|
|
|
Store bought heart-healthy muffins? Don't fall for the con By Harvard Heart Letter
A. Yes, there is, but you're not likely to find it in the typical, store-bought low-fat muffin.
First of all, low-fat muffins get their name by skimping on fats, often the heart-healthy kind contained in liquid plant oils like canola and olive oil. When good fats are reduced, white flour and sugar usually take their place. Your body breaks down those refined carbohydrates quickly, leading to a spike in blood sugar and insulin production, followed by a rapid rebound of hunger. Diets high in refined carbohydrates seem to raise the risk of heart disease at least as much as diets high in saturated fat.
Commercial low-fat muffins also contain extra salt to make up for flavor lost from fat reduction. Finally, a commercial reduced-fat muffin has about the same calories as a standard one.
Muffins made in your own kitchen by altering cookbook recipes with the following tips can be more healthful than mythically healthy low-fat muffins sold commercially:
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". In addition to INSPIRING stories, HUNDREDS of columnists and cartoonists regularly appear. Sign up for the daily update. It's free. Just click here.
2. Go whole on the grains. You can easily substitute whole wheat flour for 50 percent of the white, all-purpose flour in your favorite muffin recipe, without harming the taste or texture. And with some tweaking, you can replace all of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. If you use all whole wheat flour, you'll need to add an extra tablespoon or two of liquid, either vegetable oil, buttermilk, or fruit juice, depending on the type of muffin you're making. The Great Muffin Makeover uses several different types of whole grain flours: whole wheat pastry flour (which has less protein than standard whole wheat flour, giving baked goods a more tender texture); white whole wheat flour (which is lighter in appearance and milder in flavor than standard whole wheat flour); and cornmeal (make sure to use non-degerminated cornmeal, with a coarse grind, to get all of the whole grain goodness). Rolled oats, buckwheat flour, and other whole grain flours can also be incorporated into muffins and other baked goods. If you can't find these grains at your supermarket, there are many milling companies that can ship them directly to you. Make sure to store whole grain flours in your refrigerator: The healthy unsaturated fats these flours contain can go rancid if stored at room temperature.
3. Slash the sugar. You can cut 25 percent of the sugar from most standard muffin recipes without any negative impact on flavor or texture, and in some recipes, cut back even more. When you cut back, try substituting brown sugar or agave nectar for some of the white sugar (brown sugar can replace all the white sugar, if you like); brown sugar and agave have more complex flavors than white sugar, so you can use less sugar but still bake up muffins with a pleasingly sweet taste. Adding sweet spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, and vanilla, has a similar effect. Using fresh or dried fruit or fruit purees can also help satisfy a sweet tooth. The Great Muffin Makeover recipes use these techniques to reduce added sugar by 25 to 50 percent from standard recipes.
4. Pour on the oil. Healthful liquid plant oils—canola, corn, sunflower, extra virgin olive oil, and others—help keep whole-grain muffins moist and are a better choice than melted butter or shortening. When substituting liquid vegetable oil for butter, use 25 percent less oil (since butter contains water). Use a neutral-flavored oil, such as canola oil, when you want other flavors to shine. Olive oil is a great choice for vegetable-based muffins.
5. Bring out the nuts. For extra protein and another source of healthy fats, add chopped nuts to a muffin recipe, rather than sugary chocolate chips or cinnamon chips. Or swirl in a spoon of nut butter or a splash of nut-based milk. You can also substitute nut-based flour for up to 25 percent of the grain flour in a recipe, without noticing a texture difference, and it will add a subtle nutty flavor. Nut flours are available in specialty supermarkets or by mail order. Or, if you have a really good food processor, you can make your own nut flour by grinding whole nuts, such as almonds, into a coarse meal. Be sure to store nuts and nut flours in the refrigerator or freezer, to keep their healthy oils fresh and flavorful.
6. Switch from grains to beans and bean flours. Beans (legumes) are slowly-digested sources of carbohydrate that are rich in fiber and protein, so they can be a healthful substitution for refined grains in baking recipes. Beans and bean flours have starches that behave a bit differently from white flour, though, so you can't exchange them one-for-one with grain flours. But they can substitute well for part of the grain flour. Just remember that you may need to add a bit more liquid to a bean flour batter.
7. Scale back the salt. Quick breads, such as muffins, are often sneaky sources of sodium, because they rely on sodium-based leavening agents, such as baking soda and baking powder. New, lower-sodium leavening agents are available for professional foodservice chefs, and they are an excellent choice for muffins. Home cooks, unfortunately, can't yet buy these at the supermarket. The best way for them to scale back the salt is just to make smaller muffins. To make sure that your entire meal stays low in sodium, pair muffins with foods that are naturally low in sodium or sodium-free, such as vegetables or fruit. Also, make muffins and quick breads an occasional breakfast treat, not an everyday staple; whole grains that are minimally-processed, such as steel-cut oatmeal, are lower in sodium than whole grain baked goods.
8. Pump up the produce—and flavor! Fresh whole fruit and unsweetened dried fruit naturally contain sugar, but unlike other sweeteners, they also contain fiber and important nutrients. Using fruit in your muffins means you can have a lighter hand on the added sugar. Cooked or raw vegetables, such as caramelized onions, sliced jalapenos, and snipped chives, can add interesting textures and savory flavors to muffins.
9. "Egg"centuate the power of eggs. Eggs have gotten an undeservedly bad rap, due to their cholesterol content. Research finds, though, that an egg a day is a fine for healthy people, so there's no need to skimp on eggs in muffins and other baked goods. Folding whipped egg whites into a batter can help lighten it up—a great trick to use with whole grain muffins, which often have dense batters. A lighter batter also means that you can use a smidge less baking powder, helping to curb sodium.
10. Skimp on the full-fat dairy products. Dairy products such as whole milk can be high in saturated fat, and they're not essential to make a great-tasting muffin.
11. Stretch small indulgences. Butter and cheese are high in unhealthy saturated fat, so we want to limit these foods in our daily diets. But using these and other "indulgent" ingredients in small amounts can add zip to muffins, without adding too much unhealthy saturated fat.
12. Take a stealth health approach. Invite people to taste your revised recipes before telling them about the changes. Many people react negatively to a "better-for-you" version before they even taste it, but if they get the chance to taste first, they will likely agree that they like it just as much as—or even better than—the original.
— Walter Willett, M.D., M.P.H. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Interested in a private Judaic studies instructor — for free? Let us know by clicking here.
Comment by clicking here.
© 2012, PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLGE. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
| ||||||||||||||||||
