I know, I know. These muffins look so dull and boring. And you’r right, they do look dull and boring. BUT they are soft, spongy, delicious and healthy. So for those of you whos New Years resolution was to eat healthier, this one is for you. Personally I can do without the chocolate chips on top, the muffins are wonderful all by themselves. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Banana and Date Muffins (makes 10-11 muffins)
Ingredients:
1 cup pitted whole dates (150 g)
2 cup oats (170 g)
3 rips bananas
2 eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of salt
a big pinch of cinnamon
optional, chocolate chips for sprinkling
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Grease a muffin tin and set aside.
Remove the pits from dates and place in a heat-proof bowl. Bring a small amount of water to a boil and pour water over dates, let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Drain water from dates. Place dates, oats, bananas, eggs, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a food processor or a blender and process until smooth. This could take a couple of minutes depending on the softness of the dates. Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, sprinkle with chocolate chips if desired. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Enjoy!
The weather in Virginia is already turning really warm and it makes me want to make something with berries. Blueberries are one of those berries I always keep on hand in the freezer. Although you can easily make these muffins with fresh blueberries, I actually prefer to make blueberry muffins with frozen berries.
Finely grated Marcipan, finished dough, dust berries with flour and add to dough, quickly but gently fold in berries.
This is a wonderful muffin recipe, which you must try. I added a little grated Marcipan which I thought might possibly make the cake a little heavy, but it turned out perfectly light and added a wonderful subtle hint of almond. The muffins are bursting with blueberries and a light sprinkling of sugar gives it a crisp top, and as we all know the muffin top is the best part!
When using frozen berries, dough will become firm, that’s okay, just pile it on.
Best Blueberry Muffins With Marcipan (makes 12 muffins)
Ingredients:
245 grams all-purpose flour (2 cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
112 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick or 1/2 cup)
205 grams sugar (1 cup)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
80 grams marcipan, grated (2.8 ounces)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 deciliter milk (1/2 cup or 120 milliliter)
325 grams frozen whole blueberries (2 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon flour, for sprinkling onto blueberries
extra sugar, for dusting
Directions:
Line muffin pan with paper liners and set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electrical mixer, beat together butter and sugar for 4 minutes until smooth. Add the eggs one at the time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides as needed. Add grated marcipan, vanilla extract and almond extract, beat until well combined. Add flour and milk in three increments, mixing only until fully incorporated. Toss a small tablespoon of flour with the frozen blueberries, quickly stir berries to coat with flour. Add blueberries to dough and gently but quickly fold berries into dough. Dough at this point will become stiff due to the frozen berries. Scoop dough into prepared muffin tin, piling dough into little stacks. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of each dough pile. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden. Test for doneness using a toothpick, it should come out clean when inserted into center of muffin. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack if desired. Enjoy!
The sweltering Virginia summer heat is finally over (for the most part) and Fall has officially arrived. This is my favorite time of year, when the air become crisp, instead of moist, and the temperature cools into the 70s and 80s. This time of year, Virginia displays some of the most brilliant blue skies and if your lucky enough to take a trip into the mountains, the Autumn colors are simply amazing. And lets not forget about Pumpkin…pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes,pumpkin cookies and I could go on and on. This is pumpkin season! So I couldn’t wait any longer, I just had to make something with pumpkin and so here are some delicious pumpkin muffins. They have chocolate chips in them, which my husband is happy as a clam about. Me on the other hand, think the chocolate chips take away from the wonderful pumpkin flavor. So if you are a pumpkin lover, like myself, you may want to consider substituting the chocolate chips for some chopped walnuts or pecans. Or if your loved one is a chocolate-chippaholic then the chocolate chips will be perfect 😉
On another note, I wanted to share these videos with you. A couple of weeks ago, Joe and I went on a weekend getaway to Ocean City, Maryland to visit with family. On one evening, we had seen a fox in the dunes below the fourth floor condo we were staying at and when I got up at dawn to capture the sunrise with my camera, I was able to film a family of three foxes playing with one another. It was a magical moment to watch them play while the sun was rising. I never imagined that foxes would be living by the beach.
Preheat oven to 177 degrees C (350 degrees F). Place baking rack in the middle of oven. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, spices and salt, set dry ingredients aside.
Using your stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to beat well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Make sure to scrape down sides of bowl as you go along. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add sifted dry ingredients and pumpkin puree. Fold in chocolate chips.
Fill muffin cups evenly with batter. Place in the middle of oven and bake for 18 – 22 minutes, or until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center of muffin comes out clean. Place on wire rack to cool.
It’s Rhubarb season! Well actually, the season is almost over and I have been wanting to bake something special with my wonderful tart Rhubarbs that I picked up at the store. This recipe has two of my favorite ingredients in it, marzipan and rhubarb, yum! It also has orange zest which can sometimes be a little potent. The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of orange zest and I think maybe next time I make these scrumptious muffins I may scale it back to 1 1/2 teaspoon, allowing the Rhubarbs to shine a little more. If you are looking for some more Rhubarb recipes check out these posts: Rhubarb Granita, Rhubarb Koldskål and Rød Grød Med Fløde. Enjoy your Rhubarbs!
Rhubarb Muffins With Orange Zest (makes 12-14 muffins)
Ingredients:
125 grams butter (4.5 oz), at room temperature
175 grams sugar (6.2 oz)
150 grams all-purpose flour (5.3 oz)
2 teaspoons orange zest, organic
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 eggs
100 grams shredded marzipan (3.5 oz)
200 grams rhubarb (7.0 oz)
2 tablespoons sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 100 degrees C (390 degrees F). Cut rhubarbs into 1 cm slices (0.4 inch). Place into small oven-proof dish and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes, set aside.
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (345 degrees F). Place muffin liners into muffin tin, set aside.
Beat together butter and sugar until smooth. Combine flour, orange zest and baking powder. Add flour mixture to butter and mix until combined. Add eggs and mix until smooth. Fold in marzipan and baked rhubarbs. Scoop batter into muffin liners and bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool completely before enjoying.
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