One Particular Kitchen » muffins

Cranberry orange muffins

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 17:15:18 +0000

This is based on a muffin recipe by Mark Bittman; I tweaked it to use some orange juice and — shocker — some Crasins. These are so good for breakfast, brunch, or even a snack! The Mickey Mouse muffin pan is not required, but certainly adds some cuteness. It does not, however, convince the Kiddo to eat any; your mileage may vary. Recipe made one dozen Mickey muffins.

You will need:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup sugar, or to taste
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
3 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup milk, plus a little more if needed
1 cup Crasins, fresh cranberries or frozen cranberries (no need to defrost first)

To make the muffins:

Preheat oven to 375F
Mix dry ingredients together, then either mix egg through milk separately or in a well in the middle of the dry ingredients (my preferred method). Add in berries and gently fold everything together till it’s just barely incorporated; lumps are your friends
Bake in a well greased or paper lined muffin pan for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out clean. Cool in a metal or glass pan pan for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack, longer for a silicone pan (wait for silicone to be cool to the touch for best results)

Apple cake muffins

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 20:07:48 +0000

Apples. Oats. Chocolate chips. How can this possibly go wrong?

It CAN’T.

My friend Vanessa came over while I was in the middle of winging these today, and they turned out to be the perfect dessert after our lunch of chicken and dumplings. They’re based on Rick Bayless’ recipe for Grandma’s Moist Apple Cake from Rick and Lanie’s Excellent Kitchen Adventures. I tweaked and added and subtracted and adjusted and came up with these. And I’m not sorry.

You will need:

5 ounces whole wheat flour
5 ounces AP flour
5 ounces old fashioned oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, well beaten
1/4 cup yogurt or sour cream
8 ounces butter
3 apples
1 cup chocolate chips

To make:

Preheat oven to 325F and line/grease 18 muffin cups or one Bundt pan or two 9-inch cake pans
Peel and chop apples and dump into a glass bowl; add stick of butter on top and microwave for two minutes till apples are partially cooked and butter is melted; set aside to cool for a bit (to avoid melting your chocolate chips too soon)
Mix all dry ingredients, then make a well in the center and add in vanilla, oil, eggs, yogurt and buttery apples (hello? How good does that sound?) and chocolate chips, then stir everything together until just incorporated
Pour into prepared pan(s) and bake at 325F: about 35 minutes for muffins or layers, about an hour for a Bundt cake; either way watch for it to feel springy in the middle

You can add a chocolate glaze or a dusting of powdered sugar over the top of this, but I think they’re pretty great just as is. Let me know what you think!

Pumpkin muffins

Erin @ One Particular Kitchen — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:50:24 +0000

Behold: my breakfast from now till Christmas!

These are such a lovely start to the morning. Warm and comfort food-ey and delicious even without any butter on them. I’m afraid this is another one of my scrawled-on-a-piece-of-paper recipes so I’m not sure where I originally got it, but I’ve been making them forever.

You will need:

3 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup water
1 can pumpkin
3 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda

Mix all ingredients till just combined — lumps are okay — and fill prepared muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 full; bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 36 muffins.

I love recipes with one step directions.

Some easy edits if you have the urge to health these up a bit:

Cut the sugar — these are lovely and sweet but would still be yummy with less sugar (although when you divide the sugar by 36 muffins it’s not so bad)
Replace 1/2 cup of the oil with 1/2 cup applesauce
Replace half the flour with whole wheat flour

These freeze wonderfully! I freeze them flat on a cookie sheet then drop them in a zip top bag; I take out one every night and it’s thawed by morning when the coffee is ready. You can also pop it in the microwave for a couple seconds to warm it up. Quick and easy comfort food!

Edited to add 11/12/10: Ooh I just found something! For a decadent version of these involving cream cheese check out these from Family Bites!

Carrot Goodness Muffins

Mama — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:22:15 +0000

This is another one of my sneak-good-food-into-The-Kiddo recipes. It turns out, however, that my friend The Healthy Eater loves them too! They’re great for a quick, out-the-door breakfast on the go that doesn’t involve waiting in a fast food line, and keep you filled up till lunch. Yay for that! Adapted from here.

You will need:

1 cup whole wheat flour
½ cup wheat germ
½ bran
¾ cups white sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 pound grated carrots
2 eggs
½ cup apple butter
¼ cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Optional:

1 apple, peeled and chopped
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners, or use non-stick spray
Whisk together eggs, apple butter, oil and vanilla in a small bowl
In a larger bowl stir together flour, wheat germ, bran, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt
Stir in carrots (and apples and raisins if used), then stir in apple butter mixture until just moistened
Scoop muffin batter into muffin cups — about 3/4 full
Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are just turning golden and spring back when lightly pressed

These freeze wonderfully! I make a huge batch of them every couple weeks and freeze them in giant zip top bags, then take out a couple every night — by morning they’re ready to eat!