Tahini Muffins

Tahini Muffin Experiment

  • 2 cups ancient grains gluten free (or all purpose) flour
  • 1/2 cup packed Brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2/3 cup tahini
  • 1 1/3 cups milk
  • 1/4 cup melted unsalted butter
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • dash of toasted sesames

Preheat oven to 400 F and line muffin tin with papers.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

Mix milk & tahini, add butter, then eggs, then sugar and cardamom.

Add dry ingredients to wet.

I like to use my 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop batter into the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with toasted sesames.

Bake for approximately 15 min or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool a bit before transferring to a plate.

Texture turned out a bit sandy due to the tahini. Cardamom gives it a nice crisp taste. Palate cleanser.

Recipe: Spanikopita Muffins (first try)

Base Savory Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup whole milk
Special Muffin Ingrediants:
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed & squeezed “dry”
6 oz Feta cheese
1 cup pine nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill muffin tin with cupcake wrappers.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in one bowl.
Stir the melted butter, egg, milk, spinach, and feta cheese together in a separate bowl.
Add the flour mixture slowly to form a batter.
Add the pine nuts and give a final stir.
Use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill each cupcake wrapper.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Approximately 35 minutes. (Know your own oven.)

Future note: Try adding caramelized scallions with the spinach!
my spanikopita muffin

Tips: Fat Free Cream Cheese

Fat free does not taste the same as fatty. Fat free cream cheese in particular has a strange flavor to it. Like a soft bland cheese instead of a slightly sharper cheese. I can only think of it as a sort of anti-umami.

There are times when fat free is necessary. The issue is how to fix that bland flavor, to make the fat free cream cheese taste better. I tried salt, all sorts of spices and flavors that should have added the necessary bite. After lots of experimentation I finally hit on it.

To make fat free cream cheese have the correct level of umami sprinkle dried chives on top.