Who doesn’t love a muffin, a little sweet treat in the morning to go with your coffee or my favorite, TEA.
Did I ever tell you I’m obsessed with tea, like I buy teas wherever I go it’s pretty ridiculous I have a cabinet full of different tea and flavors. I love smelling the tea, I love sipping the teas, I love sharing the teas.
Starbucks has this new spearmint and Lemongrass tea with an aroma that will take you to another realm. Plus the caffeine is appropriate for the energy depriving lifestyle that comes with being a mommy.
But about these muffins, they are small batch too. Just 8 muffins to share or enjoy alone over the week for breakfast.
Plus they are low in sugar.
I’ve been making these at night after putting the kids to bed and passing them out in the morning, for a protein packed pre breakfast starter.
Let’s get to these muffins tho.
Mix your dry ingredients together.
Mix in the wet ingredient. You gotta go fast during this step, or else the coconut flour will soak up all your moisture and mixing the berries in will not be so easy.
Carefully fold in blueberries. (frozen blueberries were used in this picture but I highly recommend allowing the berries to defrost before adding them to the mix or else it will get to thick. Better yet you can use fresh blueberries.)
Place mix in muffin tins.
To make the crumble topping, with a fork mix in the butter, sugar and tapioca flour until crumbly texture is reached.
Sprinkle on top of muffins after they have baked for 15 minutes.
The picture shows the crumble on top but it comes out much better if you wait until the muffin has cooked a bit first. I also ended up preferring using the coconut sugar or brown sugar over the white sugar for the crumble topping.
Bake the muffins for 15 more minutes after adding the crumbled topping, so 30 minutes in total.
Remove muffins from pan and let them cool a few minutes before serving.
Enjoy!
Biscuits and gravy are my idea of a perfect meal! I’m a country girl and I love sage sausage with a thick and creamy gravy poured all over some fresh homemade buttered biscuits.
Since breakfast is our most indulgent meal of the day I make biscuits and gravy quite often, I then reserve the rest of the day for burning the indulgent meal off! See life is all about balance I eat bad then balance it out by exercising GOOD! Makes perfect sense right?
Did I mention it’s the hubs favorite meal as well! He’s country too!
Even if you aren’t bumpkins quite like us you’ll still enjoy this comforting southern staple breakfast! Of course I like it the traditional way but I wanted to put a little twist on this country classic, so I came up with this Spanish flavor Cheddar biscuits and Chorizo gravy combo!
Yes and Yes! It is awesome! Light and fluffy homemade biscuits sprinkled with cheddar throughout, then smothered in a creamy & spicy Chorizo gravy, lastly garnished in my top 2 favorite fresh herbs, Cilantro!
Let me just get to it and give you the easy and surprisingly quick recipe!
I’m from the south and all the ladies in my family are from the south so cornbread will always be apart of my menu! If we need a side bread for dinner it will more often than not be a piece of cornbread!
I grew up eating jiffy which was routinely fixed up with sour cream, tons of butter, and sugar. As an adult I started making cornbread from scratch which when done correctly, is divine!
Cornbread doesn’t have to be boring you can prepare it many ways! I like my cornbread sweet but I like it salty too! You can make it in a skillet , add onions and peppers, eat it super sweet, or as a muffin!
One of my all time favorite recipe is my sweet corn buttermilk pound cake, it’s like cornbread and buttermilk pound cake eloped!
This sweet potato cornbread recipe is sweet but not pound cake sweet, it’s still mellow enough to enjoy right next to some fried chicken and sautéed greens!
I added a sweet potato for even more depth and southern goodness.
Sweet potato+cornbread….it really can’t get any better than that.
*Quick Update…I accidentally put 3/4 cups sugar when it should be 2/3 cups of sugar.
Not only do I love the taste of sweet potato, the amount of nutritional benefits you can get from sweet potatoes are simple astounding. I have switched out the white potatoes in many recipes and now use a sweet potato in its place.
Sweet potatoes work well in almost any dish, it adds subtle sweet & earthy notes while providing valuable nutrition! How can you say no to that?
There is a difference between a yam and a sweet potato but I use the word interchangeable. Yams have more health benefits than sweet potatoes but they are more difficult to find. If you do find them however try the red yam which is so yum. I buy organic which have to be used more promptly than a non organic potato, because they will go bad faster.
Check out of some of my other sweet potato recipes like this apple upside down sweet potato cake, and these egg free flax-seed sweet potato muffins, or you can just keep it traditional and try these candied yams, or the stove top sauteed version. You can also try this healthy version of candied yams which has nuts and apples to boot!
Here’s some more sweet potato recipes to try!
Sweet Potato Pancakes with Ginger Pear Topping
Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potato Chips
I’m currently perfecting a healthy sweet potato recipe for later in the week so watch out for that one.
In the meantime enjoy this delicious Sweet Potato French toast recipe perfect for a weekend brunch.
Enjoy!
I’ve always been a breakfast person. It’s the first thing I learned to cook on my own as a child. It’s my first love when it comes to meal time.
French toast is no exception. It’s top on the list of things I would consider for an ultimate breakfast menu! It’s also something that I am usually skeptical about on the menu of a new restaurant. One thing I do know is if the French Toast is prepared the way I like it, I’m ready to try everything else they’ve got.
I like French Toast to have a light and airy inside with some crispness on the outside. It makes a great brunch and there are plenty of ways to enjoy, I’ve even tried a savory version that took a piece of my heart!
Over the years I’ve learned a few tricks and tips that have helped me prepare praise worthy French Toast and know I’m passing on the knowledge!
I’ve prepared for you my top TEN tips for the best French Toast right at home. Oh and did I mention I included a French Toast recipe I made with fresh peach puree that will get you dancing! It got me dancing, I mean literally… I did the happy dance with a mouth full of maple syrup saturated peach flavored french toast! I’m having an urge to dance just thinking about it!
Of course you need to start with a good recipe. Play around a bit with ingredients to find the perfect mix for you. I enjoy my french toast creamy, light, and airy on the inside with a crisp and buttery exterior. Alton Brown has a good mix that is not too eggy and made with heavy cream which is a lot like the way I prepare mines. I also have an easy recipe which is perfect if you’re making french toast for the first time. No fancy ingredients just the basics. Get the Alton Brown recipe here. Or check out my easy and basic recipe here.
One mistake I would make with french toast early on was quickly dipping in batter and immediately putting it on the skillet. I ended up with bland piece of toast that was nothing like the tender, custard’ piece of bread I was looking for. Make sure to submerge bread in batter and allow it to sit for a few minutes to make sure the custard get’s evenly distributed throughout the bread.
Make sure the skillet is not too hot, or you’ll end up with a scorched on the outside but soft and gooey inside piece of bread. Although you don’t want the skillet too high you also need to make sure it is hot enough to instantly sizzle when you put the toast on the surface. I adjust my skillet temperature throughout the cooking process. I start it off on 375° and move it down to 300º during the first 30 seconds of the cooking process.
After each batch I always wipe down the skillet to prevent burning the next batch. Start with a fresh coat of non-stick spray, and butter for a new piece of toast. I promise this step will save you some frustration and smoke later.
Make a puddle of melted butter in the spot you’ll cook the piece of toast. It allows for a good sizzle which leaves a nice crust. Plus the butter gives it another layer of protection from burning and/or sticking. It also helps to assure there will be plenty of butter on you toast
I add a little flour to my mix, it gives it the extra crunch I like and assures a nice texture.
Instead of flipping with the spatula which can cause some damage if not careful, opt for tongs. You can look at the bottom to check if it’s done without damaging the crust and if it’s not finished simply put it back down and let it sizzle a little longer.
It can be tempting to treat these bad boys like pancakes and try to flip and flap them around but be careful. Carefully place, flip, and remove this custard filled bread. Your final product will result in a more visually appealing plate.
I use an electric hand blender to make sure everything is fully incorporated. It’s worth the extra trouble to get a fluffy and consistent piece of French Toast.
Serve straight off the skillet. French Toast will lose their airiness and fluff after sitting too long. Get em’ while it’s hot!
Flax seeds are a super-duper food, they contain a ton of Omega 3 fatty acid, are packed with fiber and have been shown to reduce a plethora of diseases to include, heart attacks, diabetes, and certain cancers.
The first time I used flax-seed was in my hair….
I would go to the local health food store, buy whole flax seeds and cook them on the stove to make an all natural hair gel.
One day, busy mixing my “hair potion”, I tried tasting them and they weren’t too bad so then I ate a handful, lets not get into details but they are helpful.
I had to get my family in on this healthy seed mainly my hubby due to his lifelong G.I issues, so I started “hiding” flax seed in their food. They add a nice nutty flavor so they’re perfect for your baked breakfast bites.
They come in different colors gold and brown, I’ve heard gold is healthier, but don’t hold me to that, I’m no nutritionist. They come in ground and whole, but best grounded when using as a substitute.
This is perfect for egg allergic or vegan bakers.
If you’ve ever eaten flax seeds or ground flax-seed by itself you know it has a real slimy texture when it gets wet, just like an egg. Well the slime lends for a perfect egg replacement in your baked treats. The flaxseed ends up mimicking an egg and helps to bind the baked goods together.
Mix 1 Tablespoon of ground Flax Seed and 2 Tablespoons of Hot water. Mix it up and let it cool to room temperature before adding to batter.
Did you know you can replace oil called for in everything from muffins to my favorite red velvet cake recipe with flax seeds?
Well ½ cup of cooking oil is equal to about 1 ½ cups of ground flax-seed. When mixed with your wet ingredients it acts as oil, and with all the health benefits makes you feel a little less guilty about enjoying one too many!
If you didn’t know there is an increase in corn allergies going around. Many experts suggest this is due to corn being in almost everything we eat!
I know a lot of us use corn starch when needing added body to our recipes, well flax seeds can handle those jobs too!
All you do is mix water and ground flaxseed to your desired thickness and add to sauce, casseroles, etc.
The consistency will have a softer and less structure building consistency but you have to figure the right mix for the texture you are trying to reach.
Flax seeds are such a powerful and healthy seed you can simply add it in your normal recipes for its health benefits, to the get full advantage use ground flax seeds. If using whole flax-seed simply add it at the end of mixing batter or, sprinkle the flax-seed onto treats when you’re ready to eat!
I’m not saying it’s just as tasty as an egg but when you consider all of the health benefits of the flax-seed you can certainly make room for some on your shelves and tummy.
If you have your own tips, techniques or questions about cooking with flax seeds please leave them in the comment section, maybe there’s a treat you want to make egg free. I’d love to hear from you!
Here’s a recipe I love using which comes with another super healthy food, the sweet potato.
The flax seeds give bake goods a soft and gooey texture!
This cake is perfect paired with your morning coffee or tea.
Ideally you would make this with homemade cranberry sauce, if I have any leftover, I use that, but feel free to use a canned version just make sure it’s a good one.
The tangy sweetness from the cranberries paired with spicy and fruity notes of ginger takes this cake to heights!
All you need is……..
1 ¼ cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cranberry sauce
1 cup sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Pre-heat oven to 375ᴼ.
Prepare loaf pan, by buttering the sides.
1 ¼ cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup cranberry sauce
1 cup sugar
¾ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping
1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground ginger
Sift together cake flour, baking powder.
Beat together vegetable oil, sugar.
Add eggs one at a time beating after each addition.
Add cake flour and baking powder to wet ingredients.
Mix in vanilla extract.
Mix just until incorporated.
Pour into loaf pan.
Add cranberry sauce to the top, evenly as possible.
Bake for 20 minutes.
While in the oven prepare the topping.
Mix light brown sugar, butter, flour, and ground ginger.
When cake has baked for 20 minutes add topping and let bake for another 1o minutes or until top is browned.
I’ll admit it, I grew up on can biscuits, and I liked them the Pillsbury ones that is, unfortunately every once in a while my mother would sneak some store brand canned biscuits up in there and I’m not sure how they were made but I’m certain milk and butter were not a part of the equation.
As a new wife, I wanted to wow my husband and I started a mission, operation homemade biscuits if you will. It was top secret, I didn’t want him to know, I was messing up biscuits left and right and with all the butter, cream and specialized flour, I threw away a fortune! I’m being a bit dramatic but there was food wasted. Finally I had figured out a method and a mixture that was superb. I got faster and nicer with each biscuit batch turned out.
So after being able to turn out the tastiest biscuits ever, I decided to challenge myself a bit more and I started to create the best sweet potato biscuit around.
When I first made these they came out dense so I played with the ingredients a bit but nothing worked. Finally I considered it may be the technique, and I was right.
I was using warm to room temperature potatoes and it was melting the butter which is what you don’t want. The butter and shortening should stay cold at all times.
What I had to do was put the smashed sweet potatoes, butter and shortening in the freezer together and get it all cold. I put all ingredients into the food processor and pulse everything together. I have heavy hands and over mixing can cause tough biscuits and you do not want tough biscuits, you want a light and fluffy biscuit so here’s how you get 10!
1 small sweet potato
3 Tablespoon butter
5 Tablespoon shortening
3 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)
¼ cup buttermilk
Preheat oven to 425ᴼ
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and nutmeg (optional) nutmeg is completely optional. They turn out superb without it.
In a separate bowl cut up butter, shortening, and mashed sweet potato. Put this mixture in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes.
Take out of freezer and put your entire dry ingredient along with the cold butter, potato, and shortening mixture into the food proce
Pulse until everything comes together.
Lightly flour your work surface.
Lightly flour a small bowl.
Put biscuit mix into the floured bowl.
Very gently mix in the milk.
Dust hands with flour.
With a very light touch mix everything and roll out biscuits onto floured surface into a rectangle.
Fold over and lightly pat out into about a half an inch square. It should look like this.
Use a biscuit cutter to cut out round biscuits or cut them into squares, I cut mine into squares because reworking the leftover dough from circles is not a good idea.
Lightly spray pan with non-stick spray.
Place biscuits close but not touching and bake for 13 minutes.
Take out slather some butter or make some of this sweet and tangy blackberry jam.
Here it goes one more time…
Preheat oven to 425ᴼ
Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, sugar and nutmeg (optional) nutmeg is completely optional. They turn out superb without it.
In a separate bowl cut up butter, shortening, and mashed sweet potato. Put this mixture in the freezer for about 5-10 minutes.
Take out of freezer and put your entire dry ingredient along with the fat and sweet potato mix.
Pulse until everything comes together.
Lightly flour your work surface.
Lightly flour a small bowl.
Put biscuit mix into the floured bowl.
Very gently mix in the milk.
Dust hands with flour.
With a very light touch mix everything and roll out biscuits onto floured surface into a rectangle.
Fold over and lightly pat out into about a half an inch square.
Use a biscuit cutter to cut out round biscuits or cut them into squares, I cut mine into squares because reworking the leftover dough from circles is not a good idea.
Bake for 10-12 minutes until tops are brown.
If you have any questions ask them in the comments section I will help you get through this the best way I can!
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Pears have not been the go to fruit throughout my life, I’ve always preferred a crunchy crisp apple over the soft and often times gritty texture of a pear. It wasn’t until I tested positive as allergic to Apples, that I started to appreciate the pear, at first because I really had no choice, now because they are so diverse in species and amazing to cook with.
Through my out that they can be awesome in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. They have many health benefits and you can check some of them out here.
Although I have not completely kicked the apple out of my life ( I will cook with them once in a blue moon), the pear has made a wonderful substitute, and has won a special place in the soul of my belly!
Now when I need to grab a quick snack to go instead of the trusty apple I’m picking for Pears! Which also means we have tons of pears around and sometimes they start to get ugly and then I no longer want them….here’s where it gets fun. Instead of throwing them away, I make pear puree which is really easy and you don’t need to cook them first being that pears are already soft.
Click here for my “technique”, if you want to call it that….it’s really too easy to refer to it as a technique!
Let’s not forget about pear bread tho……here’s what you need……..
Pear Bread
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup pear puree (I used a Williams pear but fell free to substitute)
1 tbs vanilla extract
Topping
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup crushed pecan
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Pre heat oven to 350°
Grease a small bread pan.
In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and nutmeg. Make sure it is all well incorporated.
With an electric mixer mix softened butter and sugar.
Add in eggs one at a time beating well after each. Add pear puree mixing on high-speed well for about 2 minutes.
Now mix together dry and wet ingredients being careful not to over mix add vanilla extract and place in greased bread pan.
In small bowl mix butter, brown sugar, and crushed pecans. Press the butter into the sugar and pecan until you’ve reached a crumbly texture.
Sprinkle sugar pecan mix on top of batter in the bread pan.
Now bake for 40-45 minutes…….
Voila! You will be amazed at how the pear taste is so abundant in this bread. It’s simply delicious!
Today is Sunday October 20th, and I do feel a bit guilty for posting this oh so delicious but naughty recipe on a Sunday!
I remember being a youngin’, singing….”rolling down the street smokin’ indo ( which I thought was some sort of cigarette) sippin’ on Gin and Juice!” Oh what a classic that is…..and I knew exactly what Gin and Juice was, Gin and juice is like the original Mimosa! A sort of “hood’ Mimosa.
For those who may not know…….Gin and Juice is simply Orange Juice and Gin, it’s an easy peasy cocktail that can be enjoyed at any time of the day if you’d like.
I wanted to stay true to the original flavor and makeup of this classic cocktail, and keep it simple. I used fresh orange juice and Gin, with a simple cake batter, in the middle a sweet and zesty orange and Gin curd, topped with an Orange and Gin flavored frosting! Sound delicious right?
Well here’s what you need!
Cup Cakes
1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Zest of one Orange
1 ½ cups sugar
½ stick butter
½ cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
¼ cup gin
3 eggs
Orange and Gin Filling
1 egg
1 cup sugar
½ cup fresh squeezed orange juice
¼ cup gin
Frosting
2 Tablespoons Butter (room temperature)
2 cups powdered sugar
Zest ½ Orange
2 Tablespoons Gin
2 Tablespoons fresh squeezed Orange juice
For the cupcakes
Pre-heat oven to 350 Sift Flour, baking powder, orange zest and salt together. Cream Butter, vegetable oil, and sugar. Add eggs in one at a time using blender mix well before adding the next egg. Measure out Gin and Orange Juice. Add half of the dry ingredients, than gin and juice, and end with flour. Pour in muffin pans.
For the filling
In a small saucepan heat orange juice and sugar together, bring to boil meanwhile in a small non-reactive bowl whisk egg up! Now turn sugar and orange juice off let sit for about 1 minute. Pour into the non-reactive bowl with egg yolk while whisking vigorously. Continue whisking, and pour back into small sauce pan on medium high heat. Let heat and thicken whisking in between. Add gin and continue to whisk. When it reaches a smooth but thick sticky texture put in fridge for at least 10 minutes. When cupcakes have cooled, take center out add some orange and gin curd and put top back on the cupcake.
For the frosting
Cream butter add confectioner sugar and orange zest, beat and add orange juice, and gin. Beat until smooth put in piping bag and let cool in refrigerator for 10 minutes. When ready to ice the cakes. Pipe the frosting on top and decorate any way you like, although as good as they taste I’m sure you won’t care how they look! And there you have it the Gin and Juice Cupcake! Paying homage to a cultural and hip hop icon on his b-day!
Enjoy and let me know how it worked out for you. Follow me here on Twitter I love cooking and sharing.
All rights and ownership of this recipe belong to Christina for asoulfultwist.com and I would love if you linked and give credit to me and my blog if any recipe or image is used thanks in advance. Christina
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