100% Whole Wheat Muffins

It's been a while since I posted last, but it's not from lack of cooking!  Things have been pretty busy around here lately and probably getting a lot busier soon!  I didn't want you all to think I'd forgotten about you, so here is a new recipe I found and a couple of variations.

This one comes from King Arthur Flour and is just about as healthy a muffin as you can get, short of making it sugar-free.  I started originally with just the blueberry recipe and then decided to try apple cinnamon muffins as well.

The base recipe will stay the same, and here it is:

2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar (I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup organic sugar + 1 tbsp molasses)
1 tsp cinnamon (I omitted this in the blueberry version)
1-1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1-1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk + 1-1/2 tbsp lemon juice)
1/3 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup berries or diced apples (use pretty much whatever fruit you want, just make sure it's the size of blueberries)

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.  Grease or line 12 muffin cups.

Mix all ingredients together, just till combined, and pour into prepared muffin cups.  An ice cream scoop (1/4 cup) works pretty well for this.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Here are the blueberry ones...

...and the apple ones.

Both were equally scrumptious, though I am more partial to blueberry.  You can probably do these with just about any fruit and maybe even add some chopped nuts! 

No Knead Pizza Crust

I feel like I should call this the "Sara Harper Pizza Crust." It was inspired by a friend of mine who wants to cook, but like many people, she's a bit wary of yeast doughs. They can be a bit scary if you haven't done many of them or have had bad experiences with them.

I have definitely been there, but after lots and lots and lots of practice and errors, I've found that they are not so scary after all.

To introduce the yeast-phobic to the wonderful world of yeast doughs in a gentle manner, I took a basic no-knead bread recipe and tweaked it to become an easy pizza crust.

Without further ado, here it is!

You need:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 pkg yeast (2-1/4 tsp)
1-1/3 to 1-1/2 cups water

Put everything in a big bowl and mix till it's combined. It will be very sticky, but this is fine. Let it sit a few minutes for the gluten to relax.

Oil your pizza pan. Spread out your dough to the size you want, wetting your fingers to keep sticking to a minimum. Place in a warm oven (turn it to lowest setting for 1 minute, then turn off) for 15 minutes.

Take the crust out of the oven and preheat oven to 450. While you wait, brush crust with olive oil.

Bake crust for 8-9 minutes or until starting to brown slightly.

Brush crust with a bit more olive oil and sprinkle some salt around the edge. Top with your favorite toppings and bake an additional 9-10 minutes or until the doneness you prefer.