Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins

I can't believe 2014 has already come to an end. This year has been a wild ride. Personally, it has been more highs than lows. Thanks to God for His favour and protection! I have so much to be grateful to Him for. But I know it has been a difficult year for a lot of people I know, and for the world in general. And it has been a year full of bad news - literally. I've hated even looking at the newspaper most of this year. Here's hoping 2015 is better! 

I wanted to make something nice for the last breakfast of the year. If you know me at all, you know how much I love baking (and eating!) muffins. So that's what we had for breakfast this last morning of 2014. The flavours are classic, the recipe is easy and the muffins are pretty darn good!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins
Adapted from this recipe on food.com
Ingredients
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour + 1/4 cup corn starch (or 2 cups cake flour)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
Scant 1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
90g (slightly more than 3oz) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 tbsp melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup fresh/frozen blueberries

Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin by greasing and flouring, or lining with paper liners. I used free-standing paper muffin cups, and lined them up on a cookie sheet. So convenient! 
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Stir well to combine. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the cream cheese, lime juice and vanilla.
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is creamy. 
5. Beat in the melted butter, mixing until completely incorporated.
6. Beat in the buttermilk and whisk well to combine.
7. Add the dry ingredients and fold together until combined, and no dry pockets of flour remain.
8. Fold in the blueberries.
9. Spoon into your prepared muffin tin, and bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes until the tops are lightly browned and the tops spring back when touched.

The cream cheese flavor in these muffins is subtle but it adds so much! The crumb is moist, the tang is subtle but brilliant - enhanced by the lime juice, and the blueberries are fresh and bursting with flavor! I just loved this recipe to bits! The base recipe is brilliant and I think would be great with so many other add-ins. Next time, I think I'll try strawberries or a cinnamon-sugar ripple! Mmmm…

The only addition I would make to this recipe would be to add a nice crumb or streusel topping. The muffin itself isn't too sweet, which is how we like it. But some sweet crunchy topping would definitely be welcome! 

Try this recipe, and I'm sure you won't be sorry!

So that's it for 2014, folks! I'll see you in the new year. And once again, I pray that 2015 will be good to us all. God bless you!

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, "The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!" Lamentations 3:22-24

Spiced Cranberry Orange Muffins

This Christmas has been such a busy one so far! One of the busiest ever, I think. But then again, I probably say that every year! It is nice to be busy and have a lot of things to do. I just wish I had a few more hours in the day so I could get some sleep!

Well, enough of the 'if only's and on to these muffins. Cranberries, spice snd citrus zest. These muffins are just so Christmassy! I think they'd be a perfect addition to the Christmas breakfast or brunch table. My little girl insisted they we use colored sanding sugar but feel free to use plain old regular granulated sugar. 

I used frozen cranberries to make these, and the tartness of the cranberries, the sweetness of the batter and the flavor and aroma of the citrus and spice are just awesome together!

Fresh Cranberry Orange Muffins 

Adapted from this recipe on food.com

Ingredients 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt  

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

A dash of freshly grated nutmeg 

1/4 tsp dried ginger powder 

1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries

1 large egg 

Zest of one orange 

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 

1/4 cup venerable oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin by lining each cup with a paper liner. 

2. In a large bowl, combine all the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir well to combine. 

3. Add the frozen/fresh cranberries into the flour mixture and toss well to coat the berries. If any of the berries are extra-big, you could halve them before adding them in. 

4. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg, orange zest, orange juice and the oil. Whisk together. 

5. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Don't over-mix, or you'll be left with tough muffins. 

6. Spoon the muffin batter into the 12 cup muffin tray, dividing the batter evenly.

7. Sprinkle the tops of the muffin with some sugar. 

8. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched and they just start to brown. 

While at first I thought these muffins are a little too sweet, it just balanced well since the unsweetened fresh/frozen cranberries are so tart. The texture is lovely, and the crunch of the sugar top is very nice!

Oh and I must mention that they smell lovely while baking! Definitely a recipe that I would recommend.

Here's wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful day with lots of love, laughter, music, good and presents! But most of all - I hope you get a chance to reflect on what Christmas really means.

Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Jaffa Cake Muffins

I have never liked the combination of orange and chocolate. But when I saw this muffin recipe, I was intrigued by the unusual method of preparation, and the rave reviews that I read. And I just had to make them!

And hey - they're really good! The thing I liked the most is the fresh orange hit that you get from this muffin. I HATE fake orange flavoured stuff. Orange candy. Orange soda snd orange flavoured anything actually. But fresh oranges are awesome in my book. And when you read this recipe, you'll see that this is as fresh as it gets! 

Jaffa Cake Muffins

Adapted from this recipe 

Ingredients 

1 whole orange, quartered and deseeded 

1/2 cup fresh orange juice 

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 

1 large egg

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar 

1 tsp baking powder 

3/4 tsp baking soda 

A pinch of salt

3oz or 85g of mini dark chocolate chips 

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and prepare a 12 cup muffin tray by greasing the cups or lining with paper muffin cups. 

2. In a blender jar, purée the quartered orange - peel and all, and the orange juice until completely smooth. 

3. Add the butter and the egg and blitz for about 20 seconds until smooth. Transfer this mixture into a medium sized bowl. 

4. In a small bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

5. Add this dry mixture to the purée and mix until completely combined. 

6. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. 

7. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups. 

8. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and spring back when touched. 

9. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing and serving. 

The intense orangyness is really surprisingly good. The original recipe calls for more sugar and when I tried that I found it way too sweet for us. So the next time I made it, I cut down the sugar by a third and found it a lot better. The chocolate chips also add to the sweetness. 

These muffins aren't dense. They're very cakey and light. Honestly, I prefer a dense muffin and I even had difficult referring to this as a muffin for a while. But whatever you choose to call it, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. 

If you are a fan of this orange-chocolate combination, you should totally try this recipe. And even if you're like me, and aren't a fan, you should still give it a try. You might be surprised. I was!

Until next time :) And watch out for my next Secret Recipe Club post on Monday! Cheers :)

Healthy Banana Nut Muffins

I've been making quite a lot of nice breakfast recipes lately, but just haven't been able to photograph them! 

My favorite were these yummy pistachio and cranberry scones. They were so good that even though I made a huge batch and froze them, they were gone within 4 days and then my husband complained when he realized there weren't any left over on the fifth day! That's how good they were. And I just didn't find the time to get a picture. Oh well! I'll just have to make them again. 

When I made these muffins, I just insisted on taking 10 minutes to take a few quick pictures! And I'm glad I did. We loved these muffins and I am sure you will too!

Healthy Banana Nut Muffins

Adapted from Tyler Florence's Banana Nut Muffin Recipe 

Ingredients 

2/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp flaxseed meal

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt

2 large overripe bananas

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/3 cup chopped walnuts 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C or 350F and prepare 6 large or 8 regular muffin cups in your tray by either greasing them or by lining them with paper muffin cups. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon and flaxseed meal. Stir together and set aside. 

3. In a medium bowl, peel and mash the bananas until fairly smooth. 

4. Add in the sugar and whisk until combined and the mixture is a little frothy. 

5. Beat in the egg, oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. 

6. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour in the banana mixture. 

Stir until just combined. Don't over-mix. 

7. Stir in the walnuts and fold gently till incorporated. 

8. Spoon the batter into 6 large or 8 regular muffin cups. If there are any empty muffin cups in your tray, pour a little water into each to keep them from warping. 

9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until ththe tops spring back when touched gently and are lightly browned. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

These muffins stay good at room temperature for a day but after that, I have like put them into the fridge or freezer. They're quite moist with the bananas and I would think they'd go back quite quickly.

These muffins are loaded with flavor. I was a little worried that they might be too sweet but they were just right! The only thing I would do different  the next time around would be to throw in some tart dried cranberries. I think they would be divine in there. Ooh ooh or maybe some chocolate chips! Chocolate is healthy too right? So that would work!

Until next time :)

French Breakfast Muffins

My older daughter just turned five. I can barely believe how quickly time is passing by. It seems like just last week that she was a teeny weeny little baby. She's now a sweet, loving, smart, talented and beautiful five year old teenager. Oh and did I mention drama queen? She had a fun, small birthday party and got the pink bicycle she has always wanted and prayed for. 

She also loves to help me when I cook or bake. She always has. I remember her helping me shell peas when she was as little as 17 months old. She loves looking through cookbooks with pictures and picking out recipes for us to make. And she picked this recipe out from the cookbook based on Disney's animated flick 'Ratatouille'. She loves this book and was contemplating asking me to make the dirt cake - complete with plastic rats and gummy worms - from this book for her birthday. But finally, she decided on a Barbie cake which we had fun baking together. 

This morning she asked me to make these breakfast muffins from the cookbook and we had a good time making them together. 

I modified the recipe slightly to make it a little healthier and reduced a little of the sugar in the recipe.

French Breakfast Muffins

Adapted from Disney's Ratatouille Cookbook

Ingredients 

1 1/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 

3 tbsp flaxseed powder

1 large egg

90g/6tbsp butter, melted

1 cup milk

3 tbsp yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla 

1/2 cup of dried, chopped cranberries 

Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 tbsp butter, melted 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and prepare a 12 cup muffin tin with liners or lightly grease and flour each cup. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, nutmeg powder and flaxseed powder. Stir well to combine. 

3. In a small bowl, whisk the egg lightly. Add the melted butter, milk, vanilla and yoghurt and whisk well to combine. 

4. Add this liquid mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. 

5. Stir in the cranberries. 

6. Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups and bake for about 20-25 minutes until the muffins just start turning lightly golden and the tops spring back when touched. 

7. Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin. 

8. While they are cooling, in a small bowl, stir together the sugar and the cinnamon powder. In another bowl, pour in the melted butter. 

9. When the muffins are cool enough to handle, remove each muffin from the tin, dip the tops lightly in the melted butter and then roll the tops in the cinnamon sugar. 

10. Shake off the excess sugar and place on your serving plate. 

These muffins were really lovely in texture and flavor. Considering I am big fan of the flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon, I was in heaven. The tart cranberries cut through the sweetness nicely and were a great addition, if I do say so myself. 

 

My husband and I both felt the sugary topping was a little too much for us. The kids didn't complain of course. Us grown ups just brushed off some of the sugar just before we dug in.

I was glad to be able to get in the berries, flaxseed and the whole wheat flour without any complaints. Next time we make this recipes, I'm going to add some oatmeal and maybe some seeds or nuts, too. This one is a keeper!

 

Until next time :)

 

Apple & Oat Muffins

Ah - muffins! My favorite of all baked goods. I don't think it is a secret how much I love muffins. I mean, just look at all the muffin recipes on my blog! And I have so many more muffin recipes I want to share with you.

Today, I want to share a recipe for a simple and healthy muffin recipe. Flavorful, really moist and laced with tart apple and warm spice - I just love this one.

Apple & Oat Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
Adapted from this recipe on Taste.com.au
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
3/4 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
1/2 cup rolled oats, plus 2 tbsp for topping
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups natural yoghurt, at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
100 ml canola oil
1-2 crisp apples, peeled, cored and grated (I used one Granny Smith and one Red Delicious)

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and line your muffin tray with liners, or grease & flour them.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and the 1/2 cup of oats.
3. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the eggs.
4. Add the yoghurt, vanilla and oil and whisk well till smooth.
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in. Stir just until combined. Don't over-mix it or you'll be stuck with tough muffins.
6. Stir in the sliced apple.
7. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins, filling each cup not more that 3/4 full.
8. Sprinkle the reserved oats over the tops of the muffins.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and lightly golden brown.
10. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to the cooling rack.Allow the muffins to cool down till they're just warm before serving.

As in the case of most muffin recipes, these muffins freeze great!

Because we had an early day the next day, the previous evening, I grated the apples and refrigerated them in an airtight box. I also combined all the dry ingredient in a jar. In the morning, I let the apples sit out for 20 minutes while I got the batter mixed and the oven preheated. I just stirred together the wet ingredients and added it to the dry ingredients, stirred in the apples, filled, baked and the muffins were done in 20 minutes.

Until next time!! :)

Healthy Carrot Breakfast Muffins

Before we had kids, I was someone who never really considered breakfast to be important. Now I breakfast is one of my favorite meals.

I'm always looking for new and interesting muffins. All of us enjoy muffins and I make muffins at least twice a week (during non-hectic weeks!). Personally, I prefer the savory muffins, but haven't been able to sell it to my daughter. The kids love their sugar hit. 

These muffins are packed with goodness and once you have the carrot and fruit grated/chopped, the muffins come together quite quick! 

Not too sweet, really moist and bursting with flavor, I think you would really enjoy this one! My favorite part of the muffin is the bits of pineapple. Such a juicy burst of flavor in the mouth. Super yum!

Healthy Carrot Apple Muffins

Loosely adapted from Joy the Baker 

Ingredients 

2/3 cup all purpose flour

2/3 whole wheat flour

3 tbsp oat germ/wheat germ 

1/4 cup rolled oats 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon powder

A generous grating of nutmeg 

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1/2 cup sugar 

1/3 cup oil 

1 small apple, peeled, cored & grated

1 1/2 cups grated raw carrots 

1/4 cup chopped pineapple (I used canned)

Walnut halves to garnish 

Method 

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. 

2. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon powder, nutmeg, oats and oat/wheat germ. Stir well and set aside. 

3. In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, oil and sugar and whisk for a few minutes. 

4. Add in the grated apple, grated carrot and chopped pineapple. Whisk to combine. 

5. Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until just combined and no dry flour mixture is visible. 

6. Spoon/scoop the muffin mixture into your lined muffin tray. Top each muffin with a walnut half. 

7. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the top of the muffin springs back to the touch and a toothpick/cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

8. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and serve warm. 

These muffins are very reminiscent of an old-fashioned carrot cake - moist, fluffy and with that lovely hit of spice. 

I love that these are healthy and that my kids are getting whole grains, fiber, nuts, a vegetable and a couple of fruits in one shot. I think you could even throw in chopped nuts and dried fruit to up the nutrition, flavors and texture. 

Definitely a keeper, this one! 

Until next time... 

Triple Chocolate Muffins

This last month has been so insanely busy for us. More work than I could handle, sick baby and then a sick momma and so much more! I hardly cooked, baked even less and didn't even think about blogging. We survived on the simplest, quick fix meals, and one-pot dishes, generously sent food from my Mom's home and of course, take-out. 

In celebration of things slowing down, for our first lazy morning breakfast together, I decided to make something decadent for breakfast. It's not often that our family eats chocolate for breakfast, but today we went all out! Not just chocolate muffins, but TRIPLE chocolate muffins. 

These are really soft, moist and chocolatey and are studded with oozy chunks of chocolate. And easy to throw together too! Give this recipe a try. You won't regret it!

Triple Chocolate Muffins
Adapted from a recipe found in this book

Makes 6-8 muffins

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons butter

60gm dark chocolate, chopped 

1 cup all purpose flour 

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1 egg, beaten 

3/4 cup natural yoghurt

1 tsp vanilla extract 

60gm dark chocolate chips or chunks 

Method

1. In a microwave or in saucepan, melt the butter and the chocolate together. Set aside to cool. 

2. In large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Mix until well combined. 

3. In a small bowl, stir together the egg, yoghurt and vanilla. Add in the cooled chocolate-butter mixture and stir well. 

4. Add the yoghurt mixture into the flour mixture and mix just until the two mixtures are completely combined. Do not over-mix. 

5. Fold in the chocolate chips/chunks evenly. 

6. Spoon into your muffin tray, filling more than 3/4 of the cup. I used a smallish tray and got 8 muffins. 

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C/350F or until the top of the muffins spring back when touched gently. 

8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before unmolding. 

The triple dose of melted chocolate, dark cocoa powder and chocolate chunks makes these muffins seriously, seriously good. They aren't too sweet and are amazingly moist!

My husband, who loves peanut butter on just about anything, ate them generously 'frosted' with crunchy peanut butter. A fabulous muffin to bake for a special occasion or a lazy day!

Until next time :)

Bacon, Mushroom & Spinach Muffins

I am beginning to wonder if I need to rename this blog. Maybe I should name it The Harried Muffin Maker. That's how much I've been making (and posting) muffins lately! 

Muffins happen to be my husband's breakfast of choice, and so I tend to make them quite often. And it helps that muffins freeze really beautifully and so I sometimes make a double or even a triple batch of his favorite muffins and pop them in a freezer bag, and into the freezer they go!

These particular muffins are amazingly good! They taste fabulous warm and fresh, and somehow taste even better the next day! And they're not too bad for you either!

Bacon, Mushroom & Spinach Muffins

Ingredients (Makes 6 muffins)

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup (tightly packed) chopped leeks 

3 rashers bacon, chopped

1 cup (tightly packed) chopped spinach 

1 cup chopped button mushrooms

1 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

Pepper, to taste

1/4 cup canola oil

1 egg

1/2 cup yoghurt

1/3 cup grated cheese (I used a mix of parmesan & cheddar)

Method

1. In a frying pan, sauté the leeks and mushrooms together in the 2 tablespoons of butter until the leeks are soft and translucent. 

2. Add the chopped spinach and the chopped mushrooms and sauté until the spinach is wilted and the mushrooms have softened - about 3-4 minutes. Season lightly - just a pinch of salt will do. Set aside to cool slightly. 

3. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Line your muffin tray with paper liners or grease and flour them. 

4. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, pepper, baking powder and baking soda. 

5. In a small bowl or measuring jar, stir together the oil, yoghurt, egg and cheese. Whisk together lightly and combined. 

6. Take the bowl with the flour mixture and make a well in the middle of these dry ingredients. Pour the oil mixture into this space and stir lightly till just combined. Don't overmix. 

7. Add the slightly cooled bacon mixture and fold lightly to distribute evenly. Don't overmix. 

8. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups. Don't fill more than 2/3rd of the way. 

9. Bake in the preheated oven until lightly golden on top and springy to the touch. 

10. Serve warm. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers. 

I made these muffins based on what I had in the fridge. I guess substitutions will work well - onion, garlic chives, ham etc. should all work great! I didn't follow a recipe and these turned out great (whew!) - so don't hesitate to experiment!

The muffins should stay good in the fridge for a couple of days. If you want to store them longer, pop the fresh muffins into a freezer bag and put them in the freezer. They should stay good for a couple of weeks. 

The flavors are really complementary to each other, and somehow the flavors really meld, and intensify overnight. So good! You really must try this recipe!

Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins

It's been a while, hasn't it? It has been a roller-coaster ride around here. First the kids were sick. Then I joined them and now it's my husband. It has been almost one whole month of coughs, colds and fevers. Thankfully, nothing more serious than that. We're well on our way to recovery - thanking God for that!

I have been doing a lot of baking and cooking but haven't had time to post. Will post those recipes in the coming weeks. 

Baked goods for breakfast seems to be becoming a favorite in our household! I've been making muffins, scones, rolls and so much more! And I am trying to keep them as healthy as possible! 

This muffin recipe is so good, easy and quick to put together, and really healthy too - made with whole wheat flour and oatmeal. Fresh strawberries & white chocolate - who can deny that's a match made in heaven? And add to that a crunchy topping and you're all set. Tartness from the strawberries, explosive sweetness from the chunks of white chocolate and crunchy, toasty hazelnuts. What a way to start your day!

Strawberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients 

(Makes 6 large or 8 regular sized muffins)

1/2 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup canola oil 

1/2 cup yoghurt (I used low fat)

1/3 cup light brown sugar 

1 egg

3/4 cup roughly chopped strawberries

1/3 cup white chocolate, chopped into small chunks 

1/4 cup roughly chopped hazelnuts 

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F. Line your muffin tin with paper muffin cases. 

2. In a large bowl stir together the oatmeal, flours, salt, baking soda and baking powder until well combined. 

3. In a small bowl, stir together the oil, yoghurt, sugar and egg. Whisk until completely blended. 

4. Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon fold gently until you can't see dry streaks anymore. Stop mixing at this point. Don't over-mix. 

5. Gently stir in the chopped strawberries and white chocolate. Stir lightly until well-distributed. 

6. Spoon the mixture into your lined muffin tins, filling them about 2/3 full. 

7. Sprinkle the tops of each muffin with the chopped hazelnuts

8. Bake in the preheated oven for

15-18 minutes or until the tops of the muffins spring back when touched. 

Serve these warm while the chocolate chunks are oozy soft and the hazelnuts are still crunchy. Add that to bursts of freshness from the strawberries, and everyone's happy!

These are a crowd pleaser, for sure! Try them and tell me what you think! :)

Feta, Fig & Honey Savory Muffins (Egg-less recipe)

A week ago, I got back to my baking classes! I just love combining two things I love doing - teaching & baking! Had an awesome group of bakers and we had a blast and baked up a storm! I have another, slightly more advanced class that I will be teaching later this month, if you are interested in joining! :) Here is an awesome picture of the pound cake made by the participants.

(Photo courtesy - Gowrishanker Siva)

Now on to the recipe! This muffin recipe was an experiment and I was pretty pleased with it! The texture was amazing - totally moist, soft and light. And the flavors were mild and understated with an occasional salty hit from the feta. A very interesting savory muffin, indeed! 

This is a small batch recipe and makes 3 muffins - perfect for our breakfast! If you want a bigger batch, I am sure this can be doubled or tripled. 

Feta, Fig & Honey Savory Muffins (Egg-less)

Makes 3 muffins

Ingredients 

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt 

1/4 cup buttermilk

3 tbsp honey 

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 small, ripe figs, chopped

3-4 tbsp firm feta, roughly crumbled 

Method

1. In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, honey and oil. Set aside

2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. Stir lightly to make sure the salt and soda are evenly distributed. 

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture. Stir lightly until just combined. Don't overmix. 

4. Stir in the feta and figs very gently until just combined. 

5. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until golden on top and springy to touch. 

6. Serve warm with butter and some extra honey to drizzle. 

I was going to add 1 egg into this batter but I totally forgot to add it! And so I unintentionally ended up with this awesome egg-less muffin!

Both my husband and I enjoyed this light, delicate muffin recipe and I wouldn't have to think twice about baking these again!

                               

If you want more details about the baking classes, write to me using the email form in my contact page or at contact me at my Facebook page. Cheers!

Mocha Orange Muffins

Has it really been more than a month since my last post? I know I said I was going to post at least once a week, but this time I didn't even realize time go by. Wow... guess I am more sleep-deprived than I realized!

Also, and I must be honest here, I don't have that same drive to blog that I had before. I'm still baking and cooking like crazy, but it feels like no one is reading my blog anymore. Hmm. Don't mean to sound whiny here. Just saying. But this week, I got a lovely email from a person I don't know - her name is Cindy - and she just wrote to say hello and that she's a SAHM with two little boys and that she knows how tough a job it can be! And she said 'I look forward to more posts from you'. That really made me want to post again! Thank you, Cindy!!! <3

Today I want to share a lovely muffin recipe again. This one is so unusual and complex that I would classify it 'a grown-up muffin'. Very mildly sweet, a good hit of coffee and orange zest and bittersweet chocolate chips make it a very interesting muffin. A lot of ingredients to organize, but not at all a labor-intensive recipe. I hope you like it!

Mocha Orange Muffins

Makes 6 large or 9 small muffins

Adapted from 'Muffins Galore' by Catherine Atkinson 

Ingredients

150g all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

30g cocoa powder 

2 1/2 tbsp soft light brown sugar

1 heaping tbsp ground coffee 

(Not instant! Freshly ground roasted coffee is best.)

30g unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup plain yoghurt

1/2 cup whipping cream

2 tbsp milk

1 large egg 

1 tsp vanilla

Zest of 1 whole orange 

1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 180C or 350F. Line your muffin tin with paper liners. 

2 In a small bowl, cream the butter and slowly add in the yoghurt, the milk and the cream. Whisk together well. 

3. Add the egg and vanilla. Whisk well to combine and set aside. 

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder. Stir well to combine. 

5. Add the sugar and coffee powder and mix well. 

6. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and pour in the butter mixture. Stir well till just combined and no dry mixture is seen. Don't overmix. 

7. Stir in the chocolate chips and orange zest. 

8. Spoon the batter into the tins and bake for 18-25 minutes (depending on the size of the muffins) or until the tops of the muffins are springy to the touch. 

My husband, the coffee lover, loved these muffins but we both found the orange flavor a little intense. Maybe next time, I'll add less of the zest or even skip it altogether. But if you are someone who loves the combination of orange and chocolate, I would suggest you go with the original measurements!

These muffins, like most muffins, freeze great! There are five sitting in our freezer in a freezer bag waiting to be warmed up for breakfast one morning when I don't feel like baking!

Surprisingly, my daughter ate almost a whole muffin. I thought she wouldn't like the bittersweet taste, but as usual, she surprised me. 

Speaking of my daughter, if you follow me on my Facebook page, you would know how crazy she is about baking. She knows recipes by heart and she's not even four! She really amazes me. This week, we made these cupcakes together. 

Aren't they cute? That's buttercream 'spaghetti', a hazelnut truffle 'meatball', raspberry jam 'tomato sauce' and grated white chocolate 'Parmesan' on a simple buttery vanilla cupcake. Of course, I did a lot of it but she talked me through the whole thing because she's the one who has watched the tutorial video on how to make these! So proud of my little girl! :)

If you want to keep up with what's happening with us and get updates on regular posts and recipes, follow me on Facebook.

Until next time! 

XOXO