Banana Blueberry Buckwheat Muffins

I just got a pack of Buckwheat flour few weeks back as they were on sale in the organic section in the supermarket
After making two batches of pancakes over the last two weekends I realized thatz the only thing I know to make out of the buckwheat is the pancakes.
Sigh….I still have a huge portion left in the pack :-) So chose to try making some muffins out of the buckwheat and turned out scrumptious
This whole meal, healthy, fruity ,nutty muffins makes a perfect grab and go breakfast
These grab and go muffins make a perfect healthy breakfast

Banana Blueberry Buckwheat Muffins
Ingredients
½ Cup Buckwheat flour
½ Cup Whole wheat flour
1 tspn Baking powder
1 tbspn Flax seeds
¼ Cup Pecans chopped
¼ Cup yogurt
2 Banans Mashed
3 tbspn Date Syrup /Agave nectar /Honey
1 tbspn Oil
1 Whole egg+1 egg white
½ Cup blueberries

Directions
Sift the flour +baking powder and add in the flax seeds and pecans and mix well.
Mix together the wet ingredients -egg, mashed banana, Sweetner, Oil, yogurt
Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir until just combined.
Add the blueberries and spoon the batter to muffin cups.
Bake in a 180 Degree preheated oven for 25-30 minutes.

Chai Spiced Fruit n Seed Loaf

Who doesn’t like a cup of hot Masala Chai..

Ever thought of adding that hot delight into your cake? If not, do try baking with tea.

I bet you will fall in love with the flavorsJ

And yes, you can very well have this healthy delight with all fruity goodness as your breakfast

Chai Spiced Fruit n Seed Loaf

Ingredients

150 ml of Strong Black Tea

170 gms of Dried fruits + Seeds of your choice

50 gms butter

50 gms Brown Sugar

½ tspn Baking Soda

½ tspn Baking powder

½ tspn Mixed Spice powder

110 gms Whole Wheat Flour

1 egg

Pinch of salt

Directions

Brew a strong tea of your choice with 150 ml water . I used 2 Masala Chai tea bags

In the same pan add the butter,sugar, dried fruits, baking soda , salt and bring to Boil.

[For dry fruits I used a mix of Raisins,  cherries ,apricots , cranberries and Lemon rind]

In another bowl ,sift the flour , mixed spice powder and baking powder.

Stir in the seeds- I used Sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and Flax seeds

Add the wet ingredients and egg and mix until just combined.

Spoon the mix to a loaf pan and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degree for 40 minutes

I recommend you keep it in refrigerator overnight and have it the following day as the flavor enhances a lot the next day

Apricot Rock Buns

Don’t get turned off by the name…It has nothing to do with RockJ

On the contrary it has a supple and chewy inside and crunchy outside..

I bet this will become your family favorite breakfast once you try these healthy delights!

Apricot Rock Buns

Adapted from Power Food by Janette Marshall

Ingredients

125 gms Whole meal flour

½ tspn All spice flour

½ tspn Baking powder

30 gms butter

30 gms Brown sugar

60-70 gms Dried Apricots chopped

2 tbpsn Flaxseeds

Grated rind of ½ lemon

1 egg white

2 tbspn Milk

Directions

Pre heat the oven to 220 degrees

Mix together the flour, baking powder and spice powder in a bowl

Rub the butter to the flour , until it has reached bread crumbs consistency

Add in the sugar, apricots, Flax seeds, lemon rind to the flour mix

Beat the milk and egg white together and mix with the dry ingredients to make a soft dough

Place spoonful batter into a baking sheet and lightly roughen the surface using a fork.

Bake it for 12-15 minutes.

Let it cool on a wire rack

Bite right it while it is still warm and njoy the rocky bunsJ

Eggless Pear Pancake

 Vegetables and Fruits are a must on a diet.  I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, pumpkin pie, Blueberry pancakes…

..And the newest additional to the list..Pear Pancakes

Eggless Pear Pancake

Ingredients

½ Cup Whole wheat pastry flour

½ Cup All purpose flour

1 Large Pear- Grated

1 1/2 tspn Baking powder

1 tbspn Sugar

Pinch of salt.

¾-1 Cup Soy Milk or regular Low Fat Milk

 Directions

Mix together the dry ingredients.

Add in about 3/4 Cup milk and gently stir.

Add the grated pear and mix well.

If the batter is too thick, add in more milk to make the right consistency.

Heat a griddle, pour a ladle full of batter and cook until bubbles  appear.

Flip and cook the other side.

Njoy with your fav maple syrup

Apricot Butter

Are of tired of having the same old peanut Butter, Kaya or Jelly with your morning toasts?

If so,do try this guild free and healthy spread…

Nope!!This recipe has no butter and it’s absolutely fat and dairy free!! Its just pure fruity goodnessJ

We absolutely loved it and sure it was a big relief from the usual dry morning toasts!!

In fact I can’t wait to experiment with other dry fruit butters!!

Apricot Butter

Adapted from Recipes for Health Bliss by Susan Smith Jones

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Dried Apricots

1 Cup water

1 stick Cinnamon

1 tspns Agave Nectar or Honey

Directions

Soak the apricots overnight in one cup water.

Next morning, transfer the apricots and water to a pot.

Add the Cinnamon stick and bring it to a boil.

Simmer it for 15 minutes until it has become soft and most of the water has been absorbed.

Do note to keep some liquid to make a puree. 

Let it cool down a bit. Remove the cinnamon stick and transfer the apricots to a blender.

Add the sweetener and pulse it for few seconds until a smooth puree is formed

Tofu Pancake..Yummy Vegan breakfast

It was after moving to Singapore that I started experimenting with Tofu and Soy milk.

We have a very famous outlet here called Mr. Bean which sells superb soy milk with different flavors.

Thanks to Mr. Bean, I am a hard core lover of their soy milk and pancakes.

Anyways…my dear husband totally hates it.. And here is the weirdest comment you will hear about soy milk

“Soy milk tastes exactly like plastic” as if plastic was part of his staple diet Lolzz

Anyways that didn’t stop me from trying new Soy/Tofu recipes

And here is my  attempt to sneak tofu into our breakfast-> Tofu Pancake

Isn’t that lovely.. And this definitely didn’t taste like plastic at all and we loved it

Vegan Tofu Pancake

Adapted from: Recipes for Health Bliss by Susan Smith Jones

Ingredients

100 gms Tofu- Soft tofu/Silken tofu

1/3 Cup Soy Milk

1 Medium Banana Mashed

1/4 Cup + 2tbspn Whole wheat pastry flour

2 tbspn Flax seed meal

1 tbspn Agave nectar

Pinch of Cinnamon powder

Directions

In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth and consistency is that of a cake batter.

If the batter is too runny, add a tablespoon of flour. If it is too thick add little more Soy milk

Heat a non stick pan over medium low heat.

Once pan is hot, pour a ladle full of batter into the pan.

When the bubble appears, flip the pancake and cook the other side.

Server with fresh fruits and syrup

Muesli Pancakes with creamy Peanut butter sauce

Pancakes are a wonderful breakfast dish, they are quick, easy and very versatile..

You can pick anything from your pantry and come up with a pancake recipe..like this one!

This one has the wholesome goodness of Muesli, dried fruits and goes soo well with the creamy peanut butter sauce!

Muesli Pancakes with creamy Peanut butter sauce

Ingredients

½ Cup + 2 tbspn Muesli

½ Cup Whole wheat pastry flour

½ tspn Baking powder

½ tspn Cinnamon powder

2 tspn Oil

1 tbspn Agave Nectar or sweetener of your choice

¾ -1 Cup Low fat Milk

1 egg white- beaten until soft peak is formed.

Directions

Pulse the Muesli in a blender for few seconds until coarsely ground

Mix together the powdered Muesli, flour, baking powder and cinnamon powder.

Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients: Oil, sweetner,3/4 Cup milk.

Mix well, if the consistency is too thick add little more milk and make the batter consistency to that of a cake batter

Now slowly add the egg whites and fold in.

Heat the pan ,once the pan is hot enough pour a scoop of batter and spread it lightly.

Cook until bubbles are formed around the pancakes, flip and cook other side.

Peanut butter sauce

3 tbspn peanut butter

3 tbspn milk

1 tbspn maple syrup

Pulse all ingredients together in a blender until it becomes smooth and creamy.

And off this goes to Helen's Breakfast Club

Whole-wheat Peanut butter Pancakes

These are the perfect yummy nutty pancakes for your lazy Sundays.

And what make this even better? It hardly takes 15 minute to put it all together and make 6 pancakes.

Yes, just 15 minutes and you can go back to that comfy couch and enjoy your healthy breakfast with the “Desperate Housewives” [thatz how I did it todayJ]

Whole-wheat Peanut butter Pancakes

Makes 6 Pancakes

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Whole wheat pastry flour

¼ tspn Baking powder

1-2 tspn Sugar

Pinch of Baking Soda

Pinch of Salt

3 tablespoon Peanut butter

1/2 Cup + 2 tablespoon Low Fat Milk

1 egg white

2tspn Oil

Directions

Mix together the dry ingredients ,stir well and set aside

Beat the egg whites until soft peaks are formed

Add Oil to the peanut butter and stir well until no lumps.

Now add in the milk to the peanut butter mix and continue to beat until blended well

Add the wet ingredients to the dry mix and stir just to bring everything together.

Gently fold in the egg whites

Heat the griddle and spoon the batter and spread it lightly.

Cook until bubbles are formed around the pancakes, flip and cook other side.

Oat Flour and Banana Pancake

I woke up rather early for a weekend:-( Yap, 9 AM is still too early for me for a weekend..

I happily settled on my couch with my morning tea watching back to back episodes of “How I met your mother”..

Aaaa…Isn’t that a good kick start for a lazy weekend.

And what better way to please your hunger pangs than this light, fluffy n healthy pancakes.

We absolutely loved it and I am sure gone make this again ..its just soo simple and swiftJ

Oat Flour and Banana Pancake

[Makes 8 pancakes]

Recipe adapted from : Bob's Red Mill

Ingredients

1 Cup Oats Flour

¼ tspn Baking powder

¼ tspn cream of tartar

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Oil

1 egg- Separated

1 Banana Mashed

Directions

Beat the egg white until soft peaks are formed

Stir together the dry ingredients

Mix the wet ingredients- egg yolk, mashed banana and oil and add into the dry ingredients

Add about 1/3 Cup water or Milk to make thick batter. Batter should not be runny, rather a cake batter consistency

Gently fold in the egg whites

Heat the griddle and spoon the batter and spread it lightly.

Fry it until bubbles are formed around the pancakes, flip and cook other side.
Enjoy with generous serving of sweet maple syrup..

Granola

Granola with fruit yogurt is one among my favorite breakfast. Who can resist this soothing, cooling and totally refreshing delight..

Here is my one of my fav granola recipe packed with nutty and dried fruit goodness.

It’s a bit on the sweeter side, to satisfy my sweet tooth J

Here is the recipe

Ingredients

200 grams rolled oats

1 ½ tablespoon light brown sugar

3 tablespoons maple syrup

60 grams shelled Whole Almonds

50 grams Walnuts chopped

40 grams raisins

30 grams Sunflower seeds

30 grams dried Apricots chopped

Pinch of salt

Flavoring of your choice- Vanilla essence or Cinnamon powder ½ tspn

Directions

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees.

Place all dry ingredients in a large bowl.

Sir in the brown sugar , flavoring to the bowl and mix well.

Add a tablespoon of maple syrup at a time and stir well

Line a baking tray with parchment paper

Spread the granola mixture evenly onto the tray

Place the baking tray in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a golden brown in color.

Give it a stir every 5 minutes. You can switch on the oven fan for the last five minutes to make the granola crunchier

Let the granola cool and enjoy it with a cup of yogurt.

Whole Wheat Bagels

I am back to blogosphere after a fabulous OnamJ

Hope all my friends from Kerala had a wonderful Onam.

Belated Onashamsakal to all..I know I am a bit late in Wishing

I was a bit too busy with planning the sadhya [the feast], shopping and of course- cookingJ

And after a fun filled Onam sadhya with friends and family, I was on hibernation for 2 days…rather handover from having toooo much food/payasams

Anyways here goes the recipe of  healthy Bagels I made few weeks back.

And you know what is a better combo than Bagel and Cream Cheese..Try Bagels and Strawberry Cream cheese, it’s just wonderful!!

 Whole Wheat Bagels

Ingredients [Makes 6 Bagles]

2 cups Whole Wheat flour

1 Cup Bread Flour

1 cup +2 Tablespoon warm water
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon Instant yeast

4 Cups water

1 tablespoon Molasses or Caramelized Sugar

Toppings of your choice-Roasted Sesame seeds, Poppy seeds, Oats

 

Directions

Add all dry ingredients in the mixer, slowly add the warm water and knead on slow speed.

Once all water has been added increase the speed and continues to knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and no longer sticky.

Cover and let it rise for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, punch down the dough and roll it into a long tube.

Divide it into 6 equal portions.

Now you can shape the bagels either by rolling into balls and poking a hole in center or by rolling the dough to a long tube and stick together the two ends.

Let it rest and rise for 60 minutes.

Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 375 F

In a pan add 4 cups of water plus  a tablespoon of molasses and bring to boil.

Add the bagels one by one and cook on each side for 1 minute

Coat the Bagels with toppings of your choice, Poppy seeds ,Oats or roasted sesame seeds.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Strawberry Yogurt- From scratch..

I love yogurt and stack up fruit flavored yogurts in my refrigerator all the time J

Whenever I am home alone…this fruity yummy cold yogurt is my breakfast, lunch and dinner!!

Anyways this weekend I was in no mood for baking and chose to make this delight from scratch..

 Here is the recipe

1 L Low Fat Milk

1 tbspn Plain Yogurt - Live Yogurt Culture

3-4 tbspn fat Free Milk powder- I used Anlene Milk powder

1/ 2 Cup Strawberries

Sweetener of your choice- Honey, Agave nectar, Strawberry Jam or Sugar

Bring the Milk to boil , once it is boiled. Stir in the milk powder and let it cool a bit.

When the milk has cooled down a bit , but still warm- stir in the live yogurt culture . You can add a tablespoon of store bought yogurt, do check if it has live culture in the ingredients..

Let it sit in a warm place for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, you get a creamy yogurt!!

Now add the sweetener and flavoring of your choice

I added 2 tablespoons agave nectar and pureed 1.4 cup Strawberries and added to the yogurt and gave it a quick blend.

Chop the remaining 1.4 cup strawberries and serveJ

There you have the yummy healthy fruity yogurt!!

Low Fat Orange and Honey Loaf

It’s been sometime since I tried my hands on low fat bakes.

 I chose this low fat, guilt free tea bread from my favorite cook book.

As always this recipe is also a fool proof one..just love Martha day’s Baking bible

This light, citrusy n nutty loaf is a perfect accompaniment to a cup of hot teaJ

..and a perfect way to please my sweet tooth for breakfast

Here goes the recipe

Adapted from: Baking from Martha Day

385 gms Plain Flour

2 ½ tspn Baking powder

½ tspn Baking soda

Pinch of salt

30 gms Oil

250 ml Clear honey

1 egg

1 tbspn orange rind

175 ml Orange Juice

120 gms Chopped Walnuts

Pre heat oven to 170 Degree

Sift together the dry ingredients.

With an electric mixer, mix together the wet ingredients.

Add in the orange rind to the wet mixture and mix well.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in 3 batches. Stir in the walnuts

Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 60-70 minutes.

B for Bagels

I have been missing all yummy recipes for the past few days. I was on 2 full day trainingJ

Now are you wondering why I am soo happy after the training!!

Not that it added a lot of value to my work..But I am almost certain that the last two days have definitely added at least few pounds to my weight and few mm around my waistJ

The food was absolutely sinfully delicious!!!

The second day of training I woke up and all I can think of was the lunch!! I couldn’t believe myself!! I have turned to a total foodieJ

Even now when I think about the huge array of desserts..I can’t help smiling

I almost wrote about how amazing the dessert were on the training feedback form..:-)

Lemme stop drooling over the desserts and come back to the Bagels

I made this last weekend and it was just perfect. All 6 bagels disappeared in less than an hour.[excuse the little self praise here :-)]

Here goes the recipe

Adapted from Videojug recipe here

2 cups bread flour

1 tbspn sugar

1/2 tspn salt

1 tbspn Olive oil

1 tspn instant yeast

1/2 + 2 tablespoons of warm water

To Poach the Bagels

4 tablespoon sugar

2 cups water

For dressing

Poppy seeds

Roasted sesame seeds

Whole Oats

Add all the flour, water, yeast, and sugar into the bowl of your mixer. Knead for roughly 4 minutes. Add the oil and the salt and continue kneading for a further 8 minutes until the mixture becomes smooth, elastic dough.

Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover it with a plastic bag and let it prove, for 40 minutes at room temperature.

Place it onto a clean working surface. Divide the dough evenly into six portions, roll each portion into a soft ball. Gently push you two thumps through the centre of the each ball and create a pretty big hole. Do watch the video, it really helps

Repeat the same process with the rest of the balls and place them onto the pre-lined tray.

Cover it once more with the same plastic bag and prove again for another 40 minutes.

While the bagels are nicely proving, place the saucepan onto a medium to high heat. Then add sugar and allow it to melt, to a golden sticky syrup. Add the water, taking great care not to get splattered and bring to the boil.

Turn on the oven to 200ºC

Gently place each bagel into the boiling, caramel water and allow them to boil for 1 minute on each side.

Dip the poached donuts on the dressing and gently press so that they

Transfer the bagels to the prelined baking tray and place them in oven to bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.

Allow them to cool down

Now don’t wait..Enjoy it with a liberal spreading of cream cheese