Bran Flax Muffins

Every so often I make a ton of muffins and while eating one or two straight from the oven, I individually wrap them or put them in a sandwich bag and freeze them for future breakfasts. I really like this as freezing them seems to keep their freshness encapsulated - I take one out before going to bed and the next morning - voila! - a freshly baked muffin, just for me.

The bran flax muffins I made not too long ago remind me of my Mom's Carrot Cake, which I plan to write about some day. The recipe calls for carrots and apples, which right there, tells you this little bundle of goodness is going to be, you guessed it - delicious (did you think I was going to say moist?)!

Here are some notes from my baking:
- I did not include raisins
- Although my hubby is not a huge fan of nuts, I thought, "What the heck?!" - He'll be okay just this once.
- I used All-Purpose Flour instead of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
- I used "regular" light brown sugar

This Bran Flax Muffins recipe comes from Bob's Red Mill Flax Seed Meal. Great recipe and I would definitley make them again, especially for a "healthy" bunch of people.

Bran Flax Muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
3/4 cup Flaxseed Meal
3/4 cup Oat Bran Cereal
1 cup Yellow D Sugar ( Brown Sugar)
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Cinnamon, Saigon (Premium)
1 1/2 cups finely shredded Carrots
2 peeled and shredded Apples
1/2 cup Raisins (optional)
1 cup chopped Nuts
3/4 cup Milk
2 beaten Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla

Mix together flour, Bob's Red Mill Flaxseed Meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in carrots, apples, raisins (if desired) and nuts. Combine milk, beaten eggs and vanilla. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients. Stir until ingredients are moistened. DO NOT OVER MIX. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-20 minutes.

Yield: 15 medium muffins

Cinnamon Rolls

The hubby and I LOVE cinnamon rolls. More so he than I. The MIL is an AMAZING baker (among other things) and makes killer cinnamon rolls. Her recipe calls for yeast, and being impatient and that my husband's stomach is not a huge fan of yeast, I have made the following recipe a few times. Each time I make them, I like them more. They're fast, easy, and delish!

I made cinnamon rolls this morning for DH as an early Father's Day breakfast as next Sunday I wont' be able to prepare a breakfast for him.

Fastest Cinnamon Buns
from Leite's Culinaria

Ingredients
CINNAMON BUNS
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk

GLAZE
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons buttermilk
1 cup confectioners' sugar

MAKE THE BUNS
1. Adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Brush a round 9-inch nonstick cake pan with 1 tablespoon butter. Spray a wire cooling rack with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Combine the brown sugar, 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and stir with a fork or fingers until the mixture resembles wet sand; set the filling mixture aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Whisk together the buttermilk and 2 tablespoons butter in a measuring cup. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until the liquid is absorbed (the dough will look shaggy), about 30 seconds. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until just smooth and no longer shaggy about 30 seconds.

4. Pat the dough with your hands into a 12 by 9-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle the dough evenly with the brown sugar filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Press the filling firmly into the dough. Using a bench scraper or metal spatula, loosen the dough from the work surface. Starting at a long side, roll the dough, pressing lightly, to form a tight log. Pinch the seam to seal. Roll the log seam-side down and cut it evenly into 8 pieces. Turn the pieces over on their flat sides, and with your hand, slightly flatten each piece of dough to seal the open edges and keep the filling in place. Place 1 roll in the center of the prepared pan and then place the remaining 7 rolls around the perimeter of the pan. Brush the rolls with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter.

5. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 23 to 25 minutes. Use an offset metal spatula to loosen the buns from the pan. Wearing oven mitts, place a large plate over the pan and invert the buns onto the plate. Place the greased cooling rack over the plate and invert the buns onto the rack. Cool about 5 minutes before glazing.

MAKE GLAZE AND FINISH BUNS
1. While the buns are cooling, line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper (for easy cleanup); set the rack with the buns on the baking sheet. Whisk the cream cheese and buttermilk in a large bowl until thick and smooth (the mixture will look like cottage cheese at first). Sift the confectioners' sugar over the mixture and whisk until a smooth glaze forms' about 30 seconds. Spoon the glaze evenly over the buns; serve immediately.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Another item I made for Monday's meeting (I can't make just ONE thing, right?!) was Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Oh so delicious. I got this recipe from Sisters Cafe. These were by far my favorite out of the two muffins I made.

I was hesitant about using 2 cups of whole wheat flour as oftentimes, this will result in a dry and overly grainy baked good. I was, however, pleasantly surprised to find that the recipe resulted in moist and wholesome goodness. I couldn't believe that these were somewhat healthy for you. Next time, I would use mini chocolate chips because I made mini muffins, or simply make big muffins if I used "regular-sized" chocolate chips.

So good! Melanie, from Sisters Cafe, was nice enough to explain that her recipe came from the King Arthur Flours Cookbook. She highly recommends it, by the way. The recipe can be found on page 546.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
from Sisters Cafe, submitted by Melanie

1/2 cup butter (1 stick or 4 ounces)
1/2 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 Cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin pan (or like I did, your mini muffin pan).

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the banana, honey and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour and chocolate chips, stirring until smooth. Divide batter into the muffin cups, they'll be nearly full. Bake the muffins until a cake tester inserted in the center of one comes out clean, 23-28 minutes (My mini muffins took 15 minutes to bake). Remove from oven and after a couple of minutes transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

I have an "end of year" meeting this morning and was assigned to make a bread. As one who likes individual servings, I made muffins instead. I believe this would be considered a bread, and although one does not get a slice, they get a mini muffin instead. Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins came from Recipezaar - I've had quite a bit of luck with recipes from this site, however, one must use common sense when choosing a recipe from here. This recipe had great reviews and so, I was off to the kitchen to try my own skill at making these delicious-looking muffins.

I used mini baking cups and got 48 mini muffins out of this recipe. They are not as moist as I anticipated they might be, based on the reviews. I used vegetable oil instead of canola oil and baked them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Next time I make these, I am going to try and see if I can't do something to make them more moist. Thoughts?



Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins
from Recipezaar, recipe shared by "Dorel"
SERVES 6 -12 , 6 -12 muffins
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
4 ounces butter or 1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
Directions
- Sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
- In another bowl, whisk eggs, buttermilk and butter that has been melted and browned slightly.
- Make a well in dry ingredients and pour in liquid ingredients, mixing quickly.
- Fold in blueberries.
- Spoon batter into greased muffin cups and bake till golden brown.
- Bake at 400 F for 20 -30 minutes.

She Cooks, He Takes, Too!

This morning, baby woke at 5am. Ugh. I thought that, just maybe she would be interested in hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep for a while. And I even thought it had worked for a while. But alas, at 5:15, I decided to bring her back to the big bed so I could try and get a couple more zzz's myself. The hubby finally cracked an eye and couldn't believe that he had to be a part of the "morning hour crew." But he can sleep through anything, right?!

I felt a bit guilty we awoke him, so I made him a delicious breakfast sandwich - super easy to make when you're in a time crunch (not that we were!) and a healthy start to your day.

Hubby's Breakfast Sandwich
1 english muffin, toasted
spray butter
1 egg (or, as I had, 2 egg whites)
2 slices of thinly sliced ham lunch meat
2 slices colby jack chesse (or whatever you have on hand)

Cook egg in non-stick pan and add salt and pepper to desired taste. At time of flipping, begin toasting the english muffin. When egg is close to being fully cooked, place the 2 slices of ham between the pan and egg. Then place the cheese on top of the egg. Turn stove off and let the remaining heat from the pan and egg warm the ham and melt the cheese.

When english muffin is toasted, spray with butter and place all of the items in the pan carefully onto the bottom piece of the english muffin. Place the top of the english muffin on top of cheese. If cheese hasn't melted before this point, it will continue to melt from the heat of the english muffin. Eat.