Raspberry Corn Muffins

Howdy!

I hope everyone is having a restful and relaxing Lord’s Day today.  I’ve been crazy-busy at work the last couple of weeks, so I made a point of doing ONLY things I enjoy at home this weekend.  I started the weekend off with a Friday evening movie date with my hubby.  We got to see A Question of Faith, and it was excellent.  Go see it if you have a chance!

Yesterday, I got up and baked some of these delicious muffins.  (I haven’t had a chance to bake in a while, so it was wonderful to be in the kitchen again.)  After that, we ran a few errands in town and then had some yummy hummus sandwiches for lunch, and then headed out to the pasture to burn some brush.

We’ve had several large brush piles waiting to be burned for over 6 months now, and we haven’t been able to burn them because of a burn ban in our county (due to excessively dry weather conditions).  Thankfully, due to recent rains the burn ban was lifted, so we definitely wanted to get this done while we had a chance.  Now you’re probably thinking that doesn’t sound very enjoyable, but for me it really is.  As a farm girl, cutting, hauling and burning brush has always been one of my favorite things to do.  I don’t really know why…fond memories of doing it with my Dad…a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day…watching the fire burn down to embers…just being outside enjoying God’s creation (I spend all week inside an office!)…lots of reasons.  Anyway, although it’s hard, exhausting work, I always feel good at the end of the day.  Yesterday was no exception.

Once we came in and got cleaned up, we went over to my sister’s house to watch college football with my niece.  My dear Aggies were playing ‘Bama last night, and although the ending wasn’t exactly what I had hoped for, I was thrilled to see my favorite team suit up, show up and surprise ‘Bama with a win they had to work for.  😊

Today I’ve been blessed to have some quality time with God, and even a chance to do some more cooking (my latest creation - Faithy's Banana Pepper Pork is on our dinner menu tonight).  I’ve been able to get a few things done around the house and just relax, so I’m ready to face another busy week at the office.

Now that I’ve probably bored you to tears with my exciting life, on with the recipe!  I came across it years ago in a little paperback cookbook called The Christian Bed & Breakfast Cookbook published by Barbour & Company, Inc. in 1997.  I made these muffins several times back then, and then forgot about them.  When I was trying to come up with something to make yesterday, I pulled out the old cookbook and found the recipe again.  So glad I did.  These muffins are delicious!

According to the book, the recipe came from the Bayview Hotel in Old Aptos Station, California, where the muffins were often part of the breakfast menu.  The book is filled with lots of yummy recipes from places all over the country.  Keep an eye out for it at your local thrift stores or look for it online.  It’s a real treasure!  Okay, okay…I digress again…here’s the recipe…

Raspberry Corn Muffins

Ingredients

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar (or your favorite sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon baking powder (I always use sodium free baking powder)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs (I generally use egg substitute and it works great)

1-1/2 cups (12 ounces) plain yogurt (I used plain Greek yogurt)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled

1 cup fresh raspberries (if you don’t have fresh, frozen will work just fine)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Butter muffin cups (I used no-stick cooking spray).

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt and butter until smooth; add to the flour mixture and stir until the batter it is just combined.  Gently fold in the raspberries.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  (I use a large cookie scoop, and the amount is just right for my muffin pan.)  Bake in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

Remove the muffins from oven and let them cool (in the pan) on your cooling rack for 3 minutes.  Then the muffins from pan and serve them while they’re hot!  (These muffins are also great cold or sliced, buttered and toasted the next day.)

The original recipe says that it makes 12 regular muffins, but mine actually made more like 15 or 16.  I can’t tell you exactly because after I filled my pan for the first 12, I made mini-muffins out of the remaining batter.  So in total, it made 12 regular muffins and 11 mini-muffins for me.

Well…gotta run friends…enjoy the rest of your weekend, and remember to THANK GOD for your many blessings!!

Love ya,

--Faithy

Individual Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cakes

HOWDY!  How in the world is everyone?  Sorry I’ve been away so long…life is busy as always.  I have continued trying new recipes, but just haven’t had time to blog about them lately.  Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to post some of them soon.  I’ll start with this yummy breakfast cake that I made into individual muffin-sized servings rather than a regular full-sized cake.

I found the original recipe on a wonderful blog I recently came across called Alexandra’s Kitchen.  She calls it Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake, and it’s absolutely delicious.  It’s very versatile, quick and easy, and works well in either muffin or cake form.

I’m posting my version of the recipe (with a few minor changes), but you’ll want to try it Alexandra’s way as well.  And while you’re checking out this recipe, be sure to browse around through Alexandra’s other recipes…you’ll find plenty of yummy things to try.

Anyway…here’s my version.  Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

Individual Blueberry-Buttermilk Breakfast Cakes

Ingredients

For batter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon

7/8 cup sugar (3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons)

1 egg, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. lemon juice

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour (set aside 1/4 cup to toss with the blueberries)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 cup buttermilk

For Topping (this is optional, but it adds a delicious lemony-crunchy-sweet texture):

1 to 2 Tbsp. Turbinado sugar (I use granulated Sugar in the Raw)

1 tsp. lemon zest

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Cream butter with lemon zest and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, vanilla and lemon juice and beat until combined.  Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with 1/4 cup of the all-purpose flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk.  Fold in the blueberries.  Mix turbinado sugar with 1 tsp. lemon zest and set aside.

Scoop or spoon batter into greased muffin tins (my large cookie scoop is the perfect size for this) or spread into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.  (Greasing the pans with butter adds a yummy buttery flavor, but non-stick cooking spray will work fine as well.)

Sprinkle muffins (or cake batter) with Turbinado sugar/lemon zest mixture, and bake for 25 to 35 minutes.  (NOTE:  If you are making a cake rather than muffins, it may take a few minutes longer to cook.)  Use a toothpick or metal tester to check for doneness, when it comes out clean, Your muffins are done!

I let them set in the pan for about 3 to 5 minutes, and then remove them to a wire rack to cool for another 5 minutes or so before serving.  If you make the cake, there’s no need to remove it from the pan, but you’ll want to let it cool at least 15 minutes before sampling.  Those blueberries get HOT!  (Not that I would know that from experience.)

Since this is a cake batter, these muffins are very light textured and delicious.  You’ll want to make them more than once!  They also freeze well if (despite them temptation) you can’t eat them all in one sitting.

I didn’t write it down, so I may be mistaken on this, but I think this recipe made about 15 regular muffins.

Once you’ve tried it, be sure to stroll through Alexandra’s Kitchen, and while you’re there, say howdy and tell her Faithy sent you!

Blessings,

--Faithy

P.S.  Hope to be back with some more recipes soon.

Banana-Blueberry-Chip Muffins

HOWDY!  Just have a split second to post, but I wanted to share a quick variation on one of my previous recipes...Choco-Cran-Ban Muffins.  

This time, I used the same basic recipe, but...but substituted fresh blueberries for the cranberries.  I also added a little lemon zest to the batter.

I made some with and some without the mini chocolate chips. Both are delish!

They're also good without the fruit...just banana chocolate chip...soooooooo good.  You really should try 'em.

Thanks again to Abby over at Manila Spoon for sharing the original recipe. 

Gotta run...

Blessings,

--Faithy

Quick & Easy Blueberry Muffins

HOWDY friends.  I’m lovin’ the cooler weather this weekend, how ‘bout y’all!  I had some fresh blueberries in the fridge that really needed to be used, so I decided to look through some of my cookbooks for a quick & easy new recipe to try.

I found one in an old cookbook (copyright 1985) called MUFFINS, Nut breads and More by Barbara Kanerva Kyte & Katherine Hayes Greenberg.  The book was published as A Nitty Gritty Cookbook by Bristol Publishing Enterprises, Inc.  I had trouble locating the publishing company online to get permission to print the recipe, so I hope this will give them proper credit. The recipe was listed as Wholesome Sweet Muffins on pgs. 39-40.

I made few of my usual adaptations to their original recipe, so the version I’m posting is mine (with notes referring to the original).  The basic recipe in the cookbook is for a plain muffin (pg. 39), but includes ideas for several variations (including the addition of blueberries) on pg. 40.  The one they recommended was for Jam Muffins which took the basic batter and added a tsp. of jam on top of each muffin (or layered in the middle of each muffin) before baking.  That sounds pretty good too, so I may just try that one day as well.

Anyway…on to the recipe…

Quick & Easy Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or you could just use a total of 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour)

2-1/2 tsp. sodium free baking powder (or regular baking powder, as in the original recipe)

1/4 tsp. salt (the original recipe called for 1/2 tsp.)

1 cup fresh blueberries (you can also use frozen, just rinse & drain them first)

3/4 cup fat free (skim) milk (the original recipe called for whole milk)

1/4 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg)

1/3 cup oil

1 tsp. fresh lemon zest (one of the recommended variations)

1/2 cup Whey Low Type D (or regular sugar, like the original recipe called for)

(NOTE:  The original recipe also suggested using 1/2 cup honey in place of the sugar…however, if you do that, you will need to reduce the amount of milk to 1/2 cup.)

Topping:

(optional - I always keep some of this on hand…it adds a great touch to all kinds of things!) 

1 tsp. freshly grated lemon peel (you can use dried too…whenever I grate fresh, I let the extra dry, and then keep it stored in my spice cabinet)

1 Tbsp. Sugar in the Raw (or any coarse/Turbinado sugar)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400°F, and spray a muffin pan with your favorite cooking spray.  (The original recipe recommended using paper liners.)

Whisk together flours, baking powder & salt in a large mixing bowl.  Add blueberries, and gently toss to coat with flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, mix milk, egg substitute, oil & Whey Low.  Mix well, and stir into dry ingredients until just moistened.  (Be gentle, so you don’t mush up the blueberries.)

Let stand for one to two minutes, and then fill muffin pan, each cup should be about 2/3 full.  (My large cookie scoop portioned this just right to make 12 muffins.)

Add a generous sprinkle of the topping onto each muffin, and bake 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

ENJOY!!

VARIATIONS recommended to go with the original recipe included 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup grated, peeled apple, 1 tsp grated orange or lemon rind, 1 tsp jam (per muffin - as described above), 1 slice of banana layered in the middle of each muffin, or a basic streusel topping (recipe not included…feel free to use your own favorite).

These muffins came together very quickly, and took less than 30 minutes to make from beginning to end.  I really think the topping added a great finish.

If you’re looking for something fast, easy and delicious for breakfast…this is it!  Let me know if you try it…I’d love to hear which variations you decided on.

Have a GREAT week!

Blessings,

--Faithy