Ready for something new and different in the muffin category? Barbara Lincoln of Camano Island writes, “I hope you enjoy this recipe for Camano free-for-all muffins. It’s one of my favorites. It’s lengthy only because of the notes and tips I put in, which explain how to make this such a versatile and fun recipe. Actually, making these muffins is a snap.
“These are lowfat, low-sugar muffins, with a high fiber content. Everybody loves these, and loves to make them. I call them free-for-all muffins, because the ingredients can be changed so many ways. Just about the only constant is that I always use blueberries since they are such a wonderful fruit, and they add terrific flavor to the muffins without a lot of extra juice.
“Each late summer, I pick and freeze blueberries for these muffins, so I always have plenty on hand. I also buy cherries, pit them, cut them in half, then freeze in baggies for use in these muffins.
“When I make these, I make a triple batch, because they freeze so beautifully. One cautionary note: They are high fiber, and will certainly keep you regular (thus a batch makes a wonderful gift for someone recuperating from surgery or illness), but don’t eat more than one a day, until you find out how your digestive system tolerates them.”
Winding up, Barbara says, “These are a great sweet treat without the tremendous wallop of fat and sugar. My friends and I have lots of fun adding all kinds of ingredients and sharing them with one another. Have fun making these!”
Camano free-for-all muffins
1/2cup water
1/2cup raisins
2tablespoons margarine, softened
2/3cup sugar
1egg
1banana, chopped
1/2cup nonfat custard-style yogurt (see note) 1/2 cup applesauce, regular or flavored 1 1/2 cups wheat bran 1/2 cup oatmeal 11/4 cups all-purpose flour 11/4 teaspoons baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt
2cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1cup (about) other fruit such as dried apricots, fresh or frozen raspberries (use juice as the liquid for plumping raisins), huckleberries, loganberries, or additional blueberries
In microwave-safe bowl, combine the water and raisins and microwave 1 minute on high power; set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream together margarine and sugar; add egg and beat with electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add banana, custard-style yogurt and applesauce; beat until well mixed.
Stir in raisin-water mixture. Stir in wheat bran, oatmeal, flour, baking soda and salt, stirring well. Add blueberries and a cup or so of whatever fruit strikes your fancy, just tossing in stuff until you’ve got dough with quite a lot of fruit in it. Dough will be rather wet.
Put paper liners in 12 muffin cups; spoon in batter and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 1 dozen.
Note: Get creative with the 1/2 cup yogurt – you can use lots of yogurt flavors, such as cherry vanilla, if adding cherries; tropical flavor, if adding dried pineapple, papaya bits or mango; apple flavor, if adding dried apples – it doesn’t matter, just go crazy.
More free-for-all muffin notes: The dry ingredients can be altered as well as the yogurt and fruit. You can leave out the oatmeal and use only wheat bran, or replace 1/4 cup of the wheat bran with oat bran or ground flax seed. You can add sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, but remember, you’re upping the fat content when you do this.
The next Forum will appear in Wednesday’s Food section.
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