You Asked...

for the recipes from my baking spree at the beginning of the week. Here they are:

Strawberry Muffins straight from the oven

I found this recipe in the July/August 2009 issue of Body & Soul Magazine. The muffins are pretty. I thought they were a little bland. Mr. Dragon likes them. The recipe makes 12 and there are 6 left, so I guess we both like them. I'm still thinking about how I can tweak the recipe to add a little more flavor. Also, I did bake these 17 minutes and tested with a toothpick, but could have baked them a little longer.

Strawberry Muffins

Makes 12
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
12 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup light olive oil or vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup mufin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a glass 2 quart measuring cup or a medium bowl combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to combine.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

Per serving: 152 calories.

Banana Bread cooling

This recipe is a definite keeper. I believe it came from a Splenda email. After all these years of eating too much sugar, we really are trying to cut back and Splenda is wonderful. Taste and texture of this banana bread was wonderful, too.

Nutty Banana Bread

Ingredients

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas
1 cup Splenda, Granulated
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F ( 165 degrees C). Spray one 9x5 inch loaf pan with non-stick spray coating.

In a large bowl, blend together the eggs, buttermilk, applesauce, and bananas. Sift together the Splenda, flour, baking soda, and salt; mix into banana mixture. Stir in pecans. Spread batter into prepared pan.

Bake 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Serves 12
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Calories per serving 150

Enjoy!