Back to Baking

I love baking.  I used to bake all kinds of things after work, on weekends, early mornings so we could munch on warm baked goods with our morning coffee.  But since I had my son I have to confess that I have gotten into the bad habit of not baking, or cheating with boxed cake and brownie mixes I find on sale at the store, or worse just buying a carton of muffins.  I always feel guilty when I sink my teeth into those slightly too greasy, but oh so delicious muffins from a plastic box.

But these days I am determined to get back into the swing of things.  I have a list of good old favorite recipes I have resolved to bring back into my home: banana milk chocolate chip muffins, low fat but still tasty chocolate chip cookies, zucchini loaf delicious enough to trick Jake into eating his vegetables.  The list is long, and my apron crisp and ready.

I made my baking comeback several days ago with a new muffin recipe I have never tried but always wanted to.  I got it from my mother-in-law.  She makes these muffins all the time, and whenever she arrives for a visit you can always rest assured a giant zip loc baggy of at least a dozen of these babies will arrive with her.  We always look forward to it, and Jake just loves them.  He can down one of these muffins in one minute flat if I am not watching closely.  He'll stuff half the thing into his mouth and give you his innocent wide eyed look as he tries to get out the word "nack" (his word for "snack") between clumps of half chewed muffin in his mouth.

Anyway, they are delicious, easy and healthy and I feed them to my family without feeling an ounce of guilt.  I thought I would share:


Orange Muffin Recipe
In a blender puree:
3/4 cups sultana raisins
1/2 cup canola oil
2 whole oranges with skin, cut into pieces seeds removed (I use organic)
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda

In a large bowl mix:

1 1/2 cups wheat germ
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Add pureed mixture to dry ingredients and mix well.  Fill muffin tins with paper cups 2/3 full and bake about 20-25 minutes at *375F.
Makes about 18 muffins.

 Cool muffins. Boil water. Steep tea. Sit in your most comfortable chair. Enjoy.

Back to baking challenge #1.  Seeing as they were all gone within 48 hours I would say it was a success!