Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Banana Walnut Muffins

I've taken the next two days off or some Black Friday shopping. The plan is that we will be across the border later this evening and hitting the stores at midnight. If all goes well we should be home before noon tomorrow.

There isn't anything that compares with a Black Friday shopping experience - heck people have been killed (seriously, folks have died) in the mad rush to a deal. I have seen women punching one another because one thought the other had cut in the line (turns out her BF had been there all along with their cart) . . . people screaming hysterically when the store was out of a particular item . . . shoving . . . the worst fashion EVER. All of this aside, it is greta fun if you don't mind standing in line waiting to pay.

It does take a certain amount of stamina to face. in order to help my friends and I cope I was up early this morning and baked up some muffins. I had bananas that needed to be tossed into some sort of baking so banana muffins were on order. I found this recipe on the Simply Recipes site.

Muffins are a funny thing - I love to eat them and every time I bake some I wonder why I don't make them more often since its so easy. There are few baked goods that are mixed and in the oven as quickly.

These ones came together quickly and baked up beautifully.

Banana Walnut Muffins

3 or 4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tbsp espresso or strong coffee (optional)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cup of flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (toasted or raw)

No need for a mixer with this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl.

Mix in the sugar, egg, espresso and vanilla.

Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.

Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Pour mixture into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

Hello Strawberries!

Strawberry season is finally here in Ontario. For me strawberries mean so many different things - they are the first of the fresh fruit we can get in the area, and they are the harbinger of so many other fresh treats to come in the following months. They signal the start of the jam making season. They indicate that summer is here - woo hoo! They also cause me to stop and remember my grandmother who died of a heart attack after picking strawberries from her garden.

One of my first summer tasks once the school year finished (generally around June 30th) was to go to a local pick-your-own farm with some friends. Pick berries for a few hours and then go home and drink strawberry daiquiris until I passed out. It was the perfect way to start the summer.

Now I am far too lazy to pick my own. I justify it by saying that it isn't worth the savings to crawl around the straw covered earth picking my own berries. It is so much easier to pull up at the farm, pass my money to the attendant, and drive off with a flat of berries.

I've yet to do this but I have brought 9 quarts home from the farmer's market over the past few weeks.  It won't be long before we're on strawberry overload!

I've posted many strawberry recipes over the years. if you have a glut of strawberries and are looking for interesting things to try may I suggest:

• Strawberry Balsamic Martini
• Strawberry Banana Muffins
• Stawberry Rhubarb Cobbler
• Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream
• Strawberry Rhubarb Galette
• Strawberry Raspberry Rosé Sorbet
• Strawberry Margaritas
• Strawberry-Rhubarb Cardamom Jam
• Strawberry Basil Martini
• Strawberry and Cream Cheesecake
• Srawberry and Cucumber Soup
• Strawberry Panna Cotta with Red Wine Syrup
• Srawberry Buttermilk Pancakes
• Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie

Raspberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins

The other day a colleague and I were making a long drive for a meeting. Since we had such an early start we decided to bring some treats for the car. I wanted to make ricotta muffins because I had some ricotta that needed to be used. I also had some Meyer lemons in the fridge. Throw in some raspberries that ALSO needed to be out of the fridge and I had a plan.

With my good friend google I consulted the great cookbook known as the internet where I found a great sounding recipe for Lemon Ricotta muffins. The recipe was by  Giada de Laurentiis so normally I would run for the hills, however it hit all of the right buttons so I persevered. Raspberries were not included in the recipe but 'how hard would it be to toss some in?' I thought.

I love what ricotta cheese does to baked goods. It lightens, and fluffs, and imparts such a lovely consistency to the batter. I had had a lot of success adding it to our favorite pancake recipe, so I was almost positive this recipe would prevail. And whatever you do, don't substitute for the almond extract. The intense flavor it provides works so beautifully with the fresh lemon.

This was an easy recipe to follow and the resulting muffins were incredible - definitely a new favourite for me! In fact, when we got back my colleague grabbed the leftovers and ran. Good thing I had 6 left at home to share with Paolo.

Raspberry Lemon Ricotta Muffins

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar for sprinkling
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon finely grated Meyer lemon zest (from 2 lemons)
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1 tablespoon fresh Meyer lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup thinly sliced almonds

Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat 1 cup sugar, butter, and lemon zest in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in the ricotta. Beat in the egg, lemon juice, and almond extract. Add the dry ingredients and stir just until blended (the batter will be thick and fluffy).

Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with almonds and then the remaining 1 teaspoon of sugar. Bake until the muffins just become pale golden on top, about 22-24 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

With all of the snow we have been having lately we feel the need for treats. On Sunday Paul was out shovelling (thank goodness for our neighbour Bill's comment about Paul hiding under a shrub every time it has snowed this year. Paul was guilted into action. Go Bill!) and likely cranky.It was cold and nasty out.

I took pity on him and decided to bake a treat for breakfast. Yes, he is spoiled. Because the car wasn't getting out of the driveway I had to make do with what I had on hand. I found this recipe on-line at the Cooking Light web site.

These muffins came together quickly AND they are low in fat. The cream cheese and buttermilk gave them a wonderful tangy taste. I used some of the raspberries that I froze in July - anything for a taste of summer.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2/3 cup (5 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (I used sliced almonds)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine cream cheese and butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at high speed until well blended. Add sugar; beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, and egg; beat well.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to cream cheese mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Gently fold in raspberries and walnuts.

Place 24 foil cup liners in muffin cups. Spoon batter evenly into liners. Bake at 350° 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans; cool on a wire rack.

Yield 2 dozen

CALORIES 142(32% from fat); FAT 4.7g (sat 2.4g,mono 1.3g,poly 0.7g); PROTEIN 2.7g; CHOLESTEROL 19mg; CALCIUM 31mg; SODIUM 138mg; FIBER 1.1g; IRON 0.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 22.6g

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Last weekend I mentioned that I had some ripe bananas and rather than throw them out as I usually do I planned on baking something with them but I didn't know what.

For awhile it looked as if I would never get to bake anything with them because mom was trying to sneak them out of the house so she could make Banana Bread.

By yesterday they were REALLY ripe! I ended up making some low-fat strawberry banana muffins which allowed me to use up the bananas as well as some strawberries which I had in the fridge.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
• 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries cut into pieces
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C).  Position rack in center of oven.  Line the  muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or a vegetable spray.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan melt the butter.  Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana.    Add the melted butter to the brown sugar mixture and stir to combine.

In another large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour.  This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking.  Do not over mix or the berries will end up coloring the batter.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined.  Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Fill each muffin cup about two thirds full of batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.  Fill any unused muffin cups halfway with water to prevent warping of the pan and/or over browning of the muffins.  Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.