Chocolate Banana Muffins

Well contrary to what the song says, it is not "all about the base." That is, when it comes to muffins. These muffins reinforce what we all know to be true -- muffin tops are the best part of the muffin!

When I read the recipe instructions for these treats, I envisioned a big baked glop as the end result and also some cooked batter on the baking sheet. After all, I have never filled muffin tin cavities to the top with the batter and this recipe stated fill to just over the rim. That's right-- just over the rim! However, since the author made special notes regarding a lawsuit tied to a bakery stealing one of her muffin recipes, I decided to follow the instructions as stated.

I am sure glad I did. To my pleasant surprise, the muffins turned out with a huge top and did not stick or tear when removing from the muffin tin. The inside was very moist and packed with lots of flavor. The baked treats are composed of 2 types of chocolate, bananas and nuts. Prior to baking, they are topped with chewy coconut and ground nuts held together by a little butter. These are a tasty way to start the day, but too good to be segregated to breakfast. They make for a tasty afternoon snack as well. The recipe yields about 16 to 18 muffins with lovely, large tops.

Chocolate Banana Muffins
adapted from The Best of Better Baking

Ingredients/Topping
2 tbs packed brown sugar
4 tbs or 1/2 stick of unsalted butter, cubed and softened
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup of finely ground nuts- pecans or macadamia

Ingredients/Muffins
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbs strong brewed coffee
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup banana purée (about 2 ripe bananas)
4 eggs
1/2 cup or 1 stick of butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans or macadamia nuts
4 oz chopped white chocolate
1/2 semisweet chocolate chips
3 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

Start by preheating the oven to 425 degrees. Grease the top edge of 18 cavities of muffin tin(s). Line the cavities with paper liners. Line baking sheet (s) with parchment paper. The recipe recommends that most of the mixing in this recipe be done by a food processor. At this time, set up your equipment accordingly.

Using a medium size bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt . Set aside. For the topping, fill the bowl of a food processor with all the filling ingredients. Cover and pulse for about 15 seconds. Transfer topping into a bowl and set aside for later use. Clean the food processor bowl.

Using the same processor bowl, fill with both types of sugar, butter and oil. Pulse until mixture is smooth. Add the vanilla extract and coffee, pulsing again until blended.  Add the eggs, one at a time, processing each completely into the batter. Lastly, pulse in the sour cream and the banana puree.

Transfer batter from the food processor to the bowl of sifted ingredients. Fold together until no dry streaks remain. Then mix in both types of chocolate and nuts, making sure all is evenly distributed into the dough.

Fill the muffin cavities with the batter by using a large ice cream scoop. The cavities should be filled to just over the rim. Scoop out about 1 1/2 tbs of the topping and flatten into a disc with your hands and place on top of each cavity of batter and press lightly. Put each pan on the prepared baking sheet.

Place the pans in the oven, using the top and middle shelves. Then reduce the temperature to 400 degrees. Bake the muffins until tester comes out clean and top springs back when lightly touched.  Be sure to rotate the pans at the halfway point of baking. The recipe recommends 20-22 minutes, but mine took about 30 minutes. Let muffins cool in pans for about 15 minutes before transferring to a rack to finish cooling.

Tips and Notes:
1. Timing is everything and baking time will vary depending if you are using a dark pan or not. The recipe states be careful not to over bake, but my issue was the opposite- making sure they were completely baked.

2. The author instructed cooling time in muffin pan as 5 minutes, but I stated 15 minutes in the above recipe. This change was made to insure that they would retain the same shape when pulled out of the oven. Even with the increased wait time, the muffins did not stick to the pan when transferring each muffin to the cooling rack. 
                           **LAST YEAR:Black Walnut Madeira Cake**

Raspberry Lemon Muffins

Well since the heat of the summer has hit, I have been on a berry kick lately.  Blackberries and raspberries have been populating the fridge for the last few months.  Luckily I had not eaten too many this time, so I did have some to bake with. 

I like the fact that muffins are so versatile.  I made them without a topping but a slather of cream cheese or honey butter would be good for those who want more to their muffin.  Also, being plain makes them appealing for those that are only craving a little sweetness to have with their morning coffee.  Eaten slightly warm or at room temperature, getting a big bite of a raspberry surrounded by lemony sweet cake hits the spot.

I have included the recipe for the limoncello glaze. The addition of that would make for a stronger lemony taste as well as add more sweetness.  Without it, the lemon flavor is very subtle in the muffins.  This recipe makes  about 1 1/2 dz.

Raspberry Lemon Muffins
adapted from Moufllet

Ingredients/Muffins
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 tbs lemon zest
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbs oil ( vegetable or canola
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Ingredients/Limoncello Glaze
1/2 tsp melted butter
3 tbs limoncello
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 drop yellow food coloring (optional)
2 cups powdered sugar

For the muffins, prepare the pans by greasing the top edges of 18 cavities and line with paper liners.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs until frothy. Stir in the melted butter, buttermilk, zest, oil and vanilla extract.  Set aside.  In another bowl, sift together the salt, baking powder, baking soda and flour.  Then mix in the sugar.

Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the egg batter.  With a wooden spoon, mix the dry with the wet but only 10 strokes.  Over mixing will ruin the texture of these.  Fold the raspberries in with only 3 strokes.

Evenly fill the cavities of the pans with the batter.  Place in oven and bake for about 15 minutes and check with a tester to see if it comes out clean of any batter. Make sure it is not inserted into a raspberry when testing. Tops should spring back when muffins are done.  Note that the 15 minutes is a starting place and that the muffins can take up to 20 minutes.  The difference is due to the type of pan ( dark non stick, silicone and shiny metal).  

Let the muffins cool in pans for 3 minutes and then transfer to a rack to completely cool.  Glaze when completely cool.

For the glaze, start with mixing the melted butter with 1 tbs of limoncello.  Then sift in 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and mix until no dry streaks remain.  Continue with the process of sifting and stirring in the powdered sugar until all is mixed in.  Add more limoncello in small increments until the glaze has a syrupy consistency. Lastly, stir in the food coloring (optional) and the vanilla extract. 

Then dip the top of the cooled muffins into the glaze, being careful to immerse so that there is still 1/2 to 1/4 inch top edge border.  Let the extra drip off and set upright on the rack.  Glaze will need about 1 hour to set before serving.  The glaze can be stored up to 1 day prior to use.
                                      **LAST YEAR:Persephone's Winter Cake**

Michel's Spa Muffins

Well its finally Friday and today I am off to Dallas for some appointments as well as visits to a few specialty stores.  After that indulgence on Wednesday, I decided I would turn to something a bit more on the healthy side.

The particular recipe comes from a chef at spa located north of San Diego called Cal-a-Vie and found in the RSVP section of Bon Appetit.  The muffins are a good example of some of the healthy cuisine that this place has.  I have been looking around at the spa's website.

If you glance at the ingredient list below, you will realize that they are packed with all that a person needs to get going in the morning and to stay satisfied until lunch.  The muffins really do have some great textures and flavors.   A few things that you really will not miss with these is the butter, eggs and sugar.

I am particular about "healthy" muffins and too much grain or bran can really be a turn off.  However, this muffin does have a good balance, so it will be added to the healthy favorites here.  Also, they are a cinch to make, which is even more of a motivator to pull this recipe out.  This recipe makes about 14-16 muffins.

Michel's Spa Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit, prior to 2005

Ingredients
1/4 cup honey
2 tbs vegetable oil
2/3 cup plain non fat yogurt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1 tbs lemon zest
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/3 cup sesame seeds
1 cup shredded bran cereal (I used all bran)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare your pans according to your preference.  You can grease the top edges and line, grease the whole cavity or use a non stick pan.

Boil about 1 1/2 cups of water and place raisins or dried cranberries in a bowl and pour over the top.  Let sit to soften for about 15 minutes.  Then drain and use a paper towel to pat dry.  Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and allspice. Stir in the bran and sesame seeds.  Form a well in the middle of the dry mixture.

Then take out a smaller bowl and mix together the first eight ingredients listed above.  Pour this mixture into the well of the dry mix.  Fold together until no more dry streaks remain.

Using an ice cream scoop or spoon, fill muffin cavities with batter.  Place pan in oven and bake until tester comes out clean.  Baking time is about 18-20 minutes.  Remove and let cool for one minute then transfer to rack to finish cooling.  These can be served warm or at room temperature.

Tips and Notes:
1.  I found that these do stick to the liners, so when baking you may want to opt not to use liners.
2. The batter does not rise like cake batter would, so you can fill the cavities full.
3. I mashed my banana but I think it would be better distributed throughout the muffins if the banana was pureed.
                         **LAST YEAR: Amaretto Choc Chip Bundt Cake**

Oatey Naptime Muffins

This particular muffins contain lemon verbena leaves and oats.  For those that do not know much about them, the leaves are known to be a sedative.  While they did not knock me out when I ate a few, I was feeling a little tired.  I really had no idea about this until I had already created this recipe! I learned something when I looked into the origin of this tea.

I have been wanting to infuse tea in a baked good for sometime now.  The muffin is not real sweet by itself, so the lemon glaze is a perfect topper.  However, you may opt to add fruit to the batter, which would also be very complimentary.  Since it is already lemony, adding blueberries or blackberries is a great choice. Also, these could be served with fruit coulis. Since the muffin is made of oats, that ingredient does impact the texture of the muffin.  They are fluffy with a chewiness from the oats.

If you like lemons and enjoy lemon verbena tea, than I think you will like these. Also, they may help someone who has trouble sleeping.  A word of caution, do not make big plans for the few hours after eating, except maybe plan on a nap!

Oatey Naptime Muffins
by flourtrader

Ingredients/ Muffin
1 tbs plus 2 tsp lemon verbena tea leaves
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tbs lemon zest
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of oats
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup sugar

Ingredients/Glaze (optional)
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 to 3/4 cup of powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease top of 12 muffin cavities and line with cupcake papers or butter and flour the inside of the cavities.

Sift together the baking powder, soda, salt and flour.  Then stir in the oats and 2 tsp of the tea leaves.  Set bowl aside. Beat together butter and sugar until creamy.  Add the egg, mixing until completely blended.Then beat the zest, vanilla extract and vegetable oil into the batter.

Pour the milk into the saucepan and place over medium high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon of tea leaves.  Let come to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and let cool until it comes to room temperature.  Then pour milk through a sieve, straining out all the tea leaves.

After this process, stir in 1/3 of the sifted dry ingredients into the batter.  Mix in half of the milk tea.  Continue with this process, ending with the final 1/3 of the sifted ingredients.

Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, fill 12 muffin cavities evenly with the batter.  Place in oven and bake 18-23 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  After 2 minutes of cooling, transfer muffins to a rack.  Let cool completely.

To make glaze, fill bowl with the juice from one lemon only and then sift in the powdered sugar.  Stir until no dry streaks remain and all is blended.  Take a skewer and poke a 1/2 inch deep hole in the tops of the muffins.  Divide the glaze into two bowls.  Stir in the juice of the second lemon to one of the bowls of glaze.

With the thinner glaze (one with juice from 2nd lemon), brush over the tops of all the muffins.  Let soak into the muffins for about 30 minutes.  Then drizzle the thicker glaze over the top and let set for another 30 minutes.  Then they are ready to enjoy!

Brown Mercedes Muffins

A long time ago I worked with someone that had an 1977 dingy brown Mercedes.  He had talked about getting a new paint job done on the car.  I asked what color he was going to get it painted.  "The same" he replied.  I told him that he should get it painted a different color, something with a little bit more flash.  He advised that while he liked the performance of the car, having one was never about flash or image.  Attracting attention was not something he was into.  I wondered about him the other day.  Perhaps he is still happily scooting down the road, unnoticed, in that same murky brown classic.

These muffins are kind of like that old car.  They have a wonderful flavor, but a rather humble appearance.  Which means that you will not have someone bolting across the room at the sight of these.  Serving these will be more civil, instead of a bunch of snatching hands.

The taste is really the game changer of that calmness. Just one bite of the fluffy muffin will drive your taste buds straight through a dark hazelnut tunnel. If that is not enough, there will be an occasional bump of chocolate chips and salty nuts.  So take your taste buds for a test drive with these humble brown muffins, the keys to get things started are below.

Brown Mercedes Muffins
from flourtrader

1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup chopped, skinned and salted hazelnuts
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup Nutella
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup or 5 tbs and 1 tsp butter (room temp)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups flour
sparkling, slow melting sugar (optional for sprinkling on top)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease top edge of 14 muffin cavities, then fill with paper liners and set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, beat together the butter and Nutella for one minute.  Add both sugars and beat again at medium speed for about 2 minutes, stopping to occasionally scrape down the sides of the bowl.  While maintaining the same speed, beat in the egg and vanilla extract, making sure all is blended and mixture is smooth. Set the batter aside.

In a third bowl, whisk the yogurt and the applesauce together.

Take about 1/3 of the sifted ingredients and fold into the nutella/sugar batter.  Then add 1/2 of the yogurt/applesauce and stir until blended.  Follow the same steps again and then add the last third of the sifted ingredients.  Stir until no dry streaks remain.

Take 2 tablespoons of the measured out chopped hazelnuts and set aside.  Pour the remaining chopped nuts into the batter and then add the mini chips, stir until all is evenly distributed.

Using a scoop, fill each of the 14 muffin cavities evenly with the muffin batter.  They should be about 3/4 full.  Sprinkle the top of each with the reserved nuts. Then, if you have opted for the sparkling sugar, sprinkle it evenly on top of each muffin.

Place pans in oven and bake about 24-27 minutes or until done.  Pans will need to be rotated and  rack switched (from one to the other) halfway through the baking time. When done, top will spring back when lightly touched.

Remove pan and let muffins cool for a few minutes then transfer to rack to finish cooling.
                       **LAST YEAR: Spicy Sausage Calzones**   

Oatmeal Butterscotch Muffins

The yearly physical is always a nice reminder that you are not what you used to be back in your younger days. As you get older, the hereditary health issues start revealing themselves. You leave with comments floating around in you head like, "you need to work on your cholesterol level" or "you need to eat more nuts and grains".
I know about all the benefits of oatmeal but I prefer to have a little bit more variety for breakfast. This put me in a mode to find something appealing for breakfast with oatmeal in it instead of just a plain bowl of oatmeal.  Also, I did not want to be eating oatmeal cookies for breakfast. So below is what I came across.  Not sure if it is better or worse than eating cookies, but one of these muffins was very filling.
You can definitely taste the oats, especially in the top toasty part.  Even though the oats are prevalent, you get an occasional bump of sweetness from the butterscotch chips.  I get my sweet fix and I am getting my grains.  Makes me happy as well as my doctor. This recipe makes about 3 dozen muffins, but it can be easily halved should you not want as many.

Oatmeal Butterscotch Muffins
adapted from Recipes from American Inns and Bed & Breakfasts

Ingredients
3 cups of flour
1 tbs plus 1 1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 tbs baking powder
1 18 oz box of oatmeal or 7 cups (instant or regular)
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups or 3 sticks of butter
1 quart of low fat buttermilk
1 1/2 cups of butterscotch chips tossed with 2 tbs of flour

You will need to start with four bowls of ingredients.  In the first bowl, mix together the oatmeal and buttermilk.  Then stir in the brown sugar.  This will need to set for at least and hour for the liquid and sugar to be absorbed.  Place the 6 eggs in the second bowl and beat with a fork until lightly frothed.  In the third bowl, sift together the salt, baking soda, baking powder and flour.  Lastly, melt the butter in the fourth bowl and allow to cool.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease the top edges of the cavities of the muffin pan and place cupcake liners inside.

After your oven is preheated, butter has cooled and oat mixture has sat for an hour, you are ready to make the batter.  Mix the butter into the oats until liquid is absorbed.  Then blend the eggs into the batter.  Fold the dry ingredients into the batter until no dry streaks remain.  Lastly, fold in the butterscotch chips that have been mixed in the flour.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the cavities with the batter.  They should be about 3/4 full.  Bake for 18 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.   Let cool in pan for about 2 minutes then transfer to a rack to finish cooling.
                            **LAST YEAR: Pecan Brown Butter Bread**
Please note that comments are not open due to my being on vacation for the Thanksgiving Holiday, since I will be unable to reciprocate or answer any questions.

Chestnut Chocolate Chunk Muffins

I have finally made a list of ingredients that I have that I need to use up.  Some are everyday items and some are unusual items that you can only get in specialty stores or on line.  One of the items on my list is chestnut flour.  It is a specialty ingredient that I had ordered on line in order to make a cake sometime ago.

In researching the internet, I came across these muffins on an Italian blog. In addition to the chestnut flour, it calls for finely shredded coconut or coconut flour.  I do have the coconut, so I decided that I could grind it up some more instead of purchasing the specialty flour.

The pairing of the chocolate and chestnut flavors makes for a delicious muffin.   Also, you get three textures when eating, moist fluffy cake with a slight chew from the coconut and a crunch of a big chocolate chunk.

Some of these were baked with a paper liner and some without.  I found that using a paper liner is better because the muffins brown too much before getting done and the chocolate chunks make the muffins stick (even though the pan was greased).

Also, I misunderstood the recipe and thought it was for jumbo muffins and made 8 muffins.  The recipe actually is for 1 dozen large muffins, meaning large standard muffins.

Chestnut Chocolate Chunk Muffins
adapted from Ms Adventures in Italy 

Ingredients
3/4 cup dark chocolate chunks
3/4-1 cup coconut flour or ground coconut (I used a blender to finely grind and measure of 1 cup)
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick or 1/2 cup butter (room temp)
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups chestnut flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a muffin pan by placing paper liners in the cavities.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in a medium size bowl.  The chestnut flour is not the same as regular flour, so you might have to push some of it through the sieve.  After sifting, stir in the coconut flour/shreds.   Set aside.

Cream together the brown sugar and butter in a bowl until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time.  Beat each egg into the batter for about a minute.  Then mix in the vanilla extract.

Using a wooden spoon, add half of the flour mixture and stir until no dry streaks remain.  Add the milk, blending all the liquid into the batter.  Stir in the rest of the flour mixture. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chunks.

Using an ice cream scoop, put the batter in the lined muffin cavities, making sure all cups are evenly filled, about 3/4 full.  Bake until tops are a golden brown and tester comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes.  Let muffins sit in pans for 2 minutes, then remove paper coated muffins and sit on rack to finish cooling.
                                **LAST YEAR: Coconut Dinner Rolls**

Orange Poppy Seed Tea Cakes

There has always been a dilemma when it comes to what classifies as a cake, muffin, bread or scone.  Each one of these connotates a specific texture in each person's mind.  So before I lead you down the wrong path with the name of this post, I will be very specific regarding the texture of this baked good.

It is very dense, much like a scone.  The batter is very thick and has the same leavener ratio to flour as a lot of cookie recipes.  This is not a fluffy light cake by any stretch of the imagination.

The citrus flavors in the cake are very subtle which pairs nicely with the poppy seeds.  I found that with the light glaze, that there is enough flavor even though the recipe suggests  using butter or jam to spread on the split cakes.  

I used dariole molds to bake these in.  It gives the cakes a nice tall shape as you can see, however, it does take some time to prepare the molds prior to baking. This recipe makes 8 cakes.

Orange Poppy Seed Tea Cakes
adapted from Perfect Afternoon Tea Recipe Book

Ingredients
1 tsp lemon juice
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 tbs orange juice (cake)
grated rind of 1 1/2 oranges
1 1/2 tbs poppy seeds
1/4 cup plus 1 tbs vegetable oil
1/4 cup plus 2 tbs melted butter
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbs baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tbs orange juice (icing)

Prepare muffin pans by lining with paper cases or greasing the cups with butter.  If using molds, butter all insides and then line the inside edge with parchment paper.

Measure out the flour in a small bowl.  Remove 1/4 cup and 2 tbs of flour and place in another small bowl and set aside to reserve for later.

In a larger bowl, sift together the large amount of the flour and the baking powder. Then stir in the sugar.  Make a well in the center of the ingredients.

For the wet ingredients, mix together butter, oil, poppy seeds, lemon rind, lemon juice, orange rind and 2 tbs of orange juice.  Beat in egg for 30 seconds, then add the other egg, beating 30 seconds after addition.

Pour the wet ingredients into the well of the flour mixture and stir until no dry streaks remain.  Let batter rest for 1 hour.  Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After the batter rests, fold in reserved flour mixture.  Your batter will be quite lumpy.  Fill the muffin cups or molds 3/4 full, making sure batter is even. Place pan in oven and let bake for about 25 minutes.  Cakes are done when they have risen and are golden on the top.

Remove pan from oven and let cool in pan for a few minutes.  Then transfer to rack to finish cooling.

In the meantime, icing can be made.  Sift powdered sugar into a small bowl. Stir in orange juice and add a small quantity of water to get to the correct consistency.  Then drizzle over cooled cakes.

                            **LAST YEAR: Fried Peach Pies**

Nocello Walnut Muffins

We all like recipes in cookbooks and on the net to have pictures.  Somehow it is hard for me to use a recipe if it does not show a picture.  I guess it is just a comfort level having it there.

The funny thing about the recipe I found for these muffins is that I did not like the picture.  It just was too dark and the tops look burnt.  The tops were sprinkled with brown sugar and brown sugar is the type of sugar used in the batter also.  Because of the appearance, I chose to use granulated sugar in these.  I also substituted sparkling sugar for the brown sugar on top.

The strangest thing about the recipe is that you add the liqueur to the butter mixture.  The butter is melted first, but I am not sure if the butter solidified or curdled after the liqueur was added.  It did not seem to alter the final taste though.  It was just a little bit difficult to get it mixed in with the dry. I have made an adjustment because of that.

These muffins are a great item to have with coffee or tea in the morning.  They have a moist crumb and a crunch from the sugar topping and walnuts inside.  The Nocello and the spices add the right balance of flavor.  This recipe makes 1 dozen muffins.

Nocello Walnut Muffins
courtesy of The Perfect Afternoon Tea Recipe Book

Ingredients
3/4 cup milk
2 tbs Nocello or any walnut liqueur
2 beaten eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled to room temp
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
pinch of allspice
pinch of cardamon
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup light brown sugar or granulated sugar
2 cups flour
3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts
sparkling sugar for topping (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare a muffin tin by greasing the top edge of the cavities and lining with paper cases.

Sift together the flour, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, cardamon and baking powder.  If using brown sugar-measure out (lightly packing) 1/2 cup and take out 1 tbs and reserve for topping.  Then stir in the light brown or granulated sugar.  Then mix in the walnuts.  Form a well in the center of the dry ingredients and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, butter and milk.  Then stir in the Nocello/walnut liqueur.  After all is blended, pour into the formed well of the dry mixture.  Carefully fold the ingredients together, taking care not to over mix.

Fill the 12 paper case lined cavities with the batter,  making sure all are evenly filled.  Sprinkle the light brown or sparkling sugar on top of each muffin.

Place pan in oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Muffins are done when the batter has risen and the tops have a toasty golden hue.  Let muffins cool for 5 minutes in pan and then transfer to rack to finish cooling.
                                                **LAST YEAR: Hazelnut Cookies**

Peach Heart Muffins

Well, I recently got some new equipment for baking.  It is a muffin pan with spikes in it.  I had to try it out.  The one thing I did realize is that in order for the spikes to suspend whatever you stick on them, they would have to be somewhat solid.  In this particular recipe, I cooked the peaches first, so they were a little too soft to be suspended.   I will be doing more experimenting to see what tasty things I can suspend in muffins or cupcakes.

This recipe does not require the special pan, you can place the peach piece on top of the batter before baking. I have only tested this recipe with the spike method, so I am not sure how much the fruit will or will not sink when baking if you place it it on top of the batter .

Peaches have not been the best this year and I have patiently waiting for some good ones. Most of them are the size of plums. However,  I recently found a good selection at a roadside stand. Now I  wish I had bought more.

This muffin recipe yields a moist cake that envelopes a juicy peach chunk that was cooked in peach schnapps (or peach nectar for the non alcoholic).  Each is covered with a crumb topping and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  The recipe yields one dozen standard size muffins.

Peach Heart Muffins
by flourtrader

Ingredients/muffins
12 chunks of peeled peaches
1/4 cup of peach schnapps (or nectar)
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup or 8 tbs of butter (room temp)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 plus 2 tbs flour

Ingredients/topping
2 tbs peach schnapps (or nectar)
1 cup flour
4 tbs melted butter
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

To make the muffins, grease the top edges of the 12 indentations in the pan.  Then line with cupcake liners or slide over the spikes (special pan) making a small hole in the liner.

Take a small saucepan and fill with peach schnapps (or nectar) and peach pieces.  Place over medium high heat and stir a little.  Then let mixture come to a boil.  Turn heat to low and let simmer for 6 minutes or until all pieces are cooked through. Remove and let cool.

While this is cooling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Sift together the salt, baking powder and flour.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Add each whole egg, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition.  Do the same with the yolks and then beat in the vanilla extract and the vegetable oil.

After cooling the cooked peaches, separate them from the sauce.  Then stir the sauce into the batter.

Mix the dry ingredients into the batter in 1/3 increments until no more dry streaks remain.  If using a regular pan, pour the batter into the cupcake liners and smooth the top.  Then place 1 peach chunk on top.  If using a spike pan, slide one peach piece onto the the top of the spike.  Piece should be pierced all the way through, but the spike should not show sticking out the top. Spoon batter over the piece, filling each cavity.

Then make the crumb topping.  Whisk together all the dry ingredients until evenly distributed.  Pour in the schnapps (or nectar) and the melted butter. Stir with a fork until it becomes coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle topping evenly over muffins.

Place pan in oven and bake for 18-23 minutes or until top is a golden color.  A tester can also be used, but be sure that it is stuck into the cake part to test and not the peach piece.

Remove pan and let muffins cool for 1 minute and transfer to wire rack.  Dust with powdered sugar.

Tip: the easiest way to peel a peach is by putting it in boiling water for 2 minutes.  Then remove and let cool a little and wipe with a paper towel.  The towel will pull the skin right off.  This beats peeling with a knife and there is less of the peach wasted.

Oasis Tropical Mini Loaves

There are a lot of recipes out there that state "best recipe" or the "ultimate recipe".  Usually when I see that, I think that to the person that created or made the recipe believes that.  It is not that a poll of the world's opinion deemed it as such.

There are a lot of people in this world. As a food blogger, I am aware that most likely there are people out there that don't like my recipes.  However, I do not ponder on that, we can't please everyone.  I am pondering on the fact there are some people out there that do like them-but I would never go as far to say any of my recipes are the best or the ultimate.

Now this particular recipe is from a bed and breakfast.  The cookbook states that at the bed and breakfast this is their most requested recipe. "Most requested" is far more believable than the "best", so I decided to try it.

  One odd thing was that it called for 3 1/2 eggs.  In scaling down recipes, my method for 1/2 an egg is to crack the egg into a bowl and whisk lightly.  Then measure out 2 tablespoons for use in the recipe because one egg usually measures 1/4 cup.  The recipe also suggest using applesauce for a low fat version, but I used the canola oil. 

Other than that, I was very well pleased with the flavor and happy to bring you this recipe.  The batter, when baked, transforms into a moist, sweet bread flavored with cinnamon.  If that was not enough, then consider that it is loaded with mango, papaya, pineapple, macadamia nuts and apricots. The dried fruits are specialty ingredients, but after tasting these little loaves, I felt that those ingredients were well worth the trip to obtain and the expense.

If you do decide to make these, you may want to try your own variation of fruits since the batter is such a good base to start with.

One important point about this recipe is that the batter cannot sit, it has to go right into the oven.  This is because the ingredients start reacting with each other as soon as they are mixed. Doubling the recipe is not a good idea, if you do not have enough pans to bake all at once.  This recipe makes 5 loaves that are 6X3X2.  I used 6 loaf pans (steel rod connected) measuring 5X3X1 1/2 and had some batter leftover to make 2 jumbo muffins.

Oasis Tropical Mini Loaves
courtesy of Recipes from American Country Inns

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots or raisins
1/4 cup chopped dried papaya
1/4 cup chopped dried ginger (or any dried fruit, I used dried pineapple)
1/4 cup chopped dried mango
1/4 cup shredded coconut (I skipped this ingredient)
3/8 cup or 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs of chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup cubed mango
1/4 cup crushed pineapple
1 1/4 cups canola oil (or applesauce for low fat)
3 1/2 eggs (room temp-see comments above concerning 1/2 an egg measurement)
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tbs baking powder
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/2 cups flour

Prepare the loaf pans by greasing inside the cavity and line the bottoms with parchment paper.  Grease the face up side of the parchment paper.  Then dust all insides of the pans with flour.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs and vanilla.  Then stir in the cubed mango and crushed pineapple. Set aside.

Take another bowl and sift the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cinnamon together.  Then add the dried fruits, coconut and chopped nuts.  Make sure that all these add ins are evenly mixed in.

Pour the dry mixture into the wet and stir just until no more dry streaks remain.  Fill each loaf pan equally with batter and place all inside the oven to bake at one time.  The loaves are done when the top is golden brown and a tester comes out clean.  Baking time should be about 30-45 minutes.  My batch took about 33 minutes.

Remove from oven and place pan(s) on rack to cool for about 5 minutes.  Then invert onto rack and take off parchment paper.  Flip loaves back over to finish cooling.  Loaves can be frozen up to one month.   

Dark Chocolate and Orange Muffins

The flavors of chocolate and orange really got popular with the chocolate orange balls over in the UK.  I know, most of you are not familiar with this candy. It is a big round piece of candy covered in foil that is compiled of segments made up of milk chocolate and flavored with orange oil.  The segments resemble the segments of oranges in appearance. In order to eat, you unwrap and tap the top onto a counter which causes the pieces to separate, just like the segments of an orange.

This flavor combination is not found in many American recipes, however, it was easy to find when looking through some food blogs in the UK. I made the choice to make muffins, since I had not made any in awhile.

To those of you that have the same standard breakfast every day, these muffins are a great way to add some variety. Also, these can be a sweet pick me up for an afternoon snack.   I find that they are the most tasty when warmed and served with butter.

Note that the muffins, since they have chocolate in them, have a tendency to stick.  It is best not to use paper liners.  Make sure you grease your pans well. To make things even easier, line the bottom of each holder with a parchment round.  Grease the side of the parchment that faces up.

Dark Chocolate and Orange Muffins
courtesy of I love milk and cookies blog

Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
2 tbs orange juice
2 eggs (room temp)
1/4 cup butter (room temp)
1 tbs orange zest
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 3/4 cup of flour
1 cup chopped dark chocolate or chips

Grease inside and top edge of muffin holders of 12 holder pan. Cut parchment rounds to go in bottom of holders, place inside each muffin cavity and grease top side of parchment. Preheat oven to 355 degrees.

In a large bowl, sift together the baking powder, flour and sugar.  Stir in the orange zest.  If you are using fresh zest, take care that all is evenly distributed and not lumped together.  Zest from a spice jar will mix easier, but may not impart the same flavor as fresh.  Then add the chocolate, stirring until blended. Set aside.

Then place all the wet ingredients (butter, yogurt,eggs, juice) in a small bowl and beat on low for 1 minute. Batter will still be lumpy with some chunks of butter, but that is okay.

Fold the wet batter into the flour mixture by using a wooden spoon. Once no dry areas remain in the batter, spoon it into the muffin holders.  The batter should be evenly divided among the twelve.  Since muffins do not rise like cupcakes, the 12 cavities will be very full of batter.  Transfer to oven and bake for 30-40 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Remove muffin pan from oven and let cool for 2 minutes. Then remove each muffin and place on rack to finish cooling.  Serve warm with butter.

Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins

Doughnuts are made with very little ingredients and the doughnut business is considered one of the most profitable. After all, most of us would rather buy some than pull out a big vat of oil and wait for the dough to rise. I do not find them very easy to make. Luckily, it did not take long for an alternative to arrive-the flavor of a doughnut in a muffin. This recipe makes 18-20 muffins.

Cinnamon Doughnut Muffins
courtesy of Taste of Home Magazine


Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of milk
2 eggs
2/3 cup of oil
1 1/2 cups of sugar plus 1 1/2 cups for topping
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon plus 2 teaspoons for topping
1 cup melted butter

Grease inside and tops of muffin tins.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together oil, eggs, 1 1/2 cups sugar and milk.  Set aside.

Take a large bowl and sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add the oil mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until combined, being careful not to over beat.  Spoon batter into greased muffin cups, filling 2/3 full. Bake for 18-25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

While muffins are baking, melt butter in a microwave safe bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together the topping amounts of cinnamon and sugar noted above.

Once muffins are done, let cool for a few minutes. Remove each muffin and roll in butter, then in sugar mixture.  Set on wire rack to cool. 

Macadamia Nut Muffins

With an ample supply of macadamia nuts and too many cookies around the house, I opted for a breakfast item.  This muffin is lightly sweetened and contains no type of chocolate, so it is perfect with some butter and hot coffee or tea.  The nuts and extracts really come through in the flavor.  This recipe comes from the RSVP section of Bon Appetit, issued prior to 2005 and makes about 10-12 muffins. 

Macadamia Nut Muffins

Ingredients
3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts (if salted omit salt below)*
1/4 cup whipping cream
3 eggs
3/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1 cup light brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbs bread flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease top edges of muffin cups in pan and then place paper liners inside.

Sift baking powder, flour and salt* in medium bowl and set aside. Then place butter in a large bowl and beat for 2 minutes until smooth and creamy.  Add brown sugar and continue to beat until all is blended.

Add the extracts and eggs with the butter mixture and blend all ingredients by beating with a wooden spoon .  Then fold in the dry ingredients.  Once the dry ingredients are completely mixed into the batter, add the whipping cream. Stir with the spoon until smooth.  Lastly, add the macadamia nuts and mix until distributed evenly in the batter.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin liners, filling 3/4 full. Smooth the surface of the batter with a wet knife.  As you can see in the above picture, these muffins do not rise very much.  Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until tester comes out clean.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Jumbo Harvest Squash Muffins

With pumpkin recipes all around, I decided to use a recipe calling for a butternut squash.  The most time consuming thing about this is roasting the squash prior to making it into a puree.  Next time, I will roast and make the puree one day and continue on with the muffins the next day.  The muffins turned out very moist and sweet, so I declined to add any topping or glaze. The flavor will even pass the taste test of the pickiest (veggie hater) member at the table. 

Jumbo Harvest Squash Muffins
adapted from latartinegourmand.com 
Ingredients
3 cups roasted butternut squash
5 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs
3/4 cups of walnut halves
3/4 cup pecan halves
1 cup pumpkin seeds*
3 tsp baking soda
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp nutmeg
2 1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups canola oil
1 1/8 cups buttermilk
Prep work:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut squash in fourths and scrape out all seeds.  Place face up in a 9X13 pan with 1/2 cup of water in bottom. Cook for 1 hr or more, until all areas are fork tender. Once roasted, set aside to cool.

Put nuts and seeds in a shallow pan and toast in oven for 15 minutes.

When the squash has cooled, scoop out flesh and place in blender or food processor to puree.  You may need to add a little water to help smooth the texture.  Set aside 3 cups.  Depending on how big your squash is, you may end up with more than 3 cups.  The excess amount can sit in fridge for up to 3 days or be frozen.

The nuts and seeds, when cooled, are to be ground into a fine powder.  A blender or spice grinder can be used for this process. Put aside once completed.

Making the muffins:
 Turn the oven temperature down to 325 degrees.

In a medium size bowl, sift all the dry ingredients (flour, nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt).  Add the nuts and seed mixture with a wooden spoon until all is incorporated.  Set aside.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat together both types of sugar and canola oil.  It should all be evenly distributed after about 3 minutes.  Then put in the butternut squash and beat for another 2 minutes.  Each egg will need to be mixed in, beating after each addition. This is the last use of the electric mixer, so you can put it away.

With a wooden spoon, fold in half of the buttermilk and half of the flour mixture into the squash batter.  Once combined, repeat until there are few flour streaks.

For your pan, put oil around the top opening of the muffin hole and place muffin paper inside hole.  With a large spoon or regular ice cream scoop, fill each muffin paper at least 3/4 full. You can fill higher if you want a bigger top.

Bake in oven 20-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean, tops should be a golden brown.  After baking, remove muffins from pan and place on rack to cool.  If you go over to the link, there you will find a recipe for 2 loaves.


*here in Texas, pumpkin seeds are easily found in the snack aisle of Wal-Mart.  If your grocer does not have them, you might try using sunflower seeds.