Snow Muffins

Yup, you read that right.... Snow Muffins. Real snow. The white frozen stuff that falls from the sky in (brrrr) winter. A friend of mine let me flip through her Aunt's cookbook one day on muffins. A few recipes caught my eye, but none more than the Snow Muffin!

A little history on me. This is not to make any of you jealous - just so you know. I live in Victoria, BC on Vancouver Island. It is an Island off the west coast of British Columbia. In Canada. Now, I know what all you Americans are thinking - but you're wrong. See my Island is almost parallel to Seattle, WA. You've heard of that place right? Fairly rainy, mossy, green most of the year? If that doesn't ring a bell, think Twilight Saga. We live right under a rainforest belt and we are surrounded by ocean. Our weather was voted #1 for being the most mild place to live in Canada. Our winter was especially chilly this year - we actually dipped below 0 degrees (Celsius). We tend to sit around +8 - +12 degrees C in the winter with a fairly consistent drizzle of rain. We rarely see snow and when it appears the entire city shuts down within a couple hours. True - schools, businesses, buses - they all stop working. The City you see, does not own any snow plows :( <---- sad face Okay, enough about my winter sob story. Onto the muffins.

We recently had one of those rare snow falls. It started late in the afternoon. By the time enough snow had accumulated to even consider making these muffins it was 9 pm at night. I really didn't want to start baking then. I knew that the snow would turn to rain by 3 a.m. and I would have no hopes of this recipe until the following winter (if we were lucky - or perhaps that is unlucky?).

See that lovely smiling face?? That is my cousin, L. She lives in Alberta. It recently hit below -35 C. That is cold... colder than I can even fathom. It happened to be a snow themed week at her preschool and she asked for the recipe. I was so excited that someone would be able to taste these curious muffins! She was so kind to take some pictures for me as well!!

The kids had the cutest little faces and were really excited. L said they couldn't believe they got to use real snow in the muffins!!

Look at them dig in!! So cute!!

The reviews came in, and the muffins do need a little help. They were a little on the bland side. Be creative, a splash of vanilla, some cinnamon perhaps? Go ahead and spice it up a bit!!!

Snow Muffins

yields 12

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup lightly packed brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp margarine, melted

1 cup milk

1 1/2 cups Snow (do I even need to say white stuff only??)

3/4 cup raisins or currants

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees C

2. In a bowl combine first 4 ingredients and mix well.

3. Add margarine and milk; mixture will be lumpy.

4. Quickly add snow and raisins, stir just until blended.

5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20 to 25 min or until lightly browned.

I hope you all try these out soon!!

Enjoy

CC

Tinroof Muffins!

What I really wanted was a PB & J muffin. I had thought that I had seen this recipe over and over on the Internet - but when I searched for it, I had little to no choice! So, I found a Tinroof muffin in my "Best Bake Sale Ever" cookbook and added 1/2 teaspoon of jam and PB in the middle!

The recipe says it makes 12 muffins - but hardly. I would definitely double this recipe just to make 12. They also came out a bit dry. I am no baking scientist - but maybe some yogurt or something!! Anyway, the search will continue for a PB & J muffin!

Tin Roof Peanut Butter Muffins

Batter:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup chunky peanut butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

Peanut Topping:

¼ cup peanuts, chopped

½ cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and baking powder. Set aside.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, peanut butter, oil, egg and vanilla. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture just until mixed; do not over beat.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin pans, filling the liners ¾ full. Sprinkle peanuts and chocolate chips over the top.

5. Bake in the center of the oven for 20 – 25 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out dry. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Enjoy!

CC!

Little Miss Muffin Tops

I was given this cookbook for Christmas a few years ago - after moving so much it finally made it out of storage and I was able to read it! I recommend this to every cook. They have a great take on healthy eating and what it means, great recipes and you don't have to give up anything to enjoy good cooking!

So one of the first recipes I tried was their Oatmeal Blueberry Banana muffins. They are stuffed full of all kinds of good stuff my husband and son would never believe! They are moist, tasty, sweet and filling - oh yeah, healthy too as far as baking is concerned!!

Little Miss Muffin Tops

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup oat bran (not those little bran buds that come in the cereal box. Look for oat bran by the oatmeal)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup flaked coconut (optional)

1 tsp each baking soda and salt

1 cup mashed ripe bananas

1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup fresh blueberries (who are we kidding, I used frozen)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray two 6-cup muffin-top pans (I used a regular muffin tin) with cooking spray and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, four, oat bran, sugar, coconut, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together bananas, yogurt, butter, egg, and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Batter will be thick. Gently fold in blueberries.

4. Divide batter evenly among muffin-top cups. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until muffin tops are puffed up and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffin tops from pans and cool on a wire rack.

Here is the nutritional value of one muffin if anyone is tracking...

Calories = 169, total fat = 4.4g, saturated fat = 2.2g, protein = 4g, carbohydrate = 31g, fiber = 2.5g, cholesterol = 26mg, sodium = 108mg

Enjoy
CC

Butternut Squash Muffins

In an attempt to try and bake healthier (because lets face it - I'm not going to stop baking!) I found this recipe of Jamie Oliver's. He compared the taste to carrot muffins, but I think it was more like a pumpkin muffin.

I followed the recipe exactly and found them declicious. However, I would the next time use half white and half whole wheat flour, and also add my beloved millet (ancient grain). Although we all enjoyed the icing on top - I would not do it again and just sprinkle some millet on top.

These were great and I will definately be making them again.

You can get the recipe here.

CC.

Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin muffins are one of my favorites. These are not quite perfect, they are eggless so I find them a little bit spongy. I may try reducing the club soda and adding an egg or two - see if the texture is better. But even with that, they are delicious!

Don't forget the Millet! It is one of my favorite ancient grains - and perfect in breads, muffins and perhaps a cookie if it is the right one! I keep a bag in the freezer and just through a handful in here and there. It has no taste but adds some nice crunch!

Plus the Millet makes a nice decoration!

Eggless Pumpkin Muffins

2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour

1 cup Brown sugar, packed

1 tbsp Baking soda

1/2 tsp Ground coriander

1/2 tsp Ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ground cloves

(I use 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 3/4 tsp all-spice)

14 oz Can of pure pumpkin (no spice)

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup Plain yogurt

1/4 cup Cooking oil

Measure first 7 ingredients into large bowl. Stir. Make a well in centre.

Combine remaining 4 ingredients in medium bowl. Add to well. Stir until just moistened. Fill 12 greased muffin cups full (they will be very very full). Bake in 375 degree F oven for about 25 minutes until wooden pick inserted in centre of muffin comes out clean. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool. Makes 12 muffins.

Enjoy

CC.

Hello Muffin... Where have you been all this time??

I have been searching for a good muffin base for a very long time. My Mom has an excellent one. You can put anything you like in the base and it tastes fantastic. So I have been searching for my own. Finally, I think I may have found it...

My son has been sick for a couple days with a cold. Poor little man, just feeling crummy all day is no fun. So tonight, when we were trying to convince him to eat some supper I decided maybe I could try out this new recipe and get him to have a muffin before bed.

I had a block of cream cheese in the fridge I wanted to use up so this was a perfect choice. The only variation I did was use 2% milk instead of cream - I just didn't have any.

These were FANTASTIC!!! I think we may have a winner here. I look forward to trying them with blueberries very soon!

Don't be alarmed, the batter is quite thick. I had to take a picture because I was sure they were not going to be any good. Thankfully, I was wrong.




Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins AKA Heaven

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 cup cream (I used 2% milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, lightly grease 12 muffin cups or use paper liners.
2. Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in egg, cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and chocolate chips. Stir flour mixture into cream cheese mixture until flour is moistened. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling them 3/4 full.
3. Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden, about 20 mins.



CC.