Strawberry Muffins #MuffinMonday

The perfect muffin recipe to add your favorite extras too. Great with strawberries, blueberries: raspberries, dried cranberries, chopped strawberries, grated apples, chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, cinnamon sugar, etc.

Nothing fancy here, folks, just some good simple muffins with strawberries.  I’ve posted this recipe before but it was quite a while ago and so I figured quite a few of you might not have read it.  It comes from the Houston Chronicle Flavor section and is so quick to make that I woke up that morning, read the paper while drinking my first cup of coffee and then had the muffins made before anyone else came down for breakfast.   If you measure and mix efficiently, you can have these in and out of the oven in 30 minutes.  After the first cup of coffee, of course.  Without coffee, I am thinking 45 minutes tops.

Our #MuffinMonday host, Anuradha, prescribed the strawberries.  The recipe was up to us!

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
3/4 cup or 170g sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 240ml milk
1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter (melted) or ½ cup canola oil
(I’ve made this many times and either butter or oil makes a delicious muffin.)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 generous cup or about 175g fresh strawberries
Alternative additions in place of the strawberries: raspberries, dried cranberries, chopped blueberries, grated apples, chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, cinnamon sugar, etc.
Optional: powdered sugar to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 400°F or 200°C.  Generously grease cups and top of 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper cups.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.

Hull and chop your strawberries.   I also give them a good rinse before cutting and then dry them in a towel.

In another bowl, whisk together milk, canola oil, vanilla and eggs.

Add all the milk mixture to flour mixture, then gently fold just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Then fold in your strawberries or your alternate ingredients.

Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

The cups are going to be pretty full. 

Bake 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden.

Remove from oven and let cool 10-15 before removing muffins from tin.

Once they are cool, you can sprinkle on some powdered sugar if desired.

This recipe can also be baked as a cake, if you don’t have a muffin tin.  Extend baking time by five to 10 minutes or, once again, until golden.

Enjoy!

Pineapple Bundt with Kuih Tat Filling #BundtaMonth

A tender crumbed pineapple Bundt cake filled with pineapple jam, just like the Malaysian kuih tats or pineapple tarts made for Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. What are you celebrating?



When we moved to Kuala Lumpur for the first time in late December of 2001, we arrived as preparations for the Chinese New Year’s celebrations for the Year of the Horse got underway.  The whole month of January was filled with special offers and big sales in all the shops and the opening of many road-side stalls selling specialties of the season.

The one that caught my eye the most were small pineapple tarts, or kuih tat in Malay, because they seemed so exotic.  (The full name is kuih tat nanas, or  pineapple cake tart, with nanas meaning pineapple but it is often left off since everyone knows that kuih tat is pineapple.)  Sure, I had eaten pineapple a thousand times but not in baked goods or jam.  I discovered that pineapple jam is as common in the supermarkets of Asia as the ubiquitous strawberry spread you find in the rest of the world.  But it was new to me!

Traditional lion dance during a Chinese New Year celebration

When the tropical theme for March’s BundtaMonth was announced, the kuih tat popped into my head, because I wanted to share how easy pineapple jam is to make and how delicious it is as a filling in a Bundt cake.  It’s a great celebration cake, for Chinese New Year or for whatever you happen to be celebrating.

Make sure you scroll down to the bottom of this post to see all of the fabulous (and I am not even joking a little bit) tropical Bundt cakes that the group has created this month.

Ingredients
For the pineapple filling or jam:
1 fresh pineapple, about 1 lb 3 oz or 550g, after peeling and coring
3/4 cup or 175g sugar
Pinch salt
(Some Malaysian recipes call for spices or yellow food coloring but I prefer the natural flavor of the pineapple and the coloring is unnecessary.  This filling or jam turns the most amazing golden yellow color without it.)

For the cake batter:
2 1/2 cups or 310g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 rounded 1/2 cup or 125g soft unsalted butter
3/4 cup or 175g sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream or crème fraîche or whole fat yogurt
1/4 cup or 60ml pineapple filling or jam

For the glaze:
1/4 cup pineapple filling
Pineapple juice to loosen the filling (maybe one or two tablespoons)
1 tablespoon butter

Method
To make the pineapple jam filling, pulse the pineapple in your food processor until it is cut into small pieces.  You don’t want it completely smooth so there should be small chunks.

Pour the chopped pineapple into a strainer over a small bowl or measuring cup to catch the juice.  Once the pineapple has stopped dripping, cover the juice and refrigerate until needed.

Cook the drained pineapple in a small covered pot for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add in the sugar and cook over a low heat until the jam is sticky and pretty dry, stirring frequently.

It will turn slightly darker.  Transfer the jam to a bowl and allow to cool.  (You can put this in the refrigerator.)

Look!  Pineapple jam!  Also great on toast. 

When your pineapple filling is cool, preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by greasing or spraying liberally with non stick spray and adding a tablespoon or two of flour and shaking it around till the pan is coated.

To make the cake batter, measure your dry cake ingredients into a small bowl: the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix well.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl with beaters or in your standing mixer.

Now mix in 1/4 cup or 60ml of the pineapple filling, avoiding any liquid that has settled around the bottom in the jam bowl.

Then beat in a couple of tablespoons of the flour mixture, with one egg.

Then beat in another couple of tablespoons of flour mixture with the second egg.

Add the rest of the flour mixture and the sour cream and beat again.  (I actually used yogurt this time.)  The batter will be very thick.

Spoon just more than half of the cake batter around the Bundt pan.  Make a channel of sorts in the middle of the batter for the filling.  This should prevent the filling from leaking out while baking.

Use a small spoon to fill the channel in the batter with your pineapple filling, once again, using the driest bits.   Make sure to leave behind about 1/4 cup of the filling with the runny bits to use for the glaze.

Cover with the remaining batter and smooth the top.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides a little bit.

Let the cake cool for 10-15 minutes and then loosen the sides with a small spatula or knife.  Turn the cake out on to a rack to finish cooling.

Meanwhile, warm the remaining filling to loosen it and add in a couple of tablespoons of reserved pineapple juice, if necessary.  When it’s all warm and shiny, add in one tablespoon of butter and stir well.

Once the cake is cool, use a pastry brush to add the glaze.

The national flower of Malaysia is a beautiful red hibiscus referred to there as Bunga Raya.   

Enjoy!

Here are the links to the great round-up of tropical Bundts we have for you this month:

Bananas Foster Bundt by Anita from Hungry Couple
Blue Hawaiian Bundt Cake by Tara from Noshing With The Nolands
Chocolate Bundt With Coconut Cream Cheese Filling by Karen from In The Kitchen With KP
Chocolate Coconut Bundt Cake by Kim from Cravings Of A Lunatic Coconut and Rum Tea Cake by Anuradha from Baker Street
Coconut Banana Bundt Cake with Rum Glaze by Lora from Cake Duchess
Coconut Bundt Cake by Holly from A Baker’s House
Coconut Lime Bundt Cake by Kate from Food Babbles
Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Heather from Hezzi D’s Books and Cooks
Hummingbird Bundt Cake by Jennie from The Messy Baker Blog
Lime Glazed Bundt Cake by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry
Mini Pineapple Bundt Cakes with White Chocolate Ganache by Alice from Hip Foodie Mom Pina Colada Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days
Vanilla Orange Bundt Cake with a Hint of Coconut by Laura from The Spiced Life
Very Vanilla Bundt Bake by Dorothy from Shockingly Delicious
White Chocolate Guava Cake by Kim from Ninja Baking

Coconut Pecan Brownie Muffins #MuffinMonday

Rich, chocolately muffins with pecans, coconut, hazelnut spread and chocolate chips, these Coconut Pecan Brownie Muffins as gorgeous as they are delicious.

Once again this week, Anuradha, our illustrious Muffin Monday organizer has given us free reign, prescribing only one ingredient and no specific recipe.  In a lot of ways, I find this even more fun and I hope the trend continues.   Our ingredient for this week is coconut, which I love!  The first thought that popped into my head was the birthday cake I often asked for as a child, German Chocolate Cake, which has a pecan coconut frosting.  But since muffins aren’t really supposed to be cupcakes with frosting, I decided just to take those flavors and add them into the actual muffin.*  They went off to the office with my dear husband and, I am told, were gone in an absolute flash.  Which pleases me no end!

Headed for work, spreading joy for #MuffinMonday on Sunday, which is our Monday, so it works out perfectly.

Coconut Pecan Brownie Muffins

This recipe was adapted from the Chocolate Brownie Muffin recipe in The Australian Women's Weekly Madeleines, Muffins & More, which I received as a Christmas gift from my beautiful, generous daughters.

Ingredients
2 cups or 250g flour
1/3 cup or 26g cocoa powder
1/3 cup or 75g sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup or 165g chocolate hazelnut spread plus extra for decorating
1/4 cup or 60g butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120g sour cream
1 cup or 125g whole pecans (You will reserve 1/4 for decorating.)
1/2 cup or 50g sweetened flaked coconut plus extra for decorating
1/2 cup or 95g chocolate chips

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin tins (one 12-cup and one 6-cup) by spraying with non-stick spray or lining with muffin papers.

Chop pecans and set aside 1/4 cup for decorating.

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

In another smaller bowl, whisk together your egg, chocolate hazelnut spread, milk, sour cream and butter.

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

Add in three-quarters of the pecans, the coconut flakes and the chocolate chips.  Stir until just mixed.

Divide your batter between the 18 prepared muffin cups.

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

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

Once cool, spread the muffins with a small amount of the chocolate hazelnut spread and decorate with the rest of the pecans and just a little of the coconut flakes.

Enjoy!