26 July 2010

K.I.S.S.!

I tried baking a cake last night to bring to my coworkers. It called for 1 cup of oil. I used 1 cup of coconut oil instead of vegetable oil because I wanted it to have coconut flavor.

But I think the recipe is totally flawed! It ended up being such a greasy mess of a cake! Yuck! I realized I need to take a step back and go to the basics: simple, effective, delicious recipes. I have to remember: "K.I.S.S."

Keep
It
Simple
Stupid!!!

So, tonight I decided to make up for it and bake muffins... for the first time ever I actually created a recipe from scratch! My very own! I just threw together stuff I had in my apartment, but it was triggered by the two over-ripe bananas that had been sitting around.

Black-Eye Banana Muffins
Makes 12 muffins.
Nutrition and recipe here.

1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
1/4 fat free yogurt
2 egg whites
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
12 blackberries
3/4 cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Combine flour, oats, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl and set aside.

Mix remaining ingredients except blackberries and almonds until smooth. Gently incorporate the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Spoon batter into each muffin well no more than 1/4 of the way full. Top with a blackberry, followed by remaining batter.

Bake at 350 degrees F until edges are golden, about 18 minutes. NOTE: The toothpick test isn't recommended because the blackberry will mess with the "clean" result! :)

Remove from the oven and keep in the pan for a few minutes before letting them cool on a wire rack.

After making these muffins, I felt really confident. I went for a bike ride and was so motivated and energetic that I decided to attempt making granola yet again! I've tried making granola not once, not twice, but three times in the recent past. Every time... I burned it. :(

But tonight was a success!

I didn't take any photos... maybe I will tomorrow while I enjoy a serving with my breakfast at work. It'll be low-quality (as my camera will be my iPhone!) but we'll see. Anyway, here is the recipe if you want to check it out!

6 comments:

  1. Those sound delicious! I love the name of them too! Sorry about the first cake. I always cut oil in half and sub applesauce. Same taste and texture, MUCH less calories!

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  2. Looks great. I'm going to have to try themout :)

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  3. I used coconut oil for some chocolate chip cookies last night (and the recipe called for it) and they came out HORRIBLE!! They were flat, greasy, and gross.....

    But your muffins look AMAZING! I'm gonna veganize them for next weekend.

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  4. For a first from scratch creation it certainly is wonderful. This is my first visit here but it will not be my last. I love the recipes and food you feature. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  5. For coconut flavor use light coconut milk in place of the water. I do that when I make pineapple upside down cake....and I call it Pineapple Pina Colada Upside Down cake....yummy!!!

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  6. Hey your one up on me, I've never made granola from scratch.

    And your muffin creation looks fab.

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