I made Multigrain Pancakes for breakfast, this morning. And they were awesome. But, what is it about the month of January that makes me want to take another look at pancakes? I mean, last January I gave you the Best Buckwheat Pancakes Ever. Now, this?

I think, like most of you, I’m suffering from “Holiday Hangover” – looking back over all the decadent fat and sugar-laden foods we’d consumed over the last couple of months, and saying to myself, “Self, time to get yourself in check.” Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll pass. But in the meantime, I want pancakes. Light, fluffy, tasty pancakes that have something going for them in the nutrition department. Choices. It’s all about choices, people.

Multigrain Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup oatmeal, ground
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. table salt
1 packet Truvía (or 2 tsp. sugar)
2 Tbs. Smart Balance Light Spread (or butter or margarine)
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk (or dairy milk of your choice)
1 large egg

Preparation:

In a large bowl, whisk together all of the dry ingredients (flour through sweetener).

Melt the Smart Balance (or butter) and allow to cool a bit. Measure the soy milk into a 2-cup glass measuring cup, add the egg and whisk together. Add the melted Smart Balance or butter and whisk thoroughly.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until completely combined.

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 2 tablespoons 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/or whatever you like. Personally, I think they make a dandy platform for one of my Freakin’ Flamingo Jams. Oh, come on – you would have been disappointed if I hadn’t slipped a plug in there, somewhere! The jam in this photo is a new one I’m working on, Strawberry Mojito. Almost ready for prime time.

Makes about 16, roughly 4-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

And, of course, this recipe is easily multiplied 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!

Mike loved these so much, he instantly began thinking of other uses for them, besides breakfast. Slathered with cold jam, topped with whipped cream and a strawberry, it’s dessert. Leave out the sweetener, make the batter a bit thinner, and cook them at silver dollar size, and you have a savory pancake that’s a perfect base for an appetizer. And then he begged me not to post the recipe!

I love my husband.

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.

Happy Halloween… month! Halloween is without doubt, my favorite day on the calendar – like my costume?

When I was asked to help kick off the October Kitchen Play Sidecar Series with a Halloween post, and told that my sponsor would be Wilton Industries, Inc., I was over the moon – the full moon, that is… bwahahahaha! After all, Wilton’s the number one resource for just about anything you could possibly need in the kitchen to make any occasion – holidays, weddings, baby showers, birthdays, any special day – well, special. Wilton graciously allowed me to run amok through their online store to choose virtually anything I’d need to create a phantasmagorical Halloween, and then tell you about it.

And did I get some inspiration! Grab a cup of coffee and settle in, y’all – I’m going to take you from breakfast to supper and a couple of fun little party tricks for kids and grown-up-kids, alike!

Start the day with some of these these Icky Filled Multi-Grain Pumpkin Muffins. You’ll want to use Wilton’s Dimensions® Multi-Cavity Pumpkin Pan to make them. Each pan has eight pumpkin-shaped cavities: four tops and four bottoms, that when assembled, makes four whole pumpkins. You can stick them together with buttercream, ganache, jam, or just about anything you like. Here’s what I did with mine:

Icky Filled Multi-Grain Pumpkin Muffins
(makes 4 large filled muffins)

For the Muffins:

Cooking spray
Green decorating sugar*

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground pumpkin seeds (without the hulls, a/k/a pepitas)*
1/4 cup ground oatmeal*
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup pumpkin puree*
1/2 cup neutral oil (like canola)
1/2 cup real maple syrup or honey
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 375º F. Lightly spray your Wilton Dimensions® Multi-Cavity Pumpkin Pan with cooking spray.

Carefully sprinkle the stem and leaf indentations of the pumpkin tops with pinches of the green decorating sugar, making sure to cover them completely. I like to use a small espresso spoon to push and spread the sugar.*

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, ground pumpkin seeds, ground oatmeal, and flax seed meal. Add the baking powder, brown sugar, and salt; whisk together thoroughly and make a well in the center.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin puree, maple syrup (or honey), spices, and vanilla.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the well you made in the dry ingredient bowl, and, using a flexible spatula, combine thoroughly. Pour the batter carefully into the cavities of the prepared pan, filling each one about 3/4 full.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center, comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes. Turn out onto a rack and with a serrated knife, trim down the muffin “bumps” so each half is level. Feed the scraps to your husband so he’ll quit pestering you.

For the Filling:

4 oz. cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1/2 cup pumpkin puree*
2 Tbs. brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
pinch salt
4 Tbs. pumpkin seeds (without the hulls, a/k/a pepitas)

Whisk together all of the filling ingredients (except the pepitas) in a small bowl, until smooth. Stir in the pepitas. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes or till ready to fill the muffins.

To assemble:

Using a round tablespoon measuring spoon or a melon baller, scoop out the centers of the four bottom pieces only, leaving about 3/4″ of space on the outside as a wall. (Feed those tasty scraps to your husband, too.) You should have a roughly 2-inch cavity. Scoop up some filling and mound it inside each cavity. Now replace the tops.

When you cut into one of these cuties, the creamy, pumpkin-y filling gooshes out, and – ack! Pumpkin guts! Hehehehe! Icky! The pepitas in the filling add to the illusion, and add a bit of crunch, too. A perfect (and reasonably healthy) Halloween breakfast or even dessert!

Notes:

* As an alternative to filling the leaf and stem portions of the pumpkin cavities with decorating sugar, simply fill the cavities with batter as directed and decorate them afterward with Wilton Green Cookie Icing. It comes in a squeeze bottle with an applicator tip, giving you great control, and is super-easy to use.

* For the ground pumpkin seeds and oatmeal, just take 1/4 cup of each and grind them together in a food processor (I used my hand blender’s small processor attachment), until you get a fine-textured meal consistency.

* If you have difficulty finding pumpkin, cooked pureed butternut squash makes a great substitution.

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How about a little lunch or canapes for a party? I used Wilton’s bat-shaped Comfort-Grip™ Cutter to make:

BatWiches!

Not really a recipe, but a fun twist on the sandwich for kids or party food. Here, I took some pumpernickel bread, spread it with paté (okay, it was my mom’s chopped liver, the recipe for which she’ll probably take to the grave), and cut it into a bat. I used a little prepared wasabi sauce to create the details.

The Comfort-Grip™ Cutters come in different shapes, are large and deep, and are really well-suited to much more than just cookies. Hey, think outside the bat! Um, no… wait…

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This next one’s just for the adults. I’ve noticed that jello shots are making a comeback these days – heck, I recently saw sake jello shots at a Japanese restaurant – so why not kick it up for Halloween?

Black Cat Martini Jello Shots
(makes about 6 4-inch cats)

1 cup hot prepared espresso coffee (instant’s okay)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup black or espresso-flavored vodka
1/2 cup coffee liqueur (I used Kahlua)
1 packet unflavored gelatin*

Prepare the espresso, stir in the sugar till dissolved. In another bowl, combine the vodka and coffee liqueur. Dissolve the gelatin in a bit of cold water, add to the vodka/coffee liqueur mixture, add the hot coffee, and mix well. (See Note)

Pour the espresso martini liquid into an 8″ x 10″ rectangular pan, either metal or glass, and refrigerate until firm.

Using the cat-shaped cutter from Wilton’s Halloween 3-Cutter Set (there’s also a pumpkin and an owl!), cut the gelatin into black cats, and remove carefully with a small offset spatula. Serve individually in stemmed glasses.

Notes:

* I used a vegan unflavored gel powder, rather than the traditional unflavored gelatin. This particular product requires that it be mixed into boiling liquid rather than cold, so I mixed it into the coffee, then added the alcohol.

* This is best prepared the day before serving to allow the gelatin to really firm up and make cutting easier. Advance preparation also allows the flavors to really meld and concentrate.

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For my Killer Jack o’ Lantern Meatloaf, I used Wilton’s Iridescents!® Jack-O-Lantern Pan. Ooo! Shiny!

Killer Jack o’ Lantern Meatloaf
(Makes about 6-8 servings)

2 lbs. ground beef
1 cup oatmeal, coarsely ground
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. chipotle chili powder (optional)
2 Tbs. dried minced onion
1/2 cup ketchup

Additional ketchup and mustard for decoration

Preheat the oven to 375º.

Combine all ingredients (except the extra ketchup & mustard) in a large bowl. Use your hands – c’mon, dig in there! Squeamish? Put on gloves. Your hands are the most efficient tools you’ve got for the purpose.

Put the meat mixture in the Iridescents!® Jack-O-Lantern Pan, and press in firmly. You want the indentations in the pan to translate to the meatloaf. Bake for 30 minutes.

To serve, flip the meatloaf out onto your serving plate, and with your fingers or a small brush, paint the mustard on the eye and nose triangles, as well as the mouth (be sure to define those teeth!). Take a cleaver or any large kitchen knife and randomly hack into the meatloaf and leave it there. Get your ketchup bottle and squeeze ketchup over the cleaver, creating the bloody cut. Feel free to create random blood spatter, as well as streams of blood pouring from the “wound”, and pools of blood at the base of the meatloaf with the ketchup.

If you’ve got really little kids, you may want to skip the cleaver and ketchup blood. Instead, you’ll have a cute, smiling Jack-O-Lantern Meatloaf. But for the bigger kids and grownups, this is killer!

Wilton’s Iridescents!® Jack-O-Lantern Pan is so versatile that a quick hand-washing, and it’s now ready to be filled with treats for any Trick-or-Treaters who stop by!

And finally, how ’bout a little dessert? While browsing through Wilton’s online store, I ran across the Pumpkin Faces 6 Cavity Silicone Mold. You can bake in it, put it in the freezer – all kinds of things – and I thought of a dessert I used to make all the time for parties when I was a kid and adapted it for Halloween:

Spooky Orange Mousse Pumpkins

1 3 oz pkg. orange-flavored gelatin
1-1/2 cups boiling water
4-8 oz. whipped topping

Put the orange gelatin in a medium bowl, dissolve in the boiling water, and refrigerate until firm.

With an electric hand mixer set on low, beat the now-firm gelatin until it’s broken up, and slowly add the whipped topping by large spoonfuls until you get a smooth texture.

Fill the face cavities in the Pumpkin Faces Silicone Mold with the black and green jimmies from the Wilton Creepy Sprinkles Lab. Spoon the mousse into the mold cavities and refrigerate until firm.

To unmold, dip the bottom of the mold carefully in a pan of hot water for a few seconds, then run a thin-bladed knife around the edges of each of the cavities, and flip over onto a clean, flat surface and push gently on each of the pumpkin faces. I said, be gentle!

Note: This is another one that’s best prepared the day before serving to allow the gelatin to really firm up, which will make removal from the molds much easier.

Stay tuned for more fabulous and freaky Halloween fun – after all, October’s just begun!

Disclosure: Wilton Industries, Inc. provided me with materials at no cost in return for the preparation of this post. All recipes, food, and opinions expressed, are my own. Kitchen Play is devoted to connecting food bloggers and PR professionals through sponsored events such as the Progressive Party, the SideCar Series, the Pampered Pantry and more.