ALMOND FLUFFINS
A meal's worth of nutrition may be found in a single muffin if this recipe is followed.
A meal's worth of nutrition in a muffin? It's possible with
. . .
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by Vern Hoven
"Mmmmmm . . . that's good," exclaimed my husband Ray, as
the courteous smile he'd put on before his first tentative
bite of one of my new muffins broadened into a grin of
sincere culinary appreciation. And after my spouse finished
devouring several of the piping hot morsels, I knew I had a
success on my hands.
I dubbed my creations "fluffins", in reference to their
unbelievably light texture. However, this attribute, while
important, isn't the main virtue of the baked goods . . .
nutrition is. Fluffins, you see, are rich in protein,
minerals, and vitamins . . . supply a respectable amount of
unrefined carbohydrate . . . use no fat at all, yet are as
light and delicate as a breeze . . . and have a nutty
goodness that's all their own.
On other occasions when I've tried to go all out for extra
nutrition in a muffin, the result has usually been tough,
heavy, flat-tasting, and/or fattening. So I was—as
you'd imagine—very pleased when I hit upon the
fluffin formula, which turns out a quick bread that's
light, delicious, nutritious, and relatively low in
calories, to boot!
The secret lies, of course, in the ingredients: Buckwheat
is nonglutenous, as are rice bran, rice polish, and almond
meal. There's only half a cup of unbleached wheat flour in
the recipe, and the moist, fluffy batter is made without
any shortening. Almonds are the nuts highest in protein and
lowest in fat. The rice bran and eggs are also loaded with
protein . . . and the buckwheat and wheat flour add still
more. Furthermore, many of the ingredients are rich in a
variety of minerals. And if you prefer to use milk instead
of water as your liquid, you'll sup ply more minerals and
protein.
Better still, this nutritious treat isn't at all difficult
to make. Begin by preheating your oven to
350°-375°F, and then grease and flour a 12-cup
muffin tin (or a 9" X 12" cakepan). Next, place the
following dry ingredients in a mixing bowl:
1/2 cup of buckwheat flour
1/2 cup of almond meal
1/2 cup of rice bran (or rice polish)
1/2 cup of unbleached wheat flour
1/2 cup of raw or turbinado sugar
3 teaspoons of doubleacting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 cup of raisins (optional)
Most of these ingredients should be available at your
favorite natural foods store. But since almond meal is
expensive, I make it myself—in the amount that I
need—by dropping unblanched almonds into the blender,
a handful at a time. (EDITOR'S NOTE: A local health food
store owner, whom MOTHER consulted, suggested that readers
would do best to follow the author's example. It seems that
many such shops don't stock freshly ground almond—or
other nut—meat because of its tendency to turn rancid
quickly.) If you don't have any almonds on hand, you can
substitute a half-cup of wheat bran, and your fluffins will
still be delicious (though almond fanciers certainly won't
like them as well). As for the choice between rice bran and
rice polish, just bear in mind that the polish is lighter,
but the bran is more nutritious.
