I am trying to convert all our grains/breads to soaked recipes. I have tried the ones in Nourishing Traditions and found them somewhat lacking – maybe a little bitter from too much soda. Anyway, after much trial and error I have altered the recipe to one that we all enjoy – Banana Muffins. They have a wonderful banana flavor – not too sweet, and very moist.
Soaked Grain Banana Muffins
12-24 hours before you want the muffins (I do it sometime the day before we want these for breakfast):
Soak: 3 cups of whole grain flour (wheat, spelt or kamut) 2 cups of buttermilk OR 1 cup plain yogurt & 1 cup water OR 2 cups milk & 2 Tbsp. vinegarStir together well in a glass bowl. Cover and leave on the counter overnight (8-24 hours).
In the morning you are going to stir your flour and find a goopy mess. Congratulations! You did it just right. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add the following to the soaked flour and mix well:
3 eggs 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 cup maple syrup, honey, or natural sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 1/4 cup melted butter or coconut oil 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 large ripe bananas, mashed chopped pecans or walnuts, optionalNow you can stir that as you add things or you can dump it all in and stir at the end. I usually have J.T. stirring as I add the ingredients. Now J.T. is 3 – so you can imagine that it is not a thorough stirring, but that is the way I do it. If your butter or oil is hot from melting – don’t pour it right on the eggs. Ask me how I know. The texture is going to be different than a muffin batter that you are used to. But just stir it up really good. I take over the stirring at the end so that it is really combined well.
Grease your muffin pans. Plop a big scoop of batter in each cup – about 1/4 cup or 3/4′s full. This recipe will make about 2 dozen muffins – if that is too many for you, they freeze really well. (I triple the recipe so we’ll have some left over for snack and for freezing.) Now, place them in the hot oven and wash up the dishes – there is only one bowl, one stirring spoon, and a measuring cup or two. That is my favorite part!! They will need to bake about 20 minutes, but watch them. They cook a little slower than a regular muffin. You might need to turn the oven down to 350 in order for them to get done all the way through without being over brown. I bake mine on 350 convection with 4 muffin pans in the oven at once.
Once they are done, remove, cool just a bit, and enjoy. These hold over really well – so if you need to make them the night before, just start the soaking before breakfast and make them after supper. If you need to hold them longer than that, place them in a bag in the refrigerator. They also freeze nicely.
Hope you enjoy this very healthy version of an old favorite!!
Blessings -
Connie
This post is a part of Real Food Wednesday at KellytheKitchenKop.com. Check out what is happening in healthy kitchens across America. You can find great information and recipes. It is worth the time to take a look.
I look forward to seeing more “soaked” recipes. And I really appreciate you specifying the soaking medium. What always got me about the NT recipes is how they say you can use buttermilk, or yogurt, or milk with acid- those are all so different in consistency they are going to produce very different results! It makes much more sense to mix 1 c. yogurt with 1 c. water, etc. Now I’m wondering have you made it with different sweeteners? Because the moisture content of maple syrup vs. sugar would seem to give different results? Thanks
Comment by lisa — April 8, 2010 @ 2:01 pm
Lisa,
I have used honey and sugar – the difference in the batter was marginal and seemed to even out with baking. As for the difference in soaking mediums – I don’t notice a huge difference unless I use my homemade buttermilk that is almost as thick as yogurt. Sometimes I thin it with a little milk and sometimes I just watch the baking time to make sure it doesn’t get done too quickly. If I mix the vinegar with the milk and let it set for an hour or so, it thickens a little, but I think it does that during the soaking process, too. Hope that helps. Have a blessed day!
Connie
Comment by The Prairie Mom — April 8, 2010 @ 2:18 pm
We LOVE these muffins! They have a great flavor and texture…These have been put into the “weekly requests” pile. Thank you for sharing!
Comment by Kassi — April 13, 2010 @ 4:02 pm
Kassi,
Thank you for letting me know you enjoyed them. It is sometimes a little scary to leave a recipe and I always wonder how it turns out for someone else. I appreciate your comment!
Blessings,
Connie
Comment by The Prairie Mom — April 14, 2010 @ 5:02 am