healthy.natural.easy.ish

So.

Another long, unexplained absence.  Sorry about that.  Turns out, though, that coffee and laptops don’t get along too well.  Who knew?

OK, I did know that.  Truth is, it’s not the first time my coffee has had a run-in with a laptop.  I’m not nice to my electronics.

The good news is that the coffee didn’t touch the hard drive, though it got the motherboard.  Do you want to know why that’s really, super, great, good news?  I haven’t backed up photos for over two years.  Anyone who does the math will figure out the last back up was before the twins were born.  The thought of losing those pictures…ugh.  Take a lesson from me, kids, back up your hard drive.  Often.  And then do it again.  Kind of seriously.

Anyway.

Food.  Muffins.  These are very good.  Nice lemony flavor.  Nice texture from the cottage cheese.  And the perfect recipe to mark my return.

Lemon Cottage Cheese Muffins

Modified from Healthy Food for Living

• 2 medium lemons
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1-2 tbsp course sugar

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease or line muffin tin with paper liners.

Zest and juice lemon and set aside.

Combine both flours, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine lemon zest and juice, egg, cottage cheese and butter.  Pour into flour mixture all at once and stir until just moistened.

Fill muffin cups to top.  Sprinkle with course sugar.  Bake for 20 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center of one comes out clean.  Cool for a few minutes in the pan on a wire rack.  Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack.

This particular muffin recipe came about from a crazy combination of circumstances:

1. A friend was coming for coffee.  As mentioned before, I like to give yummy treats with coffee.  I also love muffins and hadn’t developed any new recipes for a while, so it was a no-brainer.
2. I had a giant Granny Smith apple sitting in my fruit basket.  It was seriously huge.  The only person in this house who likes eating Granny Smith apples is only 4 and it was much too big for her.
3. I had no eggs or milk.  Muffins without eggs or milk?  Yeah, I know, that seems like a recipe (see what I did there?) for disaster, but it wasn’t.  Everything worked out in the end.  You’ll see.
4. Who doesn’t love cheese?  And with apple?  Yes, please!

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 medium apples, peeled and diced (about 2 cups, I used a very large Granny Smith apple)
• 3 oz shredded cheddar cheese (about 3/4 cup)
• 3/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1 cup plain yogurt

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease muffin tin or line with paper cups.

In a large bowl,  combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add apple and cheese and mix until coated.  Set aside.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together butter and yogurt.  Add to flour mixture and stir until just moistened, being careful not to over mix.  Fill muffin cups to the top.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack for a few minutes in the pan, then remove and cool completely.

DISCLAIMER: I live, and therefore bake, at a high altitude (about 4300 feet/1300 meters above sea level).  This means my recipes may not work as well at lower altitudes.  I very rarely make adjustments to sea level recipes, though, so this one might be fine anywhere.  For more information about adjustments see here.