Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Today's the day that I confess to all of you that I am completely - 100% - helplessly addicted to - SUGAR!  I'm not proud of it and I realize that I have to get my sugar addiction under control but admitting that I have a problem is the first step, right?  I realized that sugar had some sort of weird power over me when I started to wake up in the morning - craving sugar.  An apple cinnamon muffin seemed like a perfectly acceptable breakfast to jump start my blood sugar levels in the morning.  OK, I know that it's time to get back to eating oatmeal - without sugar - but in the meantime, if you're craving sugar like me, enjoy this super yummy apple cinnamon muffin recipe from the-girl-who-ate-everything.com.

Apple Muffins

Source: Marissa Pinon

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar (or use 1 1/2 cups for a less sweet muffin)
2 eggs
1 cup oil
1 Tablespoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups peeled, cored, diced apples (around 3 apples)
Brown sugar for topping (around 1/2 cup)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with paper liners.
Cream together sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla.

Sift flour, baking soda, salt, and ground cinnamon (I never sift and they turn out fine). Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture and mix until combined. The batter will be very thick.

 
Add the diced apples.

 
Fill paper liners almost to the top, about 3/4 of the way full.

Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-24 minutes. Makes 18 muffins.

Even though the muffins didn't have nice rounded tops, they were still delicious.  The apples kept the muffins moist and the cinnamon added a nice warm flavor.  Of course, the combination of white and brown sugar made them irresistible.  (Exactly what I was craving.)

I hope that all of my fellow sugar addicts out there enjoy these as much as I did.

Ciao!

You know that Christmas is close when Mia starts sporting her festive red jingle bell studded scarf.

Mia is super excited about all of the sweet smelling treats in the house this time of year.  For those of you who are curious, she is STILL banned from entering the kitchen.  (Remember the icing roses that she helped herself to?)  Even though I don't allow her in the kitchen that hasn't stopped her from sneaking into the forbidden room while we're all in bed.  I have to put everything away safely before I go to bed because anything left out would be far to tempting for her to resist.  I made a batch of Oatmeal bread recently and after it had cooled, I wrapped it tightly in plastic wrap and put it into my freezer  (to protect it from Mia AND from teenagers) to save it for another day. 

I sliced a few pieces before I put the loaf away.  It was super delicious and even better toasted and topped with a pat of butter. 

Oatmeal Bread

This tender, high-rising bread makes wonderful sandwiches and great toast.

• 3 cups King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 cup rolled oats (old-fashioned oats)
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar or honey
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast OR 1 packet active dry yeast*
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm milk
• 3/4 cup raisins or currants (optional)
• *If you use active dry yeast, dissolve it in the warm milk before combining with the remaining ingredients.

Directions

1) In a large mixing bowl, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all of the ingredients, mixing to form a shaggy dough. Knead dough, by hand (10 minutes) or by machine (5 minutes) till it's smooth.

2) Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and allow it to rest for 1 hour; it'll become quite puffy, though it may not double in bulk. Shape as directed below.

3) Bread machine method: Place all of the ingredients (except the fruit) into the pan of your machine, program machine for manual or dough, and press Start. About 10 minutes before the end of the second kneading cycle, check dough and adjust its consistency as necessary with additional flour or water; finished dough should be soft and supple. Add the raisins or currants about 3 minutes before the end of the final kneading cycle. Shape as directed below.

4) Shaping: Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled surface, and shape it into a log. Place the log in a lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan, cover the pan (with an acrylic proof cover, or with lightly greased plastic wrap), and allow the dough to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, till it's crested 1" to 2" over the rim of the pan.

5) Baking: Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 190°F. If the bread appears to be browning too quickly, tent it with aluminum foil for the final 10 minutes of baking.

Yield: 1 loaf.

This is a really versatile loaf of bread.  Delicious plain, with butter, almond butter, apple butter or even jam. 

I may have to make 2 loaves of Oatmeal bread next time, one to eat and one to save.

Ciao!

Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe Challenge - Part 2

 

This is it - the second Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe in 2 days. Are you excited? It's so much fun to make a recipe challenge for myself. (If I compete against myself - I always win!)

So without further ado - here is Chocolate Chip muffin recipe number 2 courtesy of Twopeasandtheirpod.com.  

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Cook Time: 17-20 minutes

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips ( I used semi-sweet)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Set pan aside.










2. In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.











 
3.  In medium bowl stir together melted butter,  eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla extract until well blended.

 






Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the liquid mixture into the well and gently stir until combined.

 
Stir in chocolate chips.

 

4.  Spoon batter into muffins cups.

 
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Remove muffins from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

So here it is - moment of truth.  Which chocolate chip muffin recipe was the clear winner?  Was it recipe #1 from bakerella?

Or did I like recipe #2 from Two peas and their pod better?

The answer ... Recipe number 2 was the clear winner of the first ever Amy Davis chocolate chip muffin recipe contest.  Yea!



I thought these muffins were outstanding but I didn't want to be the only one to judge their extraordinary taste.  Who better to help me taste test a new muffin recipe than a group of hungry, teenage cross country runners?  I didn't even need to ask their opinion, the look on their faces told me everything that I needed to know.  They whole heartily agreed that these muffins were fantastic. 

Ciao!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe Challenge - Part 1

Brace yourself, I am about to embark on the very first ever Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe taste challenge. (Can you feel the excitement?)  What inspired this, you ask?  I have a decent chocolate chip muffin recipe but I always felt like there was room for improvement.  In my search for the next great chocolate chip muffin, I came across 2 different recipes and I couldn't seem to decide between them.  So there you have it, it was my indecisiveness that led to this muffin recipe challenge. 

I baked 2 different batches of chocolate chip muffins, hoping to find a new favorite muffin recipe.  Even though the recipes were quite similar, they produced very different results.   I'm going to keep my personal opinion about which muffin was my favorite a secret until tomorrow when I've had the chance to give you the second recipe.

Sit back and enjoy the first of two chocolate chip muffin recipes courtesy of bakerella.com.

Chocolate Chip Muffins
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter, cooled slightly
6 oz. semisweet chocolate chunks
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tray with 12 regular size baking cups.

 

In a medium bowl, stir flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together with a wire whisk until combined.

In another bowl, stir sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Stir until combined.

Fold in dry ingredients.

 

Stir in chocolate chunks.

 









Divide batter into baking cups.

Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until done.

 

Makes 12 regular or 9 larger muffins. Bake a couple minutes longer for taller muffins.

 

So there you have it, the first part of the great chocolate chip muffin recipe.  The chocolate to muffin ratio of these muffins was extraordinary.  Some people might argue that there were too many chocolate chips and that they overwhelmed the muffin but in my opinion, the more chocolate the better.  (Keep in mind that this is a chocolate chip muffin challenge.) 


Be sure and check back on the blog tomorrow for part 2 of the recipe challenge.  You definitely don't want to miss out on recipe #2 or the results of the challenge.  (How's that for a cliff hanger?)

See you tomorrow on the blog.
Ciao!