Eggless Whole Wheat Oats Coconut Muffins

My toddler loves cakes and muffins.  I often experiment with healthy ingredients to make these for her.  The funny thing is that whatever cake or muffins I make for her I end up on relishing them myself too :)  These muffins too falls in that category.  I first tried them a month ago and then today.  They came out as good as before.  So fluffy and moist.  My princess just loved them. 

These muffins are simply melt in mouth and delicious.  Addition of fresh coconut gave it a nice crunch and condensed milk made it so rich in flavour.  Its a tried and tested recipe so make it for your family and get the nice compliments from them :)  

I thought to share this recipe as it has all the healthy ingredients that you can enjoy with your kiddos without fear of calories as it is a low calorie snack with just 2 tbsp of butter (you can easily decrease it by 1 & 1/2 tbsp).  I made them a bit on the sweeter side as I loved it that way.  All in all, its a healthy addition in your snacks list. 

So here is the recipe for you to try.  Happy Cooking :)

Makes - 6 muffins 

Baking time - 20 minutes

Temperature - 180 degree

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour	2 tbsp
Oats flour	2 tbsp
All purpose flour (maida)	2 tbsp
Baking powder	¼ tsp
Baking soda	1/8 tsp or 2 big pinch
Butter	2 tbsp
Salt	1 pinch
Fresh grated coconut	5 tbsp
Vanilla essence	¼ tsp
Milk	3 tbsp  or as required
Choco chips	1 tbsp
Tutty fruity (I used my homemade tutty fruity)	1 tbsp

Method:

• Mix together oats flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Set aside.
• Preheat oven at 180 degree and line a muffin pan with paper liners.  Set aside.
• Mix choco chips and tutty fruitty with 1/2 tsp of all purpose flour and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, take melted butter, condensed milk and castor sugar (if using) and mix well.  Add vanilla essence and milk. Mix again.  Add flour mix little by little.  If you find that the batter is getting thick, add one more tbsp of milk.  The batter should not be too loose.  Keep it a bit on the thicker side.  Add grated coconut and give it a stir.  Finally add choco chips and tutty fruitty and gently stir twice.
• Fill the muffin cups with the prepared batter till a little more than half.
• Bake for 20 minutes or till the top gets a little brown.  Remove and shift to a wire rack to cool down.
• Enjoy.

Notes:

1. I used a different brand of condensed milk that had a bit thinner texture so I added 1 tbsp of castor sugar to perfect the sweetness.  If you are using Nestle condensed milk, skip the sugar.
2. You can add your choice of nuts instead of choco chips and tutty fruitty.  But I recommend to use choco chips too with nuts.
3. Here I used 2 tbsp of butter which can easily be reduced to 1 1/2 tbsp.

Eggless Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I am back with one more banana recipe.  It is eggless, butterless and made with whole wheat.  But please do not think that I am gonna share the recipe of some tasteless n blunt kindda muffins... no no no.. these are so delicious.  I made these muffins with ripe banana and as banana is a good substitute of egg for many baked goodies, I didn't add any egg in these muffins.  They came out perfectly fluffy and soft.  I always try to make something new with ripe bananas and these muffins are a part of those experiments.  Just after preparing the batter I decided to give a twist to these cutie muffins.  I put a piece of chocolate in the center of all the muffins and when V tasted it, melted chocolate came as a sweet surprise to him :D  

I was very happy with the results.  My toddler too relished these muffins.  These are perfect for breakfast and kids lunch box.  No need of icing.  I just love the flavour of banana in it.  Here, to help you, I have added some pics I took while making these muffins.

So lets start making these perfect, healthy and yummy muffins.  Do try and enjoy.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour	¾ cup
Banana	1 (Ripe)
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	1/8 tsp
Brown sugar	6 tbsp
Bar one / 5 star chocolate	1 bar (optional)
Oil	¼ cup
Milk	1 tbsp
Curd	2 tbsp
Vanilla essence	½ tsp
Mixed raisins	2 tbsp  (optional

Method:

• Sieve together wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Set aside.
• Take mixed raisins and add 1/2 tsp flour to it.  Mix well and set aside.
• Line a muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
• Preheat oven at 180 degree.
• In a mixing bowl, take sugar and oil.  Mix both till sugar melts.  Add curd and mix well.  Add milk and vanilla essence and mix again.
• Take banana in a separate bowl and mash it with the help of a fork.  Add it to the oil mix and whisk everything well.
• Add flour mix little by little to the oil banana mix.  Whisk well to make a lump-free batter.  The batter should not be too thick or too watery.  If you find that the batter is too thick add one more tbsp milk.  
• Finally add raisins to the batter and give it a stir.  
• Take the chocolate bar and cut it into six equal pieces.
• Take the prepared batter and fill the muffin cups till 1/4.  Put a piece of chocolate in the center and top it up with some more batter.  Do not fill the cups more than half.  Likewise, fill all the muffin cups with a piece of chocolate in the center. (pics below).

                                 

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or till a knife inserted comes out clean.  Take out the tray from the oven and let the muffins rest for 3-4 minutes.

Out of oven 

Remove the muffins from the tray.  Let them cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm.

Notes:

1. Instead of brown sugar you can add white powdered sugar or castor sugar.
2. Brown sugar gave a nice brown color to these muffins.
3. You can skip the raisins and add your choice of dried fruits or even tutty fruitty.
4. Keep checking the muffins in the oven to avoid burning as temperature varies from oven to oven.  After baking the muffins for 15 minutes, keep checking.
5. Do not over bake.
6. Use of chocolate is also optional.

Fruity Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemony Hung Curd Icing

My toddler is getting fussy day by day.  One day she likes homemade food and the other day just junk food.  I try to combine different things to make something healthy that could also make her taste buds happy.  These cupcakes are the result of my one more experiment for my little one.

She likes fruit flavoured muffins and corn puffs of a local brand here.  I must say her choice is excellent :) I too relish her favourite junk foods.  Those muffins and corn puffs are really delicious.  In the muffins, vanilla and fruit flavours comes out very nicely and I love it.  

Last week, before throwing the empty packet of muffin, I read the ingredients on the pack and decided to make it at home.  I had no idea how the fruit flavours came in the muffins as no essence or fruits were there in the ingredient used.  So I added orange, pineapple and vanilla essence.  I didn't add any fresh fruit.  

I was very apprehensive about the results as I had no measurements and moreover I was using some additional ingredients too.  But finally, when I tasted them, I was on cloud nine :D  They came out so well.  The sweetness, the flavour and the texture was just perfect.  I loved them and so did my baby.  

After having few cupcakes, I thought to have them with some icing.  Instead of cream, I decided to make the icing with the thick hung curd.  It was a healthy option too.  One lemon was also sitting in my fridge so I used up that too and made a lemony icing.  The final result was yummy, creamy, lemony curd icing that took my cupcakes to another level.  The combination of both (cupcakes and icing) was just mind blowing.  Now there is a guilt free icing that we can relish anytime..  isn't it awesome.?  

So my dear readers, here is the recipe of my yummy cupcakes and delicious icing.  Do try and see your kids jumping with joy... Don't forget to read the notes first.  Happy Cooking :)

Ingredients
(Makes 6 medium and 6 small size cupcakes)

All purpose flour/Maida	1 cup
Cornflour	1 tbsp
Milk powder	2 tbsp
Egg	1
Baking powder	½ tsp
Baking soda	2 big pinch
Castor sugar/powdered sugar	½ cup
Oil	¼ cup
Mixed fruit juice	1/8 cup
Soda water	1/8 cup +1 tbsp
Orange essence	1/8 tsp
Pineapple essence	¼ tsp
Vanilla essence	1/8 tsp

Lemony curd icing
Ingredients:
(For icing 4 cupcakes)

Thick hung curd**	½ cup
Lemon zest	½ tsp
Fresh lemon juice	½ tsp
Vanilla essence	1/8 tsp
Icing sugar	5 tsp

Decoration:

(For 4 cupcakes)

Thinly sliced lemon peel	8 strings
Glazed cherry	1
Colored sprinkles	1 tbsp

Method:

• In a bowl, take all purpose flour, corn flour, milk powder, baking powder and baking soda.  Mix well with a spatula.  Set aside.
• Preheat oven at 180 degree.  Line a muffin tray with paper cupcake liners.
• In a mixing bowl, take sugar and egg.  Whisk well till fluffy. Add in oil and whisk again.  Add vanilla essence, pineapple essence and orange essence and mix well.  
• In a cup, take soda water and fruit juice and give a stir.  Pour a little of it in egg sugar batter, mix it and add a little flour mix.  Mix well to avoid formation of lumps.  Add some more soda fruit juice mix and little more flour.  Mix well again.  Finally, add remaining soda juice mix and remaining flour and mix again.  The batter should be smooth and not too thick.  If you find that the batter is a bit thick add 1 tbsp milk
• Fill the moulds/paper cupcake liners with the prepared batter till half and bake for 20 minutes or till the cupcakes gets golden brown on the top.
• Remove from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack.

Icing 

• Take the hung curd in a mixing bowl, add in icing sugar and whisk well.  Add in vanilla essence, lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk again.  Don't over mix.
• Icing ready.

Icing the cupcakes:

• Take one cupcake and put 2 tbsp icing on the top of it.  Spread the icing all over it with the help of a small spoon.
• Decorate with lemon peel strands and sprinkles.  Top it up with glazed cherry.

Notes:

1. Any dried fruits or fruit mix can be added to the cupcake batter.
2. You can use your choice of fruit essence in the cupcake batter.
3. Do not leave the cake batter for long.  Bake it as soon as you make it.
4. Let the cupcakes cool down completely before icing them.
5. The curd should be very thick.  Hang it overnight to get the required thickness.
6. You can adjust the level of sugar in the icing.
7. Icing can be made of any flavour of your choice. 
8. You can decorate the cupcakes with your choice of stuff.
9. Baking time varies from oven to oven so keep checking the cupcakes after 15 minutes. If you find them getting over brown, remove from the oven.  If you find that even after 20 minutes the cupcakes are white on the top, bake them for another 5 to 10 minutes or till they get the desired browning.

** To make hung curd you can use a simple method. Take a big tea strainer and arrange it over a deep bowl.  Pour the curd in the strainer and put it (with the bowl under it) in the fridge for overnight.  Next day you would get the thick curd.