Tag: Baked Goods
Spiced Orange Carrot Muffins
These Spiced Orange Carrot Muffins are crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. A tasty winter breakfast treat!
Back in college, I hosted a Rainbow Foods Dinner Party. Each invitee was asked to provide a dish featuring a particular color for an ultimate Roy G. Biv spread. (Oh, and they were supposed to wear their color too!) There was a grape salad for purple, spinach soufflé for green, and maybe something with strawberries for red? It’s been awhile. All told, it was a goofy, fun, sorta random event–the stuff college memories are made of. Somewhere I have a picture of eight or so of my floormates dressed in chromatic order, each holding a tray of homemade food.
If I had to choose a single color of food to consume most often, though, I think I’d have to go with orange. I mean, you’ve got pumpkin, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, citrus fruits, orange bell peppers, and more. Even mac and cheese is orange, and who could live without that?
Choosing orange foods was something of the inspiration behind these Spiced Orange and Carrot Muffins, since orange foods have a tendency to be nutrient-dense. In fact, many orange foods are rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants like lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. At least, naturally orange foods have these nutrients. Can’t say the same for orange Sour Patch Kids or orange Jell-O.
Anyway, since I’m currently slightly under the weather, I wanted to bake up something for breakfast that would combine the healthy, vitamin-rich goodness of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables–and, not surprisingly, ended up with an orange finished product.
When it comes to baking, you really only have a short list of options for veggies (carrots, zucchini, um…are there others?) My go-to is almost always carrots. From there, which fruits complement carrots? Why, oranges, of course! And when you wrap it all up with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and cardamom, plus whole wheat flour and oats, you get a muffin that’s not only orange-hued, but sooooo delicious.
These Spiced Orange and Carrot Muffins are a little heavy on the prep side (zesting and juicing an orange, shredding carrots, etc.) but definitely worth the effort. Fresh out of the oven, their tops are perfectly crunchy, giving way to a moist, tender crumb beneath. They’re not too sweet and their warming blend of spices make for a magical winter breakfast. Plus (fingers crossed), their ample nutrients could help you–and hopefully me, too–bounce back from winter illness.
Spiced Orange Carrot Muffins
With a slightly crunchy exterior and tender interior, these spiced orange carrot muffins are a yummy, not-too-sweet breakfast.
Prep Time25 mins
Cook Time20 mins
Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
- 1 c. whole wheat flour
- 3/4 c. white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour
- scant 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
- 2/3 c. brown sugar
- 3/4 c. fresh-squeezed orange juice
- 1/2 c. almond or other milk
- 2 eggs
- zest of 1 large orange
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 c. vegetable oil
- 1 c. shredded carrots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
- In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients: oats, flours, salt, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and brown sugar.
- In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combin the wet ingredients: orange juice, almond milk, eggs, orange zest, vanilla, and vegetable oil.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, stirring until just incorporated, then stir in shredded carrots.
- Divid the batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Bake 20 minutes. Cool and store in an airtight container.
Notes
Adapted from Table for Two Blog.
Cranberry Oat Scones
These cranberry oat scones are chewy and buttery, with a hint of cinnamon-orange flavor.
It’s been a weird week.
As a freelance writer, I generally keep a tight schedule, cranking out about one article per day on weekdays–but this week, for the first time in recent memory, I simply didn’t have much lined up to write. I like my work and pride myself on being my own diligent lady-boss, so this felt like kind of an ego blow. Even when I reached out to several of my editors to let them know I had room in my calendar, nobody had anything to offer. Did I do something wrong? Were my editors not pleased with my work? Was Mercury in retrograde? Who knows.
Despite my confusion about whatever was afoot on the Mount Olympus of the publishing world, I was pretty easily able to see a silver lining to my quiet work week. My husband has been out of town for eight (long) days, and with three teens/preteens at home, that’s not exactly easy on me. (Serious question: At what point of filth and squalor do teenagers actually clean of their own volition?) Perhaps it was divine providence that I’d have a little extra room in my schedule.
Taking that view, I felt a bit more freedom to take my extra time as a gift. When I asked myself how I actually wanted to spend the week, I found the answer to be quite simple: Hang out with friends and bake. I was able to meet up with one good friend each day, which definitely filled my soul–and bake several yummy treats in the meantime!
These cranberry oat scones are, of course, the fruit of that labor.
In my muffin myopia and bread blindness, I always seem to forget about scones. But scones are so inviting, so versatile, so buttery! One is all it takes to fill me up at breakfast, and I enjoy tinkering with their ingredients to find a balance of healthy and indulgent. These cranberry oat delights get their fluffiness not only from butter, but from a Greek yogurt-oat milk blend that adds moisture instead of buttermilk (because who keeps buttermilk on hand?) Cinnamon and orange peel round out the flavor profile in a subtle-but-meaningful way.
I can’t say this particular recipe is ultra-healthy, but the addition of whole grain oats does add fiber and a bit of Greek yogurt raises their protein content a *skosh.* And you know what? Sometimes (like when your husband has been gone for eight days and you’re trying to keep your home from turning into a total dumpster fire), a sweet, buttery, cranberry-y treat is exactly what you need.
Cranberry Oat Scones
These cranberry oat scones are chewy and buttery, with a hint of cinnamon-orange flavor.
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Servings: 8 scones
Ingredients
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c. old-fashioned oats
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- generous 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 6 1/2 Tbsp. white sugar
- 10 Tbsp. cold butter
- zest of 1 orange
- 1/2 c. dried cranberries
- 1/3 c. Greek yogurt
- 2/3 c. oat milk (or other milk)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 and line a rimless baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar. Using a box grater, grate in the cold butter and mix until the dough is crumbly. Zest 1 orange directly into the bowl, add cranberries, and mix.
- In a measuring cup, combine Greek yogurt and oat milk. Pour into the dough little by little until moist enough that it comes together in a cohesive ball. (You may not use all of the oat milk mixture.)
- On the parchment-lined baking sheet, flatten the dough ball into a 2-inch-tall disc. Using a sharp knife, slice the disc into 8 equal pieces and separate them slightly.
- Bake in the preheated oven about 25 minutes or until the tops of the scones begin to brown. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
A Love Letter to Food Original Recipe.
Espresso Sugar Cookies
Espresso Sugar Cookies are light and chewy, loaded with espresso flavor!
Nowhere is the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention” truer than in recipe development. And, for me, at no time is it truer than during Lent. These Espresso Sugar Cookies were born out of a little bit of culinary and spiritual necessity.
Let me explain.
In the 40 days of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving that we Catholics observe this time of year, it’s customary to make sacrifices that unite us with the sufferings of Jesus in some small way. It may sound lame or insignificant, but this year one of my sacrifices is giving up chocolate.
But mannnnn I want chocolate so. bad. every. day. I’ve had a few Reese’s pieces, which technically don’t contain any chocolate, but my husband claims that’s cheating. And hey, maybe having any sweets might be considered cheating, but for me, relinquishing chocolate for six weeks is sacrifice enough. I’m okay continuing to eat other, non-chocolatey dessert foods here and there.
That said, it’s kinda tough to find desserts I actually like that aren’t chocolate. In my efforts to scare up something a little bit like chocolate, but not chocolate, in the last nine days since Ash Wednesday, I thought I might turn to the flavor of coffee. After all, chocolate and coffee often pair together, and according to The Flavor Bible, they’re complementary tastes.
Plus, I happened to have some espresso powder hanging around from when I recently made this totally indulgent, craaaaazzy layer cake for a friend’s husband’s birthday. Why not give espresso powder a spin in non-chocolatey cookies?
Trouble is, almost every baked goods recipe on the internet that uses coffee also calls for chocolate. I mean, mocha is KING in cookies, pies, cakes, cheesecakes, and more. So it was up to me to create my own espresso sugar cookies! I’m so glad I did!
These cookies are chewy and light, with just a hint of crispiness around the edges. They taste like coffee, of course, but not in an overpowering way. They’re the perfect accompaniment to an afternoon or after-dinner cup of joe. Leaving chocolate out of the equation actually allows the espresso flavor to shine through all on its own.
So, believe it or not, I kinda love that these cookies don’t include any chocolate! Who’da thunk?
Espresso Sugar Cookies
Chewy and light, these espresso sugar cookies are perfect with a cup of coffee!
Prep Time15 mins
Servings: 18 cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. butter, softened
- 1 1/4 c. white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp. espresso powder
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3-4 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease two cookie sheets.
- In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add vanilla and egg and mix.
- Mix in flour, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt. Slowly add milk, t tablespoon at a time, and mix until the batter holds together but isn't visibly wet.
- Drop cookies by the tablespoonful onto the greased cookie sheets. Bake 12-14 minutes or until set. Store in an airtight container.
Notes
A Love Letter to Food original recipe.
Pumpkin Olive Oil Muffins
Pumpkin Olive Oil Muffins bring the heart-healthy goodness of olive oil to your breakfast table.
Is olive oil all it’s cracked up to be? You hear it touted as the heart-healthy oil–almost a savior of recipes. Something’s got three pounds of cheese and oodles of bleached, refined flour but it has olive oil???? Must be healthy!
As a nutritionist, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that olive oil automatically makes anything good for you, but it does come with significant health benefits.
As part of a Mediterranean diet, it can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), especially if you’re already at risk. One study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people at risk of CVD who followed a Mediterranean diet supplemented with–get this–extra olive oil had fewer major adverse cardiovascular events than those who supplemented with nuts. In another, more olive oil (yes, more fat and calories!) helped reduce body fat and improved blood pressure.
Wiki-wiki-whaaaaa?
I’m convinced that subbing olive oil for other oils and butter whenever possible is a smart choice. I’m especially into including it in baked goods. (These delicious banana chocolate muffins and orange cake are among my favorites.) As long as the olive flavor isn’t overpowering, I find it a really nice, mellow complement to the sweetness of most baked goods.
So, being that it’s fall and therefore time for ALL THINGS PUMPKIN, I of course wanted to give olive oil a whirl in some pumpkin muffins. Trouble was, I had a hard time finding a recipe. When I Googled “Pumpkin Olive Oil Muffins,” it yielded very few results. “Pumpkin olive oil face mask” was much more popular. (Why would you put these delicious ingredients on your face without putting them in your mouth??)
Clearly, it was time to get creative. I adapted this recipe from the one on Olio Olive Oils’ website. A bit less sugar, a bit more time in the oven, and a yogurt-milk blend instead of time-consuming DIY buttermilk made these turn out perfecto–full of pumpkin spice flavor with a delicate, chewy crumb. I *may* have conveniently hidden the Tupperware full of these muffins under our countertop bread stash, where my kids wouldn’t readily notice them.
If you’re looking to add more olive oil to your home baking, you won’t be disappointed with these perfect-for-fall treats!
P.S. Want to know more about cooking oils? You can learn more about which oils work best for which types of cooking in this guide I wrote on Healthline.com.
Pumpkin Olive Oil Muffins
Bring the heart-healthy goodness of olive oil to your breakfast table with these pumpkin muffins!
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time22 mins
Servings: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 c. plain Greek yogurt
- 1/4 c. milk, any variety
- 1 c. canned pumpkin
- 1 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 c. whole wheat or white whole wheat flour
- scant 1/3 c. white sugar
- scant 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/8 tsp. nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with baking spray (even better if it's olive oil-based.)
- In a large bowl, stir together olive oil, applesauce, eggs, yogurt, milk, and pumpkin until smooth. Add all remaining ingredients and combine until no lumps remain.
- Distribute among prepared muffin cups and bake 20-22 minutes. Let cool 5-10 minutes.
Notes
Adapted from Olio Olive Oil.
Cashew Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Cashew butter puts a unique spin on the expected in these chewy Cashew Butter Oatmeal Cookies.
Not too long ago, I received an assignment from one of the publications I write for about the nutrition of cashew butter. Having limited experience with this particular nut butter, I was basically starting at square one. I’m your typical American when it comes to nut butters–as in, peanut butter is my gold standard. When our family lived in Germany a few years ago, the lack of this grocery staple in stores led to much weeping and gnashing of teeth (until my mom arrived from the States bearing some precious PB).
Doing a bit of research for my article led to some interesting revelations about cashew butter. Even though it has a teeny bit more calories than peanut butter, its fats are 80% unsaturated (aka the healthy kind). Plus–how weird is this?–certain antioxidant compounds in cashews have been associated with improved vision and eye health. You can read my full article with all cashew butter’s health benefits here.
Coincidentally, I happened to receive a few samples of cashew butter shortly after writing my article. One of which was this intriguing salted caramel variety.
Up until now, I’ve been noshing it slathered on graham crackers and as a dip for green apples. (Not sure if it’s giving me superhuman vision yet, but it sure is tasty.) With its creamy texture and comparable flavor to peanut butter, I figured I could put it to work in some of the other vehicles I’d normally use PB for…like cookies!
These Cashew Butter Oatmeal Cookies are a twist on the usual peanut butter oatmeal cookies. They’ve got the craveable crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside you know and love in the best peanut butter oatmeal cookies, with a slightly different taste. I especially enjoyed the hint of salted caramel in the variety I used, but you can easily use any kind of cashew butter here.
I guess I’ve come full circle on my cashew butter journey. Now that I know a bit more about it and have used it in several ways, I’m all aboard on the nut train. And I’m pretty sure if you try these cookies, you will be, too.
Cashew Butter Oatmeal Cookies
Put a unique spin on the usual oatmeal cookies with cashew butter! These cookies have the crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside texture you crave.
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time12 mins
Servings: 2 dozen
Ingredients
- 1/2 c. butter, softened
- 1/2 c. cashew butter
- 1/3 c. brown sugar
- 1/2 c. white sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 c. old fashioned oats
- 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- generous 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a large baking sheet with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine butter, cashew butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, and egg. Blend with a hand mixer until well mixed, 1-2 minutes.
- Add oats, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix by hand until combined.
- Form into balls and drop onto greased baking sheet. Bake about 12 minutes until tops of cookies are set. Cool 10 minutes and store in an airtight container.
Notes
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod.