Not So Serene Sunday: Jack'O Cran Muffins (low sugar)

I am so sorry I have been away for a couple days.

I am one of the lucky ones that caught the Fall head cold....UGH!!

Friday morning I woke up with the sorest throat ever. I had an appointment Friday morning, and while I was out I picked up my "best known cure", Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold.

One thing that I absolutely hate is being sick. Normally when I take Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold fizzy tablets, every four hours for twenty-four hours, it will wipe-out any cold symptoms I have.

Ha, this time the medicine back-fired....Did you notice how I said, "NORMALLY?"

My grandmother graciously gave me her allergic reaction gene. She is 90 years old and medicine free, because everything she takes she has a reaction to.

THANK YOU SO MUCH GRANDMA!!

I was nearing my twenty-four hour mark when I noticed my ears were itchy and plugged, my eyelids were swollen, and my equilibrium was off.

Good thing I didn't have to bake a cake or anything. The outcome could have been a catastrophe.

My kitchen floor was tilted, felt like I was walking side-ways, and the normal sounds in the house seemed to be echoing....HA, I experienced a haunted house illusion right in my own home, and I didn't even have to pay for the attraction.

Today, Sunday, I think I am going to let my body get back to normal and leave the cold medicine alone.
I went crazy with the pictures of these muffins because I think they are just beautiful.

This recipe comes from one of my blog favorites (<----- over there at the left of the screen), Angela's Unique Recipes . I contacted her and asked her if I could share.

I love to visit and keep up with my favorite blogs, and when I ran across this amazing looking muffin, I just had to try it. Thank you Angela!!

The tops are beautiful on these muffins, and what is the most impressive when it comes to muffins? Of course, the tops.
Jack'O Cran Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. nutmeg

1/3 c. vegetable oil

2 large eggs, beaten

1 TBS packed light brown sugar

1/3 c. honey

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. orange extract

3 oz. low fat cream cheese, softened

1 c. canned pumpkin

1/2 c. dried cranberries (crasins)

1/3 c. or 1 individually packaged maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal

1/4 c. sweet flaked coconut or chopped walnuts, for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Fill 12-muffin pan with cupcake liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and mix well.

In a medium bowl combine oil, eggs, brown sugar, honey and extracts, mix well. Stir mixture into the dry ingredients just until batter comes together. Don't over mix.

Do you know what happens to muffins if you over mix the batter? They become tough. You should only mix until dry ingredients are wet.

In a small bowl add 2 TBS of the batter the cream cheese, mix well and set aside.

Add pumpkin, cranberries, and oatmeal to the large bowl of batter and fold in gently until combined.

Spoon and spread about 2 or 3 tsp. of batter into a muffin cup in pan. Then spoon and spread about a tsp. of cream cheese mixture on top. Add another 2 or 3 tsp. of batter to top off the paper-lined muffin. Batter should be a little below top of paper liner. Repeat for remaining muffin cups. Top with coconut or walnuts, or both if you like.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes until nice and golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it.

Remove pan from oven and cool in pan for 10 minutes. Serve either warm or at room temperature.

*Baker's Note: I have been told that you should not bake muffins with empty cups in the pan. This recipe gave me 11 muffins with one empty. Instead of putting it in the oven empty, fill it with water. It is said that the water filled muffin cup will help with the rising of the batter filled muffin cups.
In Angela's recipe the tops are sprinkled with walnuts.

We are only half-way into Fall and I'm already tired of pumpkin and walnuts.....How about you?

So, I topped mine with sweet flaked coconut.

The coconut was perfect.

It toasted nicely while the muffins baked.

I took these muffins to the United Methodist Church in Stryker, Ohio when I went to help make apple dumplings.

They were a nice treat for everyone, and with the crew being mostly elderly, the low sugar content was perfect.

I left the muffins cool and then cut one of these "bad boys" open.

They look moist, don't they?

I think these would make the most perfect breakfast muffins.

When I was reviewing the recipe, the 1 TBS of brown sugar caught my attention.

A muffin with only 1 TBS of brown sugar. How can they even be edible with the sugar content being that low?

To my surprise, the muffin is just perfect.

And with the low sugar content, that means there is room for pumpkin butter, apple butter, fruit preserves, or jelly. YUMMMMM-O

As you can see, I ate mine with pumpkin butter. What a great treat....

PERFECT!!
GORGEOUS!!

Good Luck~Happy Eating~Enjoy