Pear and Hazelnut Muffins

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast, Muffins & Scones and tagged with breakfast, chocolate, food, muffins/quick bread, pear, recipe, whole grains January 29, 2014

Pear and Hazelnut Muffins

In just one week’s time I came across three references to a new cookbook called Whole Grain Morning, by Megan Gordon. So I had to find out what all the fuss was about. I went to my local big box bookstore and there it was!. Thumbing through it, I found so many interesting recipes for breakfast dishes, all including a variety of grains, that I had to make it mine. It is a well-known fact that your morning meal is the opportune time to load in most of your whole grain needs for the day. Gordon gives many delicious ideas in her book for doing just that. This recipe for pear and hazelnut muffins is only the first of what will most likely be many recipes that I make from this book.

Muffins can be a fusion of many flavors and ingredients, some you wouldn’t think to put together, but somehow they work. And sometimes a muffin will be sweet and cake like resembling dessert. I keep some funny little rules in my head to make the distinction whether a muffin should be breakfast food or eaten at another time, like afternoon tea. The rules that run through my head go something like this:

Whole grains and oats = breakfast

White flour = cake

An egg or two = breakfast

Lots of eggs = cake

Natural sweeteners = breakfast

White sugar = cake

Unsaturated fats = breakfast

Butter = cake

After running through the ingredient list I tally the marks and make a determination as to whether I can pull this off as breakfast. When in doubt or the marks are equal, throw in some bacon, and that definitely swings it over to the side of breakfast. 😀

The Pear and Hazelnut Muffins from Megan Gordon’s beautiful book came out strongly in the breakfast category with oats, whole wheat flour, fruit and nuts. It might have remained there, except for the fact that I added some chocolate. It seemed to me that when you say the words, “pear and hazelnut”, together, something seems to be missing–add the words, “chocolate chunks” and now it becomes a complete sentence. Oh, oh, I guess I need to add chocolate to my list of ingredients acceptable for breakfast. Try as I might, I can’t help tinkering with a recipe. If you’re happy with the recipe sans the chocolate, go for it!!!

Whether you have these for breakfast or dessert, you won’t have any regrets. The combination of ingredients produces a complex flavor that’s far beyond what you would expect to be having for breakfast — grated pear, toasted hazelnuts, vanilla, butter, oats and, yes, chocolate chunks all tangled together in a crunchy muffin that tastes amazing even a day or two after it is baked.

PEAR AND HAZELNUT MUFFINS

Yield: Theoretically, 12 muffins, but I got 18.

Ingredients:

2 small-medium pears
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cooled slightly
2/3 cup natural cane sugar, such as Turbinado, or light brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom (can replace this with 1/4 tsp. cinnamon)
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3/4 tsp. Kosher salt
1 cup toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chunks or chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 425*F. Butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line it with papers.** Have a second tin ready in case you need it,

2. Peel, (if you desire, or can be skipped) pears, then halve and core them. Grate pears on the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. You should have about a cup, grated. Note: I got this much with just one medium pear. Stir in the melted butter, sugar, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, stir together the oats, flours, baking soda, baking powder, spices, salt, all but 1/2 cup nuts, and chocolate chunks, if using. Gently fold this dry mixture into the wet batter until just combined; do not overmix.

4. Fill muffin cups almost full and sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup nuts. ( I overlooked this step, and added all the nuts to the batter, so my pics do not show any nuts on top of the muffins,)

Place muffins in oven and immediately reduce the heat to 375*F. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out batter-free.

5. Cool muffins in pans for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Muffins will keep for 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container.

**Point of information: I just bought these parchment paper muffin liners for the first time, and they were wonderful at keeping the muffins from sticking to the paper. The liner removed cleanly with no torn muffins or crumbs clinging to the paper. P.S. I get no compensation for this unsolicited plug.

Parchment Paper Muffin Liners

SOURCE: Whole Grain Mornings, Megan Gordon

Buttermilk Waffles

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast and tagged with almond butter, breakfast, buttermilk, food, recipe, waffles January 17, 2014

Waffles, a weekend breakfast treat! I like to do things with waffles–things like turn them into a sandwich. You know, slather them with peanut butter, or almond butter, sliced bananas, and honey. Add chocolate chips and they get even better. Whoa!

If you think I’m going a little waffle crazy, you’ve come to the right place. Check out these former posts for waffles: Banana Bread Waffles, Sweet Potato Pecan Waffles, Citrus Waffles with Orange Compote. I am so not done with waffles yet.

Waffles are supper easy to make. A good waffle iron does most of the work for you. Just mix up dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and mix together. A few lumps are an added bonus, they build character.

Here’s a question for you….. What’s a waffle without chocolate chips? Still a waffle. HA HA!

Prepare the waffles and lay out the prepared toppings. The waffles are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside with melted chocolate. Add a sweep of almond butter, sliced bananas, and drizzle with honey….perfect toppings.

Take any that are left over and freeze for the week ahead. Pop in the toaster to rewarm. That’s real meal planning in my book. Indulgent breakfasts on demand!

BUTTERMILK WAFFLES WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Yield: Makes 6 generous waffles

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup chocolate chips, or chopped dark chocolate
toppings: almond butter, sliced bananas, honey

Directions:

1. Set waffle iron on a level surface and turn on to preheat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together melted buter, eggs, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. Add wet ingredients, all at once to dry ingredients. Stir until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips. Do not over mix the batter. If a few lumps remain in the batter that’s ok.

4. Cook each waffle according to your waffle iron instructions.

5. Serve waffles warm topped with almond butter, bananas, and a good drizzle of honey.

Note: For leftover waffles, allow to cool completely. Place them in pairs in ziplock bags and store in the freezer. In the morning, gently reheat waffles in the toaster or toaster oven. Best breakfast ever!!

Fruited Baked French Toast

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast, Brunch and tagged with Baked French Toast, Blueberries, breakfast, brunch, food, french toast, recipe January 7, 2014

Fruited Baked French Toast

Even though I already have several recipes for baked french toast here on the blog, I just had to include this one too. It is a little out of the ordinary because it includes fruit(s), and I had never encountered a recipe like it before. Thanks to my daughter, who we visited over the Christmas holidays, we had this for breakfast on Christmas morning. Everyone agreed it was just delicious. Some of us liked it with a little (read, a lot of) maple syrup on it, others thought it was just right without any added sweetener on it. What I particularly liked was the “tang” from the berries that you get in every bite. And the cinnamon crumb topping on it is an added bonus. This is definitely a recipe you will want to save and make again and again whether it be for guests or a special weekend breakfast.

As I’ve said before, this type of breakfast casserole is perfect for a late breakfast or brunch when you are entertaining, because you can make as much or as little as you need. Slice up the bread the evening before and soak it overnight in the egg/milk mixture. Then in the morning, make up the crumb mixture, sprinkle on the berries and the crumb topping and bake until golden brown. Pretty simple to make really, and awesomely good. This one just became my new favorite recipe for baked french toast.

FRUITED BAKED FRENCH TOAST

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients:

1 small loaf day-old French bread (8-9 oz.)
3 eggs
3 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries ( We used mixed berries, and cut the larger pieces in half.)

Directions:

1. Grease 13″ x 9″ baking dish. Slice the bread diagonally into 1/2-inch thick slices. Pack them tightly into the baking dish.

Cut up bread and fit tightly into the baking dish.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Whisk in the milk until well blended. Pour this mixture over the bread in the baking dish, turning over the slices to saturate well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

3. Heat oven to 375*F. In a small bowl combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.

Measure out topping ingredients.

Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs….

Cutting in the butter.

4. Turn bread slices over in the baking dish. Scatter berries over the bread and sprinkle with the crumb mixture. Bake about 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Sprinkle fruit, then crumbs over the bread/egg mixture.

Browning up in the oven.

5. Before serving, cut into squares and serve with syrup.

This is so delicious. 😀

SOURCE: Unknown.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Muffins & Scones and tagged with Apples, breakfast, cinnamon, food, muffins, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, recipe, streusel November 25, 2013

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

The cold fall and winter months are not my favorite. But cold weather weekends…..I don’t mind them too much, because I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. There’s something to be said about cooking and baking at this time of year, filling the house with incredible smells and warmth.

This recipe, oh, dear readers, this recipe! Apples, pumpkin, spices, cream cheese filling, streusel topping AND a drizzle of frosting—what more do you need to know? Though I love every recipe I share with you, I don’t usually gush except for the very best. I’m definitely gushing over these muffins. Every bite elicits an “mmmmm…”, ‘Wow…”, “So good….”, etc. Mr. D. on tasting them said…”I would walk over hot coals for these”, to which I replied, “Oh My Goodness, that good?”

Here’s the deal with these muffins….they should really be named Pumpkin Apple Cream Cheese Streusel Muffins, which is a mouthful, so I just shortened it. What you need to know about these muffins is –if you don’t like them with, say cream cheese , no problem, skip that part. If you don’t like streusel, no worries, omit it, and move on! Don’t have any apple?, Ok, leave it out. Streusel, yes; cream cheese, no? Totally do-able. Like your muffins naked? Knock yourself out.

Do you get the picture here? This is basically a “choose your own muffin adventure”. So let’s get on with it…..

PUMPKIN APPLE MUFFINS

Yield: Makes 18 muffins

Ingredients:

Muffins:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups chopped apples, peeled

Cream Cheese layer:

6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla

Streusel:

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
5 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces
Glaze (optional)
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Line muffin pans with paper liners, or spray with cooking spray.

2. Prepare dry ingredients by whisking together flour, granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.

3. In another bowl mix together the eggs, pumpkin and oil.

Mix these wet ingredients in with the dry ingredients until incorporated.

4. Stir in chopped apples.

5. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full.

6. Make the cream cheese mixture– In a mixing bowl of your electric beater, beat cream cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla together until smooth. Place a heaping teaspoon on top of muffin batter in cups.

7. Make streusel–Combine all the dry ingredients, then using a fork or pastry cutter, cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Sprinkle evenly over all the muffins.

8. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a cooling rack.

9. Mix up glaze, if using, and drizzle over tops of muffins.

Note: When I made this recipe, I cut all quantities in half, and I still got 11 muffins. My muffin cups were filled to the tops. The only part I omitted was the glaze. These are quite sweet, you could have one as dessert. Awesome!

SOURCE: Cookies and Cups

Fresh Cranberry and Oat Scones

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Muffins & Scones and tagged with baked goods, breakfast, cranberries, food, oat flour, oatmeal, oats, recipe, scones, whole wheat flour November 11, 2013

Once daylight savings time is over and we’re back to Standard time, the days seem shorter with darkness coming before dinner time. Whose idea was this any way? I don’t really need the sun shining in my eyes, waking me up at 6am., nor do I appreciate it when it starts getting dark when I want it to stay light outside. Where’s all the day light we’ve been “saving”? This whole time change thing makes me grouchy.

Fresh cranberry and oat scones.

To get me over this hissy-fit I needed something good to eat. Something baked, delicate and crumbly. Something sweet, but not too sweet, with good-for-me-and-you ingredients. Into my laboratory/kitchen I went and in about 45 minutes we were having these scones with a cup of coffee. They didn’t bring back more day light but they did help me to get over the “grouchies”. If you’re having a “mood” these scones just might help you too.

CRANBERRY AND OAT SCONES

Yield: Makes 10 scones

Ingredients:

10 Tbsp. frozen butter
A variety of “healthy” ingredients.
1/2 cup milk (regular, almond, coconut are all OK)
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped in a processor
2 2/3 cup flour ( or flour and oats combination)**
1/3 cup natural cane sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
zest of 1 orange
2 large eggs

** In place of regular flour I made up this combination: 1 cup whole wheat flour, 2/3 cups oats, 2/3 cups oat flour, 1/3 cup potato flour. Also I used almond milk instead of regular milk soured with lemon juice. Either works just fine. You could also use buttermilk and omit the lemon juice.

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 *F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease lightly.

2. Mix milk with lemon juice, and keep in refrigerator to chill

3. Coarsely chop cranberries in a food processor and reserve.

Chop 1 cup fresh cranberries.

I have a small 2-cup processor that works great for small amounts like this and saves getting out the big processor.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour (s), baking powder, baking soda, salt and orange zest…..

Mix zest of 1 orange into the dry ingredients.

Grate butter on the large holes of a box grater. Add to flour and toss gently to integrate.

Use a box grater to add small bits of frozen butter to the dry ingredients.

5. Whisk 1 large egg into the chilled milk and fold into the flour mixture. Fold in cranberries.

6. On a floured surface, knead the dough a few times till it just comes together. Do not over work it. Form into a disc. Roll out to 3/4 – inch thickness. Cut with a 2-inch round cutter. Place on parchment lined baking sheet. Reroll scraps and repeat.

Roll out dough and cut with 2-inch cutter.

7. Brush tops with remaining egg and sprinkle with oat flakes and natural sugar.

Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar and oats.

8. Bake till golden, about 18 minutes. Watch carefully, they brown up quickly. These freeze well.

Fresh cranberry and oat scones.

SOURCE: Adapted from Everyday Foods

Croissant French Toast

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast and tagged with breakfast, croissants, food, french toast, maple syrup, recipe November 1, 2013

Baked Croissant French Toast

I love using croissants to make fresh-tasting sandwiches, especially with egg salad. But after a day or two if they have not been used up croissants start to dry out and lose their appeal. Finding myself in that situation, I thought, why not make French Toast with them?

The one thing I was uncertain about was what form should the croissant be in, i.e.. left whole, broken up into pieces? So I went where everyone goes for answers, the internet! Into the Google search window I typed ” French Toast made with croissants”. and up came a whole load of sites, as you would expect. Selecting one that seemed to have some promise, I ended up on a site called “Yummly”, and a recipe from Rachael Ray. This gave me all the information I needed to proceed, and a fantastic new slant on baked french toast. So here it is, a french toast that is very light and airy, nicely flavored with maple syrup, and baked till brown and crispy on top.

I wanted this for Sunday morning breakfast, and so I prepared the recipe the evening before and refrigerated it overnight. Pop it in the oven to bake while having a first cup of coffee, and in about 35 – 45 minutes you can be sitting down to this extremely enjoyable breakfast, with a serving of fruit on the side. Dee-lish!

CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST

Yield: makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
1/2 cup water
2 cups milk ( any kind is okay.)
2 large eggs
5 croissants, cut in half horizontally

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. Butter a cake pan appropriately sized. ( 9″ round, 8″ x 12″ rectangle)

2. In a small heavy saucepan, bring the sugar, 2 Tablespoons maple syrup, and 1/2 cup water to a boil over medium-high heat, without stirring, and cook for about 5 minutes. Boil until the caramel is a light golden color or a candy thermometer registers 240 degrees, 5 – 8 minutes longer Working quickly and carefully, remove the thermometer and pour the maple caramel into the prepared cake pan. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk the milk, eggs and the remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup. Arrange the croissants over the maple caramel in the baking dish. Slowly pour the egg mixture over the top making sure to moisten all of the bread. Press down gently to flatten. Wait about 10 minutes, then go back and flatten again. The dish may be baked at this time, or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to bake it. Before baking press down on the croissants again .

4. Prior to baking sprinkle a cinnamon sugar mixture all over the top to create a sugary, crisp topping. (This is my addition to the recipe,) Bake at 350* for 35 – 45 minutes until custard is set and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Browned and crispy on top.

Remove from the oven , cut into wedges or squares, and serve with butter and additional maple syrup if desired.

Serve with butter, maple syrup and a side of fruit.

TIP: Swap out the croissants and use raisin bread or cake doughnuts instead.

SOURCE: Everyday with Rachael Ray via Yummly.com

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Breakfast, Brunch and tagged with breakfast, food, pancakes, pumpkin spice, recipe, vegetarian October 16, 2013

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes.

Those of you who know me by now, know that I adore anything with pumpkin spice, in fact I have a whole board on Pinterest, devoted to it. That board gets visited a lot so I figure there are lots of other folks who love pumpkin spice anything as much as me. Usually those foods revolve around dessert of some sort like cupcakes, pies, cookies, bars or even ice cream….but with pancakes I can bring my addiction to the breakfast table.

These are a perfect fall breakfast and a great way to use up small amounts of pumpkin leftover from your other baking endeavors. Sprinkling the tops with cinnamon sugar and adding just a drizzle of syrup is all these need in the way of topping. I made these on a rainy Sunday morning when we could enjoy a leisurely breakfast. They were wonderful !

PUMPKIN SPICE PANCAKES

All the ingredients ready.

Yield: 8 – 12 pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar, packed
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dash ground ginger
Dash ground cloves
1 cup milk (I used 1/3 cup skim milk and 2/3 cup pumpkin spice coffee lightener for extra flavor.)
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil or melted butter

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spices and stir with a whisk to combine.

2. In another bowl, mix together the milk, pumpkin, egg, and oil or butter. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and whisk together just until combined.

Add egg-pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients.

The batter may still have a few lumps–that’s okay.

3. Preheat the oven to 200*F. Have an oven safe platter or serving dish ready. Heat a greased griddle or skillet over medium heat. Once the griddle is hot, spoon on the pancake batter. Let cook until bubbles begin to form on the top surface. Carefully flip with a spatula and cook the second side until golden brown, a couple minutes more.

Look how they puffed up!

Transfer the cooked pancakes to the oven safe dish, and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with rest of the batter until it has all been cooked.

4. Serve warm with cinnamon sugar, maple syrup, and butter as desired.

Nice robust flavor!!

Served with breakfast sausages.

SOURCE: adapted from Martha Stewart

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, Lightened Up

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Muffins & Scones and tagged with breakfast, copycat, cream cheese, fall, food, muffins, pumpkin, recipe, Starbucks October 10, 2013

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins.

With the chill that’s been in the air the last few days now, I’m finally getting a desire to eat some of the foods and flavors that we typically associate with fall. Enjoying a pumpkin latte at Starbucks is pretty high up there on my list of favorite things to do and I have been know to also order a pumpkin spice cream cheese muffin to go with it. Nothing like a little pumpkin overload. 😀

Now, I know that those muffins contain a whopping number of calories, fat and sugar, but they are so delicious. As an occasional treat they are OK, but I would like to enjoy them more frequently in a healthier version. As luck would have it, I recently came across a recipe on-line for a copycat of the pumpkin muffins, and so with that as a basis, I set out to lighten it up, and see if I could still retain the luscious taste of the original muffin.

In my opinion these are pretty close to the original. If not an exact duplicate, they are close enough to be equally enjoyable, and a whole lot healthier. My makeover included replacing the all-purpose flour with white whole wheat, replacing much of the oil with applesauce, reducing the sugar, and using low-fat cream cheese for the filling. In addition, I made a crumb topping that includes oats for extra texture and a little more fiber. These muffins have been a hit with everyone who has had them, and I feel much better about sharing them, knowing that they are not such calorie bombs!.

The on-line recipe makes a total of 24 muffins, which is way too many for me and Mr. D., so I cut it in half and made only 12 muffins. The full recipe is presented here for those of you who like to make larger quantities, but can easily be halved if you want to. The muffins freeze very well, and rewarm nicely in the microwave. In fact, they are more spicy and intensely flavorful when warm.

LIGHTER PUMPKIN CREAM CHEESE MUFFINS

Yield: 24 muffins

Ingredients:

For the filling:

8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
2 Tbsp. honey

For the muffins:

Five spices plus cocoa and molasses make them intensely flavorful.

3 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp. molasses
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

For the topping: *

4 Tbsp. white whole wheat flour
7 Tbsp. old fashioned rolled oats
3 Tbsp. turbinado (coarse) sugar or brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:

1. Make the filling: combine the cream cheese and honey in a small bowl. Beat with an electric beater until smooth. Scrape onto a piece of wax paper, and shape into a long roll (log), not any wider than a muffin cup. Place into the freezer to chill while you mix up the batter and fill the pans.

Make filling, roll into a log and chill it.

2. Make the muffins: Preheat the oven to 350*F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients ( flour through baking soda).

In another bowl, combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree, oil and applesauce. Blend well. Add to dry ingredients, and stir just until incorporated.

3. Make the topping: combine all ingredients except butter in a medium bowl. Whisk to blend. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or two forks until mixture is course and crumbly. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Have the topping all made and ready.

4. Assemble muffins: fill each muffin cup with a small amount of batter ( 1 – 2 Tablespoons) just to cover bottom of the liner.

A little batter in the bottom of each cup.

Remove filling from freezer and cut into 24 slices. Place one slice of filling in each muffin cup.

Put a slice of filling into each cup.

Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing it on top of the cream cheese to cover completely.

Cover with remaining batter.

Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each muffin.

Sprinkle on topping.

5. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes. A toothpick inserted near the center should test clean. (Avoid the cream cheese filling.) Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

Imagine biting into one of these!

This will be extremely difficult to do, but the filling gets very hot, so please resist temptation. 😀

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, unbelievably delicious.

* Topping is completely optional. These muffins are great with or without the topping. Chopped walnuts or pecans could be mixed into the topping, or sprinkled on top in place of the topping.

P. S. I wish I had made 24, because now they are all gone and I just have to make more.

SOURCE: Heavily adapted from Food.com

Harvest Pumpkin Scones

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Muffins & Scones and tagged with breakfast, brunch, crystallized ginger, food, pumpkin, recipe, scones, snack, spices October 4, 2013

Harvest Pumpkin Scones

I do love pumpkin!!! So I’m wondering why it is that I seem to bake with it only in the fall. I know fall, October and pumpkins just go together, but pumpkin is available- the canned variety–all year long. Are you like that, too? I think it might be that pumpkin’s bright splash of color matches the vivid colors of autumn around the country. And as the landscape turns drab, pumpkin is still there giving us a lift.

Right now I have about six recipes lined up that include pumpkin, so if they turn out well, I think you’ll be seeing the results of my baking in the coming weeks.

This recipe is one of the first I tried. Mainly for two reasons: 1) I haven’t made scones in quite a while and these sounded really good to me, and 2) the recipe needs only part of a can of pumpkin, so I can make something else with the remainder. A sort of two-for-one deal. I try to match up recipes that each use only part of a can, so no pumpkin goes to waste. Otherwise I freeze the part I didn’t use for a later date.

This recipe did not let me down in the least. I knew that my expectations were met when they came out of the oven, a deep-gold color and with an aroma of all the spices they contain. Besides the cinnamon, ginger, allspice and nutmeg, I included some crystallized ginger and cinnamon chips to take their flavor over the top. These are way-good. :D. Make them soon and see if you don’t agree.

HARVEST PUMPKIN SCONES

Yield: 12 scones

Ingredients:

Whole allspice

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice**
1/2 cup cold butter
1 to 2 cups minced crystallized ginger, cinnamon chips, or chocolate chips
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
Ground fresh allspice
coarse white sparkling sugar, for topping

** I use whole allspice and grind it fresh as needed. The flavor is so much stronger and better than when you purchase the already ground variety.

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.

Mix together all the dry ingredients.

2. Work in the butter using a pastry cutter or your fingers, just until the mixture is unevenly crumbly; it’s OK for some larger chunks of butter to remain unincorporated.

Some larger pieces of butter are ok.

3. Stir in the ginger and/or chips, if you’re using them.

Mix in crystallized ginger and cinnamon chips.

4. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and eggs till smooth. Add to the dry ingredients and stir until all is moistened and holds together.

Mix together the eggs and pumpkin.

5. Line a baking sheet with parchment; or, if no parchment paper on hand, use the baking sheet without greasing it. Sprinkle a bit of flour atop the parchment or pan.

6. Scrape the cough onto the floured parchment or pan, and divide it in half. Round each half into a 5 – 6 inch circle, about 3/4’s-inch thick.

Divide dough into two 6-inch circles.

7. Brush each circle with a little milk, and sprinkle with coarse white sparkling sugar or cinnamon sugar, if desired.

Brush with a little milk or cream.

Coarse sugar (left), cinnamon sugar (right).

8. Using a knife or bench knife that you’ve run under cold water, slice each circle into 6 wedges.

Cut each circle into 6 wedges.

9. Carefully separate the wedges from each other just a little, with about 1/2″ space between them, at their outer edges.

10. For best texture and highest rise place the pan of scones in the freezer for 30 minutes, uncovered. While the scones are chilling, preheat the oven to 425*F

11. Bake the scones for 22 to 25 minutes, or until they’re golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of one comes out clean.

Isn’t that a beautiful rise?

12. Remove from the oven and serve warm. Wrap any leftovers airtight, and store at room temperature. Reheat briefly in the microwave, if desired.

A beautiful golden color.

P. S. If you’re making your own pumpkin puree from a fresh roasted pumpkin be aware that fresh pumpkin has a lot more liquid in it than canned, and should be drained throughly. You may use a colander, lined with coffee filters, or several layers of cheesecloth.

SOURCE: King Arthur Flour

Sunshine Peach Muffins

Posted by deliciousonadollar in Muffins & Scones and tagged with breakfast, food, honey, Muffin, organic, peaches, recipe, snacks, vegetarian September 17, 2013

Sunshine Peach Muffins

Looking for something not too sweet to have with morning coffee, I came upon this recipe that features fresh peaches. Since native peaches are still available in my area of the country, and I’m loving them used in so many different ways, I decided to give this recipe a trial run. The recipe’s notes state that there is ” a blast of peach in every bite of these tasty muffins”.

With my mouth watering at the thought of having one of these muffins warm from the oven with a dab of butter melting into it, I got together all the ingredients and mixed them up rather quickly. They are easy and quick to mix up. Into the oven they went and in 18 minutes out they came, golden brown, just as the recipe predicted. The aroma as they baked was extremely promising that they would be delicious. The recipe states a yield of 12 muffins, but I got only 10, filling each muffin cup 3/4’s full. That’s OK with me, I’d rather get fewer that are large, than 12 that are small.

Usually when I bake something new, I let Mr. D. taste it first and I kind of watch his reaction, before I have my first bite. Most times he’s generous with praise and comments on how good it is. This time there was no reaction, so I was very surprised. I tried a bite of my muffin; I, too, had little reaction. We just looked at each other waiting for the other one to speak. Why, you’re asking? Well. they don’t taste like peach, even though you can see pieces of peach scattered throughout; they are not sweet, with only 2 teaspoons of honey in the whole batter I shouldn’t have expected them to be. On the whole I would say they are rather bland. What they are, is very light, and non filling. I could easily eat two for breakfast and not feel full. They are healthy with the use of whole wheat flour, honey, fresh fruit with the skin left on and low-fat milk. These would be good for someone on a sugar-restricted diet.

I would say that these muffins did not live up to their promise, and on a scale of 1 – 5, I rate them at a 3. I leave this recipe up to you to try or not, depending on your taste and what you are looking for. As cooks we all know that not everything you make is wildly successful. For me, this is one of those recipes.

SUNSHINE PEACH MUFFINS

Yield: 12 muffins I got 10

Ingredients:

These are the ingredients .

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour ( I used white whole wheat)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
2 fresh, very ripe peaches, pit removed, skin left on
2 tsp. honey
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup 1 % milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 *F. Lightly grease 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper bake cups; set aside.

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture; set aside.

Mix dry ingredients, and make a well in the center.

3. In another bowl mash peaches well with honey,

Mash the peaches with the honey.

then stir in egg, milk, and oil. Add wet mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir until moistened. Batter will be lumpy.

All the “wet” ingredients mixed together.

4. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full.

5. Bake 18 – 20 minutes or until golden.

6. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups. Cool slightly before serving.

SOURCE: relish.com

Delicious on a Dollar

Devoted to the preparation of healthy & economical foods that taste fabulous!

Tag Archives: breakfast

Pear and Hazelnut Muffins

Buttermilk Waffles

Fruited Baked French Toast

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Fresh Cranberry and Oat Scones

Croissant French Toast

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins, Lightened Up

Harvest Pumpkin Scones

Sunshine Peach Muffins

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