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Solar Baked Fall Flavored Muffins
Sun Oven Pumpkin-Apple Muffins
These super moist muffin have all the flavors and colors of fall. They’re a great way to use up any over ripe, slightly wrinkled apples you might have.
Ingredients
1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons molasses
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 to 3 apples, peeled and chopped (about 2 cups)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Preparation
Set Sun Oven out to preheat. Line the indentations of two 6-cup muffin pans with paper liners or spray with cooking spray, set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg, pumpkin, molasses, sugar, and pie spice. Stir in the milk. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a wooden spoon, stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture. Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with the batter. Use a rack to separate the pans, or place one pan in a metal baking dish, and cross stack them in the Sun Oven. Bake until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
Makes 12 muffins.
Pumpkin Maple and Sunshine
This recipe makes 12 generously sized muffins. I was afraid they would rise too high for the toaster oven rack normally used to separate the two pans so I came up with a new system. I put the bottom pan in an 11-x-8-inch baking pan and crossed stacked the second pan on top. It made baking them a little less of a balancing act.
Sun Oven Maple-Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Solar Muffins with Cheese
Cheddar cheese and apples complement each other perfectly in these delicious muffins.
Sun Oven Apple and Cheddar Muffins
(adapted for the Sun Oven from Muffins Galore by Catherine Atkinson)
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups oat bran
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup apple juice
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, room temperature, lightly beaten
Solar Baked Zucchini Muffins
These muffins are great a great way to use the abundance of zucchini that can be found in gardens and markets this time of year. They freeze well, and a frozen muffin tossed into a packed lunch will have defrosted to perfection by lunchtime, or even in time for a midmorning snack if you can’t wait that long.
Sun Oven Zucchini Bread Muffins
(adapted for the Sun Oven form Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg, at room temperarture
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/2 cups packed grated zucchini
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
Preparation
Set Sun Oven out to preheat. Line two standard six-muffin tins with paper liners, set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, vanilla, and zest until well blended. Whisk in the brown sugar until smooth. Gently stir in the zucchini. Add the flour mixture, stirring until just combined. Stir in the walnuts.
Divide the batter evenly among the lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Use a rack to separate the two pans and cross-stack them on the leveling tray. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of one cupcake comes out clean, 3o to 4o minutes. Top pan will cook faster. Transfer tins to wire racks and cool completely. Can be stored 24 hours in airtight containers or frozen up to 2 months.
Makes 12 muffins
Solar Muffins and Oats
For months at a time I’ll eat the same thing for breakfast. Then out of the blue I’ll switch to a new morning fare. A few months ago my daily bowl of oat-meal had to make way for shredded wheat. Unfortunately, I had just bought an 2 pound box of oats. I have no idea how long it will be before I switch back to hot cereal and if it will be oat-meal when I do, so I had to find a way to use them up before weevils set up residence in my pantry. I didn’t have to look far for a good recipe. I got this one off the box.
Sun Oven Oat Meal Applesauce Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Solar Bran Muffins
These butter free muffins come out great in the Sun Oven. The tops are crusty but the crumb stays moist and delicious.
Honey Oat Bran Muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oat bran flakes
2 teaspoons baking powder
Moist Solar Baked Apple Muffins
These super moist muffins don’t brown no matter what type of oven they’re baked in so it might as well be a Sun Oven. Use a toothpick to test for doneness, it should come out with just a few crumbs attached.
Sun Oven Apple Muffins
Ingredients
3 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
Sunny Mini-Muffins
Mini-muffins, with their shorter baking times, are ideal candidates for Sun Oven cooking. Most recipes yield two dozen and all the muffins can be baked in two batches in under an hour. That eliminates the need for the acrobatics of cross stacking. I wish I could also say that the smaller muffins means I consume fewer calories, but I usually can’t stop after just one.
Sun Oven Lemon-Poppy Seed Mini-Muffins
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar, divided
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Solar Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
These muffins are yet another way to make your morning oatmeal easy to eat on the go. Store them in the freezer and take one out before going to bed. Then all you have to do is remember to grab it when you head out in the morning. There’s nothing worse than being half way to work and realizing your breakfast is sitting on the kitchen counter.
Sun Oven Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Sun Oven Banana Muffins
It’s always nice to have something to look forward to during a hard day at work. A light, fluffy, low-fat, solar-baked, banana muffin makes a great afternoon snack and is certain to brighten up your day.
Ingredients
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cups oat flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 large ripe bananas
