Month: August 2023

Banana Protein Muffins

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Now with bonus recipe for my best yet high protein muffins: Applesauce Walnut Protein Muffin variation. See recipe at the end of this post.

Due to the unprovoked, criminal and seemingly endless brutal war of annihilation against Ukrainian civilians by Vladimir Putin and his army and the worsening humanitarian crisis, please consider helping by following the link below. There are a number of reputable aid agencies from which to choose. Many of these agencies will also help victims suffering the devastating effects of natural disasters.

Support Humanitarian Efforts in Ukraine

Banana Protein Muffins are high in protein and flavor with a texture that is light and fluffy. Being healthy never tasted so good! I have also included a variation below made with applesauce, walnuts and cranberries that is equally delicious.

A couple of weeks ago, I posted an Oatmeal Protein Muffin. And while I liked it, being an oatmeal fan, I was still searching for a high protein muffin that looked and tasted just like a regular muffin. This Banana Muffin takes the cake! There is protein from multiple sources: whey protein powder, peanut butter powder, eggs and almond flour.

This is definitely my new go-to breakfast or afternoon snack with a cup of tea or coffee. You can give this delicious treat to your kids without guilt and zero compromise of flavor. And because of all of the protein baked in, one muffin will carry you through a busy morning.

Banana Protein Muffins come together very quickly and freeze well with no special equipment needed. So even with a busy life, these can be put together and baked in less than an hour.

I came across these muffins in a search of the web and then added a few tweaks of my own, which added both flavor and additional protein. And while I am NOT gluten-free, for those who are interested, these Banana Protein Muffins are GF. Definitely give these muffins a try.

Recipe

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

1¾ cups almond flour (I have made these with both blanched almond flour and natural. They were equally delicious.) For me, the perfect ratio is 1 cup of natural almond flour and 3/4 cup blanched almond flour.

¼ cup coconut sugar OR any other light brown sugar such as Demerara

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

¼ tsp fine sea salt

½ cup vanilla or plain protein powder (I used a grass-fed whey powder, but if you wish to avoid dairy, there are multiple options available, such as soy.)

1.5 Tablespoons peanut butter powder

2 large bananas mashed banana

3 large eggs (at room temperature)

¼ cup coconut oil (melted but not hot)

1 tsp vanilla (Use even if using vanilla protein powder)

4 Tablespoons dark mini-chocolate chips or coarsely chopped and lightly toasted walnuts – or more. No judgement here! (Optional, but highly recommended)

Directions

Heat the oven to 400° and line the wells of a muffin tin with parchment paper or foil muffin cups or spray well with a vegetable spray.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the almond flour, coconut sugar, baking soda, baking powder, sea salt, peanut butter powder and protein powder. Set aside.

In another mixing bowl, mash the bananas until smooth with almost no lumps. Add in the coconut oil, vanilla extract and eggs and stir everything well to combine. Stir through chocolate chips, if using.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Be sure not to overmix!

Divide the batter into the lined muffin tin wells.

Bake for 5 minutes at 400° then reduce the heat to 375° and continue baking for 10-13 minutes. The tops should spring back when pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Applesauce Walnut Protein Muffin variation

Lightly toast 1/3 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup of dried cranberries or raisins

Replace the banana with 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon OR sweet hawaij

Follow all of the directions for the banana muffins except swap out the applesauce for the banana. Add the walnuts, cranberries and spice to the dry mixture. I left out the lemon zest, but you could include it. Bake it the same way. Delicious!

Sweet Hawaij

Yield: About 1/2 cup

1 Tablespoon ground cloves

2 Tablespoons freshly grated nutmeg

2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons ground ginger

1 Tablespoon ground cardamom

This will last in a cool, dark place kept in a small glass air-tight jar for up to a year. Mine gets used up waaaaaay before that!

Black Bread with Walnuts

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 1 Comment

Due to the unprovoked, criminal and seemingly endless brutal war of annihilation against Ukrainian civilians by Vladimir Putin and his army and the worsening humanitarian crisis, please consider helping by following the link below. There are a number of reputable aid agencies from which to choose. Many of these agencies will also help victims suffering the devastating effects of natural disasters.

Support Humanitarian Efforts in Ukraine

This dark, savory Black Bread with Walnuts is the perfect sandwich bread. It can be sliced thickly or paper thin and will hold up to any filling without overpowering it. With a few surprise ingredients, this bread has a long fermentation giving it a depth that no store-bought commercial bread can have. And it will hold up for over week if well-wrapped and left on a counter.

We love bread in our house and bake different kinds every week. My husband has gotten into baking and now makes the best challah hands down. It’s my recipe but his work that makes it so delicious. Andrew is more of a scientific baker, which is not surprising given his background in astrophysics. But I am an instinctual baker. I go by look and feel and smell and can’t be bothered to weigh out ingredients (except when making cakes) or to measure so that each strand of dough is the same size from week to week. Don’t misunderstand. I completely appreciate when someone can standardize things so that they will always work.

I do have a sort of formula that I follow when cooking or baking from my own recipe – just as I do when I make my salad dressings. But like a jazz musician, I’m not afraid to riff on it and go where the music – uh recipe – takes me.

Therefore, I hesitated writing down how I make my weekly bread. It’s never quite exactly the same. But I love that freedom and innovation. However, this bread was so delicious and has such a wonderful crumb that I felt I should try to make it replicable.

My flour comes from an organic farm in Illinois that I began buying from during the pandemic when flour and other staples had disappeared from grocery shelves. I love it so that I buy 25 pound bags of it now. And they have heritage flours that you might not see anywhere else.

As any bread-maker will tell you, there are many factors that can affect your finished product. The flour, the water, the yeast, the humidity, your oven and on and on. So can I say that your bread will turn out exactly like mine? In all honesty, I cannot. But if it inspires you to make your own delicious bread, then it is worth the journey. And this one is just too good to pass up.

You will need a Dutch oven to make this bread as well as parchment paper. I know that some people are put off from baking bread because it seems to be so labor and time sensitive. But it doesn’t have to be. The actual amount of hands-on time for this bread is under an hour. There is no long kneading and the bread rests overnight while you are sleeping or doing whatever it is you do at night. Then the bread is formed and has a second shorter rise while your oven heats up. It bakes for about 40 minutes and you have a gorgeous loaf of bread and a house that smells AMAZING.

There are many wonderful bread recipes on my blog so if this one doesn’t float your boat or if you are looking to expand your repertoire, please check them out.

Recipe

Yield: One large loaf

Ingredients

1.5 teaspoons Active (or instant) Dried Yeast

3 cups of lukewarm water (You may not need all of it)

3/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, lightly pan-toasted

Rounded 1/2 cup dark rye flour

2 Tablespoons diastatic malt powder

1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 Tablespoon instant espresso coffee

1 Tablespoon Kalonji (Nigella) seeds

2.5 teaspoons kosher or sea salt

1/4 cup Black Emmer flour (This is an ancient grain, high in protein and with a wonderful depth of flavor. You could substitute another whole grain flour, but I encourage you to try using this wonderful flour.)

2.5 cups Artisan Bread Flour ( I use Janie’s but Bob’s Mill Artisan Flour is also good)

2 cups whole kernel bread flour (Use whole wheat if you are not buying specialty flour)

Flour for dusting the counter and bread

You will need a Dutch oven to make this bread as well as parchment paper.

Directions

Mix together all of the dry ingredients (including nuts and seeds) either using a whisk or your hands (nature’s whisk!) There is no necessity to proof your yeast even if using active dry yeast as I do. Unless your yeast is really old, there shouldn’t be a problem. Most of the fermentation is achieved slowly and naturally overnight. This slow fermentation also gives exceptional depth of flavor and allows the bread to hold up well for days.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add 2 cups of the lukewarm water and slowly start to gather in the dough, adding water as necessary to allow the dough to come together. As the dough begins to form, remove it to a board or counter and knead just enough so that all of the flour is incorporated. When you can form the dough into a smooth ball with no visible signs of dry flour – STOP. That’s it. Place it back in the bowl and cover it.

Place the bowl in a draft-free place and let it rest overnight. The dough can rest for anywhere between 10 to 14 hours. You have leeway.

In the morning, place a Dutch oven (at least 6 quarts) in the oven and preheat the oven and pot to 485 degrees F. You want the Dutch oven and your oven to be hot.

Gather the dough from the bowl, lightly flouring it if it is sticky and form it into a ball. If you have a 9-inch banneton flour it and place the dough ball inside. If you don’t have a banneton, just use a stainless or other bowl that will hold the dough ball with only a little room to expand.

Cover the dough and allow to rise to the top of the banneton or bowl. This takes anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours depending on how warm your place is and the amount of yeast spores floating around your place. The more you bake, the more of these spores exist and the faster (generally) your bread will rise. I have made certain of these slow-rise breads with as little as a 1/2 teaspoon of active yeast.

When the dough has risen, remove the very hot Dutch oven from the oven. Carefully turn the dough out onto a lightly floured piece of parchment. Carefully place the parchment and dough into the HOT Dutch oven.

Cover the Dutch oven and place it in your HOT oven for 40 minutes. Then partially uncover the Dutch oven and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. The internal temperature should be about 205 degrees F. (I rarely check by temperature but use the smell and knock test. I take a wooden spoon and knock on the bread. If it sounds hollow, the bread is done.) Turn the dough out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Then enjoy.

Oatmeal Protein Muffins

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ 2 Comments

Due to the unprovoked, criminal and seemingly endless brutal war of annihilation against Ukrainian civilians by Vladimir Putin and his army and the worsening humanitarian crisis, please consider helping by following the link below. There are a number of reputable aid agencies from which to choose. Many of these agencies will also help victims suffering the devastating effects of natural disasters.

Support Humanitarian Efforts in Ukraine

Satisfying and super healthy Oatmeal Protein Muffins are my new go-to breakfast. While I love breakfast foods, unless I am hiking or in Israel (where breakfast is an experience), I seem only able to have milky coffee and something very small to eat first thing. For some time now, I have been eating a single medjool date and a few almonds or pistachios along with my coffee and 8 Greens.

But I have realized that I am just not consuming enough protein in the morning to keep me going strong throughout the day. So I decided to look for something that is relatively high in protein, low in calories and unnecessary fat or sugar that would satisfy me without making me feel too full. And because while I may love to cook, I generally do not want to cook at breakfast. So something I could make ahead.

After checking out several recipes – and reading the comments – on line, I came across a recipe for Protein-Packed Oatmeal Muffins. I decided to give them a try, with a couple of my own tweaks.

They came together easily, but I was highly skeptical of how they would bake up. The batter seemed soooooo liquidy that I thought it would never come together as a muffin. Even when they had baked for the suggested amount of time, I thought, well this is a noble failure. Thankfully, I was wrong.

These are not the most beautiful muffins you will ever see and the texture, while fine, is not a traditional muffin. So don’t go in with that expectation. These muffins are gluten-free since only oatmeal is used as the base. I personally do not have a problem with gluten so I did not choose them for that reason. But if you do limit or cut out gluten from your diet, these muffins are for you as well.

The muffins are very tender and moist (why do people have a problem with that word??). I upped the spicing and used some fresh berries as a topping. The Oatmeal Protein Muffins are very open to changes in spicing and toppings. You could use hemp or pumpkin seeds on top and use pumpkin spice or any other mixture you like. For an afternoon snack, you could even go a more savory route. But below is what I did.

These should be stored in an airtight container in a cool place or frozen for future use. They rewarm in the microwave in about 10 seconds. I ate mine with a bit of almond butter on top for an extra hit of protein.

The waiting time before removing them from the muffin tin is essential. The oatmeal continues to absorb the liquid after they come out of the oven and this allows the muffins to firm up. Mine were baked directly in the well-PAMed muffin tin, but I might use paper or foil muffin cups next time to make it even easier to remove from the pan.

Give them a try if you want a muffin that is actually healthy for you.

Recipe

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (Do NOT use quick-cooking oats)

3 scoops vanilla protein powder (I used a whey protein powder, but plant-based is fine, too)

1 tsp baking powder

1 rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom or nutmeg

Zest from one medium lemon

1/2 tsp fine sea or kosher salt

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce OR one ripe banana, peeled and smushed

1/2 cup plain 0% Greek yogurt

2 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or Agave

1 cup unsweetened soy or other plant-based milk

2 tablespoons pumpkin or hemp seeds (OPTIONAL)

Berries or mini dark chocolate chips (OPTIONAL but recommended)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl combine oats, protein powder, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt.

In a separate bowl combine eggs, vanilla extract, applesauce, Greek yogurt, coconut oil, maple syrup, lemon zest and soy milk.

Add wet ingredients to dry and stir to combine. The batter will be VERY wet!

Grease a muffin pan very well with vegetable spray or coconut oil. You could also line the muffin tin with paper or aluminum muffin cups.

Divide batter evenly across the muffin tin. (I used a cookie scoop to do this evenly)

Lightly press in your toppings of choice into each muffin. You can alternate toppings. There is no need for them to ll be the same.

Sprinkle hemp or pumpkin seeds evenly across cups, if using. (I did not)

Bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took 20 minutes)

Allow to cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes. The muffins will firm up during this time. Then using a tin spatula or spreader, remove the muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge for up to 5 days. OR freeze for up to 3 months. Warm in a microwave or oven before eating for best taste.