Grilled Bananas Two Ways

The boy is coming back! I made a special treat in honor of his return, but more on that later. Since he was gone, along with all but 1 of my friends (with whom I had dinner twice), I just relaxed in the apartment all weekend. I cleaned my room, I watched Sex and the City (about 3 dvd’s worth) and I baked. First was chocolate chip cookies, then these grilled banana desserts, then the surprise goodie for the boy.

After a very healthy dinner of home made chicken soup, I decided to have a semi-healthy dessert of grilled bananas with different types of chocolate. I got the idea from a food network special on grilling girls. This will be my entry into this week's ARF/5-a-Day hosted by Sweetnicks. Check out the other participants' ideas for fruity, vegetably or other good for you foods!

I got out the foreman grill and my 2 leftover bananas. One I sliced in quarters as per the show’s recommendation, the other I sliced the way I thought it would be prettiest. Well, mine was prettier, but the quartered banana was more stable and solid when standing up to the grill.

I preferred the 2nd one on all accounts. I liked the combination of flavors better, I liked the texture better, and I liked the look better. Both were yummy, but the quartered banana with chocolate peanut better sauce was far superior.

Tips and changes for next time: Quarter the bananas. Do not use chocolate syrup in the chocolate peanut butter combo, just use the chocolate chips or pieces. Perhaps try coating in sugar (but not cinnamon) to get a caramelized edge before toping with chocolate peanut butter sauce. SERVE WITH ICE CREAM!

Sliced Banana with Cinnamon Sugar and Chocolate Syrup
1 banana
Cinnamon sugar
Chocolate syrup
Pam

Heat grill and spray with pam. Slice banana on an angle into ½ to 1 inch thick pieces. Sprinkle banana with cinnamon sugar and put on hot grill. Grill until soft and warm. Top with chocolate syrup.

Grilled Banana with Peanut Butter Chocolate Sauce
1 banana
1TBSP peanut butter
1TBSP chocolate chips or pieces
1 tsp chocolate syrup
1 TBSP peanuts
Pam

Heat grill and spray with pam. Slice banana once across and once down. Put banana (skin still on) and peanuts onto the grill and cook until warm. In microwave, melt peanut butter, chocolate chips and chocolate syrup (about 20 sec). Combine and pour over banana and peanuts.

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)

Caramel Macchiato Brownies

As you may have figured out by now, I have a tendency of bringing goodies to work to give to coworkers. As you likely do NOT know, I have accidentally left the neediest set of coworkers without sweets. The poor paralegal and legal interns sit tucked away in the shared intern room in the no-mans-land part of the office. Only when they need to use a copier do they get anywhere near my desk, so they never see the goodies I have until they are all gone. These guys don’t get paid, but they come in everyday, do tedious tasks, and I don’t even give them baked goods! I am a horrible human being! This was kindly brought to my attention yesterday when one of the paralegal interns who I’m friends with mentioned that he didn’t get any of the smores cupcakes; they were all gone before he came over for his copying! I felt so bad and realized that I should really make sure these unpaid student interns have some good food, along with their good legal experiences. Thus began last night’s work.

As soon as I decided to bake for the interns, I knew I wanted to bake my caramel macchiato brownies. This decision was because Once Upon a Tart is holding her Brownie Babe of the Month contest, and boy, would I love to be the Brownie Babe this month! This recipe is perfect, I thought, since I created it for my school’s Iron Chef contest and won 1st place in the dessert category for it! That prize bought me a new hand mixer and a blender, so maybe the recipe can now get me an awesome apron, as well as the adoration of the interns ;)

Well, mission successful on the latter ½. The 2 interns who have tried it so far seemed to have enjoyed them. One kept licking his fingers! Always a compliment to the chef! Or just a sign that the caramel is gooey…

I first created these brownies using my favorite brownie base recipe (Rocky Road Brownies from The Treasury of Home Baking), and decided to make them like the Starbucks drink by adding coffee, topping with cream cheese (to replicate the cream foam) and caramel. They come out thick, rich and fudgey with a wonderful depth of flavor from the coffee and caramel and a sweetness from the frosting. It combines so well that your daily trip to Starbucks may become superfluous!

So that is the story behind the decision to make the brownies, and now the self deprecating story of their making. Let me start with the fact that I have a history of hurting myself baking. I have a scar on my left forearm from the removal of a cookie sheet that went awry. I have dents in my foot from where I stepped on broken glass from my salsa jar. This history did not evade me last night when I burnt 3 (THREE) of my fingers in a REALLY stupid mistake with the caramel. Look at the directions I give you. They say to heat in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time. Normally it takes me about 30 seconds, and I am lazy, so I just hit the “add minute” button and stop it every 10 seconds. That is, unless I am dumb like I was last night, and I go to answer my phone after I start it. I came back to the microwave with 7 seconds left. I cooked the caramel for 53 seconds straight.

Lesson 1) caramel bubbles and poofs when it is hot and even a handful will start overflowing from a bowl.

Lesson 2) Even if it is overflowing, do not remove said bubbling caramel from the microwave because it is HOT!

I opened the microwave, and at the sight of bubbling caramel getting on the microwave, I decided to quickly remove it. Except that boiling caramel is HOT and I burned 3 of my fingers in the process of the rescue mission. I spent the rest of the night icing my hands with a bag of the frozen green bell pepper soup (I KNEW it would come in handy!). Self deprecating stupidity story aside, this is a great, (almost) fool-proof recipe that anyone who can even tolerate coffee will love.

Tips for next time: pay attention to the caramel. Otherwise, I have made this recipe exactly to my liking.
Caramel Macchiato Brownies

Rocky Road Brownie Base
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick) butter
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
(toppings omitted)
(I add 3 TBSP instant coffee powder)

Preparation:
1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 8-inch square pan.

2.Combine butter and cocoa in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.

3.(I add coffee powder and combine)

4.Remove from heat; stir in sugar, flour, buttermilk, egg and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

5.Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes or until center feels dry.

(I have omitted the final steps that are based around the rocky road toppings)

Caramel Macchiato Topping
INGREDIENTS:
½ to ¾ cup store bought cream cheese frosting
Instant coffee powder
Worthers original chewy caramels (not the hard candy, the soft, chewy ones)
TBSP water
Mix ½ to ¾ cup of cream cheese frosting with a light sprinkle of instant coffee powder and spread on cooled brownies. Sprinkle with instant coffee powder to get a speckled effect.
Put a handful of Worthers original chewy caramels in a microwave safe bowl with about a tablespoon of water and a pinch of instant coffee powder. Heat for 10 seconds at a time in the microwave (stirring once possible) until it is soft enough to drizzle on top. Drizzle the caramel over the brownie and decorate as you wish. Refrigerate.

Malted Milk Cupcakes With Chocolate Malt Frosting

I had a fabulous weekend a few days ago. As I mentioned in the last post, my cooking mojo was back and I made some real treats, but I also spent tons of time with my darling chicas (run-girl-run and the roomie in particular). I love these girls, and yet I feel like I don’t spend enough time with them, so I was thrilled when the roomie came in from NY Friday and we all went to dinner and a movie. We saw Hairspray, with which I am now completely obsessed. I have been singing “you can’t stop the beat” and thinking about Link for the past 5 days!
(run-girl-run and the roomie)

After the movie, we came back to the apartment and I let the gals vote on what baking project they wanted to do. They chose the cupcake equivalent of the malted whopper drop cookies. We had a blast making them! We kind of made a mess, but who cares when you are having fun!

(run-girl-run, me and the roomie)

These guys came out of the oven and were delicious plain, but even better with frosting. Once a few were frosted, run-girl-run’s roomie and a friend came over and we all just hung out and talked while they finished their drinks (you will see a margarita glass in the pictures!). Overall it was such a good night with great company and great food (oh, and a great movie with great casting, sigh).
Malted Milk Cupcakes with Chocolate Malt Frosting (adapted from 52 Cupcakes)
Makes 12 cupcakes

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC)

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (replaced about 1/8 a cup w/ chocolate ovaltine)
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter,
melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
2 tsp malted milk powder (used chocolate ovaltine and added extra)
1 cup chocolate-covered malted milk balls, halved (beat in Ziploc bag as I recommended in whopper drop post)

1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, butter and eggs until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together milk and malted milk powder.
3. Alternately whisk flour mixture and milk mixture into butter mixture, making three additions of flour mixture and two of milk mixture, beating
until smooth. Stir in malted milk balls.
4. Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on
rack. Top cooled cupcakes with frosting.

Chocolate Malt Frosting
Makes about 1-1/2 Cups
(enough to frost 12-18 cupcakes)

1-1/2 cups confectioner’s (icing) sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder, sifted (used less and used chocolate ovaltine instead of part to get malt flavor)
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
2 tsp chocolate cream liqueur (replaced by milk)
1 tsp strong brewed coffee or milk (used milk)
Pinch salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy and combined.

Smores Cupcakes

My kitchen mojo came back this weekend and I took full advantage of it! I baked malted milk cupcakes with fudge frosting, honeyed peach french toast, berries and peaches angel food cake and, these gems, smores cupcakes. Two versions of cupcakes in one weekend may seem like a lot, but when you just got your mini cupcake holders, aka mini nut and party cups, in the mail, you too would feel compelled to make cupcakes. I am so happy that I have the cooking bug back, because these were delicious. I say were because all the ones I brought to work are already gone. Glad I left some at home! I also made up a little box with 4 of the mini-cupcakes for the boy to take with him. He's going to be gone for about a week (so expect some adventurous dinner ideas!)

In addition to having made these goodies, I also got a baking gift. I was feeling really lousy Sunday (let’s just say I had a little too much fun Saturday night), so the boy ran errands and entertained himself in the afternoon. He said that on his trip to Borders, he saw something he couldn’t resist getting me. I hate when he spends money on me, but it did really brighten my porcelain-god worshipping day. The gift was 2 little books: one on cookies and bars, the other on muffins. Since I lack self rising flour and the boy doesn’t like fruity muffins, I didn’t use it last night, but trust me I will.

Instead I made the smores cupcakes. I used the graham cracker cupcake recipe from vanilla and garlic’s post about key lime pie cupcakes. I then frosted with the chocolate glaze from the terry’s chocolate orange cake, but replaced the orange juice with about 4 tablespoons marshmallow fluff. Voila. Graham Cracker Cupcakes with Chocolate Marshmallow Glaze- AKA Smores Cupcakes.

Tips for next time: do NOT overfill the cupcake holders. I left space at the top of mine yet the majority still overflowed. Those were not pretty, but they still tasted good, so after breaking off the dough avalanches, I still frosted them and brought them to work. Some made it without overflow, though! I may make these as full size next time, but make more frosting to cover them.

After having 2 of the mini cupcakes, one of my coworkers asked for the recipe. Below is exactly what I sent to her (without the pics).
Graham Cupcakes
Makes 12-14 cupcakes / 350 F oven
What You’ll Need...
1/2 cup of butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 cup of milk
1 cup of flour
1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of salt

What You’ll Do...
1) Beat the butter for about 30 seconds until well creamed. Add the sugar and mix for 3 minutes using a paddle attachment until light and fluffy.
2) Add the eggs, one at a time, being sure to beat for 30 seconds for each egg.
3) Place graham crackers in a food processor or in a plastic bag and beat the crud out of them until it's been ground into small crumbs and powder.
4) Sift together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda and powder, and salt. Add about 1/4 of the mixture to the butter mixture, then add some of the milk. Continue to add the ingredients in a dry-wet-dry method, ending with the dry. Continue to mix until just combined.
5) Scoop into cupcake papers and bake for 15-18 minutes in a 350 F oven or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Notes: Made 35 mini cupcakes, baked for about 12 min. Do not overfill as these really poofed up and overflowed for me.

Chocolate Marshmallow Glaze
1 cup semisweet chocolate, chopped

3 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp light corn syrup

3-4 TBSP marshmallow fluff

Combine chocolate, butter and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until well combined about 2-3 minute. Remove from heat and stir in marshmallow fluff. Glaze your cooled cupcakes.

Notes: This only allows for a light covering of the cupcakes. If you like a lot of frosting, multiply it by 1 ½

(Green) Red Bell Pepper Soup (AKA My Mojo, Baby, Pt 2)

This is a follow-up to the last post, referencing my lack of kitchen mojo. I am happy to report that since this incident, I have gotten my mojo back and have made some tasty delights which will be written about later.

The lovely picture above, as well as the mystery picture from last week are of a red bell pepper soup that I decided to make with green peppers. Ya, definitely changed the look of the dish. On Smitten Kitchen’s page, the dish is a luscious red, much like a tomato soup. You just want to dive in head-first and swim in the rich, deep red liquid. Mine, looks like the goo from ghost busters. I was surprised it didn’t start dancing when I sang to it. Note to self…AGAIN…follow instructions. This one may taste ok, but that color is not acceptable. If I had only used the slightly more expensive red peppers, I would have a good soup. As is, it tastes decent enough, but, because of the color, I don’t know if I can eat it. It is all in storage containers in my freezer waiting for St Patty’s day, I think!

Besides the color, my lack of mojo was apparent with the ingredient “1/4 cup dry white wine.” I could not, for the life of me, get the bottle open. It still sits on my counter with a shredded cork, mocking me and my inability to open it. And it is supposedly a decent wine too! I don’t know what to do?! Should I break it open or just throw it out? So sad and pathetic. As for the soup, I halved the recipe so that I didn’t waste 12 peppers if it wasn’t good. I am quite glad about this fact since I can’t get the green good into my mouth. Below is the full recipe as it appears on Smitten Kitchen’s blog. My notes are in parentheses.

Tips for next time: There won’t be a next time for me,just because of the color and expense of the peppers, but if you would like to make it, use good RED bell peppers. I just think following the instructions would fix it right up.

Red Pepper Soup (New York Times 9/21/05 )
Total time: 45 minutes
2 tablespoons olive oil

3¼ cup sliced onions

3 large cloves garlic, crushed

¼ cup dry white wine (I used cooking sherry since it was already open)

12 large red bell peppers, cut in 1-inch pieces (I used green. Do not use green. Use red!)

2 cups no-salt-added chicken or vegetable stock or broth

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme (Could not find it at the farmers market or the store- is it a winter thing?- so I used basil)

¼ to ½ teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Salt and white pepper

Crème fraîche for garnish

Thyme sprigs for garnish.

1. Put oil in large pot. Add onion when oil is hot. Cook onions until they begin to soften and take on color.

Add garlic and cook another minute. Add wine and cook down quickly, until about 1 tablespoon is left.
2. Add peppers, stock, thyme and red pepper flakes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and simmer until peppers are tender, about 30 minutes. 3. In food processor or blender, purée mixture in batches until smooth. Adjust seasonings.4. Cover and chill overnight or for as long as 2 days or freeze (whisk well before serving if thawed). Can also be served warm.
5. Serve in demitasse cups or soup bowls, topped with a dab of crème fraîche and a tiny sprig of thyme.

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.