Tag Archives: baking

Morning Glory Muffins – Healthified

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So you know I’m on this new eating better kick, right?  I’m doing pretty good, too.  Especially if you don’t count yesterday…   So I have been playing around with some recipes to make them better.  Like adding healthy fats (flax seed) and eliminating corn syrup.  So I took my favorite Morning Glory Muffin recipe and doctored it a bit to reduce some of that “bad” stuff.  Here’s the yumminess I came up with.
Morning Glory Muffins - Healthified

Morning Glory Muffins

2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1 cup honey
1 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large carrots
1 large apple – peeled, cored
1 cup raisins
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 tbsp vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil 24 muffin cups, or coat with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Grate (or finely chop) apple and carrots (I use a food processor for this)
  3. Put raisins in a microwave safe bowl. Cover with water and microwave for 1 minute. (Or cover with HOT water) This step plumps them up.
  4. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, applesauce, honey and vanilla.
  5. In a large bowl, stir together flours, ground flax seed, cinnamon, ground cloves, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  6. Drain raisins. Stir in carrots, apples and raisins.
  7. Stir in applesauce mixture until just moistened. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 3/4 full.
  8. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and spring back when lightly pressed.

Banana Cinnamon Chip Muffins

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I had some very ripe bananas and a half bag of cinnamon chips, and wanted to put them together into scrumptiousness… this is what I found. YUM!!!

 

Banana Cinnamon Chip Muffins
Yields 12 standard muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 ripe mashed bananas
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup cinnamon chips (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line 12 standard muffins cups. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix the bananas, oil, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until combined.
Fold banana mixture into flour mixture until just blended (do not over mix). Add cinnamon chips, and fold gently until combined.
Distribute batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cornbread Muffins

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I had chili on the menu for Sunday and decided to try making some cornbread muffins. I love cornbread and figured it was the perfect compliment for chili.

These were definitely good and very easy!

Cornbread Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease or line 12 muffin cups.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt. Mix in flour, cornmeal and baking powder; blend thoroughly. Stir in milk and corn. Pour or spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
  3. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

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I found this apple cake recipe a few weeks ago, but didn’t get around to making the cake until this weekend.  I decided to make a cream cheese frosting (found in my America’s Test Kitchen cookbook) instead of the streusel topping, and let me just say it was AWESOME!!!

Also, note that I don’t know why you’d beat the eggs for 15 minutes, but I did it, because several reviews said you needed to… One of the few times I wish I had a stand mixer.

Apple Cake

5 apples – peeled, cored and chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar  (can substitute 1/2 cup with brown sugar)
1 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) lightly grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
  2. Sift together flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar for 15 minutes on high speed with an electric mixer. Add oil and blend in.
  4. Add four mixture and mix well. Add vanilla. Fold in apples and nuts. Pour batter into 9×13 inch pan.*
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

*Struesel Topping: Instead of frosting, mix 4 tsp white sugar with 1 tsp ground cinnamon, sprinkle over cake prior to baking.

Cream Cheese Frosting

8 ounces cream cheese softened, but still cool
5 tablespoons unsalted butter softened, but still cool
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar (4 1/2 ounces)

  1. When cake is cool, process cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla in clean food processor workbowl (or with electric hand mixer) until combined, about
    5 seconds, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula as needed.
  2. Add confectioners’ sugar and process until smooth, about 10 seconds (longer if using a hand mixer)

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

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I was craving cookies and wanted chocolate.   Thought Oatmeal would make me feel like I was making a healthier option… so I tried these

They were very good. Very easy!  I didn’t add nuts. I will make again!

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (6 oz)
1 cup chopped nuts, if desired

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir brown sugar and butter until blended. Stir in vanilla and egg until light and fluffy. Stir in oats, flour, baking soda and salt; stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
2. Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart.
3. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Quick and Almost-Professional Buttercream Icing

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I tried a new frosting for Elizabeth’s birthday cake. I wanted something that went on more smoothly than the Wilton’s buttercream recipe. This worked really well for the smooth frosting, and it was delicious!  It did however get really melty quickly when I piped on the bubbles.  It was fine for this cake because I didn’t have a lot of piping to do.

So overall, if I’m doing a whole bunch of piping, I’d do the Wilton recipe, but if I want to spread a smooth cake, I’ll use this recipe found at allrecipes.com.  I quadrupled the recipe, but a triple recipe would have been plenty for this cake and the dozen cupcakes I made.

The Rubber Ducky Cake

Quick and Almost-Professional Buttercream Icing

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
3 drops food coloring, or as needed (optional)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners’ sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.
  2. Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

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Last week’s theme for Whip It Up was “Guilty Pleasure”. And I thought these brownies fit the description perfectly!!

Was the recipe easy to follow?

Yes! Basically following directions on the back of 2 boxes!  Not too difficult at all!

Did the dish taste good?

Ummm??? Chocolate Chip Cookie on top of a Brownie with Chocolate Frosting… Yummy! They were especially good when they were warm and a bit gooey and the frosting was melty!

Would you make it again?

Most definitely. Easy to take somewhere and I think you could guarantee an empty pan at most functions!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

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Banana-Gingerbread Muffins

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I had the ripe bananas and a gingerbread cake mix last night, so I tried the Banana-Gingerbread Muffin recipe that I discovered in my Betty Crocker’s Healthy New Choices cookbook a couple months ago.   They smelled really good while they were baking and Chad really liked them! I’m not a huge banana fan, but I thought they were good, just not my first choice.

The recipe here is similar, but it has 2 eggs.  (I’m wondering if it was copied incorrectly as the original recipe called for 2 egg whites, which I substituted with one egg)

Banana-Gingerbread Muffins

1 package (14 1/2 ounce size) gingerbread cake and cookie mix
2 ripe medium bananas — mashed
3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup water
2 egg whites (or 1 egg)

Heat oven to 375F. Grease bottoms of 16 medium muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Mix all ingredients until well blended. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Immediately remove from pan.

Snickerdoodles

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A classic cookie! I bought some last weekend when Maria and I spent the day with her cousins at the pumpkin patch. And I definitely got a taste that I wanted more of, so I made them. I just used the classic Betty Crocker recipe.

This is probably one of the first recipes I ever learned to make growing up… I’m pretty sure I entered them for 4-H at the County Fair at some point.  Very easy, and so yummy! Hard to mess up!

Snickerdoodles

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

  1. Heat oven to 400ºF.
  2. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
  3. Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
  4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

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Apple Kuchen Coffee Cake

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Mmmm… I bought a bag of apples last week. I love fall apple dishes, especially sweet baked apple dishes!  And this recipe proved to be a keeper.

Was the recipe easy to follow?

Yes! It was very easy. Bisquick is seriously sometimes the best thing ever!  Plus my apple peeler/corer/slicer from Pampered Chef makes apple peeling so easy! My springform pan is also about 10 1/2″ instead of 9″, but I felt like the crust mixture was plenty for the bigger pan.

Did the dish taste good?

Yes, it was very very good. I didn’t have vanilla yogurt, so I used sour cream instead, plus added 1/2 tsp vanilla.  Maria loved it, and Chad liked it too!

Would you make it again?

Yes, it was definitely easy and very good!

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