Smart Cookies: 80 Recipes for Heavenly, Healthful Snacking

The author of Smart Cookies, Kinderlehrer delivers recipes for muffins that promise to lower cholesterol, add fiber to the diet and ease what pains many people's gastro-intestinal tracts. Most recipes call for a dose of lecithin, a tablespoon of bran or wheat fiber, some sort of seed or nut, and a little dried fruit. By using only whole-grain flour and avoiding sugar (Kinderlehrer sweetens with honey, molasses or frozen-fruit concentrate), there's no doubt that these muffins are healthy. Taste derives less from added spices than the basic ingredients: maple-walnut muffins, cranberry-banana nut muffins, salmon-rice almond muffins, prune and pistachio muffins. There are also unbaked, nonmuffin muffins, such as macaroni-and-cheese balls, quiche and pudding variations cooked in muffin tins, as well as muffins selected especially for people with heart problems. Each recipe headnote contains meticulous nutritional information, and the recipes are generally well written but lack an important tip: that the oven should be preheated before mixing the muffins. (October)