muffins for a friend

Okay, first I just have to tell you. . .this lovely guy and I are celebrating 1 year of being in each others lives. He was my birthday present from mis padres last year, and I decided he was a he because he does the heavy lifting in our relationship. I have this thing about personifying inanimate objects, so yes, I am acting like my mixer is a person. I do have to confess, though, that while it has been a year, I have yet to name him. So if anyone has some good name suggestions, I would love to hear them. Alright, moving on. . .


A dear friend of mine had a houseful of guests last weekend, and as she is always busy and stretched out over so many things and also because she does not enjoy baking, she asked if I would make her some muffins to share with her guests. I was delighted to be able to help her out, especially since she had a new muffin recipe that she wanted me to try. I adapted the recipe that she gave me which was torn out of a magazine.

Monster Muffins
2 cups whole grain flour (I believe I used a combination of whole wheat and oat flour)
1 cup oat bran
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup raisins (approximately)
1 cup raw sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon (I used up all of my cinnamon on this)
a dash cloves
some fresh ground nutmeg
1 cup almond milk
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups shredded carrots
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled and shredded
some shredded coconut

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, oat bran, pecans, raisins, raw sugar, baking powder, baking soda, sea salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, almond milk, applesauce, eggs and vanilla. Mix until just blended. Stir in the pumpkin, shredded carrots, apples and coconut. Mix thoroughly. Bake at 350* for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and enjoy.



A muffin fresh from the oven with a bit of butter. . .so wonderfully delightful!! My batch easily made 24 muffins.

peanut butter cupcakes

I really love peanut butter. Yep. It's so delicious. There are times that I crave a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. . .yes, it is my inner five year old self crying out. I saw these on this site, and wanted to try them, but decided to go in a little different direction with the topping. I was wanting it to be a little more like a Reese's. Here's my version:

Peanut Butter Cupcakes
1 cup flour (I used 3/4 oat and 1/4 coconut)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
sprinkle cinnamon
about 2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
3/4 stick butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup coconut sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)

Combine dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl cream together butter, peanut butter, and coconut sugar.


Then add applesauce and vanilla. Then add almond milk and dry ingredients and mix well.


Bake at 350* for 20 minutes.


And ready to be topped. I decided to do a chocolate buttercream frosting for these instead of a peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
1 stick butter, softened
2 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 - 1/3 cup cocoa powder
dash cinnamon
about 1/2 cup milk

Confession: I did not have 2 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar, so what I did was wait and add the milk last to get the consistency that I wanted. It turned out delightful.

Top with chopped Reese's. So delicious!!

*Note: I have to tell you, I have been a little frustrated at how non-fluffy my baked goods have been when I don't use wheat flour. I think I finally figured out a nice remedy. Using a little bit of tapioca flour in addition to the oat and coconut flour made these cupcakes much fluffier than the others I have made without it. Yay!!

i'm part british

Yes, it's true. I am part British. I have known this for a long time in my person, but it was recently confirmed by a family member doing some research on our ancestry. How did I know that I'm part British? Well, I love all things British. Including shortbread. Yep, buttery, delicious goodness. Shortbread is simple and with only a few ingredients it is easy to make and easy to make so that my roomie can have it too. I have been craving shortbread for a while, so I decided to give it a try. I adapted my recipe from here.

Shortbread
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 cup oat four
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup white rice flour
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg
1/3 cup toasted sliced almonds

Combine the flours in a bowl and set aside.


In a separate bowl cream together the butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, coconut sugar, vanilla, and salt.


At this point, I placed my sliced almonds in a 350* oven to toast for about 8 minutes, stirring at the 5 minute mark.


Then once the almonds have cooled a bit, stir them into the creamed butter mixture. Then add the flour and stir just until it is all combined. You don't want to over mix this or the shortbread will become tough not light and flaky like it's supposed to be.


Once it is all mixed up, wrap it in waxed paper and place in the fridge for an hour or so (or you can put it in the freezer if you are impatient like me). When you take it out, roll it out until it's about 1/4 inch thick and cut out cookies using a cookie cutter.


Bake at 350* for about 12 minutes, turning the pans at the 8 minute mark. I had mine in for about 13 minutes and they almost burnt, so be careful!!




And there you have it. . .the perfect snack to have with your afternoon tea. Lovely!! Now if I were just back in London. . .

sour cream blackberry cupcakes

Fun fact about me #12: I bake when I get stressed. Fun fact about me #39: I love sour cream. So these lovely cupcakes just make me happy. I have a few adjustments that I want to make, but they are quite nice. Recipe adapted from Ming Makes Cupcakes. Originally the recipe calls for apricot preserves (which I wanted to try), but the store didn't have the apricot preserves that I wanted, so I went with blackberry instead.

Sour Cream Blackberry Cupcakes
1 cup flour (I used 1/2 oat flour and 1/2 coconut flour)
2 tsp. baking soda
pinch salt
1 stick butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar (I used coconut sugar)
3 Tbsp. applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup sour cream
blackberry preserves

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In case you can't tell, I added cinnamon.


In a separate bowl combine the butter and sugar. Then add the applesauce.

Add the sour cream.


Add the dry ingredients.


Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full. Add a spoonful of preserves.


And cover with remaining dough. One adjustment that I want to make is to put a little less dough on the bottom and make sure that the entire top gets covered. I also would use less jam than I did in these. But all around they were good.

Mascarpone Frosting
8 oz. Mascarpone
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Blend all ingredients and beat until soft peaks form. Frost cupcakes and top with toasted, sliced almonds.