Tate's Bake Shop: Baking For Friends, Apple Crumb Muffins & a Giveaway!

Winner Update - The winner of the Tate's Bake Shop Cookie and Bar Tower
is Carolsue.  Congratulations!  Please check your email and reply within 48 hours to confirm your mailing address and prize will be mailed by Tate's Bake Shop.  Thanks for visiting my blog and entering my giveaway.


I have a confession to make - I been stalking my mailman (actually lady).  Waiting not so patiently for a package to arrive, and wondering each day if today would be the lucky day?  What was I waiting for you may ask? It was the latest book by Kathleen King, the founder and owner of Tate's Bake Shop - Tate's Bake Shop: Baking for Friends.  I was like a kid at Christmas when it arrived, ripping the package open and flipping through the pages - and this was before I even got through my front door.  And I am doing a giveaway too!

  

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to win a copy of her first cookbook Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook and some amazing cookies.  The book was wonderful and the cookies were gone in a few days. I even kept the box that the cookies came in because it was so pretty.  I think that the cookies were so good because of the philosophy of Kathleen King, which is use the freshest, preservative-free ingredients possible - real butter, all-natural chocolate, farm-fresh eggs. With her no-nonsense approach to baking it is no wonder that she has won numerous awards and her store is regarded as a "must-visit" when in the area.  And seriously, how cute is the bakery itself; how could you not feel welcomed when visiting and enjoying a cookie, brownie, or any of their other delicious treats?

Once I opened the package I just knew I was in for a treat.  The cover looks so inviting and I couldn't wait to sit down and enjoy reading it with a good cup of coffee.  I am like that - I read cookbooks like they are a novel.  Reading the introduction usually gives me a good insight into the person behind the book.  As I read through it I found myself nodding in agreement with things like "I loved to see the joy on people's faces as they bit into those cookies", "life can get hectic", and "don't be too concerned about making a picture-perfect dessert".  My favorite quote is at the end of the introduction - "...it's also about sharing - connecting with the people in your life.  Let them inspire you, and enjoy the process."  There are also some great tips when it comes to baking the recipes themselves.

The book is divided into seven chapters and has over 120 recipes for amazing muffins, scones, quick breads, pies, cookies, and so much more.  There were so many recipes that caught my eye whilst reading through the book that I kept wondering how I was going to choose my first one to try.  In the end I decided that there is no better place than to begin than at the beginning, and chose the first recipe in the book, Apple Crumb Muffins.  I decided that I am going to work my way through the recipes in the book from start to end.  It may take a while, but I have a feeling that it is going to be very enjoyable.

As mentioned at the beginning of the recipe the ingredient list may seem a little long, but I found that there were a few common ingredients between the topping and the muffins, so measuring didn't take long, and the rest came together very quickly.  I loved the consistency of the crumb topping.  To me it seemed a little more moist than usual but it made an outstanding crunch on the top of the muffins. Do make sure you measure your chopped apple because you may need more than one.  My apples - Granny Smith's - were a little small and I needed two of them to get the right amount required for the recipe.  I followed the recipe exactly as written and it did make 10 beautifully plump muffins. 

The smell from the oven as these were baking was intoxicating, and I was glad that they were ready in 20 minutes.  The hard part was waiting for them to cool.  I couldn't resist picking the topping off of one of the muffins to try.  It was crunchy, crumbly, cinnmony and oh-so-good but I don't know if that was the best idea since it made the wait for the rest of the muffin even harder.  I have to be truthful and tell you that I only waited a few minutes for it to cool so I wouldn't burn my fingers too much. It was a little hard to get out of the pan and that is why you should wait.  Just call me Mrs. Impatient but that muffin was worth it.  As I was enjoying it I was thinking that these would be an excellent muffin on Thanksgiving morning, especially with a handful of cranberries thrown in to the batter.

The recipes in the book are very well set out and easy to follow. Some of the names are really cute - who could resist Chubby Tates or "Church Lady" Vanilla Icing, and there is such a great variety of recipes including some for health & lifestyle baking.  I also loved the photographs in this book taken by Alexandra Rowley.  There are very few props in the photos making the baked goods the star.  She highlights the goodies in a way that makes you want to reach out and grab one to enjoy.  Tate's Bake Shop is offering readers of this blog $5.00 off Tate's Bake Shop: Baking for Friends - and it is an autographed copy!  All you have to do is visit TatesBakeShop.com and enter the discount code BAKEOFF.  Also, check out the Baking for Friends Bake-Off contest on Facebook.  The Grand Prize is $1000, and 5 winners will receive a KitchenAid stand mixer and a copy of Tate's Bake Shop: Baking for Friends.

And it gets even better.  I am doing a giveaway with a great prize!

Main Entry
To enter the giveaway all you have to do is visit Tate's Bake Shop and then come back and leave a comment telling me what you item you would order if you were to visit the store - please try to be specific and don't just say a muffin or a cookie.

Additional Entries
Even more chances to win - you can receive up to two additional entries by doing the following:

1. Following All That's Left Are The Crumbs on Facebook - leave an additional comment to let me know that you are following.
2. Following Tate's Bake Shop on Facebook - leave an additional comment to let me know that you are following.

The Fine Print

• Deadline for entry is Wednesday, October 24, 2012 at 6:00PM HST.
• This giveaway is open only to US addresses.
• One winner will be chosen at random using Random.org.  I will announce the winner at the top of this post and send them an email.  If I do not have a response within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.
• The winner will receive a Tate's Bake Shop Cookie and Bar Tower - which is an assortment of goodies including blondies, brownies, and a selection of their famous cookies (prize supplied directly to the winner by Tate's Bake Shop).

Disclaimer:  I received a free review copy of Tate's Bake Shop: Baking for Friends, but this is my honest opinion of the book and I was not compensated for my review. Tate's Bake Shop is also providing a prize for the winner of my giveaway.

Apple Crumb Muffins
(Printer Friendly Recipe)

Ingredients

• softened butter for the muffins cups

Crumb Topping

• 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons cold salted butter - cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tablespoons old-fashioned (rolled) oats
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed dark brown sugar
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Muffins

• 1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• ½ cups old-fashioned (rolled) oats
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 large apple - peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch dice (1¾ cups)
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup applesauce
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

1. Position an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400℉.  Butter ten 3-by-1½- inch muffins cups.
2. To make the crumb topping: In a small bowl, work together the flour, butter, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon with your fingertips until the  mixture is crumbly.
3. To make the muffins: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt,  and nutmeg.  Stir in the apple.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, applesauce, vegetable oil, egg, yolk, and vanilla well. Pour over the apple mixture and stir until just combined.  Do not over-mix.
5. Using a ⅓-cup food portion scoop or a spoon, transfer equal amounts of the batter into the prepared muffin cups.  The cups will be full.  Sprinkle the crumbs evenly on the muffins
6. Bake until a wooden toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of a muffin, about 20 minutes.  Let the muffins cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack for 10 to 15 minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool completely on the rack.

Makes 10 muffins.

Recipe by Kathleen King - Tate's Bake Shop: Baking with Friends