These muffins get their dark color from the whole wheat flour and molasses. They are full of peach and apricot flavor, which also ends them a lot of sweetness. I love the texture the dried apricots add, but feel free to substitute dried mango, pineapple, or another fruit.
Peach Apricot Muffins
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup chopped dried apricot
1 1/4 cups peach juice (100% juice, not cocktail; peach mango works as well)
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
Preheat oven to 375◦F. Grease or line twelve muffin cups.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir in the apricot. Make a well in the center.
Beat together the remaining ingredients and add to the well. Stir until moistened. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Banana Split Pancake
1 large banana
1/4 cup milk of choice
1-2 Tablespoons honey or syrup
1 peach, diced
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
yogurt of choice
nut butter or syrup of choice
Heat a small greased frying pan over medium heat.
Mash half of the banana. In a small bowl, mix together the mashed banana, milk, honey, and half of the peach. Stir in the dry ingredients. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Cook for a few minutes per side until golden.
Cut the pancake in half. Place the halves in a shallow bowl and place the remaining banana half in the middle. Place a scoop of yogurt (I used plain Greek) on either side of the banana. Scatter the remaining peach over top, and drizzle with a nut butter, honey, jam, syrup, or chocolate syrup.
This is a breakfast pancake recipe I came up with, that is slightly reminiscent of a banana split. Tailor the flavors to what you like.
Anyone for some fresh summer flavors combined in a bowl of oatmeal? Throw in one fresh peach, diced into small pieces into a bowl with 1/3 cup oats and 2/3 cup water. Add a pinch each of cinnamon and ginger and a little flax if you wish. Cook in the microwave for about four minutes on medium (50%) power - being sure to stir halfway through. Top with some fresh sliced strawberries, and some nuts for a little extra protein and crunch.
The fun begins! Time for foods that consist largely of purées and do not involve any chewing. Liquids are the best for this, as you can simply drink them, but thicker smoothies you can eat with a spoon work well too. I like smoothies, but I don't tend to drink them a lot, because usually when I drink them, I drink them out of necessity as in not being able to eat anything else, so that makes smoothies somewhat unappealing to me during good times.
Peach Almond Smoothie
frozen peach slices
plain Greek yogurt
wheat germ (optional)
almond butter
almond milk
Blend all ingredients together in a blender to desired smoothness. Add some cinnamon, honey, maple syrup, or whatever else as desired. Amounts depend on how many servings you would like to make, and how thin or how peachy you would like your drink to be.
I used approximately 1/2 cup peaches, 1/4 cup yogurt, 1 Tablespoon wheat germ, 1 Tablespoon almond butter, and 1/2 cup almond milk.
This is a recipe I found and revised. I had a container of cherry yogurt in the fridge that I did not really like. There was nothing wrong with it, just not the type I like and am use to. I certainly did not want to waste it, so I found a recipe that actually called for a large amount of cherry yogurt. Then I changed around the rest of the recipe to match the ingredients I had. The original recipe did not call for peaches, but I think they pair well with the cherry flavor. The cherry yogurt I used was a very thick, Greek fruit on the bottom yogurt, so I made sure it was well stirred before using. It added a few chunks of real cherry and it also had quite a bit of sugar, which made the muffins fairly sweet. The yogurt also made the muffins nice and moist, even though the batter seemed fairly dry and thick as I was mixing it. It was not nearly as liquidy as most muffin batters, and I was thinking of adding a splash of milk, because the recipe does not call for a liquid besides eggs and yogurt. The muffins did not need it though, the yogurt is sufficient liquid to bind the ingredients together. I got 15 large muffins out of this batch, and they rose quite nicely!
Cherry Peach Muffins
1/4 cup butter or hard margarine, softened
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
1 1/2 cups cherry yogurt
2 1/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup peeled, chopped fresh peaches (2 medium)
Preheat oven to 375◦F. Line muffin cups with paper liners or grease them.
In a medium bowl, beat the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs, then extract and yogurt. In a separate large bowl, stir the next four ingredients together, make a well. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry and stir until just moistened. Stir in the peaches. Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until muffins are well risen, firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Well, it is rhubarb season, and since we have a little patch of it in our backyard that was ready for picking, I decided to bake with it. Actually, our rhubarb patch seems to be pretty sparse this year, and since we didn't have very much, that's why I added peach to the recipe. The original recipe only called for rhubarb, but I have heard that peach and rhubarb are a great combination. Rhubarb and strawberry would have also been delicious, and is a more common combination, but I didn't have any strawberries and I did have a basket of perfectly ripe peaches. I found this recipe idea in a local newspaper, though I didn't really follow the recipe that closely at all, just for the general idea of it. It is called rhubarb shortbread, which immediately makes me think of shortbread cookies or traditional scotch shortbread. This is a bit different though, it is more like a crumble, but it contains a nice amount of butter and no oats. It is made with a shortbread crust, then the fruit filling, then the remaining shortbread crumbled on top. I used a pie pan to bake mine, which was the perfect size, and also cut it into nice wedges. I guess you could call this a cross between a crisp and a shortbread-based pie.
Rhubarb Peach Shortbread
1 cup fresh rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
granulated (white) sugar, for sprinkling
2-3 medium, ripe peaches
1 1/3 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
1/2 cup granulated (white) sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg, lightly beaten
additional ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
additional granulated (white) sugar, for sprinkling
Wash the rhubarb, drain, and sprinkle with sugar. The amount of sugar depends on your personal preferences and how tart your rhubarb is. Use your best judgement. Cover and set aside for a few hours or so to form juices. Wash, peel, and chop the peaches and add to the rhubarb.
Preheat oven to 350◦F. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate.
In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender (or a knife, two forks, or your fingers) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the egg, mixing lightly until dough begins to come together. Press 3/4 of the mixture into the prepared pan pan. Top with fruit, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Sprinkle remaining shortbread mixture over top. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, or until topping is golden.
This cuts well straight from the oven, better when slightly cooled, and even better when chilled. It also tastes great all three ways, and can be served alone or with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, or a dash of icing sugar.
