Healthy Baking
Jennifer Steele, the woman I wrote about in a Sept. 23 article, currently bakes just four things for sale at the Downtown Farmers Market.
Two of those recipes, for Breakfast Cookies and Gingerbread Spice Muffins, appear in the article.
Here are the other two, Granola (pictured) and Pumpkin Muffins.
One tip from Steele: Spelt flour, a whole grain, seems to substitute well cup for cup for refined all-purpose flour in many baked goods.
Granola
Recipe from Jennifer Steele. She uses two kinds of oats for textural contrast, because the steel-cut oats are cut smaller than rolled oats.
½ cup oil (preferably Smart Balance brand)
1 stick butter (or Smart Balance 50/50 buttery spread)
1 stick but
2 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ cup brown sugar (or sub 1c brown rice syrup)
1 cup honey, or more
½ teaspoon salt
2 pounds rolled oats (10½ cups)
2 cups steel-cut oats
1 cup oat bran
1 cup wheat germ
1 cup flaxseed
1 pound slivered almonds or other nuts, chopped, such as pecans
1 cup shredded coconut, or to taste, optional
Raisins or other dried fruit, optional
1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a pot, add oil, molasses, vanilla, brown sugar, honey and salt. Cook over medium heat until melted and well combined.
2. In a very large bowl, stir together, rolled oat, steel-cut oats, oat bran, wheat germ, flaxseed and nuts. Add coconut if desired.
3. Pour melted mixture over dry mixture. If the granola seems dry, add a bit more honey.
4. Spread out mixture no more than 1 inch deep on 2 large baking sheets. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, stir well and let cool on the baking sheets. Once cool, stir in raisins or other dried fruit if desired.
Pumpkin Muffins
Recipe from Jennifer Steele. Spelt flour is found in some supermarkets and natural-food stores.
3 cups raw evaporated cane sugar
¾ cup ground flaxseed
¾ cup oil (preferably Smart Balance)
1 30-ounce can pure pumpkin (not pie mix)
4 eggs
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1½ cups spelt flour
½ cup oat bran
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini or regular muffin tins or line with paper liners.
2. Beat together the sugar, flaxseed, oil, pumpkin and eggs in an electric mixer.
3. In a separate bowl or a resealable plastic bag, combine flours, oat bran, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking powder and salt. Add half of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture. Stir in the water, then add remaining flour mixture.
4. Divide batter among prepared muffin tins. Bake 12 to 15 minutes for mini muffins, or 25 to 30 minutes for regular muffins, until the tops spring back to the touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on wire rasck.
Makes about 11 dozen mini-muffins or about 3½ dozen large muffins.
