Blueberry Muffins

I stumbled upon this recipe while reading an issue of Real Simple one night and I decided to make them the next morning since I had all of the ingredients.  I don’t remember what possessed me to buy Splenda in the first place, but I’ve had it for several months and am trying to get rid of it.  I made a few changes including adding orange zest and using regular Splenda instead of the “plus fiber” kind.  We thought they were great!  Perfect for our breakfasts this week.

Blueberry Muffins

Source:  Splenda

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

zest of one orange

1 cup Splenda with Fiber {I used regular}

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup milk

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1/4 cup honey

2 eggs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and orange zest.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy.  Add splenda and honey, beating until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Stir in vanilla.  Alternately add flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour.  Fold in blueberries.

Fill muffin cups evenly.  Bake for 20-22 minutes or until golden.  Cool n wire rack.

French Breakfast Puffs

I wanted to have a homemade breakfast item on hand for the week, so I did a little baking and whipped up these muffins.  Since cinnamon and sugar is one of my favorite flavors, I thought they were very good!  There’s nothing French about them necessarily, but that’s okay!

I made a few changes that include reducing the amount of salt, adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and subbing buttermilk for regular milk.  I just can’t make a baked good without a little vanilla and I just happened to have some buttermilk that needed to be used, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to use that instead.

I also reduced the amount of topping ingredients because I thought it sounded like an awful lot of butter and I didn’t want to have any leftover that would be wasted.  But it turned out that I ran out of my reduced toppings!  I could have melted up some more butter, but I was too lazy so I just left a few muffins {maybe 3?} plain.

French Breakfast Puffs

Source: Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 3 cups Flour
• 3 teaspoons Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt {I used 1/2 tsp}
• ½ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
• 1 cup Sugar
• ⅔ cups Shortening {I used butter flavored Crisco}
• 2 whole Eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup Milk {I used buttermilk}

Topping

• 1-½ cup Sugar  {I used one cup}
• 3 teaspoons Cinnamon
• 2 sticks Butter {I used 1 stick, but ran out so I just didn’t coat all the muffins}

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.

In a large bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In your mixer bowl, cream together 1 cup sugar and shortening. Then add eggs & vanilla and mix again. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition.

Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full {or more, mine were pretty much heaping}. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

In a bowl, melt 2 sticks butter. In a separate bowl combine remaining sugar and cinnamon. Dip baked muffins in butter, coating thoroughly, then coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Eat them while they’re warm!  Enjoy!

Flaky Biscuits

Mmmmm, the breakfast of champions – bacon, eggs, and biscuits.

These biscuits were very tender and thick!  They were great for this breakfast, but would also be wonderful served with sausage gravy or along side a hearty stew, fried chicken, or other dinner.  Give them a try!

Flaky Biscuits
Source:  Good Things Catered, originally from Joy of Cooking

Yield: 8-10 big biscuits

Ingredients:
2 c. all purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsp butter, plus more to top
3/4 c. milk {I used buttermilk}

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 450 degrees
-In large bowl, sift or whisk together flour, powder and salt.
-Cut the very cold butter, into dry ingredients until butter pieces are about the size of a pea.
-Add the milk and mix until just combined (texture should be sticky, moist and lumpy)
-Roll or pat the dough out on flour prepared surface into 1 in. thickness.
-Cut with lightly floured biscuit cutter and place on prepared baking sheet.
-Top each biscuit with a small cube of butter to help brown.
-Place in oven and bake for about 10 minutes or longer until tops are nicely browned.
-Serve immediately.

Waffle Mini Muffins with Maple-Sugar Glaze

Several days ago we were out of easy-to-grab breakfast food items so I decided to make some mini muffins.  I chose these since we are BIG fans of actual waffles.  They turned out to have the perfect flavor of waffles in a bite sized muffin!  They were really good warm from the oven, and not as great cold so I suggest zapping the leftover muffins in the microwave before eating them.

Waffle Muffins with Maple-Sugar Glaze

source:  Cuisine at Home magazine, April 2010 issue

makes about 36 mini muffins

Ingredients for muffins:

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup malt powder

1/4 cup cornmeal

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, separated

2 tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients for the glaze:

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp coarse sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and coat 2 mini muffin pans with nonstick spray.

Whisk together the flour, malt powder, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl and set it aside.

Whisk together the slightly cooled melted butter, buttermilk, granulated sugar, egg yolks, and vanilla in a large bowl until blended.

Whip egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer to medium peaks.

Combine buttermilk mixture with flour mixture, stirring just until incorporated.

Fold whipped egg whites into batter just until thin white streaks remain visible.  Transfer batter by 2 heaping teaspoons (or #30 scoop) into prepared pans.

Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 12 minutes.

Combine maple syrup and sugar in small bowl; brush onto muffin tops. Return muffins to oven for 2-3 minutes to set the glaze.

Serve muffins warm.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

So goes the story of most banana recipes…I had 2 sad-looking bananas on the counter, so I decided to make this recipe.  🙂  The great thing about it is that it can be quickly mixed by hand, so you don’t need to dirty your mixer!  Yummy too!  I’ve substituted blueberries in place of the chocolate chips before too.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

{source: adapted from Taste of Home Cupcakes & Muffins issue}

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1-3/4 cups AP flour

1/4 cup sugar

2-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup whole milk {or whatever milk you have; I’ve used skim and almond milk before}

1 egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil {or coconut oil}

1 cup mashed ripe banana {2 bananas}

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips {or cinnamon chips or blueberries}

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease or spray a muffin pan.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt with a whisk.  In a separate bowl, combine the egg, milk, oil and mashed bananas with a fork.  Stir the wet into the dry ingredients just until moistened.  Fold in chocolate chips.

Fill the prepared muffin cups.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing to wire rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Lemon Scones

Well, I have had my eye on this recipe for a few weeks and I’m so happy that I finally made them!  They were delicious!!  I may have a new favorite scone recipe here!  And that is really saying something because I didn’t think my blueberry scone recipe could fall out of first place!

{Holy! Freaking! Exclamation! Points! I just noticed I use a ton of them!!!  Sorry!}

I must also say that this recipe is easier and faster than my blueberry scone recipe.  It is just as messy though since scone dough is so loose and you have to knead it on the counter.  Oh well, that won’t stop me from making them again and again!

I only made a few changes and they seemed to work out.  I didn’t have any yogurt on hand for my first batch, so I used sour cream that I thinned out with milk to make it the same consistency as yogurt.  I used vanilla yogurt for the second batch.  Both were equally delicious.

In the future, I’ll probably omit the glaze.  I used it on both batches that I made and I liked the additional lemon flavor that it added, but I think it made the scones slightly soggy.

Strawberry Lemon Scones
Source:   Joelen’s Culinary Adventures; original recipe adapted from Delicious! Delicious!

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, very cold, cut into tiny pieces
Zest of 1 large lemon
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
3/4 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

Topping:

2 Tablespoon melted butter

coarse sugar

Glaze/Frosting (optional):
1 tablespoon half and half
1 tablespoon lemon juice
confectioner’s sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir together dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or two knives {I just use my fingers}, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in strawberries and lemon zest.  Stir in  yogurt to be able to form dough into a loose ball.  {I found that the dough was still a little dry and crumbly, but I just went with it and dumped it onto the counter and brought it together with my hands.}

Turn dough onto floured surface and with floured hands, gently knead a few times just to pull the dough together. Press dough into a rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick.  Fold rectangle into thirds, like a letter.  Press dough into 9-inch round. Cut into 8 equal triangles. {I basically skipped the folding it like a letter part to avoid over-working it.  Once the dough held together, I just shaped it into a 9″ circle and then cut into triangles.}

Place scones on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove to rack to cool.

If adding the glaze, whisk confectioner’s sugar into the lemon juice and half and half, adding more sugar until desired consistency is reached.  Drizzle on scones while warm.

Makes 8 scones.

Chocolate Glazed Donut Muffins

Um, wow…these were really good and sooo quick and easy to make.  They are a perfect treat for dessert or breakfast.  They definitely have the flavor of a donut without all that greasy fried business.  The chocolate glaze = major heaven.  And whatever you decide to do with any leftover glaze is your business so do what you gotta do to get rid of it.  😉

Chocolate Glazed Donut Muffins

{Source:  Originally from Elle’s New England Kitchen, as seen at Milk & Honey and Elly says Opa!

Make 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

For the Muffins

• 2 cups AP flour
• scant 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. allspice
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1-1/4  tsp. vanilla extract

For the Glaze

• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 Tbsp. corn syrup
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• sprinkles (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a standard muffin tin.
2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt cinnamon, nutmeg and all spice in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the canola oil, butter, milk and vanilla with an electric mixer until well blended. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture, combining gently by hand until just moistened.
3. Spoon the batter in the prepared muffin tins {they will be very full!} and bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely.
4. To make the glaze, combine the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup and vanilla extract in a double boiler (or in a stainless steel or glass bowl over some simmering water). Stir until the chocolate is melted and everything is incorporated.
5. Dip the tops of the muffins into the glaze and immediately top with sprinkles, if using.

Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Breakfast Rolls

Hmmm…I don’t really know how to describe these rolls.  They were both easy and difficult to make at the same time.  Easy because they call for pre-made crescent dough and just a little mixing of a few other ingredients, but difficult because I found them messy and hard to roll and slice.

Also, they tasted good, but had no wow factor.  I tasted the frosting on its own before spreading it on the rolls, and I thought it tasted great. I also tasted a roll without frosting and thought it had nice flavor and I would probably enjoy eating them again sans frosting.  Although I may suggest kicking up the flavor with just a little more cinnamon/spice next time.  But the combination of the frosting with the rolls did nothing for me and I thought they tasted like little boring blobs.

The recipe creator {Picky Palate}, suggests using the frosting as a fruit dip, and I think that sounds like something we would like.  Tim thought the rolls were okay, but said he wouldn’t care if I never make them again and he normally LOVES all things pumpkin flavored.

Normally I wouldn’t post a recipe that we don’t like but, I am posting this recipe because I don’t think it is necessarily a flop.  I think it has potential, it just needs a little tweaking.  And I think each of the two elements are good on their own.  The thing that I am banking on being the true problem here is that the crescents aren’t a firm enough dough for my liking.  I just think they are too soft.  I’ll probably experiment with this filling and frosting on my go-to cinnamon roll recipe in the near future.  I’ll keep you posted!

Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Breakfast Rolls

Source: Picky Palate

2 packages/cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1/4 Cup canned pumpkin

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Unroll crescent rolls to form 4 rectangles placed side by side.  Pinch seams together to form one long rectangle.  Repeat with the second can of rolls, and line them up directly below the first row.  When you finish lining them up, you should have one large rectangle consisting of 8 single rectangles, 2 rows and 4 columns.  Take care to pinch all the seams together!

Place cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg into a mixer; beat until well combined.  Spread mixture over crescents leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges.  Starting at long end, roll up then cut into 1 inch pieces.  Place around two 9 inch cake pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray.

2.  Bake for 18-22 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.  Frost warm rolls with cream cheese frosting recipe below.

Frosting

4 oz softened cream cheese

1/2 Cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon canned pumpkin

1.  Mix all ingredients into a large bowl until smooth.  Spread over warm rolls.

Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti

I was craving a cranberry dessert, so I turned to my trusty biscotti recipe that calls for cranberries and pistachios, as well as a coating of white chocolate.

I made this recipe several times last year and everyone who tasted it, loved it.  It is a great addition to a holiday cookie tray, but is delicious year round too, hence the name change that I’m giving it.

Try them with a cup of tea or coffee.  These twice baked cookies are crispy crunchy deliciousness!

{source: Holiday Biscotti by  Giada DeLaurentiis at foodtv.com}  Yields 12 biscotti for me, but original recipe says 2 dozen.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest {I just used 1/2 tsp lemon extract}
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 12 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped {I used 6 ounces for drizzling}
• Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish {I omit}

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 35-40 minutes {Mine was definitely done at 35 minutes so watch closely}.  Cool for 30 minutes.

before baking

after the first baking

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2 to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet. Bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.

before 2nd baking

Stir the chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Dip half of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. Refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes.  Or just drizzle with the chocolate.

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.

Blueberry Struesel Muffins

I picked up a large package of blueberry’s at Sam’s over the weekend without any plan in mind of how to use them.  I just new they looked delicious and I could not pass up the great price.  The hubs suggested blueberry scones, but I was in the mood for something new.

I skimmed through my Google Reader and found this recipe from Ellie – one of my favorite bloggers!  Seriously everything she posts looks delicious!  I guess I should have been born in the South because southern food is one of my favorite types!  I only made one adaptation and that was adding about a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter, so that the struesel topping flavor would be present in the muffin as well.  Very Delicious!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins
recipe adapted from Vintage Victuals

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

2 1/3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon – not in original recipe

1 cup milk (I used 2%)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups blueberries

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, and grease or line 18 muffin cups.

In an electric mixer bowl, cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat until well-combined.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt (and cinnamon if you want).  Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, stirring well after each addition.

Finally, stir in vanilla and blueberries. Spoon batter into greased or lined muffin cups, filling two-thirds of the way full.

For topping, combine the sugar, flour, and teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in the butter with a fork or pastry blender until mixture resembles crumbs. Sprinkle on top of muffin batter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown. Yield ~ 18 muffins.   (I got 19 muffins and they were done baking at exactly 25 minutes.)