As I type this, we are now into the Fall season, what most of us consider “Baking Season.” Yeast bread, quick breads, pies, cakes, and cookies: Fall’s harvest lends itself to plenty of homemade baked goods. Unless your diabetic. It is difficult to safely enjoy muffins or cakes when one is diabetic. But I am a professional baker. While it is easy to focus just on sugar-filled cakes decorated with lots of sugary frosting and decorations, I try to develop recipes for everyone, even my diabetic friends. And my diabetic friends, and even non-diabetic friends and acquaintances, are glad I do!
For every diabetic recipe, I work to make sure that each individual serving is packed with flavor, moist, a pleasure to enjoy, and 20 grams of carbohydrates or less. This is very true of my Diabetic Friendly Gingerbread.
This recipe is presented as a suggestion and may not be appropriate for all diabetics. Please check with your doctor or dietitian to determine if food items made using this recipe can be safely incorporated into your diet.
The Inside Scoop
We cannot live by bread alone. Sometimes we need muffins! When I first set out to create diabetic baked goods, I knew I had to do something about the flour mix. All-purpose flours typically contain 21 grams of carbohydrates per 1/4 cup- far too many carbs to allow room for additional ingredients. My Diabetic Flour Mix was the result of extensive experimentation to produce a flour mix that was high in fiber, high in protein, low in carbohydrates and tasted good!
When both volumetric and weight measures are provided, the volumetric measures should be considered approximations. The standard measure for a cup of Splenda is 24 grams. By volume, this measure will be less than 1 cup. Precise measuring is essential for diabetic baking to ensure accurate carbohydrate counts.
An apple a day? I use unsweetened applesauce to replace some of the fat in most of my diabetic baked goods.
Getting “Eggcited” about eggs? Warm eggs hold more air than cold eggs. Cold eggs, on the other hand, can result in a lumpy batter, and stodgy texture. To warm eggs quickly, place the eggs, still in the shell, in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes.
Crack eggs into a small bowl before adding to the batter. That way, it is easy to remove any bits of eggshell or bloody eggs. Whisk the eggs to break up the protein. The protein in eggs is the reason eggs are so important for the structure of baked goods; the broken protein molecules will try to recombine with the other protein molecules, thus forming a structure that helps to keep baked goods from deflating. (And believe me, trying to make baked goods without eggs can be VERY frustrating!)
Mix it up: Why do so many recipes tell one to whisk together the dry ingredients? This is important so that the leaveners and salt are evenly distributed throughout the flour, which helps to ensure an even rise and texture.
GENTLY fold the dry and wet ingredients together. My Diabetic Flour Mix is very high in gluten proteins; any more than a gentle folding will cause it to become tough.
Chill out! Wheat bran is fiber and absorbs moisture poorly. It is essential to refrigerate the prepared batter for at least 4 hours to allow the flours time to absorb moisture and reduce the grittiness of the bran. I usually cover my batter bowl and refrigerate the batter overnight. Be sure to label your covered bowl with the name of the batter and the time of refrigeration.
I typically use a 2 ounce muffin as my standard when measuring out batter for diabetic muffins and cupcakes. At 2 ounces, this recipe makes 11 gingerbread muffins with 20 grams of carbohydrates each. To make an even dozen gingerbread muffins, reduce the batter amount to 1.8 ounces per muffin. This will produce a gingerbread muffin with 18.5 grams of carbohydrates each.
I spray the paper liners with non-stick cooking spray to ensure that I don’t lose any of this goodness because it stuck to the paper.
Due to variations in oven temperatures, begin checking for doneness after 20 minutes. If the muffins are firm to a gentle touch and appear baked, insert a metal cake tester into a muffin. If the metal cake tester is mostly dry, the muffins are done. If the muffins are not done, continue baking until a metal cake tester confirms that they are baked. I use a metal cake tester, rather than a toothpick, because metal cake testers are more accurate. Once done, place the muffin tins on a metal cooling rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from tins to prevent condensation from forming on the bottom of the muffin.
Some Science/ Nutrition stuff for this recipe:
Total Calories: 1658.8, Total Carbohydrates: 222.2, Total Fat: 75.7
If batter is divided into 11 muffins, each 56.7 g./ 2 oz. muffin will contain: 150.8 calories, 20.2 grams of carbohydrates, 6.88 grams of fat.
If batter is divided into 12 muffins, each 51 g./ 1.8 oz. muffin will contain: 138.2 calories, 18.52 grams of carbohydrates, 6.3 grams of fat.
A diabetic friendly gingerbread muffin with a robust ginger taste, and enhanced with spices and molasses. Plus, each muffin has only 18-20 grams of carbohydrates! In a small bowl, whisk together the applesauce, unsulphured molasses, canola oil, eggs, Splenda Granulated Sweetener, and granulated sugar; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together My Diabetic Flour Mix, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground ginger, grated fresh ginger, minced crystallized ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Make a well in the middle of the flour mix. Pour the wet ingredients into the well, then gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together until there is no dry flour. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. When Ready to Bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 11 or 12 muffin cups with paper liners; spray the paper liners with non-stick cooking spray. For 11 muffins, measure 56 g./ 2 ounces of batter into each paper liner. For 12 muffins, measure 51 g/ 1.8 ounces of batter into each paper liner. Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-22 minutes, or until a metal skewer, when inserted into the middle of the muffin, comes out clean. Remove muffins tins from oven and place on cooling racks; cool completely. Just before serving, lightly dust the top of the gingerbread with powdered sugar. ENJOY!Diabetic Friendly Gingerbread
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
Instructions
Diabetic Flour Mix
Ingredients by Weight Grams of Carbohydrates
30.0g./ 4T Sprouted Whole Wheat
Or Whole Wheat Flour 21.0g.
27.5g./ 5T Wheat Germ* 12.5
16.0g./ 4T Wheat Bran* 7.0
7.0g./ 1T Amaranth *** 4.75
11.0g./ 2T Oat Flour** 10.0
Total: 91.5 g per cup 55.25 grams of carbohydrates per cup of flour
* Grind in a coffee grinder or a grinder specifically for grinding grains
** Look for oat flours with lower carbohydrate counts
***Amaranth can be found among gluten-free flours or at health food
stores. If not, substitute cornstarch, potato starch or tapioca starch, although the carbohydrate content is slightly higher.
Nutrition Information Per Cup:
Total Carbs: 55.25 g.
Total Fat: 4.75 g.
Total Fiber: 16.13 g.
Sugar and “other”: 23.00 g.
Protein: 17.10 g.
To make a larger batch to store for future use:
Ingredient x5
Sprouted Whole Wheat
Or Whole Wheat Flour 150.0g.
Wheat Germ 137.5g.
Wheat Bran 80.0g.
Amaranth 35.0g.
Oat Flour 55.0g.
Total weight for 5 cups: 457.5 g.
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