Muffins! Muffins! Everyone needs a good muffin!

Last night I made a batch of Crazy for Carrot-Walnut muffins. They turned out to be incredibly beautiful and filled the coffee shop with their scent. I've been experimenting lately with taking out the fat in some of my muffins. Most of them are already reduced fat, but now I'm tweaking the recipes to see if I can remove even more. This is actually pretty exciting. I know that sounds weird, but without the fat, the benefits of what's in them increases even more. Our taste has been tainted from years and years of eating things that are dripping in fat. A muffin should contain goodness in taste and ingredients that doesn't need fat to pull this through. There are good fats and I always make sure that I use the best, but for people out there with a desire to really watch their fat content, I'm working on muffins that are delicious and without added fat.

Oh, this photo is from a Muffin Photo Session set up by a great local photographer named Reina McCuskey. Check out her site and her incredible photos at www.merematt.com. She's one of those photographers with the ability to know what you want when you don't even know what you want. Gorgeous work and a great woman.
But, I'd better get going. I have muffins to make.
Jerri

Sticking with the BlueBelle Way

I love my muffin business. Making and creating new recipes and having people taste them just gives me a certain thrill. The one thing that I do know is that I have to stick with my what BlueBelle Muffins are and not try to look like or taste like the other one's out there. I was speaking with someone this evening and she told me that I should cut down on my ingredients because they're too expensive, add canola oil, use white flour instead of whole wheat, and add ingredients to make them puffier. She said that when they sit next to the other "regular" muffins, they look smaller and people opt for the bigger ones. So, what do I do? Do I compromise on what I'm trying to do with delivering healthy and nutritious muffins? No! No! And No! I don't want to do the same thing that everyone else is doing. But, I'll post a few pictures of my muffins and talk more about the plans of what i'm going to do with this business.

The joy of muffins

There is a purity to muffins that you can't find in any other food. When your teeth enter the top and give way to a new flavor that lies within, little explosions go off in your mouth. It's a surprise food. There is a variety available in muffins that you can't find in other foods. Different ingredients blend in your mouth and become an ambrosia to the soul. This morning I gave my daughter half of a Whole-Wheat Banana Walnut Muffin I made two weeks ago. I had wrapped it up in Saran Wrap and then placed it in a baggie. It looked delicious and since we're always in a hurry in the morning, she was able to eat a healthy breakfast (thanks to added ingredients) and make it on time for the bus.
Today I made a new muffin that is going to be a definite staple in the BlueBelle Muffins repertoire. It's an apple muffin that uses nice chunks of brown sugar and cinnamon to pull out the flavor or the apples. I made them into mini muffins that I'm taking over to Saugatuck Elementary this evening. It's parent's night and I'll have a chance to get some people to sample. They're healthy and they look just yummy, yummy, yummy! Tomorrow I think I'll start taking some pictures of the muffins I'm making.
But, I'd better go. More muffins later.
JCG

The Magic of Muffins

Growing up, I loved muffins. The ones we ate were nothing like the ones I create now, but that didn't stop me from eating them. I grew up eating Jiffy muffins. We had the cornbread ones (if you can call that cornbread) all the time, but for a special treat, we would have the ones with the imitation blueberries. Now those were awesome. Slathered with half a stick of margarine, they were a symphony of synthetic flavors that sent waves of sugar shock throughout my body. With five boxes costing about a dollar, they were great breakfast/snack foods and at only a million calories, they helped keep me in obesity for years.
Now that I'm a mother, I wouldn't dream of pulling out a packet of muffin mix and making these for my daughter. It's the whole knowledge thing. I now know better and I couldn't possibly pollute her body with foods that I know are so fake. However, I did like picking out the imitation blueberries and sucking on them. Gross, but so yummy.
This morning I made some cinnamon muffins for my daughter's breakfast. I added a bit of flax seed, used whole wheat instead of white flour, and swapped out a bit of the oil for applesauce. She loved them and with a glass of milk and a piece of fruit, she had a good start for breakfast.
I guess this is one of my missions with BlueBelle Muffins. I want to provide other mothers with a healthy breakfast alternative.
But, it's time to get back to work. There aren't any muffins baking, but work work to do.
JCG