We'll call them Franken-Muffins

I found this GREAT post a while ago on tastespotting. It was a basic muffin formula that you adapt for whatever type of muffin you wanted to make, and it gave some suggestions for combinations. But really, give me time to peruse the grocery store and I can come up with my own combination rather easily. And that's just what I did. Introducing, the delicious and rather healthy Franken-muffin. OK, so the name may not work, but my combination of ingredients did!

Here is MY Version:
Dry ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp spice cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Wet ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
scant 1 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups grated zucchini
3/4 cups grated apple

PROCEDURE
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Grease a muffin tin (12 count- I needed about 14 muffin cups if they had all been full size, or 12 regular muffins and 12 minis) with grease spray or butter.
Get two big bowls. In the first bowl combine the dry ingredients except the dry muffinhancers.
In the other bowl combine yogurt, sugar, salt, melted butter, egg and extract. Mix it all up until it’s good and smooth. Now mix in both the wet and dry Muffinhancers and stir to distribute.
Make sure your oven is set and the muffin tin is greased up before you combine the wet and dry. It’ll need to happen pretty quickly.
Pour the dry mix into the wet bowl and fold gently with a spatula while you count slowly to 15-20. The result should be a very lumpy batter, with frequent dry floury spots. It’s better if it’s not a smooth batter.
Now use an ice-cream scoop or just a big spoon to fill the muffin tray evenly. Fill it up almost to the top of the tray. Bake for 20-25 minutes (about 13 minutes for the minis). When they are done, turn it over onto a clean tea towel to let them cool.

And here is the basic formula:
Dry ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp spice (cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ground ginger, ground coriander, etc)
1 cup of dry Muffinhancers (can be chopped nuts, dried fruits, toasted coconut, chocolate chips, etc)

Wet ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup melted butter (or vegetable oil)
1 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ cups of wet Muffinhancers (can inc: mashed banana, grated zucchini, grated carrots, grated apple, frozen berries, mango puree, chopped up orange, etc)

PROCEDURE
Preheat oven to 375˚F.
Grease a muffin tin (12 count- I needed about 14 muffin cups if they had all been full size, or 12 regular muffins and 12 minis) with grease spray or butter.
Get two big bowls. In the first bowl combine the dry ingredients except the dry muffinhancers.
In the other bowl combine yogurt, sugar, salt, melted butter, egg and extract. Mix it all up until it’s good and smooth. Now mix in both the wet and dry Muffinhancers and stir to distribute.
Make sure your oven is set and the muffin tin is greased up before you combine the wet and dry. It’ll need to happen pretty quickly.
Pour the dry mix into the wet bowl and fold gently with a spatula while you count slowly to 15-20. The result should be a very lumpy batter, with frequent dry floury spots. It’s better if it’s not a smooth batter.
Now use an ice-cream scoop or just a big spoon to fill the muffin tray evenly. Fill it up almost to the top of the tray.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (about 13 minutes for the minis).
When they are done, turn it over onto a clean tea towel to let them cool.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am well aware that I fail as a regular blogger. I won't even dare to comment on how long it has been since my last post except to say that it has been too long. I hope that my next post comes far sooner. However can I make it up to you? How about some chocolate chocolate chip muffins?

I baked these during the school year when I somehow ended up with buttermilk in my fridge, and I needed a way to use some of it up. A google search revealed these little delights that satisfy a sweet tooth. But don't go claiming "they're muffins! They must be healthy and a great breakfast!" because, well, they are in no way healthy. But, when it comes to chocolate, healthy is not something I personally look for. I cared more about the fact that they were moist and soft with a slight crunch at the top and they fulfilled my chocolate craving perfectly.

I ended up bringing these to my classmates, and it seems my positive review was universal. One girl in my section declined a muffin for her diet's sake, then, after hearing the raves from the others sitting next to her, she retracted her refusal and gobbled down one of the scrumptious muffins. These are diet-breaking good.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 bag, chocolate chips, divided
1/3 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with papers.
In a small saucepan over low heat, melt 1/2 of the chocolate together with the butter. Let stand until cooled, about 10 minutes.
Lightly beat the egg. In a small bowl, stir together the chocolate-butter mixture with the buttermilk, sugar, egg, and vanilla, until blended well.
In a large bowl, stir together flour, soda, and salt. Make a hole in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the chocolate mixture, and stir until just combined. Stir in the remaining chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the lined muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove muffin tin from oven and let stand at least 5 minutes, before removing the muffins and letting them cool on a wire rack.

*Note- recipe says these can be frozen, though I have not yet tried it. They were all gone within a day!

Blueberry Muffins

If you are like some of my dear friends and you don't like the romantic stuff, I suggest just skipping to the bottom for the recipe (it's worth it!). These muffins were a gift. For the boy. For...our four year anniversary...FOUR YEARS. Take that in for a moment. You may be shocked at the dating for four years part, but I think most people are shocked by the fact that my gift to him for the occasion was... a pan of blueberry muffins?

But it was more than blueberry muffins. The weekend before, he had been over at my place, and, as is the norm, Food Network was on in the background. It was some Paula Deen special and she was making blueberry muffins. The boy started drooling and commenting about how he hadn't had blueberry muffins in ages and how he used to love them.

And, while we had agreed not to get each other gifts (paying an obscene amount for school each year takes a toll on your wallet), I could not help but whip up a batch to show him that I cared. Cue the sappy music.

His reaction? He loved them. He devoured them. My reaction? I'll just keep 2 of them for myself, he'll never realize it was a batch of 16 ;)

They really were good. I decided to hold back a handful of the berries when mixing and then top each muffin with a few so that some stayed at the very top to make them pretty. And they were both pretty and delicious.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup milk
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups frozen blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place 16 paper liners in muffin pans.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, yogurt, and milk.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the batter and beat until just mixed. Fold in all but a handful of the blueberries with a spatula and be sure the batter is completely mixed.

4. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin pans, filling each cup just over the top. Sprinkle the remaining berries on top and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the muffins are lightly browned on top and a cake tester comes out clean.

It's a Triple, or a Home Run

Today you get not one, not two, but three recipes! I decided to participate in the weekend cookbook challenge. This time the theme is Dinner and a DVD.

Hmm, but what dvd should I use as inspiration? There are my classic chick flicks (breakfast at tiffany’s with pastries? French kiss with a french salad and cheese platter? My big fat greek wedding with spanikopita?). Or there are The action movies I am coerced into watching (The good, the bad and the ugly with cowboy spaghetti [spaghetti western, get it?!]? Old Boy with dumplings?) No, none of these worked for me or were listed in my cookbooks.

A quick rummage through the unused pages of Rachel Ray 365 gave me the perfect inspiration! Baseball movies! Her Chicago Dog Salad made me immediately think of a dressed up ball park frank!

At this point, I feel it is crucial to mention that I was raised on baseball. Cal Ripken was a God in my family. I have seen The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as well as the Little League Hall of Fame. I was not raised on soccer, basketball or football (though I have grown to love them all in their own way). My dad loved baseball. He even has a hilarious story about an all-star game he tried to attend, though he would likely not enjoy me posting it on the internet. It is with this background in mind, that you should understand why I can reference many a baseball movie. Ok, so the recipe was a CHICAGO hotdog turned into a salad, so I decided to pair it with Rookie of the Year. The story of a kid whose arm becomes a fast-pitch machine after an injury. He is then recruited by the cubs.

Larry Fisher: Hey, kid! How'd you like to play for the Chicago Cubs?

Henry Rowengartner: Great! But I gotta ask my mom first.

The salad was great! So simple and easy! I will definitely repeat. AND, a bonus, I think the boy would like it as long as I add some ketchup to the dressing!

Tips and Changes for Next Time: Use a lot less vinegar. Use a lot of good tomatoes. I used grape which was fine, but mine were losing their freshness, so that didn’t help. Plus I should have added a lot more. I would sear hotdogs longer next time, until very dark since I like crispy dogs. I will also try to remember to drain them! Maybe add ketchup to the dressing.
Rookie of the Year’s Chicago Dog Salad from the Rachel Ray 365 Cookbook
1/4 cup yellow mustard

2 tablespoons vinegar, eyeball it (I used 1 TBSP)

1 rounded teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used a little less)

1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced (I used ¼ of a white onion chopped since I am not a huge raw onion fan)

1/2 of a 16-ounce sack shredded cabbage blend for slaw salads

1 romaine heart, shredded

2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced (I used a very large handful of grape tomatoes chopped up)

3 large half sour or garlic pickles, chopped (I used 2 or 3 scoops of relish)

Salt and pepper

8 pork or beef hot dogs, cut into 1-inch-thick slices on an angle (since it was just for my dinner and my lunch, I only used 4 and I used chicken dogs)

In the bottom of a large bowl, combine mustard, vinegar, sugar, and about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the onions, cabbage, romaine, tomatoes, and pickles and toss the salad. Season with salt and pepper, adjust seasonings, and reserve.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add in remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (1 turn of the pan) then arrange the sliced dogs in a single layer. Sear them a couple of minutes on each. Remove to paper towels to drain (forgot this step! Showed, but wasn’t horrible).

Mound up the salad on plates, top with seared dogs, and serve

Then, I took this dinner a step further with a baseball movie themed side dish. Field of Dreams revolves around a farmer who hears voices coming from his cornfield. They tell him to build a baseball field in the field. He does build it, and “they” come. The field becomes populated by the ghosts of past baseball players. Got me thinking about corn…

Ray Kinsella: It's okay, honey. I... I was just talking to the cornfield.

So, for this one I tried my Joy of Cooking cookbook, but wasn’t happy with what I found. I then Turned to my Pillsbury cookbook and decided on Roast Corn on the Cob.

I will definitely repeat this one, but I will make a few changes. I wasn’t pleased with the paprika taste on the corn. I also wasn’t crazy about the Tabasco, but I could deal with that as it gave it a nice touch of heat (though it could be replaced by a little LITTLE bit of chili powder or cayenne maybe?). The corn was perfectly cooked though. Very juicy and tender, but not mushy. Just need to work on the flavoring.

Tips and Changes for next time: Remove paprika. Possibly replace Tabasco with a touch of another spice? Or maybe try garlic powder.
Field of Dreams’ Roast Corn on the Cob adapted from “The Pillsbury Family Cook Book,” 6th printing, 1970
1 ear of corn
1 ½ tsp softened butter
Pinch salt
Pinch paprika
Pinch pepper
1 drop hot pepper sauce (used Tabasco)
Heavy foil

Pull corn husks away from cob but do not pull off completely.Remove corn silk. Spread corn with mixture of butter, salt, paprika, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Fold husks over cob. Wrap corn in foil. Place directly on coals or in a 350 degree oven). Roast 30 minutes until corn is tender, turning occasionally.
Finally, for dessert, I turned to a combo chick flick and Baseball movie. A League of their Own is about the time during WWII when a professional women’s baseball league was created because most male players were at war. In the movie, and in real life, one of the league’s teams was the Rockford Peaches. This movie is based on real events, and at the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is an exhibit for the league and they sell Rockford Peaches jerseys.

Helen Haley: This is you! You're with us! You're a Rockford Peach!

This recipe was a little harder to come by. I wanted one that could be brought to work the next day since I have had too many sweets recently (this way I can pawn them off on coworkers who need a sugar fix). Peach cobblers dominated my books, but I wanted a cupcake or muffin. I turned to my new muffin book, but found nothing. So I improvised. I turned a banana nut muffin into a peach and seed muffin.

It was hard to get the right consistency within the muffin. I baked for 20 minutes and realized that the peaches had made the inside soggy, even though it was cooked and golden brown. I then baked for another 5 minutes, then (because I like my muffins firm) I turned them upside down in the tins to bake the bottom a few minutes. That did the trick. Still soft, but much better. In my opinion, the texture was better the next day, though. Taste was fantastic! Just need to fix the texture. Tips and Changes for next time: Work on the baking time. I’d bake for 25 minutes, then flip them bottom side up, bake about 2 minutes then remove. I’d also put some sunflower seeds on top as they bake so that they stay on top and people can see what is in it. I keep fearing someone isn’t going to realize there are seed in them and then break out in hives, but so far so good!
A League of Their Own’s Peach Sunflower Seed Muffins, Adapted from Banana Pecan Muffins in “Muffins: 40 Tantalizing Recipes for Tasty Muffins”
Generous 1 cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
2 ripe peaches diced
5 TBSP milk
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line 12 muffin cups.
2) Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar and seeds and stir.
3) Use a mixer to combine peaches, milk, butter, egg, cinnamon and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined
4) Divide batter between 8-12 muffin liner to get them about 2/3 full (number of muffins depends on the size of the peaches).
5) Bake for 20-25 min (then maybe turn them upside down in the tins to bake the bottoms more)

Donut Muffins (AKA My Mojo, Baby)

I lost my mojo, baby. Where did my kitchen mojo go? It is swimming with the fishes somewhere in New Jersey for all that I know. All I know is that it hasn't been in my kitchen as of late. 1st there were the margarita and daiquiri cookies that were so-so. Then the chilled cherry soup was a little on the tart side and while I was able to make it better with chocolate, it still needed more “umph.” Then last night, 2 more kitchen “blah”s.

Of course, the one thing I made phenomenally this week, I don’t have pictures or a recipe for. I made a weeknight classic, mooch, a few nights ago, but since I was cooking and eating with the boy, I didn’t measure or take pictures, as he doesn’t like me spending quality us time or eating time using the camera. As he put it “since when does my girl take pictures of food?” Ok, I’ll give him that, I usually just want to eat the food. But mooch is a delicious combination of shell pasta with meat sauce so that the shells often fill with the pieces of meat (in this case a combination of turkey and ground beef). I also added small pieces of mozzarella and garlic and topped with parmesan. It is great and I will eventually post on it. So, I have some cooking goodness left in me. Just not last night.

Last night we had Chinese food delivered, so no dinner disaster. But I had a ton of ingredients that I specifically bought for a new recipe for this week, and they were going to go bad if I waited too long, so I went back and made that dish. It turned out like this.
Is it the green goblin? No, it is my interpretation of what is supposedly a great recipe. I will write about it either this weekend or Monday, but major brownie points to anyone who can guess what it is. As I saw that this was not going to turn out to be an appetizing dish, I KNEW I was having a bum cooking/baking time. But, I had already promised the boy and his room mates muffins. So I was back into the kitchen for yet another try.

The guys decided they wanted donut muffins, a recipe I saw on a blog earlier that day (I won’t note the blog here because I am less than thrilled with the recipe and I do not want to be hurtful to anyone).

I got out all the ingredients and noticed, “Hey, I didn’t pull out any leaveners.” No baking soda, no baking powder, nothing. I just assumed the recipe was correct and that the egg would puff the muffins up a bit. I am now almost positive that the person just forgot to list the leavener he or she used. Ya, MINOR detail, right?
I mixed the muffins, then poured them into 12 muffin tins greased with pam. I then baked. What did I see while they baked? This.
Ya, no puffy muffiny-ness at all. Solid, non-rising dough mass. Not at all yummy. I felt like banging my head on a wall. The kitchen curse had continued. I took them out of the oven and got the muffin weights out of their pans. I used a silicone pastry brush to cover the top and part of the sides with butter, then dipped them in cinnamon sugar. This made the weights seem much more edible. Still, I couldn’t eat 3 bites of one without feeling sick.
I took them over to the boy and as he lead me to his apartment I explained about the lack of leavener and the fact that they would be better for liftting to build upper body strength and that they may taste best if you cut off the bottom and just ate the top half (less weight and more butter and sugar). He took one and gave another one to each of his room mates. Their reactions “YUM! OH these are good! Just what I wanted!” WHAT!? WHAT!? Where did this come from? These things were kind of nasty, yet they loved them? Do I have that weird of taste? I just left the muffins there and told the guys to go at it, I’d pick up the plate the next day.

So, while my kitchen mojo wasn’t fully restored, it wasn’t as badly bruised as I thought. Lesson learned, even if you don’t like what you made, someone else very well may love it, so give it away. I am very hesitant, but I will be back in the kitchen soon, I swear!

Tips for next time: I wouldn’t make these again. If you want to, I would switch the whole wheat back to AP flour. I would add a leavener to the dry ingredients.
Donut Muffins
1 cup All Purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 cup oil

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

3/4 cups milk

Topping:

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon (mix with the sugar)

Preheat to 350 degrees F. In a bowl combine the flours, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl combine the oil, sugar, egg, and milk. Add the liquids to the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Pour into standard size muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Turn the muffins out of tins. While still warm, dip the muffin tops in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture.