Cookbook Review: I'm Loving Mayim's Muffins

Recently, I received a review copy of Mayim Bialik's brand new cookbook, Mayim's Vegan Table. Because I absolutely love her character Amy Farrah Fowler on "Big Bang Theory," I had to give it a read. The first 59 pages provide a good foundation on the vegan diet and its health benefits and philosophies. Even without the recipes, I'd recommend it for someone who is new to the practice or for parents of newly minted vegans.

Most of the recipes are straightforward and easy to produce. They don't require uncommon ingredients or a long time to make. Most (except the dessert section) also are easy to make gluten free. Now that I'm living in the GF sphere, that's a pretty important feature for me in a cookbook.

For my test recipe, I decided to take on a recipe that was already gluten free, but that I could tinker with a bit for this blog. That recipe was Fruity Oatmeal Muffins.

They turned out to be pretty tasty muffins. They are indeed oaty, which a cakey crumb -- an unexpected pleasure in a gluten-free muffin made without gums. The muffins also are much lighter than you would expect for such a healthy baked good. I can easily see these becoming my go-to muffins.

My alterations were relatively minor. First, I used my unsweetened, home-dried cranberries (thanks to the behemoth of a dehydrator I recently purchased via a mandate by my wonderful mother-in-law who gave us a check and said we couldn't save it, but had to spend the thing). Next, I added walnuts because what's a muffin without nuts? I also used pumpkin pie spice as the spice, flax meal and water as my egg substitute, olive oil for the fat, and agave nectar (and consequently, half the applesauce) as the sweetener. Finally, I dropped the oven temperature to 375 degrees F (to account for the agave), but baked it for the same amount of time.

Here's the recipe as I made it.

Fruity Oatmeal Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon flax meal
3 teaspoons filtered water
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup rolled oats run through the coffee grinder to make oat flour
2 tablespoons potato starch
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsweetened dried cranberries (if you have to use sweetened, use fruit-sweetened ones)
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup applesauce

Directions: 
1. In a very small bowl, mix together the flax meal and water until combined and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the oats, oat flour, potato starch, baking powder, spice, and salt.
3. Mix in the cranberries and walnuts.
4. In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the olive oil and the flax mixture. Whisk in the agave and the applesauce.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir for about 2 minutes.
6. Heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
7. Line your muffin tray with paper liners.
8. Scoop the batter into the liners so that they are filled about 3/4 of the way.
9. When your oven reaches temperature, bake the muffins for 20 minutes. They should have very small crumbs clinging to a wooden tester when done.
10. Let cool in the try for 5 minutes before taking the muffins out to cool completely on a wire rack.

They are best slightly warm, but wonderful when cooled as well. Enjoy!

Making a Vegan, GF Muffin Oh-So-Cobblerific

This luscious bit of muffin-y goodness is somewhat based on the BabyCakes Ginger-Peach Corn Muffins recipe, except that I made a few key changes. Importantly, I turned it into a cobbler-muffin (or what John and I decided would be either a cobblin or a muffler -- you decide). That is, I loaded this baby up with a cobbler-like filling (hence the wee air hole toward the bottom of the photo).

Suffice to say, it's hardly your ordinary muffin. And, that's a nectarine, rather than a peach because the organic peaches in the stores here were unnaturally large and didn't smell like peaches. The organic nectarines, on the other hand, smelled like summer.

I also used a non-beany-based gf flour mix because I really don't enjoy the beany flavor in sweet baked goods. Because there were so many changes, I'm going to share my version here. Please let me know how yours turn out!

Summer Fruit Cobblins
Makes 12 standard muffin-sized cobbler-muffins

Ingredients
2/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
6 medium-sized (smaller than a baseball) fresh nectarines scrubbed well, pitted and cut into 1-inch-ish pieces
The juice of one juicy organic lime
1/3 cup of the liquid sweetener of your choice (I used agave nectar. If you use maple or brown rice syrup, just remember that your muffins will have a maple or caramel flavor, which is fine. I'm sure it will taste great.)
3/4 cup of a non-beany, finely ground gf flour mix (I used King Arthur Flour's All-purpose GF mix, but you also could use Pamela's Artisan mix and it would be successful.)
1/4 cup blanched almond flour
1 cup corn flour (not corn meal; it's a very different experience, much less grainy)
1.5 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum (although you don't have to use it; you could use chia or flaxmeal, although it might end up a bit crumbly -- try it and let me know)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger (dry ground)
1/2 cup very good, fruity olive oil (or if you don't like the flavor, use grapeseed oil)
3/4 cup liquid sweetener of your choice (I used agave nectar, but you could use maple or brown rice syrup)
1/4 cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

1. Whisk together the almond milk and vinegar. Put the mixture aside so it can become vegan "buttermilk."

2. Combine the nectarines, agave nectar, and lime juice, and stir until the fruit is well coated. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and pour the fruit and sauce into an 8-in. glass baking dish. Roast the fruit until it softens but doesn't burn or dissolve. It should take about 15 minutes. Let the fruit cool in the baking dish on a rack while you make the rest of the recipe. Set aside the "prettiest" 12 pieces you can find -- these will be the cobblin toppers.

3. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

4. In another bowl, mix together the liquid ingredients, then add them to the dry ingredients and mix the batter until smooth.

5. Turn down the oven to 325 degrees F and line your muffin pan with paper liners. Fill the liners half way with batter, then spoon a tablespoon or so of the fruit on top of the batter of each cobblin. Then add equal amounts of the remaining batter to each cobblin. Top each with one of the pretty fruit pieces you set aside earlier.

6. Bake the cobblins for 20-25 minutes until they are a lovely golden brown around the edges. Let them cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then out of the pan on a wire rack until cool enough to enjoy.

Here's a photo of what you should see inside:

Re-altering Plates or My New Gluten-Free Life

Yep, I know it's been two years since I've updated this blog. Sorry about that. I've been updating Here and There regularly and been very active on Facebook, but it's not the same. And, I've gone gluten free.

Since November 2012, I haven't had any gluten in my food, and it's made a huge difference as far as my Hashimoto's Thyroiditis goes. I'd been having a lot of digestive distress and pain last fall, and before I found out that it was reproductive, I decided to give up gluten just in case I'd become sensitive. I had no idea that folks with autoimmune diseases like mine tend to benefit from giving up gluten.

Prior to the change, it seemed like each doctor's appointment (3x per year), my prescription needed to be increased to get my thyroid numbers right, and I was symptomatic. Since the change, all of my blood levels have been great!

All that to say, my plates have altered once again, and I'm beginning to re-make my recipes gluten free. The first is my Vegan Blueberry Apricot Cobbler.

Vegan Blueberry Apricot Cobbler (Originally posted here.)

Yields 12 servings (or 10 large servings)

Ingredients

Filling
5 cups fresh apricots, pre-pitted and sliced
4 cups fresh blueberries
2/3 cup agave nectar
Pinch of salt
3 tablespoons Gluten-Free all-purpose flour (not the beany kind)

Topping
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used vanilla unsweetened almond milk for mine)
1/2 cup almond meal
1 1/2 cup Gluten-Free all-purpose flour (not the beany kind)
 2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (makes all the difference)
1/2 teaspoon Pensey's baking spice (or cinnamon, if you don't have it, but you might want to consider ordering some because it's really great stuff, and they don't pay me to say that)
5 tablespoons agave nectar or maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons good, fruity olive oil (or experiment with another good oil you enjoy)

Directions

1. Lightly oil a glass 9x13x2 in. baking dish.
2. For the filling, gently mix together the fruit, agave nectar, flour, and salt in a large bowl and let rest.
3. For the topping, in a separate bowl, combine the apple cider vinegar and non-dairy milk.
4. In a large bowl, mix the almond meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the spices.
5. Add to the vinegar/milk mixture the remaining agave nectar, vanilla, and olive oil. Give it at least a minute of whisking.
6. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry mixture and combine until just mixed.
7. Give the fruit filling one more stir before pouring it into the prepared baking dish.
8. Scoop the topping on top of the filling.
9. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F while the topping rises. It won't rise a lot, but it will poof up a bit.
10. Bake the cobbler for 40 minutes, then check to see if it isn't getting too brown on top. You're looking for a nice golden brown. The filling should be good and bubbly.
11. Cool on a wire rack for about 20 minutes before serving. It's best warm, but just as good from the fridge 4 days later.

The cobbler will keep at room temperature for 3 days. After that, if there is any left, and my guess is that there won't be, keep it refrigerated until it's gone.