Carob Muffins
20
My idea of zen is cold weather, the kind that puffs out curls of steam everytime you breathe, when the tip of your nose is cold and resembles Rudolph’s. My zen then comes from being indoors, warm and snug, hair fanning beneath a beanie, toes curled up inside sock bunnies, hands hugging a mug of frothy coffee, a delicious cookbook propped up on knees covered with a blanket and the smell of chocolate filling up every corner as something bakes in the oven.
When all this is not possible, my zen involves wandering the aisles of a specialist grocer or organic mart and discovering new ingredients to experiment with. On one such recent jaunt, I picked up a bag of carob. Substitute for cocoa, it said. It looked like cocoa and I was eager to get back home, google it and cook with it.
What I found about carob was mighty interesting. It belongs to the pea family. The carob tree is an evergreen shrub and is also know as St John’s bread. It hails from the Mediterranean region and the seed pod which resembles a pea pod is crushed into powder and used as a substitute for cocoa, thereby eliminating caffeine. Because it doesn’t contain an alkaloid that is found in chocolate and which is toxic to some pets, carob is used to make pet food and doggie treats. Go figure! Hot chocolate for the kids at night might be a treat but also full of caffeine. Carob might just be the answer to that problem. It is supposed to have much more calcium and much less sugar compared to chocolate.
I wanted to bake a big juicy banana muffin to facilitate the warm and snuggle induced zen I was talking about earlier, so I did and I did it with carob. The resulting muffin was chocolate-y, soft and a champion for butter. A muffin, a cup of coffee, The Real Food Companion on my lap and I might have come close to achieving Nirvana. Very close!
CAROB MUFFINS
Soft, sweet and moist banana muffins are baked with carob, a healthier substitue for cocoa powder and chocolate. Utterly delicious!
Preparation Time – 10 minutes
Baking Time – 20 minutes
Makes – 24 medium sized or 12 jumbo sized
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups self-raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1 cup milk
2 cups mashed ripe bananas
2 lightly beaten eggs
3 tablespoons carob powder
1 tablespoon yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Method
Pre-heat oven to 200C[400F]. Grease or line a 12-hole jumbo/24-hole medium muffin pan with muffin cases.
Mix flour, sugar, salt, carob powder, soda, mixed spice and cinnamon in a large bowl. Toss it around gently with a wooden spoon.
Make a well in the center and add the eggs, milk, butter, yogurt, vanilla, milk and bananas.
With a light hand and working in only one direction, gently mix the batter till it is combined thoroughly. The batter should look wet and lumpy like thick porridge.
Spoon batter in each of the holes till about 2/3rds of the way full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until risen and cooked through.
Eat warm or cool and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving. These also taste quite good with jam and cream.
My Notes & Ideas
For extra sweetness and crunch, I sometimes sprinkle raw sugar on the uncooked batter before baking. At times, I also add sea salt flakes for a contrasting flavour.
While mixing the batter, if it is too stodgy and dry, add an extra 1/4 cup milk to loosen it.
Carob powder can be easily substituted for the same amount of cocoa powder. The muffins can also be topped with chocolate chips before baking.
To freeze, cool muffins completely, slice them in half horizontally, butter them, put the halves back together and store in a freezer safe air-tight container or individual freezer bags for a quick-to-go breakfast treat.
Buy Carob Powder – Amazon | The Raw Food World Store | Honest To Goodness | Baska John
I know carob molasses, but have never used carob powder… Those muffins look wonderful and your pictures are just stunning.
Cheers,
Rosa
I have never heard of the carb before, Thanks for enlightning me! Have a wonderfull and great weekend and thank you for thefoodclub recepie!
Monsterscircus´s last [type] ..DIY up-cycled map garland
Carob powder is completely new to me. Thanks for all the info on the powder. I love muffins and banana / blueberry muffins are my favorite! I really like the earthy tones in your photo. Beautiful!
I have never found carob in India but have been very curious to try it. Might just order it online somewhere
I simply LOVE the first photo. The darker colors, lighting, brown background and all the different textures make it perfect.
Although I’ve heard of carob, I’ve never used it. These muffins look wonderful and rich. Love your photos. GG
My mum is allergic to chocolate so I was brought up with Carob as a substitute. I have fond memories of her homemade carob, raisin and ginger easter eggs. I will be forwarding this recipe to her – thank you!!!
For the reason chocolate containing theobromine, a stimulant related to caffeine, I omitted it from the yogic diet for over 20 years. During the time, I became well familiar with carob that gives as closely chocolate-like sensation as it is possible. Carob is healthy. It has plenty of vitamin B.
I like your dark setting. The muffins look delicious!
What rich & scrumptious looking muffins!
Laura (Tutti Dolci)´s last [type] ..pluot crumb bars
That’s pretty interesting and now I have to look for some carob. Never heard of it before and wonder if I will find it here. Very curious!
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Lovely variation to the usual banana muffins. Carob powder is easily available in Australia, both in health food stores and now many supermarkets. Have used it for a couple of decades in a variety of dishes and actually prefer the flavour to chocolate: but I only use the very high cocoa content ones of that, so it would be a matter of taste.
Great Photos Sneh….love your blog:) Never heard of carob…sounds interesting:)
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mmm i used to eat carob buds in school! been a while since ive last eaten carob will def have to give these muffins a go
What a beautiful moody photo of the muffins sitting in the pale light. I love that. Me too…when it’s crisp cold outside that is when I am in my zen too. I am definitely not in my zen now as it is blazing hot in Texas. I really struggle during the summer since we moved here 2 yrs ago. Carob used to be super popular as a substitute for chocolate. I haven’t seen it lately but it was interesting to read it is in the pea family!
I have never used carob powder and only heard of recently. these sound interesting! Stunning photographs!
Shumaila´s last [type] ..Now we’re talking: Soy & Chickpea burgers!
I haven’t had carob for years. I didn’t realize you could get it in powder form, that’s quite exiciting. Muffins look wonderful.
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I’ve never tried carob, but those muffins look good enough to convert me! I love your descriptions of the zen of keeping warm when it’s cold. My husband and I were chatting recently about why he loves winter so much (I can’t stand it!) and he said that there’s nothing nicer than knowing it’s cold out, but being indoors and keeping warm. I may not love winter, but I do completely understand that reasoning. Sounds like your zen might be the same as his!
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Love these beauties…..carob powder is new to me….muffins look drool worthy…..
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Wow Sneh, this post is a trip back in time for me. I think the last time I had carob was when I was in primary school. I’d completely forgotten about it. Your muffins look wonderful, stunning images.
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Interesting info on carob, I never knew that it was part of the pea family.
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Wow, they look delicious! I wonder if you could substitute the eggs for another mashed banana…