November 25, 2015

Bacon, Cheese and Scallions Muffins

bacon cheese and scallions muffins

I’ve been baking alot of muffins lately. Maybe twice to thrice a week. I wake up in the morning, quickly put together the muffins, plop them into the oven and by the time I’m done with my shower, the muffins are also done. Piping hot breakfast for the family. The big plus? Muffins *usually* do not require the use of a mixer. I don’t even bother sifting the flour typically. Just throw all the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl and whisk them together for about 15 seconds. Done.

There a couple of sweet muffin recipes on this blog, but since my dear hubby expressed (a couple of months back) that he very much prefers savoury breakfasts, I’ve been attempting to increase the savoury quotient in our breakfasts. Cheese muffins are great. Add bacon and it’s a combination made in heaven. Scallions cut the edge off the saltiness of the cheese and the bacon. Perfect.

Bacon, Cheese and Scallions Muffins
 
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Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 2 cups plain flour
  • 2½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
  • ½ cup chopped scallions
  • 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 slices back bacon, baked till crisp and cut into small squares
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 175°C or 160°C fan mode.
  2. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with liners.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper.
  4. Add in scallions and cheese and mix to combine.
  5. Whisk together milk, eggs and olive oil in a separate bowl.
  6. Pour wet ingredients into the flour mixture and using a spatula, roughly combine the mixture.
  7. Fold in the bacon. Do not overmix!
  8. Divide among 12 muffin holes.
  9. Top with some more shredded cheese (optional)
  10. Bake on the centre rack for 20-25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and a tester comes out clean.
Notes
Adapted from http://abeautifulbite.com/ham-scallion-and-cheddar-muffins/

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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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Author:
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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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 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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May 31, 2013

Toasted Oatmeal Muffins

oatmeal muffins 1

First thought that comes to mind when someone mentions oatmeal muffins? Do the words dry, bland, gummy come into mind? Well I was not quite a fan of oatmeal muffins, but THIS oatmeal muffin is very different. For one, it does not use oats whole, but uses toasted ground oatmeal. It has a distinct taste of oats with a fragrance likened to popcorn. Intrigued?

I came across this article on my Cook’s Illustrated magazine on oatmeal muffin. Those of you who read Cook’s Illustrated will know that they spend extended time testing recipes and refining them. They suggested that toasting and grinding up the oatmeal allows it to absorb liquid quickly, while giving it flavour. Who would have thought of doing that?

oatmeal muffins 2

Since I had an unopened packet of oats sitting around, I decided to give the recipe a try. Although muffins are typically fast to prepare, this one does take time. So if you are intending to make this muffin for breakfast, plan ahead! I didn’t and so my starving family had a late breakfast. Also, the original recipe calls for a streusel topping which I find sweet. I removed the streusel topping and added some raisins instead to sweeten up the muffin a little.

The resulting muffin was fragrant and moist. It went very well with jam and my family enjoyed it. This was baked in conjunction with Cook For Family‘s event which ends today.

Toasted Oatmeal Muffins
 
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Recipe type: Muffins
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1½ tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 1¼ cup light brown sugar
  • 1¾ cups milk
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup raisins
Instructions
  1. Using a non-stick spray, grease a 12-cup muffin tray.
  2. Melt 2 tbsp butter in a skillet.
  3. Add oats and cook, stirring frequently until oats turn golden brown.
  4. Transfer oats to a food processor.
  5. Process until finely ground, about 30 seconds.
  6. Add flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda and pulse till combined.
  7. In a large mixing bowl, whisk butter and sugar together till thick and smooth.
  8. Add milk and eggs and whisk till smooth.
  9. Using a large whisk, fold half of oat flour mixture into the egg mixture.
  10. Fold in remaining oat flour gently.
  11. Add raisins and stir to combine.
  12. Allow batter to sit for 15 minutes to thicken.
  13. Preheat oven to 190°C and place an oven rack in the middle position.
  14. Using an ice cream scoop, divide batter equally among 12 muffin cups. The batter should fill each cup to the brim.
  15. Bake for about 20 minutes till muffins are golden brown and a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
  16. Allow muffins to cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.
  17. Serve warm, or allow them to cool completely before storing.
Notes
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated magazine Muffins are best eaten the day they are baked. They can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days and toasted before eaten.

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