Recipe: Muffins and Quick Breads Part 4 (8)

Muffins and Quick Breads Part 4

Judy/AZ (6:42:07 PM) : Blueberry-cream cheese muffins

This is from Southern Living Magazine. The directions are for using a food processor, but I used a mixer and they turned out fine.

1 cup fresh blueberries
2 cups flour, divided
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
3 oz cream cheese, cut into cubes
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs

Toss blueberries with 2 tablespoons flour;set aside. Combine remaining flour with dry ingredients; set aside.

In food processor bowl, put cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla;process till smooth. With processor running, pour butter through chute; process several seconds. Scrape sides of bowl with spatula; process several seconds till smooth. Add eggs; pulse 4 or 5 times. Add flour mixture; pulse 6 times or until mixture is just moistened.

Remove knife blade; fold in blueberries. Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes. Remove from pans immediately. Makes 16 muffins.

Notes: I used low-fat cream cheese (nope, not obsessing, just what was in the fridge)which worked o.k. Also I baked them in one of those big-muffin pans and got 6 jumbo muffins. I sprinkled the tops with a little of the crumb mixture from Fannie Farmer cookbook (1/2 cup butter, 1 cup flour, 1/3 cup sugar is the mixture I think) and some cinnamon before baking.

Chocolate Cheesecake Muffins

1 (3oz.) package cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In small bowl, beat cream cheese and 2 tablespoons sugar until light and fluffy. Set aside. In large bowl, stir together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Make a well in center of dry ingredients. Combine egg, milk and oil. Add all at once to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. (Batter will be lumpy.)

Spoon about 2 tablespoons chocolate batter into each greased muffin cup. drop 1 teaspoon cream cheese mixture on top and add more batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar, if desired. Makes 1 dozen.

Chocolate Macaroon Muffins (to die for)
from an old Sunset Magazine.

Muffin batter:

1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla to blend then until fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended. Combine flour, cocoa and baking powder in another bowl (or sift together); stir into butter mixture till well mixed.

Macaroon batter:
3/4 cup almond paste (7 ounces)
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg whites
1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

In food processor or bowl, whirl or beat almond paste and sugar until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Add egg whites, 1 at a time, whirl or beat until smooth. Stir in coconut. (Note: I used marzipan instead of almond paste, left out the 1/2 cup sugar and added 1/2 teaspon almond extract; turned out fine)

to make muffins:
Equally divide 1/2 of muffin batter among 8 buttered or paper-lined muffin cups (2 to 2 1/2 inch diameter at the bottom of the cup; will be about a soup-spoonful of batter per muffin). Next, add equal portions of 1/2 of the macaroon batter. Repeat with remaining chocolate and macaroon batters.

Bake at 350 F until muffins spring back when gently pressed and macaroon batter is lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to rack. Serve warm or cool. Can be held at room temp 1 day; freeze to store longer. (I froze leftovers the same day; they thaw weel in microwave, oven, or in your bag on your way to work ;-)

FEATHER-LIGHT MUFFINS

1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup milk

TOPPING:
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted

In a mixing bowl, cream shortening, sugar and egg. Combine dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake at 325* for 20-25 minutes or until golden. Let cool for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Roll warm muffins in melted butter, then in sugar mixture. Serve warm. Yield:
8-10 muffins.

Ralph's Bran Muffins

1 C. flour
1 C. bran
4 tsp dry milk powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 C. dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 C. dark corn syrup
2 Tbsp molasses
1/4 C. vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 C. raisins
1/4 tsp grated orange zest
1/2 C. water

Glaze:
3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp dark brown sugar, packed
3 Tbsp shortening
2 Tbsp corn syrup
2 tsp water

Distribute about 1 Tbsp glaze onto bottom and sides of 12 muffin tins with pastry brush. Combine flour, bran, milk powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir well and set aside. Mix together brown sugar, dark corn syrup, molasses, oil and egg in separate bowl until well blended. Puree raisins and orange zest with water in blender or food processor. Add to liquid ingredients. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients until just moistened. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Immediately invert onto foil or wax paper to cool. Makes
12 muffins.Kelly,WA (7:11:33 PM) :
CHERRY PECAN MUFFINS

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs (separated)
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
Maraschino cherries, drained
Finely ground pecans
Pecan halves
Powdered sugar

Cream well the butter and sugars. Add well beaten egg yolks, flour, baking powder, cherry juice and beaten egg whites. Grease muffin tins and sprinkle with finely ground pecans. Put one teaspoon dough, then a whole cherry, then another teaspoon of dough in muffin tins. Sprinkle finely ground pecans on top and place a pecan half on top of each muffin. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes. Remove from muffin tins. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Watch closely while baking since these can burn easily. The muffins can be kept in tins or frozen. If you use small muffin tins, use about 3/4 teaspoon of batter instead of 1 teaspoon.

Kelly,WA (7:13:17 PM) :
Sierra Nevada Gems

20 California dried figs stewed, unsweetened
2 c Sifted all-purpose flour
4 1/2 ts Baking powder
2 tb Sugar
1 ts Salt
2 Eggs
1/3 c Shortening; melted
3/4 c Milk (about)

Butter muffin pans generously. Snip stems off stewed figs and place figs in mixing bowl. Beat them hard, until whirled into small bits. Sift flour, measure and sift again with baking powder, sugar and salt. Add dry ingredients to figs and mix lightly. Add eggs, shortening and milk, and stir together until just mixed. Fill muffin pans half full. Bake in hot oven (400 F.) for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned.