Hippie Chippies

Those of you who attended Malice Domestic last spring probably remember me as "the lady in the boot." I had a tendon injury, and the boot was one of many attempts to fix it. Unfortunately, neither the boot nor anything that followed actually worked. So last week I learned that I have to have surgery (again), and I need to do it next week (to coincide with my spring break).

This means three things: (1) If you see me at Malice this spring, I will once again be in the boot. What a fantastic tradition! (2) I'm frantically trying to get my ducks in a row before I go under the knife, so I don't have any pictures of my food. And (3) I'm craving comfort food like you wouldn't believe.

Here's the thing about me and "comfort food": My mama did not raise me on health food. No sir. I ate sugary cereal, processed meats, and plenty of delivery pizza. And, alas, my tastes have not changed. I still dig salty, sweet, and fatty, especially when I'm feeling blue or anxious.

Now, though, I'm aware of what I ought to be putting in my body. My brain understands that whole grains and organic veg will allow me to live a longer, happier, healthier life.

But, um, French fries? Chocolate? No matter what my brain tells me, my tummy and my taste buds want deliciousness. I have become this strange hybrid of junk food junkie and hippie, eating vegan vegie burgers on whole wheat buns with a side of cheese doodles.

In honor of my increased awareness (and increased cholesterol), I've been working for some time at slimming down some of my favorite dishes, making them a smidge more hearty healthy (and waist-friendly). This interpretation of my absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe delivers a hearty snack, satisfying and chocolatey but not too sweet or oily. They're certainly not low fat . . . oh, no. But ground oats and whole wheat flour add significant fiber and mitigate my guilt a bit. Yet they're every bit as tasty as their white-flour cousins . . . and right about now, I could down a dozen of them!

Hippie Chippies

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2 c. old-fashioned rolled oats

1 3/4 c. white whole wheat flour*

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 c. butter (room temperature)

1 c. light brown sugar

1/2 c. white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Finely grind the oats in a food processor or blender. Pulse in flour, baking soda, and salt. In the bowl of a mixer (or a large mixing bowl), cream butter and sugars. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Slowly mix in dry ingredients and then the chips.

Working with 2 Tbs. of dough at a time, form balls and flatten slightly. Place on ungreased cookie sheet (ideally, lined with a silpat or parchment paper). Bake about 12 minutes, until edges are golden brown. Cool 5 minutes on the pan and then remove to rack and cool completely.

* White whole wheat flour is whole wheat flour made with white wheat (instead of the more common red wheat). White whole wheat flour has a milder, less nutty taste. It behaves like whole wheat flour, though, so keep this in mind if you use it for baking things like bread.

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Wendy writes the Mysteries a la Mode. Visit her on the web. Better yet, come befriend her on Facebook and keep her company while she convalesces after surgery!

Oprah’s Oatmeal Muffins and The Zero Fat Muffin Experiment by Cleo Coyle



Like Cher and Martha, Oprah has achieved that rare thing—global one-name recognition. Her public battle of the bulge alone should be enshrined in the broadcast hall of fame. First her weight was up then down; then way up and down again. Do you remember any of that?


For Oprah, the public yo-yoing began with a crash, liquid diet. After four months on the Optifast program, she finally fit into her size 10 Calvin Klein jeans and walked onto the set of her talk show pulling a red wagon filled with the equivalent of the 67 pounds of fat she’d lost.

Then it happened. The horror! The horror! The burger! She went off her diet one day, eating a single bacon, avocado cheeseburger. (I can’t believe I still remember that.)

If I correctly recall Oprah's foodie fall from grace, she ate that burger and went absolutely crazy. She couldn’t stop eating and chomped her way right back up again, gaining back all the red wagon weight and more.

Disgusted and frustrated, she turned to health professionals for advice, who explained to her that crash dieting doesn’t work. It destroys the metabolism, setting the dieter up for the kind of yo-yoing weight loss and gain that Oprah had experienced. (Hey, listen, I’ve gone up and down about the same thirty pounds all my life, so I can honestly say: “I feel you, Sister!”)

Oprah forced herself to learn about her body and nutrition, eating right and exercising. Instead of a crash diet, she changed her way of eating and living, and a wonderful thing happened: She pulled her viewers along for this new ride of living and learning.

During this period, she endorsed a cookbook by her personal chef, Rosie Daley, whom she’d hired away from a spa. The front flap of the cookbook says Oprah loves these recipes because they helped her lose weight and feel good. I noticed it on my bookshelf the other day. I haven’t looked at it in years, and I pulled it down.

Cleo Coyle, lover of
muffins, fan of Oprah,
and author of The
Coffeehouse Mysteries

Now I enjoy cooking all kinds of recipes. Last week I shared a classic (and decadent) French dessert, Chocolate Pots de Crème. Click here for a PDF of the recipe if you missed that one.

I also have fun developing and adapting healthier recipes, too. Among my favorite treats to enjoy with a cup of coffee are my Healthier Oatmeal Cookies with maple glaze. Get the PDF of that recipe by clicking here. In the PDF, I explain one reason why whole grains are so good for us and so good at helping us take off weight.

I really enjoy the taste of rolled oats, so I paged through the Oprah cookbook looking for that ingredient, and low and behold, Oprah had a favorite oatmeal muffin recipe.

I couldn’t believe this recipe contained no butter or oil, not one milligram. That seemed a little extreme. I mean, I'm all for healthy recipes, but if they don't satisfy you on a foodie enjoyment level, then I doubt they'll help you in the long run.

Even though I was wary of this recipe, I gave it a quick try. So here you go, my zero-fat muffin experiment for your edification. (Scroll down to my "report" below to see what I thought of it.)

OPRAH'S
OATMEAL MUFFINS


Adapted from In the Kitchen with Rosie: Opraph's Favorite Recipes with notes from Cleo Coyle

Makes 12 standard muffins
(or 24 mini muffins)

128 calories per standard muffin and only 2.5 grams of fat 

Ingredients

Light vegetable oil cooking spray
2 large egg white (I used extra large, all I had on hand)
1/3 cup maple syrup (do not substitute “pancake” syrup)
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (juice form about 1-1/2 medium oranges)
1 cup skim milk (I used 1% low fat)
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated rind of one medium orange)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (I increased to ¼ teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (I eliminated because allspice carries that flavor note)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
1-1/2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned, not quick cooking)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used white flour, see my end notes on this switch)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup dried cranberries (I substituted raisins, doubled the amount, and soaked them in water then drained them for extra plumpness)
¼ cup chopped pecans (I had no nuts on hand and didn’t add any nuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Step 1 - The Oprah recipe says to “spray the tins 3 times with vegetable oil” and I know why. With no fat in this recipe (no butter or oil), these muffins will want to stick like crazy to your pan, hence the liberal use of non-stick spray. I decided to make mine with paper liners.


Step 2 – Whisk egg whites in a mixing bowl until frothy. Whisk in pure maple syrup, orange juice, and milk. Add in the orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend. Switch to a spoon or spatula and stir in your rolled oats, flour, and raisins (or cranberries and nuts).

Step 3 – Fill your muffin cups about 2/3rds full. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the muffins are firm in the center. If baking mini-muffins, they should be done in about 12 minutes.

CLEO'S MUFFIN REPORT:

FLAVOR – HIT! The flavors of maple, orange, and spices with the raisins tasted delicious. Once I correct the texture (see below), this promises to be a satisfying breakfast or coffee break muffin, especially with pecans or walnuts added next time around.

TEXTURE – MISS. My results looked very pretty indeed but the texture was way off what it should have been – rubbery instead of tender and crumbly. Yes, I know! Whole wheat flour soaks up more liquid than white, and my batter was in fact too liquid before it went into the oven, but I wanted to try a 1:1 ratio just to see what I’d get. Next time I’ll use the whole wheat flour or (maybe) split the whole wheat and white flour and increase the white flour a bit. My aim here is to make a tasty, low fat oatmeal muffin -- oatmeal and whole wheat together might be very healthy indeed but tasty? I don't know. I'm going to continue experimenting with further adaptations. (I'll keep you posted. )

STICK FACTOR – MISS. I used two different paper liners, some with a slight waxed coating and some without. The liners without that slippery waxed coating were a disaster. Some of the muffin actually stuck to the paper! Now this could have been my fault, having used white instead of whole wheat flour, but I suspect that's why the Oprah recipe did not give you an option of using paper liners at all but instead insisted on spraying the tins with non-stick spray 3 times! I think I'll solve this problem by using foil liners next time and spraying them with non-stick spray once.

So there you go, a no-fat muffin, an inspiring story and a basic healthy muffin recipe to play with yourself.

Honestly, until I get this recipe right, I'll continue to stick with my Healthier Oatmeal Cookies (with or without the maple glaze)!

Click here for that recipe PDF and...

Eat with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

To get more of my recipes, win free coffee,

or find out more about my books, visit me
 at my *virtual* coffeehouse:

CoffeehouseMystery.com

 

Click on the book covers above
to learn more about Cleo's culinary mysteries.



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A final, quick note for our mystery reading fans.
The latest Mystery Readers Journal with the theme Hobbies, Crafts, and Special Interests is now available.

The issue, edited by Mystery Fanfare's Janet Rudolph, includes many mystery authors who have guest posted for us over the past year. You can check out the contents by clicking here, which will also give you info on how to purchase a copy (hard or electronic) for yourself.

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