TWD: Lots of Ways Banana Cake

I love bananas, but I'm really picky about eating them. They have to be just right, or they're no good, in my opinion. But even a banana that's past its prime for eating can be turned into a delicious dessert. And that's why I don't feel guilty when I buy 6 bananas a week and only eat 3 before they're "too ripe." Instead of going to waste, they get tossed in the freezer where they'll wait until I decide to make banana bread.
Even though this recipe wasn't banana bread, it was just as delicious (and maybe even moreso). Dorie lists at least half a dozen different variations on this recipe. You can change the liquid ingredients (coconut milk, buttermilk, regular milk, or my pick...sour cream) or the mix-ins (coconut, dried fruits). My mix-in of choice? Mini chocolate chips. Oh, yes I did. I love banana and chocolate together. I knew that these were destined to be muffins/cupcakes, so the mini chips were perfect. Dorie suggests frosting the cake with marshmallow frosting, whipped cream frosting, or chocolate ganache. I had planned on topping my cupcakes with ganache, but as you can see, they ended up being nekkid. David and I both decided that they were perfect as-is (He ate 5. FIVE!) and I was afraid the ganache would overwhelm the banana. And the chocolate chips were just chocolatey enough.
David took some of the muffins to work with him, and I took the rest with me. And I think everyone loved them. These were really moist, which is something I definitely appreciate in a cupcake/muffin/quickbread. If you want to use up some ripe bananas, you can find the recipe over at Kimberly's blog,Only Creative Opportunities. Happy baking!

Apple Muffins

I'm back again with more muffins! These are the last ones, for a little while, though. When I went on my muffin-baking binge last weekend, my plan was to use up some ingredients that needed to be used. I had some golden delicious apples that we hadn't finished eating, and I didn't want them to go bad, so I went on a search for apple muffins. I found these yummy ones at Smitten Kitchen, where the food is always good and the pictures are always beautiful (and these days, you might even see a picture of a beyond-adorable baby boy!)
I ran across Deb's Smitten Kitchen website not long after I discovered food blogging. I've tried several of her recipes, and they never disappoint. She's truly talented at this whole cooking thing, and I'm amazed that she does it all in a NYC apartment kitchen. Wow.
These muffins were very simple to make, and again, I had all the ingredients on hand. As Deb mentions in her post about these muffins, they're super moist, which I loved. Of the three kinds of muffins I made last weekend, these were David's favorite. They were my second favorite...a very close second behind the pumpkin muffins. They're definitely a recipe that I'll keep in my muffin rotation. I'm not going to post the recipe, because I want you to go to the Smitten Kitchen. Just click here, and you'll go right to the post/recipe for these delightfully apple-y muffins! I didn't make any substitutions or changes to her recipe...I did exactly as Deb said (even not skimping on the topping!). I used golden delicious apples in my muffins, but I think you could use just about anything.

I've gotten a couple of comments about my groovy Halloween muffin liners. They came from Kroger. My Kroger has an aisle of seasonal products that changes fairly frequently, and that's where I always get my muffin/cupcake liners. They always have the cutest designs. I got some super-cute Christmas ones last year, and I've also gotten some Valentine's day ones, too. If you have a Kroger, check to see if they have a seasonal aisle. In my experience, the cute liners are never with the baking supplies. Good luck! Oh, by the way...they're Wilton brand, so you might be able to find them through Wilton, as well.

Pumpkin Muffins

More muffins! Last Saturday afternoon, I got onto a serious muffin-makin' kick and made three kinds of muffins to take to church the next morning. You saw the Allspice Crumb Muffins, which were delish, even though there was a puddle of butter in the bottom of each cup of the muffin tin. I made some apple muffins, too, which will be coming to the blog soon, but these were my favorite...
Pumpkin muffins! When I was planning my muffin-baking marathon, I didn't want to have to go buy any ingredients, and I wanted to use up some things I had on hand. I happened to have some pumpkin puree on hand, and since it's fall (the most wonderful time of the year), I knew I needed to make pumpkin muffins. I thought about searching the Internet for a good recipe, but I thought I'd check Dorie's cookbook (Baking: From My Home to Yours) first. Lo and behold, there on page 13 was a recipe for pumpkin muffins, and I had all the ingredients right here in my little kitchen! Score! They were a breeze to put together, and they came out beautifully!

I loved these muffins. They're full of goodies...spice, pumpkin, golden raisins, and pecans. Yum! The batter was very dense, and it made for beautiful muffins. The tops didn't spread out and get flat around the edges like a lot of muffins do...these were the best-looking muffins I've ever made. I only made one tiny substitution...Dorie says that you should sprinkle raw sunflower seeds over the batter in the muffin cups, but I didn't have those. I did, however, have pepitas (a fancy word for pumpkin seeds). They worked well and gave the final product a nice look.

These muffins were the perfect compliment to a nice warm cup of coffee on a crisp fall morning. For those of you who haven't purchased Dorie's wonderful book, I'll post the recipe and hope she doesn't whip me. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Muffins

Dorie Greenspan

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of ground allspice

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree

1/4 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup moist, plump golden raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

About 1/3 cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds (or pepitas), for topping

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups. Alternatively, use a silicone muffin pan, which needs neither greasing nor paper cups. Place the muffin pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add both sugars and continue to beat until light and smooth. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after the eggs are incorporated, then beat in the vanilla. Lower the mixer speed and mix in the pumpkin and buttermilk. With the mixer at low speed, add the dry ingredients in a steady stream, mixing only until they disappear. To avoid overmixing, you can stop the machine early and stir any remaining dry ingredients into the batter using a rubber spatula. Stir in the raisins and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle a few sunflower seeds (or pepitas) over the top of each muffin.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a thin knife insterted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove each one from its mold and finish cooling on the rack.

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

It's not just a simple Tuesdays With Dorie post today...it's also my 100th blog post! I can't believe it! I couldn't decide whether to do something special for this post, or to just go along as if it were a regular post like any other. I pretty much decided to let it go like any other post, mainly because I had no idea when I'd find the time to plan or execute something special. Then...I realized that if I waited long enough, I could have a TWD post as my 100th post, which I thought would be quite fitting. After all, my joining TWD was the whole reason to start this blog in the first place!
This week's TWD assignment was a welcome one. It was chosen by Kayte, of Grandma's Kitchen Table. This was a very easy recipe to put together, and I had pretty much all the ingredients on hand. While I was making these last Saturday, I decided to go ahead and make a couple of other kinds of muffins to take to church the following morning. You'll see those in future posts. Anyway, these muffins were delicious and well-received during Sunday School.

I just had two little issues with this recipe. First, the crumb topping. I know some of the other bakers had some problems with the crumb topping sliding off the muffin during baking. I took their advice and lightly pressed it into the batter, so that kept the crumb from sliding off. However, it still didn't turn out the way I expected it to. I guess I expected something more along the lines of a streusel topping, and that's not what I got. It was very tasty, but just not the look I had hoped for. The next issue was with excess butter. When I removed the muffins (which were baked in groovy-looking Halloween cupcake liners) from the tins, there was a puddle of butter left behind. YUCK! The muffins didn't taste greasy or overly buttery, but I just couldn't get rid of the visual of the muffins sitting in a puddle of butter. Plus, it made the bottom of my liners buttery/greasy which was kind of messy during transport.

Overall, these muffins were great! I enjoyed the allspice flavor...I've never used it as a primary flavoring, and it was nice to really taste it. It's got a light "fall" flavor to it, which is perfect this time of year. Kayte has posted the recipe on her website, which you can find here. Happy baking!

Peaches and Cream Muffins

One day last week, Shirley gave me some fresh peaches from Bray's Orchard in Bedford, KY. They were gorgeous, and they smelled sooo gooood. I chopped them all up and had plans for two things: Peaches and Cream Muffins and peaches with vanilla ice cream. I don't remember where I got this recipe, but rest assured I didn't create it. I can copy anything, but I don't have an original thought in my head. I'm sorry I can't give credit where credit is due. I love this recipe, because it's so versatile. You can use just about any kind of fruit. I've made strawberries and cream muffins (but you can't use frozen strawberries), and I'd love to have some blueberries and cream muffins, if blueberries weren't so darn expensive. Blackberries will be ripe in a week or so, so I'll probably make some blackberries and cream muffins too. The possibilities are endless!

Peaches and Cream Muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

2 whole eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/4 cup fresh peaches, coarsley chopped

3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon; set aside.

In a small bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beat one minute until light and airy. Add brown sugar. Beat in eggs, one at at a time. Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

Stir into flour mixture only until dry ingredients are moistened.

Fold in peaches and nuts.

Pour into muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-22 minutes, rotating once during baking. Cool, and enjoy!

(You can make this into one loaf of bread, baked in a 8x4-inch loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes.)

Yields 18 regular-sized muffins.