What's a muffin?

[Merry]

Sweet? Borderline? Ok for N day?

Merry

[la_loser]

According to Reinhard (and copied from the No S info about the diet) he answers the question: What do you mean by "sweets"? His reply. . .

I mean something whose principal source of calories is sugar. Go ahead and put sugar in your coffee or oatmeal; you have my blessing. Of course fruits are fine.

I wouldn't worry too much about borderline foods like yoghurt and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. If these are a problem for you, i.e., you eat them every day and lay it on thick, then make them esses. If not, don't. Just by targeting the really egregious offenders you'll be cutting out a lot of calories. And you'll be that much more likely to stick with the plan. If you're like most first worlders, it's a little revolting to think how much unambiguously crappy food you consume. So forget the borderline cases, the clear cut cases are 80% of the problem and 0% of the headache.

Do you know how many pounds of sugar the average American ingests each year? According to the USDA's Economic Research Service, 105 pounds (2001). That's about 20% of total calories. You could make a snowman out of that. That's less than 2 years till you've eaten your body weight in sugar. If you're a real whopper, chances are you eat even more sugar than that, so I figure it works out about the same.

Somewhere else it's written, I think, that if you'd consider it a dessert, it's a sweet. I'm guessing there might be a difference between a healthy normal sized whole wheat raisin bran muffin and one of those huge sugary creations that look like a four inch cake. . . If you're not sure, just save it for an S day and really enjoy it without overthinking it!

I'm sure others will "weigh" in with their takes as well.

[ThomsonsPier]

I'd call it a sweet if you speak of the ohsoverytasty cakey things that look like big, delicious mushrooms (which I assume you do). I have one in the fridge that my other (significant) didn't want and which I shall consume merrily on Saturday.

If, on the other hand, you're thinking of a proper muffin, like we have in England (you colonial folk, corrupting our healthy breakfast words into sugar-laden monstrosities), it's not a sweet; it's bread.

[howfunisthat]

I'd call it a sweet if you speak of the ohsoverytasty cakey things that look like big, delicious mushrooms (which I assume you do). I have one in the fridge that my other (significant) didn't want and which I shall consume merrily on Saturday.

If, on the other hand, you're thinking of a proper muffin, like we have in England (you colonial folk, corrupting our healthy breakfast words into sugar-laden monstrosities), it's not a sweet; it's bread.

...that was perfect!

janie

[SassyInkPen]

For me, the dividing line would be the ingredients of the muffin.

Is it a double chocolate luxury muffin filled with creme and studded with chocolate chips?

Or is it a hearty bran muffin with shredded carrot?


Also - what are you eating it with? (this is how *I* would decide). A blueberry muffin with eggs or oatmeal would be fine to me....but with a pile of bacon, probably too much.


Sassy

[gratefuldeb67]

There is so much added sugar in muffins that it is very similar to eating a donut or a stack of cookies.. Yes it might have a lot of healthy stuff in it too, like the aforementioned bran and carrots, but unless you are making it yourself and sweetening it with fruit juice or applesauce, I'm willing to venture a guess it's got quite a lot of sugar..
So my call is that it's an S.

[Merry]

Thanks for all the responses.

Actually, I wasn't thinking about those decadent giant mushroom muffins you can buy out--those are definitely "S" material to me!

I was thinking about a homemade ww muffin made in a regular muffin tin, little or no "muffin top," but the recipe is I think 3 cups ww flour & 1 cup pumpkin to 1 cup sugar. So for main ingredients, about a 4 to 1 ratio (I guess it has 3/4 cup milk too). Definitely "sweet," but maybe borderline, I wasn't sure. I didn't eat any on "n" days this time because I had choc. chips in them too, but I thought about making them again w/o. Sometimes I mess with the recipe & make it 1/2 sugar, 1/2 molasses. I also usually half the oil & use applesauce instead, or extra pumpkin.

I know, I'm picking this apart too much, just curious what others might think!

Merry

[vmsurbat]

We eat homemade muffins often for breakfast. I wouldn't consider your homemade muffins a sweet for the following reasons. Pumpkin muffins have more *added* sugar than many other kinds of muffins because pumpkin itself is not very sweet, unlike muffins made from apples or bananas or raisins (for example). In fruit muffins, the fruit is adding a fair bit of sweetness (and sugar grams).

In your example, I am guessing the recipe is going to make 24 muffins or so. That works out to less than a Tablespoon of sugar per muffin. (16 T/cup). That is an amount that many people put in their coffee!

Lastly, pumpkin muffins can be full of *good* things. I sometimes put in less oil, too, and I often add a T or so of soy flour and/or wheat germ and/or ground flax seed--all of which greatly enrich the muffin with no noticeable difference in taste and texture.

Again, I would have no qualm about enjoying the muffins on an N day.

HTH,

[SassyInkPen]

Pumpkin muffins made with WW flour? YUM! They sound pretty healthy to me, as well as satisfying.

Now I want the recipe! Will you share?



Sassy

[gratefuldeb67]

Sounds yummy!
Okay thought you were talking about commercially made muffins at a donut place or supermarket.
Good for you on making your own. You can make them delicious and healthy!:)
I'll take ten

[Merry]

Pumpkin muffins made with WW flour? YUM! They sound pretty healthy to me, as well as satisfying.

Now I want the recipe! Will you share?

Sassy

LOL, well, I just adapted the "quick pumpkin bread" recipe from the Joy of Cooking. I was wrong on the flour to sugar ratio though--but I made the recipe X 5 last time, so that's why I didn't remember! Maybe these really ARE "S" day goods! You could play with less sugar. Anyway, here it is:

Sift togther:
1 3/4 cup sifted flour (I use all ww)
1/4 t. baking powder
1 t. soda
1 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. cloves

In a large bowl, beat until light & fluffy:
1 1/3 c. sugar (sometimes I use 1/2 c. sugar or honey & 1/2 c. molasses. obviously this will make them much denser).
1/3 c. shortening (I use applesauce for half)
2 eggs

Add & beat in:
1 c. cooked/canned pumpkin

Then add sifted dry ingrediants in 3 additions alternately with: 1/2 c. water or mil, 1/2 t. vanilla

Optional: 1/2 c. nuts, 1/3 c. raisins or dates.

Pour into greased 9X5 pan & bake at 350 for about an hour (check 10 min. early). For muffins (12), I bake for 20 min.

Merry