Cherry-O Mini Muffins for #MuffinMonday

When cherries are in season, there is no better fruit to add to a tender muffin. These sing of sunshine and sweetness, with bonus fiber from the cereal that also adds a delightful nuttiness. 

With my summer holidays in the States coming to a close, I thought it only appropriate to bake one last time with cherries, which have become more affordable since I baked my cherry sweet bread twist a few weeks ago. I also added some honey nut O’s in an effort to use up store cupboard items. Ditto with the whipping cream. You could probably substitute more milk for that but then the muffins won’t be as rich. And that would be a shame.

Ingredients
For 24 mini muffins:
1/2 cup or 90g chopped, pitted, fresh cherries
1 cup or 80g crushed honey nut O’s or similar cereal
1/2 cup or or 65g flour
1/4 cup or 50g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 60ml heavy whipped cream
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
1 egg

For decoration:
6 cherries cut into quarters
24 honey nut O’s

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pans by greasing them or lining them with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and crushed cereal and stir well.

In another bowl, whisk together the cream, milk, oil and egg.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Fold in your chopped cherries.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and top each muffin with a quarter cherry and a honey nut O.

Bake in the preheated oven about 10-15 minutes or until they are golden and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to cool completely.

Look at those golden bottoms!

Enjoy!

Peppermint Patty Chocolate Muffins for #MuffinMonday

Baking with candy is an easy way to turn a sweet favorite into a delightful muffin and socially acceptable breakfast food. Try this recipe using Twix, Snickers, Milky Ways, Almond Joys or whatever chocolate candy is your own personal favorite.

It doesn’t happen very often but I am happy to say that I have not only my husband but both daughters under one roof this weekend. I know that these occasions will get more and more rare as they get older so I am cherishing this time. My motto has always been life before blog, so I'm posting my Monday Muffin later than usual today since a late family breakfast out at the iconic Houston restaurant House of Pies seemed way more important this morning. I chose to use one of my younger daughter’s favorite sweets, York peppermint patties, to make a chocolate muffin I hope she likes as much as the actual candy, which is a pretty tall order.

We are all still full from breakfast so I’ll have to report back on this later, but I’m pleased with how they came out. If you are a fan of chocolate mint anything, you are going to like them too.

Ingredients
8 peppermint patties or 125g, chilled
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup or just over 26g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil

For decoration: 6 peppermint patties, chilled and cut in half.

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin tin by lining with muffin papers and then spraying the top with non-stick spray to keep the melted peppermint patties from sticking.

Chop up the first eight peppermint patties into small chunks.

Combine your flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Add the chopped patties into the dry ingredients and stir to separate them so they are coated and are not sticking to each other.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your egg, milk, oil and vanilla extract.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top each with one half of a peppermint patty.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. You can try the toothpick test but remember that you will probably hit a piece of peppermint patty in the muffin which might make you think it’s not cooked yet.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Buttermilk Muffins #MuffinMonday

Simple, buttery cinnamon muffins, sweetened with dark brown sugar, smell gorgeous in the oven and taste even better once you get them out.

I gotta tell you. Summer’s hard. I want to be everywhere, see everyone, but it just doesn’t seem to happen like I’d like it to. A good friend from my Kuala Lumpur days was in Houston this week and things piled up and I completely forgot about her Facebook message and missed seeing her. Now I don’t even know how to apologize. Because I did dearly want to spend time with her and “I forgot” seems like the worst insult, however unintentional.

Houston is home base for a few weeks each summer, and I make sure that the whole family sees all the doctors and dentists, etc. for annual check ups. That way the medical records have continuity despite our expat status and many moves all around the world. Our girls have seen the same eye doctor since elder daughter was three years old and she is now 23. Same with the dentist and pediatrician (although they’ve moved on from the pediatrician) and I still see the OB/GYN who saw me through my pregnancy with her. And my own childhood dentist. It just makes sense, but it does make for a hectic few weeks, getting all the appointments scheduled, while trying to spend quality time with friends and family and doing the shopping for new clothes, shoes, etc.

So, to my friends in Houston: If I haven’t seen you yet, you are on the list! And if you don’t hear from me, don’t hesitate to call or send me a message. It’s not that I don’t love you. I’m just busy chasing my own tail.

And, on Mondays, I'm making muffins.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
3/4 cup or 170g dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup or 180ml buttermilk (or 2 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar and top up to 3/4 cup with milk)
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs

For the topping:
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and grease your 12-cup muffin pan or line with muffin papers.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, dark brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.

In another bowl, whisk your buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla and eggs.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Using a scoop or a tablespoon, distribute the batter among the muffin cups.

Mix the three tablespoons of sugar with one teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkle liberally over all of the muffin cups.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and cool further on a rack.

Enjoy!  How do you spend your summer holidays?

Banana Blueberry Muffins for #MuffinMonday

I’m always on the lookout for ways to use the last two bananas in a bunch that have turned brown and are therefore disdained by my family. Banana muffins answer this need beautifully. Add another fruit, like blueberries to jazz them up a bit.

Yesterday was my mother’s 76th birthday. Of course, we celebrated with food. It was Mexican for lunch at a new (to us) restaurant she discovered hidden away in a neighborhood not far from my house in Houston. It is appropriately called La Hacienda Escondida and is part of a family group of Houston restaurants, all called La Hacienda but ours is the only one that is escondida or hidden in a residential neighborhood.

For dinner, we prepared one of my mom’s favorite meals. Smothered pork chops, creamed potatoes, sweet potatoes and fancy salad with tres leches cake to finish. I brought these muffins with me and left them for my brother-in-law and nephews who would not eat a brown banana to save a dying puppy but have a devoted love of banana bread. The boys are in their final week of school and suffering through final exams so I figured they deserved a treat. Also, now no one has to make them breakfast. I got to use my old bananas. Win-win-win!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/3 cup or 80ml canola or other light oil
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
2 ripe bananas
6 oz or 170g fresh blueberries

Optional for decorating: pearl sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 350F° or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing or lining with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.

In a smaller bowl, add your milk, canola, vanilla and eggs, along with the two ripe bananas. Mash the bananas with a fork and then whisk all the ingredients together with that fork.

Set aside 12 blueberries for the tops of the muffins.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined. There should still be flour showing.

Now fold in the big pile of blueberries.

Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups.

Top with one reserved blueberry each.  Sprinkle with a little pearl sugar– optional, but look how pretty!

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and finish cooling on a rack.

Enjoy! How do you use up old bananas? Please leave me a link in the comments to your favorite recipes. Thanks!

Chili Cheese Dog Muffins for #MuffinMonday

When you think about it, (or is that just me?) almost anything can be made into a muffin, including a chili cheese hot dog: Spicy chili, sharp cheddar and hot dogs baked in a muffin then topped with more cheese, onions and mustard. Happy Memorial Day! 

This week I am channeling Coney Island and bringing you a chili cheese dog muffin, in honor of Memorial Day, the holiday when we Americans honor and thank the members of the armed forces who  sacrificed their lives in the line of duty to protect our nation. It is also the kickoff to hot dog eating season. Not that we can’t and don’t eat them year round but according to Forbes.com Americans eat an incredible seven billion hot dogs between Memorial Day in May and Labor Day in September. No telling how many of those are chili cheese dogs. But this year at least, a few of them will be muffins.

Ingredients
For the muffins:
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon flakey sea salt or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 oz or 115g extra sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup or 250g spicy beef chili
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml water
4 hot dogs (about 7 1/2 oz or 215g total weight) I like all beef Ball Park Franks. (Plus they are on sale this weekend at my Houston grocery store – Score!)

Note: I used homemade beef chili that is very thick, mostly meat, cooked down till there’s not much liquid left. If you are going to use store-bought or juicier chili, cut back on the amount of water.

For garnish:
2-4 tablespoons finely chopped onions
Yellow mustard

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin tin by spraying with non-stick spray or lining with muffin papers. If you have a kind and generous mother like mine, see if she’ll volunteer for a Dollar Tree run to buy paper liners with little blue and red stars. You can pay her back in chili cheese dog muffins.

Grate your cheddar if it didn’t already come grated and finely chop your onion. Set aside a handful of the cheese for topping.

Slice the hot dogs into small circles and set aside 12 to poke into the tops of the muffins before baking.

Combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cheese in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, oil, chili and water.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s still quite dry looking.

Toss in the big pile of hot dog circles and stir again.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with the reserved cheese and chopped onions. Add one reserved hot dog circle to each and push it in just a little bit to make it stick.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to continue cooling on a wire rack.

Drizzle with a little yellow mustard, if desired. But I say, what’s a chili cheese dog without a generous drizzle of mustard?

Enjoy!

Now go shake a soldier's hand and thank him or her for her service. And pray for peace and that no one need ever make the ultimate sacrifice. And perhaps bake some muffins to share.