Corn Muffins

The recipe for perfect cornbread continues to elude me. I was in the mood to bake some muffins the other night, and I have a ton of cornmeal to use up. So I decided to break out my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and give their recipe for cornbread a try. I find that I don't use my cookbooks a lot, and this particular cookbook does not get the attention it deserves. It's one of those cookbooks that is a staple in any kitchen. There are so many timeless, classic recipes in there, and I always seem to forget about it.

I'm glad I tried this recipe because it is quite good and very easy to throw together. It's a little crumbly for my liking, but still very tasty. And definitely still worth trying. I will definitely make these again.

Corn Muffins (source: Better Homes and Gardens 75th Anniversary Edition Cookbook)

1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2-3 tbsps sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil or melted butter

In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside.

In a small bowl combine eggs, milk and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

Spoon batter into 12 greased, or paper lined, muffin cups, fillinf cups two thirds full. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 15 minutes or until lightly browned anda wooden toothpick inserted in centers come out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

Blueberry Crumb Muffins

I would like to start by apologizing for the poor quality pictures. I've lost my camera batteries, so I've resorted to using my cellphone camera again. And being that it was one of those free phones that comes with the plan, the camera is not that great. I was so happy to be using a camera, and I had to go and lose my batteries. Well, they're here somewhere and hopefully I'll find them soon. Anyway, these muffins turned out so cute that I really wanted to get a couple of pics up for this blog post. And even though they're not the greatest pictures ever, I think they still capture the cuteness of my muffins :)

These muffins turned out wonderfully. I was looking for a healthier recipe, so my friend Beth gave me this one from Weight Watchers. They are 4 points per muffin, which sounds like a lot to me, although I'm not on Weight Watchers, so you can take that with a grain of salt :). But with the sour cream, and all the sugar and the streusel topping, I don't see how they're especially good for you :) But they're great in the morning with a big cup of coffee. I am definitely holding on to this recipe. They turned out moist and delicious and packed full of blueberries. Thanks Beth!

Blueberry Crumb Muffins (source: my buddy Beth. original source: Weight Watchers website)

Ingredients
~2 1/4 cups flour, divided (I used half all purpose flour and half whole wheat)
~1/2 tsp baking soda
~1 tsp baking powder
~1/2 tsp salt
~1 large egg
~1 cup sugar, divided
~3/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
~1 tsp vanilla
~1/4 cup fat free milk
~2 cups blueberries
~2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions
~Preheat the oven to 375. Place muffin liners in a 12-hole muffin tin.

~In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour (this is where I used half AP and half WW), baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.

~Using an electric mixer, beat egg with 3/4 cup of sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and beat until thoroughly combined; blend in vanilla.

~Add half of the flour mixture and half of the milk to the sugar mixture; beat until just combined. Add remaining flour mixture and milk and beat until smooth.

~Fold in blueberries and fill each muffin cup 3/4 full.

~To make streusel topping, in a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup each of flour and sugar. Pour in melted butter and combine with fingertips (this part was kinda fun :)) Divide crumb mixture over muffins. Gently press into top of muffin batter with fingertips.

~Bake until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 30-35 minutes. Cool in pans for about 10-15 minutes and then remove to cool completely on wire racks. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.
Nutrition Info:

• Calories: 192.9
• Total Fat: 4.2 g
• Cholesterol: 26.7 mg
• Sodium: 207.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 35.9 g
• Dietary Fiber: 2.0 g
• Protein: 4.0 g

Mmmmmmmuffins!

I woke up this morning and remembered that I had 2 huge bananas on my kitchen table. I went in and saw that they were way too ripe to eat. I remembered that I had made a banana bread recipe that I found on Amber's blog a while back and that I hadn't made it in a while. I also remembered that the recipe hadn't made it onto my blog yet, so I decided that I'd make banana muffins for the week.

This recipe really is the best banana bread I have ever had. Its so moist and delicious. The recipe on Amber's blog calls for 3 bananas, but my 2 bananas were huge, so they were just fine. Next time, I will buy double the bananas and make a double batch. I was only able to get 10 muffins out of this recipe. but I'm not very good at making my muffins all the same size. So if it weren't for my 2 huge muffins, I may have been able to make 12 muffins :-) Here's a link to the recipe in Amber's blog.

Banana Bread (source: Amber's Delectable Delights)

Ingredients
3 bananas, smashed (I used 2 very large bananas)
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nuts (I omitted these because i do not like nuts)

Directions
Combine all ingredients, except for nuts, using a mixer. Add nuts and mix by hand. Grease bread pan. Pour batter into bread pan and bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. Check with toothpick for doneness.

Amber says you can easily make these into muffins, which I did. You can bake the muffins at the same tempertaure, but decrease the baking time to 25 minutes. My muffins were done perfectly in 20 minutes :-)

Pumpkin Scones

I love pumpkin but I really haven't baked with it much yet. I did make some yummy, and healthy, pumpkin muffins. But that's pretty much it so far. I normally just use it for my pumpkin oatmeal, which is delicious by the way! Or I feed it to my dog. But I realized that I need to start baking with it more. I had some buttermilk left over from making buttermilk pancakes for dinner last week and I wanted to use it up before it went bad. I found this recipe on Annie's blog and I knew I had to try it. These scones are easy and delicious!! I'm looking forward to having them for breakfast this week. Here is the recipe, with my adjustments in italics.

Pumpkin Scones
Ingredients
2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger (i didn't have ginger, so i used ground nutmeg)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/3 cup white chocolate chips (optional) (i used semisweet chips because thats what i had)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the eggs wash:
1 large egg, beaten
1 tbsp milk or cream (i used fat free half and half)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 and place rack in the middle of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. I cut my butter into pieces and then refrigerated it for a few minutes so that it stayed cold. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the chocolate chips. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin and vanilla, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not overmix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches round. Cut the circle into six equal triangles (i was able to get 8 scones out of this recipe) Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash.

Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothepick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Breakfast for Dinner

Once again, my friend Michelle helped me figure out what to make for dinner :o) She's such a lifesaver! She recommended pancakes and eggs and, knowing that I had my aunt's recipe for homemade buttermilk pancakes in my recipe arsenal, I immediately agreed that it would be a great idea. Rob agreed as well, so all I had to do was run to the store for some buttermilk.


These pancakes are easy and delicious. They are what my Aunt Laura is famous for, and she always makes them for everyone for breakfast when we are together. I was so happy to find the recipe in the family cookbook she put together for everyone. I sprinkled some blueberries on mine, and Rob wanted to try one with chocolate chips. He decided he didn't like them that way (he's weird) so he'll be sticking to the original recipe. I also made scrambled eggs to go with them, but wasn't able to get a good picture of them. So I'll just share a bunch of yummy pancake pictures with you :o)

Buttermilk Pancakes (source: my Aunt Laura; originally from Marion Cunningham's Breakfast Cookbook)
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs at room temperature
6 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Combine buttermilk. eggs and butter. Blend until smooth. Combine flour, salt and soda. Stir dry ingredients into milk mixture until just moistened. Pour onto hot griddle. Sprinkle blueberries if desired. Flip when bubbles have set.

I used a wire whisk to blend the wet ingredients and it worked perfectly.

Guilt free baking!

I love to bake. I really really love it. There is something about it that makes me feel good. The problem is, I eat what I bake. And usually not just a small serving. Since I am trying to lose weight and be healthier, I decided to do some guilt free baking last night. I dug out my recipe for Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins that I found on sparkrecipes months ago. I've only made them once, and I'm not sure why, because they are incredible. They're simple to make, but you do have to let the oats soak in milk for about an hour, so they're not exactly fast. But They are definitely worth it. And for anyone who is watching what they eat, they are 95 calories and .5 grams of fat per muffin! And that is if you make 12. I stretched my batch out to 16, but they're pretty small that way. I'll be grabbing 2 for breakfast this morning and I can't wait!


Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins
1 cup old fashion rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup non-fat milk
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sugar
raisins or nuts (optional)

Soak the oats in milk for about one hour.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.
Combine the oat mixture with the applesauce and egg whites, and mix until combined.
In a separate bowl measure and whisk the dry ingredients together.
Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. Add nuts or raisins if desired.
Do not over mix the batter or the muffins will be tough. Spoon muffin mixture into muffin pan.
Combine the cinnamon and sugar and top each muffin with some of the mixture.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.
Remove from pan, cool and enjoy.
These can be frozen and reheated in the microwave for a quick breakfast.