Ah, guilt.

This period of time between Halloween and New Year’s Day is filled with rich holiday foods, sugary cakes and candy and cookies and sweets. And I’m guilty of peppering you with those things, too. It’s like the world has given us permission to indulge without regret and without regard to our waistlines.

Even my husband’s doctor gave him a free pass to not worry about his diet until after the first of the year! And in a side note, told him that he’ll probably take him off of the Metformin (diabetes drug) in March or April. Yay!

But I admit to feeling guilty once in awhile that I’ve been concentrating on all these decadent delights, with very little in the way of good, healthy food that you can eat without guilt. You know, in between Christmas cookies and cupcakes. It’s the Jewish mother in me.

So, just for you (and hubs), I created this healthy, sweet, moist, and delicious muffin that you can serve to anyone for breakfast or as a snack, without saying that it’s good for you. In fact, if I could come up with a guilt-free frosting, you could call it a cupcake! It’s simple and quick to throw together, too.

Guilt-Free Pumpkin Ginger Muffins
(makes 12 regular-sized muffins)

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal, ground*
1/4 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds), ground*
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
12 packets Truvía (stevia sweetener)

4 large egg whites
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 375º F. Place muffin/cupcake liner papers, or silicone liners, in a 12-compartment muffin tin and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients until well combined and make a well in the center. Add all of the wet ingredients into the well, and whisk together until the batter is smooth. Fold in the crystallized ginger, if using.

Divide batter evenly into the prepared muffin liners and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a wooden skewer, inserted into the near center, comes out clean. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

*Variation: Add 3/4 cup dried cranberries (as I did in the batch photographed here). The cranberries add an additional textural and sweet element without going over the top – delicious! This will also increase your yield by about 2 muffins, so prepare extra liners.

Notes:

I love ginger and I made these pretty ginger-assertive to complement the pumpkin. Feel free to cut the amount of ground ginger if you think it’s too strong. Won’t hurt my feelings. ->Sniff<-

As an attractive garnish, instead of adding all the crystallized ginger to the muffin batter, sprinkle half of it (about 2 Tbs) on top of the batter after loading up your muffin cups, before baking. Of course, the crystallized ginger does add sugar, so omit it if you want to go completely sugar-free.

Super low in fat, no sugar (except in the crystallized ginger, if you’re using it), and multigrain / high-fiber, not to mention all those lovely vitamins and beta carotene in the pumpkin, it doesn’t get much more guilt-free than this, people! That also makes these muffins suitable for people with sugar-restricted diets and at the very least, type 2 diabetics.

Since it’s heat-stable, I’ve been curious about baking with Truvía, one of the new stevia-based sweeteners, and I have to tell you that I’m super-pleased with this first effort. Maybe it’s the combination with the agave nectar, but there is absolutely NO artificial sweetener aftertaste in these muffins. If you didn’t know that these muffins are sugar-free, you would never be able to tell. I’m shocked, I tell you. Shocked. You may be able to prepare this recipe using another brand of stevia sweetener, but I used the Truvía and that’s what I’ll vouch for.

Like any good muffin, these freeze really well, too. Make up a batch, allow to cool completely, toss ‘em into a freezer bag, and chuck ‘em in the freezer.

* Measure the oatmeal and pepitas and run them through the food processor together. I used the mini food pro that came as an attachment with my immersion blender.

I’ve got two – count ‘em – two treats for you today! Maybe even three!

I was on the web recently, looking at platform beds for my new space-age foam mattress, when I was struck by an idea for another frozen and healthy concoction (it happens that way, sometimes), and inspired by the new Flickr group,

created by Elle and Heather, I give you treat number one:

Vegan Blueberry “Ice Cream”
(makes about 1-1/2 pints)

Ingredients:

1 dry pint blueberries
1/2 cup agave nectar (divided) -or-
1/2 cup sugar (divided)
1 cup soy milk
1 cup silken tofu
1 tsp. vanilla
pinch of salt

Preparation:

Make the blueberry syrup at least one hour before preparing the base.

Wash the blueberries, removing any stems in the process. Do not dry.

To make the syrup: In small saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries and 1/4 cup agave nectar or sugar. Bring to a boil, and allow to cook and reduce for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer contents to a heat-proof container, and refrigerate. You should have about 2/3 cup of blueberry syrup. When the syrup is completely cooled (it doesn’t have to be cold – just room temperature is fine), make the “ice cream” base.

To make the base: In a medium bowl, whisk together the soy milk, silken tofu, remaining 1/4 cup agave nectar or sugar, vanilla, and salt. Transfer this mixture to the bowl of your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Put the now-soft ice cream into an air-tight container and mix in the blueberry syrup. Cover and freeze – minimum an hour or two.

So, if you’re vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian, diabetic, or just want a sweet, frozen sump’n-sump’n on a hot summer day, that won’t kill your diet and might actually be >gasp!< healthy, give this a try while the blueberries are in season!

I promised you a second treat, didn’t I? I don’t think you’ll be disappointed…

I was contacted recently by CSN Stores – you know, the hugely popular web company with over 200 internet stores that carry everything from patio furniture to (my personal fave) Cookware.com? They asked if I would like to give you – my dear, dear readers – a gift certificate for $50! Think about it – $50 to spend anyway you like in any of those 200 stores! It’s like Christmas in June, isn’t it? I said, “Heck, yeah! My readers deserve a little something special!” Because I love my readers. All of my readers. So I know you won’t be mad when I tell you that only those of you with U.S. and Canadian shipping addresses can play. Sorry!

And because I love you, I’m going to give you several ways to win:

First way, go to CSN and find something you’d love to blow $50 on, come back here and leave a comment about it.

Second way, follow me on Google Friend Connect (over there in the sidebar), and leave another comment that you did.

Third way, follow me on Networked Blogs (also over there in the sidebar), and leave another comment. If you already follow me on Google Friend Connect and/or Networked Blogs, leave a comment for each one that you do.

Fourth way, tweet about this giveaway on Twitter and/or mention it on Facebook, then come here and leave the link to your tweet or mention in another comment. You can tweet and FB everyday – but only comments about tweets and mentions with links will be counted. Above all, make sure I have a good e-mail address for you – if I can’t contact you within 3 days after the end of this giveaway, I’ll choose a new winner.

Fifth way, “Like” Flamingo Musings on Facebook, and of course, come back and leave a comment that you’re a “liker” (I really hate that… What was wrong with “fan,” anyway?). Again, if you already like Flamingo Musings, please leave a comment saying that.

Winners will be selected by random.org next Sunday night, June 13, 2010 at 11:00 p.m. U.S. Eastern time. I’ll tweet, FB, and e-mail the winner shortly afterward.

Fun, right? Well, guess what? Here’s your third treat: My buddy Barbara, over at Barbara Bakes, is also giving away a CSN gift certificate this week! Double your chances of winning by visiting her, too!

One post, three treats – isn’t that a great way to start off the week?

*Disclosure: I have not been paid in any way or given any inducements of any kind to write this post or participate in this giveaway.

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Oh, my. I have just discovered The Buckwheat Pancake. No, no! Not just buckwheat pancakes – THE best buckwheat pancake I’ve ever had! I made these for Sunday breakfast, and had to share them with you.

Sure, they’re healthy and low fat, but they’re also so delicious and easy to make, you won’t care! Would I lie to you?

Please don’t go by this photo! I don’t know what happened here, but they really do look golden brown & delicious in real life!

Buckwheat Apple Pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of nutmeg
1 cup buttermilk (can use low-fat, if available)
1 large egg (or equivalent of egg-substitute like Egg Beaters)
1/2 Tbs. wildflower honey
1/2 Tbs. dark honey
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 Tbs. Smart Balance Light (or other) margarine, melted
1 medium apple (your favorite) diced or chopped small

Non-stick cooking spray

Preparation:

In a large bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients. In another, smaller bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients, except the apple. Pour the wet mixture into the dry, and mix until thoroughly combined. When the batter is smooth, fold in the chopped apple. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Spray a large frying pan or griddle with cooking spray and heat it until a few drops of water bounce around before evaporating. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Turn when the tops develop bubbles and the edges look dry. Cook the second side for about 3 – 4 more minutes, or until brown.

Serve with additional Smart Balance and honey. Makes about 8, roughly 5-inch pancakes

Notes:

One more time: I receive no consideration for using Smart Balance Light, or any other brand. I have it in my fridge because we like it and for its stated healthy composition. If you want to use something else, feel free.

I prefer to use local honeys. If there’s a farmer’s market in your area, odds are you’ll find someone selling local honey. For this recipe, I used a local wildflower honey and an avocado honey, which is a very dark, rich honey that has almost a bite to it at the finish. If you can find buckwheat honey, that would be awesome! If you can’t find a dark honey, you can substitute molasses.

If you’d like, you can substitute agave nectar for the honey – use the light agave nectar for the wildflower honey, and use the dark, raw agave instead of the dark honey. *Bonus* – Although there’s very little honey in this recipe, substituting the agave nectars for the honeys makes these pancakes an excellent choice for Type II diabetics.

No, you don’t have to use a “cooking” apple. I used a Golden Delicious in mine – you can use whatever you have.

I used an electric griddle set at 325º F.

And, of course, this recipe is easily doubled to feed a crowd. You can freeze any leftover pancakes with pieces of waxed paper or parchment paper slipped between each one, in a freezer bag, and reheat them from frozen (don’t thaw them) in your oven or toaster oven, whenever you want them!

You have got to try this the next time you have a craving for pancakes – and they won’t wreck your diet!

And yes, it’s Sunday. But didn’t you want to bake this today? That’s what I’ve been doing all weekend, and it’s great therapy!

Challah is a slightly sweet egg bread originally eaten by Jews at their Sabbath and Holiday dinner tables, but for many years enjoyed by everyone. Challah is undeniably the best bread you can use for french toast and bread pudding, too. This recipe is quite simply the easiest and most authentic recipe for Challah that I’ve ever baked. I can’t claim it as my own – I’ve adapted it from Secrets of a Jewish Baker by George Greenstein. MJ found the old paperback edition on the dollar rack at a used bookstore, obviously unappreciated by the previous owner. I believe it’s been reprinted and should be widely available, and if you bake bread – or want to – I highly recommend that you buy this book. And not just for the Challah.

This recipe is so good, my 89 year old, old-country mother (Lord, don’t tell her I told you how old she is – she’ll kill me! and is quite capable of it, too.) asks me to bake these for her as my gift to her for just about any gift-giving holiday (birthday, Mother’s Day, Chanukah). She even called me two weeks ago to ask me to bake them for Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). I know she’s counting on the leftovers for her freezer.

You can certainly make these into the classic braided loaves, but for Rosh Hashanah, it’s traditional for the Challah to be baked in a smooth, round turban, signifying the endless nature of God and the cycle of life. It’s also the easiest way to shape this bread, so if you have difficulty braiding, just make these simple coiled turbans. It’s just as delicious!

Challah

Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 pkgs. active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.)
1 large whole egg, lightly beaten
2 large egg yolks
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup + 1-1/2 tsp. sugar
4 to 5 cups bread flour
2 tsp. salt

flour for dusting worktop
oil or spray for greasing bowl
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp. water for egg wash
coarse cornmeal for dusting baking pan
poppy or sesame seeds for topping

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350º. Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl. Add the egg, egg yolks, oil, sugar, 4 cups flour and salt. Mix well until the the dough comes away from the side of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead well, adding additional flour 1/4 cup at a time, until it is firm and smooth. This is a firm dough, so keep adding flour a little at a time while kneading, until it is smooth and elastic – about 10-15 minutes. You may need a little more than 5 cups.

Transfer the dough to a large, oiled bowl, turn so the entire surface is coated, cover, and let rise in a warm, draft-free place, until it has tripled in volume. I like my laundry room. A good test is to poke your finger into the dough. If the indentation stays, your dough is fully proofed.

Turn the dough back out onto your work surface, punch it down, and divide it in half. Cover with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare a large baking sheet by sprinkling it liberally with the cornmeal.

With your hands, roll each dough half into a long, fat snake, slightly larger at one end and tapering to a smaller end. With the larger end at the center, start coiling the rest of the “snake” around it. When you reach the end, tuck it underneath the coil, pressing it into the bottom of the bread.

Place each coil onto the prepared baking sheet, and brush with the egg wash. Put the baking sheet back in your warm, draft-free spot, and allow the breads to rise again, until doubled (about an hour). Brush the fully risen breads with the egg wash again, and sprinkle on the seeds, if using.

Bake for about 35 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, cover them with a “tent” of parchment paper or torn-open brown paper bag. This will prevent them from browning too quickly. Breads should be a nice dark mahogany brown, and the bottoms should be well-browned. They should sound hollow when the bottoms are thumped and there shouldn’t be any “give” when you press on the top. Remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

When thoroughly cooled, you can place the breads in a plastic freezer bag to store or freeze for future use.

*Note: I cannot tell a lie – I use my KitchenAid stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. If you do, too: after mixing the ingredients and adding sufficient flour to get the dough to form a ball around the dough hook, run the mixer at low speed, “kneading” the dough for 15 minutes. Keep an eye on it during this time, since as a firm dough, your mixer may want to take a walk.

Remember the Honey Cake recipe I posted on Monday? Well, you know I was a little concerned about letting MJ have any on the holiday. He’s doing super-well: he’s lost 55 pounds and we’re kind of slowing down the weight-loss a bit, but still limiting his sugar and carb intake. I wondered what I could do about a Honey Cake. The answer? Raw agave nectar.

Agave nectar (yes, from the cactus) is all the rage now, because it has a much lower glycemic level than sugar, while being 1-1/2 times sweeter. The raw agave nectar is much darker than the light version, and while not as thick as honey, makes a very good substitute. When you also substitute Splenda Brown Sugar Blend (or half brown sugar + half Splenda) for the straight-up brown sugar, this traditional holiday cake suddenly becomes a far healthier dessert for people with blood glucose issues, such as Type 2 Diabetes, with no loss in flavor or quality!

MJ said that he really couldn’t tell that it wasn’t “honey” cake, and absolutely loved it. I did, too! Yay!

So as your extra-special bonus, here’s the honey cake recipe again, but this time, with the appropriate substitutions. Now you’ve got something to serve friends and family with health issues, that’s really delicious, and no hint of that artificial sweetener aftertaste.

Wishing you a Healthy & Happy New Year!

Agave “Honey” Cake

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup raw agave nectar (dark)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar Blend Splenda or 1/4 cup dark brown sugar + 1/4 cup Splenda
2 large eggs
1/2 cup no-sugar-added applesauce
1/2 cup hot strong coffee

Handful of sliced almonds (optional)

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325º F.

Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch metal loaf pan.

Sift together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat together the wet ingredients in a large bowl until blended, about 3 minutes.

Beat in the dry ingredients in 2 additions, alternating with coffee, until batter is smooth. *If you screw this up and mix the coffee in with the other wet ingredients, don’t worry about it.

Transfer batter to prepared pan. If using sliced almonds, sprinkle them on top of the batter in 2 columns, on either side of the center. Bake until cake is brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour (test with a wooden skewer).

Cool cake in pan 10 minutes. Turn out onto a rack; cool completely.

Wrap cake in plastic wrap and store at room temperature or if preparing ahead, seal in freezer storage bag and freeze.

Makes about 8 servings.

If you have any questions about either of these recipes, please leave a comment and I’ll be happy to answer them here. Or give me a Tweet. Enjoy!