Sunday, October 27, 2013

Healthy Desserts

Hey, everyone! My name is Annika and I am one of the new team members. I'm going to be sharing my recipe for Banana-Apple Muffins with Peanut Butter Glaze today. I came up with this recipe because I was thinking of ways to take fat and sugar out of muffins. I wanted to use fruit and honey to get all-natural sugars in the muffins. I also decided to take out butter and replace it with bananas and applesauce to get a nice texture. However, muffins all need some fat to make them not stick to the wrapper, so I used low-fat milk and I also added some coconut oil to add a little fat. Coconut oil is a very healthy alternative to butter or other fats because it is a liquid at a much lower temperature than your body's temperature, so it doesn't build up as a solid and clog your arteries. Instead, it digests easily and is converted to energy! Finally, I knew it wouldn't be healthy to make a buttercream, meringue or mascarpone frosting, so I decided to make a naturally sweet glaze using peanut butter and honey. These muffins are great and healthy because there is very little fat and only natural sugars. Even though they're muffins, you can enjoy them as a dessert as well as a breakfast item. Enjoy this recipe!

Some of the healthy ingredients in my muffins

Banana-Apple Muffins with Peanut Butter Glaze

Ingredients

Cupcakes:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder 
1/2 tsp. baking soda 
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coconut oil 
1 ripe banana 
4 Tbsp. honey 
2 Tbsp. Applesauce 
2 large eggs, separated 
2 tsp. vanilla extract 
2/3 cup low fat milk 

Filling:
1 apple, peeled 
1 tsp. sugar 
1/2 tsp. cinnamon 
1 tsp. honey 

Frosting/glaze:
2 Tbsp. honey 
2 Tbsp. butter, softened 
1/4 cup and 2 Tbsp. creamy peanut butter 

Preparation

Cupcakes: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for a convection oven). Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Put coconut oil in a small microwave safe bowl and microwave for 15-25 seconds, or until it becomes a liquid. S

2. Sift the flour in a medium bowl. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. Mush banana with a fork in large bowl. Add honey, coconut oil and applesauce. Beat with an electric beater until combined. Beat in egg yolks, one at a time, into banana mixture. Then, beat in vanilla. Beating on low speed, add half of the flour mixture, then all of the milk, then the remaining flour mixture until just combined.

4. Beat egg whites in a small bowl until stiff peaks form and fold it into the flour mixture.

5. Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Take out of oven and Cool completely before frosting and filling. 
 
6. Start making the filling by mincing the apples. Toss with cinnamon and sugar in a bowl. Stir in honey. Using a knife or thin spoon, cut a hole in the center of the cupcakes about 3/4 deep. Fill with apple filling.
 
7. To make the glaze, combine honey and butter. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. 
Using a knife spread a thin layer over cupcakes. Enjoy!
 
Madeline also requested that I could attach her recipe for her Pomegranate-Banana Parfait, since it is another healthy dessert, so here it is!

Pomegranate-Banana Parfait
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 small banana, sliced
The seeds of 1/2 of a small pomegranate
1 1/4 cups nonfat Greek yogurt*
1 tbsp honey (optional)
1/2 cup raw oats
1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews, roughly chopped

For chocolate mousse:
1 ripe banana (not too ripe, or it will affect the taste)
1 small avocado
1+ tbsp (to taste) maple syrup/other preferred natural sweetener (i.e. agave, honey, stevia)
2 tbsp cocoa powder

*You may use any non-dairy yogurt as well, such as soy yogurt or coconut milk yogurt.

Preparation
1. If you prefer to lightly sweeten your yogurt, mix the yogurt with the honey. If not, proceed to step #2.

2. Combine all of the chocolate mousse ingredients in a blender or Vita-Mix. Blend on a medium-high speed until a thick, creamy consistency is reached and there are no chunks of banana or avocado.

3. Using two medium-sized glasses to prepare your parfaits. Spoon 1/4 of the yogurt into the bottom of one cup and spread the layer evenly. Then, sprinkle two tablespoons of raw oats and two tablespoons of cashews on top. Then, spoon 1/4 of the chocolate mousse over the first layer of yogurt and spread the mousse into an even layer. Top with banana slices and 1/4 of the pomegranate seeds. Make another layer of yogurt and another layer of chocolate mousse, topping each layer with the same ingredients as before. The second layer of chocolate mousse is the last layer, so when you top it with bananas and pomegranate seeds, make sure it has a nice presentation.

4. Repeat step #3 with in the other glass. Serve and enjoy!
 
Thanks for reading this blog post! I hope you enjoy my recipe (and Madeline's parfait recipe). I had a lot of fun making it and I learned a lot, so it would mean a lot to me if you tried it out. Please follow Teens Can Cook, Too at all of our social media handles, follow this blog (click the button on the right-hand side) and share your recreations of these recipes with us by using #teenscancooktoo on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram!
 


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Thanks, and stay healthy!
- Annika
 

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