Sour Cream Maple Walnut Muffins

Maybe it's because I'm Canadian... but when I'm looking for a comforting treat to bake, I often reach for the bottle of maple syrup in the pantry. It adds a lovely depth to any baked good, even if the maple flavor is not front and centre. Maple brings out the warmth in any cake or muffin. However, in these muffins, Maple is the star.



Sour Cream Maple-Walnut Muffins
Makes 12 small | adapted from food.com

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
6 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons maple syrup
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tsp sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place paper liners in 12 muffin cups.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using an electric mixer, cream butter, 1/4 cup sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add egg and beat well.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together sour cream and maple syrup. On low speed, add 1/2 dry ingredients to butter-sugar mixture. Pour in 1/3 sour cream mixture.

4. Add remaining dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with sour cream mixture then gently fold in first amount of chopped walnuts. Beat until just blended.

5. In a small bowl, stir together walnuts, cinnamon and sugar. Pour batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle top of each muffin with walnut mixture.

6. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Chocolate Ricotta Muffins

I am enjoying a peaceful morning at my boyfriend's parents place in Port Angeles, WA. This is my first time visiting his parents here. They have a cozy and welcoming home in a beautiful setting. It is such a nice change from the city. When you stand outside and no one is talking all you hear is nature. No cars, no traffic, no humming electronics. I feel like I have been pulled in a million directions lately, so this weekend away is just what I needed to distract me from the stressfulness of September when everything gears back up after the summer.

I made these muffins one morning last week when my mind was racing and I woke up at 3AM. Baking always grounds me and brings my focus together. These muffins are deeply chocolate flavored with chocolate chips strewn throughout the batter. They are moist and taste even better the next day. Their richness comes from the ricotta - a low fat cheese - so you get the moistness without adding a whole lot of fat. To me, the ricotta flavor is not obvious, but it definitely adds that little something more to the recipe. I think they would be great with white chocolate chips next time.



Chocolate Ricotta Muffins
Makes 12-16 | adapted from Food.com

1 cup ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line 16 muffin pans with paper liners.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk the ricotta cheese and then add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the milk, vanilla extract, and cooled and melted butter, mixing well. Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder. Add the ricotta mixture to the flour mixture. Stir just until combined and then fold in the chocolate chips. Do not over mix.

4. Divide the batter amongst the muffin cups. Bake about 20 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Veselka Cafe's Banana Crunch Muffins

If you like muffins with a crunchy, crispy top then these muffins from Veselka of East Village, New York, fit the bill! The recipes includes a streusel for the topping but I baked them up without and loved them all the same. I find streusels a little messy and they also decrease the portability of a muffin.

New York Magazine describes Veselka Restaurant as, "Blessed with 24-hour service and a perfect location for feeding the East Village's après-club crowds, Veselka has become the stop for late-night diners." New York is such a foodie's dream. If I visited, I wouldn't even know where to begin my taste tour. Maybe one day I will get a chance to visit. In the meantime, cookbooks like this one are a good start.

Banana Crunch Muffins
Makes 12 large | Veselka Cookbook

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
2 tbsp rolled oats
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

Batter:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
4 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup buttermilk
2 large bananas, sliced
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

1. Topping: Place all ingredients in a small bowl and cut in butter until resembles small pebbles. Chill while preparing batter or make ahead, cover and refrigerate for future use.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour or line a 12 cup large muffin pan. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy then add vanilla and eggs. In a separate bowl combine flour, powder and salt.

3. Add 1/3 flour mixture to butter and eggs and beat until smooth then add 1/3 buttermilk and mix. Continue to alternate until all flour and buttermilk have been incorporated. Gently fold in bananas and walnuts. Spoon into prepared muffin cups, filling to 3/4 full. You may need a few extra muffin cups for extra batter.

4. Bake approximately 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes before unmolding and cooling completely. Store airtight.

TWD: Coffee Break Coffee Cake/Muffins

This recipe this week was chosen by Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous for Tuesday's with Dorie.

I did both the muffin version and a coffee-coffee cake version topped with chopped up Coffee Crisp chocolate bars and a simple icing drizzle.

They were definitly not mild mannered muffins/cake. They packed a jolt of bold coffee flavor studded with large chunks of rich, melty chocolate. I hardly noticed the whole wheat flour and I actually liked the little bit of extra texture the muffins had as a result of it. If you are a coffee fiend you could even add extra instant coffee powder or pure espresso rather than just brewed coffee, as I will likely do next time.

Sour Cream Lemon Blueberry Muffins

So moist and flavorful. They are finely textured with a slight tang from the sour cream that complements the light lemon flavor of the muffin. They are more cake-like than muffin-like but that's maybe why I like them so much. A nutty streusel is the perfect topping to finish these off, making the tops of these muffins simply fantastic.

Sour Cream Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Makes 12 | adapted from Marcy Goldman

1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 lemon, zest and juice of
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp milk or water

2 1/4 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries

2 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp flour

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin tins. Combine flour, powder, soda and salt in a small bowl.

2. In a separate large bowl cream together butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy. Add zest, juice vanilla and egg beating to combine ten add sour cream and milk/water.

3. Stir in flour mixture and blueberries very gently, until just combined. Do not over mix. Spoon into muffin tins right to the brim.

4. Prepare topping: combine melted butter, walnuts, flour and sugar until mixture is like wet sand. Add more melted butter if needed. Sprinkle muffins generously with topping, pressing into the batter to adhere. Bake 25-30 mins or until golden brown and toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs on it.

Wholesome Fruit Muffins

"With four whole grains and three dried fruits, these muffins are a great way to get a variety of antioxidants and fiber. Wheat germ is a good source of vitamin E. Look for untoasted wheat germ in the organic food section of the supermarket. Adding boiling water to the batter and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes before baking allows the hearty oats, wheat germ, and bran to soak up the liquid for a more tender muffin." - CL

Happy Monday everyone! Looks like I'm starting the week off on a healthy foot, showing that wholesome can indeed still be yummy! These muffins are proof. Feel free to switch it up flavorings with different dried fruits or even swap in some chopped apple. One word of advice: I recommend using paper liners in your muffin tins as these tend to stick (due to the low fat content). I learned that the painful way as many of these had to be dug out, leaving some muffin bits stuck to the pan.



Wholesome Fruit Muffins
12 servings | Adapted from Cooking Light, Jan 2006

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons untoasted wheat germ
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice, let stand 15 mins)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup boiling water

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in oats and dried fruit. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in boiling water. Let batter stand 15 minutes.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Orange Pineapple Muffins

One of the most satisfying things for me to do is to bake something using leftovers or bits and pieces from the pantry that would be otherwise thrown out. It's so rewarding to "recycle" in this way by infusing new life into food. One of my pet peeves is also throwing away or wasting food, so all in all I was happy to stumble upon this muffin recipe.

I had left over pineapple from the hawaiian mushroom pizza I made a few days ago. This recipe produced an extremely moist and fragrant muffin that is actually pretty healthy because it gets a lot of its moisture from the pineapple juice instead of from fats such as oil/butter/sour cream. It has 1 cup of juice and only 1/4 cup of oil!

I brought them to work and the delicious aroma of these nearly drove me crazy in the car. A wonderful, light, morning muffin.

Orange Pineapple Muffins
Makes 8

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1 cup pineapple or orange juice
1/4 cup shortening, melted, or vegetable oil
1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Mix together dry ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, orange zest, juice, shortening/oil and crushed pineapple. Add dry ingredients and mix just to combine, do not over mix. Scoop into lined muffin tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Magnolia's Raspberry Cream Cheese Buns

I, a little Canadian girl, survived Black Friday. LOL. I was feeling brave and adventurous last week so my mom, sis and I went down to Seattle on Thursday after work and shopped till we dropped. I could not believe the line ups at Target even just to pay. But, I got a $3 crock pot and a $20 deep fryer, so it's worth it. One line up I wouldn't stand in is at Coach. I couldn't believe it - 2x around the block! It was super fun and your adrenaline gets going and you forget you're even tired in the first place. I wish I were American, cause Black Friday rocks!

Things I want to make with my new deep fryer: donut holes, samosas, spring rolls, churros, apple or banana fritters, deep fried mars bars (do I dare?!)

OK... on to the real yummy stuff.



These are from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook and are wonderfully fluffy and moist, not too sweet or heavy. The cookbook has some good recipes but a lot of duplication of recipes between this and other Magnolia recipe books. This is one of those books I'd recommend checking out of the library instead of buying. A lot of Magnolia recipes are also online. The Magnolia Bakery has 3 locations in New York. Dammit, I want to go to NY - all the good food is there!!! Junior's Cheesecake and Magnolia plus more! I just wonder why they call them buns and not muffins because they sure look like muffins to me! Either way, they're well worth the 5 minutes it takes to throw them together.

The book writes:
These buns have been our most popular breakfast item at the bakery since the first day we opened our doors. The flavors of the cream cheese and the preserves work really well together.

Magnolia's Raspberry Cream Cheese Buns
Makes 12

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
one 8-oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar until smooth, 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 serving.

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

Thanks to Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table for choosing these muffins this week. Visit her site for the recipe. They were a nice, spicy treat, perfect for thanksgiving breakfast (Canadian) this weekend. I added 3/4 cup raisins for texture and omitted the streusel since many people said theirs ran off the muffin anyway. They turned out nothing short of delicious, although more cake like than muffin like. Next time I might add some finely chopped apple and use cinnamon instead of allspice for a change.

These gave me a chance to use my new silicone muffin liners which I happen to have fallen in love with. I don't generally like silicone bakeware because it doesn't brown properly, is flimsy and seems to give off a funny smell. However, these liners are great and they make me wanna bake more muffins and cupcakes. Totally non-stick and make me feel like I'm taking a little step towards saving the environment by cutting down on the paper-liner garbage without adding any oil (no non-stick spray).

I thought I would be baking up a storm for Thanksgiving, but I have been so busy lately that I didn't even get a chance to make any special desserts, not even a cheesecake. Our family decided not to do the turkey thing this year because of our busy schedules. Instead, we drove down to the Seattle Premium Outlets where I bought myself a bunch of new kitchen stuff from Kitchen Collection. I envy Americans because you guys have KC and we don't! That store and Le Gourmet Chef are my two factory outlet faves. I love shopping and also don't mind not having turkey since I have personally always found Thanksgiving and Christmas to be too close together- too much food in too little time! Another good thing is that it means Christmas dinner will be even more anticipated this year!