Banana Blueberry Muffins

Miss F declared these to be the best muffins ever. She ,made them nearly entirely on her own, the only thing she didn't do was crack the eggs. For some reason she isn't ever wanting to crack the eggs, not too sure why. I think the addition of the orange juice is really what made these the best muffins ever for Miss F.  She couldn't stop talking about them!  She also loved the batter, after she was done dishing out the muffins (without too much mess,) she licked the bowl completely clean. This recipe is from Go Go Go Gourmet.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 overripe bananas, peeled and mashed
¼ cup butter, melted
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
¼ cup orange juice
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups flour
1 cup blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. In a mixing bowl, stir together the bananas, butter, sugar, vanilla and orange juice until well combined. Stir in the baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Use an ice cream disher to scoop the batter into the prepared tin. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool slightly in the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins

I bought a jug of buttermilk to make a cake and besides making pancakes nearly every morning for breakfast, I was looking for another way to use up the leftovers.  Miss F was obsessed with these muffins, but that wasn't at all surprising since they are essentially chocolate-chocolate chip cupcakes without any frosting.  I want to make them again with peanut butter  chips, which I think would be fantastic, even though I wouldn't be able to send them to school with Miss F.  Recipe from Jen's Favorite Cookies.

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffins

⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup cocoa powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the oil, buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, sugar and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, sift together the baking soda, baking powder, cocoa powder, salt and flour. Stir the flour mixture into the oil mixture, just until combined. Gently fold in the chocolate chips. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners, fill each liner 2/3 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Miss F's class is celebrating Halloween by wearing costumes (first time ever for her school) and having a Pumpkin Day. There are going to have all sorts of fun pumpkin themed activities, including tasting all sorts of delicious pumpkin treats. Miss F wanted to make pumpkin muffins and I suggested to add chocolate chips, because, why not? And I suspect the chocolate might break up all the pumpkiness. Happy Halloween everyone! This recipe was based off one from Betty Crocker.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 ¼ teaspoons kosher (coarse) salt
1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
¾ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 ½ cups sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
½ cup water
3 eggs
1 can (15 oz) 100% pure pumpkin
1 ½ cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins with paper baking cups. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, oil, water and eggs; stir in the pumpkin. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips. Use an ice cream disher to scoop the batter into the lined muffin tins. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then cool completely on wire racks.

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Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

Even though it is still quite warm here, I can still bake like it is actually fall. Miss F loves anything ginger flavored nd muffins are an easy breakfast or snack for school.  These are so easy to make, Miss F nearly did it all by herself.  She is still quite wary of interacting with the oven in any way.  This recipe doesn't use an entire can of pumpkin puree, so we had just enough left to make my favorite puffy pumpkin pancakes.  We can pretend it's fall even though we are sweating right through it!  Recipe adapted from The Lean Green Bean.

Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

4 tablespoons butter, melted
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup molasses
2/3 cup pumpkin puree
1 ¾ cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger

Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Stir together the butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, molasses and pumpkin until well combined. Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger just until combined. Scoop the batter into the prepared liners and bake for 20 to 22 minutes. Cool completely.

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Sweet Lemon Muffins

Is anyone else excited for the end of the school year? I am most excited to not have to pack lunches every day, but I will miss packing snack.  I usually have some sort of baked good on hand and anything with lemon is usually Miss F's absolute favorite.  The sprinkle of sugar on top makes these muffins a sweet treat, the whole pan was devoured in a matter of days.  Breakfast, snack, dessert...whenever...they were gobbled right up!  I will say that I am excited to make more doughnuts now that we will have more time in the mornings.  So out with the muffins and in with the doughnuts!  This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart.

Sweet Lemon Muffins

2 ½ cups flour
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 large eggs
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup milk
1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, milk and butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Dish the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle each muffin with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the tops spring back when touched. Cool on a wire rack.

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Banana Cinnamon Muffins

It's May. Which means I am totally over packing Miss F's lunch and snack. Especially since she refuses to eat sandwiches. I try to have some sort of muffin or bread in her snack bag alongside a squeezy applesauce. I always keep overripe bananas in the freezer for baking.  Miss F requested "cinnamon banana" muffins for her snack (and breakfast!)   Enter Betty Crocker (shout out to my fellow Delta Zeta!) and we had an easy muffin recipe perfect for any breakfast or lunchbox.   This recipe was easy enough that Miss F could basically do it all on her own, which is an added bonus.

Banana Cinnamon Muffins

2/3 cup sugar
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2/3 cup mashed very ripe bananas (2 small)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar, oil and egg with a whisk. Stir in the bananas and vanilla. Gently stir in the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon just until combined. Dish the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.

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Sweet Blueberry Muffins

Have the blueberries been amazing lately or what? I am used to having delicious berries in the summer, so it has been quite a pleasant surprise to have them in February.  Even though it feels more like summer around here.  We spent the day picking strawberries in nearly 80 degree weather.  These muffins were a huge hit in our house.  C came home from a ski weekend and devoured three in one sitting.  Miss F had one for breakfast and then again for snack every day.  The recipe is from King Arthur Flour.  And I will be adapting it to make strawberry muffins since I have two huge bucket fulls in our refrigerator.

Sweet Blueberry Muffins

½ cup (8 tablespoons) butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups blueberries, fresh preferred
¼ cup sugar, for topping

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the baking powder, salt and vanilla. Add the flour and milk, beating gently until just combined. Mash ½ cup of the blueberries. Gently stir in the mashed blueberries and whole blueberries. Scoop the batter by ¼ cup full into the prepared liners. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a rack to cool completely.

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Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

No matter what, I always end up with over ripe bananas on our counter.  Once they get too far gone to eat, they go straight into the freezer so that I can use them later for baked goods.  Miss F went crazy for these treats, having them for breakfast and in her snack bag for school.  There is no mixer needed, so she was able to make them nearly entirely herself.  We are still working on dishing the batter into the muffin cups, it is an acquired skill.  These muffins were adapted from Taste of Home.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

3 medium ripe bananas
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mash the bananas with the egg, oil and vanilla. Stir in the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt, just until moistened. Fold in the chocolate chips. Fill 12 paper lined muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, cool for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

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Fresh Strawberry Muffins

Once again, we headed to Froberg Farms to do some prime strawberry picking. Miss F had a half day of school for Field Day, so after the events (her pink team was second to last, but first in spirit) we headed down to Froberg to meet Grammy. We picked three huge buckets of berries and Miss F requested muffins for her lunch box. Problem was, the only recipe I have calls for cream cheese, which I didn't have. So Ina Garten to the rescue! These muffins were spectacular. Miss F enjoyed them so much, we made a second batch after we were done with the first.  We may not even have enough berries to make strawberry jam this year.  Maybe we will have to go and pick some more.

Fresh Strawberry Muffins

1 ½ cups flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cups milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 heaping cup diced fresh strawberries
¾ cups sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 muffin pan with paper liners. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a 2 cup measure, whisk together the milk, egg and butter. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the milk mixture into it. Stir until just combined. Gently fold in the strawberries and sugar. Using an ice cream scoop, spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

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Sweet Mini Lemon Muffins

Miss F has a snack bag to be filled every day for school. I usually go with some sort of baked good (lately, she has been on a lemon bread kick) with a squeeze yogurt or applesauce. My mom mentioned making mini lemon muffins for a luncheon she was hosting and I knew they would be perfect for Miss F's snack. Bite sized and sweet for the kid who is always starving, no matter how much she eats.  So these also work well as an afternoon snack with some fresh fruit.  Or an after dinner treat.  Or with breakfast.  My kid eats a lot.

Sweet Mini Lemon Muffins

½ cup butter
½ cup Sugar
2 eggs
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter; gradually. Add ½ cup sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the lemon juice. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture, beating well.

Spoon batter into greased miniature (1¾ inch) lined muffin pans, filling ⅔ full. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons sugar over the muffins. Bake for 15 minutes, cool 5 minutes in the pan, then cool completely on wire racks.

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One Bite Wonders

This recipe was recommended by a friend and I happened to have two over ripe bananas in our fruit bowl.  Miss F adored these little muffins.  Since they have peanut butter in them, I am not able to send them to school in her lunch, but she did enjoy them for breakfast almost every day for a week.  Like a little breakfast dessert.  Next time I will probably half the recipe since it makes 48 mini muffins.  Though that will force me to half an egg, which is always a pain. I know you can freeze leftover muffins, but I am never happy with the quality once they are defrosted.

One-Bite Wonders

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup peanut butter
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup vegetable or canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two mini-muffin pans with baking cups.

In a bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and baking soda; set aside. In a second bowl, combine bananas, peanut butter, both sugars, oil, vanilla, and egg. Whisk wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until moist (do not over mix, a few lumps are okay). Gently fold in ¾ cup chocolate morsels. Fill each well in the prepared muffin tins 2/3 full with batter. Top with a few of the remaining chocolate morsels.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove muffins from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes before removing from the pan.

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Nutella Swirl Muffins

Happy Halloween everyone! We are taking Miss F out trick-or-treating as Dino.  As soon as I saw these on What's Cookin Chicago, I knew I had to make them. The silliest thing about that is that I am allergic to tree nuts.  It was an adult onset allergy, so no Nutella for me.  I do remember loving Nutella when I first had it in England when I was in grade school.  Since i could not partake, these muffins were perfect for sharing with friends and with C, who loves Nutella.  I cannot give these my personal stamp of approval, but C enjoyed them, so I can go ahead and recommend them highly.

Nutella Swirl Muffins

¾ cup sugar
1 large egg
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking power
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with baking cups and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg until combined. Add in flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg, mixing to incorporate into a batter. Add in vegetable oil, milk and vanilla extract.

Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full with batter. Add a teaspoon of Nutella to each muffin cup and using a knife, swirl it around a few times to stir in. Bake muffins in preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until center comes out clean when checked with a toothpick. Allow muffins to cool before serving.

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