Raspberry-Lemon Muffins

Wow, I have so much to blog about! Rob and I went on a much needed mini vacation last week. I have a lot to share but I wanted my first post to be a recipe post since it's been a while. On our drive home we stopped at a Earl's Farm Market, a U-pick fruit farm. We loaded up on raspberries and blueberries. We picked 3 pints of raspberries and 10 pounds of blueberries. Yes, 10 pounds! It was quite a process picking them and even more of a process washing them and packaging them for freezing. But now I have a lot of frozen fruit for future baking.

I wanted to start out baking with the raspberries. I found an easy recipe online so I couldn't resist. They are yummy!

Printable Recipe

Adapted from AllRecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

2 egg whites
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh raspberries*

*If using frozen raspberries, allow to thaw before using.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs whites, yogurt, vegetable oil, lemon juice and lemon zest. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and lightly mix until blended. Fold in the raspberries.

4. Spoon the batter evenly into the 12 muffin tins. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Cool for one hour before eating.

6. Eat 'em up!

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Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

This autumn has been amazing. I have truly been enjoying all the things it has to offer. Taking walks, enjoying the changing foliage, baking, traveling to Michigan with Rob, touring wineries, sampling wine (yum!), apple picking, apple cider, more apple picking (I have apples coming out of my ears), pumpkin carving….I could go on and on! And it’s not even over.

Since I have so many apples I’ve been making a variety of apple-related baked goods. I adapted this recipe from SmittenKitchen.com.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter - room temperature
1/2 white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar - packed (1/4 cup is for the topping)
1 egg lightly beaten
2/3 cup skim milk
1/3 cup pumpkin spice creamer *
2 large apples - peeled, cored and chopped

DIRECTIONS

Fill 12 muffin tins with muffin cups and set aside. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Mix together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside.

With a mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter, white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar until it’s fluffy. Add the egg, milk and creamer. Mix well. At this point my butter/milk mixture looked odd. There was separation with the milk and butter but once I finished the next step it combined well and everything was fine.

Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until combined. Fold in the apple pieces and evenly distribute.

Pour batter evenly into 12 muffin tins and top evenly with remaining brown sugar. Bake for 15 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of a muffin and if the toothpick comes out clean remove from the oven and cool. If not, bake an additional 5 minutes then check again. Repeat if necessary.

Eat and enjoy! :)

* The original recipe called for 1 cup of buttermilk which I didn’t have. So I used the 2/3 skim milk and 1/3 pumpkin spice creamer. It tasted yummy but if you have a cup of buttermilk you can use that.

Blueberry Muffins

I went to one of my favorite online sites in search of the perfect recipe and found one. To make it a bit healthier and give it some added flavor I changed it. It is now absolute perfection. So perfect that when you make them the birds will sing, the sun will shine and everyone will love you for making the most magnificent muffins known to man.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup skim milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin with muffin liners.

Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine vegetable oil, egg, milk and vanilla. Now combine with dry ingredients. Since I used whole wheat flour for this recipe I had to add a bit more milk to thin out the batter. Fold in the blueberries.



To make the crumb topping:

Mix together 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter or margarine, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix it until it is a crumb-like consistency.

Fill the muffin cups all the way to the top and sprinkle with crumb topping.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done. Remove from muffin tins and let cool on a wire rack.





Do you hear that? The birds are singing...

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Let me start by saying that fall is my absolute favorite time of year. Not because of the weather but because I love the scents, colors and flavors that are associated with the season. Nothing says comfort quite like some sort of warm buttery concoction baking in the oven and filling the whole house with good smells. With spring right around the corner I feel like it's my last chance to bake something that reminds me of the fall. Kind of like a farewell to the cold Chicago weather. Pretty soon I'll be drinking a mojito or four and grilling out in the hot summer sun. The thought of that is pure heaven....summer please come now! Please! The only problem with the HOT weather is the fact that baking just isn't the same when it's 900 degrees outside. So I bid adieu by baking one of my favorite "fall" recipes:

Pumpkin Apple Muffins with Streusel Topping

I got the original recipe from allrecipes.com I changed it up a bit and I love it!

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups finely chopped peeled apples (I use granny smith)

TOPPING

1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon margarine

The original recipe calls for all-purpose flour but for a healthier twist I use whole wheat flour. In fact for most recipes I usually use whole wheat instead of all-purpose. It's healthy...try it people!

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, baking soda and salt. In a separate large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin and oil. Stir in the dry ingredients a little bit at a time until it is well mixed.

Fold in the chopped apples that kinda look like chopped onions.













Fill paper-lined muffin cups about three-fourths full.













For topping, combine sugar, flour and cinnamon. I usually throw in a dash of nutmeg for some extra flavor. Mix in margarine until mixture resembles crumbs. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon over each muffin. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes. Let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes before removing and placing on a wire rack.







"do you know the muffin man, the muffin man...."