Salami Cheddar Lentil Muffins #MuffinMonday

Spicy salami, extra sharp cheddar and tender lentils combine to make a delicious savory muffin that’s great for breakfast or lunch, with flavor and protein enough to get you through the day. 

If you’ve never cooked lentils before, you can surely used canned ones for these tasty muffins, but lentils are one of the easiest legumes to cook, taking only about 25-30 minutes and no soaking beforehand. Just add a little salt and cover them amply with water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until tender. Rinse and use how you will. (I save the broth for soups too!) I often make a pot of lentils and then drain them and freeze the little green nuggets of goodness. They are great in salads, soups, muffins and quiches or throw a few in an omelet. I also make a lentil burger that I should share someday. Meanwhile, there are muffins!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 1/3 oz or 150g extra sharp cheddar cheese
7 slices salami (about 2 1/4 oz or 65g)
1/2 cup or 105g cooked, drained lentils (I like the French Puy lentils.)
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs

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. I tend to just use the spray when I’m baking a cheesy muffin, in case the cheese sticks to the paper liners.

Grate your cheddar if it didn’t already come grated and slice your salami into long strips. Set aside a handful of the cheese, a handful of the drained lentils and 12 of the longest salami strips for topping. Chop the rest of the salami up in smaller pieces.

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

Isn't that paprika a fabulous red?!

Add in the smaller pieces of salami, the bigger piles of cheese and lentils and mix well. Use your fingers, if you have to, to separate the pieces of salami from each other.

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

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stop when it’s just mixed.

Divide your batter between the 12 muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with the reserved cheese and lentils. Roll your long strip of salami up into a spiral and poke it into the top of the muffin batter.

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.

If you can't stand it, go ahead and cut one open and eat it. They are lovely inside.

Enjoy!

Pecan Caramel Chocolate Muffins #MuffinMonday

The second in my candy bar series, made with Frey’s Caramel and Pecan milk chocolate, this sweet muffin has big dollops of caramel, just folded through the batter, leaving sweet golden streaks, and more than its fair share of toasted pecans. 

So I’m baking with my chocolate bar stash again. I take them out of the storage box and fan them out like playing cards, then choose one to recreate in muffin form, adding more of the key ingredients.  I almost did maple-walnut but my walnut supply is low. So now you have that one to look forward to, if I don’t get to white chocolate-lemon first. Or dark chocolate with chili. I know, I know. But I’m having fun!

Ingredients

Also contains hazelnuts. Why?

1 cup or 115g whole pecans, toasted
1 Frey Pecan & Caramel bar (3 1/2 oz or 100g)
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup or 80ml caramel - plus extra for drizzling on baked muffins, optional

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and either grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper muffin cups.

Chop your chocolate bar with a knife and put aside 12 chunks for decorating the tops of the muffins. Set aside 12 of the prettiest pecans and chop the rest up to add into the muffin batter.

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

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk, melted butter and vanilla. Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ones.  Stop when there is still quite a bit of flour still unmixed.

Fold in the larger pile of the chopped chocolate bar and the chopped pile of pecans.

Drop the caramel in spoonfuls all over the top of the batter.

Fold it in, trying not to stir too hard. You want to see big golden streaks of caramel in the batter still.

Divide the batter between your prepared muffin cups.

Top each with a piece of chocolate and a pecan.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

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

Once cool, drizzle on a little more caramel if desired.

Enjoy!

The Candy Bar Series

1. Dark Chocolate Toasted Sesame Muffins using Lindt Dark Chocolate Roasted Sesame

3. White Chocolate Lemon Muffins using Movenpick Swiss Chocolate White Lemon

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Blood Orange Ricotta Muffins #MuffinMonday

Fresh ricotta, scented with blood orange zest and mixed with brown sugar is a softly sweet filling for these lovely blood orange muffins.

Yesterday I popped into my local grocery store, which in the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you is actually part of a large French chain, and I came across blood oranges. They were part of a great big display of citrus of all kinds from many countries. The sign said they were red oranges from Spain, but the fruit itself bore this sticker.

I must have wasted the better part of half an hour on the internet, trying to determine if they were indeed Spanish or, perhaps, Italian. Because, if you were a Spanish company, would you choose the Mona Lisa for your logo? Seems odd. Anyway, here I am, none the wiser about the provenance of my citrus, but I do have a lovely muffin to share.

I’d be delighted to hear from anyone who knows more about the Mona Lisa oranges. Enigmatic, they are. Just like her smile.

Ingredients
For ricotta filling:
3/4 cup or 180g fresh whole-milk ricotta
1/4 cup or 50g dark brown sugar
1 large egg white (Save the yolk for the muffin batter.)
1 tablespoon blood orange juice
Zest of one half blood orange
Pinch of salt

For the muffin batter:
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of one half blood orange
1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml blood orange juice
1 large egg
1 egg yolk (Because what else are you going to do with one yolk?)

Optional for decorating: 2-3 teaspoons pearl sugar

Method
Zest your blood orange and divide the zest into two small piles.

Put one pile in a small bowl with all of the other ricotta filling ingredients and mix well.

The blood orange juice is a gorgeous red, isn't it?

Put the filling in the refrigerator to keep cold.

Not the prettiest filling but so rich and delicious.

Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing well or lining it with muffin papers.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and the other small pile of zest.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk together your oil, milk, juice, whole egg and yolk.

Pour your liquids into your dry ingredients and fold until just combined. There should still be a little flour showing.

Spoon or scoop a generous tablespoon of batter into your prepared muffin pan.

Top the batter with another good tablespoon of the ricotta filling.

Finish by dividing the remainder of the batter between the muffin cups.

Use a sharp knife to cut two or three ways through the batter to mix it up a little bit with the filling.

Sprinkle with a few pieces of pearl sugar, if desired. I like pearl sugar because it makes plain things pretty. This muffin is pretty special on the inside but fairly plain on the outside otherwise.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are golden.

Cool the whole pan on a wire rack for a few minutes then remove the muffins and continuing cooling them on the rack.

Enjoy!

See what I mean about the filling? You'll have to trust me that it tastes good!

Dark Chocolate Toasted Sesame Muffins #MuffinMonday

Toasted sesame seeds and toasted sesame seed oil boost and complement the dark chocolate roasted sesame Lindt bar in this fragrant chocolate muffin. Plus, look how pretty the sesame seeds look!

I have a small collection of chocolate bars that I have been amassing for a number of months because they come in such wonderful and unusual flavor combinations. Chocolate, of course, with orange, mint, sea salt, black currant, crunchy caramel, salted caramel, blueberry, passionfruit, cherry, chili, coconut, dark lemon and pepper, just to name a few! My master plan is to do a muffin series based on the chocolates. Doesn't that sounds like a fun idea? I finally got around to baking the first one today. And, before you ask, let me say that I have no affiliation with any of the chocolate makers and I have bought all the chocolates myself.

I was extremely pleased with this first batch, using Lindt Dark Chocolate Roasted Sesame and my usual Monday morning taste testers enjoyed them too.

Ingredients 

1/2 cup or 70g sesame seeds
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/4 cup or 20g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml toasted pure sesame oil
1 Lindt dark chocolate and roasted sesame bar (3 1/2 oz or 100g)

Method
Toast your sesame seeds in a nonstick skillet over a medium flame. Stir or toss them often to keep them from scorching. This takes just a few minutes. Set them aside to cool.

Chop your chocolate bar with a knife and put aside a small handful for decorating the tops of the muffins.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and either grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line it with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, stir together your flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt and half of the toasted sesame seeds. No need to measure. Just eyeball it.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your eggs, milk, and toasted sesame oil.

The toasted sesame oil is a rich, golden brown.

Fold your wet ingredients into your dry ones.  Stop when there is still quite a bit of flour still unmixed.

Add in the larger pile of the chopped chocolate bar and stir again until the batter is just mixed.

Divide the batter between your prepared muffin cups.

Sprinkle on the remainder of the toasted sesame seeds then add a few little pieces of the reserved chocolate bar to each muffin.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the tin and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

The Candy Bar Series

2. Pecan Caramel Chocolate Muffins using Frey Pecan & Caramel

3. White Chocolate Lemon Muffins using Movenpick Swiss Chocolate White Lemon

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