I’ve been using Sue Gregg’s Breakfasts cookbook for a couple months now and I love it. Every recipe I’ve tried has been great.
I recently decided to try modifying one of her muffin recipes. My kids (and wife) will often eat things if they have even the remotest inkling that there might be chocolate in them. Chocolate chips are the method I used to get them to first try Sue’s whole grain pancakes. (I had made other whole grain pancakes before and they were less than thrilled. Sue’s are unbelievably yummy - even without the chocolate chips).
I’m pretty particular about the food I cook and serve, so I happened upon Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They are made with mostly Nourishing Traditions endorsed stuff (minus the cocoa). I also discovered Ah!laska cocoa powder.
endorsed stuff (minus the cocoa). I also discovered I have obtained the kind permission of Sue Gregg Cookbooks to present my recipe for chocolate muffins here. It is a modified version of Sue’s Good Morning Blender Muffins.
Mix the following ingredients in your blender until smooth (takes 2-3 minutes in the Bosch). Leave at room temperature 7-24 hours:
- 1 cup buttermilk (I culture my own from fresh milk)
- 1½ cups whole soft white wheat (not flour)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Add the following and blend for a minute or two:
- 2 eggs
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ¼ cup Sucanat (evaporated cane juice)
- enough extra buttermilk to keep the vortex going
Blend in the following briefly but thoroughly:
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
Fold in:
- 2/3-1 cup chocolate chips (optional)
Pour this mixture into greased muffin tins almost full (I use the kind with 12 holes and have enough left for a few extras).
I bake this for 16 minutes at 350°. The larger size tins will take longer. It depends on your oven, but the key is to bake them ONLY just until a toothpick comes out mostly clean (remember there are melted chocolate chips in there). If you bake them too long they get dry and crumbly. The shorter baking time keeps them moist.
The first time you make them you might want to pour one muffin with no chips just to check with the toothpick. Once you establish a good baking time for your oven you won’t need to worry about it anymore.
UPDATE (9/13/2007): I have found that 13-14 minutes is even better and makes a richer moister muffin. Your mileage may vary based on your oven and pans. The 6 cup tins definitely need to bake longer, more like 18-20 minutes. No matter what I try with the smaller muffins, the larger ones always come out better - moister and richer.
Also, I have since realized that while the Enjoy Life chocolate chips are far better than average, they are not really NT. While they claim to use “evaporated cane juice,” this does not mean it is whole evaporated cane juice. My guess is it is more refined than I had hoped. That’s one of the reasons I put less in these days.
I tried your muffins last night and WOW they were really good. I made them without the chocolate chips and my kids still ate them up. I think I will order Sue Gregg’s breakfast cook book if the recipes are this good. I have Nuorishing Traditions, but the muffins from that book didn’t turn out that well.
So good! I’ve been making homemade muffins from freshly milled wheat for some time. When I noted the 2 TB of olive oil in this recipe, I decided to chang it to 1 stick of unsalted butter, melted. (More fat for my kids=a good thing) I experienced no trouble with dryness, though I did need to cook them closer to 25 mins. We just love these!!
Oh boy! A whole cook book just for breakfast! I’m going to put that on my birthday list.
Hi, Brian–have you ever tried to make this into a cake? I would love to use this for my son’s birthday cake. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Lynn
Lynn,
I have not made it into cake. If you manage to pull it off let me know. It sounds like a great idea.
So, any suggestions for making these wheat-free? I have one of Sue Gregg’s books, too, and love it. I have made the buckwheat pancakes many times. I usually at least triple the recipe, cook them all and freeze them individually. Then I toast them for future breakfasts. But I’d love to try these muffins if I could figure out how to do them wheat-free.
My guess is that you could use barley to good effect. I would reduce the amount just a little because barley tends to expand.
I have been looking for a soaked muffin recipe today on the internet and just came across yours. I have made the NT muffins before but wanted to try a new recipe. I have never baked with whole grains (just WG flour). Do you know if I can substitute WG flour for the 1½ cups whole soft white wheat? Do you just use the blender method or have you invested in a grain mill? I’ve often considered purchasing a mill, but I ‘m not sure if I will use it enough to merit the expense. My last question is…where do you generally buy your whole grains? Thanks for posting the recipe. I am excited to try it tomorrow.
Krista,
You can make this with flour. I would guess about 2 1/4 cups of whole wheat pastry flour. I use the blender method for these muffins even though I have a grain mill.
I buy my whole grains from several sources. Eden Organic Foods (about 10 miles away), sometimes from Something Better Natural Foods, or my local health food store.
I am so glad to have come upon this! I’ve been making Sue’s blender pancakes for a couple years and love them! I use all kinds of grains from wheat and rice to kasha and cornmeal. They are so good, and so versatile.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
I think I’m going to try to adapt this into a zucchini muffin.. muhahahaha