No matter if I
am on “vacation” or not, I can’t help but bake.
I just spent a
week in Nebraska
visiting my family. As you might know from previous posts, my dad underwent a
major surgery back in May to receive a new pacemaker. He’s supposed to have a very
low-fat, low-sodium healthy diet.
So I decided to
bake my dad some heart-healthy muffins he could eat for breakfast or for an
afternoon snack. I made the first batch with dried cranberries, raisins and
walnuts. The second batch I made was with apricots
instead of the raisins. And guess where the apricots were from?
You guessed it.
Turkey!
Apparently, the
Wal-Mart brand dried apricots are from Turkey, according to the packaging. But
I’m not surprised.
In fact, Turkey
produces 80% of dried apricots in the world.
My parents were
surprised too.
Anyway these
muffins are hearty, healthy and tasty. I rewarmed mine and added a dab of honey
on them.
I’m not sure you
can find oat flour or oat bran cereal in Istanbul
or elsewhere in Turkey. I have seen rolled oats, so you might be able to try buğday kepeği or yulaf kepeği as a substitute.
Hope you enjoy
the muffins! Feel free to substitute with your favorite dried fruits and nuts in the recipe.
I’m a fan of hazelnuts too.
Afiyet olsun!
 |
| Homemade oat, cranberry, apricot and walnut muffins. |
Oat, Cranberry and Apricot Muffins
(Adapted from
the New American Heart Association Cookbook)
Yields: 22-24
muffins
1 ½ c. oat
bran cereal or oat flour
1 ½ c. all-purpose
flour
2 tsp. baking
powder
1 tsp.
baking
soda
1 tsp.
ground
cinnamon
1 c. buttermilk
or Turkish ayran
½ c. honey
½ c. egg
substitute such as Egg Beaters (or 2 large eggs)
¼ c. brown
sugar
3 T.
corn
or sunflower oil
½ c. walnuts
½ c. cranberries
½ c. Turkish
apricots, diced small
(Or substitute 1
cup of your favorite dried fruit for the cranberries and apricots.)
 |
| All the muffin ingredients ready to be used. |
Preheat the oven
to 375 F/190 C. Line a muffin pan with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl,
stir together the first five ingredients.
Make a well in
the middle.
Whisk in the
buttermilk, honey, egg substitute, brown sugar and oil. Stir until the mixture
is moistened. Add the walnuts and dried fruit.
Do not overmix.
Stir the mixture together until no flour is visible. The batter will be
slightly lumpy.
Fill the paper
baking cups a little over halfway full. I sprinkled mine with rolled oats on
top for a little extra texture.
Bake for 20
minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
