Mini Muffin Mania

Yep, here I go on a muffin kick again. These little muffins were such a yummy bite-sized treat, something about tiny food makes it so much cuter and tastier. The recipe came out of my Totally Muffins Cookbook, which is like totally awesome! Enjoy!



Almond Poppy seed Muffins

2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1 1/2 cups ap flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease tins or line with paper cups.
Heat milk to scalding. Pour over poppy seeds and set aside to cool
In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add almond extract and cooled milk mixture.
Fold in dry ingredients and almonds and stir just to blend.
Divide mixture among muffin cups, bake 20 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Notes:
If you choose to make many muffins I crushed the almonds smaller and I only used 1/4 cup. I would also add a little more almond extract, but I really love the flavor. Also, next time I am going to try these with lemon extract and zest, to make a lemon poppy seed muffin.

Banana Crumb Muffins

This recipe has been popping up on quite a few blogs lately, and for good reason. It is a great banana muffin, although it doesn't quite edge out the banana coconut muffins that I love just a little bit more. They got rave reviews at work, the crumb topping definitely makes them a bit more special. Check out Brooke's blog Desert First for this recipe and many other great ones!


not a great picture, sorry

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle topping over muffins.
Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Fall is here!!!

Fake spider, I promise! I decorated for Halloween today, and I couldn't resist!

Okay not really. But we have cooled down to the seventies, and that is plenty of reason to bust out the pumpkin. I saw this recipe on Annie's Eats, who adapted the recipe from Bakespace, and knew that it would be my first pumping recipe of the year. They were amazing good, who doesn't love a little cream cheese filling when they bite into a cupcake! These were the perfect start to my fall baking, I can't wait to use the pumpkin left over in my fridge for something new. Or maybe I will just make these muffins again, they were that good. I brought them to my first day at my new job and made instant friends, so thanks Annie! Happy Fall baking friends!

Yummy cream cheese filling!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Yield: 24 muffins

INGREDIENTS:

For the muffins:
3 cups flour (I used white wholewheat flour)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 eggs
1 ¼ cups vegetable oil (I used 1/2 applesauce and 1/2 oil)
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

For the streusel topping:
½ cup sugar
¼ cup and 1 tsp. flour
4 tbsp. butter, cubed
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and powdered sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer and whip until smooth. Form into a log on plastic wrap or foil, making sure that the diameter is small enough to fit into the well of a muffin pan. Wrap the log up tightly and freeze until slightly hardened, 1-2 hours. (Alright, so you should know that I skipped this step, because I wanted to eat the muffins now, I didn't want to wait 2 hours, and it worked out perfectly. I just used my tiny cookie scoop to drop the filling into each muffin)

To make the muffins, combine the flour, spices, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix well and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the eggs, vegetable oil, sugar and pumpkin puree. Mix until well combined. Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until just combined.

To make the streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Mix together with a pastry blender or two forks until crumbly.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line two muffin pans with paper liners. To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well halfway with batter. Remove the cream cheese log from the freezer and slice into 24 equal slices. Place a slice in each muffin well. Divide the remaining muffin batter evenly among the muffin cups, on top of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the top of the batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

Muffin Madness!

I know that I have said that my raspberry muffins are the most amazing muffins ever, but I may have lied...or at least their is a tie. Let me introduce the amazing delicious moist wonderfulness that is these banana coconut muffins. Let me pause for a moment of remembrance for these muffins, there were so good and gone too fast! Anyways, I found these from this blog of a friend from The Nest's What's Cooking board, and am so happy that I stumbled upon them. Go make them, and double it like I did, because 8 muffins will not be enough!!!
source: this blog, who got it from www.epicurious.com

sorry for the bad picture...I'm still learning how to use a camera!

Banana Coconut Muffins

Servings: Makes 8.
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used white whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed (3/4 cup)
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

DIRECTIONS:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with liners.Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in a large bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.
Divide batter 8 lined muffin cups and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly. (I took mine out after 20 minutes and they were plenty done!)

Raspberry Muffins

I recieved this recipe from my wedding caterer with a muffin cook book and my muffin tins. She had printed it on an index card and put it in the cookbook, which I thought was the sweetest thing. I have been eager to try them for a while now, as she is a fantastic baker whose goods are in coffee shops around town, so last night was finally the perfect opportunity. The only thing I will chang next time is I will add more berries. The recipe calls for 1 cup, I will throw in at least another half cup. Also, as a side note, I used frozen raspberries, and it worked just fine. All in all they didn't dissapoint, I am working on my second one as breakfast right now! Sorry there is no picture, Michael took the camera and there were no muffins left when the camera got back home! I will make them again soon I am sure so I will post a picture next time!





8/22 Alright, so we are going out of town again this weekend, so I made these muffins to take with us. They are strawberry this time, and I once again am really enjoying them. I also used white whole wheat flour, with no problems or taste complaints. I got a picture this time too...YEAH!

Fresh out of the oven

Don't you think a cream cheese swirl would be amazing in here?

Maxine's Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 regular of 6 texas sized muffins

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
1 Tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk (I used 1/2 and 1/2)
1/2 cup melted butter (1 stick)
1 beaten eggs
1 cup blueberries (or raspberries!)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350
Mix dry ingredients together in large bowl
Then add milk, melted butter and the beaten eggs. Mix jut until all is incorporated, be sure notto overmix!!
Gently stir in the berries.
Pour into lined or sprayed muffin tins, sprinkle tops with coarse pearl sugar
Bake for approimately 20 minutes,or unil golden brown and center tests done with a toothpick.

Project #1

This was my first baking project in my kitchen, and it turned out great. This was the TWD groups recipe for the week of 8/6. After reading lots of nesties reviews of this loaf I did some modifications to it. They include no white sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups of flour, no rum, and no nutmeg. I also decided to make muffins instead of a traditional loaf, I find them way more fun and easier to eat. To marble them I put about 1/2 cup of the banana mixture with two dobs of the chocolate on top and then swirled them together. I baked them for about 15 minutes, and was very happy with the results!

Black-and-White Banana Loaf
Source: Dorie Greenspan, Baking from my home to yours, pg 232 Makes about 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 ½ ripe bananas, peeled
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
Grated zest of ½ a lemon
1 tablespoon dark rum
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 stick plus 2 tablespoons (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
½ cup whole milk

DIRECTIONS:
Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter and 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ inch loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked on top of the other.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with the lemon juice and zest, then stir in the rum.Melt the chocolate and 2 tablespoons of the butter together in a microwave oven or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining stick (8 tablespoons) of butter at medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 to 3 minutes, until light and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. The batter will look curdled, and it will continue to look curdled as you add ingredients. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing only until it is just incorporated. With the mixer running, pour in the milk, and when it is blended, add the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl and mix in the mashed bananas. The batter will look even lumpier.

Pour a little less than half the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to blend.

Drop alternating spoonfuls of both batters into the prepared pan, then, using a table knife, swirl the batters together, taking care not to overdo it.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes and if the cake starts to brown too much, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for about 15 minutes before unmolding, then cool the cake to room temperature right side up on the rack.