More Muffins!

Shocking, another muffin post. I don't have much to say besides the fact that I love these muffins. They are delicous and have a *little* too much chocolate... not my opinion, beacuse I can never have enough chocolate! So far, I've made these muffins about a dozen times and they are really easy to prepare and turn out great!

Golden Chocolate Chip Muffins
King Arthur

1/2 cup (4 ounces) butter
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 cup (4 ounces) milk
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) White Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups (12 ounces) chocolate chips
coarse sparkling sugar, for topping

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease (or line with muffin cups, and grease the muffin cups) a standard-size muffin pan.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and cinnamon until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the milk. Mix in the flour, then the chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups; they’ll be quite full. Sprinkle each muffin with a little coarse sugar. Bake the muffins for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of one comes out without crumbs clinging to it (a little chocolate is OK!). Remove from the oven, and carefully tilt in their cups. This allows the heat to escape, preventing the muffins from becoming soggy

Yield: 12 muffins.

"Healthy" Muffins

I know, another muffin post! I go a little crazy at times. I like muffins, what can I say. I make these when I want to feel "healthy". They are pretty easy to mix up and easy for breakfast on the go.

Oatmeal Yogurt Applesauce Berry Muffins
adapted from Joy the Baker
Makes 12 muffins

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup unsweetened natural applesauce (I use Musselmans)
1/2 cup non-fat plain yogurt (I use Stonyfield)
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup mixed berries (or blueberries)- frozen; fresh, if available!
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper cases or spray with nonstick cooking spray (I don't suggest baking without liners, it is hard to remove from the muffin tin).

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, yogurt, sugar, oil and egg. Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture.

Stir until just moist. If using frozen berries, toss them in about 1tbsp flour to coat. Fold in berries and chips.

Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake for 16-18 minutes (sometimes mine take a little longer than). 
 

Yes, I like Muffins.

The other day I was shopping and starving... never a smart combination. I grabbed a muffin at the market and snacked on it on the drive home. I didn't really look at what I grabbed until I started eating it... and I loved it! Cranberries and walnuts... a great combination! The next time I went to the market, I picked up a bag of cranberries so I could be sure to make my own!

Cranberry Walnut Muffins
Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2- 3/4 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375F. Coat muffin cups with nonstick spray or line with paper baking cups.

2. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, cinnamon & salt. In a medium bowl, combine egg, milk, sugar & oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture; stir just until combined. Fold in cranberries & toasted walnuts. Spoon into prepared muffin tin.

3. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops are lightly browned.

I hate the smell of bananas...

but I love banana bread! I peel the bananas really quickly so that I can get through the nastiness that is the banana smell. I've modified the recipe that my mom always made from The Silver Palate Cookbook. I'm really particular about the condition of bananas when I eat them so I tend to have a bunch in the freezer- once they are ripe (more than the perfect yellow, non-bruised banana), I won't eat them, so I tend to make a lot of bread!

Banana Bread
adapted from The Silver Palate

1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (I use 3-4 whole bananas)
2 cups flour (1 cup all purpose; 1 cup white whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I use less)
1/2 cup sour cream (or buttermilk)
1 tsp vanilla
1/8+ tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp flaxseed, optional (I didn't grind it up, just threw it in whole)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray 2 loaf pans with cooking spray (you could make 1 large one instead)
3. Cream butter & sugar together.
4. Add eggs and beat well.
5. Add mashed bananas, mixing thoroughly.
6. Sift dry ingredients and add to banana mixture. Stir until just combined.
7. Add sour cream (buttermilk), vanilla, nutmeg, cinnamon & flaxseed and mix until just combined.
8. Pour into prepared pans and bake 25-30 minutes or until knife comes out clean. This time, I baked the loafs for at least 35 minutes-- it still looked pretty gooey when I the buzzer sounded at 25 minutes.

These also make great muffins, both of which freeze well. With the muffins, I freeze them and pop one into the toaster in the morning. It's a great breakfast on the go!

Eggs are essential...

Otherwise, your coffee cake will look like this:


Update: Here is a slice of coffee cake WITH eggs in it.


Last weekend, a group of high school friends had a brunch get-together. I offered to bring a few baked goods and spent the morning baking. I made Raspberry Pecan Muffins, the coffee cake pictured above and chocolate-chocolate chunk muffins. The coffee cake was a hit, even missing the eggs... the eggs would have held it together a bit more & made it fluffier but it still tasted good!

World's Best Coffee Cake
The Uncommon Gourmet's All Occassion Cookbook

Recipe:
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla
1 tbsp dried grated orange peel
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted (Danimal doesn't like nuts in his baked goods, so I omitted)
cinnamon-sugar for garnish

Combine the sour cream and baking soda and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9 inch tube pan (I use a bundt pan).

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla, and orange peel and beat well.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream to the batter.

Mix in the chocolate chips and nuts. Spoon into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top generously with cinnamon-sugar.

Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove to a rack and serve warm, or let cool and serve at room temperature.

12 or more servings


Chocolate Chocolate-Chunk Muffins
Smells Like Home
Original source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking: From My Home to Yours

3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter
4oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped 1 cup chocolate chunk pieces (Nestle)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 (350 for a dark nonstick pan) degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Melt the butter and half of the chopped chocolate together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; or do this in a microwave. Remove from heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract together until well combined. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter and chocolate over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough – a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for about 20 18 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
 

 

In Honor of November

I woke up this morning craving something with pecans... now that it's officially November, it must be why. I love pecan pie! I made some whole wheat raspberry pecan muffins to celebrate the official start of pecan festivities. Since Danimal is still out of town for another 4 days, I get to enjoy these scrumptious delights myself! The raspberries and pecans combine to make a hearty and delicious muffin.

Raspberry Pecan Muffins
Makes 12 regular sized muffins
adapted from http://housewifery.blogspot.com/


1 cup all-purpose flour  3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour  3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon  1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/4 cup fresh raspberries (coat with a tbsp of flour)
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

Preheat oven 350. Grease muffin tin (I use muffin liners); set aside.
Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl. In a smaller bowl, beat egg, milk, and melted butter together. Make hollow in the center of dry ingredients and add wet ingredients. Stir with wooden spoon until just blended. Gently fold in berries and pecans. Fill muffin tin and bake until tester comes out clean (20-25 mins).