sugar-free

Emily’s Healthy Muffin Recipe (the one I sell:)

Healthy Delicious Zucchini Banana Muffins

So here it is.  This is the recipe that I use to make muffins to sell.  These are healthy, delicious, dairy-free, sugar-free and lunchbox friendly.  They are super versatile as you can make the base and then add whatever flavourings you want.  You can easily make several different muffin types in one batch.

 

Wet mixture
Zucchini

 

In these muffins there is no sugar (unless you add the chocolate chips) no dairy (as long as you use dairy-free chocolate chips) and no nuts. They do contain plenty of fruit, whole grains, healthy fats and even a vegetable! Everyone in the family loves the berry and apple versions, but my daughter is a bit of a chocolate fiend, so I make some chocolate chip for everyone as well.

Chocolate
Apple

I like to make muffins that are on the smaller side to go into lunch boxes for my little people, so this recipe usually makes about 36 muffins. They freeze really well and can be pulled out when you are in a rush. I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine does!

Ingredients

Wet:

  • 2/3 cups melted coconut oil
  • 4 eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup maple syrup (the real stuff from Canada)
  • 3/4 cups apple sauce
  • 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups packed mashed ripe bananas (about 6 bananas)*
  • 1 grated zucchini (about 1.5 cups)

Dry:

  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 4 cups wholemeal flour

This makes the base.  Then you can add whatever flavourings you feel like.  Some ideas are:

  • 2 cups dark chocolate chips or chunks (I often cut up a Green & Black’s 70% organic dark chocolate bar)
  • 6 medium apples cut into small chunks
  • 2 cups mixed berries (I defrost some frozen ones)
  • 1 cup cacao powder

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius fan forced (380 degrees Fahrenheit). Grease muffin tray with coconut oil if necessary. I use a silicone tray that does not require it.
  2. Melt the coconut oil in a large bowl if it is solid. Beat in the eggs, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla until it is all mixed. I find the stand mixer works best for this.
  3. Add the mashed banana and grated zucchini. 
  4. If the coconut oils gets cold it can separate.  If this happens, put your bowl into the sink surrounded by warm water and gently stir until the oil melts and mixes back in.
  5. Mix all the dry ingredients together in another bowl. If you can, get ‘help’ like I did.
  6. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together.
  7. If you are going to make different flavours, now is the time to split the mixture into separate bowls.  
  8. Add chocolate chips, apple pieces or berries to each bowl and stir until mixed.
  9. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake muffins for 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. Enjoy now or freeze some for later. Oh and remember not to feel guilty about eating them, because they are actually healthy!

Notes

*I find it best to use previously frozen bananas. Freezing them seems to break down the cell walls and makes the muffins moister.

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Healthy Banana Apple/Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins (that are also dairy-free!)

Muffins

I am so excited to share this recipe! Sugar-free, sweetener-free, dairy-free, nut-free muffins that are really delicious! It has taken many trials (all of which my family has been happy to eat up!), and I finally found the winning recipe.

Wet mixture
Zucchini

The big kids get so much sugar especially now that they are in school. With birthday parties, cupcakes at school, Easter disco, chocolates from sporting activities, canteen treats and Easter around the corner, the chocolate and candy seem to be coming in on a never-ending stream! I’m still trying to shelter my littlest from sugar but all he wants is whatever the big two have. He is also dairy intolerant so I was already having to modify recipes. Dairy-free recipes always seem to use some sort of nut milk though which isn’t allowed if I’m going to use the muffins for school lunches. I’ve searched and searched but ‘healthy’ recipes always have some sort of sweetener in them be it maple syrup, brown rice syrup, agave or even actual sugar. I knew there had to be a way to make actually healthy banana muffins that tasted fantastic.

Stirring2
Stirring1

In these muffins there is no sugar or other sweeteners (unless you add the optional chocolate chips), no dairy and no nuts. They do contain plenty of fruit, whole grains, healthy fats and even a vegetable! Everyone in the family loves the apple version, but my daughter is a bit of a chocolate fiend, so I make half and half apple and chocolate chip.

I like to make muffins that are on the smaller side to go into lunch boxes for my little people, so this recipe usually makes about 36 muffins. They freeze really well and can be pulled out when you are in a rush. I hope your family enjoys them as much as mine does!

 

Ingredients

Wet:

  • 2/3 cups melted coconut oil
  • 4 eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup coconut yogurt
  • 3/4 cups apple sauce
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups packed mashed ripe bananas (about 6 bananas)*
  • 1 grated zucchini (about 1.5 cups)

Dry:

  • 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 4 cups wholegrain spelt flour
  • 1 cup whole rolled oats

Options:^

  • 1 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks (I often cut up a Green & Black’s 70% organic dark chocolate bar)
  • 3 medium apples cut into small chunks

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Grease muffin tray with coconut oil if necessary. I use a silicone tray that does not require it.
  2. Melt the coconut oil in a large bowl if it is solid. Beat in the eggs, coconut yogurt, applesauce and vanilla. Mix until it looks creamy. I find the stand mixer works best for this.
  3. Add the mashed banana and grated zucchini. Set aside.
  4. Mix all the dry ingredients together in another bowl. If you can, get ‘help’ like I did.
  5. Stir the wet and dry ingredients together.
  6. Take half the mixture out and put in the other bowl.
  7. Add chocolate chips to one half and apple pieces to the other and stir until just mixed.
  8. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake muffins for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. Enjoy now or freeze some for later. Oh and remember not to feel guilty about eating them, because they are actually healthy!

Notes

*I find it best to use previously frozen bananas. Freezing them seems to break down the cell walls and makes the muffins moister.

^If you only want to make apple muffins, just double the apple and skip step 6.

Aspartame – As sweet as we think?

Artificial sweeteners

There is a lot of conflicting information about aspartame available to consumers.  Soft drink companies and government regulators will tell you that it is safe.  On the Food Standards Australia New Zealand website they state that “Scientific evidence to date supports the safety of aspartame for use as a sweetener in food.” but there is in fact a lot of scientific evidence to the contrary.

Aspartame was initially approved in the US in 1974.  The initial approval process raised allegations of bribery and corruption, which prompted many people to doubt its safety, but governments have stood firm in their statements that it is safe.  Over the years there has been increasing evidence that this is not true.

The initial fear was that aspartame could cause cancer.  These concerns seem to be unfounded, but scientists have discovered it causes other problems.  Most recently a French study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed 66,000 women over 14 years.  The authors found that, compared to regular soft drinks, there was a 15% higher risk for diabetes in those who drank just 500ml/week of diet soft drinks, and a 59% higher risk for those who drank 1.5L/week. Although aspartame is suggested for people with diabetes, it may actually be making it worse.

In a 2011 study in the US, people who drank diet soft drinks, as an overall group, had a 70% greater increase in waist circumference than non-users. Those who were in the highest bracket and drank two or more diet soft drinks a day had a 500% greater increase in waist circumference than non-users.

One of the metabolites of aspartame is methanol.  There have also been studies that have found detectable methanol in the blood after chronic consumption of aspartame affecting the brain.

There have been many studies on rats and mice consuming aspartame.  Although these can’t be directly applied to humans, it is cause for caution.  Aspartame has been found to promote hyperglycemia and insulin intolerance and impair spatial cognition and memory.  It may accelerate atherosclerosis as well as lead to liver damage.  Aspartame and saccharin consumption, when compared to sucrose (sugar), resulted in increased weight gain even at the same caloric intake.  So even if you are eating a low calorie diet, you may not lost weight simply because you are consuming products containing aspartame.

Clinically, I have had patients lose weight just from taking diet soft drinks out of their diet even if they replace them with regular ones.

But it isn’t all about weight gain.  Children whose mother’s drink artificially sweetened drinks during pregnancy, are more likely to have asthma and allergic rhinitis.  Also people who work in soft drink factories that have asthma can not go into the filling room containing artificial sweeteners.  Even those without asthma can develop asthmatic symptoms when they enter the filling room.

Artificial sweeteners are just that, artificial.  The body does not recognize them and so cannot digest them properly.  This can lead to the body holding on to fat and water in an attempt to dilute these unknown particles.

Make sure you always check labels especially on products that say they are low in sugar.  Aspartame can also be written as ‘951’ on an ingredients panel.

Although regulators have deemed it safe, there is enough evidence to the contrary that it doesn’t seem worth taking the chance.

951 Chemical

References:

Abdel-Salam OM, Salem NA, El-Shamarka ME, Hussein JS, Ahmed NA, El-Nagar ME, Studies on the effects of aspartame on memory and oxidative stress in brain of mice. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2012 Dec; 16(15):2092-101.

Abhilash M, Paul MV, Varghese MV, Nair RH, Effect of long term intake of aspartame on antioxidant defense status in liver. Food Chem. Toxicol. 2011 Jun; 49(6):1203-7.

Collison KS, Makhoul NJ, Zaidi MZ, Saleh SM, Andres B, Inglis A, Al-Rabiah R, Al-Mohanna FA, Gender dimorphism in aspartame-induced impairment of spatial cognition and insulin sensitivity. PLoS ONE 2012; 7(4):e31570.

Collison KS, Makhoul NJ, Zaidi MZ, Al-Rabiah R, Inglis A, Andres BL, Ubungen R, Shoukri M, Al-Mohanna FA, Interactive effects of neonatal exposure to monosodium glutamate and aspartame on glucose homeostasis. Nutr Metab (Lond) 2012; 9(1):58.

Feijó Fde M, Ballard CR, Foletto KC, Batista BA, Neves AM, Ribeiro MF, Bertoluci MC, Saccharin and aspartame, compared with sucrose, induce greater weight gain in adult Wistar rats, at similar total caloric intake levels. Appetite 2013 Jan; 60(1):203-7.

Frincu-Mallos C, ENDO: Use of Artificial Sweeteners Linked to 2-Fold Increase in Diabetes. Medscape News. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704432

Iyyaswamy A, Rathinasamy S, Effect of chronic exposure to aspartame on oxidative stress in the brain of albino rats. J. Biosci. 2012 Sep; 37(4):679-88.

Jang W, Jeoung NH, Cho KH, Modified apolipoprotein (apo) A-I by artificial sweetener causes severe premature cellular senescence and atherosclerosis with impairment of functional and structural properties of apoA-I in lipid-free and lipid-bound state. Mol. Cells 2011 May; 31(5):461-70.

Maslova E, Strom M, Olsen SF, Halldorsson TI, Consumption of Artificially-Sweetened Soft Drinks in Pregnancy and Risk of Child Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis. PLOS 2013 Feb 27. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0057261

Szponar J, Górska A, Majewska M, Tchórz M, Drelich G, Methanol poisoning in a 61-year old male with recently diagnosed diabetes–a case report. Prz. Lek. 2011; 68(8):521-2.

Healthy No-Sweetener Banana Muffins

IMG_7653

This is a great recipe for all those muffin lovers who don’t want the sugar. Banana bread really doesn’t need any sweeteners at all as long as you use super sweet overripe bananas. And the kids will love them!  Great for lunch boxes.

Makes about 36 muffins.

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup melted coconut oil
  • 4 eggs, preferably at room temperature
  • 2 cups packed mashed ripe bananas (about 6 bananas)
  • ½ cup milk of choice (I used cow milk but you could make this dairy free by using almond milk)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • ½ tsp nutmeg
  • ½ tsp cloves
  • 3½ cups whole meal spelt flour
  • 2/3 cup whole oats

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan forced (350 degrees Fahrenheit). Grease muffin tray with butter or coconut oil if necessary. I use a silicone tray that does not require it.
  2. Melt the coconut oil in a large bowl if it is solid. Beat in the eggs. Mix in the mashed bananas and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
  3. Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins, like nuts, chocolate chips or dried fruit, fold them in now.
  4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake muffins for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. Enjoy muffins as is or with a spread of nut butter or regular butter.

IMG_7655

 

This recipe was modified from one on Cookie + Kate:

http://cookieandkate.com/2015/healthy-banana-muffins-recipe/