Orange Muffins

It happened...our church time got switched to the afternoon. It is always stressful just thinking about trying to deal with church with young kids during nap time, let alone trying to make dinner after we get home.  Whenever this happens, I have to switch gears.  I generally make big breakfasts and take Sunday dinners to the simplistic level.  So be prepared for lots more breakfast posts from me!

These muffins were just what I was hoping for.  I LOVE baking with citrus fruits, and this gave me the tang I was craving.  They are not overly sweet themselves, but the glaze adds just enough sweet to balance it all out.  So good :)

Orange Muffins

For the muffins:

1 cup milk

½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

½ cup sour cream

2 large eggs

2 sticks (16 tbsp.) unsalted butter, melted

3½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1½ tbsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

Zest of 1 orange (organic if possible)

For the glaze:

¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1½ cups confectioners’ sugar

1-2 tsp. orange zest (organic if possible)

Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line 16 wells of a muffin pan (or pans) with paper liners.  In a medium mixing bowl, combine the milk, orange juice, sour cream, eggs and melted butter.  Whisk together to blend.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Stir to blend.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated.  Fold in the orange zest with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups.  Bake about 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack placed over a baking sheet.

To make the glaze, combine the orange juice, confectioners’ sugar, and orange zest in a small bowl.  Whisk together until smooth, adding more juice if necessary to achieve your preferred consistency.  Drizzle the glaze over the muffins while they are still warm.  Allow the glaze to set before serving.  Store in an airtight container.

Recipe Source:  Annie's Eats

Mormon Muffins

Once upon a time I lived in Ogden Utah (ok, it was almost the first 25 years of my life!).  In Ogden, there is a restaurant that is famous for their...get this...BRAN MUFFINS!!  They call them "Mormon Muffins," and I'm not sure why, nor have I done my research.  In any case, these bran muffins have always been my favorite!  Put a little dab of butter or a squirt of honey, or even some homemade honey butter, and you have a divine treat!  The restaurant is called the Greenery, and it is inside Rainbow Gardens.  So next time you visit O-town, pass by and give these a try!

I won't lie, I haven't had one of these in years, so I won't tell you they are a dead-on match, but they must be close since the recipe is on their website!!!

Mormon Muffins

2 5 1 2 4 1 5 1 4 2 1	cups tsp cup cups each quart cups tsp cups cups cup	boiling water baking soda shortening sugar eggs buttermilk flour salt All Bran Cereal 40% Bran Flakes walnuts (chopped)
Add soda to boiling water and set aside.  Whip shortening and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs slowly.  Mix well.  Add the buttermilk, flour, salt and mix again.  Add the soda water very slowly.  Gently fold the cereals and the walnuts into the mix. Spoon 1/8 cup into greased muffin tins.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes. Muffin mix must sit in the refrigerator over night before baking.  Muffin mix will last one week, covered and refrigerated.  Yields 3 dozen muffins.

Recipe Source:  The Greenery Restaurant

Delicious Blueberry Muffins with Blueberry Swirl

It has been far too long since I made muffins from scratch seriously...like over 2 years since I tried a new recipe!  It is now time to redeem myself!  So, here we go with a muffin that doesn't only taste good, but is darn pretty to look at!  These muffins have whole blueberries inside as well as a swirl of some beautiful blueberry syrup.  The result is a cakey, moist muffin sure to please anyone!  

Stay tuned, I feel a muffin-baking spree coming on and have lots of recipes on my list to try!  Some are healthy, some just look sinful ;)

Delicious Blueberry Muffins with Blueberry Swirl


Lemon-Sugar Topping:
1/3 cup sugar
zest from one lemon

Muffins:
2 cups frozen blueberries (or 2 cups fresh)
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

For the topping, stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.

For the muffins, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Rinse one cup frozen berries under cold water and spread on a double layer of paper towels to dry well. Bring remaining one cup berries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with a spoon several times and stirring frequently, until the berries have broken down and the mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl. Toss the berries that have dried on the paper towels in with the flour mixture. Whisk remaining 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture into flour mixture until just moistened. The batter will be lumpy with a few dry spots of flour – don’t overmix. This is the key to moist and tender muffins.

Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, fill the muffin cups until they are about 3/4 full. Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into the center of each mound of batter. Using a skewer (or a chopstick), gently swirl the berry filling into the batter using a figure eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over the muffins.

Bake until the top of the muffins are golden and just firm, 17-18 minutes. Cool muffins in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.


Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

French Breakfast Puffs {Donut Muffins}

Conference weekend is so rejuvenating :)  I love chilling at home in my PJs, watching some fabulous messages.  The other good part is making yummy food to snack on while watching.  I made these for breakfast on Sunday morning.  


Have you ever wondered what would happen if a donut and a muffin ever had a child?  Well, this would be the end product!  They are wonderful.  Enjoy :)


French Breakfast Puffs
From: Cooking Club (thanks for sharing Erin W.!)

1/3 c. margarine
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c. milk

Cream margarine and sugar, mix in egg and milk.  In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients.  Add to butter mixture until just combined.  Pour into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 min.  Right after baking, roll muffins in 1/2 c. melted butter and then cinnamon-sugar mixture (1/2 c. sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon).  

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

My child will NOT eat vegetables...never has, and I'm thinking maybe he never will!  It makes me smile when I can at least sneak a little bit off veggies in something I know he loves...in this case, chocolate.   

These muffins are moist and filled with yummy chocolate chips, I'd say even more like a cake than a muffin, so if you want these for breakfast and then again for dessert, I wouldn't blame you :)

Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
From:  Jamie Cooks It Up


4 C flour
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1 1/2 C oil
1 1/2 C milk
3 eggs
2 t vanilla
2 C shredded zucchini
1 1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for only 1 C, but I added an extra 1/2 C......why not?) 
 
1. Mix the wet ingredients together in a bowl with a whisk. Add the zucchini to the wet ingredients.
2. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir, just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and you are ready for the muffin pan baby.
 4. Line your muffin tin with cupcake holders and fill a bit more than 2/3 of the way full. 
5. Bake at 350 for 17 minutes.

Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping

I love blueberries....and I love that they are so cheap right now!  I had a few that needed to be used up, and came across this recipe.  I haven't made homemade muffins in a long time and they sounded excellent.  These were GREAT!  Quite possibly one of the better muffins I have ever made :)


Blueberry Muffins with Cinnamon Crumb Topping
From:  Jamie Cooks It Up


Muffins:
1 1/2 C flour
3/4 C sugar
1/2 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/3 C canola oil (or vegetable)
1 egg
2/3 C milk
1 C fresh or frozen blueberries


Crumb Topping:
1/2 C white sugar
1/3 C flour
1/4 C butter, cubed
1 1/2 t ground cinnamon
In a medium sized bowl stir together the dry ingredients. In a small bowl whisk together the wet....then, let the two worlds collide, folks. Stir just until incorporated, don't over mix.



Add the blueberries and stir ever so carefully. You don't want that beautiful purple juice spreading all over into your batter. If it does, let's not cry about it okay? Let's just be happy about our lives. It is summer after all, and the world is a beautiful place. And we're making muffins. All good things, my friends.



To make the crumb topping choose your self out a small bowl and mix up the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Add the cubed, cold butter and smash it all around with a pastry blender or fork.



This is what you're looking for, nice crumbly crumbs.



Line your muffin tins with liners (or don't, if you don't have any....let's not cry if we don't, okay?) Fill the liners 3/4 of the way full, then sprinkle with the crumb topping.



Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Pumpkin Apple Spice Muffins

It's that time of year!  Yesterday we went apple and pumpkin picking at a local fruit farm, and it was so much fun!  Now, time to use up some of those apples we brought home!  These muffins are mighty tasty, a perfect breakfast for a General Conference weekend!  Thanks to My Kitchen Cafe for sharing this yummy recipe!

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 tablespoons sugar

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs in another bowl and add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice; sprinkle evenly over muffins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

This muffin recipe sounded too good NOT to try!  It comes from Sisters Cafe, as do many of the yummy recipes I have been trying lately! 

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
zest of one lemon
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/2 cup shortening (or butter*)
1 cup frozen blueberries

Topping (this makes extra - you can try cutting it down if you want):

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 Tb lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat egg, milk and shortening. Stir in blueberries. Add dry ingredients and lemon zest. Stir gently to combine. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Combine butter and lemon juice. While the muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the butter and lemon juice, then dip in sugar. Makes 12 muffins.

Banana Nut Muffins

I have been prepping my husband for when I go out of town in a few weeks.  Homemade frozen meals, easy put together meals, and muffins in the freezer.  I never realized how well muffins freeze!  So I have been placing muffins in the freezer, he grabs them, and by the time he gets to school, they are thawed and ready to eat!  My latest flavor, banana nut.  This is a recipe that comes from Tyler Florence from the Food Network.  The only thing I may change for next time is adding more nuts, because I sure love them!

Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 overripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly butter 2 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside. Mash 2 of the bananas with a fork in a small bowl so they still have a bit of texture. With an electric mixer fitted with a wire whisk, whip the remaining bananas and sugar together like you mean it, for a good 3 minutes. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla and beat well, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Mix in the dry ingredients just until incorporated. Fold in the nuts and the mashed bananas with a rubber spatula. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins to fill them about halfway. Give them a rap on the counter to get any air bubbles out.

Bake until a toothpick stuck in the muffins comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes before turning the muffins out. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

This is a great recipe!  The strawberries taste like strawberry jam pockets...yum!  The site I got this recipe from said these get very soggy the next day.  I am going to try and freeze them and see how that goes, because they really are good!  I got this recipe from  Real Mom Kitchen.

.

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped strawberries
3 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and mix well.

Sift flour, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to butter mixture. Add vanilla. Gently stir in strawberries.

Spoon batter into muffin pans.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over muffins.

Bake at 400º for 20-25 minutes.

Makes one dozen muffins. (Make sure you eat them the day you bake them. They aren’t so great the next day.)

Monkey Bread Muffins

I was craving something sweet for Sunday morning breakfast.  Going through my "to try" recipes, I came across this one, and it was what I was looking for.  I adapted it from the recipe I found on Two Peas and Their Pod.  It's definitely not the healthiest, butt every once and a while will make a great treat!

2 cans of flaky refrigerated biscuits

Cinnamon
Sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1 cup of brown sugar
2 tsp water

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Cut the biscuits into 6 pieces.  Combine the cinnamon and sugar. I use extra cinnamon:) Roll the balls in the mixture.  Place pieces evenly into 12 muffin cups.Melt the butter, water, and brown sugar in a small pot on the stove. Stir until melted and bubbly.  Pour the gooey sauce over the muffins.  Bake for 10-12 minutes. (I ended up cooking it for closer to 15 minutes). Cool for a minute in pan. Remove muffins from pan and enjoy.