Sunday, November 11, 2012

Pumpkin Muffins



 
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
2 cups canned pumpkin
3/4 cup packed brown sugar, or less if you want it less sweet. I probably used half a cup.*
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup nuts (I had leftover pumpkin seeds and some chopped almonds)
1/2 milk or just enough to make a muffin like consistency

Directions
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2 Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger in a large bowl.
3 Whisk pumpkin, brown sugar (or Splenda), eggs, oil and chocolate chips in a second bowl until well combined. Stir the wet ingredients and raisins into the dry ingredients until no traces of dry ingredients remain.
4 Drop the batter by level tablespoonfuls onto a lightly greased baking sheet, spacing the cookies 1 1/2 inches apart.
5 Bake the cookies until firm to the touch and lightly golden on top, 10 to 12 minutes, switching the pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through. Cool and eat or freeze for later.
This recipe made 6 large muffins and 6 small ones. You could also make 12 medium ones but  I wanted different sizes.


This is virtually the same recipe I used for my diabetic pumpkin chocolate chip cookies the other day; except that I added milk, omitted the chocolate chips and added nuts.  The muffins looked good and tasted good but they were slightly on the dry side.  If you make these please  add another egg and more milk or possibly some yogurt to the recipe above. I'd love to know what you think about them too.

I haven't baked for a long time. Now I have enough healthy muffins and cookies to last me for the foreseeable future.

Saturday, November 10, 2012

November 11 @ 11 O'Clock

In Canada each year on November 11 at 11 o'clock, we remember the fallen soldiers. I think many countries have a similar Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.

Photo credit: Remembrance Day Canada


The poem below was written by John McCrae, a Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae


Skywatch Friday in Early January

We took a drive out to Langley City and Chilliwack at the weekend. I had to return an item I'd ordered on line and I wanted to try anoth...