Black Raspberry Muffins

Guess what? This is post #501. What a long, strange trip it's been...


"If I were stranded on a deserted island and could only bring one food," said Sadie, "it would be these muffins."

You will have to make them yourself to see if you agree.

Black Raspberry Muffins (adapted from Cook's Illustrated, via The Bitten Word)

2 cups fresh black raspberries, washed and picked over
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar, and another 1 tsp. sugar, separated
2 large eggs
4 Tbsp. (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup whole milk
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
More sugar for sprinkling (I used vanilla sugar)

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425-degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with muffin liners, and lightly oil the top of the pan with oil.

Bring 1 cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk remaining 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar together with the eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)

Use an ice cream scoop, large spoon or 1/3 cup dry measuring cup to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle additional sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin pan from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

La Festa al Fresco Submission: Honeyed Zucchini Muffins (or Cupcakes?) with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Once again, Lis from La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice have teamed up to host La Festa al Fresco. The event is a celebration of fresh, seasonal (and preferably local) ingredients. Such a good idea, no?

So, armed with plenty of zucchini from my neighbors' garden plus 2 lbs of fresh, raw honey from the Rochester Public Market, I set out to find a recipe that combined the two for a tasty sweet treat. And I found it!

Now here's the thing: without the frosting, these delicious little guys are in muffin territory. With the scrumptious frosting, they cross over into cupcake land with their close cousins, the carrot cakes.

Mupcakes? Cuppins? However you decide to think of 'em, they're yummy.

Thank you to Lis & Ivonne for hosting!

Honeyed Zucchini Muffins/Cupcakes? with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting (adapted)

For cakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Chinese 5-Spice powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (2 medium)
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest
1/2 cup oil
1 cup honey, preferably of a medium to deep color/flavor
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla


For frosting:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon finely grated fresh orange zest

Cakes: Place oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (You may wind up with extra batter for about 3 more cupcakes. so you may want to prep another tin.)



In a large bowl, combine flour, 5-spice powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, whisk together zucchini, orange zest, oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla, then pour into flour mixture. Stir until just combined.

Divide batter among muffin cups and bake until golden and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 24 minutes.

Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan and cool completely, 1 hour.
--
Frosting:
Beat together frosting ingredients with an electric mixer at high speed until well-combined, 3 to 5 minutes. Frost tops of cooled cupcakes.

Strawberry Rhubarb Marvelous Muffins

I picked up a copy of Joan Donogh's recipe for rhubarb muffins with a bunch of rhubarb at the Canandaigua Farmers' Market. I'd also picked up some strawberries so, with a couple of minor changes (can you guess the biggest one?) these became strawberry rhubarb muffins.

Extremely moist and flavorful, these muffins have a sweet brown sugar-cinnamon topping and mildly vanilla flavored base studded with fresh bits of rhubarb and strawberry. If you'd like more of a rhubarb bite, increase the rhubarb and decrease the strawberries, as long the total amount of vegetable/fruit comes to 2 cups -- or just use Joan's original recipe! (I've got some rhubarb left over, and I'm thinking that's just what I'll do.)



Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins (adapted from Now... You're Cooking!)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped rhubarb
1 cup chopped strawberries

Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and brown sugar. In another bowl, beat the egg, stir in butter, buttermilk and vanilla.

Make a well in the dry ingredients, and add the egg mixture all at once. Stir until just blended. Fold in strawberries and rhubarb. Spoon into greased or paper-lined muffin tins.

For the topping, combine sugar, butter and cinnamon. Sprinkle a spoonful of topping over each muffin and bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Cinnamon Raspberry Muffins

This is a slightly adapted muffin recipe and, if I do say so myself, they came out very nicely.

The flavor is gently sweet with a nice contrast between the warm, spicy cinnamon notes and the bright and fresh flavors from the raspberry jam. The crumb is tender and moist and the sugar topping even adds a bit of sparkle and charm. Overall, a pretty tasty breakfast treat.

Cinnamon Raspberry Muffins
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vanilla fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled
3 tablespoons buttermilk (use regular milk if you don't have buttermilk on hand)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. raspberry jam (or substitute another flavor)

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar (use more or less to your taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (use more or less to your taste)

Preheat oven to 375-degrees F. Place 12 muffin liners in a muffin tin.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and the next 4 ingredients (sugar through salt) in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In a small bowl, combine yogurt, butter, milk, and egg in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Batter will be thick

Spoon about one tablespoon batter into each muffin cup. Top each with about a teaspoon of jam. Top evenly with the remaining batter. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over batter. Bake 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan, place muffins on wire rack, and allow to finish cooling.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake

I am not becoming a vegan. I am not becoming a vegetarian. I like meat and dairy way too much. (In fact, I'm thinking about getting this t-shirt.)

But maybe -- once in a while -- I can dabble with recipes from the veggie side.

I'd wanted to make a cake using chai (inspired by my lust for these drool-worthy cupcakes and muffins) and, while searching for a recipe, stumbled upon the Susan V's impressive Fatfree Vegan Kitchen.

I know what you're thinking: vegan cooking = malevolent soy & seaweed concoctions. I'm not entirely convinced that's not true, but Susan V's blog goes a long way toward changing that perception. Vindaloo Vegetables? Black-eyed Pea Gumbo? Southwestern Black Bean Potato Salad? Yes, please! (Plus, did you see that NY Times' article on vegan cupcake chef, Chandra Moskowitz? Those cupcakes looked pretty damned good!)

So on Friday night, I baked up Susan V's recipe for Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake. I was, and am, amazed at how well things turned out.

The cake, targeted at breakfast, is more like a muffin (next time, I'll try baking the batter in muffin tins). It's dense, moist, and just sweet enough to satisfy a sweet-breakfast craving. Plus, the recipe lends itself to a bit of playing. Chopped nuts (mmm, pecans), raisins, a bit more almond extract; any one of these (or a combination) would fit into the recipe well.

The cake reminds me of the apple-zucchini-carrot-coconut muffins I'd grab at Amy's Bread on the way to work. Those were so good, and I'm glad to have found a recipe that (though the ingredients aren't the same) reminds of Amy's amazing baking. (Now all I have to do is find the cute paper muffin liners Amy's Bread uses, too.)

A few notes: the spiciness implied by chai in the recipe's title isn't really there. In the recipe, however, Susan V suggests adding more ginger to increase the cake's bite. I had just enough ginger in the pantry to add an 1/8 tsp. more than is called for so, while the cake's flavor has rich depth, I wouldn't call it spicy. (But again, kick up the ginger or even the cinnamon to achieve that goal.)

I substituted rolled oats and apple cider vinegar for quick oats and regular vinegar, respectively, and baked the cake in a 9-inch square pan. I also preferred the cake at room temperature than warm out of the oven.

Coconut Chai Breakfast Cake (slightly adapted)

1 cup strong chai tea
1/3 cup uncooked quick oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger (use more for a spicier cake)
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup flaked coconut, 2 tbsp reserved

Prepare the chai ahead of time by steeping two teabags one cup of boiling water until cool.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

Combine the dry ingredients (oatmeal through sugar) in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the chai, applesauce, vinegar, extracts, and all but 2 tablespoons of the coconut. Mix well, and pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle with the reserved coconut and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 9.


Susan V's nutritional breakdown: 179 Calories; 2g Total Fat; (11% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 0mg Cholesterol; 273mg Sodium; 3g Dietary Fiber; 3 Weight Watchers Points.

(Tell me you don't admire a chef who supplies her own nutritional breakdown! Yay, Susan V!)

Grade: A

Sugar Spot Banana Muffins

This is my second submission to Weekend Breakfast Blogging and it's another banana recipe. What can I say? I like bananas. And the name of the recipe -- "sugar spot" in reference to the little brown dots bananas get when they're sweet and ripe -- I couldn't resist.

I was hoping for something reminiscent of banana bread and that flavor is there, but this muffin has more of a healthy/hearty quality from the wheat germ than what you'd fine in a typical quick bread. Perhaps that's because I substituted regular wheat germ for the honey-crunch variety the recipe calls for. (I'm still surprised we even had wheat germ in the house, but I guess it's leftover from Martha's oatmeal cookies.)

The recipe is definately something I want to add to: here, I sprinkled a teaspoon of mini chocolate chips on half of the muffins before baking, but tossing in some flaked coconut would be nice too, I think. (I prefer the chocolate topped muffins to the naked ones -- big surprise.) Or, instead of chocolate or coconut, perhaps vanilla, cinnamon, and chopped pecans?


Sugar Spot Banana Muffins
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana
1/3 cup fat-free milk
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (6 ounces)
2/3 cup honey-crunch wheat germ
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended. Add banana and milk; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Add to sugar mixture; beat just until moist.

Spoon batter evenly into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake for 22 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan. Place muffins on wire rack. Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

Grade: B+

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

Sadie's second grade class is a cornucopia of parties, games, and field trips. Sure, they're forced to do work between recess, but by and large, it's a fun place to be. Her teacher is nice, the kids are nice, the school is nice. Today, her class is having an end-of-the-year breakfast party, catered by parents and Sadie's teacher.

Things were not this good when I was in second grade. I'm fairly sure our teacher, Mrs. Demperio, entered the profession so she could refine her sadistic tendencies on 7 year olds. She was 100 years old, 1,000 feet tall, and wore a beige, bow-at-the neck blouse, maroon skirt, support hose, and sensible shoes every single day. For snack, she fed us unsweetened Cheerios. But one day, we got lucky: we were given carob chips.

In addition to her poor fashion taste and lack of taste buds (or perhaps, because of) the woman was a ticking time-bomb. If you stepped out of line (literally; remember you have to line up in school) she'd snap. Having said that, aside from her yelling at a classmate for mispronouncing the word "read" (she wanted to hear him say "reed" but he'd said "red") I have blocked out all memory of her psychotic episodes. I know that Janice Stolzenburg pulled her daughter (and my friend) Stephanie out of Mrs. Demperio's class because Demperio was a hellish bitch. (I also remember wondering why, since I prayed about getting delivered from evil every Sunday, why God was so slow on the uptake. If only I were Jewish like Stephanie -- one of the chosen people --maybe then something would happen.)

Every day was bad, but Sunday nights were the worst. My stomach would clench in knots, my brain consumed with thoughts of the school week ahead. Given all that stress, something was bound to happen.

One day at school, following one of Demperio's tirades (someone sharpened their pencil too much), she sat on my desk to rest her cloven feet.

In response, I threw up on her.

At the time I was embarrassed, but now I think she deserved it. Really, if you're going to be that mean to children, you should expect to be vomited on.

Now that I've whetted your appetite, shall we talk recipes?

These muffins, made for Sadie's happy-sunshine-fun-time-goodness-antithesis-of-Demperio class party, are wonderful. The recipe is derived from one in The Joy of Cooking; the book's muffin recipes are extremely versatile, offering lots leeway in creating a muffin of choice. This recipe yields a moist, lightly sweetened base with vanilla essence and gentle hits of yogurt tang and richness. (I didn't mix in any cinnamon into the batter but next time, I'd add ½ to 1 teaspoon. Nutmeg would be a good choice too.)

But the muffin top is the star attraction. Not only does it feature the glorious goodness of muffin top flavor, it's dipped in melted butter and then rolled cinnamon and sugar, similar to the donuts you'd find in a quality diner. They're an old-fashioned, comfort food.

My only regret is that we can't have any of the 2 dozen destined for school. Doubling the recipe, I eked 24 muffins and then eeked out enough batter for 3 mini muffins. Those were gone in five minutes.

Probably because there is nary a carob chip in sight.

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

2 large eggs
1 cup plain yogurt
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 to 8 tbsp oil
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Position oven rack in the middle position and preheat oven to 400-degrees F. Line a standard muffin pan with paper cups.

Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add flour mixture and mix with light strokes until the dry ingredients are just moistened. Don't overmix; batters should not be smooth.

Divide batter among the muffin cups and bake until a toothpick inserted in one or two of the muffins come out clean, 12-15 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt 1/2 stick butter and place in a bowl just large enough to hold a muffin. Combine ½ cup of sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon in a small, shallow bowl. As soon as the muffing are done, dip them one at a time in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar mixture. Set on a rack to cool.

Yields 12 standard muffins.

Grade: A+

Tags: cooking, baking, muffins, recipe, quick bread, Joy of Cooking,

Pecan Cinnamon Muffins

(Check out Retro Recipe Challenge #1!)

I was cleaning out my kitchen cabinets – more of an archeological dig, really – and rediscovered the “Totally Muffins Cookbook.” Sue, my mother-in-law, picked this up for me at a garage sale (along with two sets of pristine, still-in-the-wrapper giant muffin tins. It was awesome. I later went to the same sale and bought an almost new chicken rotisserie for $20).

The big change I made from the recipe listed in the book and below was the type of flour used. I was running low on all purpose but had a full bag of self-rising flour, so I used that instead, omitting the baking powder and salt.

The muffins baked up a bit pale. They could have used more topping to give them a richer hue. That said, these are tasty with a nice, tender crumb, though I’d like them to have more of a cinnamon and sugar punch. If I make them again, I’ll increase both, perhaps adding some brown sugar to the batter. I’d also like to see what would happen if I used glazed pecans instead of the plain in the batter as well.

As always with muffins, the tops are the best part.

Pecan Cinnamon Muffins

1 cup pecan halves
1 ¼ tsps. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. sour cream
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt.

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spread pecans on a baking sheet and toast in oven, 7 to 9 minutes. While toasting, grease muffin tins or line with paper cups.

Roughly chop 75-percent of the pecans and set aside. Finely chop the remaining pecans and mix with brown sugar and ¼ tsp. cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside for topping.

Cream together butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones, stirring only until the flour mixture disappears. Gently fold in roughly-chopped pecans.

Fill muffin cups with batter and sprinkle each with a generous amount of topping. Bake approximately 25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean. Let cool five minutes, then remove from pan. Makes 12-14 standard size muffins.

Grade: B


Tags: baking, cooking, muffins, Pecan Cinnamon Muffin, Retro Recipe Challenge, breakfast, recipe

Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns, Part II

Read Part I.

The Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast buns, both large and small. (They look like they're getting ready to face-off, don't they? "RUMBLE IN THE KITCHEN!")

I suspected that these “buns” would be more like muffins (that is, more cakey and less bready) and, as it turns out, I was right: they’re basically muffins. Delicious, tempting, wonderful muffins, and definately not buns.

The dough was much stickier than I expected, which made it difficult to A) place into lined muffin tins and B) swirl in raspberry preserves. (In a nutshell, it was a lot easier to make the dough than to prep it for baking.)

I doubled the recipe (below) and used standard muffin cups so instead of 9 buns, I got 24 with leftover batter (which I used to make 5 larger muffins). I also increased the vanilla and used Bonne Maman preserves, which I love. (I almost made them with a friend’s homemade strawberry jam, but I was in too much of a raspberry mood. Still, strawberry, blueberry, currant or even peach preserves would work well here. Just make sure they’re of good quality.)

Another issue I ran into: raspberry preserve overflow. At the last minute, I decided to double-line the muffin tins with paper liners – and I’m lucky I did. Several of the muffins would have been raspberry-glued to the pan but with the extra liner, I was able to lift the muffins out intact, leaving the outer liner stuck behind.

Next time, I’ll make larger muffins (unless doing a bake sale) because, just look at them -- they're gorgeous. I'll also use disposable foil muffin cups placed on a parchment lined baking sheet or disposable aluminum tray. Not only will they be easy to take out of the oven, but clean up will be a snap. I also might try placing a dollop of preserve in the middle of the muffin (place a bit of batter in the tin, top with preserve, and then top with more batter) instead of swirling.

Issues aside, this is a fabulous recipe. The muffin bottoms are delicate and tender, while the tops have a gentle crunch. The flavor is sweet (but not overly so) and comforting, with nice hits of butter, vanilla, and of course, raspberry.

According to the site, this is the Magnolia Bakery’s most popular breakfast item. After tasting them, it’s not a surprise -- they’re a must bake.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns

1-3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/4 c. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
Confectioners’ sugar (if desired)

Preheat oven to 350-degrees. Grease and lightly flour (or use muffin liners) 12 standard muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth in a large bowl, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs and beat well. Add the dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Drop 3 small dollops (about a teaspoonful each) of raspberry preserves onto the top of each bun and, using the tip of a sharp knife, swirl the preserves into the batter, forming a decorative pattern. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the bun comes out clean.

Allow the buns to cool for about 30 minutes before dusting with confectioners’ sugar and serving.

Grade: A+

UPDATE: the Raspberry Cream Cheese muffins sold out first at the fundraiser. Whee!!!
Overall, the bake sale raised $170.04 to benefit Happy Tails.

Tags: baking, cooking, temperature, Magnolia Bakery, recipe, muffins, raspberry