Best Muffins Ever! (w Vegan option, also low fat and whole wheat)

This girl hates shopping… for clothes. 

Hours of absolute boredom.

Feet swollen.

And 500 bucks later, the lady of the house got me enough clothes to fill up my wardrobe (which she had so nicely emptied out). 

Feigned enthusiasm got back genuine enthusiasm from the lady of the house who happily declared how ugly I was and how desperately in need of new clothes I was to be saved from a pending future of spinsterhood (thanks, mum. Nice save). For 4 consecutive days, she bored me (while I literally finished 2 novels) with talks about what clothes she wanted me to wear (which would actually sound a wee bit better if those clothes were at least pleasing to my eyes) that I had no intention of wearing (in this case, clothes mums wear, the ones bought were better thank god) and how I should wear makeup (no way, did you know that the colour of some lip glosses come from the shells of beetles or some scary insect’s name I was too grossed out to remember?) and high heels (I’m not good at balancing, so, no, to avoid my collection of blue-blacks from growing in numbers).

That’s not to say I’m very angry with my mum. I’m annoyed, definitely. I do appreciate her effort (though I’m just her very fat barbie doll). I just do not appreciate clothes shopping. I hate shopping for clothes. 

However, as much as I dislike clothes- shopping and fashion talks, just to please my mum, I’m sort of trying not to show my unhappiness too much though I can’t help but wonder why I’m undergoing continuous torture first from exams now from these boring shopping trips. I’ll wear those nice clothes. I’ll try to be the girl who dresses like a princess (but I’ll never be a Princess because Prince William got married to Kate Middleton… just kidding  the guy’s too old for me  ) that every mum wants but my mum didn’t get. Maybe that’s why she said I couldn’t get highlights, like I’ve dreamt of having since I was 11. After all, princesses don’t have highlights. At least they don’t have purple highlights…

.

Me: Can I get blue highlights?

Mum: No.

Me: Can I get purple highlights?

Mum: No.

Me: Yellow highlights?

Mum: No.

Me: Blonde?

Mum: No.

Me: Brown?

Mum: That’s the colour of your hair.

Me: No its not…How ’bout black?

Mum: It doesn’t make any difference.

Me: So… purple???

Mum: ignores me and changes the topic to what clothes she wants me to try.

.

Awesome.

.

.

.

Wait a sec. I’m 18. I need no permission.

So…I’m thinking blonde highlights, or auburn. Take a vote?

But I really really want blue. 😦

.

.

.

Auburn. I don’t own my own home you know. 

.

.

Yesterday, my aunt gave us some really delicious muffins. They had glossy tops that were a little crunchy when freshly baked. They had a buttery smell which somehow reminded me of cream cheese. I searched the web and saw that those were the best muffins in Singapore.  Desperate to make a copycat, I searched the internet for muffin-making-tips and came up with this recipe!

.

.

The results were suprisingly good! My dad said it had the perfect ratio of ingredients, and perfect level of sweetness, and was even better than those ‘best muffins’, which was a rare statement coming from my dad, considering that he has no sweet tooth at all. Needless to say, my mum and I loved them too. 

.

.

These muffins have a fragrant buttery smell and perfect muffin tops that have a perfect crunch when freshly baked. They also have a perfect crumb. No one would guess they are low fat and whole wheat!

These are the new ‘best muffins’ and the only muffin recipe you’ll ever need. However, please consume within the first day of baking because I can’t guarantee the taste the next day.

.

.

Best Muffins Ever

No. of servings: 9

.

Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 141g/ 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 68g/ 1/2 cup White Whole Wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp mini semi sweet chocolate chips or any ingredient you want

.

For Creaming

• 3 tbsp vegan butter/margarine/ low fat spread (this is vegan!)
• 1 cup/110g caster sugar

.

Liquid ingredients

• 1 egg (vegan: 1tbsp ground flax seeds simmered in 3tbsp water)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk/ (mix 3/4cup-1tbsp  soy milk with 1tbsp lemon juice or vinegar and let sit for 5 minutes before using)
• 2 tbsp applesauce

.

Optional: 2 tbsp chocolate rice + 2 tbsp demerara sugar, mixed

.

.

Directions

Note that a hand mixer can be used in place of the stand mixer for this recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 400F/205°C. 
2. Grease a muffin tin with the fat of choice thoroughly even if the muffin tin is non-stick . 
3. Beat Creaming ingredients together.
4. Add liquid ingredients and beat for a while longer. 
5. In a separate bowl, add dry ingredients and mix evenly. 
6. Make a well in the dry ingredients
7. Add in mixture from step 4 and stir lightly and gently with a fork till the dry ingredients are moistened. BUT do not overmix.
8. Use a small spoon to test the batter. Plunge the spoon into the centre of the batter. If it falls quickly, add an additional tbsp of flour. Reason for testing is that different brands of flour absorb different volumes of water, hence consistency of batter will be different, affecting the success of muffins.
9. Using an ice-cream scoop that allows ejection of batter, fill the muffin tins to the brim. 
10. Sprinkle with the optional mixture.

If making mini-muffins, bake for 10 minutes.

If making regular muffins, bake for 25 minutes.

If making shorter but regular muffins, bake for 15 minutes.

.

.

.

.

Points to note:

• Do not overmix
• Do not overbake. As soon as a toothpick can come out clean, turn off the heat.
• The batter does not have to be smooth.
• You must fill the cup to the brim to get our beloved muffin tops

.

.

Enjoy your muffins! And ughh, apologizing for bad photos once again 😦

And dang, I’m missing Taiwan again.

.

Best Fat Free Chocolate Cupcakes Ever! (Vegan & Sugar free too!)

If you haven’t already, check out my new ‘A Dessert Diet’s Ingredient Substitution list” and ‘A Dessert Diet’s Pantry Staples‘!!

.
My SGD$2500 tablet computer is the love of my virtual life. It lets me make friends online in chatrooms, create coca cola cans in Blender, search for recipe ideas in Foodgawker, edit photographs in Photoshop, and download freebies from the World Wide Web.

Today, I discovered that my friend the tablet has new functions. Its a learner, like me.

A drop of cupcake batter landed right beside its heat emitter.

20 minutes later, the cupcake batter turned into a baked cupcakecookie. 

The latest baking-cum-cooking device of the twentieth century. Apple should watch out.

I started experimenting of course. 

In a small plastic bag, I placed semi-sweet mini chocolate chips. The bag I placed next to the heat emitter. 10 minutes later, the chocolate chips melted into warm glossy chocolate. I need no microwave.

.

The result? Icing for these Chocolate Cupcakes. 

.

You know, Energy Saving? 

.

I think I’m getting pretty clever…

Though I’m quite sure this tablet’ s gonna die really soon.

Let’s just hope it’s life won’t literally end ‘with a bang’. i.e. explode in my face

.

I have to show you these Chocolate Cupcakes. They are terribly moist (sorry if you hate this word! but it is the most apt description I can think of), their tops are super chewy (have I told you how much I love cupcake/muffin tops????) and best of all, they are Chocolate Cupcakes.

Not just any flavour. 

It’s Chocolate.

It means everything.

.

.

I inverted the cupcakes for the photoshoot! Like my cupcake liners? I think they’re pretty! I have 300 of them. 😀 😀

.

.

.

Sorry for the blurry photograph! It in no way reflects the texture of these crumbly cupcakes! –Same for the last picture in this post. 

.

.

Fat Free Chocolate Cupcakes

No. of servings: 10

.

.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour / white whole wheat flour/ all-purpose flour (you can substitute 1/4 cup of chestnut flour or peanut flour)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 9 tbsp pure maple syrup/ agave syrup
• 20 drops stevia extract
• 6 tbsp eggs/ (Vegan version: 2 tbsp flax meal plus 6 tbsp water, whisked together)
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Whisk together wet ingredients in a big bowl.
2. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl.
3. Sift dry ingredients into bowl of wet ingredients.
4. Mix well with spoon or ladle.
5. Pour into cupcake linings.
6. Bake at 350F/180°C for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

.

.

Easy peasy!

.

.

.

.

Single Serving Low Fat Peanut Butter Muffin

I’m going to start having quick-and-ugly posts for the time being to keep this place from rotting. 😀 I ate these for ‘lunch’ today with lots of chocolate from my Mum’s new stash– It’s teachers’ day today and at least 5 people gave her chocolate!! All of us got a share of the calories 😀

–

Like muffins much?

–

I’m afraid “quick” also means ugly photos 😦

–

Just look at that muffin top!!!! I love muffin tops!!! In fact, most of the time, I only like the muffin top 😀

–

Adapted AND Inspired by Chocolate Covered Katie

–

* amendments to above: use an additional 1 tsp of soy milk

To make, mix all ingredients together. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

–

Oh I love those muffin cases! Really pretty 😀

–

Because of the peanut butter, they were very crumbly, I had to catch the crumbs with my… well… homework… 😉

–

Submitted to Diet, Dessert, and Dogs’ Wellness Weekends!

Single Serving Fat-free Fudgy-centred Mini-Choco-Cupcakes (Gluten-free & Vegan)

.

Single Serving Fat-free Fudgy-centred Mini-Choco-Cupcakes (Gluten-free)…

What a mouthful!

But that basically summarises what the above is.

Its a cross between a fudge cake, a molten lava cake and a cupcake!

.

A lovely thing which is part of my list of 5 Ways to Eat Low Calorie Choco-Cookie-Dough Spread :

1. EAT FROM JAR! YEAH!! 😀

.

2. Spread on bread (Yes, that’s what a spread is for…)

.

3. Dunk on oatmeal

.

4. To make Single Serving Fat-free Fudgy-centred Mini-Choco-Cupcakes (Gluten-free)

–

5. To make Freezer Single Serving Fat- free Peanut Butter Choco-Fudge (COMING UP next post!)

–

.

.

Well… I’m on with my last jar of Low Calorie Choco-Cookie-Dough Spread. 😦 (devouring an entire jar is not low- calorie) BUT totally worth it 😀

.

.

 

.

Mini Fudgey Cakes for One

No. of servings: 1 small

.

.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Low Calorie Choco-Cookie-Dough Spread
• 2 tsp fine cornmeal
• 1 tsp low fat condensed milk (or agave syrup/ maple syrup for vegan version)
• 1 tsp water (non- dairy milk for vegan version)
• small pinch baking powder
• small pinch baking soda
• 1/4 tsp mini semi- sweet chocolate chips (optional BUT it will give a molten lava cake texture)

Directions

Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips together.

To spoon into cupcake cups, fill 1/2 of the cup with batter. Add the chocolate chips in the centre of the cup. Fill the cup until 3/4 full.

Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 6 minutes (approximately. It really depends on your oven!)

.

.

Next post: Freezer Single Serving Fat- free Peanut Butter Choco-Fudge

…

I’m dedicating this post to Chocolate Covered Katie— http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/17/want-to-be-featured/ ! Check out her site! You’ll love it! 😀

.

I’m also submitting this to my most favourite event! :

Aspiring Bakers #7 : Chocolate Delight (May 2011) hosted by DG from Tested and Tasted

YAY! Thank you DG for hosting the event!

Coco-Cinnamon Streusal Banana Chocolate-chip Cake/Bread/Cupcakes

I like to think that baking is like cycling. The way I can lose myself in baking seems very much like the way I cycle on the streets of Taiwan. Like cycling, baking elevates my happiness and eases my pain. For a moment, the deep concentration, the focus, the freedom makes everything go away, like entering a whole new dimension. Maybe that’s why I love baking so much. Seeing each ingredient contributing to the chemical reactions and eventually the deliciousness and beauty… ugly ingredients that have wound up in my hands turning out good and presentable. There’s sort of a new dimension in that.

Today, I made this simple yet delicious recipe I would love to make again and again. Its fat- free and perfect and beautiful.

I hope you’ll love it too.

–

–

Coco-Cinnamon Streusal Banana Chocolate-chip Cake/Bread/Cupcakes

adapted from Everyone Likes Sandwiches

–

3 EXTREMELY ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs or 2.5 small eggs
180g flour
60g sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp cinnamon
6 tbsp chocolate chips

–

STREUSAL
2 tbsp chocolate chips
2 tbsp demerara sugar mixed with 1 tbsp cinnamon and 2 tbsp cocoa powder

–

1. Mix bananas with eggs and stir well. Add flour, sugar, baking soda, vanilla, and cinnamon and mix well. Add 6tbsp chocolate chips into the

batter.

–

–

2. Pour batter into a lined square cake pan. Sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar mix and 2tbsp chocolate chips.

3. Bake at 190 degrees celcius for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

–

–

–

 And VOILA

–

–

They turn into cupcakes!

–

–

–

Banana Bonzanza– Only Oatmeal Oatmuffins

Bread is a perfect breakfast good. But ‘perfect’ is not enough. What matters is ‘perfecting perfection’– quoting a wonderful Mr **** in my school. Perfecting perfection… with an amalgamation of oatmeal and muffins. Nutrition, health, low GI, low fat, fruity… I WANT MY BREAKFAST FOR DINNER. Give me 45 minutes, inclusive of baking time, and there goes your breakfast for the next few days…

Been busy with talking lately. Broke my water record. Six 600ml bottles of water in a morning.  Anyways, Roni did it again. Love her recipes! Introducing her BANANA OATMEAL CUPS with chocolate chips and raisins. Sorry. Can’t go on typing anymore. I’m floating… floating to heaven… YUM!

Banana Only Oatmeal Oatmuffins

From Roni’s website (THANK YOU RONI!!!)

 

Ingredients

Mashed bananas	1 medium (about 120g)
Skimmed milk	1/3 cup
Eggs	2 tbs
Rolled oats	1 cup
Baking powder	1 tsp
Sugar	3 tbs
Vanilla extract	1/3 tsp
Semi- sweet chocolate chips	1 ½ tsp
Raisins	1 ½ tsp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Method:

1.      Preheat oven to 190°C.

2.      Stir the bananas, milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla extract in a medium/large bowl

3.      Mix together dry ingredient evenly in a large bowl. Add to liquids and stir till evenly distributed.

4.       Stir in chocolate chips and raisins into the batter

5.      Pour batter into muffin cups or you can even make bars.

6.       Bake for 30 minutes. You will see the edges just starting to brown and they will be firm to the touch. The muffins may stick when hot but are removed easily when cooled for a bit.

–