Yogurt Muffins

I had a bunch of plain yogurt I had to use up quickly so I made some muffins.  It's a pretty tasty muffin- not the most healthy but not the worst either.  I told my daughter it was a treat and we had one after our breakfast, as opposed to AS our breakfast.

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yogurt (sour cream would work, too)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Garnish

1/4 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F Grease muffin pan. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix yogurt and baking soda. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat butter. Add eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Set aside.

In another large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add the egg mixture and then pour the mixture of yogurt, stirring just to moisten the dry ingredients. Incorporate the chocolate chips. Stir a little bit. Pour in the muffin pan.

Mix all ingredients of the garnish. Distribute on the muffins. Bake in oven 25-35 minutes. (The original recipe says 30-35, but there was a note that said check after 20-25 and it's only been a week, but I can't remember if it was closer to 25 or 35. So check after 25.)

Gingerbread Muffins

My house smelled of Christmas yesterday as these baked in the oven.  Husband and I may have even been at the sink licking the batter off the spoon.  These were delicious- my two year old loved them, too.  The glaze is nice for a little treat but if you want to keep the extra sugar out, by all mean, they are super yummy on their own as well.

Source: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/12/11/gingerbread-muffins-with-sweet-lemon-glaze/

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain or vanilla or honey yogurt
1/4 cup milk (I used almond)

Glaze:

1/2 cup icing sugar
1-2 lemons juiced (depending on the juiciness of your lemons and how lemony you like it)
splash of milk/cream if you need to thin it out
(the picture on the source site shows a dark almost icing glaze, mine was see through- less sugar I guess)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix together dry ingredients.

Whisk together brown sugar, egg, yogurt and milk in a separate bowl.

In another bowl, microwave molasses and butter together for 1-2 minutes.  Whisk together well. Then add brown sugar/yogurt mixture to molasses mixture and mix well.

Add wet to dry and mix till just combined.  Pour in greased muffin tins and bake at 450 for 5 mins then turn oven down (keep muffins in) to 375 and bake for 15 mins.

Allow to cool before glazing (if you choose to glaze).

Cheddar Apple Muffins/Quickbread

I made these for lunch yesterday as there was not a lot in the house but cheese and apples.  We ate these with ham slices.  This recipe is good for a loaf of quickbread or a dozen muffins.  For the bread, bake for 50 minutes, for the muffins bake for 20.  Both at 350 degrees.

Ingredients:

2 c flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 c medium diced cheddar
3/4 c shredded cheddar
3 eggs
2/3 c milk
4 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp grainy mustard (if you sub something stronger reduce the amount)
1 c grated apple
1/2 c small diced apple


Directions:

Whisk together dry ingredients.  Add cheddar and mix till it's all coated.  In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, butter and mustard.  Then add the apple to the wet mixture.  Gently mix in wet ingredients to dry.  Don't over mix.  Pour into a greased loaf pan or a greased muffin tin.  20 minutes for muffins, 50 for bread at 350.  Let cool and enjoy.

Apple Strudel Muffins

One morning I was in a baking mood- I made granola and a couple different kinds of muffins all before the kids took a nap.  Unfortunately, my baking powder was dead and I didn't realize this and I proceeded to go through all the effort of making these Apple Strudel muffins.  It wasn't until the timer on the oven went off and I opened the door that I saw my sunken oozy mess.  I knew instantly my baking powder was the culprit.  I tested it out by mixing baking powder with hot water and when one little bubble formed and nothing else, my suspicions were confirmed.  Just to see if my baking soda was also failing me, I mixed that with vinegar but got a lovely bubbly reaction.  Off my husband went to the store to pick up some more baking powder and the Buttermilk Oatmeal muffins that were also on my baking to do list were saved.  The sunken gooey apple strudel mess was delicious and addicting and had disappeared by the end of the day.

A week or two later I made them again for a baby shower.  They rose just fine this time; however, the dense sunken mess was actually more delicious than the properly risen muffins.  But if your baking powder is fresh, you will never discover this, so proceed.

Great Autumn Baking Recipe!  Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

Muffins:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups apple (1 cup shredded, 1/2 cup chopped- approx 3 apples)

Strudel:
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp oats


Directions:

Combine shredded and chopped apples with 1/2 of the brown sugar in a bowl and set aside to allow sugars to leech out the juices (this is a good thing- keep the juices!)

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder+soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.  In another mixing bowl, combine melted butter, remaining sugar, eggs and vanilla.  Whisk or use your electric mixer to mix well.  Add your dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing with a wooden spoon until just combined.  Add in apple/sugar mixture (and the juices at the bottom of the bowl) and combine gently.  Don't over mix your muffins. 

In another bowl, combine the strudel ingredients except for the oats and mix with a pastry cutter to create a crumble.  Divide in half and add oats to one. 

Fill your greased or paper-cup-lined muffin tin with a heaped teaspoon of the muffin mix, add the non-oat strudel topping and then add another heaped teaspoon of muffin mix on top.  Top with oat strudel topping.

Bake for 20 minutes at 375 or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let your muffins sit a few minutes before removing them from the pan.