Cinnamon Yogurt Muffins with Cinnamon Crumble #MuffinMonday

Yogurt adds subtle fruity flavor to this cinnamon muffin and the generous crumble is the perfect topping. 

Happy Little Christmas Eve!  And, no, that is not a holiday I just made up.  Many years ago, we were living in Balikpapan, Indonesia and our neighbor was a lovely Norwegian lady named Turid.  She was a career diplomat and had been working most recently in the embassy in Jakarta so her Indonesian was superb.  It’s not a hard language to master for everyday “market” conversation but at a business and diplomatic level, it gets much more complicated.  She had retired young to raise her daughter and had moved to Balikpapan with her husband who was working there.  Turid kindly offered to give me Indonesian lessons and, under her tutelage, I got pretty good too.  But the best part was that I also made a friend.

On December 23, she invited our family over for Lille Julaften or Little Christmas Eve, a special Norwegian celebration.  I don’t  remember the names of all the traditional cookies and cakes and dishes but everything was homemade and wonderful.  And I do recall that there was a lot of wine and beer involved.  And aquavit.  That stuff is trouble.  My advice for today is just say no to the aquavit but have a very happy Little Christmas Eve!  And perhaps bake some cinnamon yogurt muffins.

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1/2 cup or 100g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup or 60ml milk
3/4 cup or 185g fruit yogurt of your choice (I used raspberry.)
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
1 large egg

For the crumble:
1/4 cup or 60g butter
1/2 cup or 100g dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup or 30g flour
Pinch salt

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

Start by making your crumble.  Put all of your crumble ingredients into a small bowl and use a pastry blender to cut them into each other until you have a sort of lumpy sandy mixture.  Set aside.

You should still have some small bits of butter visible. 

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

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

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

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and top each with a generous helping of the crumble.

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!   And since this will likely be my last post before Christmas Day, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Jam Yogurt Muffins #MuffinMonday

The best part about these muffins is how versatile the recipe is.  You can change the flavor by using whatever yogurt you have in the refrigerator, along with whatever jam you have on hand.   This time I chose strawberry yogurt and a mixed berry jam but you could do peach yogurt with peach preserves or lemon yogurt with orange marmalade or, or, or …  whatever combination takes your fancy.

I have to warn you that if you are the type of person who loves to eat muffin batter, despite the danger of raw eggs, do not tempt yourself by tasting this one.  You will end up eating the whole bowl and not baking any muffins.  And that would be a shame.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/2 cup or 100g light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup or 120g sweetened yogurt with fruit
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1/4 cup or 60ml jam of your choice
1/2 cup or 115g butter, melted and cooled

Topping:  2 tablespoons jam, warmed, to brush on baked muffins.  Optional.

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

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

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your milk, yogurt, egg, vanilla, jam and melted butter.

Pour your egg/milk mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Divide the muffin batter between the muffin cups.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Remove the muffins and cool completely on a wire rack.

As always, let your helper aid you with the washing up.

Once the muffins are cooled, warm your extra jam briefly in the microwave and then brush it onto the muffins to glaze.

Enjoy!

I’m on a touring holiday right now with my mom so if I don’t answer comments right away, please know that I am still delighted when you leave them and will respond as soon as I have internet access again.

Shish Tawook – Middle East Meal, Part 1

Shish Tawook translated means skewered chicken. From the Middle East, this dish is made with chicken tenderized by a yogurt-based marinade and pan-fried or grilled until slightly charred.

When we first moved to Kuala Lumpur a long, long time ago, our daughters took piano lessons from a lovely lady we called Aunty Esther at a small but busy studio behind the Ampang Point Mall. So I got to go there at least once a week.  Which became twice a week when younger daughter decided to also continue her violin lessons. 

I would make sure they were safely in class, then mill around for an hour.  One day, right outside the supermarket Giant, I happened to meet the owner of a little food stand called Tarbush. They sold shawarmas – chicken and lamb – and we had a great discussion of the Middle East (I had lived in Abu Dhabi years before and he was from Lebanon.) I told him he needed to start selling some of the other delicious foods from that area, like falafel and hummus and tabouli. He was just starting out but said he was planning to expand one day soon. 

If you live in KL or have traveled there, you know his dream came true!  He started by opening a proper restaurant there in Ampang Point and there are now Tarbush restaurants in several high profile locations.  Our favorite was still Ampang Point though, because it was so close to home and school. Sadly, I don’t remember his name but I like to think we played a small part in his success by our frequent patronage of his fledgling restaurant chain.

Once the restaurant opened, younger daughter always, and I mean always, got the shish tawook.   I made it the other night, thinking about her and mentally wishing her well in these final weeks of her freshman year at RISD.  Even though she is now a vegetarian.  Never mind that, her daddy and I loved it.  It's the thought that counts, right?

Ingredients

1/4 cup or 60ml plain yogurt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons or 45ml fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon flakey sea salt

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Method

Put all the ingredients except the chicken into a Ziploc bag and mix well. 

Clean the extra fat and sinews off of the breasts and cut them into bite-sized pieces.   Pop them in the bag with the marinade and massage it until the chicken is well-coated.  Let this marinate for as long as you have or at least one hour.

When you are ready to cook the shish tawook, push the chicken pieces on to some wooden skewers and heat a non-stick skillet till very hot.  

Put the chicken on and cook for several minutes.  Turn the skewers over when they are well-browned.

Cook for a few more minutes until both sides are browned and the chicken is cooked through.   

Tarbush served this with French fries and a divine garlic mayonnaise.  I try not to fry food at home so I made tabouli and hummus (Stand by for Middle East Meal, Parts 2 and 3*) and served these and the chicken with some Lebanese flatbread from the supermarket.  I suggest you do the same.

[Pretend there is a photo of the finished dish here, okay? Somehow I forgot to take one.]

Enjoy!


Looking for part two and part three of the Middle East meal?

Part 2: Tabouli

Part 3: Hummus 

French Yogurt Cake With Jammy Glaze

A twist on pound cake made with yogurt and glazed with jam or marmalade when baked. Serve with extra jam and yogurt. 

So, I bought another memoir/recipe book on Amazon.  (One-click , oh, One-click, you are trouble.)  You’ve possibly all heard of it:  Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life, born of her wonderful blog, Orangette.

 

Most touching was Italian Grotto Eggs: A simple recipe for the breakfast she served her father as he lay dying in their home, with Hospice care.  The book is dedicated to her father and she shares about him here on her blog. 

Once again, so many recipes bookmarked!  I haven't made anything sweet in a while so we will start with cake.  I liked the idea of the French Yogurt Cake but Molly mentions the original recipe calling for measurements made with the actual yogurt pot in France.  She had translated the measurements into cups for the US market in her book.  You know I had to find the original recipe.  Oh, my goodness, but there are hundreds on the internet!  I ended piecing together several to come up with this.  Moist and beautiful, it tastes oddly buttery, for something that has no butter.

Ingredients

1 cup or 125g all-purpose flour

50g or nearly 1/2 cup ground almonds

2 teaspoons baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 cup or 225g sugar

1 large lemon for zesting

A little less than 1/2 cup or 110g pot plain whole milk yogurt

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup or 120ml canola oil

1/4-1/3 cup or 75-90g citrus marmalade or other tangy jam for topping

Extra yogurt and marmalade for serving (optional)

Method

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and line a bread pan with baking parchment.  (Or butter it liberally.  I just think the parchment is easier.)

Mix your dry ingredients together: the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and salt, in one bowl.

Zest your lemon into your actual mixing bowl and then add in the sugar.  Mix the zest and the sugar together thoroughly with a fork.

Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla to the bowl and whisk vigorously or use the K-beater in your electric mixer until it is very well blended. 

Beat or whisk in the dry ingredients, then add in the oil gradually, at a very low speed.

Pour the batter into the pan and drop the pan a couple of times onto your countertop from a few inches high to get rid of the big air bubbles in the batter.

Slide the baking pan into the oven and bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until the cake begins to come away from the sides of the pan. 

While the cake is still hot and in the pan, put your marmalade or jam on top and, as it warms, spread it around.  (I used some jam I made from our own Japanese plum tree last week.  Isn't the color incredible?  All natural, just fruit and sugar!)

Serve it plain or with a spoon of slightly sweetened yogurt and another spoon of marmalade or jam.

Oh, and let your helper lick out the yogurt pot!  He's been so patient.

Enjoy!