Raspberry Chocolate Muffins

4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
12 oz fresh raspberries
3 to 4 oz MSPI safe dark chocolate, grated
1.5 cups rice milk
2/3 cup oil
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add raspberries and grated chocolate and toss to coat with flour mixture. In a separate bowl combine the rice milk, oil and eggs, whisking until thoroughly combined. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients all at once. Mix the dry into the wet, JUST until the dry ingredients are wet (no more than 12 to 15 strokes). Batter will be very lumpy! Scoop into jumbo size muffin liners (makes 20 jumbo muffins) or into regular size muffin liners (have no idea how many it would make...more than 20!). Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. These freeze nicely!

Cornbread

We had corn muffins last night with "Hot Dog Soup" (what my kids call Lentil Soup). I love cornbread...it probably comes with the territory of having a parent from the South. However, there are several different camps in the cornbread camp.

Southerners usually prefer white cornmeal to yellow(though not always), and Southern cornbread is NOT SWEET. Many don't even put a smidgen of sugar in the cornbread. While I love a good, crusty piece of Southern cornbread, I feel adding a single tsp of sugar brings out the flavor of the cornmeal. It's not enough to make it sweet, but it lends a depth of flavor.

Westerners usually prefer yellow cornmeal over white (though not always), and western cornbread is SWEET. Like this could basically pass for a piece of cake kind of sweet. And it's often served with honey butter for extra sweet amazingness. While adding additional sugar makes for a wickedly good piece of cornbread, to me it feels like more of a dessert bread. So, I compromise and try to meet the two worlds somewhere in the middle.

Making cornbread safe for MSPI isn't difficult: Make sure you use canola, safflower, or your favorite oil instead of melted butter, and use rice milk instead of regular milk or buttermilk. Now, without further ado...

1 c flour
3/4 c cornmeal (yellow or white)
1 tsp sugar OR 3 Tbsp sugar (depends on if you like your cornbread savory or slightly sweet)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp oil
3/4 (ish) c rice milk

Blend flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl combine eggs, oil and rice milk. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined (don't overmix!). *FOR SOUTHERN STYLE CORNBREAD* Preheat cast iron skillet or baking pan. Add several Tbsp oil and coat bottom and sides of pan (be generous). Pour batter into preheated, greased skillet or pan. Place in oven at 375 until golden brown and crusty (the preheated pan with plenty of oil will help form an amazing crust). *FOR WESTERN STYLE CORNBREAD* Pour cornbread into a greased or sprayed baking pan. Bake at 375 until sides are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. For muffins: Pour batter into greased or lined muffin tins (3/4 full) and bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.

Pecan, Orange and Cranberry Bread

I have very fond memories of cranberry orange bread... one of my aunts would always bring a loaf or two every time she visited. The only substitution needed from the original recipe is to swap rice milk for dairy milk, and oil for butter!

2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 c sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c canola oil
Zest of 1 large orange
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c rice milk
2 large eggs
1 c fresh or frozen cranberries
1/2 c chopped pecans or other nuts

Preheat oven to 350 (400 for muffins). Grease and flour a loaf pan OR line 2 muffin tins with paper liners (24 muffins). In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, orange zest, orange juice, milk, and eggs. Beat until combined. Add cranberries and nuts to DRY ingredients and toss to coat. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. If making muffins, you may need to add a little more rice milk if the batter is a little too dry. Spoon batter into prepared pan or muffin tins. Bake loaf for 60-70 minutes, bake muffins 15 minutes or so, until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. *Optional: Brush warm bread with glaze made from powdered sugar, orange juice, and a few drops of vanilla extract. Yield: 1 large loaf or 24 muffins.

Banana Chocolate Chips Muffins

A fabulous treat for breakfast! I mixed some up this morning and plan to freeze at least half for busy mornings.

1/2 c MSPI safe margarine, shortening, or coconut oil
1/2 c firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 c mashed bananas (2 to 3 large)
2 eggs
1/4 c rice milk or non-dairy coffee creamer
1 tsp vanilla
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c MSPI safe chocolate chips
3/4 c chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream margarine with sugar. Add bananas, eggs, rice milk, and vanilla and mix until combined. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add to wet mixture, mixing just until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Be careful not to overmix. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if using.

Fill greased or lined muffin tins 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Yields 18 muffins (or 15 big muffins if you overfill the tins like I do...).

Breakfast Musings

So much of breakfast seems to revolve around the dreaded "D"...dairy. It took me a little while to be comfortable experimenting, but I'm glad I did. Here are a few of our favorite breakfast foods and what I've done to modify them to be MSPI friendly:

Pancakes: Buttermilk-less Buttermilk Pancakes

French Toast: I substituted non-dairy coffee creamer for the milk I'd normally add to the eggs

Scrambled eggs: Whisk them with water or with non-dairy creamer for a richer taste

Cinnamon rolls: I substituted rice milk for the regular milk in my favorite recipe, then instead of brushing/spooning butter on the dough, I used coconut oil. They are fabulous!

Muffins: Substitute rice milk for the regular milk, adding a little lemon juice if the recipe calls for buttermilk. My son loves chocolate muffins, so I'll often buy a MSPI friendly chocolate cake mix and instead of following package directions, I'll add 1 small can of pumpkin and 1 egg, beating until smooth, possibly adding some dairy-free/soy-free chocolate chips. Bake in muffin liners. The pumpkin is nearly undetectable and adds vitamins and fiber. Eat within a day or two or freeze (they are very moist and go bad quickly).

Baking powder biscuits: Again, substitute rice milk for the regular milk

For cereal (hot or cold) my son prefers using almond milk (especially dark chocolate almond milk!)

Chocolate coconut milk (or almond milk, if you prefer...but we like using the coconut milk because it's naturally a little sweeter) heated up makes a good hot chocolate. Toss in a few marshmallows and it's perfect!