. This will enhance the taste and texture of the muffin
• You could top the muffin with raisins/nuts of your choice

Sending this recipe to the following event:

• Cook's joy
• Anitha's Kitchen

Eggless Chocolate Cupcake

Merry Christmas to all :) This weekend I made chocolate cupcakes for my cute little cousins. It is a super easy recipe and the entire preparation and baking was done in just 30 mins. There could be a lot of variations to this - it could be made plain chocolaty, nutty with walnuts/almonds/cashews or for those who love rich chocolate flavour, you could enhance it with more chocolate chips! Wishing you all a happy holiday season :)

INGREDIENTS

Maida - 1.5 cups

Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup

Cocoa powder - 2 Tbsp

Baking Powder - 1.5 Tsp

Baking Soda - 1 Tsp

Salt - a pinch

Oil - 1/3 cup

Milk - 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence - 2 tsp

METHOD:

1. In a bowl mix maida, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder and salt. Mix well, sieve once and keep it aside.

2. In a separate bowl mix sugar, milk and oil together and whip it until sugar dissolves completely

3. Now add in the flour mixture with oil, milk mixture and mix well taking care to avoid lumps. Add vanilla essence and mix well till creamy pouring consistancy of the batter is formed

4. Pour the batter in greased muffin moulds (only till 3/4th of the moulds as it would raise) and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 15-20 mins. It was done in 16 mins for me! ( I had only 4 muffin moulds so I poured the remaining in a cute heart cake mould and this took about 20 mins to bake)