Winter all food, fun and drink marathon begins - muffins updated · Tuesday October 14, 2025 by colin newell
I make my own muffins. Partially because I like to know what I am eating – and I have a hard time paying $2 for a muffin that contains stuff that I am not interested in… or may be allergic to. Lately I have been using Goat’s milk or Almond milk or a blend of the two.
Here is my recipe for Colin`s Kitchen Sink Muffins – they are healthy, rich in nutrients, low in fat, not quite vegan and if you are looking for daily regularity, they are as predictable as sunrise and reliable as gravity. Enjoy.
Dry Mix
2 Cups Whole Wheat flour and 2 Cups All-purpose Flour
1 cup Each; rolled oats, corn meal and (oat or wheat) bran (total=3 cups of grain)
1.5 Cups dark brown sugar (can be reduced to taste)
1 Tbsp Baking Soda and 1 Tbsp Magic Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
2 Tsp Organic Saigon Cinnamon
(Optional extra spices); 1.5 Tsp Allspice, 1.5 Tsp fresh ground nutmeg
Wet Mix
3/4 Cup unsweetened Apple Sauce
1/4 Cup Canola Oil
3 Eggs
1 Tbsp Vanilla
2 Cups Buttermilk OR 2 Cups Lactose-reduced 2% Milk OR 2 Cups Soy milk OR 2 Cups Almond milk OR 2 Cups Goat’s milk
Add Wet to Dry Mix – Do not over-mix.
Add from 2 to 4 cups of the fruit of your choice – I use finely chopped mango, or apple, or fresh figs, or anything in the way of frozen fruit medleys – the sky is the limit.
Put equal amounts in pre-greased or pre-Pammed pans – I use a pro-Ice Cream scoop for quantity management.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven – (or 22 minutes in a convection oven…) check for degree of done with a toothpick. Poke the muffins. If the picks come out clean, you are good to go. Let cool in pans for about 10 minutes and then air dry on cooling grid. Makes about 22 freezer ready muffins.The Coffee.bc.ca blog has been on the air for over 30 years! Edited and created by Colin Newell – long time Victoria B.C. resident and food/coffee/culture writer…
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Vegan roasted eggplant curry · Tuesday February 18, 2025 by colin newell
Sometimes a damp winter night calls for something warming, nutritious, delicious and comforting.
This eggplant dish meets all of those criterium — and it’s vegan too!
Now normally one would bake the eggplant in the oven, but we opted for 12 minute batches (x2)
in a air fryer at 380 degrees F. The air fryer is quicker and way more energy efficient. I could write a veritable treatise on how we use the regular oven less and less and less in favour of the small, quicker, faster, better air fryer appliance.
Ingredients
4 cups cubed eggplant
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp avocado oil
1/2 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1-inch cube of ginger, finely chopped
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup crushed tomatoes
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup cooked chickpeas
Rice for serving (optional)
Directions
Cut the eggplant into a dice – salt the eggplant for around 15 minutes (for reduced bitterness) and to dry it.
Toss it into a bowl with a tablespoon of vegetable or avocado oil – mixing thoroughly.
Divide this mix into 2 – and cook in the air fryer as indicated above.
Meanwhile, open your 14 ounce tin of diced tomato, the tin of coconut milk and the tin of chickpeas.
Put some vegetable oil in a pot (heat it on low) - take a 1/2 of a large onion – chopping it up.
Take 3 large garlic cloves and finely mince.
Put the onions on into the oil to soften for 2 minutes – add the garlic – add a tablespoon of prepared mince ginger.
Still for 2 minutes. Combine.
Add the spices: Paprika, coriander, the curry powder, pepper and salt. Stir for a minute.
Add the tin of diced tomatoes and coconut milk – stir and let it come to a boil.
Add chickpeas (don’t forget to rinse) - and add roasted eggplant.
Simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over rice pilaf.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident, coffee drinker and writer and has been haunting the internet since 1995!
Dark Rye Flour Sourdough Bread - double batch · Sunday September 11, 2022 by colin newell
Sourdough bread is, as history tells us, the World’s first bread.
Ingredients include water, salt, flour and natural yeast – and not the yeast that comes out of the jar – the stuff that is all around is at all times… in the air, on the ground, on our skin… yea, there too – everywhere. It is the natural leavening agent that has been with us forever.
It is also said that man cannot live on bread alone — while that is not entirely true, I think what they meant was that we need to mix it up a bit – as in adding darker flours, like rye and whole wheat! Now that is definitely better for you.
In this recipe we do not talk about sourdough starter, levain and such like… you need to research that in advance – this is a recipe for a moderately advanced baker. Need help – email me or get Googling!
Instructions
1.) Grab a bowl that will hold at least 1 kg of dough – that is 1000G – so something medium/large sized.
2.) Add 180g of your ready sourdough starter to the bowl. (It is ready when a spoonful floats in water…)
3.) Add 18g of kosher salt – great salt can effect the flavour so don’t cheap out on this critical ingredient.
4.) Add 585g of warm water (not hot water!) 35 to 45 degrees © or 110 degrees (F) is probably OK but definitely not hotter than that.
5.) Mix the water, salt and starter well. Add a tablespoon or two of blackstrap molasses for some sweetness and depth of colour. Option: Add 1-2 tablespoons of caraway seeds.
6.) Gradually add 375g of white flour, 375g of whole-wheat flour and 150g of rye flour.
You can use a mixer. I do this by hand or with a bread mixing hook.
Work/knead the dough to form a sticky ball.
Stretch and fold – To develop the gluten in the dough, it is important to stretch and fold the dough twice an hour for the first 2 hours and then once more before putting in the fridge to develop/ferment overnight.
There are many awesome YouTube tutorials on the “Stretch and Fold” so find one you like and develop your technique. Note video below!
7.) You can let this all rise overnight (6 to 12 hours) or slow it down by putting it in the fridge. Fermentation keeps moving along even when your dough is tucked away in a cool area – it changes the flavour some. For keeping the dough “feisty” I tend to keep it out in the kitchen and work around its schedule.
Rule: Higher room temperature, faster “development” and fermentation of the dough.
8.) Assuming you are doing this overnight, in the morning the dough should have doubles in size – or more. Pull out the dough and toss it onto a floured bread board or surface you are happy scattering flour on.
9.) Here is another learning moment – (find a suitable YouTube video…[example below]) This is where you work the dough a bit and pull, fold and shape into a “loaf” and drop into a floured or parchment papered loaf pan.
Do consult the internets on technique because it is extra difficult to describe in words alone.
10.) Let rise for 4 – 6 hours… even 8 hours… or overnight again… in the fridge.
12. ) Transfer the dough into the pan. Cover and “2nd rise” for 4 to 6 hours. Dress with additional caraway seed. Slash with a razor (see the video below!)
13.) Bake for 24-28 minutes at 475 degrees (F) or until delightfully brown on top. You are looking for a core temperature of at least 190 (F)
14.) If baking in a Dutch Oven, bake for the first 17-20 minutes with the cover on -
and then for another 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees — or until core TEMP of 190 (F)
Check out the video below for some valuable technique! Trust me – the more video you watch, the better you are going to be at making bread!
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Peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies with Olive Oil · Monday May 16, 2022 by colin newell
There are few flavours more perfectly mated than peanut butter and chocolate. It could very well be the greatest taste accident of all time. In this recipe I riff on the previous Bon Appetit take on the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Take out the tahini, add in peanut butter and hope for the best. I am quite literally trying this for the first time. Fingers crossed!
Update: These cookies are amazing – I have tested them on colleagues and the eye rolls appeared to be pleasure based.
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups (222g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp corn starch
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup (97g) extra-virgin olive oil
¾ cups (148g) brown sugar
½ cups (50g) white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon black strap molasses (optional)
2 chilled eggs (120 g)
½ cup (145g) creamy peanut butter – I use a dark roast peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ – ¾ cups of chopped dark chocolate chips OR light chocolate chips
Directions
Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 350°F.
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, corn starch, baking soda, and salt.
Set aside
In a large mixing bowl combine olive oil, all of the sugars (including molasses) and eggs, and vanilla.
Electric blend until very creamy.
Add in peanut butter butter and mix until combined. (Actually, as creamy as possible…)
Using a rubber spatula, mix in the dry ingredients you set aside earlier. Mix until just combined.
Add the chopped chocolate and either mix in with a rubber spatula, or knead using your hands.
Chill the dough for 2 – 4 hours or (even better) overnight.
Scoop about 1-2 tablespoons of dough into your hands and roll into balls. Place on parchment lined baking sheets.
Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes (for smaller cookies) [16 minutes for bigger cookies…] or until the edges are golden brown.
Sprinkle Fleur de sel on top.
Let cookies rest on a baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool. Honestly, these are super tasty after they have cooled off – and even the day after.
Ideally, the dough can chill for several days (but be careful! Raw eggs after all…). The dough also freezes just fine.
Colin Newell is a Victoria resident, coffee and technology expert and often-times baker. He knows his way around a dough hook and has infested the internet with his zany ideas since 1995!
