Snickerdoodle Muffins with Cinnamon Chips

Cinnamon is such a versatile spice.  It is sweet, fragrant, warm, and aromatic and can be used in both sweet and savory recipes.  Studies have also shown that cinnamon has medicinal benefits such as lowering LDL cholesterol, lessening inflammation, and just smelling the wonderful odor of this sweet spice boosts brain activity.  It is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium.

I was cleaning out my freezer and found some cinnamon chips from King Arthur Flour that I received in a regional swap exchange with a friend from the Cooking Light Forum.  I love the products from King Arthur Flour.  They offer so many different items and the quality is excellent.  I decided that they would make a great addition to the Snickerdoodle Muffins.

The recipe I used was one I found on a blog called Taste and Tell. This is a super quick and easy recipe that tastes delicious.  These only take approximately 15 minutes to cook and I dare you to try not to eat one as soon as it is out of the oven.  The addition of the cinnamon chips really adds an extra cinnamon boost to the muffins.  I think they would also be good with coffee chips.

Snickerdoodle Muffins with Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup cinnamon chips
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2 eggs
• cinnamon sugar - for sprinkling on top

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare muffin tins.
2. Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients. Mix only until moistened. Fill muffin cups and top with cinnamon sugar.
3. Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins

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Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

I recently became a member of The Cake Slice Baker's. Once each month I will be baking along with the group as we tackle the chosen cake.  Then I will be posting about it on my blog. There will also be links to other members blogs so you can check out how everyone's cake turned out.  I just know it is going to be fun to be a part of a wonderful group of baker's and blogger's, and I can't wait to get started.

In the meantime I decided to bake the Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze that they all baked last month.  This recipe is by Nancie McDermott from her book, Southern Cakes.  My daughter is having a bake sale at school tomorrow and I thought there should be something to offer besides neon colored cupcakes, which seem to be all the rage at her school.  At least I know the teachers will be happy with what I made.

At first I was going to use some left over Fuji apples.  Then I remembered that I had some Ginger Gold apples, which I had never tried before, so I used them instead. After doing some research on these apples at the Produce Oasis, I found out that it is one of the first apples available in the fall and it does not store well. There is a slight taste of spice and it has a crisp white flesh that does not go brown too quickly after it has been cut, which worked out really well when I was prepping the ingredients. It also holds its shape well during cooking.  An interesting trivia fact about apples - "in ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance".

I did make some minor changes to the recipe after reading some of the reviews.  There seemed to be a few people mentioning the amount of oil so I cut it down to one cup and replaced the other half a cup with apple sauce. I also cut the sugar back to one cup of white sugar and half a cup of brown sugar.  The last change I made was adding a teaspoon of Baking Spice from Penzeys because I needed to use it before it gets stale and I like the taste of it in baked goods.  I try very hard not to let anything from Penzeys go stale because we don't have one here so it is hard to replenish my stock (shipping is a killer).

The smell of the cake cooking was incredible - apples, pecans, and baking spice = yum.  Once it was out of the oven, and I poured the glaze over the top, it took all my my willpower not to grab a fork and dig in. After it had cooled on the counter for a while I hid it in the refrigerator so it wouldn't tempt me.  Once it was cool I cut it into squares and packaged it for the bake sale.  I did try some of the crumbs and they were delicious.  There were a few smaller pieces so I decided to keep those to enjoy tonight with our coffee.  This recipe is definitely a keeper and I can't wait to bake another one.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

(adapted from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose flour  
• 1 cup white sugar 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda  
• 1 tsp salt  
• 1 teaspoon of Baking Spice (from Penzeys)
• 3 eggs  
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup apple sauce
• 2 tsp vanilla extract  
• 3 cups finely chopped apples  
• 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts

Brown Sugar Glaze

• 1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 
• 2 tbsp evaporated milk, half-and-half or cream

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 350F. Grease a 13 by 9 inch pan or two 8-9 inch cake pans.In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir with a fork to mix everything together well.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with a wooden spoon or a mixer at low speed until pale yellow and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well. Stir in the flour mixture with a wooden spoon and continue stirring the batter just until the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts, stir to mix them into the batter until fairly uniform. Scrape the batter into the prepared pans.
3. Bake for 45-50 minutes (start checking at 25 minutes if making a 1/3 recipe loaf) or until the cake is golden brown, springs back when touched lightly near the center and is beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Place the cake (still in the pans) on a wire rack and spoon over the glaze while still hot.

Brown Sugar Glaze

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Then cook for 3-5 minutes.

To Finish

1. Spoon the hot glaze all over the hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

Makes one 13x9 inch sheet cake or two 8-9inch round cakes (1/3 of a recipe makes one loaf pan)

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Banana Muffins With Crumbly Topping

Is there anyone out there who doesn't love a muffin warm from the oven?  I know that I can never resist the temptation, even though I risk burning my fingers and my mouth.  There is just something about peeling off the liner, breaking off a piece and seeing the steam billow out, then popping that morsel of goodness right in your mouth.

I don't know if I have a favorite muffin flavor.  It seems like each time I try a new recipe it becomes my new favorite.  Oh well, they say that variety is the spice of life.

Once again I had an excess of ripe bananas so I went looking for a muffin recipe.  I came across this recipe for Banana Muffins with Crumbly Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Tops on Group Recipes.  It seemed like just the right combination of flavors.

Banana Muffins With Crumbly Brown Sugar And Cinnamon Tops

Ingredients 

• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 3 bananas - mashed
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/3 C melted butter

for the streusel:

• 1/3 C brown sugar
• 2 T flour
• 1/8 t cinnamon
• 1 T butter

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin pan if you are not using muffin liners.
2. Mix together 1 1/2 C flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, mix together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Make sure to slowly temper the egg/banana/sugar mixture before pouring all the melted butter into the bowl so the egg does not cook.
3. Pour banana mixture into dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. Spoon batter into muffin cups.
4. In another bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 T flour and cinnamon. Cut in the butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Sprinkle amply on top of the muffin batter.
5. Bake muffins from 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Makes 12 muffins.

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The Passion of Passionfruit

Passionfruit is one of my favorite fruits. I just love the tangy flavor and vibrant color. I remember as a child we had a vine in our backyard and most days we would pick a few and scoop the flesh out to eat with vanilla ice cream. Here in Hawaii it is known as lilikoi.

Did you know that The 'passion' in passionfruit refers to spiritual passion. The name was given to the fruit by the Jesuit missionaries in South America. The ten petals of the passionfruit flower referred to the ten disciples present at the crucifixion, and the thin curling passionfruit tendrils are the whips that scourged Christ on the way to the cross, and if you look at the flower closely you can see the crown of thorns.

There are many different varieties of passionfruit and the vine is quite ornate when the flowers are blooming.   Below is a photo I took of one of the flowers blooming in early January.

This recipe comes from the Woman's Day in Australia. It is a recipe that was submitted from a home reader, and as soon as I saw it I knew it would be a winner.

Passionfruit and Lemon Slice

Ingredients

• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup desiccated coconut
• ½ cup sugar
• 125g butter, melted
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• juice 2 lemons (about 1/2 cup)
• pulp 2 passionfruit (about 1/4 cup)

 Preparation

1. Preheat oven to moderate, 350°F. Lightly grease an 18 x 28cm lamington (or brownie) pan. Line base and sides with baking paper, allowing paper to extend 2cm above the rim of the long sides.
2. Sift flour into a bowl. Stir in coconut and sugar. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add butter, mixing well.
3. Press firmly into the base of the prepared pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden.
4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine condensed milk, lemon juice and passionfruit. Pour over base and bake for a further 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool and chill overnight.
5. Lift the slice from the pan. Peel away paper and cut into 24 squares. 

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This recipe comes together so quickly and easily.  The richness of the slice really makes you think that a lot more work went into making them.  I just had a feeling that it was going to be a winner even before they were cooled that, before I put away the dry ingredients, I measured out everything for another batch.  I then put each ingredient in separate plastic bags and placed them in the freezer.  This way it will be so quick and easy to whip up another batch whenever the mood strikes me.

Love ya Bunches

Has it really been that long since I have updated my blog?  Where did the time go?  I have been making lots of goodies, but I just haven't seemed to be motivated to get my fingers busy typing and get the words written down here.  The next few posts will be the clearing up of my backlog.  I just have to remember what I baked.  Thank goodness I took photos so I can work may back back from there.

 

Honey Macadamia Bunches

I discovered this recipe at the Whole Grain Gourmet when I was searching for some healthy treats to make.  My husband is currently training for the Ironman (Triathlon) World Championships in Kona and he does a big training session on Saturdays with a group of friends. I really wanted to find something a little more healthy that he could take to share after their big workout.  I made some changes to the original recipe by replacing the pecans with macadamia nuts, decreasing the sugar, and adding vanilla, cinnamon, & salt.  Other than that I made the recipe as stated.  I realize that this is not the healthiest recipe I could make due to the amount of butter. Next time I will try replacing some of the butter with apple sauce.


 Ingredients:

• 3 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cups finely ground flax seed
• 1 cup coconut (shredded or flaked)
• 1 cup macadamias (chopped)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup honey or molasses
• 1 cup butter

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325
2. Combine oats, flour, flax seed, coconut, salt, cinnamon, and nuts in a large bowl.
3. Melt butter, sugar and honey in saucepan over low heat, then add vanilla.
4. Add melted butter mixture to dry ingredients.
5. Fill mini muffin tins 3/4 full.
6. Bake 9-12 minutes, until browned and chewy.

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These were so easy to make and I really liked that you can make extras as they freeze really well. I also think that they would be good with some crystallized ginger added to the mixture.