Ah, January. The time of diets and snowstorms here. While I'm aiming to lose that stubborn 10 pounds I've been trying to shed, most of my crankiness had to do with not eating well. Without the farmer's market open, I've strayed far from the healthy greens I should've been eating. So, beginning on Sunday, I loaded up with kale and brocolli, pasta, lean chicken and turkey - and a small package of thick-cut bacon to use sparingly.
While I don't eat many sweets, I do like a little splurge once in a while, and these low fat muffins fit the bill. I usually make them with low-fat buttermilk, but today I used a carton of low-fat lemon yogurt. Wowser - good idea! It kicked the lemony flavor up by about a 100%, so I will definitely be using the yogurt again. PS/ I don't use fake sweetener - ever. I use so little sugar in my daily life, I figure it's okay to stick with the inexpensive white sugar once in a while. I also noticed the cups of yogurt have shrunk from 8 oz. to 6 oz., so I added a little buttermilk.
To make:
1 large egg
1 t. vanilla
1.4 c. canola oil
1.4 c. canola oil
1 cup lowfat lemon yogurt
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1-2 t. lemon zest
2 cups King Arthur flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
The drizzle: fresh lemon juice and confectioner's sugar mixed to a thick, drizzable icing.
Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease a 12 cup muffin tin well ( this makes 8 muffins)
In mixer bowl, beat the egg, vanilla, canola, lemon zest, yogurt and buttermilk until smooth
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into the muffin tin, using one scoop per muffin.
Bake for around 25 minutes, remove, and cool, then remove muffins and let cool completely on a cooling rack ( otherwise the lemon glaze will melt and look really ugly)
Make up the drizzle and , using a fork, drizzle the icing back and forth on each muffin.
Enjoy!
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What I'm reading: Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder:
the story of Dr. Paul Farmer and his clinic in Haiti. Stunning.
do you think this would be ok with lemon extract instead of vanilla and plain yogurt instead of lemon? these sound so great but i don't want to go shopping until sunday!
ReplyDeletelove your recipes, btw. :)
These look quite tasty - especially with the glaze!
ReplyDeleteKaren, I think a restrained hand with lemon extract would work - and you can use plain yogurt, buttermilk, or sour milk - all work just fine. I haven't ever used lemon extract, but I do remember it being quite strong, so I would be careful. Glad you enjoyed!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chefs! I don't know why, but these muffins, with their puckery tang and pretty drizzles, seem a little like party food to me - yum, yum!
ReplyDeleteHi Katrina~ these look delicious and I love lemon flavor (I think I've mentioned that before. sorry I'm so redundant!) and low-fat is a good thing,too. Guess I'll go bake.
ReplyDeleteI've made banana bread (from the King Arthur cookbook) and that recipe gives you a choice of yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk and they have all worked really well - so, whatever you have on hand should be good.
Barb - I think we have a little lemon-loving group here, so rave on: I actually prefer lemon over chocolate (gasp). And I should look for that banana bread recipe -thank you! All those liquids you mentioned; buttermilk, sour cream,yogurt ( and sour milk or milk with vinegar) do the trick because the acids interact with the baking soda/powder - so you're good to go with any of them. Thanks - and have a terrific weekend!
ReplyDeletePage 80 from The KA Flour Baker's companion The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook - Yummmmm!
ReplyDeleteOh, shoot, Barb. The library's closed - I still haven't bought my own copy! Monday.
ReplyDelete