Just because you eat gluten free, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a Valentine’s Day dessert. This decadent treat comes from the new cookbook, Straight from the Heart, by Taos chef and owner of Graham’s Grille, Lesley B. Fay.

Her 224-page cookbook includes recipes for appetizers, soups, salads and dressings, sandwiches, entrees and desserts; butters and spices and resources, shortcuts and tips.

Lesley’s flourless cake stands out due to its unique combination of espresso and merlot wine. Make sure to double check that ingredients like baking powder and vanilla are gluten free. The cake is best if it’s made the day before. Since it makes 16 cakes, you can put a few aside for midnight munchies after the fun on Valentine’s Day (hint, hint) or for the kids.

Flourless Chocolate Torte with Crème Anglaise

Makes 16 individual cakes.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 3/4 pound butter, softened and divided in half
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup espresso or strong coffee
• 1/2 cup merlot wine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 tablespoon xanthan gum
• pinch salt
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or coarsely chopped bar) sugar and cocoa powder for sprinkling

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Melt the semisweet chocolate with half the butter, and mix in the vanilla, espresso and merlot. In a separate bowl, cream the rest of butter until fluffy. Add sugar and beat until light yellow and smooth (about 5 minutes on high speed).
3. Mix together the cocoa, cornstarch, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt. Add these dry ingredients and the chocolate mixture to butter and sugar, alternating, and mixing well after each addition.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each egg, about 1 minute. Add semisweet chocolate chips. Pour into buttered cupcake tins or paper holders that have been sprinkled with sugar and cocoa powder.
5. Place a large open container of bowling water on the bottom rack of the oven. The stream helps cook the cakes and keeps them moist. Bake cakes on rack above the boiling water for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, open oven door and let rest for another 8 to 10 minutes. They should rise and be medium-soft to the touch. The trick here is to cook them long enough so they don’t fall, but not so long that they are dry.
6. Serve each cake in a puddle of Crème Anglaise. Garnish with fresh raspberries or a ribbon of lime (optional).

Crème Anglaise

Makes two cups.

Ingredients:

• 5 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients:

1. In a heat-resistant mixing bowl, stir together the egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg with a wooden spoon until well combined. The sugar should be somewhat dissolved in the yolks. Combine the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat and warm the milk just below the boiling point (the milk will start to form bubbles on the edges of the pan and it will become steamy just before it boils).
2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir just a couple of tablespoons of the hot milk into the eggs and sugar, mixing well the whole time. Gradually add the rest of the milk, stirring constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan over low to medium heat. Heat the sauce until it thickens, but do not boil or the yolks will curdle. The sauce is done when it stays on the wooden spoon without dripping (this takes about five minutes but will depend on your pan and your burner). As soon as the sauce is thickened, immediately remove it from the heat.
3. Pour the sauce into a heat-resistant bowl (you can pour the sauce through a strainer to remove any lumps).
4. Stir the vanilla extract and cover the sauce with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap down on top of the sauce, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Picture courtesy of Lesley B. Fay.

Valentine’s Day: Flourless Chocolate Torte with Crème Anglaise #glutenfree is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Today’s guest post from Holly Clegg focuses on healthy holiday baking. Since fresh cranberries freeze up to a year, you can bake up her Banana Cranberry Bread all year round. This is a terrific recipe for using up any overripe bananas you may have, too!

Check out more of Holly’s trim& TERRIFIC® recipes at hollyclegg.com and The Healthy Cooking Blog.

Homemade healthy holiday treats

Looking for a healthy gift that keeps on giving? Quick breads are one of my favorite homemade gifts as they are easy to make, budget-friendly, and something you make yourself. What could be better during the holidays than my festive favorite, Banana Cranberry Bread?

Quick breads are so easy to prepare as there is no yeast and there is no need for a mixer. I wrap the individual loaves in plastic wrap, and then store in a zip top bag to freeze until I’m ready to distribute them to my neighbors and friends. Tie several mini loafs with a ribbon and your gift is done!

Banana Cranberry Bread

From Too Hot in the Kitchen: Secrets To Sizzle At Any Age

Print
Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas, peeled
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup dried cranberries or fresh cranberries, chopped
• 1 teaspoon grated orange rind

Directions

1. Preheat oven 350°F. Coat 9x5x 3-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In large bowl, beat bananas until puréed. Add sugar, brown sugar, canola oil, eggs, and vanilla, and continue beating until creamy.
3. In separate, small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir flour mixture alternately with buttermilk into banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour, mixing only until combined.
4. In separate, small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir flour mixture alternately with buttermilk into banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour, mixing only until combined.

Prep Time: 15 - 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 40 - 45 Minutes

Total Time: 55 - 1 Hour 5 Minutes

Nutrition Grade NA from CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 3

Servings: 16 slices

• Serving size: 1 slice
• Calories: 144
• Calories from Fat: 37
• Total Fat: 4g
• Saturated fat: 1g
• Unsaturated fat: 3g
• Sodium: 50mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 25g
• Sugar: NA
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 2g
• Cholesterol: 27mg

Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 0.5 fruit, 0.5 fat

This Mama's tips

Here are some tips to further “health up” Holly’s recipe:

• Instead of 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar, use 1/4 cup powdered stevia and 1/2 cup coconut palm sugar.
• For the 1 cup of all-purpose flour, substitute 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour. This may dry out the recipe a bit, so add a tablespoon or two more of the buttermilk.
• To make this recipe gluten free, substitute your favorite all-purpose gluten free flour mix for the regular flour.
• Try substituting 2 egg whites for one of the eggs to lower the fat content.

Photo courtesy of Holly Clegg.

Healthy holiday treats: Holly Clegg’s Banana Cranberry Bread is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Having had a Jewish father, I grew up eating wonderful cookies and cupcakes at the Jewish-style bakery my parents frequented by my dad’s office in Red Bank, New Jersey. If you lived in the area in the 1970s, it was the bakery by Red Bank Catholic High School and down Main Street from Norman’s Deli, if I remember correctly. I don’t think it’s there anymore.

I never realized that black and white, lace, and rainbow cookies were typical of Jewish treats until I read Inside the Jewish Bakery: Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg. It’s a wonderful cookbook and would make a great Hanukkah or holiday gift.

I always thought of these treats as “back East cookies” that you could only find in New York City and Northern New Jersey. I never came across them in other parts of the country and only see them when I go back to New Jersey for someone’s bat or bar mitzvah.

My favorite Jewish cookies are the rainbow ones. I was hoping to experiment and come up with a gluten free version. (You can see a non-GF version of rainbow cookies here on the publisher’s website.) However, since they contain almond paste and almond extract – and I have a child who’s allergic to nuts – I didn’t think it was too smart to cook up a batch. Plus, I’d have to eat them all myself, which is a recipe for disaster especially with all the holiday treats out there this time of year.

Instead, I chose to make gluten free coconut macaroons. When my mother-in-law went gluten free over 11 years ago, there were very few premade gluten free products around. One exception was coconut macaroons that I’d find in the ethnic section of the supermarket during Passover. Here’s my healthed up, alternative sweetener version of Inside the Jewish Bakery’s recipe.

Featured at Jane Deere Blog Fusion Fridays.

Coconut Macaroons

Based on the recipe from Inside the Jewish Bakery by Stanley Ginsberg and Norman Berg © 2011 Camino Books. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

Print
Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons powdered stevia
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/4 cups finely shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons agave nectar
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (grapeseed, canola or coconut oil works well)
• 3 to 4 large egg whites, beaten

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. If you’re using “natural” unsweetened coconut from the health food store, you may need to chop up the coconut into smaller pieces. You can do this in a food processor or a blender. Chop until the coconut is confetti-sized.
3. Blend all ingredients except egg whites on the low speed of electric mixer.
4. Increase speed to medium. Then add egg whites in a thin stream, mixing until smooth. Use only enough egg to get dough to the consistency of putty.
5. Using a small cookie scoop, spoon mixture on to cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. (I use the silicone making mats made by Wilton.)
6. Bake for 15 minutes until the tops of the cookies turn light brown. Do not over bake.
7. Allow to cool on parchment or silicon mat. (If the cookies stick to the parchment, turn paper over and wet it lightly so the macaroons will come off easily.)
8. Carefully remove cookies with a cookie spatula and store in an airtight container.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes

Cook Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 35 Minutes

Nutrition Grade C- from CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 1

Servings: Makes 36 cookies

• Serving size: 1 cookie
• Calories: 34
• Calories from Fat: 25
• Total Fat: 2.8g
• Saturated fat: 1.7g
• Unsaturated fat: 1.1g
• Sodium: 37mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 2.2g
• Sugar: 1.7g
• Fiber: 0.5g
• Protein: 0.5g
• Cholesterol: 0mg

____________
Disclosure: I received a review copy of Inside the Jewish Bakery: Recipes and Memories from the Golden Age of Jewish Baking to facilitate this review. All opinions and experiences are my own.

Holiday cookies: Gluten Free Coconut Macaroons #glutenfree is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

There’s nothing more challenging for someone trying to eat healthy and lose weight than holiday cookie exchanges. If it’s too hard to avoid cookies this time of year, plan your indulgence!

• Decide how many cookies you're going to allow yourself to eat. Maybe you have them on the day you use up all your extra Weight Watcher POINTS.
• Wash down those cookies with something healthy and low calorie like green tea or skim milk.
• Put in an extra exercise session before you indulge so you've already burned up all those calories. Or go for a walk with your friends before or after the cookie exchange party.
• If you’re baking your own cookies, use healthier substitutes like stevia instead of sugar.
• When you bring your cookies home, share them with neighbors and friends. Or bring them to work to share with coworkers. No one said you have to eat them all yourself!
• Encourage your cookie exchange friends to make healthier cookies. Meringues are a good choice as are breakfast cookies.

Today’s guest post from Holly Clegg features a recipe for her Holiday Bars from her cookbook, Too Hot in the Kitchen: Secrets To Sizzle At Any Age. Believe it or not, her delicious Holiday Bars are only ONE Weight Watchers POINT per serving!

An Easy Favorite Holiday Cookie

Looking for an easy holiday treat to bring to work, a party or a cookie swap? Holiday Bars, a fantastic layered bar pick-up, highlight holiday ingredients. Easy to make with a gingersnap crust layered with white chocolate chips, pecans, and cranberries gives you the perfect combination of tart, sweet, spice, and crunchy. You will want to make this recipe year round, and you can, as this quick recipe uses dried cranberries. So, no stress when asked to bring a treat as you can whip up these amazing bar cookies in a matter of minutes.

For more healthy holiday recipes, visit Holly’s website or  The Healthy Cooking Blog.

Nutritional information

Calories 57 Calories from fat 42% Fat 3g Saturated Fat 1g Cholesterol 4mg Sodium 34mg Carbohydrate 8g Dietary Fiber 0g Sugars 6g Protein 1g

Dietary Exchanges: 1/2 other carbohydrate, 1/2 fat

Weight Watchers POINTS = 1 per cookie

This Mama’s tips

• Instead of butter, use a low saturated fat soft spread like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter.
• Instead of white chocolate chips, use dark chocolate chips instead. Dark chocolate contains anti-oxidants and may have some heart health benefits as well.
• If you have a nut allergy, use pine nuts (a seed) or sunflower seeds instead of pecans.
• If you eat gluten free, substitute crumbs from gluten free gingersnap or graham crackers instead.

____________

Picture courtesy of Holly Clegg

Make your holiday cookie exchange party even healthier is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, are you wondering what to do with all that leftover canned pumpkin puree? Well, how about making some pumpkin cookies?

Several years ago a friend made these Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies for a play date since my then toddler daughter, Lucie, was eating an egg free diet due to her allergies. Now a second grader, Lucie has outgrown her egg allergy, but has been put on an egg free diet for a few weeks to see if it will help her eczema. (I doubt it. She’s just an itchy kid from a family of skin scratchers and pickers.) So she’s put in a request for her favorite pumpkin cookies.

After reviewing the original recipe at Allrecipes.com, I felt I needed to “health it up” as much as possible. So, I substituted Stevia Extract In The Raw for the white sugar. (One cup is equal to one cup of sugar.) I also substituted half of the white flour with whole wheat flour, and used organic ingredients whenever possible.

The pumpkin cookies were delicious, and no one noticed that I used stevia instead of sugar or that they were egg free. But remember, pumpkin cookies are a special treat and not a meal. Even with all the healthier substitutions and the fact that each (small) pumpkin cookie is one Weight Watchers POINT, it got a “D” grade from CalorieCount.

Egg Free Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Based on an Allrecipes.com recipe

Yields: 80 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Stevia Extract In The Raw
• 1 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
• 1 (15 ounce) can Farmer’s Market Organic Pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

Nutritional information per cookie:

• Calories 69
• Calories from Fat 35
• Total Fat 3.8g
• Saturated Fat 1.6g
• Trans Fat 0.0g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 33mg
• Total Carbohydrates 8.0g
• Dietary Fiber 0.6g
• Sugars 2.6g
• Protein 1.0g
• Vitamin A 17%
• Vitamin C 0%
• Calcium 0%
• Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade D from CalorieCount.

Weight Watchers POINTS per cookie = 1

If you omit the chocolate and cut back the shortening to 3/4 of a cup, it’s a little bit better. (However, you’ll need to add a little water to the mixture to make sure the batter isn’t a mass of crumbles.)

• Calories 42
• Calories from Fat 18
• Total Fat 2.0g
• Saturated Fat 0.6g
• Trans Fat 0.0g
• Cholesterol 0mg
• Sodium 33mg
• Total Carbohydrates 5.3g
• Protein 0.7g
• Vitamin A 17%
• Vitamin C 0%
• Calcium 0%
• Iron 2%

Nutrition Grade C from CalorieCount.

Weight Watchers POINTS per cookie = 1

This Mama’s tips:

• Since the pumpkin cookie dough is egg free, it’s perfect for (guilty) snacking or any raw cookie dough recipe you may have.
• This is a perfect way to use up all that leftover canned pumpkin puree after Thanksgiving.

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While I’m at the BlogHer Food conference, Michele at Fit Foodista steps into This Mama’s kitchen to guest post. Today she’s sharing a healthy breakfast recipe that is sure to appeal to kids of all ages.

C is for cookie? No, it’s a breakfast food

My kids are teenagers. Gone are the days when the quiet murmur of Sesame Street songs could be heard drifting in from the living room while I was cooking dinner. These days I’m far more likely to overhear a snippet of teenage drama unfolding via cell phone from behind a closed bedroom door than I’m to hear the PBS classics I so fondly remember.

One of my personal favorites was always “C is for Cookie….and That’s Good Enough for Me,” by yep – you guessed it, the Cookie Monster.

Obviously, I’m a little out of the loop when it comes to popular children’s characters. But word on the street a few years ago was that the Cookie Monster was re-vamping his diet. Now, apparently, his trademark song is, “Cookie is a Sometime Food.”

I’m all for eating well, in fact it’s the main focus of my blog, Fit Foodista. So here’s a recipe that could turn that fuzzy blue frown upside down because not all cookies are just “sometime food.” In fact, this cookie is healthy enough to be served for breakfast and yummy enough to make the little ones think you’ve finally lost your mommy-mind when you hand one over for that most important meal of the day!

Full of fruit, fiber and just enough sugar to keep them coming back, these Healthy Breakfast Cookies are a great way to coax a picky eater into starting the day off in a healthy way. Plus, these little gems travel well and can be made ahead and frozen for those of you who live the grab-and-go lifestyle.

Healthy breakfast cookies

Feel free to play with the fruit, nut, and flavorings. Breakfast Cookies are flexible as long as you replace like with like. For example, the applesauce can be changed to pumpkin or mashed banana, the walnuts can be replaced with pecans, etc. The combinations are only limited by your imagination.

Makes 24 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup white flour
• 1/2 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/4 cup flax meal
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• 1 cup dried apples, chopped
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/8 cup turbinado sugar – optional

Other great combos include:

• Bananas and pecans
• Dried cherries, almonds, and almond extract
• Canned pumpkin and “pie spices”
• Dried pineapple, peach baby food, and toasted coconut

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream together brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.
3. In a separate mixing bowl combine: white flour, wheat flour, oats, flax, baking soda and spices.
4. Stir dry ingredients into wet until just combined. Do not over-mix.
5. Fold in dried apples, raisins, and walnuts.
6. Drop by heaping tablespoon spoonfuls (or use a #30 ice cream scooper) onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick canola spray.
7. Sprinkle lightly with turbinado sugar if using.
8. Bake for approximately 12 minutes - or until lightly brown.

Nutritional information:

• Calories 99
• Calories from Fat 26
• Total Fat 2.9g
• Saturated Fat 1.4g
• Trans Fat 0.0g
• Cholesterol 21mg
• Sodium 48mg
• Total Carbohydrates 16.9g
• Dietary Fiber 1.1g
• Sugars 8.6g
• Protein 1.9g

From CalorieCount

Weight Watchers POINTS = 2 per cookie

This Mama’s tips:

• To lower calorie count, use a sugar substitute like stevia.
• To lower calories and fat, use a buttery spread like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter or Earth Balance.
• Try using fresh apples instead of dried ones.

Looking for healthy breakfast ideas? Try a breakfast cookie! is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Pizza is one of the foods many people give up when trying to lose weight or when they want to eat more healthfully. That doesn’t have to be the case. There are several ways you can make pizza more nutritious:

• Load up on veggies like mushrooms, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, asparagus and onions. Other good choices are olives and artichoke hearts as long as they are packed in brine or water and not oil.
• Use low fat ricotta for white pizza and low fat mozzarella.
• Make your own homemade tomato sauce or use a canned tomato sauce that has no added sugar. I like Muir Glen’s pasta sauces.
• Use lean proteins like shrimp, chicken and tofu.
• Use fatty meats like ham and prosciutto sparingly.
• Experiment and have fun!

Using whole wheat pizza dough is another way to healthify your pizza. My favorite whole wheat pizza dough recipe is based on Barbara Kingsolver’s Friday Night Pizza (PDF) from her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

All purpose healthy whole wheat pizza dough

Makes one large pizza crust or six “party size” individual pizzas

Ingredients:

1. 1 packet of yeast or fast rise yeast (don’t use pizza dough yeast)
2. 3/4 cup warm water
3. 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil (or other heart healthy oil)
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1 1/4 cups white flour
6. 1 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:

1. To make crust, dissolve the yeast into the warm water.
2. Add oil and salt to that mixture.
3. Add the the flours and knead them into the liquid mixture using a dough hook on your stand mixer. (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer but you could knead the dough by hand.)
4. Cover and let dough rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes.
5. After the dough has risen, place your pizza stone in the oven and heat to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, preheat the oven and use a pizza pan instead.)
6. Take the risen dough and roll out into a 12 inch pizza crust on a clean, floured countertop or cutting board.
7. Using your fingers to roll the edge into an outer crust. Make it as thick as you like.
8. Carefully slide your crust onto a pizza peel or pizza pan. Add toppings – first sauce, then meat and/or veggies, then cheese last. If you have to slide your pizza on to a pizza stone, don’t overload your pizza. The heavier it is, the harder it is to slide.
9. Carefully slide the pizza onto the heated pizza stone. (Or place your pizza pan in the oven.) Bake your pizza at 425° for about 15-20 minutes or until crust is brown and crisp but before cheese starts to brown too much.

To make pre-cooked party sized pizza crusts:

1. Preheat the oven and your pizza stone (if using one) to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Take the risen dough and divide it in six small balls. The balls should be the size of a racquet ball, about what you can hold between the cupped palms of both of your hands.
3. Roll each ball and roll out using a rolling pin on a clean, floured countertop or wooden cutting board. The thinner, the better. Your premade crusts can be round, rectangular or square – up to you.
4. Slide the dough on to a pizza peel. Then slide the crusts onto a baking stone. (You can use a cookie sheet if you don’t have a pizza stone).
5. Bake pizzas on a pizza stone at 425° for about 15-20 minutes until crust is brown and crisp.
6. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
7. Top with your favorite healthy party toppings and serve.

This Mama’s tips

• If you are cooking up several batches of mini pizzas, make sure that dough does not rise too much on rolled out pizza crusts. If it does, just roll it out a a few times more before putting it in the oven.
• If you notice your dough is “bubbling” and puffing up like a giant chapati, score the dough with a sharp knife.

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Today is the last day to win a signed copy of Dave Grotto’s 101 Foods That Could Save Your Life. (Enter the giveaway here.) Dave’s book is filled with fabulous recipes for all kinds of entrees, side dishes, beverages, and desserts. This breakfast recipe comes from the Washington Red Raspberry Commission.

Dave recommends raspberries if you are having problems with cold hands and feet, constipation, and fatigue. Yogurt is good for a variety of digestive issues like constipation, diarrhea, gas and bloating, halitosis, and IBS. Yogurt can also help with acne, depression, infertility and osteoporosis.

Raspberry Yogurt Muffins

Makes 1 dozen

Adding raspberry yogurt gives double the raspberry flavor and a wonderful texture to these easy muffins.  No need to thaw the raspberries – just toss them in right from the freezer. If you prefer giant muffins, use the jumbo muffin cups and make half a dozen.  And, if you wish, you can glaze the muffins with confectioners’ sugar mixed with a little lemon juice.

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 carton (6 ounces) raspberry yogurt
• 1/3 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Washington raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. 
2. Spray, grease or put paper liners in 12 (2 ¾ inch) muffin cups. 
3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients. 
4. In a small bowl, beat together yogurt, oil and egg. 
5. Stir yogurt mixture and raspberries into dry mixture until almost blended. 
6. Add raspberries and stir until batter is just blended.  Do not over mix. 
7. Spoon into prepared muffin cups. 
8. Bake until nicely browned, about 20 minutes.

Nutrition information per serving:

• calories 160
• fat 6.76g
• saturated fat 0.82g
• protein 3.2g
• carbohydrates 22g
• cholesterol 18mg
• sodium 185mg
• fiber 0.76g

Weight Watchers POINTS per muffin = 4

Tips:

• Substitute whole wheat flour for half the all purpose flour to add more fiber and whole wheat goodness.
• Add a tablespoon or two of ground flax seed for added omega-3s.
• Substitute stevia powder for the sugar to reduce calories. When using pure stevia powder, 1 cup sugar = 1 teaspoon of stevia, so in this recipe, you would use 1/3 teaspoon of pure stevia.
• If you are using Truvia instead of sugar, use this conversion chart - 1/3 cup sugar = 8 packets of Truvia.
• To lower calories and fat, try a no fat raspberry yogurt. Another option would be using a no fat raspberry Greek yogurt, which would give the muffins a slight tart taste. Greek yogurt is higher in calories than yogurt, but it’s also higher in protein.
• Greek yogurt (plain or flavored) will also make a nice spread for the muffins and a lower fat alternative to butter.

For more raspberry recipes, go to the Washington Red Raspberries recipe website.

____________________

Disclosure: I was sent two review copies of 101 Optimal Life Foods by Dave’s publisher and publicist. I’m giving away a copy and keeping one so I can share more recipes with my readers.

All links to BarnesandNobles.com are affiliate links. A commission may be earned from a referred sale to their website.

101 Optimal Life Foods: Raspberry Yogurt Muffins is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Part of the reason I write this blog is to encourage myself as well as others to eat in a more healthful way. You can learn more about my healthy eating and fitness philosophy at my interview at Bizymoms.

To inspire you to start your day off the right way, check out this muffin recipe from the weight loss experts at the Mayo Clinic and Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., authors of TThe Mayo Clinic Diet: Eat Well. Enjoy Life. Lose Weight.

I bet the kids would like this one, too! Sneak in a couple of teaspoonfuls of ground flaxseed or Salba seeds for extra fiber and Omega-3s.

Morning Glory Muffins

Prep: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Makes 18 small muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 c. all-purpose (plain) flour
• 1 c. whole-wheat flour
• ¾ c. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ c. egg substitute
• ½ c. vegetable oil
• ½ c. unsweetened applesauce
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 c. chopped apples, unpeeled
• ½ c. raisins
• ¾ c. grated carrots
• 2 tbsp. chopped pecans (omit if you have nut allergies)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with paper or foil liners.
2. In a bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Whisk to blend evenly.
3. In a separate bowl, add egg substitute, oil, applesauce and vanilla. Stir in apples, raisins and carrots. Add to the flour mixture and blend just until moistened but still slightly lumpy.
4. Spoon the batter into muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and bake until springy to the touch, about 35 minutes.
5. Let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a wire rack and let cool completely. Serve.

Nutritional information:

• Calories 170
• Protein 3 g
• Carbohydrate 25 g
• Total Fat 7 g
• Monounsaturated Fat 2 g
• Saturated Fat 1 g
• Cholesterol trace
• Sodium 195 mg
• Fiber 2 g

Weight Watchers POINTS = 3 per muffin

Reprinted from The Mayo Clinic Diet, © 2010 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Good Books (www.GoodBooks.com). Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Healthy eating with the Mayo Clinic’s Morning Glory Muffins is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!

Join me for some coffee and muffins at This Mama Cooks! Reviews. I’m giving away bags of Peet’s Uzuri African Blend coffee and sample coupons of FiberOne Frozen Ready-to-Eat Muffins.

The muffin giveaway ends at midnight MT on Monday, March 8, 2010. The coffee giveaway ends midnight MT on Monday, March 15, 2010.

If homemade muffins are more your thing (and if you read my Fiber One vs. Weight Watchers muffin review, I’d have to agree with you) try this recipe from Relish magazine.

Heart-Smart Sweet Potato Muffins

Recipe by Mary Carter, The Healthy Table, March 2010

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

• Cooking spray
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup finely grated raw sweet potato
• 1/2 cup finely chopped dried pears
• 1 to 2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Combine whole-wheat flour and next six ingredients (whole-wheat flour through salt) in a mixing bowl.
3. Combine milk, egg whites and oil in a separate bowl. Whisk well.
4. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into the well and stir until just combined. Gently fold in sweet potato and pears.
5. Fill muffin cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until centers spring back when touched.

Nutritional Information:

Per muffin: 150 calories, 1.5g fat, 0mg chol., 4g protein, 32g carbs., 2g fiber, 240mg sodium.

Weight Watchers POINTS = 3

Tips:

• Can’t find dried pears? Substitute other dried fruit like cranberries, cherries, apricots or prunes.
• For an extra Omega 3 boost, try adding a tablespoon full of ground flaxseed or ground or whole grain Salba.

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Disclosure: All links to Amazon.com are affiliate links. A commission may be earned from a referred sale to their website.

Gimme a coffee and a muffin: giveaways at This Mama Cooks! Reviews and a heart smart muffin recipe is a post from: This Mama Cooks! Stop by for more healthy recipes!