Tag Archives: Muffin

November 11, 2013

Muffin Monday: Apple Cranberry Walnut Muffins

By ritalovestowrite
Cranberry Apple Walnut Muffins

Cranberry Apple Walnut Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
  • 1 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1/4 Vegetable Oil
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
  • 1 cup finely diced Apple
  • 1 cup chopped Cranberries
  • 3/4 cup chopped Walnuts

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prep muffin cups with baking spray.

2. In a large bowl mix the Whole Wheat Flour, Baking Soda and Pumpkin Pie Spice.

3. In a blender puree the Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Eggs, Vanilla Extract, Apples & Cranberries.

4. Mix the liquid into the dry ingredients until smooth.

5. Add the Walnuts.

6. Divide the batter evenly  into 12 muffin cups.

7. Bake for 20 minutes until muffins are golden brown and pass the toothpick test.

8. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before enjoying.

Cranberry Apple Walnut Muffins fresh from the oven.

Cranberry Apple Walnut Muffins fresh from the oven.

I like the bit of crunch from the walnuts. These are moderately sweet and yummy.

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5 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Cooking, Muffin Monday, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

October 22, 2013

Muffin Monday: Hearty Harvest Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

Squeezing Muffin Monday in under the wire again this week. Darn that LIFE. Doesn’t it know I’ve got blogging to do?

Enjoy the muffins…

Fresh from the oven

Fresh from the oven

Hearty Harvest Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tsp softened  Butter
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/3 cup Apple Cider
  • 2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
  • 4 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1/4 tsp Ginger
  • 1/4 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1 cup grated Zucchini
  • 1 Cup grated Apple
  • 1 cup grated Carrots
  • 1 cup Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • 1 cup roughly chopped Pecans

DIRECTIONS

1. Pre-Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin cups. This recipe makes 18 large muffins.

2. In a large bowl mix the Butter and Brown Sugar.

3. In a liquid measuring cup beat the eggs. Then add them to the Butter and Sugar.

4. Add the Milk , Apple Cider and Vanilla to the wet ingredients.

5. In a smaller bowl combine the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt, Ginger and Nutmeg.

6. Mix the dry ingredients in with the wet to form the base batter.

This batter can be used as the base for any number of muffins. The nutmeg and ginger give it a Fall feel.

This batter can be used as the base for any number of muffins. The nutmeg and ginger give it a Fall feel.

7. Add the Zucchini, Apple, Carrot, Chocolate Chips and Pecans and stir gently until incorporated.

8. Divide evenly into 18 muffin cups.

Ready for the oven.

Ready for the oven.

9. Bake in hot oven for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown at the top. Muffins should pass the toothpick test.

10. Let cool a few minutes before enjoying.

The apples and apple cider in this recipe are from Manor Produce in Monkton, Maryland. But instead of picking them up at the Farmer’s Market I got these at the Hereford Fall Festival.  You can find out more about them at http://www.manorproduce.com

I think I’m going to brave a pumpkin from Manor Produce next week.   I’ve a hankering for some pumpkin muffins. Hmmm I’ll have to see how the spirit moves me.

As for today’s muffins… Well, what do you think?

The final product

The final product

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2 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Apple, Muffin Monday, Muffins, Thought of the Day

October 15, 2013

Muffin Monday: Apple Zucchini Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

WHAT? Today’s not Monday! Its OK. Don’t touch that dial. You haven’t fallen into a muffin time warp. I just got swamped by freelance yesterday and, although I did MAKE these yummy muffins yesterday, I didn’t get around to posting about it until today.

This recipe is Texas sized so it makes 24 muffins. (Plenty for a package or two for the nieces in college down in the Lone Star State.)

Mom-Mom Approved Apple Zucchini Muffins

Mom-Mom Approved Apple Zucchini Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups finely chopped  Apple
  • 2 cup grated Zucchini
  • 2 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • 3 cups regular Flour
  • 1 cup Buckwheat Flour
  • 2 tablespoons Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 stick Butter
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2 cups Milk (or Milk plus Zucchini juice to equal 2 cups)
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon Almond
  • 2 Egg

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prep muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray and dusting with flour.

2. Chop the Apples and grate the Zucchini. DRAIN the Zucchini! Its October and the Zucchini available at the farmer’s market is roughly the size of a preemie baby. I picked up two for a buck a piece on Saturday. Half of one of those mega Zukes was enough to yield the 2 cups I needed for this recipe, but the larger gourd meant much more fluid. So I put the whole grated batch in a sieve to remove the liquid. BONUS! I was able to cut down on the amount of milk by combining it with the Zucchini liquid. Plus the Zucchini liquid is an awesome bright green color that just makes me happy.

Zucchini juice green -- why isn't there a Crayola Crayon in this color?

Zucchini juice green — why isn’t there a Crayola Crayon in this color?

3. Combine the Apples and Zucchini with the Cinnamon and set aside.

4. In a medium bowl combine the regular Flour, the Buckwheat Flour, the Baking Powder and the Salt.

5. In a large bowl melt the Butter.

6. Add the Sugar to the Butter and mix. Add the Vanilla and Almond.

7. Add  the Eggs one at a time to the Butter/Sugar mix.

8. Add the MIlk/Zucchini to the liquid.

9. Working in thirds combine the wet and dry ingredients. Mix until combined, but don’t over beat.

10. Add the Apples and Zucchini.

11. Divide the batter evenly into 24 muffin cups.

IMG_6325

12. Bake for 30 minutes or until the muffins are golden brown and prove done when tested with a toothpick.

13. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes then remove from pan. Enjoy warm or cool.

IMG_6326

Mom-Mom S. was over for the weekend and she gave these muffins an unqualified stamp of approval. She particularly liked the hint of almond that the extract gave the muffins.  I like the little sweet kick you get when you bite into an apple morsel. We had them “right from the oven” with tea and they were delightful. But they are mighty good at room temperature too.

Enjoy.

The apples were also from the farmer’s market. I picked these up at the Manor Produce stand. The good folks at Manor Produce were able to guide me through the orchard of offerings on the table to the best apples for baking. (And they were right). They also had THE best fresh pressed apple cider.

Ahhh Fall. How I love thee.

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2 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Baking, Muffin Monday, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

August 26, 2013

Muffin Monday: Date Granola Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

Granola Muffin on plate single

When we went to Williamsburg last winter we stayed at one of the Colonial Houses and ate at the Williamsburg Inn for breakfast. They had the most wonderful Granola and I charmed a recipe out of the very kind staff at the Inn. I won’t share it here as it may be proprietary and I wouldn’t want to give away any secrets. But I will say that it was super yummy and if you ever get a chance to go to Williamsburg you should treat yourself to a stay at one of the Colonial Houses and breakfast at the Williamsburg Inn. [Click here for a link to Colonial Williamsburg]

My attempt at Williamsburg Inn Granola

My attempt at Williamsburg Inn Granola

That reminded me of a Granola Muffin recipe I came across a bit ago and I decided to adapt that for this week’s Muffin Monday offering. So without further ado I give you… Date Granola Muffins…

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3/4 cup dried Chopped Dates
  • 1 cup hot Water
  • 2 cups of All Purpose Flour
  • 1 1/2 cups of Granola
  • 1 tsp Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 1/2 cup Milk
  • 1/2 cup of Vegetable Oil
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray and flour a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. Soften the dates by adding them to the hot Water. Let sit 5 minutes. Drain.

3. In a large bowl mix the Flour, Granola, Baking Powder and Salt.

Granola muffins dry ingredients

4. In another, smaller bowl, combine the Milk, Vegetable Oil, Egg, and Vanilla.

5. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix well.

6. Stir in the Dates, carefully folding them into the mixture.

7. Divide into 12 muffin cups.

Granola muffins in pan

8. Bake for 20 minutes.  The muffins should be golden brown and pass the toothpick test. Remove from the oven and let cool a minute before loosening them from the pan (they should come right out.)

9. Serve with butter or applesauce.

Granola Muffin Side view 2

These muffins are delicious, but on the dry side so the butter or applesauce is a must.

The original recipe called for sugar. I took that out when I added the dates, and I’m glad I did. These don’t even register on the ritaLOVEStoWRITE Muffin Monday saccharine scale, but the dates give them just a hint of sweetness. Because of their dry texture and their lack of sugar pop taster Maggie suggested we come up with a new category: the “Buffin” (the Biscuit / Muffin). Since I love both biscuits and muffins… I’m down with that.

Taster Bill states simply that they are “Yummy with butter.”

This morning I had mine with tea and an egg over easy. It was a pretty nice way to start the week. IMHMO. (In My Humble Muffiny Opinion).

Granola MUffin with egg

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August 20, 2013

Muffin Monday: Apple Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

By ritalovestowrite
Apple Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin

Apple Butter Chocolate Chip Muffin

INGREDIENTS:

Apple butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and prepare muffin cups by spraying with baking spray.

2. In a large bowl combine Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Cinnamon, Salt, Nutmeg, Ginger, and Just Whites.

3. In a measuring cup combine the Milk, Oil and water. Stir into dry ingredients.

4. Add Apple Butter to batter. Mix well.

5. Add grated Beets or Zucchini and Mini Chocolate Chips. Fold in until incorperated.

6. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle a half dozen or so additional mini chocolate chips on top.

Apple Butter Choc Chip in pan

7. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the tops of the muffin are slightly brown and they pass the tooth pick test.

8. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before enjoying.

single baked

I brought a couple of these to my knit group and had those ladies act as tasters. Virginia K. liked the chocolate chips, but thought they were too salty. Sheila S. liked the texture and the moisture level. She also liked they way the chocolate chips and beets were evenly distributed through out the muffin. But she found that the flavors were a bit too distinct and didn’t blend well. Maggie S. thought these were too moist. They were not her favorite muffins.

Personally I liked the stronger flavors of the ginger, cinimmon and nutmeg. I also liked the way the chocolate and spices worked with each other.

Let me know what you think!

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August 6, 2013

Muffin Monday: Blackberry Beet Choc. Chip

By ritalovestowrite

on tray

[Props go to Megan at HuggingTrees&ShellingPeas who got me started on this particular flavor odyssey with her own Chocolate Beet Muffin recipe. I made some changes here for my twist on her recipe, but you should check out Megan’s original recipe (available at the link above) and make a batch of both muffins for a Chocolate Beet Muffin show down.]

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 Cup Blackberries
  • 1/2 Cup Beets, grated
  • 1 Cup Zucchini, grated
  • 2 Cups Flour
  • 1/2 cup ground Almonds
  • 4.5 tsp Baking Soda
  • .25 tsp Cinnamon
  • .25 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 1.5 C Brown Sugar
  • 4 TBLS Cocoa Powder
  • 1 Cup Almond Milk
  • 1 Cup Apple Sauce
  • 1 Cup Crisco, softened
  • 3/4 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips (Plus additional Mini Chocolate Chips for garnish)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Prep Muffin tin or Muffin Cups with spray.

2. Grate the Beets. Grate the Zucchini. Hand mash the Blackberries and remove the tough core.

Grated Beets and Zucchini and finger mashed/pitted Blackberries.

Grated Beets and Zucchini and finger mashed/pitted Blackberries.

3. Grind the Almonds in a nut mill, food processor or blender.

4. In a large bowl combine the Flour, Baking Soda, Salt, Cinnamon, Garam Masala, Brown Sugar and Cocoa Powder

5. In a smaller bowl combine the Almond Milk, Apple Sauce, and creamed Crisco.

6. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

7. Gently stir in the Beets, Zucchini, Blackberries and Chocolate Chips.

8. Divide evenly into 21-24 muffin cups. Top with a half-dozen extra mini Chocolate chips on each muffin.

Ready to go into the oven

Ready to go into the oven

9. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the muffins pass the toothpick test. Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin/cups for 15 minutes.

Given that there is 1.5 cups of brown sugar and quite a bit of chocolate in this recipe, I was surprised that these muffins weren’t sweeter. They aren’t. That’s not to say that they aren’t good. Just not on the sweet side.
I had my test muffin plain. One of my testers opted to try his with a bit of ice cream. That serving suggestion seemed to go over well, so if you are looking for a dessert muffin… add a bit of ice cream. However… I really tried to stay away from the diary on this one (Almond milk instead of cow’s milk; Crisco instead of butter; no eggs) adding ice cream kind of makes that a moot point.

These muffins are light and moist. While the Zucchini and Beets disappear once baked the Blackberry texture remains.

Eaten

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Muffin Monday, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

July 29, 2013

Muffin Monday: Beet & Fennel Muffins

By ritalovestowrite

IMG_5748

I know, I know… it sounds like I should be making soup, not muffins, but this combination of special ingredients when paired with our old friends  Zucchini, Almond and  Blueberry made for a nice flavor profile in this week’s Muffin Monday selection.

INGREDIENTS:

  •  1 1/2 cup whole wheat Flour
  • 3/4 cup whole Almonds
  • 1 TBSP Baking Power
  • 1 cup Non Fat Milk
  • 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1/2 Stick MELTED Butter
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 cup Grated Beets
  • 1 cup Grated Zucchini
  • 1/3 cup chopped Fennel Fronds
  • 2/3 cup slightly mashed Blueberries.

IMG_5739

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare the muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray.

2. Grate the Beets and Zucchini. Finely chop the Fennel Fronds.  Gently mash the Blueberries with a fork. Set aside.

3. In a blender process the Almonds until they are finely ground..

4. In a large bowl combine the Flour, ground Almonds and Baking Powder.

5. In the blender (because why dirty another bowl when you’re gonna have to clean that blender anyway) pour the Milk, Vanilla, Eggs, melted Butter and Sugar. Blend until smooth.

6. Add the liquid to the dry and mix well.

7. Gently fold the chopped/grated vegetables and the mashed Blueberries into the batter.

8. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups (this recipe made enough batter to generously fill the standard 12 muffin tin plus two  extra muffin cups).

IMG_5742

9. Bake for 35 minutes until the tops are brown and the muffins pass the toothpick test. Remove from oven and let cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes.

The blueberries and sugar give these veggie intense muffins plenty of sweetness. Tester Maggie S. calls them “Delicious and filling.” There’s a nice firm muffin top and the inside is flaky and light. The texture, says Maggie, is “Perfect.”  Fellow tester Andrew S. agreed, he loved the texture. As for the taste? “The aftertaste was interesting” he said, ” — kind of savory after the sweetness of the berries. And” he added “zucchini is always a good thing.”

Beets, like zucchini, seem to lose themselves in the delightfulness of muffindom. None of us could really point to the muffins and say “Hey, you put beets in there, didn’t you?” The muffins just taste yummy. As for the fennel there is a hint of fennel’s licorice flavor, but it is far from overwhelming.

IMG_5755

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Want more Muffin Monday recipes? Go to the Search field at the top of the blog and type in ‘Muffin Monday.’

 

7 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Baking, Muffin Monday, Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day, Writing

July 22, 2013

Muffin Monday: Blueberry, Lemon, Zucchini

By ritalovestowrite

Its Muffin Monday everybody! Blueberries and Zucchini are still going strong so I made them the star, along with the lovely lemon, for this week’s recipe.

muffin on china

INGREDIENTS:

  • 15 Vanilla Wafers
  • 8 tablespoons Butter
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure Vanilla Extract
  • 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
  • 1 cup grated Zucchini
  • 1/4 cup grated fresh Lemon Peel
  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 15 muffin cups by spraying with cooking spray. Place a Vanilla Wafer inside each muffin cup and set aside. (OK I just happened to have Vanilla Wafers, and thought this would add a bit of texture. You can skip this bit if you don’t have Vanilla Wafers — I hereby give you absolution — However, if you are feeling particularly spicy today, why not try Ginger Snaps?)

muffin cups with cookie

2. In a large bowl cream the Butter. Add the Sugar and the Eggs. Then add the Vanilla Extract, Baking Powder and Salt, all at once, and mix well.

3. In a small bowl  mash 1/2 cup of the Blueberries.

4. Put the mashed Blueberries, the grated Zucchini and the grated fresh Lemon Peal in the batter and stir until blended.

Batter with fruit

5. Add half the Flour. Stir. The Milk, Stir. Rest of the Flour. Stir.

6. Fold in the rest of Blueberries.

7. Divide evenly into the 15 muffin cups. (If you want to make slightly smaller muffins prepare 18 cups).

8. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and pass the toothpick test.  Let rest 5 minutes before enjoying with some tea or lemon aide.

baked muffins

They didn’t rise very much, but they sure are good. Both my taster Maggie and I really liked the flavor profile. Maggie put it best when she said “Quite a delightful muffin. The lemon & blueberry compliment each other nicely. And they have just the right amount of moisture.” The density is spot on as well.

Let me know if you try the recipe. I’m curious to see if you like them as much as we did.

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Don’t miss my other Muffin Monday recipes… type Muffin Monday in the search field at the top of the blog, on the right.

8 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day

July 15, 2013

Muffin Monday Cranb Peach Choc

By ritalovestowrite

IMG_0210

I was debating what kind of muffins to make today. I had peaches from the market, and I wanted to see how they’d pair with cranberries … and then I thought… why not lets add some dark chocolate chips.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 cup Dried Cranberries
  • 1/2 cup hot Water
  • 1 cup diced fresh Peaches
  • 1 cup Dark Chocolate Chips
  • 1/4 cup softened Butter
  • 3/4 cup Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/4 cup Sour Cream
  • 1/2 cup Skim Milk
  • 2 1/2 cup Flour
  • 1/2 tea Salt
  • 3/4 Tea Baking Soda

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pre heat oven to 350 degrees and prepare muffin cups.

2. Put the Dried Cranberries into the water and let soak for 5 minutes.

IMG_0202

Drain the cranberries and set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine the softened Butter and Sugar, then add the Egg. Work until the batter is smooth.

4. In a large measuring cup combine the Sour Cream and Skim Milk.Add it to the Batter.

5. In a smaller bowl measure out the flour, Salt and Baking Soda. Stir to combine, then add it to the batter.

6. Gently stir the Cranberry and Peach into the batter.

IMG_0205

Cranberries, bottom of picture, and Peaches, top of picture just before they are gently stirred into the batter.

7. Fold in 3/4 cup of  Chocolate Chips. (Reserve the rest of the chips for the next step.) (OK you can eat one chip, but don’t tell anybody.)

8. Divide evenly into muffin cups (my batter actually made 13 muffins.) Divide the remaining Chocolate chips and place on top of the muffins.

9. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until tops are golden brown and the toothpick test confirms that they are done.

10. Take out of the oven and let rest 5 minutes before removing from muffin cups. Since these have Chocolate Chips on the top let them cool another 5 minutes before eating.

Muffins fresh from the oven.

Muffins fresh from the oven.

I think the Peach/Cranberry combination is a hit. And the Dark Chocolate is an extra bonus.

Milk is optional.

Milk is optional.

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4 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Muffins, postaday, Thought of the Day