May 4, 2014

Breakfast Series – Wholewheat Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins

blueberry cheesecake muffins

If you are a frequent visitor to Delicacious, you would have noticed that there are several muffin recipes. In fact, there are several variations of muffin recipes just for blueberry or berry muffins. One of my favourite thus far are these Whole Wheat Honey Berry Muffins. These Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins however, are making it fast to the top of the favourites list. The inspiration hit when I had some cream cheese left over from baking a cheesecake and the little one asked for blueberry muffins. How about a muffin with some cream cheese in the centre? Sounds good doesn’t it? I wanted a whole wheat muffin, and so I opted to use half whole wheat and half plain flour in this recipe. You can however, substitute the plain flour for whole wheat flour if you prefer.

I have since made these muffins at least three times and each time, my little one loved it. I have substituted strawberries in place of blueberries and the muffins have turned out great too! It’s a very versatile recipe. Do try it!

Breakfast Series - Wholewheat Blueberry Cheesecake Muffins
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 1¼ cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup plain flour (you may substitute with whole wheat flour)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 3½ oz unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 cup milk
  • 5 oz blueberries
  • 2 oz cream cheese, cut into 12 pieces
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 200°C and centre an oven rack. Place 12 paper muffin cases on a baking tray.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. In a large measuring cup, whisk together butter, honey, eggs and milk.
  4. Pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture and using a whisk, stir gently to combine. Do not overmix.
  5. Fold in blueberries.
  6. Half fill each muffin case with the mixture. Place a piece of cream cheese in the centre. Evenly distribute the rest of the muffin mixture among the 12 cases.
  7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until muffins are golden brown.

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December 12, 2013

Really Good Banana Muffins

banana muffins

How many recipes does one need for banana muffins? Just one really. A really good one. I’ve tried more than a couple of banana muffin recipes in the past years and this banana muffin recipe is definitely a keeper. There are a few tricks for good banana muffins. Firstly, make sure you use over-ripe bananas. When you have a bunch of bananas that are over-ripe and you don’t feel like baking just yet, peel them and freeze them for use later. Don’t throw them away! Personally, I find that the local variety “red meat bananas” make the best banana muffins/cakes/breads. My grandma calls them “ang bah jio”. Second trick – do not over mash the bananas. This gives the muffins a better texture. Lastly, use brown sugar for a more fragrant muffin.

Really Good Banana Muffins
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • ⅔ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup toasted coarsely chopped walnuts
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 large ripe bananas
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 oz unsalted butter, melted
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray a 12 cup muffin tray with non-stick baking spray and centre an oven rack.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, walnuts, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, coarsely mash the bananas.
  4. Add beaten eggs, butter, buttermilk and vanilla and stir to combine.
  5. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold (I use a whisk) to combine.
  6. Fill each muffin cup till ¾ full.
  7. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until muffin tops are golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
  8. Cool to room temperature.

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November 2, 2013

Nutella Swirled ChocoNana Muffins

Nutella swirled choco nana muffins

I was mulling over what to bake for breakfast and asked my husband if he preferred oatmeal bread or honey wholewheat bread. “Chocolate Banana bread!” my little one chimes in. Chocolate banana bread? Now where did that come from! She has never tried chocolate banana cake, bread, muffin or anything of that combination. It did sound like a good idea though. After all, I really like chocolate mousse cake with banana slices.

So breakfast was decided. Chocolate banana bread. Only that a loaf of bread sounded a little boring. “How bout chocolate banana muffins instead?” I asked the little one. She nodded in agreement. I never thought that my 2.5 y.o will be deciding the breakfast menu at such a young age!

I set out to bake Chocolate Banana muffins. And then I had a brainwave. My husband loves nutella. How bout topping each muffin with just a little nutella? Brilliant isn’t it? I would think so because the muffins were so good. I love the texture, the flavour, the chunky banana and the bits of chocolate AND the nutella. You would love it too, if you try it!

Nutella Swirled ChocoNana Muffins
 
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Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed coarsely
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 3 ounces unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • nutella
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven 175ºC.
  2. Place 8 large standing muffin liners on a baking tray. (You can use a muffin tray as well.)
  3. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
  4. In a smaller mixing bowl, add eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract and buttermilk to the mashed bananas. Stir to combine.
  5. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold gently.
  6. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  7. Fill each muffin cup to ¾ full.
  8. Top with ½ tsp of nutella. Swirl with a toothpick or a small spatula.
  9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean.

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October 28, 2013

Old Fashioned Cheese Bread and my Bread-making Journey

Old Fashioned Cheese Bread

I received a photo, followed by a voice message while at work today. The voice message was my daughter asking me to make her the bread in the photo – some raisin roll. A second message soon followed with “instructions” from her on how I should make the bread. “Mama, you need to put some flour, then put some blueberries, then put some oil and more flour. Then I can eat it for breakfast.” I think she thought the raisins in the bread were blueberries. Her bread won’t rise for sure – no yeast. 🙂

My bread-making journey has many twists and turns. If you were to ask me to bake bread two years ago, I probably would have cringed. Now, it’s something I do every other day. It wasn’t always easy. The first time I tried to make bread, I used a wooden spoon. I may have overmixed/undermixed or punched the dough too hard because the bread turned out rock hard. And I had aching arms.

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September 26, 2013

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Honey Muffins

chocolate chip zucchini muffins

I recently discovered that zucchini can be used in sweet baked goods.  Even though many have been doing that for ages, I never knew that zucchini could be used in breads, muffins, cakes or cookies! When I saw a couple of blog posts on such recipes, I did a little research and found that zucchini, when used in sweet baked goods, increases the moistness of the product while its taste remains pretty concealed. Sounds great isn’t it?

So I bought a couple of zucchini and decided to try baking something. My husband was less than thrilled at the thought of a zucchini muffin. “Zucchini muffin?! That’s so weird!!” was his reaction. Maybe yours too…. but hang on there. He changed his mind after tasting the muffin and I believe you would too.

chocolate chip zucchini muffins

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September 15, 2013

Bacon Parmesan and Scallion Scones

bacon parmesan scallion scones | Delicacious

This post is dedicated to all you bacon lovers out there. Yes, this post on BACON, parmesan and scallion scones. Don’t you just hear it calling your name? Wait. A savoury scone? YES. A savoury scone. Surely scones don’t have to be served sweet, with clotted cream and jam? I think not. I would like to think that the addition of bacon to scones (or to anything) makes it perfect. For those who still like their scones sweet, I’m happy to report that I crisped the bacon with some brown sugar. Add some parmesan and scallions and there you have it – the perfect meal all in a scone. Are you convinced yet?

bacon parmesan scallion scones | Delicacious

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September 9, 2013

Healthy Whole Wheat Honey Berry Muffins

whole wheat honey berry muffins | Delicacious

I opened one of my kitchen cabinets about a week ago and found a hidden stash of honey tucked away in a corner. I didn’t even remember that I had put honey there! Or maybe someone rearranged the things inside the cabinet and… oh well, have you ever found things in the kitchen that you never knew were there? Finding honey was a good problem though. It meant that I could add honey instead of sugar to some of my baked goods, starting from these muffins.

These are healthy muffins, make no mistake about it. They are made with 100% whole wheat flour and contain no sugar and butter. They are wholesome and full of fruity goodness. Perfect for breakfast, and perhaps, an afternoon snack. Who says whole wheat baked stuff can’t taste delicious? I made these with a mix of blueberries and strawberries, and I really liked the result. They taste more complex and flavourful compared to my usual blueberry muffins; the strawberries add texture and moistness to the muffins. If you don’t like/have strawberries, you can replace the strawberries with more blueberries.Continue Reading

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