A Healthy Take on Date and Walnut Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Wholegrain Plain Spelt Flour
• 1 Cup of Wholegrain Plain Rye Flour
• 4 level Teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 1 level Teaspoon of Bi-Carb Soda
• 1 Teaspoon of Natural Vanilla Essence
• ½ Cup of Oat Bran
• ½ Cup of Rice Bran Oil or other good quality cooking oil
• 2 Eggs
• ¾ Cup of Stevia
• 1 - 1 ½ Cups of Low Fat Lactose Free Milk
• 1 heaped Cup of Dates, chopped.
• 1 heaped Cup of Walnuts, chopped and mixed with the Chopped Dates

Method:

1. Triple sift the Flours with the Baking Powder and Bi-Carb. Fine ground flours from the Health Shop sift quite well with only a small amount of the bran left in the sifter. I just tip that back in each time.
2. Soak the Oat Bran in ½ Cup of the Milk.
3. Spray your muffin tins with cooking spray – makes 18 Muffins.
4. Cream Oil, Eggs, Vanilla and Stevia until well blended.
5. Add sifted Flour mix gradually, adding more milk as needed. You want a moist mix but not too wet. I have had to experiment so I know what the consistency looks like now. If it is not moist enough the Muffins will be a bit dry, too moist and they will be a bit doughy in the middle.
6. Lastly add the Walnut and Date mixture and mix till well blended.
7. Fill your Muffin trays – it will make 18 nicely.
8. Bake in a Fan Forced Oven on 160 C for approximately 20 – 25 minutes.  Keep checking them with a wooden skewer and when it comes out clean they are done.
9. Cool on racks, eat some and freeze some for later.

NOTES: A third of a Cup of Raw Carob Powder added to the Flour Mix makes a nice favoured Muffin.  Try to get ingredients that have no Sulphites and other additives where possible. The idea is to have control over the quality of your ingredients to make them as natural as possible.

This is one of my own recipes that I created when I got serious about cleaning up my diet. I was having a lot of trouble with Gastritis and I had gained a lot of weight. By eating less and making a big effort with the kind of food I put in my mouth my stomach troubles reduced dramaticly over several months. As a by product of this I also lost weight.