Lots of Yummy Muffins for New Parents!

This Tuesday my great friends Rachel and Joe welcomed their first child into the world, an adorable baby boy named Ethan!  I am so happy for them as they begin their journey through parenthood.  It is going to be wonderful!  I mean, how cute is that kid?  I’m now more anxious than ever for my little guy to make his appearance!

We went to visit the family at the hospital yesterday morning, and I couldn’t resist bringing some goodies.  Joe in particular is a big fan of my cooking and baking habit, so I figured it would be appreciated.  I brought a basket with three types of muffins: chocolate-chocolate chunk, pumpkin raisin, and lemon poppy seed.  The first two are both recipes from my new Dorie cookbook which I had been dying to try.  Anything with “chocolate-chocolate”, “double chocolate”, etc. in the title is sure to be a winner in my book.  Dorie describes these as “slightly sweet”, which is true - but they are so, so, so good!  I doubled the amount of chocolate chunks in mine because, well, twice as much chocolate is definitely better!  The pumpkin muffins originally call for chopped walnuts or pecans but since I am a nut-hater, I left them out and doubled the amount of raisins.  They were good but I think they could be even better with a glaze or a streusel topping.  I’ll have to try that next time!  The lemon poppy seed muffins have appeared on the blog before, but they are a wonderful standby for me that I make often.  They turn out delicious and perfect every time, you can’t beat that!

Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Muffins

Ingredients:

¾ stick (6 tbsp.) unsalted butter

4-6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

 

Directions:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°.  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.  Set aside.

 

Melt the butter and 2 oz. of the chopped chocolate together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; or do this in a microwave.  Remove from the heat.

 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract together until well combined.  Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter and chocolate over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend.  Don’t worry about being thorough – a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter.  Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate.  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

 

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¾ tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ginger

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

pinch of allspice

1 stick (8 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup sugar

¼ cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

½ tsp. vanilla extract

¾ cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree

¼ cup buttermilk

½-1 cup raisins

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

about 1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds, for topping (optional)

 

Directions:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400°.  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.  Set aside.

 

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.

 

Working with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium speed until soft.  Add both the sugars and continue to beat until light and smooth.  One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after the eggs are incorporated, then beat in the vanilla.  Lower the mixer speed and mix in the pumpkin and buttermilk.  With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients in a steady stream, mixing only until they disappear.  To avoid overmixing, you can stop the machine early and stir any remaining dry ingredients into the batter using a rubber spatula.  Stir in the raisins and nuts (if using).  Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle a few sunflower seeds over the top of each muffin, if desired.

 

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove each one from its mold and finish cooling on the rack.

 

 

Source: adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Banana Crumb Muffins

This weekend I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast but just a few hours later, I was hungry again.  I decided to whip up a batch of these muffins.  I had some very ripe bananas months ago about to go bad, so I mashed them up and froze them in a plastic bag.  I was very happy to have them on hand so I was able to make these on the spur of the moment.  These have a really wonderful banana flavor.  I have made them many times and they always turn out well - that’s the kind of recipe I love

Banana Crumb Muffins
Ingredients:
For the 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
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, melted 

For the topping:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter   

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°.  Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.  

In a large bowl, mix together 1 ½ cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg, cinnamon 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 1 tablespoon 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.

Source: Allrecipes 

Source: Allrecipes 

Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

Did you know that cranberries are truly a seasonal fruit here in Indiana? I didn’t. I originally tried making this recipe several months ago and picked up all the ingredients at the grocery store - except the cranberries. I just can’t believe that they don’t have frozen cranberries year-round, but they don’t. Now that it is fall our store finally decided to carry cranberries, and I was able to try out this recipe. This is a tasty muffin and definitely unique, but I’m not sure I love the frozen cranberries. I will definitely make these again, but I will make two main changes. I will probably use dried instead of frozen cranberries (so much for waiting, huh?) and I will add a streusel topping because I think almost every muffin is better with some sort of crumbly topping. I use the streusel from this blueberry muffin recipe for pretty much every kind of muffin I make.

This recipe was originally posted on the What’s Cooking board on The Nest and I made a few minor adaptations of my own, included below. Unfortunately I don’t know who to credit for this recipe but if I find her, I will update and do so.

Apple Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins
yield: 10 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup oats
1 cup flour (all-purpose or wheat)
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 egg
¾ cup milk
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
½ cup granulated sugar
1 medium apple with peel, chopped¾ cup frozen or dried cranberries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a muffin pan or line with muffin liners.

Combine oats, flour, salt, baking powder, nutmeg and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Mix well and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg, milk, vegetable oil and sugar until well blended. Gradually add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in apple and cranberries.

Fill muffin cups with batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes in pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

I’ve always loved strawberry banana-flavored yogurt, so when I saw this muffin recipe I knew I had to try it. These turned out really well! This is not a very sweet muffin but has a good combination of flavors. One of these with a handful of leftover strawberries can make a great breakfast.

One cool tip I learned from this recipe is that if you have overripe bananas and don’t want to use them for baking immediately, you can mash them up as you normally would and then freeze them until you are ready to use them. Just thaw in the microwave before use. I did just that for this batch of muffins and they still had a strong, delicious banana flavor and I didn’t notice a difference. I followed this recipe exactly and wouldn’t change a thing. Very tasty!

Strawberry Banana Muffins
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries (cut into small pieces)
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Gently fold in the strawberries, making sure they are coated with flour. This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup about ¾ full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water to prevent warping of the pan and/or overbrowning of the muffins. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Source: Joy of Baking

Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins

Mmmmm, these are very nice to wake up to in the morning. I had some buttermilk leftover from making the pumpkin scones and decided to make these for breakfast this week. Both the look and the taste of these remind me a lot of the kind of donuts that are covered with cinnamon and sugar, except that I like these muffins even better (I’m not much of a donut person). The buttermilk helps give these a lighter, more fluffy texture.

If I could, I would rename these “Sugar and Spice Muffins” because that sounds better I could definitely see these being great for a baby shower brunch for a baby girl (you know, “Sugar and spice and everything nice, etc. etc.”) My only comments as far as the recipe goes is that you definitely don’t need as much melted butter or cinnamon/sugar mixture for the topping as they recommend. Also, I got 10 muffins out of the batch as opposed to the 9 that the recipe is supposed to yield.

Cinnamon Buttermilk Muffins
Ingredients:
7 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the topping:
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbs. ground cinnamon
6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350°F. Grease 9 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray; fill the unused cups one-third full with water to prevent warping.

To make the muffins, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well until pale and smooth.

In another bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture in 2 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full. Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Unmold the muffins and let stand until cool enough to handle.

To make the topping, in a small, shallow bowl, stir together the sugar and cinnamon. Put the melted butter in another small bowl. Holding the bottom of a muffin, dip the top into the melted butter, turning to coat it evenly. Immediately dip the top in the cinnamon-sugar mixture, coating it evenly, then tap it to remove excess sugar. Transfer the muffin, right side up, to the rack. Repeat with the remaining muffins. Let cool completely before serving. Makes 9 muffins.

Source: Williams Sonoma

Blueberry Muffins

Today was a very happy day for me because my best friend Amanda and her new husband Travis moved to Indy. I’m so happy they are closer to us now so we can see each other more often. Ben and I helped them move in, and I thought it would be nice to bring a little goody basket for them since, having moved several times myself, I know stocking the fridge usually isn’t high on the list of priorities when you first get to a new place. I made a few different things to put in the basket including these muffins.

I’ve been making these blueberry muffins for quite some time now. This recipe is from Allrecipes and I must say, it is fabulous. It is best with fresh blueberries (I think that is always the case) but is still very tasty in the winter when only frozen are available. The only change I typically make is that I halve the amount of streusel topping. The original recipe makes more than twice what you actually need to top the muffins. The recipe below is with my changes.

Blueberry Muffins
yield: 8 muffins

Ingredients:
1 ½ c. flour
¾ c. sugar
½ t. salt
2 t. baking powder
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1 egg
~1/3 c. milk
1 cup blueberries (or more)

streusel topping:
¼ c. sugar
2 T. and 2 t. flour
2 T. butter, cubed
¾ t. cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease or line 8 muffin wells with muffin liners.

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Pour into lined muffin cups; fill to the top.

To make streusel topping, combine listed ingredients and mix well with a fork until crumbly. Sprinkle over tops of muffins.

Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

In an effort to continue my non-cereal breakfasts, I made these muffins last night for my (very early) mornings this week. I had one this morning, and they are delicious! This is a really wonderful recipe from Joy of Baking, a website I have only recently discovered. It looks like an amazing new resource for baked goods, so I’m sure there will be many more recipes from there showing up on my blog

The only change I made with this recipe was to use vanilla yogurt rather than plain because that is what I had on hand. I only made a half batch since I am the only one eating them, and the recipe halves very easily. The recipe with original dimensions is below.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. poppy seeds
½ tsp. salt
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
Zest of one lemon
1 cup vanilla yogurt (do not use non-fat)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For glaze:
½ cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray. Set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the lemon zest, yogurt and vanilla and beat until well blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just moistened. Do not over mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan and glazing.

Glaze: If glazing, while muffins are baking stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice. The mixture should be runny. Once the muffins are removed from the oven, wait five minutes and then drizzle the glaze over the muffins with a spoon.

Chocolate Cherry Muffins

I love chocolate, I love cherries, and I love muffins - so clearly, this was a recipe for me. Today was my first day of third year (read: really long, boring orientation day) so yesterday I decided to make these for my breakfast this week. The recipe is from Williams Sonoma, and was originally created for making heart-shaped muffins in a silicone pan. Since I don’t have a pan like that, I decided to adapt the recipe for a regular muffin pan. I increased the baking time so they would be cooked through and also increased the baking temperature so that the muffins would rise more than in the picture on the WS website. I had one for breakfast this morning and it was delicious. Below is the recipe with my adaptations for a batch of regular-sized muffins.

Chocolate Cherry Muffins
Ingredients:
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tbs. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2/3 cup dried cherries, chopped if desired

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 350º F. Line a muffin pan with muffin cups or grease wells.

In a small heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over but not touching simmering water in a small saucepan and melt the chocolate and butter, stirring occasionally, until smooth and blended. Let cool slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar and vanilla until light in color and doubled in volume. Whisk in the chocolate mixture and then the flour mixture just until combined. Stir in the dried cherries. Divide the batter evenly among the wells of the prepared pan and smooth the tops. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 25-30 minutes.

Makes 7-8 muffins.

Blackberry Muffins

In an effort to continue eating homemade breakfasts rather than just a boring bowl of cereal, I tried making blackberry muffins. I am a huge fan of all berries, and I love muffins so these were a natural choice for me. These are absolutely delicious! My muffin repertoire is rapidly growing and I love it! This is another great recipe from Williams Sonoma, so it’s no surprise that it turned out well. The only change I made was to exclude the pecans in the topping since I am generally not a fan of nuts.

With many recipes including berries such as muffins and cookies, I often read reviews saying that people have trouble with the batter looking blue or gray. I have yet to have this problem myself. I think the trick is just to use fresh fruit whenever possible, and to be extremely gentle when folding the berries into the batter, so the berries don’t break causing their juice to mix with the batter. With this recipe it was especially tricky because blackberries are so large, but it worked out well. I think a spatula is the best tool for this job.

Blackberry Muffins
Ingredients:
For the topping:
1/3 cup sugar
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup pecans, finely chopped (optional)

For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
Grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups fresh blackberries or 2 1/2 cups frozen unsweetened blackberries, unthawed

Directions:
Preheat an oven to 375°F. Grease 12 standard muffin cups with butter or butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray.

To make the topping, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar, flour and lemon zest. Stir in the melted butter until the mixture is crumbly. Add the pecans and stir to combine. Set aside.

To make the muffins, in a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Make a well in the center and add the egg, melted butter and buttermilk. Stir just until evenly moistened. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Sprinkle with the blackberries and gently fold in with a large rubber spatula just until evenly distributed, no more than a few strokes. Take care not to break up the fruit. Do not over-mix.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each to a bit above the rim of the cup. Top each muffin with the topping, dividing it evenly (the sugar will melt and produce a glaze effect).

Bake until the muffins are golden, dry and springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Unmold the muffins. Serve warm or at room temperature, with butter. Makes 12 muffins.