Blueberry Muffins

                          

•  Cook time: Under 30 min
 
•  Prep time: Under 30 min
 
•  Serves: 6 people
 
•  Yields: Makes 12 Muffins

Ingredients

Lemon Sugar Topping
• 1/3 cup ((2-1/3 oz) Cane Sugar
• 1-1/2 tsp finely grated zest from 1 Lemon

For the Muffins
• 2 cups (abt 10 oz) fresh Blueberries
• 1-1/8 cups ((8 oz))Cane Sugar plus 1 tsp
• 2-1/2 cups (12-1/2 oz) Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, see Tips
• 2-1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 large Egg
• 2 large Egg Whites, or see Tips
• 4 tbsp unsalted Butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, or see Tips
• 1 cup Buttermilk, or see Tips
• 1-1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Tips

1. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: For this particular photo shoot, I had use about 3/4 cups unbleached organic All Purpose flour since I ran out of Pastry flour. But using all wheat flour works equally well. If you do not have it, use all purpose flour instead.

2. Eggs: Instead of Egg Whites, use additional 1 Whole Egg instead. Gist: you can use 4 Egg whites or 2 Whole Eggs. If you want to skip Eggs pls refer my Egg Substitution Chart

3. Coconut Oil: Unless you are extra sensitive to Coconut, you wouldn't even detect the coconut flavor in these muffins. But if you do not fancy it, just substitute it with regular Vegetable Oil.

4. Buttermilk: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk. I used 1 cup raw milk and mixed 1 tbsp vinegar. Stir and set aside until it sort of looks curdled. Takes about 5 minutes.

Method

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Mix together lemon and sugar in a small bowl, until combined. Set aside.

2. Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat.

3. Cook, stirring frequently and mashing berries with spoon/spatula several times

4. until berries breaks down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup. Takes around 5-8 minutes. Switch the flame and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

5. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together.

6. Whisk remaining 1- 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in another bowl

7. until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds.

8. Next, slowly whisk in (i use cultured butter) butter and oil until combined.

9. Add the buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

10. Slowly fold egg mixture

11. and then remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened.

12. Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour. Don'tOVERMIX.

13. Spray the muffin tin with some oil. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups where  the batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly.

14. Next drop a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter.

15. Press it down to the middle of the batter.

16. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion so that the jam is incorporated throughout the batter.

17. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins. Since we do not prefer anything too sweet, I did not use the whole mixture - just about 2 tbsp or so.

18. Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time.

19. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes,

then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

Classic Banana Bread

               

•  Cook time: 1 to 2 hours
 
•  Prep time: Under 15 min
 
•  Serves: 4 people
•  Yields: Makes one 9"X5" Bread Loaf

Ingredients

• 2 ripe Bananas, see Tips
• 2 large Eggs, see Tips
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek Yogurt, whisked see Tips
• 3/4 cup Organic Whole Sugar, see Tips
• 1/4 cup Coconut Oil, melted
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1-1/2 cups organic unbleached All Purpose Flour, see Tips
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

Tips

1. Banana: I have used frozen Bananas in this recipe. You would need enough bananas to make approximately 1 cup mashed. 

2. Eggs: If possible, try to opt for Organic, Pasture Raised Eggs for optimal nutrition (and flavor). If Eggs are not your thing [Vegan/Egg Free Diet], check my Egg Substitution Chart. You can also opt to make other Egg free Banana breads like - Vegan Banana Bread Recipe, Banana Blueberry Bread, Banana Coconut Bread,Banana Walnut Bread, Banana Cardamom (Yeast) Bread.

3.Yogurt: You can substitute regular yogurt as well. Or try Vanilla Yogurt as given in the original recipe. If using it, use ONLY 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract.

4. Sugar: You can use regular granulated sugar as well. I used this Organic Whole Sugar

5. Flour: You can use Whole Wheat flour instead or do a half wheat and half white. Using Whole wheat Pastry flour, I find, works great as well.

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash the banana well until smooth.

2. Add the next 5 ingredients to the banana in a bowl.

3. Whisk until smooth and well combined.

4. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt together .

5. Add it to the banana mixture and very gently fold it into the batter.

6. Do not overbeat it.

7. Pour the batter into a greased 9" X 5" loaf pan

8. and bake for 50 to 60 minutes

9. or until the center, when inserted with a knife (or a toothpick) comes out clean.

10. Cool for about 10 min in the pan, turn it out on a cooling rack and let it sit for another 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve it warm (or as it is) with some butter. Perfect breakfast bread as well although if you ask me, I can it eat it any time of the day. :)

Maida Burfi (Indian Fudge using Flour)

•  Cook time: 15 to 30 min
 
•  Prep time: 15 to 30 min
 
•  Yields: Makes around 20 medium sized squares

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour (Maida),
• 1 cup Sugar, see Tips
• 3/4 cup Water
• 1/4 cup Homemade Ghee plus extra for greasing
• 1-2 tbsp sliced Almonds (optional), or see Tips
• 1-2 drops of Food Color (optional), see Tips

Tips

1. Evaporated Cane Juice: This recipe has been made using Evaporated Cane Juice to keep it vegetarian and a little less refined. The blonde colored sugar provides additional color to the burfi hence even without added food color, this recipe will not make the classic "White" burfi. But you can use regular white sugar instead (as traditionally used). 
2. Almonds: You can use a any other nut of your choice or even a mix; think sliced pistas/cashews etc. But for those with Nuts Allergy, can skip it completely as well. If possible, try to use unpasteurized Almonds.I get mine from our Farmer's market and they make a big difference in taste/flavor.
3. Food Color: The color is totally optional. Usually home made versions are mostly white while the store bought version use colors. It's your choice. I use a brand which makes use of vegetable colorants without use of synthetic ones.

Method

1. Toast the nuts (if using) in medium heat. Here we dry roast it, but you can use some ghee if you like. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, add the ghee and heat it until hot. You know it's ready when adding a pinch of flour causes it to fry immediately.

3. Lower the heat and then add the sifted all purpose flour to it

4. and keep roasting it for few minutes until the aroma hits.

5. The texture will be thick, will be smooth and yet will clump together without sticking too much to the bottom. The heat should be low, to make sure it doesnt change color or get burnt. Set aside.

6. In another pan, add the water and sugar together

7. and let it come to a boil.

8. You want to cook it until an one-string consistency is reached wherein a thin long string is formed up to 1- 2 inches when tested in between thumb and fore finger. The temperature should be around 220-230F.

9. At this stage add coloring if desired. Lower the heat and add the flour mixture to it.

10. Mix it until well combined. If you live in a warm region, then you can switch off the flame and keep mixing until the mixture thickens. But in cooler/colder places, I find cooking it further in the stove (in low heat) helps to thicken it fast .

11. You know its ready when the mixture isn't very easy to stir like before and has a slightly pourable yet thick consistency. You can further check the readiness by dropping a bit on the counter top. Let it sit for few seconds to find that it sets instead of being malleable like a halwa. Once ready, pour this to a greased pan of your choice.

12. Spread uniformly and add the nuts on top. Press it slightly and let it sit for few minutes.

13. When almost set, make cuts of any shape of your choice and let it further cool down completely.

Remove them and store in airtight container. I can assure you that they won't stay long that way and will get over in a jiffy:)