Archives for August 2012

Peach Muffins with Silken Filling

What better excuse to make peach muffins, than peach season! I also wanted to use the almond meal I bought months ago. As I started to research online, I discovered you can’t really use almond meal in baking without eggs. Conundrum. So, I stared at my pantry, trying to figure out next steps. I wanted to keep the theme of using a non-traditional flour, so I was down to either quinoa flour or oat flour – in the end – oat flour won. (This was after a quick sniff test of the two, and which would give the best flavor and assist in the rising of the muffins!)I scribbled down what I felt the ingredients should be after looking at multiple recipes. This is the first time where I totally made up a recipe and took risks when BAKING. I do it all the time when cooking, but baking is way more exact so I’ve always been too afraid to try it. I have to say, I am so happy with the final results! I had a hard time stopping at two muffins! This (hopefully) has opened up a new door for me to continue taking baking risks.

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Ingredients
Combine in a large bowl and set aside.
1 1/4 c. oat flour
1 c. almond meal
2 tea. baking powder
1/4 c. powdered fructose
1 tea. cinnamon
1/2 tea. saltPreheat oven to 350°F
Combine in a small dish and set aside for at least 5 minutes.
2 tbsp. ground flaxmeal + 1/4 c. water = Flax “egg”
Combine in a small bowl.
1 c. sweetened vanilla flavored almond milk
1 tea. vanilla extract2 fresh peaches, skin removed and cut into small chunksAdd flax egg to the other liquid ingredients and stir to combine. Then pour into large bowl containing dry ingredients and stir well to incorporate the two mixtures. Line a muffin pan with muffin papers and fill each muffin cup 90% full.
Silken Filling Ingredients
Combine the following in a small food processor or blend with an immersion blender until smooth.
1/4 pkg silken tofu (about 3.5 oz)
1 tbsp. powdered fructose
2 tbsp. maple powdered sugar
1 tbsp. sweet vanilla almond milk
1/2 tea. vanilla extract
pinch of saltLook at the slideshow and captions above for instructions on how to fill the muffins.This recipe made 14 muffins for me. I baked them at 350°F for 15 minutes. 

Hummus

Every time we make hummus lately, we just fly by the seat of our pants. Dan will throw in something new here and there and most of the time we will land on a delicious hummus, but can’t recreate it the next time around. I finally decided to write it down and this time we added a new, unique ingredient – silken tofu. All the credit needs to go to my hubby on this one. The one thing we felt was always lacking in our hummus, was the creaminess – especially after it was refrigerated. After having a vegan pastry that contained a cheese-like filling that was actually silken tofu, the idea was sparked! So this attempt used the tofu, and we both think it worked out great – NO OIL either!

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Ingredients
3 c. cooked garbanzo beans (1 c. dry soaked overnight, then cooked for 30-40 minutes; you can also use canned)
3.75 oz. silken, sprouted, organic tofu* (1/4 of a 15 oz. container – use the rest for smoothies or other dips)
1 clove pressed garlic
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3/4 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tea. cumin
1 tea. onion powder
1/2 tea. paprika
1/2 tea. sea salt
1/8 tea. black pepper

Instructions
In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas until coarsely chopped. Add the tofu and pulse until the mixture is almost creamy. Add the remaining ingredients all at once and process until smooth and creamy, and all the ingredients are well combined. Refrigerate and use for dips, pizzas, sandwiches, burritos – whatever!

Since we’ve cut out dairy from our diets, we have found that hummus is a great, creamy substitute!

*NOTE: You can also make a creamy hummus without soy/tofu by removing all the skins from the beans before processing. It is very time consuming but we have discovered it produces a creamy texture as well, without the soy!