Recipe For High-Protein Tasty Muffins.
This is a wonderful recipe which I have adapted from a basic muffin recipe to include grated apple with cheese. You can make it either with Gluten free flour, or use plain wheat flour.
It is a recipe you can rely on for muffins which have a high protein content and which are full of flavour, with a light texture.
Apple and Cheese Muffins are an ideal thing to make for those ‘bring a plate’ occasions, or to give to people in need of a little TLC. I have been making them for my elderly neighbour who needs building up.
You can use white self-raising flour in this recipe, if you are not allergic to it. The negative effects of white flour can be offset by the raw apple and onion, as well as the generous amounts of good-quality protein. Sometimes this combination is OK with people who have only a mild senstitivity to wheat flour. Or you could use a gluten-free flour if you wish.
You can use white self-raising flour in this recipe, if you are not allergic to it. The negative effects of white flour can be offset by the high fibre content of the raw apple and onion, as well as the generous amounts of good-quality protein. The phytochemicals found in the skin of the apple, as well as the pectin, can help weak stomachs to digest the gluten in wheat flour, if the sensitivity to wheat is but a mild one.
People with coeliac diseases, or extreme sensitivity to wheat, should use the gluten-free option.
Gluten Free Flour Option: I suggest a combination of one cup of soya, 3/4 cup each of rice flour, arrowroot or tapioca flour, and fine yellow cornmeal as a substitute for the two and a half cups of wheat flour. Using gluten free flours increases the already high protein content of these cheese muffins.
Ingredients and Method for Making Apple-Cheese Muffins:
First, turn on the oven to 180 C. Prepare your muffin tins by oiling them or buttering them thoroughly.
Grate two cups of cheese into a dish. Gruyere gives a great flavour, but Cheddar is also good.
In a separate mixing bowl, put two and a half cups of Self Raising flour, or three cups of the gluten free combination described above. Use two teaspoons of baking powder if you use the gluten free flour.
For the Blender. Prepare in another bowl:
One medium-sized apple, grated with the skin still on.
One small onion, skinned and chopped up.
One handful of freshly picked greens from the garden: A few sprigs of parsley, thyme, and a few leaves of rocket make a tasty combination. If you don’t have any of these, you could simply use a couple of leaves of spinach.
Four large free range eggs, or five if you are using smaller bantams’ eggs. I am fortunate enough to be able to buy free-range bantam eggs in the town where I live. They are wonderfully nutrient-rich eggs to use in baking.
One cup of water. Use the same size cup you measured out the flour and cheese with.
2teaspoons of curry powder.
Method: Put the flour into a mixing bowl. Tip over the grated cheese and fold gently into flour.
Next, put the grated apple, onion pieces, eggs, curry powder, chopped greens, and the cup of water into your blender. Blend up for one minute.
Pour the egg and greens mixture from the blender into the centre of the flour and cheese mixture.
Fold all together carefully. Be careful not to over-mix.
Using a large serving spoon, drop enough of the mixture into each of the greased muffin tins. Aim at filling them at least halfway, or three quarters of the way up, allowing some room for the muffins to rise.
These muffins are ‘sure to rise’: Aside from the baking powder, they have a good quantity of beaten eggs which aid with the process of rising.
Bake in a relatively hot oven for around 20 minutes, or until brown and their delicious cheesy smell tells you that they are done.
Depending on the oven, you might need to start the cooking off at 200 C, cook for 10 minutes, and then turn the oven down to 150 C for a remaining 5-10 minutes. I have an oven door which is not sealed properly when closed, so this is the routine I need to follow for making muffins if they are to be cooked nicely.
