Tag Archives: Brunch

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Another weekend down, and only two more before school gets out.  Our weekends have been jam-packed with end-of-the-year activities.  Fortunately most of them come with an opportunity to bake – unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be a lot of time to do so – but I am finding time when I can, and so far I have been pretty happy with the results of my “power baking” – as I like to call it.  I have lots of fun stuff to share…so stay tuned.

So what exactly is the different between a cupcake and a muffin?  Aside from the fact that people often feel like it is ok to eat a muffin, like they are healthy or something , as opposed to a cupcake.  I am starting to think that the difference is the frosting.  The muffin doesn’t have any, while the cupcake does.  Although, the muffin can have a topping, just as long as it is not creamy?  I’m pretty sure that must be the definition.  I decided to “Bing-It” and see the real answer.  Well, obviously this is not the first blog post to cover this topic – in fact, it seems as though I may have just discovered the most popular food blog topic out there.  And yes, I was indeed correct – everyone basically came to the same conclusion.

I found these beauties in Cooking Light, and my younger daughter decided she needed to help.  She hopped on the counter, and was ready.  She did a great job, especially placing the chocolate chips on top.  She took her job very seriously, and as you can see, she was meticulous.  These cupcakes – I mean muffins – were decadent – definitely on the edge of a cupcake without the frosting.  They were moist and chocolately, and definitely good with a cup of coffee – although just as good after dinner (we had them both ways).  So, give these a try, and make sure you tell people they are muffins, maybe they will feel better about eating a few…

Ingredients

  • 7 9/10 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 3/4 cups)
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate minichips, divided
  • Cooking spray

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°.

Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine 1 cup water and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in 1/4 cup minichips. Add oil mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups, and coat liners with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup minichips evenly over batter. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Sweet Streusel Muffins

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Before I say anything else, my daughter saved these muffins.  Yes, I am serious.  So, things have been pretty busy lately, so busy that I haven’t had a lot of time to bake.  My blog is definitely suffering…as well as my family, but don’t worry, I have some plans to bake for our temple auction – and boy have I picked out some goodies.  Let’s hope they turn out well.  I just love baking things for the first time when they are to be used for raising money, no stress at all…

Ok, back to my daughter saving these muffins.  I was baking muffins for my other daughter’s Valentine’s Day breakfast, when my older daughter walked into the kitchen.  She wanted to know what I was making, and at that point I was sprinkling the streusel topping on the batter before covering the topping with more batter – and I have to admit, the topping did not look right, I couldn’t believe there was no butter.  I was just about done when my daughter took the book where the recipe was – The Wooden Spoon Bread Book – and informed me that I forgot to turn the page.  She was right – and there was the last ingredient – the butter.  I love this book – everything I make from it comes out wonderfully – but the recipes are printed differently.  Instead of listing all of the ingredients first, then giving you the instructions – it mixes everything up.  So you will get a few ingredients and then instructions on what to do with those ingredients, then some more ingredients, and some more instructions.  It is great – as long as you read the recipe entirely before starting – which of course I failed to do.

So – fortunately she caught me at the perfect time.  I made another batch of topping – and I was good to go.  The muffins turned out beautifully – and very delicious – not too sweet, and perfect with a nice cup of coffee, or glass of milk if you happen to be under 10.  I highly recommend them, but remember to read the whole recipe first…

Ingredients

muffins

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • 1 cup milk

topping

  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons butter

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 24-cup mini mufin pan.  Sift together and set aside the flour, salt and baking powder.  In a mixing blowl, beat the egg and stir into the egg the sugar, oil, milk, and sifted dry ingredients in that order.

Make the streusel topping by combining the flour, sugar, cinnamon and butter in a bowl.  Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingers or cut with a pastry blender.

Spoon a teaspoon of batter into each muffin cup.  Sprinkle a teaspoon of topping in each cup.  Divide the remaining batter evenly and spoon over the streusel in muffin cups. Divide the remaining streusel evenly and sprinkle over the top of the batter.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned.  Serve warm.

Makes 24 muffins.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Sweet Streusel Muffins

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Bacon and Egg Muffins

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As I have mentioned before, most of my friends do not cook – and although all of my friends like to eat, I have very few that are obsessed with food like me, or that I would consider a “foodie.”  Most of my friends find it humourous that I want to talk about food and restaurants all the time .  Other friends are just happy that I love to cook, and definitely benefit from the endless baked goods that come from my kitchen.

Last year my older daughter had a secret crush on a boy in her class.  I say it is secret, because she didn’t talk about it – but it was obvious to me.  One day she asked if I could become friends with his mother so that I could invite her over to our house, and his son could come too.  Ok, that was how I figured out about the crush…  I don’t have a lot of free time in my life to socialize, but over the course of the school year, I realized that we actually did have a lot in common - specifically food.  On the occasion I would make it to school to pick my daughter up, it was so great to talk to someone about food and restaurants while  waiting for the bell to ring.

A few months ago she told me about these muffins she made – and she said I had to make them for the blog.  When someone like that gives me a tip, I listen.  She said they were delicious, and looked outrageous – and she was right.  I made these for dinner one night, and they were a big hit – the tender muffin with big chunks of salty bacon – and that egg in the center, delicious!!  They are super easy, but read the directions carefully.  Thanks for the great recipe and for sharing my love for food!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/2 pound thick-cut bacon, cooked crisp and finely chopped
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
  • 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 7 large eggs
  • 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Grease 6 jumbo muffin tins (or 1-cup ramekins) with non-stick spray and set aside.

Whisk the flour, salt, baking powder, sugar, bacon, chives and cheese in a large bowl.  Combine the milk and one egg in a small bowl, and add to the dry ingredients, along with the melted butter.  Fold the ingredients together gently until no dry spots remain.

Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into each of the muffin tins.  Using a soft spatula, spread the batter up the sides of the tins a bit, leaving a depression in the middle of the batter.  Crack an egg into the center of each cup, and divide the remaining batter between the cups, making sure you cover the yolk.  It’s easiest if you work with small dollops of batter.  When you cover the yolk, it will spread out when it bakes.

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes, until the visible egg white is set and the muffins are just barely beginning to crack.  (They won’t be very brown.)  Cool 5 minutes, then run a small knife around the edges of each muffin to release.  Serve hot.

Makes 6 muffins.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Bacon and Egg Muffins

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Savory Spinach, Feta, and Roasted Pepper Muffins

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I have been trying really hard to improve the photos in my blog, but every once in a while, my patience is low, I am feeding guests, and I am starving.  I just can’t get a good picture, and I give up.  This is exactly what happened here – so I apologize.  I know it is always so much more appealing to make something when the picture looks good – but trust me, these were excellent – so much better than the picture portrays.

I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit, and I just love the idea of a savory muffin.  You don’t see a lot of savory muffin recipes – mostly they are savory biscuit type recipes – which I happen to love.  Therefore, I had to make these – I thought they would go great with an egg dish – for dinner.  The muffins were delicious.  They were slightly sweet – but the cheese really solidified them as a savory muffin.  They were plenty moist, and went perfectly with the quiche I made for dinner.  I couldn’t find parpadew peppers, so I just used roasted red peppers, which are also slightly sweet – so they were a perfect substitution.  These also would be great for brunch – and they are very easy to make.  So – sorry about the picture, but trust me, they are worth making.

Ingredients

  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup thinly sliced spinach leaves
  • 3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
  • 1/2 cup chopped drained mild Peppadew peppers or roasted red peppers from a jar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups or 6 large (3/4-cup) muffin cups with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, paprika, and salt in medium bowl. Whisk milk, oil, and eggs in large bowl to blend. Add dry ingredients; whisk just until blended. Add spinach, feta, and peppers; fold to incorporate evenly. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (cups will be filled to top).

Bake muffins until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes for standard muffins and 33 to 35 minutes for large muffins. Cool 5 minutes. Run knife around muffins to release from pan. Invert pan to release muffins, then turn muffins right side up and cool completely.

Makes 12

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Savory Spinach, Feta, and Roasted Pepper Muffins

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Coconut Pancakes

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After the last batch of pancakes were a total bust (Oatmeal pancakes) – my girls were not overly thrilled when I told them I was going to make them pancakes for breakfast.  I assured them these would be better.  There was a lot of pressure on me – waiting for food first thing in the morning is not easy for kids – especially when they get their hopes up that it is something good.  I saw this recipe in Cooking Light, and I knew they had to be better than the Oatmeal pancakes.  Adding coconut milk to anything makes it taste good – at least that’s what I was hoping.

Thank goodness I was right.  These pancakes were incredible.  Even adding just light coconut milk made all the difference – I can’t imagine adding regular coconut milk, they would be decadent.  The pancakes were ridiculously delicious – and so thick and fluffy – look at the picture, I am not joking!  These pancakes were so good, I had them for dessert that night – I just warmed one up in the microwave, served it with a little syrup – and it was such a treat.  The coconut milk was not overpowering, but gave the pancakes just a wonderful essence of coconut flavor.  If you are looking for pancakes that are just a little different – look no further.  And make some extras for the next morning – they are awesome warmed up in the microwave, unless you are like me, and can’t wait for morning to have more…

Ingredients 

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup light coconut milk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 egg

Preparation

Whisk together coconut milk, canola oil and 1 egg.  Combine with dry ingredients.  Cook as usual for pancakes.

Serves 4

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Coconut Pancakes

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Apricot Scones

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There is a reason most of my recipes come from Bon Appetit and Cooking Light – they have a test kitchen, and supposedly make all the recipes they publish.  I actually believe them, because 90% of the time, the recipes I choose are right on.  A friend of mine pointed out that I am good at reading recipes, and knowing which ones will come out – I take that as a huge compliment, but I also know that most of the recipes are just accurate.

Every once in a while I find a recipe from a different source.  That is when I really use my cooking/baking brain to figure out if I think the ingredients will come together in perfect harmony to make a successful final product.  Every week in my market basket, they provide a handful of recipes based on the seasonal produce you are receiving.  I have to say, the majority of the recipes I am either not interested in, or they are so basic, I have my own version already.  I have been getting a lot of apricots lately – and I noticed a recipe for apricot scones in my box.  I looked at the 4 apricots from the previous week still sitting there, and the 4 new ones I just received, and knew what I had to do.  I tried this recipe – and I have to say, I did not think they would come out at all – the batter was so wet, I really had to add a lot of flour to roll them out – but they were fantastic.  Right out of the oven, they were soft and fluffy, and just the right sweetness.  I would make them again in a second – thanks for the great recipe Full Circle Farm!

Ingredients

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup butter
  • 1 cup diced fresh apricots
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 2 eggs

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Combine and mix flour, 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder and salt.  Add butter and cut into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Add apricots and toss until pieces are coated with flour mixture.   Reserve 1 tablespoon milk; mix remaining milk and eggs together and lightly blend.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until moistened.  On a lightly floured service, knead dough gently about 10 times.  Pat dough into a 3/4-inch thick round; cut into 8 wedge-shaped pieces.  Place dough on lightly oiled baking sheet; brush with reserved milk and sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Bake at 450 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, or until lightly brown and wooden pick inserted near center comes out clean.

Makes 8 scones.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  Apricot Scones

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New-York Style Crumb Cake

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As I have mentioned before, I cook and bake not only because I love to eat, but because it makes people happy.  When I feel completely helpless, I know that at least I can make some good food.  My neighbor has been really sick, I mean really sick.  He is doing much better now though, and I feel so fortunate to have him (really his whole family) in my life.  I am a better person and parent because of them.  Every week I think about what I can cook for them – I wish I had the time to cook every night for them – but at least I am able to help out every once in a while.  I think of him as a miracle, and pray that each day he continues to get better and better.

With every miracle comes a tragedy.  My very dear friend at work lost her husband yesterday.  My thoughts and prayers are with her.  They have a 7-year old daughter, and he was not sick, it just happened suddenly out of no where.  When I brought this crumb cake into work, she loved it.  I remember the smile she had on her face.  I wish I could make her another one. 

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New York City is definitely one of my favorite food cities.  I was fortunate to spend a lot of time there growing up – then more time right after college.  My husband and I always have a long list of places to visit when we are there – almost all related to food.  Now that our kids are old enough, we have started to spend time there again – and I swear it is like a drug.  Once you get a little taste, you just want more.

In April, we spent a week there – with breakfast, lunch, and dinner all planned out.  I had read about Chelsea Market many times, and it was on my list – but I wasn’t sure we would have time to get there.  One morning we headed over to Cook Shop in Chelsea for breakfast, and afterwards decided to take a leisurely walk towards SoHo.  Lucky for us, we just happened to walk by Chelsea Market on our way downtown.  It was a Friday morning – and it was empty – we basically had the whole place to ourselves.  It was amazing, just incredible!  We walked into each and every shop and marveled at the wonderful food.  Everything looked so fresh and delicious – we wanted to try everything.  We decided to grab just one treat that we could snack on later on – and my older daughter had her eye on these crumb cakes.  They looked unbelievable – and they had a crumb topping that was at least an inch thick, if not more.  You could taste the butter with every bite…one piece was easily enough for all four of us.

When I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit, my mind immediately went to Chelsea Market.  This was exactly the crumb cake that we tasted.  This crumb cake definitely brought me back to the city.  The funniest part of the recipe was the serving size – yes, those are NYC sizes.  I served this for dessert one night and took the rest to work – people were coming back for seconds.  This is the real deal here.  

Ingredients

Topping:

  • 1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, warm
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cake:

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

For topping:
Mix both sugars, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl and whisk to blend. Add warm melted butter and stir to blend. Add flour and toss with fork until moist clumps form (topping mixture will look slightly wet). Set aside.

For cake:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Butter 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat room-temperature butter in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until well blended after each addition. Add sour cream and vanilla extract and beat just until blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, beating just until incorporated after each addition. Transfer cake batter to prepared baking dish; spread batter evenly with rubber spatula or offset spatula. Squeeze small handfuls of topping together to form small clumps. Drop topping clumps evenly over cake batter, covering completely (topping will be thick).

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean and topping is deep golden brown and slightly crisp, about 1 hour. Cool cake in dish on rack at least 30 minutes. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely. Cover and let stand at room temperature.

Cut cake into squares and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Makes 12 very large pieces, or 24 medium pieces.

For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here:  New-York Style Crumb Cake

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