pumpkin muffins

this is a recipe shared with me by my friend joceline. her husband is convinced that he doesn't like pumpkin, but joceline decided he didn't know what he was talking about and took to making things with pumpkin in them and calling them "harvest spice". ha! so these are "harvest spice" muffins that are delicious and so... harvest spicy. by the way, her husband loves these (as does mine). (from smitten kitchen - if you don't read her already, don't miss out any longer - she's great!)

pumpkin muffins
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 c. canned pumpkin (from a 15 oz. can)
1/3 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 t. cinnamon, divided
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/8 t. ground ginger
1 c. plus 1 T. sugar
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

preheat oven to 350°. put liners in muffin cups. whisk together pumpkin, oil, eggs, 1 t. cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, 1 cup sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until smooth, then whisk in flour mixture until just combined.

stir together 1 t. cinnamon and remaining 1 T. sugar in another bowl.

divide batter among muffin cups (each should be about three-fourths full), then sprinkle tops with cinnamon-sugar mixture. bake until puffed and golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.


(the muffins are delicious, but not so photogenic... so i added a cow)

banana muffins

we had a large amount of bananas in our kitchen this morning and that needed to stop. you see, i'm not a huge fan of bananas - i don't eat them and feel pleasure. the exception: when they're baked into something. then i feel pleasure in eating them.

i found a recipe using allrecipes.com and experimented by adding some extra flavor and cutting down on the fat. i also substituted in some whole wheat flour. it worked really well! they taste wonderful and our house smells fantastic. i added chocolate chips and walnuts, but you don't have to & they'd still be good. hope you enjoy!

banana muffins
1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1 egg
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. plain yogurt (i used fat free & it was great)
1 t. vanilla
1 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 2 bananas)
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 c. chopped walnuts

in a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon & nutmeg. in another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. fold in bananas, chocolate chips and walnuts. fill greased muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

blueberry coffee cake

i'm trying to do more baking on the weekends and was feeling like coffee cake this morning. which means no time for anything with dough that needs to rise. so after a little snooping on allrecipes.com, i combined a couple recipes to come up with this one. this recipe pretty forgiving and you could switch out a lot. for example, i used frozen blueberries, but i think you could swap in just about any other berry or even sliced peaches. and i used a combo of sour cream and milk to give the dough moisture, but you could just use 3/4 cup milk, or sour cream, or buttermilk (oooh, doesn't that sound fun?)... have at it! also, the original recipe called for this to be baked in a bundt pan, which i do not own, but a 9x13 works just fine. yay, improvising!
p.s. you will be excited when this comes out of the oven looking and smelling so yummy, but please let it cool a bit before chowing down - those blueberries are little heat bombs!

blueberry coffee cake
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter

2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 c. butter
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
1/2 c. sour cream
1/4 c. milk
1 1/2 c. blueberries *(see below)

heat oven to 350. coat a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray. make the streusel topping: mix brown sugar, 1/3 c. flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Cut in 1/4 c. butter; topping mixture will be crumbly. set aside.
for the cake: beat 1/2 c. butter or margarine in large bowl until creamy; add 1 c. sugar, and beat until fluffy. beat in egg and vanilla. whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt; add alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. gently fold in berries. spread the batter in the prepared pan. crumble streusel on top. bake for 40 minutes, until top is golden brown.

*(seasonal substitute: roughly chopped fresh cranberries & the zest of half an orange)

zucchini bread

oh, summer. the sunburns, the lemonade, the baseball, the out-of-control zucchini plants. got one of those plants? well, us city folk are jealous - send some zukes our way! and then we can happily make zucchini bread using this super recipe from kristin (whom i receive zucchinis from, as well). you can serve this as a dessert or enjoy it for breakfast (or whenever the heck you choose, frankly). the recipe calls for 2 cups shredded zucchini, and just to give you perspective, i grated (via food processor - ahhh) one foot-long zucchini and got 4 cups from it.
kristin taught me that you can freeze the extra grated goodness - let's hear it for not wasting! feel free to omit the ginger, clove, nuts, or chocolate chips... but why would you do that to yourself?!


zucchini bread
3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 t. vanilla
3 c. flour (i mix whole wheat & a.p.)
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 c. nuts (i used walnuts)
1 t. ginger
1 t. clove
2 c. shredded zucchini
1 c. chocolate chips (i used a generous cup)

preheat oven to 350 & grease two small loaf pans. beat the eggs in a large bowl. add sugar, oil & vanilla & stir. add flour, powder, soda, cinnamon, salt, nuts, ginger, & clove and stir - mixture will be thick. add zucchini & chocolate chips, stir. divide into pans and bake for 35-40 minutes.

pan-a-cakes

that's how i pronounced pancakes as a child "pan-a-cakes"... just fyi. a few months ago, james and i were in the mood for pancakes, so we brought out the pancake mix, whipped it up, took a bite, and were immediately disappointed. icky, dense, cardboard-like disks that no amount of syrup could perk-up. we swore that was the last time we would use the box. a couple weeks ago, james got the pancake hankerin' again, and found this great recipe from allrecipes.com - what a winner! as the name suggests, they are fluffy and light. you actually somewhat-sour the milk, which saves you from buying buttermilk - yay, shortcuts. great plain, but amazing with blueberries in them, or as james prefers, chocolate chips. mmm...

fluffy pancakes
3/4 c. milk
2 T. white vinegar
1 c. flour
2 T. sugar
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 egg
2 T. melted butter

combine milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour". combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. whisk egg and butter into milk mixture. combine the flour mixture & the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone. heat a large skillet or pan over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. flip and cook until browned on the other side.

blueberry muffins

why hello there, long lost blogging friends! it has been quite some time since i updated with a recipe - please forgive. i only have three words as an excuse: morning sickness, lazy. ok, the last word isn't really an excuse, but those first two are. now that i'm back to feeling like cooking, time to share an all-time favorite! kristin shared this family recipe with me and almost every person that tries these muffins asks for the recipe. and with only two tablespoons of oil, they shouldn't make your guilt-ometer buzz off the charts! enjoy.

blueberry muffins
2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
3/4 c. orange juice
1 beaten egg
2 T. oil
~1 c. blueberries (you can use frozen, too - don't thaw them)

strusel topping (optional)
stir together:
1/8 c. sugar
1 1/2 T. flour
1 T. melted butter
1/2 t. cinnamon

spray muffin tin with oil. mix wet ingredients. mix dry ingredients - add wet ingredients and blueberries & stir minimally. top with strusel, if desired. bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes. makes 1 dozen.