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Here is another version of our favorite healthy dessert- duffins. I wanted to make something for Halloween and the first thing I think of – is pumpkin. When I think of pumpkin, cream cheese frosting comes to mind- it really is a match made in heaven.

So, in order to make duffins, I decided to invert the two and use the cream cheese as a filling in the middle.

The result was delicious- well, eventually. I made one batch and had a few friends taste test for me and give me some critical analysis. My daughter is the most honest taste tester I have- she has no qualms about telling me when things are not right. She told me the duffins didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor and the filling tasted too much like cream cheese and not like a frosting. She was right- I had forgotten to add vanilla extract in the cream cheese mixture.

The second batch included more spiced including cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It also included the missing vanilla extract. The result was delicious.

Make these for halloween…

• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup extra light olive oil
• ¾ cup 1% milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

Filling

• 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Keep aside.

Topping

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• ½ cup fine raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well.
Add a quarter cup batter in each cup. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese on top. Top each cup with the rest of the batter to cover the filling.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into another small bowl.

Once the muffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.

Diwali- Indian New Year is on Wednesday this week. For those who are not familiar with the holiday- there is just one thing you need to know- it a fabulous time to eat good food including something sweet.

Regardless of  where you live in India or what tradition you follow, it is a day to eat sweets and spend time with your family and friends.

We usually get together with family and eat lots of delicious food. As I just mentioned, one of the traditions is to eat something sweet.

I had this sweet rice recipe which I thought would be perfect to eat on such an occasion. Actually it is ideal for breakfast with a steaming cup of coffee.

I grew up eating this delicious rice flavored with jaggery, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and cumin seeds. It has an amazing nutty flavor. In this recipe I have used brown sugar instead- just to make it more accessible. I love eating this rice hot with a dollop of low fat tangy yogurt- it is delicious.

Try this one- it has an amazing flavor…
Click here for the recipe… »

I took this cake to a friend’s house the other day. I wasn’t sure if I would be in the mood to bake anything and was prepared to purchase one instead. The day before we were going for the dinner, I checked with her what she was cooking. That usually helps me coming up with something. Turns out she was serving falafels. Baklava came to mind but I am not a huge fan- I like it once in a while but usually the store bought ones are too sweet and baking them at home is quite labor intensive. I wasn’t looking to spend too much time in the kitchen.

Honey cake came to mind- I researched the internet and looked for something suitable. As I came up with this recipe, I realized this cake would be very appropriate for Rosh Hashanah. It is soaked with a honey orange syrup and the cake itself has orange zest and walnuts. The cake is made with healthy ingredients including white whole wheat flour, raw sugar and extra light olive oil.

The cake was delicious- everyone loved it. It was light yet very moist due to the honey orange syrup.

Try it for the upcoming holiday…
Click here for the recipe… »

The Royal wedding is tomorrow and a friend suggested I repost this old scone recipe for the occasion. I love eating scones but certainly don’t like all the calories… This is my healthy version. You can slather a huge amount of clotted cream and not feel too guilty. Enjoy these with a cup of English tea and enjoy the wedding. Speaking of the wedding, will you be up early morning or will you dvr it??

When it comes to eating out- one of my all time favorite things to do is- afternoon tea. I love the tradition and of course the food! I love the idea of sitting in a very adult and pleasant place; drinking tea and eating all the finger sandwiches and scones. When we were in London and Scotland, I made sure to go a few times for high tea. I usually get the darjeeling tea; all the sandwiches I can eat and of course – my favorite – currant scones. The subtle flavor is just enough to enjoy them with lots of jam and clotted cream. Oh- how I love the clotted cream- if it wasn’t so bad for me- I would eat it all the time. There is a place in Chester, NJ that serves great afternoon tea- I have not been in a very long time- now that I am writing this piece- I will be going very soon!

Typically scones are made with all purpose flour and lots of butter. The texture is crumbly and a bit dry- perfect combination for jam and cream. I do have a recipe I have been meaning to try for a long time- it is for traditional English scones given by my English Aunt. For whatever reason- I have never made them at home. Recently, I had a friend ask me if I could post a scone recipe on the blog. I remembered the one I have from my Aunt and thought about using the recipe- but I realized it has a lot of butter … and somehow it didn’t appeal to me. I started looking for other recipes but nothing stood out. Then, one day I had an overripe banana and I didn’t want to make my usual banana bread – so I thought- maybe I can bake some scones with it. Bananas are sweet and I wanted to pair a tangy ingredient to make the scones eatable without jam or cream- more like a snack- actually I was trying to save myself the clotted cream calories!- so I came up with dried apricots. I switched the all purpose flour for white whole wheat flour and decided to cut back on the butter a bit- this recipe does not have that much at all. I also decided to add some white chocolate chips- somehow using apricots made me think of white chocolate- they added a nice burst of sweetness to the scones.

Overall the scones were good- moist and not overly sweet- the bananas helped with the soft texture. I think next time I bake them- I might add an egg glaze on top with some extra sugar. They would be a bit more aesthetically pleasing. In terms of taste, they were delicious- Sia loved them and I gave them to my husband for breakfast- which he loved!

Click here for the recipe… »

I like starting my day with a healthy breakfast. I have my cardboard GG crackers and like to have a healthy protein with them.

I bought a carton of egg whites and decided to pair some up with a regular egg. The trick to keeping full is a lot of healthy protein and fiber. The crackers provide the fiber and the eggs are an excellent source of protein.

I sauteed up some veggies as well. My fridge is full of pepper, mushroom, spinach, zucchini, and sprouts. I decided to use some mushrooms, peppers and spinach. I cooked them with a tiny bit of oil. I used the non-stick pan so it doesn’t take too much fat to cook the vegetables. I mixed up the egg whites and egg with salt and added it to the non-stick pan.

It is a delicious breakfast with a very large cup of coffee- perfect way to start the day…
Click here for the recipe… »