Banana Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins

Time for another new recipe I tried!  This time, it came about not through browsing Pinterest, like most of my other recipes, but instead, me wanting a twist on plain old banana muffins/loaf/cake.  I didn't want to make a cake, and every time I use cake batter in muffin tins, it comes out too dry.  So I decided to google a recipe for banana muffins, but not plain old boring ones either.  I wanted something different.

So I found a recipe for cranberry banana muffins.  And it sounded yum.  Only issue was, I had no idea what "flaked bran cereal" was, yet I had seen recipes for oatmeal banana muffins.  I figured oatmeal and banana went together ok having read that, so I substituted oatmeal (aka dry porridge/rolled oats) for that.  

INGREDIENTS

1 & 1/4 cups flour (you can also use wholemeal)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar (or 1/3 cup if you prefer it not so sweet)
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 & 1/4 cups oatmeal (aka rolled oats/dry uncooked porridge)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180ºC
• If not using a silicone muffin tray, then lightly grease a muffin tin, or line with cupcake liners
• In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt
• In another bowl, whisk together egg, sugar, oil, milk and bananas
• Stir in oatmeal
• Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just blended
• Stir in cranberries
• Divide evenly among prepared muffin cups
• Sprinkle with a little raw sugar on top - gives a nice crunch, but this is optional
• Bake for 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre of a muffin comes out clean
• Leave muffins in tin to cool, then remove to a rack to cool completely (or serve warm)

This recipe with these measurements made (for me) 12 ordinary size muffins and 12 mini muffins.  However, since I was hesitant to overfill the muffins, they were quite small and dense, and didn't rise much.  Next time I will fill up the muffin cups a bit higher.  :)  

As for the flavour, it was amazeballs!  The cranberries soaked up the liquid, they became sweet and juicy, the banana was good, and the raw sugar I had sprinkled on top gave a delicious crunch to it.  The oatmeal and banana made the muffin nice and dense, which will be great for lunches/morning tea.  Definitely a keeper!!!

Recipe Inspiration:  http://www.sevenspoons.net/blog/2006/1/13/plain-january-jane.html?lastPage=true#comment18152293

Passionfruit White Chocolate Muffins

Wow so it's been over a month since I've posted on here, and NO, I haven't been SLACK... I've just been too busy with university and work and things to have any time to try any new recipes!!!  Such is life.

Anywho, we had some passion fruit to use up, courtesy of our neighbour, and no idea what to do with it.  Coincidentally, a friend of mine sent me a message on FB with this recipe (shout out to Mel! :D)  and I was like YES let's do this!  Finally got around to it tonight.  :)  Here's a pic of the pulp :)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 cup caster sugar
100g white chocolate chips
125g butter, melted (and cooled, but I was too impatient for this)
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1/4 cup passion fruit pulp
1 tsp vanilla essence

Icing1 & 1/4 cups icing sugar
2 tsp hot water
1 tablespoon passion fruit pulp 

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 200°C. 
• Lightly grease a 12-hole 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan.
• Combine flour, sugar and chocolate in a bowl. Make a well in the centre. 
• Whisk butter, milk, egg, passion fruit and vanilla in a jug. Pour into well. 
• Gently fold until just combined. 
• Three-quarter fill muffin holes with mixture. 
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• Stand in pan for 5 minutes. 
• Turn onto a wire rack. 
• Make passion fruit icing: Stir icing sugar, water and passion fruit in a bowl until smooth. 
• Spoon over muffins, allowing to drizzle down sides. 
• Allow to set. Serve.

Hmmm I'm not sure about these muffins.  They are REALLY sweet with the chocolate AND the icing - the tartness of the passion fruit is kind of lost in the mix.  I'm not the biggest passion fruit fan (when it has pips!) so the crunch was a bit disconcerting.  I mean they were nice enough, but after one, I'm kinda over it, and hoping mum and dad like them enough to eat the rest haha!

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1082/passionfruit+and+white+chocolate+muffins

Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies

In honour of my mum's birthday yesterday, and also because I finally found the recipe I used to use all the time, I made some brownie muffins.  Really, it's just brownies, but instead of a big lump of brownie to be cut up, I make them in muffin tins because it's easier to deal with!  I love having the portion controlled for me in a muffin size! :D  

Argh why is this picture coming out sideways?  Does anyone know how to fix this?  Leave a comment if you do!

I LOVE this recipe, because it's super easy to make, and the brownies are always hugely chocolatey, and dense and moist and *drools* ok, so we get the picture, I love them.  However, they aren't the healthiest, this recipe uses heaps of butter and eggs and sugar, but oh my, it's totally worth it!  And if you wanted to kick it up a notch in the heart-attack stakes, serve it warm, with vanilla ice cream and some chocolate sauce, and you've got an amazing dessert right there!  Seriously, it's like mud cake.  

I can't rave enough about this recipe, you all just have to try it.

INGREDIENTS

250g butter

1 & 1/2 cups castor sugar

1 & 1/4 cups plain flour

1/8 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup good dark cocoa

4 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla essence, but this is optional)

chocolate buttons/chips/berries to top

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C (fan forced)
• Place butter and sugar in a microwave safe jug, cover and microwave for 3 mins (800 watts).  Sugar should not completely dissolve
• Meanwhile, sift flour, baking powder and cocoa into a large bowl
• Make a well in the centre and add eggs and vanilla
• Pour in the butter mixture and gently mix until well combined, but do not over-mix (lumpy is good!)
• [EDIT] Put into square (or round) flat silicone dish - just found out that it makes them even better than in muffin tin omg.
• Place chocolate buttons/chips/berries on the top of mixture
• Bake for 20ish mins until just firm.  Stab with a toothpick - when it comes out clean, they're ready!
• Allow to cool for 10 mins before removing from the dish

INDULGE.

Seriously my favourite brownie recipe ever.  (Thank you, Tupperware... haha!)

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, Take 2

So after the somewhat disappointing results of my last lemon poppyseed muffin attempt a few blog posts ago (disappointing to me - it just wasn't lemony enough for my taste), I was on the lookout for a different lemon poppyseed muffin recipe to try, preferably using MORE lemon juice (and optional on the zest, since I don't like zest). 

Cue our family friend Cathryn and her own favourite lemon poppyseed muffin recipe!  :)  This is one she makes for her sons, using fresh lemons from her tree.  Today I gave it a go myself, because I needed to make something to take with me to a lunch tomorrow. 

This recipe makes A LOT of mixture, which is good, it made A LOT of muffins! :)  So I can take some to lunch and my parents won't feel like they're missing out on muffins haha!

INGREDIENTS

3 eggs

1 cup trim milk

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

100g melted butter (or 100mL oil) 

2 tablespoons poppyseeds

3 heaped teaspoons baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1 & 1/2 cups flour

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Sift flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl
• Stir in sugar and poppyseeds
• Quickly mix in milk, eggs, butter (oil), and lemon juice
• Stir until just mixed - it is supposed to be very runny, so don't panic
• Fill muffin pans 3/4 full - don't overfill
• Bake until a toothpick poked into the centre of a muffin comes out clean (starting to go golden)

 

These muffins came out lovely!  I really like how moist they were, but alas, still not as lemony as the Starbucks ones that I have put up on a pedestal.  Hmm.  Maybe I will have to do what I've been trying to avoid, and put zest in it.  -_-

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

When I was 11, we moved to Malaysia to live for 3 years (because of my Dad's job).  While there, we (being my Mum, her friend and her friends daughters) visited Starbucks, A LOT.  I mean, why wouldn't we, it was CHEAP there, and there was a Starbucks right across the road from where we lived!  Not even kidding.  Walk out of our apartment building, cross the street and we're at Starbucks.  It was amazing.  

Anyway, Starbucks used to serve lemon poppyseed muffins.  They were so good!  The top was always crispy and delicious, and there was so much lemon that the whole muffin was deliciously tangy and lemony, and the poppyseed just added a beautiful crunch to it.  Of course, they served them warm, with butter, which was just superb.  It quickly became one of our regular orders, and they were always amazing, never had a bad muffin.

And so this inspired me to try making lemon poppyseed muffins today, with a recipe I saw on via www.pinterest.com.  I followed the recipe to a tee, just because with baking you need to be a bit more careful with measurements and things because it's all based on chemical food reactions, and I didn't want to end up with terrible little bricks.

The only things I changed was that I didn't put any zest in (because I loathe the texture of lemon zest) and I forgot to put the salt in (maybe contributed to the disappointing flavour??).

INGREDIENTS

½ cup (~120g) sweet creamy butter, softened
²⁄₃ cup sugar
2 large eggs , separated
1 ¹⁄₃ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 lemons, zest of , grated
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy
• Add egg yolks one at a time, beat well after each
• In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients, poppyseeds, SALT, and lemon zest
• Add dry ingredients to cream mixture, alternating with yoghurt, lemon juice and then vanilla
• Original recipe says to beat, but in past experience, just mix/fold together gently - don't over mix.  Stir only a few times, until just mixed.
• In another bowl, whisk egg whites until soft peaks form
• Stir/fold gently into muffin mixture until blended
• Spoon into muffin pan (if it's not a silicon pan, be sure to grease your tins first!), filling 3/4 full
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, and the muffins are golden

I was a bit disappointed with these muffins and won't be using this recipe again, but I thought I'd share it anyway.  They just weren't lemony enough!!!  I could barely taste any lemon.  I mean, they were still nice, and they density was good and they weren't little bricks or anything.  It's just they weren't tangy or anything like how I expected, even though I added over 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

I shall keep looking for other recipes to try, and hopefully one day I'll find one as good as Starbucks!!!

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.food.com/recipe/lemon-poppy-seed-muffins-100943

Crustless Broccoli Cheese Quiches

I have a confession to make.  You know how most kids think broccoli is the worst vegetable in the world, and kids cartoons always make giant broccoli out to be the enemy of all children, something evil that deserves to be hated...?  Well, I was the kid who ATE those kids share of broccoli.  I LOVE BROCCOLI!  I always have.  I always will.  I could never understand why so many kids hated it so much.  It's one of my favourite vegetables.  Nothing better than fresh steamed broccoli, perhaps with a bit of grated cheese on top that's melted from the heat... om nom nom. 

So when I fell upon a recipe for crustless (aka easy!) broccoli cheddar quiches, after having had a massive delivery from some kind friends of eggs straight off their farm, I was very excited.  The recipe used up 6 of the eggs, which was good (meant the sudden excess of eggs wouldn't go to waste!), and Mum had got broccoli from the supermarket on the weekend (2 big heads of broccoli for $3!  Cheap as!) so we had lots of that to use too.

I made it as a side dish for dinner, and my parents ate the left overs for breakfast.   I love that you can make them in muffin trays, perfect portion control, perfect serving size, and they cooked up lovely.  Although the original instructions said to make it into 4 ramekins, I actually liked the muffin tray idea... plus we didn't have any ramekins haha!

Made 11 quiche cupcakes (normal muffin size)

INGREDIENTS

6 eggs

10oz broccoli "florets", cut as big/small as you want (10oz = about 1 & 1/4 cup)

1/2 cup milk

2.5 teaspoons melted butter

Salt and pepper - to taste (optional)

Pinch of chilli powder (optional)

3/4 cup grated cheese (original recipe says sharp cheddar, but I just used Edam)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C
• Microwave broccoli for 1 minute with a little water, drain, and pat dry with paper towels
• Whisk eggs, milk, melted butter, 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and chilli together until mixed
• Stir in broccoli and cheese
• Divide mixture evenly between the muffin tray cups, filling 3/4 of the way up the cup
• Poke any bits of broccoli sticking up back down (you don't want it to burn in the oven)
• Bake until golden (about 15 or 20 mins, depending on your oven)

They DO rise when they are in the oven, and get all puffy, but then they deflate as they cool down, into dense little eggy cheesy bites of delicious.  Serve immediately, or eat cold, or eat as left overs - they're good any way!!

I think I will experiment with some other fillings at some point... tomatoes, or ham, or red onion, or normal onion might be a nice addition.  I'll let you know if I do.  :)  I personally didn't really enjoy all the egg, but I'm not big on egg anyway (it takes a very special egg for me to eat it haha).  Mum and Dad loved them though, so we'll go with "they are delicious".  I mostly liked them for the broccoli, if I'm being honest.  :D

Recipe inspiration: http://www.marthastewart.com/318409/crustless-broccoli-cheddar-quiches

Banana Cupcakes

Mum bought some bananas (the teeny tiny ones!) in the groceries the other day, and they had a green tinge, which was fine cos that means they'll last a while.  But I swear, by the next day, they had ripened and were starting to go brown!!!  WHAT?!  That's a bit fast.  Of course, straight away Dad goes "BANANA CAKE!" and looks at me hopefully.

Today I finally got around to using up the bananas.  The browner, the better, so it didn't matter that it's been like 4 days since the original suggestion haha!  This recipe is one I've used my whole life, and it's in my "favourite recipe" book for keeps.  It's actually for cake, but I decided to make muffins, because our house is divided as to what the best icing is.  Mum and I love lemon, Dad loves chocolate.  So by making muffins, I could ice them half and half, and then everyone would be happy! :)

INGREDIENTS

125g butter

1 egg

3 tablespoons milk

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

2 mashed bananas (or 3, if they are small)

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

METHOD

• Cream butter and sugar
• Add egg and beat well
• Dissolve soda in warm milk and mix in
• Add mashed bananas
• Lastly, fold in flour and baking powder
• Spoon into muffin trays (or if you'd rather make a cake, you can do cake tin)
• Bake until golden in a moderate oven (180 deg C)

TIP: To know if your muffins (or cakes) are ready, poke a tooth pick (or a long skewer) into the middle of one - if it comes back out clean, they're ready.  If the mix is still goopy and stuck to the toothpick, they need a little longer.
 

Ok, for some reason it won't let me upload the close up picture of a chocolate iced muffin properly - it keeps turning it sideways!  Grrrr.  But you get the idea.

Icing

For the chocolate icing, I just used a small knob of melted butter, 1 tbsp of cocoa powder, and then added icing sugar until the icing had the thick consistency that wouldn't run off the cupcake.

For the lemon icing, I used another small knob of melted butter, some lemon juice (real lemon juice, none of that lemon essence crap!), and then added icing sugar until the icing was thick enough not to slide off again.

EASY PEASY! :)