blue artichoke

Snow! Wintry mix! Freezing rain! Ice pellets! Thunder-snow! All these words and phrases have been used to describe what it is that has been falling from the sky for the past few days. I don't like cold weather, but it's awesome outside. Slick like a skating rink. In fact, I saw three people ice skating down my road this afternoon. I'm a big fan of extreme weather, because there's nothing you can do but hunker down and ride it out.

I thought I'd be bored, stuck inside all weekend, so I thought of fun activities to keep occupied, such as going through my cabinets and reading food labels to see how many trans-fat items I have in the house right now. Sadly, I never made it to this game because I got too wrapped up in other fun projects, like wrapping Christmas presents, watching movies and taped television shows, baking muffins and doing laundry. Oh, well, that's a game for another snowy day.

The muffins I chose, in keeping with the cranberry theme for December, were pumpkin-cranberry. I was skeptical at first. I like pumpkin muffins and cranberry muffins, and I know that those flavors go together, but I expected to throw out this recipe. But no, they're good. Not excellent or better than each one separately, but far better than I anticipated. This recipe is a keeper! They were really moist, with a dark and rich flavor punctuated with the chewy sweet and sour dried cranberries. A real crowd pleaser, I'm sure.

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins

This recipe doubles easily to feed a crowd. These are best warm, but you can make ahead to jump-start holiday cooking. Bake up to one month in advance, and place in a heavy-duty zip-top plastic bag. Let the muffins thaw at room temperature, and then microwave at MEDIUM-HIGH about 30 seconds to heat through.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 large egg
2/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped (such as Craisins) [I didn't bother chopping them. They're small enough - BA]
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and next 5 ingredients (though cloves); stir well with a whisk.

Combine granulated sugar and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until combined. Fold in cranberries.

Place 12 paper muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Spoon batter into prepared cups. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 199 (14% from fat); FAT 3.2g (sat 0.4g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.9g); PROTEIN 2.8g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; CALCIUM 38mg; SODIUM 195mg; FIBER 1.5g; IRON 1.3mg; CARBOHYDRATE 41.1g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2007

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 07:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

November is to be the month of weekend pumpkin muffins. The recipe for this second batch also came from Cooking Light (as did last week's recipe), and the muffins are similar enough to be difficult to pick a favorite. I think I liked last week's muffins better because they seemed to have a deep, rich pumpkin flavor (probably because of the molasses); GC picks these muffins because they are moister (probably because of the applesauce). You can't go wrong with either one; both are better than most pumpkin muffins I've had.

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour (about 4 1/2 ounces)
½ cup whole wheat flour (about 2 1/2 ounces)
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
1 ¼ teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup fat-free buttermilk
½ cup egg substitute
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup applesauce
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, granulated sugar, and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.

Combine pumpkin and the next 4 ingredients (through applesauce) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool muffins in pans 5 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pans. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 145(28% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.3g,poly 1.6g); PROTEIN 2.6g; CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg; CALCIUM 33mg; SODIUM 149mg; FIBER 1.2g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 24.1g
Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2005

I don't often have buttermilk around, so I usually just sour regular milk by adding some lemon juice or white vinegar, ~ 1 T. lemon juice per 1 c. milk. I also don't usually have egg substitute, so I use regular eggs. One egg = 1/4 c. egg substitute, so I used 2 eggs in this recipe.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After IHOP failed to satisfy my hankerin' for pumpkin pancakes yesterday, I turned to my own kitchen to comfort my tongue. Instead of pancakes, though, I made muffins and ate them this morning. Now, that's the taste my tooth was set for!

Pumpkin Muffins

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture.

Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.

Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 18 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 202 (23% from fat); FAT 5.1g (sat 0.8g,mono 2g,poly 1.9g); PROTEIN 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 24mg; CALCIUM 35mg; SODIUM 159mg; FIBER 1.2g; IRON 1.7mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37.5g

Cooking Light, NOVEMBER 2006

I halved the recipe because we've been slow to eat muffins recently, and after several days, they seem to dry out. I wish I had made the full recipe of these, though, because they're so good that it's difficult to stop eating them. They're so light and moist, too, that I think they would store well for several days, if you could hold off eating them for that long.

I omitted the raisins, which I think was a good move. They don't need the extra sweetness or the competing flavor. I also sprinkled cinnamon sugar on the top. I have a few more recipes for pumpkin muffins, which I"m eager to try out. Instead of sating my desire for pumpkin pancakes, these muffins have increased my appetite for all things pumpkin. Perhaps November will be Pumpkin Muffin Month...

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Sunday. More muffins. More blueberry muffins, to be specific. Still working on cleaning out the freezer a bit, I dove into one of the big zipper bags of blueberries and came out with these uber-righteous muffins. For something that is supposed to be so healthy, they taste pretty good. Better than most of the other healthy muffin recipes I've tried, for sure. Like last week's, these are hearty. I ate only one, but it was a good one, full of blueberries and a nice rough-chewy texture. And I have plenty left over for breakfast throughout the week. Nice!

Blueberry-Walnut Wheat Germ Muffins

Serve these hearty, slightly sweet muffins with cubes of papaya, fresh strawberries, and vanilla yogurt. For an extra health boost, add 1/4-cup ground flaxseeds to the dry ingredients before baking. I did add the flaxseed, just for fun. The batter was rather runny when I slopped it into the muffin tins, but baked up nicely.

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 egg, well beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup nonfat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh blueberries or frozen wild blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400°. In a large bowl, combine flours, wheat germ, baking powder, and salt. Stir in walnuts. In a medium bowl, beat together egg, oil, honey, and molasses. Beat in milk and vanilla extract. Add liquid ingredients to dry, stirring just until mixed. Gently fold in blueberries.

2. Line muffin cups with paper liners, and divide batter among cups. Bake for 18–20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean and tops are lightly browned. Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before turning out of muffin tin onto a cooking rack.

Makes 16
Delicious Living, March 2006

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 06:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

With a freezer full of frozen summer fruit, mostly blueberries and plums, I have little room for other things, like the homemade chicken stock I made earlier this week or the big batch of marinara sauce I'm planning to make soon. I'd like to have some blueberries available to me in the dead of winter, but I can certainly start using up some now. So, yesterday I made blueberry muffins for our breakfast this morning. These muffins are hardy. They're blueberry, which is breakfast-y, but also cornmeal, which is dinner-y. Versatile. And filling. I ate one muffin and a muffin top and couldn't eat a bit more. These would be a good breakfast before going sledding; with that in mind, I froze the leftover muffins for such a wintery day.

Blueberry Corn Muffins

I had a really difficult time sifting the dry ingredients because they kept clogging my sifter. I ended up just sifting once, then continuing on with the recipe. Next time, I think I'll try whirling all the dry ingredients briefly in a food processor; it will be worth cleaning the food processor to not have to use the sifter.

1 ½ c. sifted unbleached flour
1 ¼ c. stone-ground cornmeal, fine grade, preferably not degerminated
½ c. sugar
1 T. baking powder
½ t. each cinnamon and salt
1-¼ c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 c. veggie oil
1 c. blueberries
Cinnamon sugar

Lien a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 400.

Sift dry together 2x, ending in a large bowl.

Mix milk, eggs and oil.

Pour liquid into dry. Mix just to blend. Fold in blueberries. Divide batter among cups; this will fill them to the top. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake in the top third of the oven for 20 minutes, or until they are lightly browned on top and dry inside.

Serve warm or at room temp.

Makes 12.

NB: Muffins can be baked ahead of time, frozen and thawed in the microwave for a quick, convenient breakfast.

Superfoods: 300 Recipes for Foods that Heal Body and Mind, by Dolores Riccio

Yesterday afternoon, GC and I went to the Missouri football game. It was perfect football weather, cool and sunny. I wore a short sleeve shirt, even though the thermometer read temperatures in the 50s. Shortly after halftime, the sun went behind the stadium wall, casting a shadow on our section and dropping the temperature by about 10 degrees. I was freezing. I went to the team store looking for a long-sleeve shirt or sweatshirt, but couldn't find anything I liked that wasn't outrageously expensive. All I can say is thank goodness it was towel day. Between the two of us, GC and I had four free team towels, which I wrapped around my arms, making quite a fashion statement. Those towels, though, kept me warm enough to see the game through to the end, 42-28 Missouri. Rah!

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These muffins turned into clean-out-the-fridge muffins because I ran out of yogurt. I had about half as much as I needed, so I added all the likely yogurt substitutions I could find in the fridge: some sour cream, whipping cream and half-and-half. I now have so much more room in the fridge door, and the muffins were none the worse for the odd mixture of fats. This recipe is really easy to prepare, which is good because I forgot to make them early in the day yesterday, so had to whip them up during halftime of the Missouri football game. No problem, even with fans wandering through the kitchen to make a fresh rum-and-Coke or recycle emptied beer bottles.

These muffins aren't the most exciting or spectacular you'll ever eat, but they're good and fast and easy, and that goes a long way.

Mixed Fruit Muffins

Cooking Light, Jan/Feb 1992

1 c. flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 ½ t. baking soda
¼ t. salt
1 c. chopped dried mixed fruit
½ c. firmly packed brown sugar
16-oz. carton plain nonfat yogurt
¼ c. veggie oil
Veggie cooking spray

Sift first 4 together in a large bowl; stir in dried fruit and brown sugar. Make a well; combine yogurt and oil; add to flour and stir just until moist.

Spoon batter into greased muffin pans, filling 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 18m. Remove from pans immediately, and let cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 1 ½ dozen.
129C/ protein 3.3/ fat 3.5/ carbs 21.9/ cholesterol 1/ iron 0.8/ sodium 123/ calcium 75

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Math quiz:
Q: Blue Artichoke has one egg and needs to make breakfast for two people on two days, Saturday and Sunday. She has fifty muffin recipes. All muffin recipes call for two eggs to make one batch of muffins. One batch equals 12 - 18 muffins. One serving = 1 muffin. Which recipe Blue Artichoke make?

Give up?
A: Sour Cream Coffeecake Muffins. Come on, the answer was in the title of the post. Easy!

Sour Cream Coffeecake muffins call for 2 eggs to make 18 muffins. Halve the recipe and we have 9 muffins for two people for two days, which means each person gets 2-1/4 muffin per day. However, GC eats five muffins on Saturday and BA eats 4, so Sunday breakfast is a garden veggie patty with cheese on a baguette with sliced apples. That's the answer you got, right?

Stay in school, kids. Math skillz are rad!

Sour Cream Coffeecake Muffins

Fold the batter just four times to swirl in the sugar mixture, not fully blend it.

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 7 3/4 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
3 teaspoons fresh orange juice
Dash of salt

Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine first 3 ingredients; set aside.

Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 3 minutes). Add egg substitute; beat 3 minutes. Beat in sour cream, water, and vanilla.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture; add sour cream mixture. Stir just until combined.

Place 3 tablespoons brown sugar mixture in a small bowl; set aside. Sprinkle surface of batter with remaining brown sugar mixture. Gently fold batter 4 times.

Place 18 paper muffin cup liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Spoon batter into prepared cups. Sprinkle batter evenly with reserved brown sugar mixture. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan immediately; place on a wire rack. Cool 10 minutes.

Combine powdered sugar, juice, and dash of salt in a small bowl, stirring until smooth. Drizzle powdered sugar mixture evenly over muffins.

Yield: 18 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 182(28% from fat); FAT 5.7g (sat 2.8g,mono 1.4g,poly 0.6g); PROTEIN 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CALCIUM 53mg; SODIUM 176mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 30.4g
Cooking Light, MAY 2006

Though making this recipe requires many mixing bowls, it's pretty fast to assemble and get into the oven. I used one egg instead of the egg substitute (1/4 c. of egg substitute = 1 large egg) and full-fat sour cream. I tasted one muffin right from the oven, before drizzling with the glaze; it was cinnamony-nutty good as is, so I omitted the glaze. I didn't think a sweet-orange glaze would improve the muffins, and thought it might actually add too much sweetness and a discordant orange flavor. If you try these muffins, try them first without the glaze before deciding if you want to go to the extra trouble.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the smartest thing you said/did over the weekend?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

May doesn't have the inexplicable flavor-affiliation with lemon that April has, but because these muffins bombed last month, I thought I've give them a whirl again while I had sufficient amounts of all ingredients in the house. Maybe I was wrong, maybe lemon belongs to May. It just doesn't feel right, though. Last time, I didn't have any plain yogurt, so I substituted mayonnaise, to GC's dismay. I'm not going to lie; they weren't great. The texture was really dry and crumbly, but the flavor was pretty good. We saved them by crumbling up a muffin in a bowl with a little bit of milk, then zapping in the microwave to warm it up. Mmmmm... lemon muffin pudding. This new batch of lemon poppy seed muffins are distinctly muffinish, with a nicely browned and rounded top and a typical muffin texture. But they still aren't great. The muffin bottom shows no hint of lemon flavor, even though I amped it up with some True Lemon powder. The only lemon flavor comes from the glaze brushed on top of the muffins. The glaze is quite sticky this time, tempting me to stick the muffins on the big bread truck that parks on the street in front of our house. I wonder how many hours it would take ants to devour a truck?

GC likes them well enough, but I don't think they're good enough to share the recipe with you folks.

Getting to Know All About You: What flavor(s) do you associate with May?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The freaks come out at night; the ants come out on Saturday night.

I made muffins again yesterday afternoon, because that's what I do on Saturday afternoons. After learning my lesson last Saturday, after these muffins cooled, I put them in a hermetically sealed Rock n' Serve Tupperware container on top of the refrigerator. The ants didn't even sniff them out; instead they found some delicious trash. I found a stream of them this morning coming inside from the top corner of the back door, crawling across the door frame leading to the basement, down the wall, around the corner and straight into the trash can. I doused them with my Hot Shot Ant Killa and went outside to find the nest. None. The trail just starts at the corner of the door, which means they must be inside the wall. I can't very well throw borax powder into a small slit between the siding and the outside door frame. I sprayed the heck out of it, but we'll see what comes of it next weekend, when the ants come out to party.

The muffins, as I already said, were spared. I just want to emphasize that no muffins were harmed by ants. By us, indeed; we scarfed them down with no regrets. The recipe comes from a bed and breakfast in St. Louis and is really easy to make. The texture of these muffins is soft and tender, like your favorite pillow. The flavor is delicately sweet and citrusy, not nearly as bold as last week's orange muffins, but just as good, or maybe better. Gentleman Caller and I both went back for a second breakfast because the first left us wanting more. Though not giving in to the temptation of a third breakfast, GC remarked on the supreme awesomeness of these muffins several minutes later, after normal muffins are already long forgotten.

Doelling Haus Muffins

Saint Louis Days – Saint Louis Nights Cookbook, Junior League of St. Louis, 1994.
I actually forgot to add the vanilla. whoops! I didn't add any additional sugar to the batter because the orange marmalade I used was really sweet already. I sprinkled some vanilla sugar on top, trying to compensate for the lack of vanilla. I got this vanilla sugar in Mexico and have just been looking for a good excuse to use it.

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
¾ c. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream
1/3 c. orange marmalade
1 T. butter, melted
1 ½ t. vanilla
Sugar, to taste

Grease muffin cups with shortening.

Stir together dry. Combine rest until all are moistened. Add sugar if marmalade is too tart. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Sprinkle sugar lightly on top.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Serve with butter and marmalade

Yield: 12 muffins.

Getting to Know All About You: What's the most exciting thing you did over the weekend?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

After the subpar lemon poppyseed muffins last Sunday, I decided to try another citrus muffin this weekend. Gentleman Caller had a preview sample of the orange tea muffins last night, and woke up this morning in eager anticipation of breakfast. With his rave review, I too was looking forward to some superawesome orange muffins. I had covered the muffins with some foil and left them out on the back table over night, and I joked with GC that the muffins turned bad overnight, or that Fat Larry had peed on them and we wouldn't be able to eat them. Yeah, sometimes I'm mean. But sometimes I'm right. The muffins hadn't turned bad or soaked up Fat Larry urine, no, they attracted a swarm of ants. There was a considerable trail from underneath the back door, across the floor, up the chair leg, over a pillow, up the tablecloth, across the table, through the cooling rack and into the muffin pan. And there were even more swarming over most of the muffins. Aack! How can these little critters smell the sweet delicousness of these muffins from outside? There were two untouched muffins and three with few ants nearby, so I bravely salvaged those and sprayed the rest of the muffins and foil with ant-killer spray. I zapped the saved muffins in the microwave to make me feel like I had sterilized them, and, yes, we ate them. I'm sure I've eaten food at picnics that flies and ants have crawled over, so tried to pretend like this was the same thing. Besides, lots of people eat ants. Ants aside, these are fantastic muffins. I just wish I didn't have to share.

You should try these muffins, but when you do, eat them immediately, or put them in an airtight, tightly sealed container locked with fingerprinting technology in a room protected by lasers and alarms. Seriously, keep them away from ants.

Orange Tea Muffins

Centenary Cookbook, sponsored by the Woman’s Society of Christian Service, Centenary Methodist Church, Winston-Salem, N.C., 1968

I made a few changes to this recipe. I omitted the nuts and raisins because I didn't want the distraction. I was looking for just an orange muffin. But I did want to follow the recipe just in case raisins really added to the orange flavor, so I made two muffins with raisins, and the rest without. Unfortunately, the raisin muffins were the ants' favorites, so I didn't get to try those. But the plain orange are great as is. I also made regular sized muffins because I only have one mini muffin tray and didn't want to spend the entire afternoon baking muffins in shifts. The recipe made 14 regular muffins. I increased the baking time to 28 minutes, and they were perfectly done. Next time, I think I'll check them at 25 minutes. The muffins are orangey and sweet, but the glaze heightens the flavor. I dipped each muffin top in the glaze three times, waiting between dippings for the glaze to soak in.

½ c. shortening
1 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. soda
1 c. sour milk
2 oranges
½ c. raisins
½ c. nuts, if desired

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs.

Sift dry and add alternately with milk to creamed mixture. Grind orange peel from the oranges and raisin together. Add to batter. Add nuts.

Bake 15 minutes at 350 (or, for regular muffins, 25-28 minutes).

Add ½ c. sugar to juice from oranges and boil 1m. Dip muffins in this mixture after baking. Cool on wax paper.

Makes 8 dozen small muffins or 14 regular muffins.

Getting to Know All About You: Would you eat food that ants have crawled across? What about food that falls on the floor?

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I don't know why, but April and lemons are linked in my mind and belly. April is the beginning of spring, and the warm weather and blooming trees provide the perfect setting for light, bright flavors. I picked out a recipe for lemon poppy seed muffins for breakfast this morning. I was well into making them yesterday afternoon when I discovered that I should have checked my ingredients more thoroughly before I started. Though I had all the necessary ingredients, my yogurt was old and sprouting mold growth and my lemon juice wasn't enough for the recipe. One problem at a time. I substituted the splash of whipping cream I had in the fridge and mayonnaise for the yogurt. GC is grossed out at the thought of mayo in muffins, but mayo is pretty much just egg yolks and oil, two common muffin ingredients. I didn't put in the full amount of mayo, though, thinking that the flavor might overwhelm the delicate lemonyness of the muffins. I should have used more mayo; the resulting muffins were really dry and crumbly. For the second ingredient problem, the insufficient lemon juice, I topped off with lime juice and added two packets of True Lemon powder to the glaze. That worked really well; the glaze was super lemony, which counteracted the relative blandness of the muffins themselves. I tasted the batter before I scooped it into the muffin tin; it didn't taste like much of anything. I added two True Lemon powder packets, then two more for a faint lemon flavor. I was afraid to add any more, just in case heat caused the lemon flavor to bloom. I didn't want a mouth-puckering morning muffin.

When we tried them this morning, they were just OK. The texture was too crumbly and really dry; the flavor was unevenly distributed to a bland bottom and a tart top. If you bite through both parts, the flavors even out in the mouth, but if you like to eat the tops first and butter the bottoms as I do, the flavors aren't so great.

Because I had a significant ingredient substitution, I didn't get a true test of this recipe. I'm not going to post the recipe until I get the chance to make them again as directed and determine whether the muffins are worthy of sharing.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 02:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Yesterday was an interesting day. I ran into Marvin (occasionally his real name), the neighborhood lonely old man who roams around town telling jokes ("Did you hear today's weather forecast for Mexico, MO? Chilly today, hot tamale!") and two anti-neo-Nazi rallies. Members of the National Socialist Movement held a rally/march to protest the Marxism at the University of Missouri. I'm not sure if the group was made up of locals or neo-Nazi tourists, but I suspect a little bit of both. I missed the march, but downtown was overrun with folks wearing Nazi-buster t-shirts and carrying "Not in Our Town" signs. I thought it ironic that the Nazi-busters gathered together to celebrate tolerance and diversity by shouting down and confronting people with ideas contrary to their own, but I kept those thoughts to myself and just enjoyed the festiveness and excitement. Then, as if that weren't enough to call it a worthwhile day, last night GC and I went to see TV on the Radio, one of my favorite bands. The opening band, Subtle, was pretty cool too, especially because the front man rattled off bits of trivia between songs. A night of entertainment and education is a success; a night of rum and diet Coke is a resounding success. A few of those, and I was mighty glad that I had already made breakfast for this morning.

Honey Banana Muffins

Taste of Home

These muffins are pretty good and fairly healthy. I cut down on the nutmeg, just adding a pinch, because nutmeg and I are not great friends. I also used fewer raisins, but only because I ate most of them earlier in the week as a snack with peanuts. Though the recipe says it makes 14 muffins, it actually made 12 small-to-medium-sized muffins. These certainly aren't the greatest muffins in the world, or even ones you'd gush over and bake right away to take in to the office, but if you're trying to eat healthy, these are a good way to go.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe banana (1 to 2 medium)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
6 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup golden raisins

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Combine the eggs, banana, applesauce and honey; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in the raisins.

Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray; fill two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 375° for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

Yield: 14 muffins. (Actually, only 12).

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 09:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday we woke up to snow; today we woke up to warm. I wish the weather would just make a choice and stick with it. (Choose spring!)

This has been a busy weekend, but I still found time to bake muffins for our breakfast this morning. Still on the healthy-muffin kick, I picked probably the healthiest muffin recipe I have. I really enjoyed making these muffins because I could get my hands in the mixture to break down the clumps of dried fruit. I think that's why I like making bread so much; I can plunge my hands into the muck and work the ingredients, feeling how the mixture changes and takes shape. Spoons and spatulas sometimes just get in the way.

Whole Wheat, Oatmeal, and Raisin Muffins

With four whole grains and three dried fruits, these muffins are a great way to get a variety of antioxidants and fiber. Wheat germ is a good source of vitamin E. Look for untoasted wheat germ in the organic food section of the supermarket. Adding boiling water to the batter and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes before baking allows the hearty oats, wheat germ, and bran to soak up the liquid for a more tender muffin.

1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons untoasted wheat germ
2 tablespoons wheat bran
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup chopped pitted dates
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup boiling water
Cooking spray

Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Stir in oats, dates, raisins, and cranberries. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Stir in boiling water. Let batter stand 15 minutes. Use this time to put away ingredients, wash your measuring spoons and cups and other dishes, wipe down the counters, pour yourself a glass of water and stare out the window.

Preheat oven to 375°.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; place on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 204(28% from fat); FAT 6.4g (sat 0.8g,mono 3.2g,poly 1.8g); PROTEIN 4.6g; CHOLESTEROL 19mg; CALCIUM 43mg; SODIUM 288mg; FIBER 3.4g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.7g
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006

I really liked these muffins; they're not very sweet, but the dried fruit provides just enough sweetness. The muffins were a bit crumbly. I wonder if cutting down on the boiling water would make for a sturdier texture, or if that would just result in dry muffins? I think next time I'll try subbing plain nonfat yogurt slightly thinned with milk for the buttermilk, to keep it moist but add some structure. GC wasn't such a fan of these because they're too crumbly to slather with butter and have a rough texture. I'll make them again someday, and perhaps with some tweaking, he'll like them better.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I usually make our Sunday muffins on Saturday afternoon, because we're too hungry when we wake up on Sunday morning to wait for muffins to bake. However, I felt like crap yesterday; making muffins was waaaayy beyond my capabilities. I woke up this morning feeling slightly better, but determined to go about the day as usual. So I made fresh muffins for breakfast. These muffins are pretty good, and quick to mix up and get in the oven.

Whole-Grain Blackberry Spice Muffins

Coarsely chop frozen blackberries, and place them back in the freezer until ready to stir into the batter. To freeze muffins, let cool completely, and place in zip-top plastic bags. Reheat in microwave 20 seconds.

I used light brown sugar, 'cause that's what I have and I don't think it makes a whole lot of difference anyway, and I used pumpkin-pie spice because I had it and I don't really know what apple-pie spices are. I sprinkled sugar on the tops of only half of the muffins. Just because I'm a health nut doesn't mean that GC has to suffer too.

2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon apple-pie spice
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries, coarsely chopped
Cooking spray
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through apple-pie spice) in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, butter, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. Gently stir in blackberries.

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each of 17 paper-lined muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 16 minutes. Sprinkle muffins evenly with granulated sugar; bake 3 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks.

Yield: 17 muffins (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 177(15% from fat); FAT 3g (sat 1.2g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.4g); PROTEIN 3.5g; CHOLESTEROL 18mg; CALCIUM 68mg; SODIUM 181mg; FIBER 1.8g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 34.3g
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 29 Days of Being a Health Nut are in full force, and I've already cheated! Day 1 was Saturday, and GC took me out to dinner for my birthday. We went to a popular small restaurant in a neighboring town. I'd heard of it, but didn't really know anything about it. It was a tiny store-front restaurant that had good food with no pretension. The tables were covered with butcher paper; there was a cup of crayons next to the squat man/woman salt and pepper shakers. The menu was on a large board that the server stood next to our table while we decided. I don't know what they do if two or more tables are seated at once, maybe flip a coin to see who gets to see the menu board first?

I ordered a bowl of tomato/red pepper soup, which was pretty good (but not as good as the one I make). GC ordered the apple and chevre appetizer, which we both agree was the best part of the meal (goat cheese covered in toasted almond slivers served with Granny Smith apples drizzled with balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with dried cranberries. So simple, yet delicious). I ordered the pork porterhouse with orange glaze, which was a fat pork chop in a glorified orange marmalade, served with fried mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables. The pork was overcooked, but good otherwise. I liked the orange glaze and think I'll make pork chops with orange marmalade some time. GC ordered tuna with capers, which came with red new potatoes and grilled vegetables. I didn't try his, but the tuna was perfectly cooked rare. Before we got to the restaurant, I told GC that I wasn't going to have dessert, because I'm a health nut now. He knew better. The dessert menu was scribbled on the back of an order ticket. There were two that sounded good to me, toasted coconut pie and chocolate raspberry pie. The two that sounded good to GC were the toasted coconut pie and the chocolate toffee cake. We got one slice of the toasted coconut pie. I intended to have only a bite or two, but before I knew it, I had eaten half. So, in the face of my first temptation, I failed miserably (but happily). The cake was really good, but not even close to Purple Fried Okra's French Coconut Pie. That one's special.

Before the 29 Days began, I had intended to deviate from the Sunday Muffins and make Date-Pecan Rugelah. After my slip last night, I thought it best to stick to the healthy muffins. Maple Raisin Bran Muffins have whole-wheat flour, oat bran (I didn't have enough, so I supplemented with ground flaxseed), raisins, cinnamon and oats. Lots of good things. And a lot of sugar. I didn't realize how much until I was putting it together. The muffins tasted awesome, and I think would taste just as good if I replaced the butter with applesauce, halved the sugar in the batter and halved the topping mixture.

Maple Raisin Bran Muffins

I didn't have any sour cream, so I subbed plain nonfat yogurt; I also used skim milk with a splash of whipping cream instead of the 2% milk. These were great muffins; and with some minor adjustments could be great for you.

BATTER:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (about 2 ounces)
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup butter, melted and cooled
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking spray

TOPPING:
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare batter, lightly spoon the flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flours in a large bowl. Stir in oat bran and next 6 ingredients (through salt); make a well in center of dry ingredients. Combine sour cream and next 5 ingredients (through egg); stir well with a whisk. Add to dry ingredients; stir just until moist. Spoon mixture evenly into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.

To prepare topping, combine 1/2 cup dark brown sugar and remaining ingredients in a small bowl; toss with a fork until moist. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Yield: 1 dozen (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 249(29% from fat); FAT 7.8g (sat 3.8g,mono 1.9g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 4.6g; CHOLESTEROL 52mg; CALCIUM 65mg; SODIUM 274mg; FIBER 2.1g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 43.1g
Cooking Light, OCTOBER 2005

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sundays are the only day of the week that I don't feel a need to accomplish something. Maybe it's the Protestant work ethic that makes me feel guilty for sitting around on any of the other six days of the week, but Sunday is a day of rest, and I do my best to uphold that tradition.

I usually make muffins on Saturday afternoon, so GC and I can sleep late on Sunday and have breakfast already prepared when we wake up hungry. This morning we had peanut butter chocolate chip muffins. What a treat! So sweet and decadent when warm and dripping with butter, it was like waking up to eat dessert. We don't always have such sweet treats for our Sunday muffins; last week we had some uber-healthy Orange Bran Flax Muffins packed with all sorts of healthy grains, but also delicious in a righteous, start-the-day-right sort of way.

These peanut butter chocolate chip muffins were really easy to make. I halved the recipe because I had only 1 c. of my homemade Bisquick left, and didn't feel like making more. My Bisquick was sort of old, I made it last September, and I was afraid it wouldn't have enough oomph to make the muffins rise because the mixed batter was really runny. I added some extra flour (maybe 1/4 cup) and a pinch of baking powder to thicken the batter and ensure proper leavening. I guess that was a good decision, because the muffins turned out just right. After the Chocolate Chip Cookie Snackdown, where tasters overwhelmingly preferred the dark chocolate chips, I've pretty much banished semisweet chocolate chips from the house. I always prefer dark chocolate to semisweet, so I substituted dark chocolate chips for the semisweet called for in the recipe. The batter was mixed all in one bowl, so there was little clean-up afterwards. The most difficult thing about making these muffins was waiting until this morning to try them. When I make them again, I think I'll add more peanut butter. I liked the crunch from the peanuts, but the peanut butter flavor was surprisingly subtle, and overwhelmed by the chocolate chips. That's not a bad thing, of course, but peanut butter and chocolate are such a great flavor combination; I want it to be a bit more balanced. The recipe title claims that these are good muffins for freezing; I can't see that I'd ever have any leftover to test that claim.

Freezer-Friendly Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep: 10 min., Bake: 24 min.

2 cups all-purpose baking mix

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup chunky peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Stir together first four ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in the peanut butter and vanilla just until blended; stir in chocolate morsels. Spoon batter into lightly greased paper-lined muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.

Bake at 350° for 24 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from pans; serve warm.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Bisquick Original All-Purpose Baking Mix.

Yield: Makes 16 to 18 muffins

Southern Living, APRIL 2006

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As part of my summer reading program, I read all of the Augusten Burroughs books I could get my hands on. His book, Magical Thinking, introduced me to a phenomenon that I had been previously unaware of: the idea that you can influence future events by attributing a causal relationship between two events where no actual relationship exists. I stepped on a crack in the sidewalk; therefore my mother will break her back. I hit all the green lights on the way to work; therefore I’ll get a promotion today.

I don’t know how common this is, but the two people I mentioned it to said, oh, yeah, they do that to some extent. They both declined to offer examples. But both were also surprised that I didn’t think this way (though I’m sure I’m susceptible to other forms of magical thinking), and wasn’t even aware that other people did. That’s the second of the identity traps, the one I most often fall into: the assumption that others will do things or think in the way that I would. (The first identity trap is the belief that you should be someone other than yourself. I don’t have a problem with that one).

Just for fun, last night, I tried out some magical thinking. I knew that I shouldn’t make a chocolate pound cake, but I really wanted to, so I left it up to my performance in a Spider Solitaire computer game. If I won the game, I’d bake the cake. If I didn’t win the game, I wouldn’t make the cake. I know, it’s a loose application, but I’m new at this. I won the game. The cake is delicious. I wish you all could have come over to my house last night, to help me lick the bowl and beaters and hover around the oven like expectant parents, speculating about how big it will be, what it will look like, if it will be attractive…

The muffins I made yesterday for breakfast today were also delicious. Here’s the recipe:

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Fence Bed & Breakfast Luxury Suite and Cottages, Stanley, VA
I boosted the almond extract to 1 full teaspoon. Omitted glaze, but topped with extra poppy seeds instead of sliced almonds. Made 12. GC thought they might be a tad dry; I think he’s wrong. Try it to see what you think.

1-3/4 C. Flour
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp. Salt
1/2 C. Butter
1 C. Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 C. Milk
1 T. poppy seeds
1/2 Tsp. Almond Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and poppy seeds and set aside.

Cream butter, sugar and extract. Add eggs, beating well. Add flour mixture alternately with milk. Pour into greased muffin tins and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake 24 minutes or till top springs back. Makes 10 muffins.

Can glaze with mixture of 1/4 C. Powdered Sugar, 2 T. Cream and 1/2 Tsp. Almond Extract if desired.
These muffins freeze well.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After the party on Saturday, I didn't feel like cooking any muffins for breakfast on Sunday. So I didn't. A break in tradition and routine. We're flexible, yes, but only slightly. I made muffins yesterday for Gentleman Caller to enjoy on his early-morning drive to St. Louis today. I made Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins, which are deceptively healthy. They aren't overly sweet, a quality I like, and are satisfyingly moist and blueberryish. A keeper indeed. Here's the recipe:

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

1 2/3 cups quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (about 2 1/3 ounces)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups fat-free buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 large eggs
2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°.

Place oats in a food processor; pulse 5 to 6 times until oats resemble coarse meal. Place in a large bowl.
Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) to oats in bowl; stir well with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine buttermilk, oil, rind, and eggs in small bowl; stir well with a whisk. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Toss berries with 2 tablespoons flour, and gently fold them into the batter.

Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle batter with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pans immediately. Place on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Yield: 16 servings (serving size: 1 muffin)

CALORIES 170(26% from fat); FAT 5g (sat 0.6g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 4g; CHOLESTEROL 27mg; CALCIUM 65mg; SODIUM 256mg; FIBER 2g; IRON 1.2mg; CARBOHYDRATE 28.6g
Cooking Light, JANUARY 2006

I substituted plain yogurt for the buttermilk, decreased the cinnamon to 1 t. and forgot to sprinkle sugar on the tops of the muffins. Still good.

Dinner last night: garlic and herb-roasted chicken with mushroom gravy; egg noodles; peas
Dinner tonight: leftovers

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, so I went to all the trouble yesterday of posting about all the muffin recipes I've tried and I forgot to include the muffins I made for yesterday's breakfast. Oh, sometimes I'm a silly bunt. Yesterday we had Banana Walnut Muffins, recipe from Cook's Illustrated. These are (were) most excellent. The top was a bit crunchy and sugary and the bottoms were moist and springy. Flavor tasted like bananas and walnuts and goodness. Gentleman Caller was particularly enamored with the muffin tops, but I say the nubs were quite worthy too.

Today was filled with small amusements, such as the toothless old guy at the post office who was rapping Christmas carols or the lonely lady who wanted to brew me a cup of coffee at 3:30. A man at the grocery store fell all over himself apologizing for getting in my way and I actually use the phrase pshaw, as in "Pshaw, don't worry, I can get around you."

Dinner last night: 10-bean soup and cheese popunders (supposed to be popovers, but they didn't rise much).
Dinner tonight: steak, mashed sweet potatoes, spinach nuggets

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This Ultimate Snackdown is a bit different from the pumpkin cheesecake and chocolate chip cookie battles because the goal isn't to find the one perfect muffin recipe. I have 41 muffin recipes right now and they are all so different from each other that there isn't really a basis for comparison, other than "good" and "bad." So, this battle is designed to weed out the bad muffins. Luckily, the Blue Artichoke household adheres to a few routines, one of which is to have muffins on Sunday morning. Usually I make the muffins on Saturday and sometimes Gentleman Caller's friends come over for breakfast before heading off to Sunday disc golf league. So, I have already tackled several muffin recipes. Here's the tally so far:

Keepers:
Applesauce Spice Muffins, recipe from Gourmet, tastes like fall
Apricot Almond Muffins, recipe from Cook's Illustrated, really soft and light texture
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, source unknown, also makes a good loaf bread
Banana Coconut Muffins, recipe from Gourmet
Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins, recipe unknown, perfectly fluffy and soft, not too sweet
Buttermilk Blueberry or Cranberry Muffins, recipe unknown, made both variations and liked the cranberry version better
Honey Banana Muffins, recipe from Taste of Home, tastes great and low fat!
Lemon Raspberry Jumbo Muffins, source unknown, really easy and tasty in a good way
Orange Poppy Seed Muffins, source unknown, balanced sweetness and moist texture

These recipes are in danger of being tossed out, but might be redeemable with a few alterations:
Blueberry & Wild Rice Muffins, source unknown, not sweet enough
Cranberry-Walnut-Orange Muffins, recipe from Cook's Illustrated, not enough orange flavor

These recipes have been tossed out, and spat upon:
Honey Bran Muffins With Figs, recipe from Bon Appetit, I made it to use up some extra dried figs. The muffins were actually pretty good, tasted a lot like Fig Newton bars, but it took all my bowls and required lots of cleanup. In the end, they just aren't worth the trouble
Cranberry-Orange Muffins, recipe from Cooking Light, oddly rough texture
Double Chocolate Chip Muffins, source unknown, not particularly sweet with a crispy texture. I've had better.

So, you can see I've made quite a dent already, but there are still many more muffins to put through the paces.

Posted by Blue Artichoke at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)