MOIST & DELICIOUS LOW-GLYCEMIC/NO-ADDED-SUGAR CORN MUFFINS

As you might have noticed, I've been on vacation from blogging for almost a month. However, I haven't been idle.  You might remember me mentioning back in April that I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, so I have been adjusting my vegan diet to a low-glycemic vegan diet, which means also adjusting some recipes, totally revamping others, or even starting from scratch, and tossing some out, as well. (You can read a bit about this in this blog post and this one. And, PS: I've dropped 13 lbs without even trying, and my blood tests are definitely improving. )

We mostly eat fresh fruit (often with homemade soy yogurt) when we want a dessert, but occasionally I make Chocolate "Nice Cream", made with 3 sliced frozen ripe bananas, 1/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/4 cup soy milk, a pinch of salt, a little vanilla extract, and sometimes a dollop of nut butter, blended until creamy-smooth in the food processor, then frozen-- no sugar or sweetener of any kind needed! So delicious!  

I've been eating only sprouted grain or whole rye breads, and also investigating other low-glycemic grains and flours. Quinoa, teff, and amaranth are all very well, but they are expensive (as is commercial sprouted grain flour), difficult for some people to find, and often too strong in taste to use in many recipes. My favorite quartet of LG flours is comprised of oat flour, barley flour, millet flour (all can be ground from grain to flour in a dry high-speed blender if you do not have a grain mill) and chickpea flour. (White bean flour can be used in place of chickpea flour.) Buckwheat and rye are also excellent, and I always have some in my freezer, but their strong flavors make them less useful.

Lately, I've been working on a low-glycemic, low-fat vegan brownie-- can you tell that we love chocolate? I'm not there yet, but will report back. Another recipe that I've been working on is a low-fat, but moist, low-glycemic vegan cornbread or corn muffin. Cornbread is a particular favorite of mine. I've tried many recipes from online sources and cookbooks, but, in the end I successfully revised one of my own corn muffin recipes and it's easy, quick, and inexpensive, as well as delicious.

The following recipe is based on a recipe from my book "The Fiber for Life Cookbook" (Book Publishing Co., Summertown, TN; © 2002). It has been a favorite of ours for many years, because we love anything corn-y, and these are double-corn-y! The canned cream-style corn in the recipe (which contains no cream or dairy whatsoever) adds more fiber, and makes the muffins moist and sweet. If you don't have a can in your pantry, or prefer not to use it, you will need some thawed and drained frozen sweet corn-- see note at the end of the Ingredient List in the recipe.

In this close-up,  you can see the nice moist crumb of the muffin.

Printable Recipe

BRYANNA'S MOIST & DELICIOUS LOW-GLYCEMIC/NO-ADDED-SUGAR CORN MUFFINS 
Makes 12     
(This recipe also happens to be gluten-free, can be soy-free, and contains no sugar or syrup of any kind, and no artificial sweeteners.)

DRY MIX:

1 cup yellow cornmeal 

1/2 cup oat flour

1/4 cup barley flour

1/4 cup millet flour

1/2 T. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking soda

WET MIX:

3/4 cup non-dairy milk

2 T. oil

2 tsp. powdered egg replacer (such as Ener-G or Orgran)

ADDITIONAL:

14 oz. can cream-style corn (This product does NOT contain dairy products.) OR, in place of canned cream-style corn, you can mix 14 oz. of thawed frozen sweet corn (do not drain) with the Wet Mix ingredients in a blender or food processor for about 5 seconds-- some lumps of corn should remain. See photos below to judge texture.

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Oil 12 muffin cups.   Mix the Dry Mix ingredients together well in a medium bowl.  Mix the Wet Mix ingredients in another (2 to 4-cup) bowl or pitcher with a whisk or with a hand/immersion blender.  Pour the contents of the can of "cream-style" corn into the Wet Mix and stir well. 

Pour this mixture into the Dry Mix and mix briefly.  Spoon evenly into the muffin tin.  Bake 15-20 minutes. (Test one of the muffins with a toothpick after 15 minutes, to see if the toothpick comes out clean-- if it dies not, bake for a few minutes more.).

Loosen them carefully with a table knife and turn them on edge.  Place the muffin tin on a rack, cover the muffins with a clean tea towel and cool for a few minutes before serving.  Cool thoroughly before storing.  These freeze well.

Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 126 calories, 30 calories from fat, 3.4g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 211.5mg sodium, 185.4mg potassium, 22.5g carbohydrates, 2.1g fiber, 1.6g sugar, 3g protein, 3.7 points.

Enjoy!