Apple Cider Muffins

Hello friends!

So in my blogging class we were given an assignment to utilize a random image from a creative commons generator in our post. I must admit I was a little freaked out by this. If any of you have ever been on Flickr's Creative Commons, the first few photos are generally random people in random places that have nothing to do with anything I talk about here on the blog.

photo by USDAgov

How relieved was I that I stumbled onto this photo, totally within the "do not refresh the page over five times" requirement of the assignment?

Ah, crisis averted.

Because I have a wonderfully simple Autumn recipe for you today! So you can munch on these delicious apple cider muffins while sitting on a blanket under trees like these, breathing in the fresh fall air and savoring every bite of chewy muffin goodness.

Simple recipes are where it's at this season. Of course, I love spending tons of time in my kitchen for obvious reasons, but I could always use more "jumping in leaf piles" time so to speak. Don't appreciate the beautiful weather from a window! Go out and experience it!

Have a Happy Autumn Picnic even!

And volunteer to bring dessert: in the form of these muffins. You'll thank me later; I promise.

Happy Baking everyone!

Apple Cider Muffins Via ItBakesMeHappy

2 cups flour
4 packets Apple Spice Cider Mix
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup water

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease/line muffin pan(s).
2. Whisk together flour, cider mix, both sugars, baking powder and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, applesauce, milk and water.
4. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and stir with big wooden spoon until just moistened. Do not overmix.
5. Pour 1/4 cup batter into each cavity of muffin pan.
6. Bake at 375 for 12-16 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool on wire rack.

Apple Cider Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbsp apple cider, room temp

1. Whisk sugar and cider together until glaze forms. If too thick, add a little more cider. If too runny, add a little more powdered sugar. Drizzle over muffins.

Red Velvet Muffins

Hello all!

I know it's been almost a week since I last posted but I have been busily preparing for a VACATION! Now I know what you're thinking: "Isn't she already on summer vacation?" Technically, yes, but this is a vacation I have been looking forward to for years since the last time I traveled. I get to journey with my boyfriend and his family up to Maine for Memorial Day weekend...

and oh, did I mention we are staying on an island off the coast of Maine? My boyfriend's family has owned a home on Great Diamond Island for generations, where the homes have names instead of numbers (which is awesome in and of itself). Beautiful, quiet, serene: this is my kind of island. Not to mention I fell in love with the city of Portland last time I visited there; great food, cute shops, movies for $5...and of course the best lobster around.

The only negative is that his grandparents' home (which is where we are staying) does not have internet access, so I will be posting all of the lovely vacation photos once I return after Memorial Day. With that said, let me share with you one of my newest creations in my quest for baking fame. Hopefully these will hold you over until I return.

I give you....

The Red Velvet Muffin

Now I'm sure I am not the first one to think up a red-velvet-inspired muffin, but I have to say I am pretty darn impressed with how these came out. Bits of white chocolate midst a perfect scarlet hue, and a cake-like texture with just a slight hint of cocoa flavor; I am lovin' these muffins. True, I love almost all muffins, but there is just something purely wonderful about seeing your own idea transform into a successful sweet treat.

I hope these inspire you to create one of your own decadently delicious muffins, or to just test these out to share with friends. These are definitely the way to go if a full slice of red velvet cake seems over-the-top.

Well, I am off to the lovely coast of Maine; enjoy your Memorial Day and I will be back before you know it!

Happy Baking!

Red Velvet Muffins Via Yours Truly

2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 tsp vinegar
2/3 cup white chocolate chips
2 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease one 12 cup muffin pan with cooing spray
2. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and white chocolate chips in a medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together egg, oil, buttermilk and vinegar. Quickly pour wet ingredient mixture into dry ingredient mixture and stir with large wooden spoon until just combined. Do not overmix.
4. Fill muffin cups 2/3 way full with batter and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let cool 5 minutes in pan before removing to wire rack to cool completely.
3. In a separate bowl

Quick Clementine Muffins

Hello all!

I know you are all so surprised to hear from me! But this is a quick post to share with you one of my favorite treats ever...

the muffin.

Because, no matter how many exams or papers I may have, I always have time for muffins. Like Jim Gaffigan said, "they're like muffin vitamins" and are important to maintaining my, erm, sanity to say the least.

So, clementine muffins. Simple, quick, delicious, and wonderfully reminiscent of the warmer weather I and my Northeast friends have been teased with these past few weeks. Will the warm weather stay? Probably not. Will these muffins stick around for long?

Strawberries 'n Cream Muffins

Hello all,

I wasn't going to post again until Valentine's Day but I whipped these up this past Friday and they came out so wonderfully that I couldn't not share it with you all (please ignore the English major using double negatives).

I pinned a recipe for Strawberry Mug Cake awhile back and I had the urge to test it out, and my roommate offered to pick the strawberries up for me while she stopped at Costco. Why I didn't realize that this would be entirely too many strawberries is beyond me, but now I was stuck with them.

So what do I do with the extra strawberries? Turn them into muffins of course!

Did that really surprise anyone? Other than the fact that the post has the word muffin in the name, probably not. I believe we've established I have a bit of muffin mania. It's quite alright, genius is often mistaken for madness.

I am also proud to say that these are entirely my own creation, which makes me even more excited to share it with you. The use of heavy cream gives the muffins a nice touch of sweetness along with a crumbly texture that is melt in your mouth yummy. The addition of white chocolate chips sure didn't hurt either.

These are great just as an any-day indulgence but with Valentine's Day swiftly approaching, I thought this would be great to share as a quick fix for a sweet gift for someone special.

In case your more in the Whoopie Pie mood for the holiday, check back Tuesday for Pink Velvet Whoopie Pies!

Happy Baking!

Strawberries 'n Cream Muffins Via Yours Truly

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 heaping cup chopped strawberries

1 egg

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line/grease one 12-cup muffin pan.

2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. 

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, egg and cream.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in strawberries and white chocolate chips.

5. Fill each cavity of the pan 3/4 of the way full with batter and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

Muffins Again?!
Yes. I know. I have a problem, but after you try this recipe you too will share in my obsession with the so-called "ugly cupcake".
I apologize for the lack of posting, but with the end of the semester and flying down to Florida to visit the parents, I didn't have as much time as I would've liked to whip up more sweet treats. Though, now that I'm settled in and my papers are done, I can finally share this amazing recipe with you all.

Strawberries are not quite in season just yet, but for some reason I had a really strong craving for them. One could blame it on this strangely beautiful Florida weather, or as I'd like to think the over abundance of holiday recipes on FoodGawker has got me searching for goodies that don't involve peppermint or eggnog. Tis The Season to be sure - but strawberries can be festive too...in Florida anyway.

Oh and for that saying "muffins are just ugly cupcakes" ? I present these lovely beauties as evidence that muffins are downright awesome in their own right - and don't need to "lower" themselves to cupcake level by being smothered with frosting.

Note: I do love cupcakes, and I'm not suggesting that it's wrong to enjoy frosting, since I can pretty much polish off a can of Duncan Hines on my own. I'm just suggesting that muffins and cupcakes are completely different baked goods and are both awesome in their own ways. And there you have it - political correctness and equality for all even in the world of baking, who knew.

These are absolutely fabulous. The muffin itself is dense and holds up well with the fruit juices that come oozing out of the ripe berries, and is truly reminiscent of a strawberry shortcake. I think this recipe could be great with any fruit actually, and I plan on testing it out with blueberries or perhaps adding kiwis along with the strawberries. Hmm...I feel the beginnings of some wonderful fruit focused baking in the future!

I hope you all are having a splendid holiday season and spending plenty of time in the kitchen, whipping up delicious eats with loved ones. Maybe you will even give this one a try. Happy Baking!

Strawberry Shortcake Muffins via SeasonsandSuppers
yield: 12 muffins

2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
1 1/2 cups strawberries, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line/spray a 12-cup muffin pan
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Whisk together the milk, egg and vanilla in a medium bowl.
4. Cut butter into small pats. Drop into the flour mixture and then using a pastry cutter (I used my whisk) cut the butter into the mixture until it resembles small- pea sized balls.
5. Add liquid mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in strawberries.
6. Fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full and bake at 350 for roughly 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Be sure to let them cool completely in the pan before removing to a wire rack.

Muffins Muffins Muffins!

Oh my goodness, I know you are all just sitting at your computers and thinking "Okay, c'mon now, enough with the muffins." But you know what I say to that?

Never!

Well, maybe after this post. I did just see an awesome recipe for cinnamon roll cookies, so perhaps the muffin mania will go on a short hiatus following these two awesome recipes I plan on sharing with you.

So I work at the computer lab at college, and when I open at the ungodly hour of 7:30 on Friday mornings, I find that I never have time to make breakfast before I go. I thought to myself "I must solve this - or my stomach will eat itself every Friday morning in defiance."

Now you see where my new love of muffins has arisen.

I can just make a bunch the night before and whamo! Instant amazing breakfast when I'm on my dark, dreary way to the computer lab at 7am. Not to mention, my co-workers are all for this, since they get to taste test every recipe.

Last week I made two different recipes, mostly because the first recipe (albeit awesome) only yielded 12, even after I doubled it. You might say "12 muffins sounds like plenty" but reader, in college, 12 muffins is never enough. No amount of any baked good is ever enough, or any amount of food for that matter.

But now, my lovely friends, you get a 2fer post. I present to you the French Breakfast Muffin AND the Maple Banana Oat Muffin.

If I had to pick JUST one of these, I'd have to go with the French Breakfast Muffin. Despite its higher level of  commitment and work than the Maple Banana Oat, who can resist a muffin that is almost in every essence a delicious donut? But that's not to say that the Maple Syrup in the Maple Banana Oat Muffin isn't to die for.

Seriously, both these recipes are so worth the try, and if you have to be up early for work like I do, these are a simple fix. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

French Breakfast Muffins via VelvetLavaCafe


2/3 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg (I bet you could use cinnamon as well if you don't care for nutmeg)
1 cup milk
For Topping:
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter, melted
2 tsp cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line or grease 12 cup muffin pan
2. Combine dry ingredients (sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg) in a large bowl
3. Combine wet ingredients in medium bowl.
4. Add wet mixture to dry mixture, stirring until just combined. Consistency will be thick.
5. Scoop even amounts into muffin cups, about 3/4 way full
6. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, just until they start to turn golden
7. Stir together sugar and cinnamon. Dunk muffin (I am so not kidding) into the melted butter, then dunk in cinnamon sugar.
8. Inhale immediately.


Maple Banana Oat Muffins via LipstickBlogger


1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup  oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 bananas, mashed
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tbsp vanilla extract
For the topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tbsp oats
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp melted butter 
1/2 tbsp maple syrup


1. Preheat oven to 375. Grease or line 12 cup muffin pan
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in large bowl. 
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients (except for topping ingredients) in a medium bowl and mix until well blended.
4. Stir wet ingredients gently into dry ingredients; do not overmix. It is okay if tiny bits of oats still show.
5. Fill muffin cups 3/4 way full.
6. For the topping: combine first 4 ingredients until blended. Then add melted butter and maple syrup and mix until consistency becomes crumbly. Sprinkle topping over muffins liberally before putting into the oven.
7. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

S'mores Muffins

Hello all!

This is a bit of a short post, as I am so inundated with exciting (and at the same time aggravating) college papers. I am even writing one on (you guessed it!) food! But I couldn't just not tell you how amazing these muffins were.

Do you enjoy s'mores? I do. But s'mores, as delicious as they are, are messy and not easily transportable...until now.

Behold - the beauty that is the s'mores muffin! Sweet, but not overtly so, and perfect (in my opinion) for a quick breakfast or snack on the go. I am usually of this opinion when it comes to muffins, but my friends, I kid you not. These are all the fun of s'mores with less mess, more ease of transport, and thus more enjoyment.

The recipe is from Elle's New England Kitchen, and I am so impressed with how well all of these ingredients blend together. I was a bit concerned about putting actual big chunks of graham crackers into the muffin mix, but they absorb liquid just enough to make them chewy and delicious and a great change in texture amidst the soft muffin.

I hope you enjoy testing out this muffin recipe! Like I said, I am on a bit of a muffin kick, so be prepared for both French Breakfast Muffins AND Maple Banana Oat Muffins!

Smore's Muffins Via Elle's New England Kitchen

1 1/2 cups flour 
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 tbsp baking powder 
1/4 tsp salt 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 cup mini marshmallows 
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
3 whole graham crackers, broken into small/medium chunks
2 eggs 
1 cup milk 
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
1 tsp vanilla extract


1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12-cup muffin pan.
2. Mix together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cocoa powder, and salt in a large bowl
3. Gently fold in the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker chunks.
4. Combine eggs, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract in a separate bowl.
5. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Do not overmix.
6. Fill cups 3/4 of the way full and bake at 400 degrees for 17-18 minutes.
7. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, then promtly remove to wired rack.

Muffins are Just Ugly Cupcakes

As the name of the post implies, it's all about muffins vs. cupcakes today. The title actually comes from a t-shirt I own that has this neat little graphic of a cupcake and muffin arguing. The cupcake says to the muffin "muffins are just ugly cupcakes" and the muffin replies "cupcakes are haters."

I have to say I agree with both statements. The line between muffin and cupcake has blurred considerably since I was younger. I never liked muffins; they always made me want a cupcake. They were never sweet enough and they were (gasp) healthy: never what a young child wants to hear about a snack. But now, when I go to a coffee shop to buy a muffin, I am greeted with these "ugly" naked cupcakes, which are just about as bad for you (or worse) as real cupcakes without the frosting. Don't get me wrong; I love these new muffins. I think they're great, but it does make me wonder why cupcakes are "haters" and have been put on such high pedestals recently, what with shows like Cupcake Wars and DC Cupcakes. Why not Muffin Wars? Or Muffin Mania?

To add to my confusion, I wanted to make Banana Muffins today, after reading Brown Eyed Baker's Top Ten Muffin List yesterday. So I went to find a good Oatmeal-Banana Muffin Recipe (since I LOVE banana oatmeal) and wouldn't you know it - there's one for Banana Oat "Cupcakes" in one of my cookbooks! The caption reads "these cupcakes are so moist - they don't even need frosting!"

Don't need frosting? Oh, you mean like a muffin? Bananas, oats, honey...cupcake? Lies! Why? You got me swinging. Why not just call it a sweet muffin? No one says your muffin recipe has to be healthy - just because it has butter doesn't mean you have to call it a cupcake.

So now I am curious to see how these turn out. I happen to have these wonderfully overripe bananas anyway, so I may as well put them to good use before they end up in the trash.

The recipe calls for putting cupcake liners in the pan, but I refused to continue the charade that these were cupcakes. Instead I just greased the muffin pans really well, and set about baking these...cupcake-muffins? muffin-cupcakes? Let's go with muffin-cakes.

I'll include the recipe in full at the bottom of the post, but I just wanted to highlight some interesting points. This recipe truly is trying to be a cupcake, but for some reason wants to be a muffin as well.

Creaming butter and sugar? Point Cupcake
Mixing (not beating) in eggs and honey and bananas? Point Muffin
Adding dry ingredients to wet all in one shot? Point Muffin
Mixing until dry ingredients are just barely moistened? Point Muffin
Using cupcake liners? Point Cupcake

Final Tally = Cupcake: 2 Muffin: 3 - So far it's a pretty close game. 

But wait! What is that amazing scent filling my kitchen? It's so familiar...like banana bread. Not Banana cake, but banana bread.

And look! These adorable little bite-sized treats look just like...well, hmm...that's a good question. Sort of like cupcakes, sort of like muffins - I'll have to go with muffin-cakes.

Whatever they are - they're FAB. Perfectly golden brown and with nice little bits of banana suspended throughout - these are definitely a make-again (and again).

Muffins are indeed just ugly cupcakes, although I think these little guys are rather cute, don't you?

Banana-Oat Muffin-Cakes makes 1 1/2 dozen
from Gifts for Giving


1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed bananas
3/4 cup honey
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously (and I mean generously) grease two muffins pans.

2. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, honey, and mashed bananas, stirring well. In another bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients.

3. Stir dry ingredient mixture into wet ingredients; mix only until dry ingredients are just moistened.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for ten minutes in pan then carefully remove from pan and let cool on wire cooling rack.

Blueberry Muffins

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!

My mom, whose like the best supporter of my baking dreams, bought me a new cookbook and I decided I'd test it out this weekend. It's called Bake! Essential Techniques for Perfect Baking by Nick Malgieri, and I have to say it looks pretty awesome. It goes into every category, from yeast breads to quick breads, puff pastry to butter and sponge cakes.

And wouldn't you know it, there was a recipe for all purpose muffins that could be adapted for blueberry muffins! Which is a good thing, since I bought these lovelies a few days ago and had plenty for muffins. I never knew I liked blueberries until a few months ago actually, I always expected them to taste (now don't laugh) somewhat bluer than they do. Instead they're actually pretty mild and go really well in desserts.

So the recipe kept stressing the importance to not over mix the batter (or you end up getting muffins that have the density of hockey pucks) so naturally I was the gentlest mixer possible (for me anyway). I always thought though, that you mixed the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, but this recipe called for the oppsite. It didn't seem to make much of a difference so in the grand scheme of things I'm sure you could mix it either way, as long as you stick to mixing until JUST combined.

Here's me pretending to be another one of my dream occupations, a food photographer. Seriously, how much fun does that sound? We want you to take photographs of delicious, mouthwatering food, oh and we want to pay you to do so. Um yes? When can I start?

But back to the muffins. My daydreams can wait until they are in the oven. Naturally I did not read the little tip about coating the blueberries in flour before mixing, so they don't sink to the bottom, until after the muffins were in the oven. Luckily the berries didn't seem to sink completely.

I think I will try that little flour-coating trick next time; I like it when there are more blueberries peeking through the tops of the muffins.

But the muffins are AMAZING. Seriously, if you're into muffins feel free to turn this recipe into your default (since I know I will). The base recipe is so easy to customize; I think I'll be making chocolate chip muffins for my little brother next week.

Recipe following the rest of the muffin photo shoot:

All Purpose Muffin Recipe Via Bake!

makes 12 regular muffins

2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 large egg

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups blueberries (or whatever else you'd like to add)

1. Whisk together dry ingredients in one large bowl.

2. Whisk liquid ingredients together with melted butter.

3. Combine liquid and dry ingredients, stirring until just combined.

4. Stir in (gently) any mix-ins, in this case blueberries.

5. Bake at 375 degrees F for roughly 20minutes, until golden and toothpick comes out clean.

6. Let cool completely in pan (or they run the risk of falling apart!).

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

I know what you are all thinking...donut muffins? Yes, there is such a thing, and apparently it's quite a big deal on the blogosphere (and by blogosphere I really just mean the baking blogs I follow). As soon as I saw a recipe for them on my FoodGawker App, I just had to try them. I mean really: donuts are awesome, muffins are awesome, donut muffins therefore must be uber awesome (and they were!).

The recipe I decided to use comes from KokoCooks and I have to say, they turned out pretty amazing. It's a simple enough recipe, though the slight lumpiness of the batter worried me (they turned out fine though). The only suggestion I would make, and this really depends on how much you like cinnamon, is to add some cinnamon to the batter in addition to rolling the muffins in the cinnamon sugar. I absolutely love the spice and can't get enough of it, but if you're indifferent, then just stick with the cinnamon sugar. It's delicious either way; trust me.

If you aren't a fan of cinnamon at all, then just go onto Foodgawker and search "donut muffins" and there are a good dozen recipes for just plain sugar donut muffins, chocolate donut muffins, and even (gasp) sugar donut muffins filled with caramel. These are definitely going to be a new staple in my kitchen. :)

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins
from KokoCooks and adapted from BakingBites
makes 12 muffins

¾ c sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ c all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ c vegetable oil
¾ c milk
1 tsp vanilla

for cinnamon sugar:
3 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cinnamon


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease (in my opinion heavily) a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the egg and the sugar until pale yellow (roughly 1-2 minutes). In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. 
3. In another bowl, combine milk, vegetable oil and vanilla.
4. Pour dry ingredient mixture over the egg mixture and stir until just combined, then add liquid ingredients, again stirring until just combined (batter will be slightly lumpy).
5. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
6. While cooling, mix together sugar and cinnamon. While muffins are still warm (not hot) roll them in the cinnamon sugar and then let cool completely on a cooling rack.