Caesar Mini Muffins #MuffinMonday

Savory muffins make perfect nibbles for any party. These Caesar mini muffins have all the things that make us love Caesar salad, except the romaine! Garlic, anchovies, lemon juice and Parmesan!

I was awake in the middle of the night last week, thinking up muffin flavors and pondering what goes good together. And suddenly inspiration hit. What goes better than all the ingredients that make up my favorite Caesar salad dressing? And even better, it occurred to me that a little savory muffin is perfect for my birthday week and the party continues!

Ingredients - 36 cocktail muffins
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1 cup, grated, or 90g Parmesan cheese (plus a little extra for after baking, optional)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup or 60ml fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml olive oil (For added flavor, I like to use the oil from the anchovy can then top up with more olive oil to make the required amount.)
2 eggs
1 small can (46g net weight, 25g drained) anchovies in olive oil
1 large clove garlic

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and liberally grease some 36-cup combination of mini muffin pans.  I have three pans that make 12 mini muffins each.

Grate your Parmesan, if not already grated, and mince your anchovies and garlic.

Grind your half teaspoon of black pepper.

Set your measuring spoon on a plain piece or paper and start grinding.  When you think you have just about enough, fold the paper in half and finish filling the spoon.  Voila!  Mess-free, measured, fresh ground pepper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, black pepper and Parmesan.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk your eggs, milk, oil, lemon juice, garlic and anchovies.

Pour your liquids into the dry ingredients and fold until just mixed.

Divide the batter between the prepared cups in the muffin pan.

Just for fun, I made the last batch in my (well-greased) little madeleine pans.  They came out so cute!

Bake in your preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins are lovely and golden.  Sprinkle on a little more Parmesan, if desired.  More cheese always equals better in my book.

The heat of the muffins should melt the cheese sufficiently for it to stick to the tops but if you need to put the pans back in the oven for just a couple of minutes, that works too.  After all, it’s probably still hot enough without turning the oven back on.

Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling.  If the cheese sticks to your pan, just run a knife around the muffins to loosen them.

These are fabulous warm and go great with a glass of wine or whatever cocktail you are serving.

Enjoy!

Here are a few more appetizer recipes you might enjoy!

• Buffalo Butternut Hummus by Farm Fresh Feasts
• Buffalo Ranch Cheese Ball by What's Cooking, Love?
• Butternut Squash, Pomegranate & Goat Cheese Crostini by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Caesar Mini Muffins by Food Lust People Love
• Cheddar Bacon Dip by Yours and Mine Are Ours
• Cheese Bean Dip by Wonky Wonderful
• Chicken Wing Dip by Rants From My Crazy Kitchen
• Chipotle Cheese Dip by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Chocolate Malta Wings by Food Done Light
• Crab Layer Dip by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker
• Four Cheese Garlic Flat Bread by Try Anything Once Culinary
• Grilled Guacamole by Kiss My Smoke
• Mini Maryland Crabcakes by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Mom's Famous Chicken Ball by Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Piña Colada Cheese Ball by Home Cooking Memories
• Pizza Pull Apart Bread by Cravings of a Lunatic
• Pulled Pork Sliders by The NY Melrose Family
• Roasted Vegetables and Romesco Crostini by The Little Ferraro Kitchen
• Sesame Pecan Chicken Wings by Makobi Scribe
• Sweetly Spicy Southern Meatballs by Cooking In Stilettos
• Tamari Roasted Chickpeas by Je suis alimentageuse
• Tex-Mex Chicken Salad Bites by Mom's Test Kitchen

Apricot Muffins #MuffinMonday

Canned apricots and their syrup add wonderful flavor to this vanilla muffin, made even prettier when topped with a sliced apricot half before baking.

Today’s muffin comes to you with a little added history lesson.  Did you know that canned food, first in glass bottles and then in cans made out of tin plate, dates back as far as 1809?  Canning was first devised as a way to feed armies on the move and sailors on long sea voyages, until mechanized production of the actual cans and the sterilization of their contents eventually made canned food accessible and affordable to the masses.  What I find funniest about this whole story is that the first can opener wasn’t invented until 30 years after the first can.  Soldiers used bayonets and rocks to open them.

Nowadays we take for granted that grocery store suppliers fly in fresh produce from all over the world and we can eat most anything, even out of season, because it’s in season somewhere.  We also take for granted the humble can.  According to a BBC magazine article quoting the Can Manufacturers Institute in Washington DC, Europe and the US alone use more than 40 billion cans of food a year!  This week’s muffin, using canned apricots, is a tribute to the innovators who first came up with the idea.  Gentlemen, I salute you!

Ingredients
1 can (14.5 oz or 410g, net weight) apricot halves in syrup
1 3/4 cups or 220g flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup or 60g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml apricot syrup (from the can of apricot halves)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by putting liners in the muffin cups or greasing them well with butter or non-stick spray.

Drain your apricots, making sure to save the syrup.  Set aside the prettiest six for decorating the tops before baking.

Chop the rest of them in small pieces.  Cut the pretty ones in half and then make three slits almost all the way through to the top so that you can fan out the apricot half in four sections.

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

Whisk together the melted butter, milk, syrup, vanilla and egg in a bowl until combined well.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold to combine.

Gently fold in your chopped apricots.

Divide batter among muffin cups.

Decorate each with a fanned out apricot half.

Bake in your preheated oven until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Brown Sugar Muffins #MuffinMonday

Mashed, buttered sweet potatoes add flavor, natural sweetness and moisture to these delicious muffins.  The hint of vanilla and cinnamon, along with the brown sugar, make these perfect for breakfast or a midmorning snack.

As this recipe goes live, I will be flying back to Dubai after enjoying more than three weeks of fun and family in Rhode Island.  What a beautiful state, truly.  When our elder daughter first mentioned Rhode Island School of Design, back in spring of 2008, and we visited the school that summer, I had no idea what a precious part of our lives this place would become.  That was further cemented when her little sister was accepted at RISD two years later.  It has been our pleasure to explore New England from our little rented home in Tiverton in the south, to as far east as Plymouth and west to Newport, with a little Providence and Boston thrown in for good measure.

If you haven’t visited New England before, I highly recommend it, especially Rhode Island, even in the wintertime.

Ingredients
1 whole sweet potato (about 5-6 oz or 140-170g)
1/4 cup or 60g room temperature butter
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
2/3 cup or 130g dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup or 240ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method
Scrub your sweet potato and poke it all over with the tip of a sharp knife.  Microwave on high for three minutes, turning it over halfway through.  Give it a gentle squeeze to see if it feels soft.  Microwave for another minute on the first side if necessary.  Remove the peel and mash the inside with a fork.

Add in the butter and stir it around so it melts.  Set aside and allow to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.

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

In another bowl, whisk together the cooled, mashed sweet potato, milk, eggs and vanilla.

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

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until 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.

Enjoy!

For those who are interested, I leave you with some random shots from our fabulous three weeks in New England.

Tiverton House - highly recommended  - hosts are wonderful.  Link here.
And, no, I have not been compensated in any way for saying this!

Christmas parade in Newport - complete with Santas riding Harleys

Newport Harbor

Quaint shops in Newport.

Roasting marshmallows at home

Every sunset seemed to outdo the next

Sailboats on the river by our house

The purported Plymouth Rock.  We've been told since that the real rock is underneath this one.

Mayflower II.  This is a reproduction of the Mayflower, built in England and sailed across in 1957.
If you come in the summer, you can climb aboard and imagine the voyage.

Fancy columns commemorating Plymouth Rock

The First Baptist Church in all of the United States, Providence, RI (1638)

Playing in the snow!

Turkey Camembert Cranberry Muffins #MuffinMonday

Turkey and cranberry jelly come together with Camembert to create the perfect use of Thanksgiving or Christmas leftovers in a savory muffin.  

Just when I think I’m so smart to come up with a great combination of ingredients that not only uses up leftovers but is a classic favorite mixture, I do a web search and realize that I am not the only bright bulb on the chandelier.   There are a bunch of turkey cranberry muffins out there, as it turns out.  But these are mine.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 eggs
1 cup chopped turkey  (Sorry, I don’t have a scale here to weigh it as well.)
1/2 cup or 120ml cranberry jelly or jam
4 oz or 115g chopped Camembert (I leave the rind on but you can cut it off if it offends you.)

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin pan by greasing it or lining it paper muffin cups.  The cheese will stick as it melts out of the muffin tops, so grease the top of the muffin pan as well.

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

Add in your chopped Camembert pieces and divide them with your fingers, coating them with the flour mixture so they don’t stick together again.

In another bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and eggs.

Cut the cranberry jelly into cubes.

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

Add in the turkey and cranberry jelly and fold gently, trying to keep the cranberry jam pieces whole.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until 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.

Enjoy!

We are staying in a delightful home, filled with eclectic decorations.  I was struggling to find a horizontal space to place the muffins for a photograph.  Here's the whole wonderful shelf.