Extreme Recipe Makeover- Kate’s edition

I think I ought to be on reality TV, hosting a food show about taking simple recipes and making them open up and say ‘WOW’. I could get a cutesy, glitzy image, flip my hair a lot, wink at the camera and throw out my hip complete with a flirty twist of my head all the while turning high fat, high caloric favorites into stunningly beautiful creations loaded with nutrients and flavor and slashing calories with a swashbuckling flip of my wrist. I would wear a low-cut shirt and lean over a lot, snug myself into tight jeans and work in a gorgeous and modern kitchen where everything looks really, really new all of the time.

Do I sound slightly sarcastic? My apologies….

I truly do enjoy modifying recipes to be healthier, more flavorful and definitely more nutritious. To me a recipe is not cut and dried, it’s a guideline for me to throw my own creative spin on, to morph it into something divine. I can look at it and see it’s possibilities, it’s ‘tabula rasa’ potential. They are a challenge that this gal simply cannot leave alone. But on occasion I come across a recipe that really needs very little change to make it better, it simply shines all on it’s own. And recently I was browsing Nicole’s gorgeous site, Pinch My Salt and found her recipe for Pumpkin Maple Muffins. Alone these would be fabulous, my instinct knew that, but I couldn’t resist making juuuuuuuuust a few teensy weensy changes. Here is the original from Nicole.

Pumpkin Maple Muffins

*Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk these ingredients together in a large bowl:
1 3/4 C. whole wheat pastry flour (or substitute any whole wheat flour)
1/2 C. pecan meal (1.5 oz. pecans, ground)
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon

In a separate bowl, whisk together these ingredients:
1/3 C. maple syrup
1/2 C. packed brown sugar
1 C. pumpkin puree (I use canned)
1/2 C. buttermilk
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 C. butter, melted
1/3 C. raisins

1. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
2. Immediately spoon batter into a greased 12-cup muffin tin.
3. Place in the center of a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.
4. Check muffins after 20 minutes, muffins are done when you lightly touch the top of one of the muffins and it springs back.
5. Let cool for five minutes in the pan and then remove muffins and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Here’s what I did differently. I had no pecans, and I am not a huge fan of them (my mother was the Pecan Queen in a previous life, and then she became my mom and made everything with pecans….I, however, have a choice now) but I did have almonds so I ground up those and used those instead. I had no real buttermilk, so I did the milk/vinegar trick. I used 2 tbsp. of butter instead of 4, and subbed in some unsweetened applesauce and of course, since I am a flaxseed freak, I ground 2 tbsp. of those little beauties and added them too. I skipped the raisins.
FABULOUS…moist, earthy, wholesome, grain-goodness and so flavorful.

And the best part, naturally, Griffin took one bite of a ‘warm from the oven’ specimen and fell over on the carpet, rolling around moaning. He is following his Mom’s footsteps in his passionnate love for anything food. Plus, he really doesn’t like pecans.