Michel's Spa Muffins

Well its finally Friday and today I am off to Dallas for some appointments as well as visits to a few specialty stores.  After that indulgence on Wednesday, I decided I would turn to something a bit more on the healthy side.

The particular recipe comes from a chef at spa located north of San Diego called Cal-a-Vie and found in the RSVP section of Bon Appetit.  The muffins are a good example of some of the healthy cuisine that this place has.  I have been looking around at the spa's website.

If you glance at the ingredient list below, you will realize that they are packed with all that a person needs to get going in the morning and to stay satisfied until lunch.  The muffins really do have some great textures and flavors.   A few things that you really will not miss with these is the butter, eggs and sugar.

I am particular about "healthy" muffins and too much grain or bran can really be a turn off.  However, this muffin does have a good balance, so it will be added to the healthy favorites here.  Also, they are a cinch to make, which is even more of a motivator to pull this recipe out.  This recipe makes about 14-16 muffins.

Michel's Spa Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit, prior to 2005

Ingredients
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs vegetable oil
2/3 cup plain non fat yogurt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 tbs lemon zest
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 cup shredded bran cereal (I used all bran)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare your pans according to your preference.  You can grease the top edges and line, grease the whole cavity or use a non stick pan.

Boil about 1 1/2 cups of water and place raisins or dried cranberries in a bowl and pour over the top.  Let sit to soften for about 15 minutes.  Then drain and use a paper towel to pat dry.  Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Stir in the bran and sesame seeds.  Form a well in the middle of the dry mixture.

Then take out a smaller bowl and mix together the first eight ingredients listed above.  Pour this mixture into the well of the dry mix.  Fold together until no more dry streaks remain.

Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill muffin cavities with batter.  Place pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  Baking time is about 18-20 minutes.  Remove and let cool for one minute then transfer to rack to finish cooling.  These can be served warm or at room temperature.

Tips and Notes:
1.  I found that these do stick to the liners, so when baking you may want to opt not to use liners.
2. The batter does not rise like cake batter would, so you can fill the cavities full.
3. I mashed my banana but I think it would be better distributed throughout the muffins if the banana was pureed.
                         **LAST YEAR: Amaretto Choc Chip Bundt Cake**

Celebrity Factor Cookies

There are actually two main factors that celebrities have to deal with when it comes to the public.  One is all the people that adore or love them.  The other is the people that want to be them.  These cookies are about those two factors.  They have cranberries for the love and pistachios for the green with envy!

Yes, today I have taken a trip away from chocolate to bring you something a little bit different.  As I explained before, I am not a big fan of raisins, but if it is to be dried fruit give me cranberries, pineapple or dates!  Cranberries was also chosen since we are on the eve of Valentine's.

Outside of the two factors, this cakey cookie offers hints of cinnamon and orange. The end result is one tasty cookie.  Delicious with a healthy slant.  I said no to thoughts of drizzling with white chocolate.  So here you have it, healthy bits in this cookie and no chocolate.  This recipe makes about 4 dozen cookies.

Celebrity Factor Cookies
by flourtrader

Ingredients
1/3 cup plus 2 tbs orange juice
1 cup (2 sticks) butter at room temp
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp grated orange peel
3/4 cup chopped unsalted pistachios
2 cups dried sweetened cranberries
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda

Prepare cranberries by soaking in orange juice for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Also, butter 3 cookie sheets.

Sift together salt, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder in a medium size bowl.  Set aside. In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth.  Add egg, orange zest and vanilla extract to the butter sugar mixture.  Beat for about 2 minutes until all is blended and evenly distributed.

Fold in the sifted ingredients with a wooden spoon.  Once there are no dry streaks remaining, stir in the cranberries as well as the orange juice that they soaked in.  Lastly, add the pistachios and mix until evenly distributed.

Then cover and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.  My butter was real soft, so I let the cookie batter cool for about 30 minutes to firm up.  While the batter is chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove batter from fridge.  Using a spoon or cookie scoop, drop batter by rounded teaspoon onto cookie sheet.  Cookies should be spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart.  Place cookies in oven and bake until outside edges have turned golden, about 10-15 minutes.  Mine took about 12 minutes.  Remove cookie sheet and let cookies cool on sheet about 5 minutes.  Then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

Crimson Squares

I am sure that you are looking at this picture and thinking this is just another fruit crumble recipe.  Well, I have to say it does have all the makings of a fruit crumble, however, there is a little extra layer of flavor that adds a zing to these.

Don't get me wrong, fruit crumbles are good as they are, but like many foodies I wanted to make them better. After tasting the final dish, I can say that the flavors are really made for each other.   Maybe the flavor addition is not a new thing. However, the manner in which it is incorporated into these bars allows it to stand out and compliment the flavor of the fruit.

I was so pleased with this dish that I have decided to bring it to a pot luck luncheon.  Last time they had a luncheon there were only a few "store bought" desserts, so I am sure this will be a welcome treat.

Now, read on to find out what that extra layer is.


Crimson Squares
by flourtrader

Ingredients/Base & Topping
1/4 plus 2 tbs butter (cold & cut into cubes)
3/4 cup of flour
1/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup regular oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
3.5 oz almond paste (1/2 of standard 7 oz package)
1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients/Filling
1 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp of cornstarch 

Grease an 8X8 pan and line the bottom and 2 sides with parchment paper, letting excess paper hang over the two sides.  Then preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan mix all the filling ingredients together and place over medium high heat.  Stirring constantly, let the mixture come to a boil.  Turn down to a simmer and cover pan.  Let the mixture cook about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. As it cooks, the filling will become thicker and the cranberries will pop.  This should take about 10-15 minutes.  If any cranberries remained intact after the cooking time, take a spoon and mash them.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Sift together the flour and salt in a bowl.  Whisk in the brown sugar, oats and almonds. Toss the butter cubes in the bowl.  Cut the butter into the dry mixture using a pastry blender or fork, until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Measure out 1 cup and set aside.

Empty the bowl of the remaining crumb mixture into the prepared pan.  Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom of the pan.   Then take the almond paste and place it between two sheets of waxed paper.  Pat it into a disk, then use a rolling pin to flatten it out.  It will need to be rolled into a square that fits into the 8X8 pan.  Using a methods of rolling, tearing off pieces and patching, the paste should come very close to the desired size.

Remove top layer of wax paper and wrap paste around rolling pin. Unroll paste from rolling pin and place over the crumb layer in the pan.  Then drop spoonfuls of the filling onto the almond paste layer and smooth with a knife until evenly distributed.  Lastly, take the reserved cup of the crumbs and sprinkle evenly over the filling.  Lastly, lightly pat the crumbs into the filling.

Place pan in oven and bake until the top crumbs reach a golden brown color.  This should take about 20-30 minutes. Remove pan and place on rack.  Let cool completely and then run a knife along the sides that were not lined with parchment paper.  Remove from pan by lifting the parchment over hang on the two sides.  It is now ready to cut and serve.