Apple Streusel Muffins

Well today is Sunday and since the oatmeal I made last week is all gone I decided to make some Apple Streusel Muffins.  The kids and I love muffins.  The hubby not so much, but I decided to give it a go and see what happens.  These make a great quick breakfast or a work well for snacks.  No one can even tell that I used wheat flour or that I cut out all refined sugar.

They make the house smell amazing!  My house is now filled with the warm apple spice scent and I love it!  When they cooled down I decided to try them to see how they turned out and I must say this is a complete success.  I was nervous because I was just creating this as I went.  Now I have some confidence in my baking and choices after this recipe.  Even my hubby enjoyed them.  He ate two when he woke up!

I am seriously amazed at how incredible these are.  These will definitely be a staple in our house from now on.  Next time I may try to make these muffins bite size which means I would have to shred the apples or dice them very small.  Or maybe switch it up a bit by making lemon/blueberry muffins or even chocolate chip.

Yum!  I can't help but drool over the picture!  So good :)

I wanted you to see the inside too.  I purposely left some bigger chunks of apple in there and they were fabulous!   

Apple Streusel Muffins
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (sifted)
1-1/4 Cup all Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
2/3 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/3 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce
2 TBS Canola Oil
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 Cup Stevia (cup for cup baking substitute)
2 TBS Molasses
4 Small Apples, diced and peeled (about 2 cups)
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/8 tsp Ground Cloves

Streusel Topping
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
2 TBS Butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin tins or line with paper muffin cups
• In a large bowl stir together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cloves, and salt
• In a small bowl mix egg, yogurt, milk, oil, applesauce, vanilla, molasses, and sugar
• Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and add apples
• Stir until everything is well blended and pour into muffin cups filling them to the top
• In a small bowl stir together sugar, flour, and cinnamon
• While tossing with a fork, slowly drizzle the melted butter and continue stirring until combined and crumbly
• Sprinkle about 1 TBS of the mixture over each muffin (I had tons extra so I recommend scaling it down or halving the recipe)
• Bake for 25 minutes or when a toothpick inserted comes out clean

Now I know you can have a healthier alternative to the streusel topping by adding oats or nuts, but I didn't have any so I decided to just use a basic streusel recipe.  Below is the nutritional value for each muffin.  This recipe yields 13 muffins.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 86 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 160 Calories from Fat 36

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 4.0g 6%

Saturated Fat 1.2g 6%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 16mg 5%

Sodium 206mg 9%

Total Carbohydrates 26.3g 9%

Dietary Fiber 1.3g 5%

Sugars 8.2g

Protein 4.5g

Vitamin A 2% • Vitamin C 2% Calcium 4% • Iron 7%

Nutrition Grade C

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Bad points

• High in sugar
• Contains alcohol

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Won Ton Soup

I love Won Ton Soup!  It is one of my favorites.  Although I am guilty of never making it myself and always ordering it.  It's cheap and the place I go to generally works with you and your dietary needs, but I think it is time to make this myself.  When I saw this recipe for Homemade Won Ton Soup on AllRecipes saying how easy it was I thought, "why not?".

I did make a few changes for my families likes and our dietary needs.  I think this is the recipe I have been looking forward to most.  One I get to use my fresh homemade chicken broth and well I love Won Ton Soup :)

Won Ton Soup  adapted from Homemade Won Ton Soup
1 Bunch Green Onions cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb Ground Chicken
1 TBS Sesame Oil
1 TBS Soy Sauce
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Dry Bread Crumbs
1/4 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 Package of Won Ton Wrappers
8 Cups Chicken Broth
1 Head of Bok Choy, chopped
1 Small Package Snow Peas, optional
1 Can Bamboo Shoots Drained, optional
1 Can Water Chestnuts Drained, optional

• Finely chop about 1 TBS of the green onions and put in mixing bowl
• Add chicken, sesame oil, soy sauce, egg, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper and mix well until combined
• Add about 1 tsp of the mixture to each won ton wrapper

Now to explain how to properly fold a won ton I am going to include a link to an instructional video.  It is much easier to see how it is done than for me to explain it...trust me I kept rewriting this and saying "that doesn't sound right" lol  So if you need to know how to properly fold a won ton follow the link HERE.  Just so you know I had my 10 year old daughter and her 11 year old friend help make the won tons.  It made the process go a bit faster ;)

Now when that is done we are ready for the next steps

• Boil the won tons in water for about 5 minutes
• Meanwhile bring the chicken broth to a boil
• When the broth is boiling reduce the heat to a simmer 
• Add bok choy and bamboo shoots while continuing to simmer for about 2 minutes so the bok choy can get tender
• Drop the won tons into the soup one by one and add snow peas
• Cook for about 1 minute to heat through and serve

Add a dash of soy sauce/sesame oil if you wish and garnish with remaining chopped green onion.  See that wasn't too bad!  This is a wonderful recipe that we will be making more often!

One more picture of the goodness :)

Below is the nutritional value per serving.  This recipe makes a ton!  So scale it down if you don't want to many leftovers :)  For us this made about 16 servings!  YOWZA!  No big deal since we love it and it makes a great lunch.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 280 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 247 Calories from Fat 31

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 3.5g 5%

Saturated Fat 0.8g 4%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 35mg 12%

Sodium 473mg 20%

Total Carbohydrates 36.4g 12%

Dietary Fiber 1.2g 5%

Sugars 1.5g

Protein 14.9g

Vitamin A 49% • Vitamin C 44% Calcium 7% • Iron 17%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• Low in sugar
• High in vitamin A
• High in vitamin C

Texas Sheet Cake

I know more sweets.  Crazy how bad my sweet tooth has been, but I was really wanting some chocolate cake with some fudgy frosting.  Who can blame me?  Doesn't that just sound heavenly?  I thought so too.  So I began my quest searching for the perfect recipe and found a wonderful recipe for Texas Sheet Cake, Scaled Down over at 33Flavors and knew it was the recipe for me!

I did make a few minor adjustments, but kept it very close to the original.  It just seemed too perfect not make too many changes.  And truthfully I am not a very good baker.  It's times like these that I wish my good friend Wesley was still with us because she could bake anything and everything.  The most heavenly desserts you have ever had.  Love and miss you Wesley!

This recipe is not only better for you, but also makes a smaller amount.  Smaller is perfect for me because otherwise I would eat the entire pan.  So eating a smaller pan can't be as bad ;)

See how melty the frosting is?  I couldn't wait any longer...lol

Texas Sheet Cake

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (sifted)

1 Cup Stevia in the Raw (or sugar or an equivalent substitute for 1 cup sugar)

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/8 tsp Salt

1/4 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Water

2 TBS Cocoa Powder

1/4 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Large Egg

• Mix the flour, stevia, baking soda, and salt until combined and set aside
• Over low heat combine butter, water, and cocoa powder until fully combined (stir constantly so the chocolate doesn't burn)
• Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture and fully combine (the mixture will be crumbly)
• In a small bowl combine yogurt, egg, and vanilla beat until fully combined 
• Pour into batter mixture and fully combine
• Pour batter into a prepared 7x11 pan (a 9x9 or 8x8 would work fine the cake will just be thicker)
• Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean

While cake is warm prepare the frosting so you can frost while it's still hot (that's how you do Texas Sheet Cake!)

Frosting

3 TBS Butter

2-1/2 TBS Milk

2 TBS Cocoa Powder

1-1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• Melt Butter over low heat
• When fully melted add milk and cocoa powder and stir constantly until heated through and fully combined
• Pour chocolate mixture into a bowl and add sugar and vanilla
• Beat until smooth and thick
• Spread over warm cake 

Now the hard part. :(  Wait 2 hours for cake to fully cool and frosting to harden before digging in.  Torture to smell the chocolaty goodness so maybe go for a walk or enjoy the spring weather :)

I cut my cake into 12 servings and the nutritional information is for 1 slice of cake.  171 calories for 1 slice...not too bad!

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 54 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 171 Calories from Fat 68

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7.5g 12%

Saturated Fat 4.6g 23%

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 34mg 11%

Sodium 121mg 5%

Total Carbohydrates 24.3g 8%

Dietary Fiber 0.8g 3%

Sugars 15.2g

Protein 2.4g

Vitamin A 5% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 2% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade D-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Bad points

• High in saturated fat
• Very high in sugar
• Contains alcohol