question about muffins and breakfast breads

[alice2002]

I am just wondering what everyone else is doing about breakfast. Eggs are easy, but I get tired of them. When I think of a banana bread, or some kind of muffin or coffee cake, they're usually filled with sugar...so does everyone avoid those and save it for S days? Thanks! I figured pancakes were easy to figure out, due to the syrup.

[vmsurbat]

When I found NoS, I was already feeding my family muffins and breads as part of our normal breakfast. I didn't change that at all with following NoS.

However, I do feel it is important to note that we eat homemade muffins and breads, following older recipes (my youngest of five is off to college, to give you an idea of how old my bridal shower cookbooks are....)

In my older Joy of Cooking, a muffin recipe contains 1/4-1/3c sugar per batch. My older Better Homes and Garden recipe calls for 1/3-1/2c sugar per batch. My modern day Fine Cooking muffin recipes call for almost twice the flour (3+cups) and more than twice the sugar (1 1/4 c.) for 12 muffins. I consider those dessert! Even recipes from healthy sites (like EatingWell--which develops a lot of recipes I do like) have way too much sugar for our tastes. My general rule is to bake muffins using up to 1/3 c. added sugar--that works out to an average 2tsp added sugar/muffin, ie. not too sweet....

Also, pancakes are really good with fruit-based sauces (eg. apple butter, blueberry sauce, sauteed peaches, etc) so you may not need to cross those off your list just yet.....

But, if I had to rely on Costco muffins (for example), I'd consider those an S-day treat.

FWIW,

[alice2002]

Yes, I was talking about homemade muffins. Maybe I can cut the sugar some...and be ok with eating those on N days. Thanks!
And cereal? I've been on a kind of low carb diet, but I LOVE cereal...so I'm not sure what to do about that either. I don't want to be too strict, and then give up!

[wosnes]

I also continue to serve muffins and quick breads occasionally on N days. I sometimes divide the amount of sugar by the number of servings. If it comes out to a tablespoon or less, I think it's okay for an N day. My rationale is that people who add sugar to their coffee or tea can easily have that much (or more) legally in a day.

Another thing about those older recipes: they often have more servings per batch than newer recipes. I also don't make "jumbo" muffins, they're all regular size.

Regarding pancakes, waffles, and french toast: I sometimes have them on weekdays and often use syrup on them. However, as much as I like syrup, I don't use a lot on pancakes, etc. Sometimes I eat them like a friend taught me -- buttered and sprinkled with granulated sugar. I've found that I use less than a half-teaspoon per pancake, so I don't worry about it.

[GraceW]

I alternate between eggs and steel cut oatmeal with dried fruit and for breakfast. I treat muffins, waffles, pancakes, and even juice and sweetened yogurt as S foods, but that's my personal choice. I purposely set a low "sweet" threshold to keep my sweet tooth under control.

[heatherhikes]

Very good advice, ladies!

Myself, I like to put some variety into my breakfast/brunch with mueslis, choosing different type flakes, fruit, dried fruit, nuts, ground flax seeds, cinnamon, yoghurt and milk. So, when I do have muesli, I seldom get bored.

I've found delicious ways to eat eggs -- with white beans, cherry tomatoes and garlic; with Schwarzwurzeln (black roots?) and light gravy; wrapped with salsa and herbed Philly in tortillas; fried with mushrooms, onions and garlic.
I have to admit, some of these take a little time to cook. Usually eating breakfasts late, I call them brunches.
________
hh

[jw]

Schwarzwurzeln are called salsify -- quite a rare veggie in US supermarkets. I eat eggs for breakfast every day -- I also like to prepare them with lots of different veg, Heather! -- and I save muffins/pancakes/quick breads for S days.

[Cassie]

Personally I wouldn't include muffins, pancakes, french toast and the likes on N days, but that's just me & I've learnt this over the years. I might sometimes have something like that for breakfast on a weekend, as a treat with my son. But not on N Days as I consider this sort of food sugary.

But each person has to make their own choices & distinctions about what 'sugary' means or doesn't.... and yes, much of it depends on how much sugar you add to your muffins when you bake them.

[Blithe Morning]

I will eat homemade quick breads on N days since when the bananas are ripe, they are ripe.

I will also eat muffins for breakfast when I'm traveling. Sometimes it's the only palatable option.

[oolala53]

On N days, I'd be more likely to have oatmeal, other grains, whole grain bread with nut butters, or plain yogurt with fruit than muffins or banana bread. I actually rarely eat them, as I like the total experience of other foods better.

But I also might have lunch/dinner leftovers or even soup, if I was really hungry. I've come to prefer savory foods at my meals.

[Healthiermum]

I have pancakes on n days but i don't put any sugar on them or in them I just top them with banana and sometimes use rice syrup which the only ingredient is organic brown rice so I wouldn't consider that a sweet. Most days though I have either oatmeal or eggs it rare that I will have pancakes but I don't rule them out. Muffins though I would consider an s

[leafy_greens]

It depends on the type of bread or muffin. I would call a homemade corn muffin or cornbread (or similar, nonsugary flavor) ok on N days. I would save any kind of store-bought, bakery-made or coffeeshop muffin for S days only.

I eat a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, 1-2 N days a week, because I'm on the go and can't have a sit down breakfast those days.

[Flor]

In my older Joy of Cooking, a muffin recipe contains 1/4-1/3c sugar per batch. My older Better Homes and Garden recipe calls for 1/3-1/2c sugar per batch. My modern day Fine Cooking muffin recipes call for almost twice the flour (3+cups) and more than twice the sugar (1 1/4 c.) for 12 muffins. I consider those dessert! Even recipes from healthy sites (like EatingWell--which develops a lot of recipes I do like) have way too much sugar for our tastes. My general rule is to bake muffins using up to 1/3 c. added sugar--that works out to an average 2tsp added sugar/muffin, ie. not too sweet....

I know this thread is a couple of months old, but I have a question regarding this particular comment:

How do you account for the moisture added by sugar when you reduce it? I've tried just halving the amount of sugar in recipes, but the end result tends to be rather dry. I've read about replacing up to half the sugar with something like applesauce or date purée, but I kind of feel like that's "cheating", in that it's not actually reducing the sweetness of the food. Do you just add more liquid? Or do you not consider fruit to "count"?

This is my big issue as far as Sweets are concerned because, as someone else in this thread said, when bananas are ripe, they're ripe, and I'm not chucking out brown-speckled bananas just because it's an N-day.

[oolala53]

Bananas are always N day foods- unless they're dipped in chocolate.

[noni]

You may need to look for a whole new recipe using less sugar. You can google it or use an old basic Betty Crocker recipe. This makes 12 muffins.

1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup veg. oil
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar (sometimes I put 1/3 cup sugar if eating them plain)
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease bottoms of 12 medium muffin cups. Beat egg; stir in mild and oil. Mix in remaining ingredients just until flour is moistened. Lumps will be present.
Fill cups 2/3 full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden on top. Remove immediately from pan.

You know what? I'm getting hungry for muffins. But I think I'll substitute coconut oil for the veg. oil. I'm into tropical flavor right now...brrr.

[Flor]

Ooh, thanks for the recipe, noni! It looks like a nice, simple recipe that you could probably add chopped fruit to without any bother (for me using up fruit is practically the raison d'être of muffins ).

I think maybe I should look for older recipe books, either public domain ones online or at the library; my experience with modern recipes tends to be either the high-sugar variety or low-carb/clean-eating/diet ones that either call for lots of expensive ingredients (I'm a student; I'm not replacing flour, at roughly £1 a kilo, with ground almonds) or, well, taste like diet food.

[vmsurbat]

I also just use a basic recipe that I love and modify to fit different flavor profiles.

I'll give the recipe and an idea of how I vary it. Original recipe is from The Book of Yogurt by Sonia Uvezian.

Basic recipe:

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar (I put in scant measure if I'm adding a sweet fruit like bananas or grated apple)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (orig. recipe calls for 1/2 tsp)

1 egg
1 cup plain yogurt (could be buttermilk or homemade sour milk. I live in Europe and we have great yogurt--hence the Book of Yogurt Cookbook)
4 Tbsp. (1/4 c). melted butter

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together. Add wet to dry and stir just til moistened.

Spoon into 12 well-greased muffin cups (I spray with Pam) and bake in a 400F oven for 25 minutes.

Variations given in book, adding dry to dry, wet to wet before mixing:
Blueberry--add 1 cup blueberries, pinch of lemon zest
Apple: 1/2 tsp cinnamon to flour, pinch nutmeg, and 1/2c peeled,chopped(or grated) apple.
Banana: 3/4 c. mashed banana (I made these today and used 2 small-med)
Cheese: Omit sugar and 1;/2-2/3 c. grated sharp Cheddar to dry.
Etc.

I've come across other delicious sounding recipes on the web and just add the defining flavour ingredients to this recipe. For example:

Poppyseed muffins: 1 T. poppyseed, 1 tsp. grated citrus zest
Lemon-Raspberry: zest of one lemon, 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, 1 c. raspberries.

Now for a recipe like one I found in Cooking Light (Pumpkin Cranberry) that used a lot of pumpkin to replace the yogurt/buttermilk and 1 1/4c. sugar, I cut the sugar, and generally add a bit more moisture via extra pumpkin and yogurt. Not an equivalent amount, but 1/8-1.4 c. more. And I write my variations right in my cookbooks so I don't have to rethink this every time once I've found the target amount.

Lastly, when I make muffins to share with others (and I do this A LOT), I like to add a simple, modest streusel topping, because it really finishes off the muffin. This is the perfect amount for 12 muffins.

Perfect Streusel for 12 Muffins:

2 T. sugar (brown, white, or mix)--This only adds 1/2 tsp. sugar/muffin
4 tsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. chopped nuts of choice.

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Stir in nuts. Sprinkle over batter before baking 12 muffins. Compare this to the first Streusel Topping recipe that popped up on Google calling for 1/2 c. flour, 1/4 c. sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and spices for 12 muffins.......

[Flor]

Thanks for the reply, vmsurbat.

From what you've said, it looks like yogurt or any kind of mashed/puréed fruit more than compensates for the moisture otherwise provided by sugar. That makes it easier to experiment, at least for me; I much prefer overly-moist muffins than overly-dry ones.

[KatyLamb]

According to the NoSdiet page, a sweet is something where the majority of calories come from sugar. This is typically not true of muffins, where most of the calories come from flour. There are about 380 calories in a 1/2 cup of sugar and about 682 in 1 1/2 cups white flour (typical ratio for muffins)Therefore, muffins shouldn't have to be counted as a sweet.

[harpista]

If you have, or have access to, the Tightwad Gazette book by Amy Dacyzyn, there are master recipes for muffins, quiche and casseroles, and if I recall maybe other things too.

I have used the master recipe with great success and whatever baking oddments I had on hand, very useful.

If you like I will post tomorrow as I'm commenting from bed!