Tag: Muffins

Breads · Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Desserts · Uncategorized

Spiced Applesauce Cake

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

Last Tuesday I took this to a Ladies Bible Study and there was not one bite left. In fact, several ladies ask me for the recipe. I made them into brownies and sprinkled walnuts on top (instead of in them like the recipe called for) and then sprinkled powdered sugar over the top. They were really good. So tonight, instead of letting the rest of the jar of applesauce go to waste, I decided to use the same recipe and make them into muffins. The actual recipe calls to make it in a 9×13 pan and frost it. Am posting the frosting recipe as well, in case you want extra yumminess to go along with your coffee. But sometimes, the simple flavors of spice, cinnamon and apples goes so well with a cup of hot tea or coffee. So tonight, muffins it is….taken from Land O Lakes web site You know, if it comes from LOL, it will be good.

1/2 cup of softened butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups applesauce (I had a jar of the cinnamon flavored so it added more flavor of cinnamon than if you use just the regular applesauce, but can you really ever have too much cinnamon?)
1 1/2 teas baking soda
1/2 teas baking powder
1 1/2 teas cinnamon
1/4 teas allspice
1/2 teas pie spice
1/2 teas salt
3/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans (I had walnuts, so used those)
1 teas vanilla

Frosting
1/2 cup butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teas vanilla
2-3 tables milk
1/4 cup chopped nuts

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 13×9″ baking pan. Set aside.

Combine all cake ingredients except raisins and nuts in a bowl. Beat at low speed, scraping bowl often, until ingredients are moistened. Beat a hight speed until smooth. Add the raisins and nuts and stir into batter.

Pour into greased pan and bake 30-35 minutes or until center is firm to the touch and edges begin to pull away from the sides of pan. Cool Completely.

For Frosting:
Melt the butter over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching closely, 4-6 minutes or until butter just starts to turn golden. Butter will get foamy and bubble. Remove from heat and cool completely.

Combine the browns butter with the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla and milk until frosting is smooth and spreadable. Frost cooled cake and sprinkle with 1/4 cup nuts, if desired.

Breads · Breakfast · Cakes · Daily Thoughts · Holiday Fare · Uncategorized

Brown Sugar Streusel Pumpkin Muffins

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It is still 100 outside, but I cannot wait any longer to begin making pumpkin everything. So today I went looking for a new different recipe for some pumpkin bread and found this one. It sounded so good with the brown sugar streusel that I began to read her blog and knew that this one would be a winner. Since I’m making it for some ladies who I sit with on Tuesday mornings at church, what better way to study Genesis that with a pumpkin muffin? You would love the aroma that is coming out of our kitchen right now. You might just forget that it is hot outside for a few minutes when you smell the pumpkin, cinnamon and cloves drawing you in the door. Taken from the blog called, Friends.Food.Famiy

Streusel

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter melted and slightly cooled
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teas salt

Stir flour with both sugars and salt. Add cooled melted butter to mixture and stir until crumbly. Set aside

Pumpkin Bread

1 cup oil
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
2 teas cinnamon
1/2 teas nutmeg
1/4 teas cloves
1/4 teas ginger
1 teas salt
2 teas baking soda
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups (15 oz can) of pumpkin puree
2/3 cup water (I used 1/3 cup water and 1/3 cup coffee left over from this morning)

Preheat oven to 350. Place oil and sugars in a large mixing bowl. Using electric mixer, mix the oil with the sugars until well combined. Add the pumpkin puree and mix well. Add the eggs, one at a time to the pumpkin mixture.

In a separate mixing bowl, mix the flour with the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, salt and baking soda.

Alternately add the flour and water (coffee) mixture to the pumpkin mixture, beating well after each addition. Pour into prepared (greased or liners) muffin tins, loaf pans or aluminum foil disposable pans. Divide the streusel topping among the cakes, sprinkling over the tops before baking.
Bake until cakes test done. Time will depend upon the size of container you are baking in.

*Taken from the blog Friends.Food.Family, November 2012

Breads · Breakfast · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Muffins & Toast

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IMG_4880This week, I have had the blessing of being invited to two different friends homes, one for lunch, the other for breakfast. At both homes, I came away with great recipes that I wanted to share. Debbie, who had the luncheon served cheese muffins which were just so good. Actually, anything with 3 cups of cheese is good, but these were gooey and ever so yummy. She served them with cucumbers with dill and cherry tomatoes and fruit.

Today, I was at  Connies, a new friend,  for breakfast where she served blueberry stuffed french toast.  Walking into her home, the aroma of grilled bread permeated the house and we sat down to warm blueberry syrup as she carried a platter of the scrumptious french toast over to us. Because Randy and I tend to usually eat toast with peanut butter in the mornings, or a bowl of cereal, this was a real treat. Unless we are celebrating something special like, we went for 2 days without eating dessert, or we actually walked past the fridge without opening it for 1 whole hour the evening before, when we will allow ourselves to splurge on toasts, sausage, eggs and hash browns.

Connie and Debbie, thank you both for serving dishes which were both new to me. Am excited to post them to share with others.

Cheese Muffins (taken from Pioneer Woman)

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tables sugar

1 tables baking powder

1/2 teas salt

3 cups shredded colby-jack cheese

1 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter (let it cool for a few minutes before using)

(I did add about 1 tables parsley flakes, 1/2 teas dry mustard and 1/2 teas garlic powder to the dry ingredients)

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine. Divide mixture between 12 greased (well greased) muffin tins. The hostess used paper liners but the muffins tended to stick to the paper liners, so when I made these last night, I just eliminated the liners and heavily greased (with Pam) the muffin pan. After about 5 minutes of taking out of the oven, they came out very easily after running a knife around the edges.

Bake in a preheated 375 oven for about 20-25 minutes.

Makes 12 and I could have eaten all 12 with a slab of butter on top of each one.

Blueberry French Toast

As I sit here writing the recipes, it just dawned on me that if you are a busy mom who is always in a hurry in the mornings, you could even buy the frozen french toast and use it.

Make your french toast according to your favorite recipe. When you have the amount of slices you need to serve the number of people who will be gracing your table, spread about 1 teas of softened cream cheese on half of one side of the toast. Place about 4-6 blueberries on the cream cheese and using the spatula, fold the piece of french toast in half covering the cream cheese and blueberries. Allow to sit in the skillet or griddle for a minute to allow the cream cheese to almost melt. Serve with heated blueberry syrup.

 

 

Breads · Chocolate · Daily Thoughts · Uncategorized

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

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If you know me you know that I’m not a very healthy baker or eater. But I figure that if I can run around with a couple of healthy people, some of their good cholesterol and vibes just might rub off on me. Cecilia is probably one of my most healthy friends. She walks and pushes her Fitbit to the limit. Her recipes are ones in which the folks on the biggest loser would be proud to serve. She and I are complete opposite in our cooking but she puts up with and indulges me when they come to see us. This recipe is one she sent when she read that I was going to post at least 2 healthy recipes this month. I have been so busy baking strawberry pies,chocolate almond pies, lemon and orange cakes that I almost forgot that I said I would post a healthy recipe. So before I go to the kitchen to make cream cheese frosting, here for you crazy, healthy size 4 people is my second healthy recipe. Cecilia assures me that they are delicious. I have to admit, everything I have eaten that she made has been wonderful. She got this recipe from her niece Rebecca. Thank you Rebecca for allowing me to share this.

Makes 12 muffins

1/4 cup coconut oil

1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce

2/3 cup honey

2 eggs

1 teas vanilla

1/2 cup organic pumpkin puree (canned)

1 heaping cup oat flour (directions on this below)

2/3 cup cocoa powder

1 teas salt

1 teas baking powder

1 teas baking soda

3 tables unsweetened almond milk

a Splash of Apple cider vinegar

Handful or 2 of mini chocolate chips (she used Enjoy Life brand which is dairy, soy, and gluten free)

You can also add a handful or walnuts or pecans.

Preheat oven to 350. She said that she just lightly greased the muffin pans because the muffins will stick to muffin liners.

First, you need to make your oat flour if you don’t have any on hand.

She just took gluten free rolled oats and pulsed them in the blender until they turned into a powder (very easy and quick)

In a small bowl, mix the almond milk and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix coconut oil and apple sauce together well. Add honey. Then add the eggs, pumpkin and vanilla. Mx until all are combined.

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: oat flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Then slowly mix your dry ingredients into your wet ingredients.

Gently fold in your almond milk mixture until well mixed.

Last, throw in the chips and gently fold into mixture.

Fill the cupcake pan about 2/3 of the way. Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes or until muffins tests done. Remove from oven and let sit about 5-7 minutes. Remove to a baking rack to cool completely. It is at this point I would probably take one of the warm muffins and cut it in half to poke a big slice of butter on it. Of course, that would ruin the “healthy” part but it sure would taste good.

Thank you Cecilia and Rebecca. These do sound really good and I do plan to make them. I even have Trader Joes Gluten free oats on hand because I use them in our favorite oatmeal cookie recipe that isn’t healthy, but the oats make amazing cookies.

Breads · Cakes · Desserts · Holiday Fare · Uncategorized

Pumpkin & Cream Cheese Muffins

Chocolate Castles2 Comments

These will be called Cupcakes in our house, as I am so not a muffin person, but would eat these no matter what they are called. If they are not served and waiting for us at the Wedding Feast in Heaven, I don’t know what would be….they are heavenly! I ate one with butter melted all over it, as soon as I could put the pot holder down and get a napkin out. Honestly, they are just so good. Perfect for breakfast with butter and jam. For lunch, I would just eat one, just plain, while I am making sandwiches. Then for dessert at night, I think I will frost them with a little buttercream frosting. That makes them the perfect little muffin, snack, dessert for the Fall Season! Every day I scan FaceBook for new recipes and this one caught my attention. Then my daughter saw it on FB and tagged me saying that she wished I would make them. So here they are folks, I think you’re gonna like this.

Ingredients (this made 21 muffins for me, but maybe you could get about 23 if you didn’t fill the cups as full as I did)

1 3/4 cup flour

1 tables (yes tables not teaspoon) pumpkin pie spice

1 teas baking soda

1/2 teas salt

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin (pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie mix that has added sugar and spices already in it)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs, room temp

1/2 cup oil (vegetable)

1 tables vanilla (there it is again, not teas)

Cream Cheese Filling

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup sugar

2 teas vanilla

Preheat oven to 375. Place paper liners in cupcake pan. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt and pumpkin spice. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine sugars and pumpkin and whisk together until there are no lumps. Add the eggs and oil and vanilla. Whisk until batter is smooth and combined. Add flour mixture slowly, whisking until no more lumps are there and batter is mixed thoroughly.

In a medium bowl, with electric mixer cream together the cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth.

Using a large cookie scoop or measuring cup, fill each cupcake liner 2/3 full with the pumpkin mixture. Then place about 1 1/2 -2 teas of cream cheese mixture on top. Swirl with a toothpick into pumpkin batter.

Bake 18-20 minutes or until muffin tests done. Let cool (I didn’t do this, as I just couldn’t wait. I slapped on a dab of butter and grabbed my glass of tea and gobbled it upI