Strawberry Orange Muffins

Featured Food Storage: homemade buttermilk, strawberry freezer jam, dehydrated orange zest, almonds.

I love strawberries, I love muffins and I am on a big orange flavored kick because I am experimenting with my bulk orange zest I got from SF herb company. See previous post. I also cooked up some orange scones this week from Scrappin Mom's blog. Oh, I love scones. I could have tea time every day if I knew I was going to get scones.

Well I had a pantry, fridge and freezer full of goodies just waiting to go into these moist muffins, recipe found in Eating Well magazine. I changed a few things like using dehydrated orange zest and homemade strawberry freezer jam instead of strawberries, which would have been delicious also. But this recipe really got my attention because it is low on sugar and relatively healthy, especially since it is packed with vitamin C.

Strawberry Orange Muffins

3 Tb almonds

2 Tb, plus 3/4 cup all purpose flour, divided

2 Tb plus 1/2 Cup brown sugar, divided

3 tsp grated orange zest, divided

1/2 tsp salt divided

2 Tb plus 1/4 cup canola oil, divided

1 Cup whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 Cup buttermilk ( I used homemade) the original recipe called for lowfat.

1/4 Cup orange juice

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 Cups strawberry jam (I used freezer jam slightly thawed) You can also use fresh chopped strawberries.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat or line a 12 cup muffin tin. Process almonds, 2 Tb of all purpose flour, 2 Tb brown sugar, 1 tsp, orange zest and 1/4 tp salt in a food processor until finely ground. Drizzle with 2 Tb oil and stir to combine. Set aside.

Whisk remaining all-purpose flour, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda and remaining salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl whisk ingredients, except for strawberries, until well combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Add strawberry jam or strawberries and stir until just combined. Pour into muffin cups and top with streusel topping. Lightly press topping into each muffin. Bake until golden brown for 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan. If you remove too soon your muffins will fall apart. Continue cooling on a wire rack.

TIP: I like to make reduced sugar jams and I make my strawberry jam with reduced or no sugar needed pectin. I decided to use up some older freezer jam for this recipe since I just made up a fresh batch this past week.

Monday Snack -- Pantry Chocolate Whimsy

Oh such darling little edible chocolate bugs. My daughter borrowed the kid's cook book by Usborne, Chocolates and Candies to Make.I am definitely buying this at the next Usborne party that I will certainly be invited to. Now I have a reason to go. This cookbook is really great for kids and their parents. These darling chocolate bugs were actually very easy to make and everyone from the 10 year old to the three year old got in on the bug making action. I am sorry I didn't take step by step photos, since they were really handy in the cookbook. But have fun and who cares if some of the bugs end up looking like this.


Makes 10 Bugs
1/2 C semi sweet or milk chocolate chips
1/2 C white chocolate chips or Almond Bark (I used the almond bark)
3 TB corn syrup

1. Melt milk chocolate. I microwave melt my chocolate by setting the timer in 15 second intervals and stirring in between until the chips melt or you can melt on the stove by filling a pan with about 1" of water. Heat pan until the water bubbles then remove pan from the heat. Put chocolate chips in heat proof bown and place into the pan. Stir until melted. Frankly, I think the microwave method is much easier and safer for children.
2. Let chocolate cool for 2 minutes.
3. Stir in 1 1/2 Tb corn syrup until the mixture forms a thick paste which doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.
4. Wrap paste in plastic food wrap.
5. Repeat Steps 1-4 for white chocolate and chill both pieces of chocolate paste in refrigerator for 1 hour.
6. Remove chocolate from refrigerator and let rest for 10 minutes
7. Cut each piece into six pieces. Set one white and one milk chocolate piece aside.
8. Shape the other 10 pieces into oval shapes.
9. Make Head. Using a butter knife, gently press an indentation a third of the way down on each oval to make head. Make a similar mark for the wings.
10. Roll small balls to make eyes and spots from the remaining two chocolate pieces. We actually bought mini chocolate chips on accident and they made cute spots on the white bugs.

I realize this is a lot of steps and it seems somewhat complicated but if a seven-year old can do this, it is a basic simple process. I think it would be cute to add a touch of food coloring to the white chocolate to make some pastel bugs just in time for Easter baskets.

Monday Snack on Tuesday -- No Sugar Added Peanut Butter and Jam Muffins

Due to the fact that I was traipsing through the middle of absolutely gorgeous nowhere yesterday, I didn't get my snack post made or written until Tuesday morning. I did work up a monstrous appetite hiking with three kids. These Peanut Butter and Jam muffins are one of our old time favorites for snack and breakfasts. I love them because they are protien packed and are peanut butter melting mouthfuls with a surprise of your favorite jam tucked inside. I also love them because they are low on the sugar, but honestly you would never know.

You can make these with white flour but I opt for a mix of whole wheat flour and whole grain pastry flour. I also use whatever homemade canned jam I have handy in the pantry. They really are good with all jam flavors.

Recipe
slightly adapted from my Sugar-Free Desserts cookbook.
1 C whole wheat flour
1 C whole grain pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/2 C Peanut Butter
3/4 C thawed frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate
1/4 C Milk
1/4 C butter or margarine melted
6 Tb no sugar added or low sugar jam. (Of course you can use whatever jam you have here)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 12 muffin cups

Combine dry ingredients in medium bowl.
In separate bowl, beat together eggs and peanut butter until smooth. Blend in apple juice, milk and butter. Add dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Spoon half of batter into each muffin cup. Top with 1 tsp of jam and cover with remaining batter.
Bake 18 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes.