A Life, Lived

Cinnamon-Rhubarb Muffins

Last week our cleaner texted Paul and asked if we'd like some rhubarb from her garden. We said sure, expecting a handful of stalks. Instead Nellie showed up with a big bag full of rhubarb. We gave some to our neighbour and have been working through the rest.

I made this muffin recipe on Saturday. It comes together easily and yields a dense, yet moist muffin that is bursting with fresh rhubarb flavour.

Enjoy!

Cinnamon-Rhubarb Muffins

For the muffins:
oz. (2 cups) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup sour cream
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups 1/4-inch-diced rhubarb (7-1/4 oz.)
For the topping:
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper or foil baking cups.

Make the muffin batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and whisk to blend.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sour cream, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Lightly stir the sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients with a spatula until the batter just comes together; do not overmix. Gently stir in the diced rhubarb. The batter will be thick.

Divide the batter among the muffin cups, using the back of a spoon or a small spatula to settle the batter into the cups. The batter should mound a bit higher than the tops of the cups.

Make the topping: In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle a generous 1/2 tsp. of the cinnamon-sugar mixture over each muffin.

Bake the muffins until they’re golden brown, spring back most of the way when gently pressed, and a pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Carefully lift the muffins out of the pan—if necessary, loosen them with the tip of a paring knife—and let them cool somewhat.

Zucchini Muffins

I was searching for ways to use up the zucchini delivered in our CSA when I found this recipe on the Simply Recipes blog. Elise declared that they were 'the best zucchini muffins ever.' Now I've never had a zucchini muffing (that I am aware of) so I had no comparison. I can declare that they were bloody amazing!

In fact. . . . someone in this house ate 3 of them the day I pulled them from the oven. If that is not a positive endorsement I have no idea what is.

Zucchini Muffins

3 cups grated fresh zucchini
2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons baking soda
Pinch salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). In a large bowl combine the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in the grated zucchini and then the melted butter. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Stir these dry ingredients into the zucchini mixture. Stir in walnuts, raisins or cranberries if using.

Coat each muffin cup in your muffin pan with a little butter or vegetable oil spray. Use a spoon to distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups, filling the cups up completely. Bake on the middle rack until muffins are golden brown, and the top of the muffins bounce back when you press on them, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick or a thin bamboo skewer to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin let cool another 20 minutes.

Note, if you are including walnuts and dried fruit, you will likely have more batter than is needed for 12 muffins. I got about 14 muffins from this batch, and that included filling the muffin cups up as far as they could possibly go (above the surface of the muffin tin).

Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

Raspberries finally appeared at the Farmers' Market last week. You can imagine my reaction- I immediately bought far more than I needed. This is a regular occurrence around here - when you go so long without fresh, local produce you celebrate in a bacchanalian way when it appears. Happily the folks at Eating Well mush have sense my raspberry overload because this recipe appeared on my Facebook feed.

I've learned that a recipe from Easting Well means lower sugar,lower fat, and likely more healthy ingredients. This one doesn't disappoint with whole wheat four, a third off the sugar that I found in other muffin recipes, lower fat and more healthy fats at that.If you're going to have a muffin then this is a good choice.

This recipe was particularly good for me as it combined raspberry and lemon - one of my all time favourite flavour combinations. Each bite is bursting with fresh raspberries and a splash of lemon - what is not to love?

You can see from the picture that I made them a tad less healthy by sprinkling some granulated sugar on top of the muffins prior to baking.

Lemon-Raspberry Muffins

1 lemon
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup nonfat buttermilk, (see Tip)
1/3 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup white whole-wheat flour, or whole-wheat pastry flour (see Shopping Tip)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.

Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.

Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.

Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

Our CSA has had a regular supply of organic strawberries and I have been looking for creative ways to use them up. I also had some bananas that had gone over to the dark side of ripeness. Some folks may not know this but strawberries and bananas are one of the great fruit combinations. Igoogled about a bit and found a recipe for strawberry banana muffins.

Muffins belong to the 'quick bread' family and these Strawberry Banana Muffins are quick to make. Just two bowls are needed; one for the wet ingredients and one for the dry. Combine the two ingredients together, using a light hand, and your batter is made. If you want giant sized muffins then this batter will make six. Otherwise you will get 12 regular sized muffins. Just remember that if making giant muffins you will have to increase the baking time by at least 5 minutes. They are done when a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

We LOVED these. 6 were eaten up rather quickly and I stuffed the remaining 6 in the freezer to enjoy with a cup of coffee at a later date.

Strawberry Banana Muffins

1/2 cup (1 stick) (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup (240 ml) fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)
2 1/4 cups (295 grams) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (160 grams) light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners or lightly butter or spray the muffin cups with a vegetable spray.

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Let cool to room temperature.

In a medium sized bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.  In another large bowl combine the flour, sugar, 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.) 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.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. 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. Can be stored for a few days at room temperature.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Banana Chocolate Muffins

Cleaning out the fridge is a pre-trip ritual. It has been relatively easy this time because I've been so busy with work that we have taken to not buying groceries and just taking containers of leftovers out of the freezer, tossing them in the microwave, and chowing down.

I did have a bunch of bananas which were getting decidedly 'ripe' so we made these muffins. Quick and easy to pull together we loved the flavours and texture. If you have some ripe bananas needing to be used up you won't go wrong with these!

Banana Chocolate Muffins

1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 large)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
2 small eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with muffin papers.

Sift first 4 ingredients into a large bowl.

Combine bananas, sugar, butter, milk, eggs and vanilla essence in a medium bowl.

Mix into dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over-mix!

Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide batter among prepared muffin cups, fill it till 3/4 full.

Bake until muffins are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, for about 25 minutes. (10 to 15 minutes for miniature muffins).

Cool muffins in tray for 5 minutes before transferring muffins to cooling rack to cool completely.

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins with Walnut Struesel

 . . .or I finally use up the last of the buttermilk I bought a few weeks ago . . .

Why is it that all milks and creams come in small sizes BUT buttermilk? ARGH I still had a carton of buttermilk in the refrigerator and I was determined to use it up before it went bad.  I also went crazy at the market last week buying strawberries and rhubarb. There are times I wonder if I should be allowed in the market unsupervised since I always come back with WAY more than I need.

We wait so long for fresh strawberries here in Ontario so that when they arrive I can't help myself. Of all the fruits I think strawberries are the biggest argument in favour of local, fresh, and ripe or NOTHING!

I had made buttermilk pancakes last weel with strawberries so that was out. I had planned a cobbler but that never happened. I googled 'strawberry rhubarb buttermilk' and some interesting sounding treats popped onto the screen.

I ended up selecting a recipe and then played around with it . . . because that is what I do. *smile* I added some cinnamon to the batter and wanted a bit of a crunchy topping. I also cut back on the sugar. The results were brilliant!

So brilliant that I may need to buy more buttermilk so I can make these again . . .

Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins with Walnut Struesel

8 tbls. unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
2 cups AP flour (+ 1 tbls. for fruit)
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 cup rhubarb, finely chopped
½ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon

Place paper liners in your muffin pan and preheat the oven to 375F.

Prepare the fruit. Rinse, hull, and cut strawberries into small pieces. For rhubarb, cut off any ugly ends and using a paring knife, peel off tough strings. Cut into small, 1 inch pieces. Toss the fruit with 1 tbls. of flour and ½ tsp of cinnamon..

Cut the butter into pieces and, using an electric mixer, cream with the sugar and salt until it is light and fluffy.

Continue to beat and add eggs, one at a time.

Add flour and baking powder. Add buttermilk.

Fold in the fruit.

Spoon into the muffin cups.

Combine the brown sugar, chopped walnuts, and ½ tsp cinnamon. Sprinkle over the top of the muffins.

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.

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