Healthy scones and Christmas decorations

This batch was the pear-raisins one. I forgot to pre-cut it into slices!

These days off work were days to experiment in the kitchen. 

Today I decided to modify a sugar- and fats-loaded scones recipe into a healthy recipe and test whether the product was edible. I made two batches of scones since I wanted two different flavors.

For the recipe you need:
2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 container (4 oz) unsweetened apple sauce, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 egg, 2 heaping Tbsp of yogurt (I used nonfat), 1 mashed banana and any additions to your taste. To my first batch, I added one chopped pear and a handful of raisins; for my second batch I used 1/2 cup chopped walnuts and 1/2 chocolate chips.

Preparation:
Mix the flour with the other dry ingredients (salt, baking powder, baking soda), add the mashed banana, the applesauce and mix by hand until crumbly. Add the flavors of choice (e.g., raisins, chocolate chips, pears, apples, walnuts, etc.). In a separate dish, beat the egg and yogurt until smooth and add to the flour mix. Combine all by hand and transfer to an oiled cookie sheet. Press down to approximately 1/2 inch or less of thickness, pre-cut with a knife in slices, and bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until the edges turn golden. The baking time depends on how moist your additions are; for example, fresh fruit would take a bit longer to bake. 

The product was edible, especially with a cup of black coffee, no sugar.

Along with lots of cooking, I started with my Christmas decorating. 

The first to spruce up were the library bookshelves:

High fiber carrot muffins

In addition to high fiber content, these muffins have no sugar added. For 24 muffins you will need:

2 containers of unsweetened apple sauce (4 oz each cup)
2 ripe bananas (mashed)
3 cups of grated carrots
4 eggs
1 cup water
4 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda 
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
pinch of salt
2 cups of chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Spray two pans of 12 muffin cups each. In a big bowl, beat eggs by hand or with an electric mixer, add the apple sauce and the mashed bananas. Add water and grated carrots, mix well. Mix all dry ingredients separately, add them to the egg-carrot mixture, and stir. Fold in the walnuts. Divide the dough between the 24 muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes to a color or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

If you are still not used to "no-sugar-added" food items, add a bit of raisins to the dough before baking.