Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins

Yep, it's that time of year when all things pumpkin surface on the food blogs.  I don't mind a bit because I think of pumpkin as a comfort food.  These muffins are a great way to share that comfort with others.  They bake up pretty and are nice and moist.  I promise these will not disappoint!

PUMPKIN GINGERBREAD MUFFINS
adapted from RecipeGirl

3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened (or you can sub shortening or coconut oil)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease or line a muffin tin.  In a large bowl, beat together brown sugar, butter, and molasses.  Add egg and pumpkin puree.  Beat in remaining dry ingredients, just until moist.  Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes.  Makes 1 dozen.

Icebox Bran Muffins

My mom got this recipe back in the early 70's.  You can find all kinds of variations of it online.  I keep coming back to this one (probably because it's what I expect of a bran muffin - moist, dense, delicious).  The recipe calls for two different bran cereals: bran flakes and 100% bran.  These days the 100% bran cereal I use is Kellogg's Original All-Bran.  This is NOT the same as the original Fiber One cereal.  When it comes to the flakes, I buy what's cheapest.  This time I used the Kroger brand, which are 40% bran, I think.

And since this recipe originates in the 70's it calls for shortening.  Some people balk at using shortening these days.  For the most part, I don't.  Probably because I don't use it very often, so I don't feel like I'm constantly clogging my arteries with horrible trans fats.  Plus all that bran probably scrubs it right out.  If you do the math, it boils down to 1 teaspoon of shortening per muffin.  If that's just too much for you, you can sub the shortening for a stick of softened butter + 1/2 cup of applesauce.  However, if you make this substitution, I can't vouch for it's moistness (since I never do it myself) and your batter will have a shorter shelf life: one month vs. seven weeks.

Which brings me to the beauty of this recipe.  It makes enough batter for 4 dozen muffins.  You can bake them all at once, or store some of the batter in the fridge for the next time you get a craving.  The recipe will divide perfectly into four, 1 quart jars.  Each jar makes a dozen muffins.  I think it makes a great neighbor gift for holidays when people are overloaded on sweets and super-rich foods.

If you do decide to store the batter in jars, might I suggest you use wide-mouth jars (for easier scooping) and take a trip to Wal-mart to buy some of these handy-dandy babies:

These are BPA-free plastic lids for canning jars.  They are not meant for the actual canning process, but are great for storage and sharing (when you have an open jar of applesauce in the fridge or want to give your neighbors a cookie mix).  They fit both brands of mason jars (Ball and Kerr) and even fit the Better Homes and Gardens brand jars.  You'll find both regular-mouth and wide-mouth lids and at my Wal-mart (in the Phoenix area) a pack of 8 was less than $3!  Much cheaper than the Ball brand of lids.  Just a thought.  And no, I'm not being paid for any of this.  I just think they're fabulous.

Okay, enough talk. Here's the recipe:

ICEBOX BRAN MUFFINS

2 cups 100% bran cereal (All-Bran)
2 cups boiling water
1 cup shortening (or 1 stick of softened butter + 1/2 cup applesauce)
3 cups sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 quart buttermilk (low-fat is fine)
5 cups all-purpose flour
5 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. salt
4 cups bran flakes cereal

To make batter:

In a medium bowl, pour boiling water over 100% bran (All-Bran) and let cool.

In a very large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar; add eggs, buttermilk, and bran and water mixture.  Stir in flour, soda, salt, and bran flakes until thoroughly combined.  Store batter in 4, 1 quart mason jars in the refrigerator up to seven weeks (unless you made it with butter and applesauce, then you can keep it up to one month).

To make muffins:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease or line a muffin tin.  Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and tops spring back when pressed.  (Mine are usually done right at 16 minutes.)  Store muffins in an airtight container up to one week - if they last that long!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

This is another recipe from SkinnyTaste.com. I am really loving that site! These muffins are lowfat and are packed with flavor. The bananas keep them moist and the chocolate chips are wonderful little punches of richness. I've already eaten 5 of them myself over the last two days.

I have noticed that they stick pretty badly to the wrapper the first day. To avoid this problem (I think it comes from the lack of fat), you can lightly spray the liners with Pam before filling.

Gina also drizzles the tops with a powdered sugar glaze for aesthetics. I think it looks nice but it's not really necessary and the muffins soak it up pretty quickly anyway. If you want the directions for the glaze, click on the original recipe link below.

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA MUFFINS
from SkinnyTaste.com

3 1/2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (packed)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray, if desired.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Add egg whites, bananas, applesauce, and vanilla and beat on medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt with a wire whisk. Add flour mixture to banana mixture at low speed until combined; do not over mix. Fold in chocolate chips and pour batter into muffin cups.

Bake on the center rack for 30 minutes. Let muffins cool 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

These are the best blueberry muffins I've had in a long time. I've been trying out different blueberry muffin recipes lately trying to find an all-time, go-to recipe and I think this one is it.

My first requirement is great flavor and texture. These have it.

My second requirement is that it had to have streusel on top and not just any streusel, but brown sugar streusel. I'm still searching for the perfect brown sugar-to-flour-to-butter-to cinnamon ratio, but this one works for now. If I find something better, I'll re-post. (Just so you know, these are great without the streusel, too!)

My only regret about this recipe is it makes an odd number of muffins - around 15-18, depending on how much you fill the cups. That bothers me because standard muffin tins make an even dozen. And you know when you bake those last 3-6, they cook faster and can sometimes get burnt - so watch them carefully.

BLUEBERRY STREUSEL MUFFINS
adapted from Blueberry Cream Muffins on Allrecipes.com

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I substitute half applesauce)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Streusel:
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. butter
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tin (makes 15-18) with paper muffin liners.

In large bowl, beat eggs; gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil (and applesauce if using). Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. Stir dry ingredients into egg mixture alternately with sour cream/yogurt. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full.

In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, flour, butter, and cinnamon with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle over muffins. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until lightly golden and muffins spring back when touched with a finger. Cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Banana Oatmeal Chip Muffins

These are probably my favorite muffins. Or at the very least one of my favorites. And they are healthy too! I found the recipe a few years ago in one of those cooking magazines. This recipe makes one dozen muffins.

BANANA OATMEAL CHIP MUFFINS

1 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 medium, ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
2 Tbsp. applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a medium bowl, combine oats, flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter and brown sugar. Beat in bananas, egg, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chips.

Line muffin cups; fill 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire rack. Best served warm.

Strawberry Buttermilk Muffins

This recipe can be found all over the internet, so I don't know who to give credit to. I had strawberry buttermilk muffins at Sweet Tomatoes earlier in the month and thought they were delicious. So Caralie and I made these today. They bake up nice and big - very pretty. There is an optional streusel topping as well if you want to make them really special.

STRAWBERRY BUTTERMILK MUFFINS

2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups chopped fresh or frozen strawberries

Streusel topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold berries into dry mixture. Now fold in wet ingredients, just until combined.

Fill each cup to the top. (Optional: in a small bowl, combine streusel ingredients. Sprinkle liberally over muffins.)

Bake 20 - 22 minutes.

Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Whole Wheat Muffins

This makes very moist muffins -- I got this recipe from a wonderful lady I used to work for.

WHOLE WHEAT MUFFINS



1 cup applesauce
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

In a small bowl, combine applesauce and baking soda.

In a medium bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add in applesauce mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, just until blended.

Divide into 12 lined or greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.