Of Day Dreams And Gingerbread Muffins

by Eric N Gibson
Contributing Writer

I don’t know about you but mine is a seasonal palate. While I find pastries, sweets, and cookies of all descriptions pleasing; with the arrival of Fall, my tastes often turn to pumpkin, apple, molasses, brown sugar, caramel, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. As I began writing to you this morning there was a batch of Gingerbread Muffins finishing in the oven; both to satisfy my sweet tooth as well as to test-batch a recipe that I have had on my mind for a while.
Lately I’ve been playing in the kitchen with ingredients that are lower in carbohydrates; sugar and flour substitutes mostly, as these are the two major contributors to high carb counts in most recipes and therefore are easy targets. Once successful I will then play with portion sizes to bring the carbs down even more. However, this recipe is so delicious that I had to share it sooner rather than later.
Ever notice how the smell of Gingerbread leads to thoughts of Fall as it fills the house with an aroma created from heating molasses and ginger? Being a spice laced sweet fragrance, it has a dream-like quality; conjuring up images of a safe, comfortable, nearly make believe past. It’s as if it were saying, “This is the way life should be.” It makes you want to think of your simple dwelling as though it were a triple floor Victorian, with room after room after room of family heirlooms and forgotten treasures hidden behind ornately adorned oak trimmed doors. A house where covered porches wrap the outside, turrets with bow windows flank each corner. Where edges drip with scrollwork trim. And all of this ornate craftsmanship is capped off under a slate shingle roof.
In your mind’s eye, you hurry up the brick walk. Spying gramps through the window, he’s bent at the mantle of the parlor fireplace. He’s lighting a fire to chase away the chill from the morning air. You walk in the front door, hang your coat and scarf on the hall stand, as the bouquet, a mix of subtle pungent notes mixed with bold spice, strikes your very core. The odor, a pleasing combination, hints of an extinguished match, the first wisps of fatwood smoke that escape the dampers draft, and warm molasses and ginger. You cannot help but feel the urge to run out the door, just so you can shiver in the cool of the morning and run back in to feel the warmth of that intoxicating fragrance once more.
As if a child again, from the foyer you sheepishly peek into the parlor. A rosy cheeked granny with silver hair pulled up in a bun, her wire rim glasses on the end of her nose as she sits in her rocker, looks up from her knitting and greets you with a warm smile. She invites you to come and sit, noting that “fresh gingerbread will be ready any moment.” As you take your place in the armchair by the fireplace, granny’s cat Plum stretches out before you. Disturbed from her slumber she leaps into your lap. You feel little needles drive into your upper thigh, her claws digging into your leg for traction. Instantly, you are back from your daydream. Back into the present, with Plum on my lap searching my gaze, the timer on the stove summons me.

I find that gingerbread, when paired with a delicious crisp fall apple such as a Cortland, a superb eating apple known for its snap when you bite into it, as well as its firm white flesh, is one of my Fall favorites. I especially enjoy its tart beginning and sweet finish with each bite. And a Cortland apple pairs particularly well with a sharp cheddar cheese. Not these cheeses that commercial brands try to pass off as sharp or extra sharp or their “special reserve”. No, I am talking about a true sharp cheddar. A cheese with a salty bite. A cheese that nearly crumbles when cut into. A cheddar so rank that you have to fight with your own hand to get that piece of cheese past your nose and into your mouth.
It takes a special cheese to be that sharp and, unfortunately, not since my days of working in a small specialty shop have I had cheese that good. If your hands did not blister by the time you were done cutting it, it didn’t deserve the title “Extra Sharp”. So today we make due with the sharpest available in hopes that someday, somewhere, there will be a cheddar so repugnant, so repelling, so pungent it will be worthy of the moniker Extra Sharp Cheddar.
But as always I digress from addressing an important point of today’s recipe. These gingerbread muffins were created from a delicious combination including ingredients that may be new to some readers. I replaced the white sugar with a combination of Stevia and Coconut Sugar. I have found that using the Coconut Sugar accomplishes two things; first it imparts a subtle caramelized flavor but not a coconut flavor. And second, it helps to quell the after taste that some feel Stevia produces. Using these half and half in place of refined white sugar also helps to reduce the carbohydrate count nearly half or more than that of regular sugar.
The other ingredient I have been using lately is Almond Flour, a fine grind, usually half and half with All Purpose Flour and the results again show promise. The consistency of cakes, cookies, and muffins is good. There is not an overtly nutty flavor imparted by the Almond Flour. And, again, the carbohydrate count is significantly reduced (by nearly three-quarters) when compared one to one with AP Flour. For example, if my research is correct, 95 grams of carbs in a cup of AP Flour versus 23 grams of carbs in a cup of Almond Flour.
While these Gingerbread Muffins are not exactly what I would consider diabetic “friendly” these alternative ingredients are a great way to start looking into reducing your carbohydrates for any number of reasons.
I would urge you to consider trying Almond Flour, Stevia, and Coconut Sugar as you too create warm tasty Fall treats to chase away those chilly Autumn Days while dreaming of the Simple Feast.
Enjoy!