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.

Lemon Ricotta Muffins for #MuffinMonday

When you mix baking soda with lemon juice in a batter, the result is a light and fluffy muffin. Add in butter and ricotta cheese for richness and these are easily some of best muffins you’ll ever eat. 

Last year I posted a couple of lists I called Blog Love Fest 2013 and Blog Love Fest, Part 2 to introduce you to some of my favorite bloggers. It just hasn’t happened yet but I have every intention of writing more Blog Love posts because, frankly, my list of bloggers I love just keeps growing. I can hardly keep up and I feel terrible when I am behind on my reading because I just know I’m missing something wonderful.

Which brings me to a great new Facebook group that I was invited to join. It’s called Fearless Friends Sharing Recipes and it was started by one of my favorite people, the fabulous Jenni Field from Pastry Chef Online. The best part is that it has 11 of my favorite bloggers (plus yours truly) sharing recipes in one convenient place, so I don’t have to worry about whether Facebook is going to choose to show me their posts - or not. I just scroll down the group wall and drool. :) Click on the link here and ask to join the community so you can drool with me. B.Y.O.N. (N is for napkins, you’ll need them.)

Anyhoo, a couple of weeks back, Fearless Friend Cheryl from Pook’s Pantry posted a photo of scrumptious lemon ricotta cookies and I was inspired to muffinize them. And don’t bother telling me that muffinize is not a word. I’ve just added it to my spellcheck dictionary and you would be wise to do the same. I have a feeling it's going to keep happening.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Zest of 1 large lemon
2 eggs
1 cup or 250g ricotta cheese
1/3 cup or 80ml lemon juice
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Butter your muffin pan or line it with paper liners. The batter turns out really fluffy so I got 15 muffins out of it, instead of the usual 12.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda and lemon zest in a large mixing bowl.

In another smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, lemon juice and melted butter.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and stir until just mixed through.

Divide the mixture between the muffin cups.

Look how fluffy!

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then remove them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Star-Spangled Muffins #MuffinMonday

When you want to show your love of the Stars and Stripes, bake these Star-spangled muffins. Blueberries for blue, strawberries for red and cream cheese for white. And, of course, just a little colored sugar to finish them off. Pretty and delicious!

Monday isn't any old day on Food Lust People Love: It is always Muffin Monday. So, without further fanfare, here are my Star-Spangled Muffins.

Hands over our hungry bellies, repeat after me:

I pledge alliance to the muffin

of the United Straw- and Blue Berries

And to the breakfast for which it stands,

one muffin, under sugar, 

with oatmeal and cream cheese for all. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/2 cup or 50g quick cook oats
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 oz or 100g cream cheese
1/2 cup or 100g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup, chopped, or 90g fresh strawberries

Optional to decorate: A couple of tablespoons each of colored sugar sprinkles and/or pearl sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it with butter or nonstick cooking spray or lining it with paper muffin cups.

 In a large bowl, combine your flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Cut your cream cheese into small chunks and toss them in the flour mixture to coat so they won’t stick together.

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

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients. Add in the chopped strawberries and blueberries.  (If using frozen blueberries, they can be added without thawing.)

Fold all the ingredients together until they are just combined. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter between your 12 muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops with colored sugar and/or pearl sugar to decorate.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are lightly browned. Allow to cool for several minutes before removing the muffins from the pan and cooling further on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Needing more more Memorial Day ideas and recipes? Check out what my fellow Kick Off to Summer Week 2014 participants are sharing today!  

• Margarita Grilled Shrimp Skewers by From Gate to Plate 
• Cherry Limeade by Summer Scraps 
• Turkey and Grilled Pineapple Burger by Keep it Simple, Sweetie 
• Place of Honor by Lil Huckleberries 
• Edible Patio Table Centerpiece by Bits of Ivory 
• Easiest Ever Grilled Chicken by Forty Eighteen 
• Ranch Burgers by Lady Behind the Curtain 
• Strawberry and Candied Almond Spinach Salad by We Like to Learn as We Go 
• BBQ Banner Printable by My Daylights 
• Red White and Blue Fruit Pizza by Like Mother Like Daughter 
• Star-Spangled Muffins by Food Lust People Love 
• German Potato Salad by Denise Designed

Pin these Star-spangled muffins!

 .

Pomegranate and Pistachio Muffins with Pomegranate Glaze #MuffinMonday #Gluten-free

My first foray into gluten-free baking is this pomegranate and pistachio muffin, both ingredients that are common in the Middle East and look pretty together besides. Pomegranate juice and sugar cooked down to a syrup make a beautiful sticky glaze that will hold your extra pistachios and pomegranate arils on after baking. 

Baking gluten-free is a new challenge for me but one I handled with my usual three-pronged approach to cooking and baking things unfamiliar. 1. Lots of research 2. A bit of daydreaming, then 3. Just jump off the cliff. Turns out that baking gluten-free has a couple of caveats, like add more liquid than usual and stir until completely and thoroughly blended, even when it comes to muffin batter. But otherwise, it’s not that tricky. I took these pretty babies along to my weekly ladies Bible study this morning because one of our members is gluten-intolerant and it was my turn to bring snacks. The muffins were completely and utterly demolished. But, best of all, no one would have even guessed that they were made with a gluten-free flour mix. I figure that is the greatest endorsement of all.

Ingredients
For 18 muffins:
1 1/2 cups or 240g gluten-free flour blend (I used Dove Farms.)
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 teaspoon xanthun gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk *
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup or 125g slivered or chopped pistachio kernels, divided
2 cups or 250g pomegranate arils, divided

* A good substitute for buttermilk is one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar added to a measuring vessel and topped up with milk to one cup or 240ml. Stir and allow to rest for five minutes before using.

For the optional glaze:
1/2 cup or 120ml unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/4 cup or 50g sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Generously grease a 12-cup and a six-cup muffin pan or line both with paper muffin liners.

Combine the flour mix, sugar, xanthum gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.

Add all the milk mixture to flour mixture.

Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is completely mixed in. This is going to be thinner than your average muffin batter. Trust.

Set a good handful of the pomegranate arils and the slivered pistachios aside and then fold the rest of both into the batter.

Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 18 muffin cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

While the muffins bake, put your pomegranate juice and the sugar into a small pot on the stove. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Turn the fire down so the juice is just bubbling slowly and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Turn off the fire and allow to cool a little.

When the muffins are done, remove the pan from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing muffins and cooling them further on a wire rack.

When the muffins are cool, drizzle on the pomegranate syrup and decorate by sprinkling with the reserved pomegranate arils and pistachio slivers. If the syrup has hardened up, loosen it by gently warming over a low fire and stirring until it is able to drip off a spoon again.

Enjoy!

One of my ladies, the lovely Cheryl-lynn, thought you all might need proof that the muffins were devoured with relish.

Told ya! 

BroCoconut Energy Muffins #MuffinMonday

BroCoconut Energy Muffins are high protein, filled with nuts, seeds, steel cut oats, coconut, yogurt and dried apricots. Good for you and also delicious!

These muffins are made with extra energy in mind, for the jocks among you or indeed anyone who needs to up their protein intake and be a better bro. 

As I was writing my friend, Marilyn, who kindly shares my muffin link on her wonderful blog, Communicating Across Boundaries, most Mondays, there is nothing that makes me happier than when my daughters share links to articles or websites that they find touching or inspirational or amusing. Early last week, my younger daughter sent me the link to this comic strip. And suggested that I might use it for inspiration for an upcoming Muffin Monday.

I replied that coconut would be a fabulous idea.  To which she added: “but also, if it's possible to capture the spirit of the comic in the muffin, that would be superb.”

What else could I reply but, “Obviously.” Challenge accepted!

So, I started researching Bro recipes and turned up lots of energy bars and smoothies and things baked with protein powder for weightlifters. Which, yuck. Not the weightlifters, because I'm sure they are lovely people, but the protein powders. I figured there had to be a way to add more protein to muffins naturally with tasty ingredients rather than powders.

So, I changed out my normal white flour for spelt, added a nut/fruit combination called Energy Mix from my local supermarket along with some extra dried apricots, switched coconut oil for canola, included some steel-cut oats, sweetened the batter with unrefined brown sugar and, of course, there had to be coconut. Freshly grated.

And, you know what? You won’t care that these are healthy and bro-friendly. They are delicious. (Anybody know where I can go for the bro stamp of approval though? That would be cool.)

Ingredients
1/4 cup or 45g steel cut oats
1/2 cup or 120ml milk, divided
1 cup or 150g energy mix (Mine had pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and golden raisins.)
5 dried apricots (about 40g)
1 cup or 145g spelt flour
1/2 cup or 100g brown sugar
1 cup or 70g freshly grated coconut, unsweetened
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 125g plain yogurt
1/4 cup or 60ml coconut oil

Method
Heat 1/4 cup or 60ml of the milk up to almost boiling and pour it over the steel cut oats in a heatproof bowl. Set aside to soak until cool.

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

Chop your energy mix and dried apricots roughly and separate out a handful or two for topping the batter before baking.

In a large bowl, mix together the spelt flour, brown sugar, grated coconut, baking powder and salt.  Mash the brown sugar lumps out with a fork.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, the balance of the milk, coconut oil, yogurt and the soaked oats, along with their milk.

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

Fold in the bigger pile of chopped energy mix/apricots.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Top with the reserved energy mix/apricots.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

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

Enjoy!

Now call and invite your mom to bro down with you today. She might bring these muffins.