I’m one of those people who can’t keep baked goods in the house. I mean this in two ways. If there are baked goods in the house, they’re not around for long because I eat them, maybe not in one sitting, but quickly and compulsively, snatching them straight from the oven to “test” them and then testing them again and again “to find out what temperature they taste best at.” (I mean, I need to know that, right? So that I can tell you? That’s my rationalization and I’m sticking to it!)
So I’ve come to realize that I can’t keep baked goods in the house–meaning, it’s better if I do not allow them through the door in the first place. This policy saves me some calories but leaves my husband and daughter feeling so deprived that they’re ready to pounce on anything containing flour and sugar like a pair of starving jackals.
To appease them, I sometimes give in and bake something relatively healthy and small, and muffins fill the bill. They’re lower in sugar than cupcakes and taste great made with whole grains, but perhaps most importantly, they’re easy to divide: one muffin is one muffin, whereas one slice of cake can mean anything from a sliver you can practically see through to a chunk the size of a toaster. In a family of muffin-hungry predators, it’s best to have something that I can divide quickly into equal portions and get my fingers out of harm’s way.
With my family clamoring for muffins (it’s been a while) I finally broke down and made a batch. I found some of the most delicious organic white peaches at the local health food store and thought that their sweet perfumey taste would go well with the floral flavor of vanilla. So, to get a double-dose of vanilla, I scraped the seeds from one Bourbon vanilla bean and added some pure vanilla extract into the batter. The combination of rosy-peach and vanilla was just intoxicating.
Since I am trying to cut down on sugar, I tried something new. A few weeks ago, a company called NuNaturals sent me several of their stevia products. Normally I don’t take products for review, but because I’m always trying new brands of stevia to see if I find something I like better than KAL, I decided to give NN a try. I’m happy to report that I liked NN’s Pure White Stevia Extract as much as KAL in my morning coffee and would buy it if it were less expensive. The product I was most interested in was their Stevia Baking Blend, a stevia-fiber formula that the package said could be used as a direct replacement for sugar.
Since I’ve always found cooking with stevia to be tricky, I hoped that this product might end the guesswork of converting regular recipes to sugar-free. And it did–with one drawback. I found the fiber taste to be overpowering when used in a recipe that already included whole wheat flour. My family still scarfed the muffins down (E with a drizzle of agave nectar), but I thought the fiber taste took away from the peach-vanilla euphoria I was going for. I think that if you’re diabetic or unable to eat sugar for other reasons, this is a great product, but for myself, on those rare occasions that I bake, I will be using the real thing.
Sugar-Free (or Not) Peach and Vanilla Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar or sugar, optional
- 2 large peaches about 2 cups, chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons warm water
- 1 vanilla bean split and scraped
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 1/4 cups unsweetened soymilk or other non-dairy milk
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour or gluten-free baking mix
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup stevia baking sugar substitute or sugar
- 2 tablespoons chopped almonds optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange 16 silicone muffin liners on a baking sheet or oil a regular-sized muffin pan and a few extra muffin-sized ramekins. (Note: Fat-free muffins stick to paper liners so avoid them.)
- Peel the peaches (if they are very ripe, the skin may easily peel off; if not, dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds and allow to cool before peeling) and remove the pit. Chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Mix with agave nectar (optional) and set aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix the ground flax seed with the warm water. Slit the vanilla bean open and scrape the seeds from the middle with the back of a knife. Whisk the seeds into the flax mixture and save the vanilla bean for another use. (Try storing it in sugar to make vanilla sugar.) Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice, and soymilk to the flax mixture and whisk well to combine.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar or substitute. Mix well. Add the liquid ingredients and stir just until combined; batter will be thick. Fold in the peaches, making sure they are distributed throughout the batter. Fill each muffin cup to within 1/2-inch of the top. Smooth the top of each muffin and, if desired, sprinkle with chopped almonds. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
nick
I've never understood why people use the term "sugar free" for items like this. Agave is still a sugar that you are adding. I suppose that most people use this label when referring to refined white sugar? That's the only thing that I can conclude.
Regardless of which, this looks like a great recipe. Great stuff!
Susan Voisin
That’s an optional ingredient, hence the name “Sugar Free or Not.”
VeggieGirl
If you don't want baked goods in your house, feel free to send them over to mine!! 😀
dragonfly pie
"If there are baked goods in the house, they're not around for long because I eat them, maybe not in one sitting, but quickly and compulsively"
Ahh, I gotcha. Last night I made dumplings in blueberry sauce for myself and my husband–he ended up not eating much of his and for no other reason than "I have to!", I ate his.
Additionally, the topping on those muffins looks delicious!
vegan.in.brighton
Those muffins look delicious, I'll have to give them a go soon.
Joelle
Those look SO good! I should make some. I love those silicone muffin liners! I'd never heard of them before. Guess I'll have to find some.
Elaine
These sound amazing! My co-op has white peaches and nectarines now, will have to give this a try. Thanks for the info about the NN. I have not tried stevia yet as have heard so many different opinions, so have been using the Splenda for baking and so far have had good luck with it.
renee @ FIMBY
As a long time reader, from way back before there was a blog, I appreciate your honesty about reviewing the stevia product. I too keep a mostly baked goods free home but every once in awhile the family appreciates a treat from the oven. I try to use more natural sugars but really it's all sugar in the end. Oh well. We don't eat it very often.
HaikuTofu
what's the word on beet sugar? I use cane sugar when I bake, but I bought a blood orange soda sweetened with beet sugar and it was pretty good.
have you ever used beet sugar for baking? Thanks
SusanV
Nick, the agave is just there to draw out the juices of the peaches and contributes less than a gram of sugar per muffin. You can leave it out if you like.
VeggieGirl, I'd send them if my family didn't get to them first!
HaikuTofu, I'm not able to get beet sugar here, but in some parts of the country, it's what's sold as regular sugar so no special treatment is required. From what I hear, beet sugar is produced using no animal products in the filtering, so it is considered vegan.
shelby
I love muffins! I always immediately freeze the leftovers so I don't go overboard. I know it is to eat more than 2 (or three) muffins in one sitting!
I actually just got that baking blend of stevia! Maybe I'll make your recipe soon!
Paul
I love muffins! I am going to make these tomorrow (to share). Thanks Susan!
Meg's Gut
Wow, these look great and definitely seem friendly for my food restrictions. I am going to try these out!
Eatiing Raw Foods Info
These muffins sound so good! I assume the baking stevia is less sweet than the other stevia? Because I know with the other, a little bit is SO sweet.
I love the pink and blue muffin cups too:-)
Josiane
Finding a live worm in a peach years ago had the unfortunate result of making peaches be slightly off-putting to me. However, I feel that this is the recipe that will reconcile me with those delicious fruits! Yay! Thank you, Susan.
moonwatcher
Hi Susan,
These look absolutely delicious. You had me laughing at taste testing to see what temperature they taste best at. . .I can find myself eating more than one muffin if I go there, too. . and what a great rationalization it is!! Anyway, thanks for the wonderful seasonal recipe. I look forward to trying it when it's cool enough for baking again here-gluten free, of course. But all your muffin recipes have translated so nicely with the homemade mixes I come up with I don't see why this one wouldn't as well. . or maybe I'll make it with pears, since they go good with vanilla,too, and I am going to have a ton of them ripening within the month. . .
xo
moonwatcher
Anna
Did you try making these with pears? How’d they turn out?
Vegetation
Mmmm I am a muffin addict! They're so easy to grab and like you, they're portion controlled (well kind of :P) and I love that you can make them mostly healthy.
These one's look fantastic and I recently found a sugar/stevia blend in my supermarket I've been wanting to try and these might just fit the bill for the experiment!
Phoenix
Wow, these sound great! And they're still not really high in calories even with sugar instead of stevia. I really want to make those soon! :))
Naomi
Stevia is banned for being sold for food or food ingredients in the UK, so any ideas for another low cal alternative to sugar?
Everyday Veg*n
Hi Susan,
I have spent the last week or so going through your entire archive 🙂 I just wanted to pop in and say thanks for taking the time to put together such an awesome resource and what a good time to do it because now I get to also say how delicious these muffins look!! I am SO going to try them out this weekend! Thanks again!
Michal
Oh lovely! I just love muffins and this combination of peach and vanilla is so interesting, i have never thought about doing that before. I hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Lisa
You can put fat free muffins in paper liners if you spray the bottom with a little cooking spray.
the house vegan
My God, those look glorious.
Bianca
I have the same problem with "sampling" baked goods. That's why I'm having such a hard time finishing the dessert section of my cookbook. I keep putting off developing new dessert recipes for fear that I'll gain like 300 pounds. These look and sounds great!
Veggie85
I would love to make these muffins, but peaches never seem to survive long enough to be baked! Thanks for a recipe including one of my all time favorite foods, I'll have to try it!
betty
Wonderful , beautiful , INSPIRING blogsite-I love the pictures!!! Thank you!Betty http://www.geothermalquestions.net
Amy
Rediscovering your blog… 🙂
I am going to be looking around for lots of great recipes I can try while keeping the grocery budget down. 🙂
LOVE the layout of the blog. SO nice.
eatme_delicious
Mmmm these sound delicious and are so cute! The combination of peach and vanilla sounds perfect.
Nanette
When I make baked goods I always fool myself into believing I'm going to keep some around by freezing them.
You have no idea how great still-frozen cookies and muffins can be! LOL
OneBiteAnotherStep
Hey Susan
thanks for the great recipes. I currently battling with an eating disorder and ur healthy eating is helping me get back on my feet.
Thank You for taking your time and being such an amazing blogger!
Anke
Hi Susan,
exactly. On the rare occasion one bakes one should go for the real thing (and maybe just use less of it). Fits in with the 90/10 rule: get it right 90% of the time, so you don't have to worry about the remaining 10%.
Another trick is to just make smaller batches. I usually half all US cookie/muffin recipes so as to not end up with literally a ton of baked goodies.
Thanks for the recipe, it sounds scrumptous, now with peach season in full swing 🙂
A_and_N
Love how it looks! And about baked goods being at home – sigh. Let's not even get there!
Aparna
I'm so with you about the low resistance to baked food and my husband and our daughter being deprived! 🙂
So one way is to tweak recipes so they're lower calorie but then the daughter says she needs the calories!
So now I bake in small portions. And these muffins looks gorgeous.
Lauren
I love making muffins, especially as the weather gets cooler! YUM! Thanks for the recipe!
DrSteggy
I made these this morning (the sugar version) and they were really great. They were not totally vegan as I used honey and cow milk, but they turned out well with those subs.
Lauren
Your muffins look yummy! They are not, however, sugar-free. Maltodextrin is just another word for sugar (a primary ingredient in the NuNaturals Fiber Baking Blend). And If you're diabetic, you probably shouldn't be eating pastries made with wheat flour, since the starch converts to sugar in your blood stream (unless you choose to inject insulin to cover the carbs). 😉
christina
what a great idea for muffins! thank you for your creativity!
Anonymous
Naomi from England- strangely, although stevia is prohibited for inclusion in foods in the U.K. you can actually buy it from a number of online shops (and a few health food stores dotted around)- generally they sell it with the proviso- we are happy to sell this product to you so long as it is not for human consumption (yet some protein/green food supplements imported from the U.S. sold as food don't seem to carry the same warnings?!!). I'm unsure as to if I can provide links to such webshops, but I will just in case- try http://www.red23.co.uk/Stevia-Liquid-Concentrate-57ml_p_697.html also sold as a powder. This is also a useful store to get some hard-to-find U.S. imported foodstuff- although £17 for raw tahini is hard to stomach despite how lovely it is! If anyone is thinking that way, someone in North America could make a fortune selling Vegan foodstuffs to us over the pond!
Hope the essay helps… Susan, your website is a mine of creative yet practical ideas, I am taking the plunge and buying the same pressure cooker you use- thank you!
Lorelei
so not to be a heathen here, but i cannot obtain flax seed. since i'm not vegan this is no biggie for me, but there seems to be utterly no consensus on egg to flax seed replacement. what would you say?? thank you so much!
SusanV
Lorelei, I don't advise anyone to use eggs, but if you were determined to make these cupcakes with them, I suggest using only one and omitting the flaxseed and warm water.
Lorelei
thank you susan!! 🙂
lauren,
while technically not sugar free, some diabetics can stand certain sugars. my father, who is type II diabetic, is able to withstand quite a large quantity of fructose (less than most people, but still) with no more averse effects than anyone else eating an apple.
not all diabetics inject insulin, either, i'm not even sure the majority do. and it seems that most diabetics can eat carbs and tolerate them quite well, they just need to not eat TOO MUCH of them.
in the end, all diabetics know what sugars they can and can't eat and how many carbs they can withstand a day. most recipes labeled sugar free have SOME sort of sweetener in them, whether maltodextrin or splenda or fructose or whatever, and a diabetic person would just have to sift thru the recipes to find the ones that are right for them… or simply replace the sugar type.