Bran Muffins

Bran Muffins

Adapted from 101cookbooks.com

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INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1-1/2 cups wheat bran
• 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 cups nonfat organic yogurt
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup honey, preferably a light honey such as clover
• 2 tablespoons melted Smart Balance Light
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees, racks in the middle.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, wheat bran, salt, baking soda and sugar.
3. Beat together the yogurt, egg white, honey, and Smart Balance Light in a second larger bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients and fold in until everything comes together. Fold in any optional add-ins, raisins, nuts, and the like. Resist overmixing.
5. Either grease a mini-muffin tin with butter or line the tin with small muffin papers. Fill each 3/4 full.
6. Bake 10 -15 minutes, until muffins are golden on top and cooked through. You can also make larger muffins in a standard size muffin pan with this batter, you just need to bake them about 5 minutes longer.

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cakes

Adapted from Cooking Light

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INGREDIENTS

• 3.4 ounces white whole wheat flour (about 3/4 cup)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 5 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup fat-free organic plain yogurt
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup egg substitute
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (2.6-ounce) bar dark (71% cocoa) chocolate (such as Valrhona Le Noir Amer), finely chopped

DIRECTIONS

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Sift together flour, cocoa, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt.
2. Place yogurt in a large bowl. Add granulated and brown sugars, beating until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg substitute and vanilla, beating until well blended. Fold flour mixture into sugar mixture; fold in chocolate. Divide batter evenly among 10 (4-ounce) ramekins; arrange ramekins on a jelly-roll pan. Cover and refrigerate 4 hours or up to 2 days. (I skipped this step.)
3. Preheat oven to 350°.
4. Let ramekins stand at room temperature 10 minutes. Uncover and bake at 350° for 21 minutes or until cakes are puffy and slightly crusty on top.
5. Serve immediately.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Adapted from The Food Librarian

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INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1 Tablespoon orange zest
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup egg substitute
• 1/3 cup fat-free plain organic yogurt
• 1/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup Smart Balance Light

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt together.
2. Add the egg substitute, yogurt, soymilk, applesauce, berries, and zest. Mix gently until just combined.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
4. Cut in the Smart Balance Light until clumpy.
5. Pour batter into 12 muffin tins and top with crumble mixture.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Homemade Strawberry Yogurt

For those of you disgusted by all of the additives and sugar present in most store-bought yogurts.

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Homemade Strawberry Yogurt

INGREDIENTS

• 32 oz. container nonfat organic plain yogurt (about 2/3 full)
• 12 oz. frozen organic strawberries (or other fruit)
• Stevia

DIRECTIONS

1. Empty frozen fruit into medium skillet over medium heat. Melt on all sides and break up with wooden spoon.
2. Turn heat to high and boil fruit until thick and syrupy. Mash with wooden spoon.
3. Remove from heat and stir in a squirt or two of Stevia.
4. Allow to cool and stir into yogurt.
5. Taste and sweeten with Stevia accordingly.
6. Refrigerate.

Mango Pineapple Lassi

This is one of those recipes that I like to call a "double take" recipe. Not because the recipe list is odd, but because the product is initially, well... lackluster.


I love mango. I love pineapple. I love plain, unsweetened yogurt (yep, I'm weird). So this seemed like the perfect combination for me. Sadly, when I initially tasted this drink after the photoshoot it was kind of odd. Sour, but not in an appetizing way. Fruity, but blah. Normally, I would pass such a product off on my sister, but she happens to not be the biggest fan of mango or plain yogurt. So, discouraged, I wrapped it up in plastic and stuck it in the freezer.


Fast forward a few hours. Now I'm hungry. I want something sweet, but homemade. No options. I go to the freezer. I crack the thick shell on top of the lassi with a spoon, digging into the liquid core. (Salivating yet?) It was delicious! I do a double take. Is this really the same drink I tasted earlier?


Yes. With adequate time for the flavors to meld and with the help of a colder temperature (which seems to mellow the tartness of yogurt), the lassi became delightful! As you probably should know, I am lazy. Also, the only ice cream maker I own is an extremely dinky, obnoxious contraption which must be placed in a closed garage so as to muffle the noise. From these two statements, I am sure you can understand when I say that I do not make ice creams or frozen yogurts. This drink is a lovely alternative. I don't really know anything about the necessary composition of a frozen yogurt, but I am assuming that you could make this into one(?). Oh, well. It tastes gooood.



Mango Pineapple Lassi
Adapted from this recipe


INGREDIENTS

• 3/4 cup chopped mango
• 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt (pref. organic)
• 1/4 cup nonfat milk (I used lowfat organic)
• 1/2 cup cold pineapple juice
• 1 dash ground ginger (fresh ginger = yum, but I didn't have any)

DIRECTIONS

1. Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth.
2. Drink immediately or cover with plastic wrap and store in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

Spinach Artichoke Tofu Dip

This is an excellent appetizer or snack. It is full of vegetables, tofu, and calcium. It tastes indulgent, but it's not! Except for the cheese and tofu, this dip can be made completely fat-free! Even with the tofu and cheese, it remains very low in fat. I loved the creamy texture, but next time I may replace the yogurt with more sour cream and throw in some more parmesan. My only reason is that I enjoy a tarter, tangier dip. I would also replace the fresh mozzarella with shredded lowfat; I just needed to use up the fresh before it spoiled.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

INGREDIENTS

• 2 14oz. cans water-packed artichokes
• 1 10oz. package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed free of water
• 4 ounces silken tofu
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup lowfat or fat-free sour cream
• 1/3 cup lowfat or fat-free plain yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 bonnoncini of fresh mozzarella, sliced
• extra parmesan for sprinkling on top

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
2. In a blender or food processor puree the artichokes, spinach, onion, tofu, and garlic.
3. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the parmesan cheese, yogurt, sour cream, and salt.
4. Stir in the artichoke puree and pour mixture into a medium-sized baking dish (or multiple smaller dishes).
5. Arrange mozzarella slices on top. Sprinkle the top with more parmesan. Bake uncovered until heated through and the cheese on the top starts to brown, about 45 minutes. For a browner top, place under a broiler on high for 2-3 minutes.
6. Serve with grape tomatoes, sauteed until burst in a tiny amount of sundried tomato oil.
   

Mmm... also, as you notice here, the top of the mozzarella is a bit greasy. Before I served this, I blotted away the oil with a paper towel. If you use reduced fat mozzarella, this should be less of a problem. If you aren't too worried about fat, this would be even more decadent with some toasted pinenuts sprinkled on top. Yum...