fresh banana muffins with oats & lemon zest

You know how New Englanders always say "If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute"?  It's been like that here in Minnesota.  Rain, gloom, sun - and heavy snowflakes late afternoon yesterday.  This morning is windy and overcast and a perfect morning to make muffins and stay inside.

I settled on my old recipe for banana muffins with oats and buttermilk, cinnamon and  - wait!  Why do I have both white and brown sugar?  Forget that!  So I erased the 1/3 cup white sugar (keeping the 1/2 cup brown sugar) and really, there really wasn't a big difference.  Recipe corrected.  

These are moist (especially hot from the oven), and have lots of fiber from the oats, not too much sugar (now, anyway:), and canola oil instead of butter.  The muffins are slightly sweet, spongy and I'm sure they must be healthy - right?  I think you'll like them.

Fresh Banana muffins with oats and lemon zest

This makes 6 Texas size muffins.

Grease the muffin tins and set aside. (I used a Texas size muffin tin) 

Preheat oven to 350F.

In mixing bowl place:

2 medium ripe bananas, peeled, broken into small pieces

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 extra-large egg

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 cup buttermilk

Using your mixing paddle on your mixer, stir on low until the mixture is fairly blended.  It will be a little lumpy.

Add:

2 cups King Arthur flour (unbleached)

1/2 cup rolled oats -I use Quaker oats

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon ( or more, if you wish)

Using an ice cream scoop, fill muffin cups to 3/4ths full.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until muffin tops are springy when gently touched.

Remove to a cooling rack , let cool, then dig in!

The first of the spring baskets on the railings!

skinny fresh strawberry muffins (with a lemon glaze)

A week or so ago I had to fess up to the fact that I had gained a little weight. I don't have a scale, but I could tell by the fit of my clothes that it was time to be a little more careful about my eating.  I wasn't really eating more, but getting less exercise because of an ankle injury.  

I've been eating mostly fish, chicken, and all sorts of salads, but today longed for a nice sweet muffin ,  Most of my muffins have a lot of sweet butter, but I do make a lemon low fat muffin, that would go nicely with the last of the strawberries I got a few days ago.

Done!  
It was just perfect with a last minute lemon glaze.  And they passed the "give the leftovers to the carpenters" installing a new outside door.  They were thrilled (and hungry).


Fresh strawberry muffins

Makes a dozen medium sized muffins.
Preheat oven to 350F
Grease or butter regular size muffin tins (I also did a few minis)

1 heaping cup strawberries, cut into slices or diced
2 cups King Arthur flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
zest from a lemon (about a teaspoon)
1 cup plain yogurt (I used Chobani)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 extra large egg
1 t. vanilla
1 t. fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons water ( my batter was a little stiffer than usual, so I just added a little water)

Place the dry ingredients in your mixer bowl and mix briefly.
Add the lemon zest, yogurt, canola, egg, vanilla, and lemon juice in mixer bowl and mix slowly. Fold in strawberries.  Add the water if your batter is too stiff.
Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups 3/4's full.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffin tops bounce back when touched.
Remove to a cooling rack.

While still warm, you can brush them with a quick glaze:

1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


I'm loving making up salad bowls - this is my latest after a trip to Whole Foods where I finally found large arugula leaves!  Tossed in some water canned sardines, 1/2 piece of good bread , diced, and a strong garlic-lemon salad dressing. 

Happy February!

chocolate-chip snack muffins on a blustery day

 What a blustery, chilly, few days!  I should be grateful it's not snow - which I see on my Facebook feed from my New England friends, but something about the gusty winds sends me straight to the kitchen to make something a little sweet, a little chocolatey, a little nibble to brighten up the day.  These chocolate chip snack muffins came to mind - perfect when you want a little something, but not overwhelmingly sweet or complicated.  I found the recipe years ago on Two Peas and their Pod, and loved it instantly.



Chocolate Chip Snack Muffins


2 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar ( I used dark brown)
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch or two of kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted (8 tablespoons)
2 extra large eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk (you can also use plain yogurt)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375.  
Line a regular (not Texas size) 12 muffin tin with paper liners.
Place the dry ingredients in the mixer bowl:  the flour, sugars, baking powder and salt in mixer bowl.
In a medium bowl, mix together the eggs, melted butter, buttermilk, and vanilla, stir well, then add to the flour mixture, then add in the chocolate chips.  Mix briefly but thoroughly, then use an ice cream scoop to fill the paper liners.  I had just enough batter to make one more bigish muffin, so I buttered a souffle cup for the 13th muffin.

Bake for approximately 18 minutes (ovens do vary, so touch a muffin gently on the top to make sure it's slightly firm to touch - if it isn't ,just bake a few more minutes)

Voila!  Perfect after-school snack for the kids - and for you!  

buttermilk bran muffins and too many boxes

Early Sunday morning in the kitchen, I made the coffee, pulled out my muffin tins and buttered them, set up the mixer, pulled out the ingredients - and looked for the recipe for my favorite buttermilk bran muffins.  My recipe notebook was missing in the mess of boxes and piles as I prepare to move in a few weeks.  I checked my blog, and was surprised to see I hadn't updated the recipe in a long time.  Two hours later, my notebook showed up under a box of papers to be filed (if it were up to me, I would file everything in the recycled paper box for the dump).  BIG sigh of relief.

I know even saying the words "bran muffins" sounds dismal, doesn't it?  Most bran muffins have an odd metallic taste to me, which is why I treasure this recipe.  Soft, filling, bouncy, with plumped, juicy raisins folded into the batter , it's still my favorite muffin.  Not too sweet, not too heavy, and a delicious flavor, and pretty much fail proof.   They freeze well, too.


Buttermilk Bran Muffins with plumped raisins

3 cups wheat bran ( I get mine from the health food store) divided
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup light oil
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups King Arthur flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
3 eggs - I always use extra large eggs

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, add 1 cup of the bran, the raisins, and the boiling water.  Stir and set aside.

Grease your muffin tins well, or line tins with muffin papers and set aside.

In mixer bowl, add the rest of the bran, the light oil, cinnamon, baking soda, flour, sugar, eggs, and buttermilk and mix briefly.  Add the wet mix of bran, hot water, and plumped raisins and mix again.

Using a regular ice cream scoop, scoop batter into tins - I use two scoops for my Texas size muffins, one scoop for normal sized muffins.  Here you can see the difference between the sizes: 

Bake 20 minutes for normal size, and five or ten minutes more for the big muffins.  The muffin tops should spring back when you press them gently on their tops.

Let cool on cooling rack, then remove from tins with a dull knife to cool further.

                                           ****************************


Hope you enjoy this beautiful Spring day!  The last few mornings out the kitchen window, the dark lilacs are fluttering with beautiful butterflies.

coffeecake muffins with cinnamon topping

10 degrees again, and the snowmelt has refrozen into slick ice as I try to shuffle my way to the car.  The calendar says it's almost April and time to start walking outside, but right now?  Ice skates would be more appropriate.

It's been a long, cold, snowy winter, and my frustration with the weather showed in too many tortilla chips, leading to tighter pants and sweaters.  The diet I started was going well, but yesterday I'd had enough.  Muffins for Sunday breakfast?  Absolutely!

Instead of those buttery lemon poppyseed muffins I usually make, I opted to make light-as-a-feather, spongy, lemony coffeecake muffins again with that crunchy, sugary topping.  I ate two, and hid the rest in the freezer for my next sugar craving.


Coffeecake Muffins

This makes 5 large Texas size muffins.

Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease your muffin tin or use parchment muffin liners.

First, make the topping in your mixer bowl:

1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
1/4 cup King Arthur flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of kosher salt

Mix until you have a crumbly mix. If the sugar mix clumps, just chill briefly in the fridge and mix again briefly.  Scrape into a bowl and set aside.

In the same mixer bowl, mix the dry ingredients:

1 cup King Arthur all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of kosher salt
zest from half a lemon

Then add the wet ingredients:

3/4 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix until smooth, then, using a spring-loaded ice cream scoop, scoop one large scoop into each muffin cup, and sprinkle a heaping tablespoon (or more) of the topping on top.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until muffins are firm to the touch when gently pressed , then set on a cooling rack to cool.  When cool, use a dull knife to carefully remove from muffin tin.

Can you believe it's almost Easter?

orange and clementine muffins with greek yogurt

It's still bone-chilling cold here, and no matter how I try to get excited about salads, the bottom line is that they are not warming.  I crave muffins and French toast, macaroni and cheese, juicy hamburgers with hot sauce and salsa.  So much for my New Year's resolution to get back on a healthy (or, as my mother always said to me:  "It's HEALTHFUL, not healthy")  track.

Well, these muffins have two citruses , greek yogurt, some whole wheat flour, canola oil, and fresh nutmeg, which are all good, right?  Biting into a fresh hot muffin, there was a blossoming of oranges and clementine, which suddenly reminded me of Florida vacations and the scent of everyone's backyard orange and grapefruit trees.

The recipe comes from a little book I bought years and years ago, called "Muffins A to Z" by Marie Simmons.  I've tried a few recipes, and, though I often change the recipe as I go along, it's a dandy little book.  


Orange and Clementine muffins


Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease your muffin tins well - this recipe made one large Texas muffin in one tin, and 7 small, normal size ones in another muffin tin.

1/2 cup whole wheat flour, sifted
1 and 1/2 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a hefty pinch of kosher salt
1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed citrus juice from clementines and eating oranges

Optional:  rolled oats for sprinkling on tops



Place all the dry ingredients in your mixer bowl:  the whole wheat flour, the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and orange zest.  Briefly whisk.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the canola oil, Greek yogurt, citrus juice and eggs.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and briefly mix until incorporated.  My batter seemed thick, which I think was because my kitchen is cold in the morning - if that happens, add a little more juice or a little water, a tablespoon at most.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop batter into muffin tins.  I like to sprinkle a few rolled oats on top for contrast.


 Bake 25 minutes, a few minutes more for the Texas size muffins, then remove from oven to cool on a rack.  When muffins are cool, remove gently from tins and serve with sweet butter and freshly squeezed orange and clementine juice.

Warm hugs to you all, and to the beautiful city of Paris .....

Fresh Cranberry muffins with orange zest and nutmeg

After several very chilly days, this morning was sunny and warm enough to skip the wool coat I've been wearing lately - and the weather and it being a Sunday morning, I was in a baking mood.

Let's see:  apples, oranges, bananas and an avocado in the fruit bowl.  Fresh cranberries in the fridge, ah-HAH.  A perfect morning for these fresh, colorful and perky cranberry muffins!

It's interesting to remember these were my son's favorite muffins for quite a while.  Most of my other muffins were full of butter and cream, milk and yogurt, but these cranberry muffins were the ones he loved.  Much later he discovered he was dairy intolerant , which of course explains it - but even though I don't have a problem with dairy products, I love these for the tang and color of the cranberries and the hint of orange.  Definitely a festive start to Thanksgiving Day breakfast!

To make:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease two Texas size muffin tins with vegetable shortening.

3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
5 tablespoons canola oil or vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
the zest from a large orange
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
2 extra large eggs

Measure flour, baking powder, sugar and nutmeg into mixer bowl.  Mix briefly.
Add the canola oil, orange zest, orange juice, and eggs and mix.
Stir in the cranberries by hand until well blended.
For large Texas size muffins, I use two scoops of batter using an ice cream scoop - for normal size muffins I would use 1 large scoop plus a tablespoon of batter per muffin.
Place muffin tins in the upper third of the oven and bake for 25 minutes (if you use frozen berries it will be longer) or until tops are golden and firm when gently pressed on top.
Remove to a cooling rack for ten minutes, then run a dull knife around each muffin and gently set to cool on the cooling rack.

This makes about 10 Texas size muffins.

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

lemon poppyseed muffins & March pandemonium

The last day of what-a-March!  The grandchildren and my daughter-in-law are on their way to new lives in Minnesota (my daughter has to stay in NH a little longer for business), my son and his long time girlfriend got married , are expecting a baby, and bought a new house.  Zip, zip, zip.  Everything has happened so FAST.  I'm going to miss those children so much, but they assure me I can learn to Skype and maybe get a little glimpse of them growing up.

I've tried not to make these lemon poppyseed muffins because of the winter chubbiness I'm sporting under that coat, but I know it's there.  But first visit from the newly married couple called for them, and I remembered my son loving them as a boy.  

Perfect choice, and Rachel loved them.

I woke up to a sleet storm this morning, and made another batch - most to give away, but two for me.  I nibbled the sticky golden edges and wondered what on earth April will bring...

Happy end of March and on to Spring!  I actually saw my daylilies popping up next to the house, such a welcome glimpse of green!

Lemon Poppyseed muffins

Makes 10 or 12 Texas size muffins.

Preheat oven to 340F.
Grease two Texas size muffin tins (each tin makes 6)

zest of two large lemons
6 tablespoons poppyseeds
3 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
6 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
6 tablespoons milk
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened, room temperature

Grate the lemon zest into the mixer bowl and add the poppyseeds.  Stir in the flour, sugar, and baking powder.  With mixer on low, add the eggs, vanilla, and milk.  With mixture still on low, add the butter, a little at a time.

Mix until the batter is creamy, with no flecks of any cold bits of butter.

Using a standard ice cream scoop, scoop batter into muffin tins, two scoops per muffin cup. Place the muffin tins in upper third of the oven. Bake for about 40 minutes - the muffins should be fairly firm to the touch if you press the tops gently - and a lovely golden brown.  While the muffins are baking, make the glaze:

Lemon glaze

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
a pastry brush for brushing on muffins

Warm in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved.  Simmer a few minutes, then remove to cool down.  

When muffins are done, remove from oven and brush each top with a little glaze.  Let the muffins cool and remove from tins to a cooling rack set inside a baking sheet - the glaze is sticky!  Brush each muffin mostly on the tops a few times, but also on the top edges.  

Enjoy!

Squire Tarbox blueberry muffins

A long, long time ago - probably at least 20 years, I tore out a blueberry muffin recipe in the Boston Globe from a little B&B in Maine called the Squire Tarbox Inn.  I was so happy with the recipe, whether I used wild blueberries, cultivated blueberries, or even frozen blueberries in the midst of winter, I kept using it.  I think the only change I made was to add a teaspoon of cinnamon and a little lemon zest to the batter.  Since this is prime blueberry season, I thought I'd share it with you.

I make these Texas size - two scoops of batter to a muffin.  They're tender and loaded with berries, soft, but not too crumbly and tough.

Makes 8 large muffins.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease two Texas size muffin tins very well, set aside.

2 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
3 cups King Arthur flour, all purpose
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a few scrapings of lemon zest
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen, tossed in a tablespoon of flour
(if you use the tiny wild blueberries, you can use 1/2 cup less berries)


Beat eggs and sugar in mixer bowl briefly.  Add the milk and melted butter , and stir.
Add the cinnamon and lemon zest, the flour and baking powder, and mix very briefly.
Fold in the blueberries by hand, and fill the muffin tins, two scoops per muffin, using a regular sized ice cream scoop.

Bake for 30 minutes if using room temperature berries - frozen berries take a little longer.  They should be done when they are puffed and slightly firm to the touch if you touch the center of the muffin with a fingertip.

Remove the tins to a cooling rack and let cool for at least 15 minutes.  Use a dull knife to gently pry out the muffins - they usually pop right out.  Let cool another few minutes before serving.

Enjoy!  

It is still hot here, but not as bad as it was two days ago, thankfully.  Rain clouds skitter across the sky, but no rain has fallen in days.  If you leave the windows open at night, the house is lovely and cool in the morning - a big improvement!  Wishing you happy swimming and blueberry picking!

big banana muffins on a hot day

Boy, it's hot.  I mean 97 degrees hot, and that is not something those of us who live in the mountains of New Hampshire are used to.  I have it down to a science:  Wake up at 5 am, open all the windows, then a few hours later as it starts to heat up, close all the windows, put down the shades and go soak in a cool pond.

In this kind of heat, I do my baking early, too.  With the windows open, the kitchen doesn't heat up as much.  Why I get the baking urge on days like this is a mystery - maybe it's the Super Moon, which I didn't get to see because of the cloud cover.  This morning I tackled those wonderful brownies of Maida Heatter's( using toasted pecans instead of walnuts) washed the bowls, then whipped up some big banana muffins, mild and slightly sweet;  spongy but nicely filling.  I like to add a little rolled oats and lemon zest and cinnamon , which makes them a lot more interesting than just using mashed bananas.

Stay cool, wherever you are!


Big Banana Muffins

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease one Texas size muffin tin, set aside.

2 large bananas, mashed in mixer bowl
1 t. lemon zest
1 extra large egg
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 T. canola or mild olive oil
1 cup buttermilk

Mix the wet ingredients well, then add:

2 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats (not instant oats)
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Using an ice cream scoop, fill the muffin cups about 3/4ths full ( I use two scoops of batter, using a normal size ice cream scoop).

Set muffins in upper third of the hot oven, bake for 25 minutes, or until tops spring back when gently pressed.

Enjoy!

butternut squash muffins on a glowing day

What a gorgeous, glowing day.  The trees are still showing color, especially a heady yellow on the beech trees.  Being surrounded by the colors of autumn make me think of all those delicious squashes and pumpkins - and though I do tend to bake wildly and enthusiastically with canned pumpkin, I boldly ventured into using a fresh butternut squash last night.  

I peeled half of a large butternut, cut it into chunks, and simmered it until it was soft, then drained it and proceeded with the muffin recipe I had for sweet potato muffins.  What resulted was a dense, not-too-sweet muffin, moist and lighter in taste than my pumpkin muffins and a perfect breakfast muffin.  You can toast it, but there's no need for butter at all because of the butternut puree.  Delicious!



Butternut Squash muffins
Makes 12 regular size muffins.

First, prepare the butternut squash puree:

2 cups peeled butternut, cut into chunks
water to cover

Simmer the squash until tender, then drain and mash.



The muffins:

Preheat oven to 350F.
Place cupcake papers in a regular sized muffin tin.

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
2 extra large eggs
1 1/2 cups of the butternut mash
2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
pinch of salt
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
chopped pecans for tops (optional)

Cream the butter and sugar in mixer bowl, then add the eggs and mix again.

Add the butternut puree, the flour and baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg, mix well, then use an ice cream scoop to scoop batter into a 12 muffin tin that you've lined with cupcake papers, 1 scoop per muffin.

Sprinkle with the chopped pecans if desired, and bake for 30 minutes, or until tops are firm when gently pressed in the middle. Because the muffins are so dense with puree, they need to bake the full 30 minutes, even if the tops are firm before that.

Remove to a cooling rack and let cool completely before storing or wrapping (or devouring!)

Pumpkin muffins with crystallized ginger for October

October brings transcendental and brilliant leaves drifting to the still-unfrozen ground.  Those of us in New England watch the weather forecast, covering the last of our lettuces and cabbages when the temperature dips below 30 degrees.  Fresh, sun-kissed tomatoes are a distant memory, and the days shorten and darken.  Is it any wonder that we seize on the rich taste of pumpkin anything?  Nevermind Halloween, pumpkin is like chocolate in these dwindling days of light - a deep, dark, luscious, and  spicy taste to welcome in the changing of our seasons.  It is lovely, whether roasted or pureed, brushed with butter or olive oil, sprinkled with thyme leaves or nutmeg.

I celebrate the season with these remarkable muffins from Sarah Leah Chase from her delicious cookbook, Nantucket Open House Cookbook, and, I have to say, one of the only recipes I've made from a cookbook that was perfect, just as she wrote it.  It's everything you would want in an autumn muffin, and one I look forward to making at this change of season.  The richness of pumpkin combined with the juicy, spicy nuggets of crystallized ginger are simply stunning.


From Open House Cookbook:

This makes around a dozen Texas size muffins - two scoops of batter per muffin.  Obviously, it will make more if you make smaller muffins.  It also works as a loaf cake or a dense, delicious round cake, topped with sweetened whipped cream.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Grease Texas size muffin tins, or cake tins, with vegetable shortening.

1 can (15 oz) unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, melted
4 large eggs
1/2 cup apple cider or apple juice
3 1/2 cups King Arthur all purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
2 t. baking powder
about 1 t. kosher salt
4 1/2 t. cinnamon
4 1/2 t. ginger
1 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground cloves
1 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

Place pumpkin, sugar, and melted butter in mixer bowl.  Mix briefly, then add the eggs and beat until smooth.  Add the cider or apple juice.

Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves into a bowl, then gradually sift into the pumpkin mixture until smooth.  Stir in the crystallized ginger.

Using an ice cream scoop, scoop two scoops into each Texas size muffin tin, or, fill cake tins or smaller size muffin tins to about 3/4ths.

Bake until the the muffins are firm to the touch when gently pressed in the center - about 25 minutes.  Cakes will take longer.  Remove to a cooling rack for ten minutes, then gently remove from tins to another cooling rack and let cool completely, especially if you're icing them.

Enjoy the season, wherever you are!