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

Eggless Ginger-Honey-Choco mug cake

Cloudy evening, down with cold, craving for ginger and honey but no mood to spend a long time in the kitchen. What do I do?? Mix up ingredients of my choice and come up with a delicious mug cake!! Yeah time to give myself a treat :) The flavor ginger, added with honey was so soothing to my soar throat. But please do not consider this as a medicine ;) It would taste divine anytime and this is my most favorite mug cake till date!

No maida, no egg, no butter - so this is a healthy treat that is perfect for sudden sweet cravings!! To top it up, it takes a maximum of 5 minutes for preparation and baking (Much lesser time to finish it off ;) )

Recipe source - Priya's easy and tasty recipes.  From the original recipe, I replace carrot with ginger and half the sugar with honey and was absolutely delighted with this wacky experiment!

You might also like to check out the other mug cake recipes that I have tried:

• Red velvet mug cake
• Carrot mug cake with vanilla yogurt icing
• Peanut butter mug cake

Pepper and Garlic flavored eggless scones

After a series of special themed cakes, it was time to take care of myself. Yes, I've been down with cold and cough. This made me crave for pepper, garlic, honey, ginger and cinnamon. But I was in no mood to prepare something exclusive, nor did I just want to satisfy myself with a pepper-garlic rasam or a hot cup of ginger-honey tea. I wanted something special!! That too with a pleasant and cloudy weather.

Here is what I ended up making - Pepper-Garlic flavored scones and Ginger-honey choco mug cake! All done in just half an hour. Sounds good right?! Do try them out and let me know how they turned out to be.

I came across the recipe for scones in litebite.in and modified it according to my taste and ingredients available.

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)

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!!

Veg Pizza with homemade wholewheat crust

Bored to cook?? Order a pizza!! This has become a very common thing these days and with the amount of cheese used in readymade pizzas, we really need to think for a while if we are doing anything at all to burn that fat??!! Just imagine if healthy pizzas can be made at home! Yes it is very simple. We do get readymade pizza crust but that again is generally made of refined flour which is not so good for health. I do not think it is easy to find readymade wholewheat thin crust in India. So here is a simple recipe to make wholewheat thin crust at home that I came across in youtube. I tried pizza sauce also at home. As for the toppings, sky is the limit!! I am not a cheese fan, so I made it a cheeseless pizza but you can very well add cheese as per your choice. Mozzarella is always the best option! Let's hop on to the recipe

Whole wheat thin pizza crust:

INGREDIENTS:

• Dry yeast - 3/4 Tsp
• Warm water - 1/2 cup
• Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
• Oat bran - 1/4 cup (Optional and can be substituted with additional whole wheat flour itself)
• Salt - 1/2 Tsp
• Honey - 1/2 Tbsp

METHOD:

1. Add yeast to warm water and stir it gently. Set aside for 10 minutes
2. Combine the flours and salt in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the yeast mixture and honey and knead into a dough. The dough will be sticky. Cover it with a damp cloth and set aside for 10 minutes
3. Knead the dough for a few minutes on a floured surface
4. Roll the dough into a thin circle and place on a pizza pan or parchment paper
5. Poke a few holes with the help of a fork
6. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 10 minutes

Pizza sauce

INGREDIENTS:

• Tomatoes - 2 large
• Olive oil - 1/2 Tbsp
• Garlic - 1/2 Tsp finely chopped
• Onions - 1/4 cup finely chopped
• Chilli flakes - 1/2 Tsp (optional)
• Tomato ketchup - 1 Tbsp
• Chilli powder - 1/2 Tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - 1/4 Tsp

METHOD:

1. Blanch the tomatoes and make them into a puree
2. Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and add garlic, saute for a few seconds
3. Add onions and saute for 1-2 minutes
4. Add puree, chilli flakes, ketchup, chilli powder, salt and cook for 4 minutes on a medium flame
5. Add sugar and cook for 1-2 minutes
6. This can be made in a larger quantity and stored in air tight containers

How to proceed further for the pizza

1. Spread the sauce evenly on the baked pizza crust
2. Add cheese and toppings of your choice. I added onions, colored bell peppers(capsicums) and corn as I wanted it to be a simple one. You can add olives, baby corn, lots of cheese etc to make it very special :)
3. Bake it for 5-7 minutes and serve hot!

Whole-wheat brownies (No egg, No Butter)

Yes, you read the title right.. A delicious brownie made of whole wheat flour and absolutely no oil or butter but absolutely soft, yummy and chocolaty!! This is yet another discovery from youtube during my search for guilt-free chocolaty indulgence (I'm drooling :P )

INGREDIENTS:

• Whole wheat flour - 3/4th cup
• Light brown sugar - 3/4th cup (white sugar could also be used)
• Cocoa powder - 3 Tbsp 
• Dark chocolate - 85 g
• Baking powder - 1 Tsp
• Cinnamon powder - 1/4th Tsp
• Salt - a small pinch
• Vanilla essence - 1/4 Tsp
• Chocolate essence - 1/4 Tsp (Optional)
• Buttermilk - 1 cup
• Walnuts - 1/4 cup, roughly chopped (Optional)

METHOD:

1. In a large mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients together - flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, cinnamon powder, salt. Keep aside
2. Melt the grated chocolate in a double boiler**
3. Make a dent in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour in the buttermilk and melted chocolate. Gently fold in the mixture. DO NOT over mix
4. Add the essences and mix very gently
5. Fold in the walnuts, if using (I did not add walnuts)
6. Pour the batter into a dusted cake tray (preferably square shaped)
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 20 minutes
8. Cool on a wired rack for 5 to 10 minutes
9. Cut them into squares and serve warm as such or with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream (Warm brownies and a scoop of vanilla ice-cream!! best romantic couple!!) . After they are completely cooled, store in air-tight container and they could also be re-heated later if required

Eating healthy, can be tasty too!

NOTE:

** Chocolate can be melted using double boiler method. Boil water in a broad pan and place a bowl with the chocolate on top of the pan with boiling water. Keep stirring and remove from fire when the chocolate starts to melt. Chocolates can also be melted in microwave. Heat them in microwave high for 30 seconds.

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

Baked Bhakarwadi

Bhakarwadi is a Gujarati snack which is traditionally made with the combination of chickpea flour (besan/kadala maavu) and Maida and is deep fried. As always, the health freak in me makes me try out all ways in which a dish can be made healthier! So here I present the traditional snack recipe with a healthy twist - Yes, I've replaced maida with whole wheat flour and these cute bhakarwadis are baked and NOT deep fried J

INGREDIENTS For the dough Whole wheat flour Chickpea flour (Besan) Turmeric Powder Baking Powder Salt Oil Water Tamarind Pulp/paste Lemon Juice For the filling Coconut Sesame Seeds Coriander Leaves Green Chillies Ginger Cumin Powder Sugar Salt Fennel Seeds (Saunf) Water

3/4th cup 3/4th cup 1/2 tsp 1 tsp 1/2 tsp 2 tbsp a little less than 1/2 a cup 3 tbsp 2 tsp 1/2 cup, grated 1/4th cup 1 tbsp, finely chopped 2 - 3, finely chopped 1 tsp, grated 1.5 tsp 2 tbsp 1 tsp 1.5 tsp to grind it to a coarse paste (about 3-4 Tbsp)

RECIPE

1. In a large mixing bowl, sift together whole wheat flour, besan, salt, turmeric powder and baking powder and make sure that there are no lumps
2. Add 2 tbsp of oil, mix well. Add water little at a time and make a stiff dough. The dough should be stiffer than poori dough.  Cover and allow it to rest for at least 30 minutes.
3. Mix the tamarind paste and lemon juice
4. Blend together all the ingredients mentioned under “for the filling” and grind them coarsely using about 3-4 tbsp of water
5. Pre-heat the oven to 190 C
6. Divide the dough into 2 big balls. Spread a little oil on the dough ball and roll out to a thin rectangular sheet of about 3mm thickness. Cut of the edges into straight lines if they are not in a level
7. Now spread 2 tbsp of the tamarind-lemon paste over the roti
   
8. Place the filling in the centre of the roti and spread it around, leaving a little gap on the edges
   
9. Start rolling the roti very slowly and keep pressing it gently after every roll to make sure it is tightly rolled. The tamarind paste will help in binding the roti and finally it should resemble a flute
   
10. With the help of a knife, gently cut off the edges, and slice them into cylindrical shapes of 1.5 inches thickness
    
11. Place them on a greased baking tray, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes. Half way through, about 10 minutes from the start of baking, turn over the bhakarwadis so that they baked and lightly browned evenly on both sides
    
12. Allow them to cool on a wire rack
    
13. Once they are completely cooled, they can be stored in air tight container and they would stay good for 4-5 days

Enjoy the healthy snack with a hot cup of tea J

Note: The filling can be varied according to your choice. You could add ajwain/omam or add more spices/garam masala. For a sweet filling, a mixture of coconut, jaggery, cardamom powder can be used.

Whole wheat honey oats bread

I recently attended a baking course and since then, I've been really tempted to try a lot of cakes and cookies. But what kept me on hold was the usage of maida and sugar in all baking products. Yes cakes are junk food and I didn't want my health and interest for baking part ways. So, then came the idea of using whole wheat flour instead of maida!! While I was just thinking about this on my way back home from baking class, I was held up in traffic jam and what struck my eyes then was, SUBWAY and my favorite bread at subway is honey-oats bread. That's how I ended up utilizing my Sunday evening by baking a healthy bread at home. There were a lot of recipes for this bread online and I referred a few that were easy to understand. Let's jump in straight to the recipe!

INGREDIENTS

• Whole wheat flour - 330 gm
• Boiling Water - 285 ml
• Oats - 50 gm
• Honey – 70 ml
• Butter – 15 gm
• Salt – 1.5 Tsp
• Dry Yeast – 0.8 Tsp
• Warm Water – 30 ml

METHOD:

1. Combine oats, honey, butter and salt with boiling water in a large mixing bowl. Keep it aside for an hour
2. When the oats mixture is almost ready (i.e. after 50 mins), in a small bowl, sprinkle the dry yeast over warm water (if the bowl is cool, then wash it in warm water before use). Gently mix it so that the yeast dissolves and let it stand until creamy for about 10 minutes. Once it is ready, pour the yeast mixture into the oat mixture and gently mix it.
3. Add the flour to this mixture 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well with a wooden spatula after each addition and make sure not to over mix
4. When the dough has come together, put it out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 20 minutes (Rigorous exercise for your arms!!). Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn it so that both sides are coated lightly with oil (as shown below) 
   
5. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and set it aside in a warm place until it doubles in volume. This will take about 1 hour.
6. Remove the dough and put it again on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a loaf. Place the shaped dough into a lightly greased 9x5 inch loaf tin. Cover the loaf tin with a damp cloth and let it rise until doubled in volume. This will take about 40-45 minutes (I had only a smaller size loaf tin, so I split the dough into two – one into a loaf tin and other into a small  round cake tin)
   
7. In the meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 C.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped (A lovely aroma of oats and honey will spread across your home.. yumm)
8. Remove the loaf from the pan, and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack
9. Enjoy this fresh and healthy home-made bread along with any spread of your choice!

Vegetable Au Gratin (With a healthy twist!)

Vegetable Au Gratin is usually fully packed with cheese but here is an interesting healthy version to it, which I came across in Nita Mehta's diet recipes book, where the white sauce is made without fat! 

INGREDIENTS:

• Peas - 1/4 cup
• Carrots - 2 small sized
• Beans - 10
• Cauliflower florets - 1 cup
• Tomato ketchup - 1 Tsp

For the sauce:

• Whole wheat flour - 2 Tbsp
• Milk - 2 cups
• Freshly chopped coriander leaves - 2 Tbsp
• Salt - 1/2 Tsp
• Pepper - 1/2 Tsp
• Red chilli flakes - 1/2 Tsp
• Oregano - 1 Tsp

METHOD:

1. Chop beans and carrots into small cubes and cauliflower into small florets
2. Wash all vegetables, remove water and put them directly into a pressure cooker
3. Add 1/4 cup of water, 1/2 Tsp salt and mix well
4. Pressure cook till just before the whistle is about to blow
5. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan and boil them stirring continuously. When the milk starts to boil, reduce the flame and continue cooking for 5 more minutes
6. When the mixture becomes thick, add the vegetables and cooke for 2 more minutes on a low flame, stirring continuously. Remove from fire
7. Add the tomato ketchup and mix well. Taste and add more salt as per your taste
8. Grease a glass baking dish and pour the prepared vegetable mixture into it
9. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for 20 minutes till it browns on the top