Banana Muffins

Yet another muffin recipe I made for the weekend! We had some bananas starting to go bad, so of course, when bananas go bad, you make banana bread! These are delicious. Super moist and just sweet enough, but not too much. I didn't change anything in this recipe except to melt the butter for the crumb topping.

Ingredients

• 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

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 10 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Blueberry Muffins

Between being unemployed, crazy sales at the grocery store, and family coming into town, I figured now was a good time to make some muffins. I'm not usually a big muffin baker, but something struck my fancy and this recipe just looked too good not to try. Besides, blueberries were on sale, buy one get one free! So it was a good excuse to get 2 tubs of berries. They came out perfectly. Not too sweet, not too crumbly, just perfect. Don't use frozen berries. Use the fresh ones. You won't regret it!

The only change I made was to melt the butter for the topping, instead of cubing it. I always find crumble toppings work better with melted butter.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed (I melted the butter instead)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup 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. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Lazy Day Waffles

I love waffles. Who doesn't?! But sometimes it can get time consuming with separating the eggs, whipping the whites, blah blah blah. So these are what I call lazy waffles! It's basically french toast, made in a waffle iron. They are insanely easy and use ingredients that you probably already have on hand. You'd never know these were made with traditional white bread; they taste just like the real deal!

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or you can use cinnamon/nutmeg)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 3 slices of white bread

Directions

1. Heat and oil a standard size waffle iron. While preheating, mix egg, milk, spice, salt and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Dip one slice of bread in the egg mixture, flip, and let soak for 2-3 minutes.
2. When iron is ready, place bread in center of iron and cook approximately 4 minutes, until brown and crispy. Continue with remaining slices of bread.
3. Serve with warm syrup!

Monkey Bread Cupcakes

As I've mentioned before, I subscribe to a wonderful blog called Cupcake Project, and Stef can literally make anything into a cupcake. She's awesome. This week, she made Monkey Bread cupcakes. And as I thought about it some more, I realized that not only have I never made Monkey Bread, but I really didn't even know what it was. People think that's crazy, but it's the truth! I had no clue. The recipe itself sounded delicious, somewhat time consuming, but fairly simple. A perfect project for my day off to keep me busy in between doing loads of laundry and cleaning the house. I started just before noon, and now it's 2:30pm and my cupcakes have about another 10 min to bake. So definitely make sure you have about 3 hours set aside to get these done.

Ingredients

• 1/2 C lukewarm water
• 1 T vegetable oil
• 1 large egg
• 1 t salt
• 1 T sugar
• 2 T instant yeast or rapid rise yeast
  
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 T cinnamon
• 1 ripe banana, cut into small slices
• chocolate chips or baking chunks to taste (about 2 oz)
• 2 T unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Place water, vegetable oil, egg, salt, sugar, and yeast in a medium bowl and mix well.
2. Add 1 cup of the flour, stirring to blend.
3. Add the second cup of flour, stirring to make a cohesive dough.
4. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes; this gives the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead.
5. Knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until it's soft and smooth.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or large measuring cup, cover it, and let the dough rise for 30 to 60 minutes or until it's doubled in size.
7. Gently deflate the dough.
8. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.
9. Place cupcake liners into a cupcake tin and lightly grease them with butter or cooking spray.
   
10. Pull off a small piece of dough. How small? You should get 24 pieces out of the batter so that you can have two pieces in each cupcake. However, unless you are having a dinner party for exactly 12 people, it doesn't really matter and you can make the pieces whatever size you would like.
11. Stretch the piece out, put a banana slice and several chocolate chips or baking chunks inside, and then roll it into a ball.
12. Dip the ball in the melted butter.
13. Dip the ball in the cinnamon and sugar.
14. Put the ball into the cupcake liner. You should be able to fit two balls into each cupcake liner. Be sure to press the 2 balls together firmly, so they bake as 1 unit.
    
15. Cover the cupcake tin and let the bread rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until it's visibly puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 F.
    
16. Uncover the cupcake tin and bake the monkey bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's golden brown and feels set.
    
17. While the monkey bread is baking, prepare the glaze.

Cinnamon Glaze
Ingredients

• 1/2 C powdered sugar
• 1 T milk
• 1/4 t cinnamon

Directions

1. Mix all of the ingredients together.
2. Drizzle over the hot cupcakes.
3. The cupcakes are best served warm. If you can't eat them immediately, reheat them in microwave for about 15 seconds before serving.

Dough in cupcake pan, not yet risen.

After dough had sat for about 35 minutes, and risen quite a lot!

Finished product is a gooey, sweet, slightly crispy monkey bread cupcake. Delicious!

Pancakes!

Happy Anniversary to us! To celebrate our 3rd anniversary, we bought ourselves an electric griddle (in addition to a new kitchen sink and faucet, but those aren't as fun as the griddle!). So tonight we finally got a chance to try it out, and figured pancakes were the way to go. We made a pretty basic sour cream pancake batter and cooked them up for dinner. So easy and so tasty. The recipe came from The Big Book of Breakfast, by Maryana Vollstedt.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 T baking powder
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk
• 3 T sour cream
• 1 T melted butter
• Syrup of your choice

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, brown sugar and baking powder. In a large bowl, whisk together egg, milk and sour cream. Whisk in dry ingredients. Add melted butter and whisk until just blended.
2. Preheat a nonstick griddle to medium high heat (we used a temp in between 2 and 3 on our griddle, with 3 being the hottest setting). Lightly spray or brush with vegetable oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto griddle for each pancake. Cook until bubbles form on the surface, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook until other side is golden, about 1 minute longer.

Makes 10 - 12 pancakes, or 3 servings

Cranberry Walnut Muffins

A while ago, I made some fantastic blueberry corn muffins. I remembered this recipe while brainstorming what I could do with a few bags of leftover cranberries. Cranberry walnut muffins, of course! Classic, simple, and great for breakfast. I decided to make mini bundt cakes instead of muffins though, just because I love the look of the mini bundts. You can substitute any fruit for the cranberries, or Splenda for the sugar. The recipe is really versatile.

The original Blueberry recipe is here, but I'll repost for convenience sake too.

Ingredients

• 1.75 cups flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1.25 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 T Splenda for Baking (or 3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup egg substitute (I whisked 2 eggs in a small bowl and measured out 1/3 cup. 2 eggs generally measures 1/2 cup, so there isn't much waste here)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk (we are lactose intolerant, so I made faux buttermilk by adding 1 tsp lemon juice to 1 cup Silk soy milk, and letting it curdle for 5 minutes)
• 1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen -- no need to thaw if frozen)
• 1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts
  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Blend dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Blend butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg slowly. Scrape sides and continue to mix until butter forms small lumps. Add vanilla and buttermilk. Mix well. Add dry ingredients in three batches. Mix well and scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. DO NOT OVERMIX. When the dry ingredients are about 80% mixed into the butter/egg mixture, gently fold the blueberries into the batter. This will help prevent over mixing.

4. Scoop batter into muffin cups or mini bundt pans. Makes 12 muffins or 6 mini bundts.

Country Supper Waffles

This recipe is from the fabulous book, Retro Breakfast. It's full of pancake, waffle, biscuit and egg recipes that remind me of the greasy spoon diners I love so much. The recipe makes enough waffles for 4 people, but we always make it for 2, and then freeze the rest -- they reheat well in the toaster.

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups milk
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1 cup melted butter, margarine, or oil

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In separate bowl, combine egg yolks and milk until well blended.
2. With electric mixer, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Pour egg/milk mixture into flour and beat just enough to moisten.
3. Stir in slightly cooled melted butter. Fold in egg whites, leaving little clumps of the white.
4. Pour into waffle iron and bake to perfection!
   

Lower-Sugar Blueberry Corn Muffins

I'm not normally a Splenda fan, but I had a bag of the Splenda for Baking left over from a special brownie order. After looking at the Splenda website, www.splenda.com, they had a great recipe for blueberry corn muffins. My last batch turned out a bit cakey and I really wanted something softer, so I figured I'd give it a shot. The Splenda recipe on the website uses 3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, but I used 6 Tablespoons of the Splenda Baking mix instead. They turned out perfectly and taste great! This might just be the start to more Splenda recipes in the future...who knows!

If the recipe is prepared using Splenda for Baking, each muffin has 1/3 less sugar than if using regular sugar. If using pure Splenda, each muffin has 2/3 less sugar than the "real deal" version. So while these aren't completely sugar-free, they can be altered easily to make a less-sugar version that tastes just as good.

Ingredients

• 1.75 cups flour
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1.25 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 6 T Splenda for Baking (or 3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener)
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/3 cup egg substitute (I whisked 2 eggs in a small bowl and measured out 1/3 cup. 2 eggs generally measures 1/2 cup, so there isn't much waste here)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup buttermilk (we are lactose intolerant, so I made faux buttermilk by adding 1 tsp lemon juice to 1 cup Silk soy milk, and letting it curdle for 5 minutes)
• 1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen -- no need to thaw if frozen)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners.

2. Blend dry ingredients together in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.

3. Blend butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg slowly. Scrape sides and continue to mix until butter forms small lumps. Add vanilla and buttermilk. Mix well. Add dry ingredients in three batches. Mix well and scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. DO NOT OVERMIX. When the dry ingredients are about 80% mixed into the butter/egg mixture, gently fold the blueberries into the batter. This will help prevent over mixing.

4. Scoop batter into muffin cups, filling cups to the top. I used an ice cream scoop to portion them out so they bake more evenly. Makes 12 muffins.

Rustic Blueberry Muffins

These are sort of a mix between a muffin and a scone. The original recipe came from my culinary school instructor (no clue where he got it from), but I've modified it a bit over the years, so I guess you could call it mine...? It works well with cranberries, blueberries or other fruits too. I use fresh when available, but this time of year I had to use frozen berries. No need to thaw first, just dump them in and bake away. I made a batch of these today to eat for breakfast during the week. Mmm....

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 4 Tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh/frozen berries

Directions

1. Line muffin pan with cupcake liners or grease pans with butter.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl. Stir in the sugar.

3. Mix butter, eggs and milk together and pour into flour mixture. Mix gently until ingredients are just barely combined, then add berries.

4. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake in preheated oven at 400 for 20 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Sunday Mornin' Flapjacks

This recipe comes from a unique cookbook called, "Retro Breakfast" and is one of several books in the "Retro" series. The specific recipe is called, "Ritzville, Washington's Wheat 'Cakes" and it's probably the most authentic tasting pancake recipe I've tried. Super easy to make and they fluff up really nicely in the pan. We halved the recipe for 2 of us and it was plenty -- made about 6 giant sized pancakes.

Ingredients

• 2 cups milk
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons melted butter (not shortening)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 egg whites, beaten fluffy (I beat them to a medium peak)

Directions

In a large bowl, beat together the milk, egg yolks, flour, sugar, salt, butter, and making powder. Beat into a smooth batter. Fold in egg whites. Cook on a lightly greased griddle (I used a nonstick skillet, with plenty of butter on medium high).

A little blurry, but Justin wanted his skills to be shown off. He is the master pancake flipper -- no spatula required.


This is the cookbook I used, and those are my Valentine's Day tropical flowers!

Cinnamon Buns

Who doesn't love a gooey, sticky sweet cinnamon bun? We were craving some so badly, I decided to give in and find a recipe. Allrecipes.com is my cooking bible -- I turn to it whenever I'm in need of a fantastic recipe. And that's where this one came from. The actual recipe is called "Ninety Minute Cinnamon Rolls."

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk (I used Soy and they were fine)
• 1/4 cup margarine, softened (butter worked perfectly for us)
• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25 ounce) package instant yeast
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup margarine, softened (Again, butter is fine)
  
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in margarine; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 2 1/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt; mix well. Add water, egg and the milk mixture; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has just pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes.

3. Cover the dough with a damp cloth and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, cinnamon, softened margarine.

4. Roll out dough into a 12x9 inch rectangle. Spread dough with margarine/sugar mixture. Sprinkle with raisins if desired. Roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Cut into 12 equal size rolls and place cut side up in 12 lightly greased muffin cups. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

5. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until browned. Remove from muffin cups to cool. Serve warm.

Dutch Pancakes

These are everything but traditional looking, or tasting, pancakes. With only 4 ingredients, they're simple to make and because they bake in the oven, it's much less hassle than frying traditional pancakes, 3 at a time on the stove.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp butter

Directions

1. In medium mixing bowl, place first 4 ingredients. Beat with an egg beater on medium for about 2 minutes until frothy and well mixed.

2. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 425. Prepare 2 glass 8x8 dishes, or pie dishes, with 1.5 T butter each. Place in oven while it's preheating, so butter gets a nice brown color.

3. Remove pans and pour 1/2 the mixture into each pan. Return to oven and bake at 425 for 15 minutes.

Top with powdered sugar and cinnamon for a fantastic breakfast treat!