buttermilk Archives - Ari's Menu

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

August 28, 2013 · by Ari · 9 Comments

Big, tall, soft and fluffy blueberry buttermilk muffins topped with coarse sugar that will give those bakery muffins a run for their money!

I am out of just about every food imaginable at my house. Yesterday I had frozen enchiladas for breakfast, and today I started a fire in my microwave trying to spice up my oatmeal. Maybe I should explain. I really like drippy peanut butter (or almond, or whatev) on my oatmeal, and I’m completely out of all butters except for a 1 tablespoon packet of almond butter. You know? The kind you have to knead first and it never really gets drippy like the stuff from a jar? So I thought it would be brilliant to put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. It was not the first time I’ve ever made that type of mistake, but it was the first time anything has actually caught on fire.

I stared at in in disbelief for a moment, then I blew the fire out. It was mildly scary, and also a little funny. You know, one of those times where you’re really glad no one else is at home and has to see how dumb you are, but then you tell the entire internet, and the whole idea of any discrepancy is completely lost.

It’s funny. You go away for a weekend leaving the man in your house to his own devices, and you come home to find no new groceries, just lots of receipts from Chipotle. And somehow I can’t find the motivation to go grocery shop. Or make more muffins. Or get off the couch? Post adventure hangover is apparently still in play.

Basically, I wish these muffins had lasted more than 48 hours and magically withstood the 3 months that have now passed since I made them. I would eat the crap out of them, and I wouldn’t even have to burn the house down to do it.

I’d been eyeing my girl Sally’s blueberry muffins for a good long time, and been dyyyying to try to make some muffins as tall and beautiful as her’s, so one day I had some leftover blueberries in my fridge, and just decided they needed to happen already.

The result was the tallest, most gorgeous muffins I have ever seen come out of my oven! Sally uses extra baking powder and starts with a high oven temp which is the secret to these perfect muffin tops. So much better than my usual muffin top (#whatisgoingonwithmymuffintop)<–Inside joke from Hood to Coast just for you, Laurel. 😉

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 12 muffins

Serving Size: 1 muffin

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

Ingredients

3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 and 1/4 cup fresh blueberries (preferably organic)
coarse sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425. Spray muffin tin with nonstick spray, or line with paper liners. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until combined. Mix in buttermilk, applesauce and vanilla until well combined.
Gently, fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over mix. Gently fold in blueberries.
Evenly divide batter between 12 standard muffin tins. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with a nice pinch of coarse sugar. Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 and continue to bake for an other 17-20 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean (with just a few crumbs).
Let stand for 10 minutes, then serve or transfer to a wire rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container for 3-5 days.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

http://www.arismenu.com/blueberry-buttermilk-muffins/

Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean “Buttermilk” Muffins

February 6, 2013 · by Ari · 11 Comments

Soft and fluffy whole grain chai spiced muffins with fresh vanilla bean, made with vegan buttermilk. A perfect healthy treat for brunch, or a mid-afternoon snack.

I don’t eat a lot of muffins. I mean, I’ve never met a baked good I don’t like, but a muffin isn’t what I generally grab. I usually find them to be glorified cupcakes without the frosting, and really, why would you want a cupcake with no frosting???

Well, these muffins do not taste like a cupcake, and I love that. They taste like everything you could ever want in a breakfast: spicy chai, sweet vanilla and, of course, carbs. Yes, carbs have a taste. I would describe it as “amazing” or “perfection”.

I have a secret. These actually started out as cupcakes. You see, that’s much more my style, but as I frosted them with a sugary glaze, I just wasn’t in love. These flavors are bold, and the “cupcake” came out so perfectly soft and moist that I didn’t want to hide it. So I tried again. I took away some excess sugar, cut the frosting, and I discovered that muffins can actually be pretty spectacular.

They would pair perfectly with your breakfast protein of choice, or smeared with peanut butter as an afternoon snack, or dusted with some cinnamon and powdered sugar for dessert. They are incredibly versatile and at 89 calories a pop, why not enjoy??

You may have noticed my untraditional “buttermilk”. Well, it’s not only to make the recipe vegan (added bonus!), but honestly, every time I seem to buy buttermilk, it just sits in my fridge and then goes bad. Instead, I used a cup of Silk Pure Almond Vanilla with 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar. In addition to keeping the muffins vegan, using the Silk saved an extra 5 calories per muffin opposed to making homemade buttermilk with skim milk. Now, 5 may seem like nothing, but as my tagline says, I truly believe that “Little changes make a big difference”, and I promise that after you’ve gone through the entire batch (trust me, it’s inevitable), those 5 calories will add up!

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Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean “Buttermilk” Muffins

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 1 dozen

Serving Size: 1 muffin

Soft and fluffy whole grain chai spiced muffins with fresh vanilla bean, made with vegan buttermilk. A perfect healthy treat for brunch, or a mid-afternoon snack.

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 vanilla bean

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and spray lightly with nonstick spray. Set aside.
Measure out almond milk and add apple cider vinegar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and applesauce. Scrape out the center of vanilla bean and add to the mixture. Beat until combined. Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients to the sugar and apple sauce mixture in 3 additions beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
Divide batter evenly between lines muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

http://www.arismenu.com/chai-spiced-vanilla-bean-buttermilk-muffins/

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential LLC. All opinions are my own. To learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.

Buttermilk Cornbread Crusted Chicken Tenders

April 2, 2012 · by Ari · 8 Comments

Friends, here is the deal–I have eaten my fair share of fried chicken in my day. I used to be on a diet of fast food, chicken nuggets and french fries. With tons of ranch. It was delicious. So yeah, I’ve had enough fried foods to last a life time, so unless it’s a sweet potato fry, I really try my best to steer clear these days. At least I lived it up in my teenage years, right?

Well one thing I love about fried chicken is that it’s super easy to recreate in a healthy way. I feel you can make almost any food healthy, but some are definitely more challenging, and not the same as the original when it comes down to it. Has anyone mastered creme brulee? If so, we should become BFFs because I’d like to eat healthy creme brulee for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of my life. With calorie free ice cream for dessert. Let’s get to work on this people! Until then, I will get excited about other foods that usually cause heart attacks, but don’t when I make them. Like Buttermilk Cornbread Crusted Chicken Tenders.

Holy crispy chicken goodness! And you know what’s a million times better for you, and even better tasting than globs of ranch dressing? This maple mustard dipping sauce. I’ve started using this stuff on eeeevvvveerryything…salad, chicken, my spoon…

All served up with some delicious crispy kale chips. This dinner was a total hit! Last night was actually the second time I made it. I did a lot of really good cooking while Steve was away (guess I was trying to keep myself busy?) so now I’m trying to recreate it, so ~~I can make him spend many laborious hours photographing it~~ he can taste it too.

Buttermilk Cornbread Crusted Chicken Tenders

yield 10 servings

1 1/2 cups cornbread mix (use gluten-free is applicable)
2 egg whites
1/3 cup reduced fat buttermilk
3 lbs chicken breast
garlic pepper to taste

Yes. That’s seriously all you need. I love recipes like that!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Place a cooling rack inside a large baking sheet, then cover with aluminum foil (optional), and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Measure cornbread mix into a large bowl for coating.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites and buttermilk together. Add garlic pepper.
Slice chicken into strips.
Dip chicken into egg white/buttermilk mixture, then coat with cornbread mix and lay onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with all chicken tenders.
Bake for 15 minutes, flip and bake for an addition 15. Then broil for an additional 2 minutes to get a little extra crispiness.
Let stand for 2 minutes then serve with Maple Mustard Sauce.

Maple Mustard Sauce

yield approx 10 servings

1 1/2 cups nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1 tbs spicy brown mustard
1/2 tbs yellow mustard
3 tbs sugar free maple syrup
garlic pepper to taste

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together, then serve as a dipping sauce or dressing!

Gluten-Free Blueberry Marshmallow Buttermilk Cupcakes

March 20, 2012 · by Ari · 4 Comments

I have a confession. I really enjoy cooking for people on specific diets, especially baking. I love the challenge of having to create something differently, or giving someone something they can’t have all the time. My first experience with gluten free baking was a huge hit! My step dad even said they were the best cupcakes I’d ever made. Those were made with my lovely friend Carolyn in mind, but once I told my mom about them, she mentioned to me that she’s been trying to eat gluten-free as well. She hasn’t been diagnosed with any intolerance, but has found in overall improvement in how she feels since she made the switch, so when I went to create a recipe for Hank and Charlie’s birthdays, I wanted to make something she could eat too.

Marshmallows are pretty much Charlie’s favorite thing on Earth, so I created these babies, and oh my goodness. The fresh blueberries burst in your mouth, and the gooey marshmallows almost melt into the batter while baking. They were absolutely delicious. You know your special diet baking is good when everyone who doesn’t have to eat that way loves it too. All of the boys were super into them, and I think if I hadn’t told people they were gf and healthyish, no one really would have known.

Gluten-Free Blueberry Marshmallow Buttermilk Cupcakes

yield 24 cupcakes

1 cup raw cane sugar
1 cup Splenda (yes, some people are very opposed to Splenda–you can easily use Stevia, or more real sugar, but I just feel better cutting some of those sugar calories)
1 cup egg substitute
2 1/2 cups brown rice flour mix (see below)
dash salt
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup reduced fat buttermilk
1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
6 oz organic fresh blueberries
1/2 cup mini marshmallows (if you care about this sort of thing, you can find Kosher marshmallows @ Whole Foods!)

Brown rice flour mix:

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup sweet white sorghum flour
2/3 cup potato starch (not potato flour)
1/3 cup tapioca flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line 2 muffin tins with cupcake liners and lightly spray with nonstick spray.
Beat sugar, Splenda, and egg substitute at medium speed for approx 1 min. Add in all remaining ingredients, except blueberries and marshmallows, and beat at medium speed for 1 min.
Gently, fold in blueberries and marshmallows
Evenly divide the batter between your 24 lined cups. Each one should be about 2/3 full.
Bake for 18-20 min, until top springs back when you press lightly on the middle, or toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean.
Cool completely on wire rack, then frost with Marshmallow Cream Cheese Frosting.

Marshmallow Cream Cheese Frosting

yield enough for approx 4 dozen cupcakes

8 oz fat free cream cheese, softened
1 jar marshmallow cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat marshmallow cream and cream cheese together until well combined.
Slowly beat in powdered sugar, then beat in vanilla.
Chill for at least 1 hour, then frost and enjoy!

**Note: This frosting came out somewhere more between a glaze and a frosting. It’s not firm enough to make pretty shapes on your cupcakes, but a small spread on top definitely makes them more delicious, and it’s really all you need!**