Pecan Pie Muffins

Okay, so I have an issue to discuss today.  There are many times when I will run across a recipe for a pie or a cake that I would love to make.  The issue is that I live with the following individuals:

Exhibit A: The Southern husband.  Who is fully capable of having one small slice, saying all the right proper, appreciative, romantic things, and then not having any more.  Just leaving the rest of the pie/cake/other large dessert there on the counter, undisturbed.  I do not understand this man.  I love and adore him, but I don't understand him.

Exhibit B: The teenager.  Who does not like the following: Pecans. Piecrust. Walnuts.  Coconut.  Lemon. Peanuts (unless mashed into peanut butter than comes in a jar clearly marked "Skippy.")  Dark chocolate.  Strawberries.  I could go on and on.  I do not understand this child.  I love and adore her, and I spent many long hours birthing her so I know she is mine, but I don't understand her.

Exhibit C: The dog.  The dog will eat anything and everything that I put in front of her, behind her, drop on the floor or don't lock up or put on a very high counter.  I completely understand the dog.  It's just that dogs are not supposed to eat people food, and I try (as much as I can bear it) to follow the rules.

So here's the issue: if I go ahead and MAKE one of these nice big desserts, unless it is on a day when the teenager is having hordes of her less-picky friends over, there it sits on my counter.  Calling my name.  And so this is why I am so obsessed with cookies and muffins and other delicacies that at least have a little portion control going for them.  So when I ran across this recipe, which gives me pecan pie in a nice managable muffin size...well, yahoo!  It's all those great pecan pie ingredients...brown sugar, eggs, pecans...all in a convenient, willpower-friendly muffin form.  I added on to this recipe just a little by topping them with a little whipped cream and a shake of cinnamon sugar.

Just goes to show you that once again, pretty much anything gets that much better when you put it muffin form.  Happy sigh.

Pecan Pie Muffins, adapted from SOUTHERN PLATE

• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick melted butter
• Whipped cream
• Cinnamon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin pans with baking cups to fill 9 holes.  Coat with cooking spray.

2.  Combine the pecans, sugar and flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center of the mixture.  In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until foamy.  Add the butter, then pour into the dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

3. Spoon the batter into baking cups, filling 2/3 full.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

4. Remove from pans immediately and let cool.  Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Click here for printable recipe

Quick Banana Sticky Buns

So, the teenager has a small army of friends, and periodically (and by periodically I mean at least once a week) she says, "Mom, can I have a few people over?"  And by that she means, can I have thousands of teenagers come over, eat everything in the fridge and all the cabinets, bring their sleeping bags, watch all the Harry Potter/Batman/etc DVDs until the wee hours of the morning, finally fall asleep (girls upstairs in actual beds, boys downstairs sleeping on the floor), and wake up the next morning ravenous and needing to be fed again?

To which I always say yes, because I secretly love all of that, and all of them.  Here's a small sample of what some of them look like...

I show you this picture because it is actually LESS scary than showing you a picture of all of them in their pajamas.  And by pajamas I mean their oldest, grubbiest sweatpants and tee-shirts, which is apparently what pajamas mean now-a-days.

Anyway.  In the mornings I turn into a short-order cook, and to make things even more exciting, they don't all get up at the same time.  They trail into the kitchen in dribs and drabs, starving - STARVING, I tell you!! - despite the fact that they ate 17 bags of sour cream and onion chips a mere 8 hours ago.  They need to eat immediately or they will keel over, and they all need something just a little bit different.  So while I am cooking up the french toast/scrambled eggs/two eggs over easy, I like to have a plate of something on hand that they can eat while they wait to eat.

Which brings me to the point of this post - these very quick, very easy banana sticky buns.  They are ready in about 15 minutes flat, and if I can get them going as soon as I hear the first teenager stirring, I can just about have them on the plate when they start stumbling into the kitchen.  Here's the drill: you get a can of 10 buttermilk biscuits - that's right, the ones in the tube that we all secretly love and adore.  Get the regular size ones, not the grands.  Take out your handy muffin tin and drop the following items into each of ten muffin openings: a little butter, a little brown sugar, a few slices of banana and some chopped pecans.  (I usually make half with pecans and half without, because of course they don't all like the same thing.)  Pop a biscuit on top of each, and bake the whole shebang for about 10 minutes.  When the biscuits are nice and golden, take the muffin pan out, run a knife around the outside of each muffin to make sure it is loose, and then invert the muffin pan onto a cookie sheet.  The sticky buns should fall right out, and if some don't just scoop them out with a spoon.  Sometimes a banana slice or two will stay in the muffin pan - scoop those up and stick 'em right back on.

That's it - delicious, warm, easy sticky buns.  Now all you have to do is figure out what you are going to feed them for lunch.

Quick Banana Sticky Buns, adapted from Real Simple

• 1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (tube of 10)
• 2 tablespoons butter,  cut into 10 slices
• 1 banana, sliced thin
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Drop one piece of butter into each muffin compartment.  Put a few banana slices on top of the butter, then sprinkle with a little brown sugar and some nuts (if using).  Place a biscuit on top of all and press down slightly.

3. Bake until golden, about  8-10 minutes.  Remove from oven and immediately run a knife around the edge of each sticky bun, and then put a cookie sheet on top of the muffin tin.  Flip the tin over and tap the bottom to release the buns.  If any nuts or bananas are left in the tins, just scoop them out and place them on the top of the buns.

4. Serve warm (and these reheat well in the microwave if they aren't gobbled up right away.)

Click here for printable recipe

Baby Doughnut Muffins

I'd like to introduce to you my new best friends, which are these adorable little doughnuts. I mean muffins. I mean doughnuts. They are a little bit of both...the basic batter that goes into making those old-fashioned cake doughnuts, but instead of dropping the dough into a vat of boiling oil, you bake them. Which practically makes them health food, in my book. And to make things even more fun, you make them in mini-muffin pans, so they are about one inch high, thereby giving you license to pop at least three or four into your mouth in rapid succession. If you are me, anyway.

Now, a word about that little jelly guy up there. These are perfectly fine as plain old regular baby doughnut muffins, especially because the end of the recipe calls for dunking the tops of the donuts in melted butter and rolling them in cinnamon sugar. (Heart beating faster!!!) But if you want to get really fancy, you can add a little jelly to the picture.

You won't be able to add too much jelly, because these doughnuts do have a pretty firm cake-like texture, but you can get a nice little taste in there.  All you need to do is put a few teaspoons of jelly in a pastry bag, put on the smallest pastry tip, push it into the bottom of the doughnut and give it it a good squeeze.  Instant baby jelly doughnut.  And before you get all worried about the pastry bag part, you can get a nice little inexpensive set at Michaels (click here to see.)

The only problem with this recipe is the fact that you will NOT be able to stop eating these babies once they come out of the oven.  They are only fresh for a day or so,  but even that is not an issue, because pretty soon I am going to put up a post on how I made my leftover doughnuts (yes, there were actually leftovers!) into a jelly doughnut bread pudding.  So, stay tuned to this channel!

Baby Doughnut Muffins, adapted from CHOW

Coating:

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


Muffins:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 stick, melted
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for coating the tin
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons buttermilk, at room temperature
10 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 1/4 sticks, at room temperature
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature


1. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Heat the oven to 375°F and arrange a rack in the middle. Lightly brush a 24-well mini muffin tin
with some of the melted butter, then coat with flour, tapping out any excess; set aside. Reserve
remaining melted butter for applying the cinnamon-sugar coating.

3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda. In a small
bowl, whisk together milk and buttermilk. Set both aside.

4. Beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time until combined.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
5. With the mixer set on low speed, beat in a quarter of the reserved dry ingredients. Then beat in a
third of the reserved milk mixture. Continue to alternate until all of the remaining ingredients
are incorporated, finishing with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix.

6. Fill the prepared muffin tin wells to just below the rim with batter. Bake until muffins are lightly
golden and firm to the touch, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove muffins from the tin and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Repeat buttering and
flouring of the muffin tin and bake the remaining batter.

7. To coat the muffins, brush each generously with melted butter and sprinkle generously with
cinnamon-sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

8. For jelly doughnuts, allow the muffins to cool and use a small pastry tip tomake a hole in the bottom of each. Fill the pastry bag with your favorite jam, jelly, or citrus
curd and squeeze some into the muffins.

Click here for printable recipe

French Toast Muffins

French toast is my secret weapon when it comes to teenagers. No matter how embarrassing I manage to be as a mom (yes! as a matter of fact I DO have Single Ladies on my Ipod, and I am going to sing it. Loudly. And yes, I realize I might have gotten the lyrics wrong, but I like singing it anyway, even if your friends are over.)...even if I am that mortifying, I still can redeem myself by making my famous french toast.

And honestly, it's not that famous. It's the garden variety dunk some bread in beaten egg, fry it up in butter and serve it with cinnamon sugar and maple syrup version, but hey, apparently it just tastes that much better when Mama makes it, and I'll take it. She adores it, and I adore her, so it's all good.

Anyway, when I ran across this recipe for french toast muffins I knew I was on to something really, truly great. See those little chunks up on the top of each muffin?

They are pieces of cinnamon bread that have been soaked in the egg batter and then plunked on the top of the muffin batter, so they cook up as little heavenly pieces of actual french toast right on top of your french toast flavored muffin.

Let's take a closer look.

I figure I am now good to sing the wrong lyrics to Single Ladies for the rest of my born days now.

French Toast Muffins, from Recipezaar

French Toast Topping

• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1 egg,slightly beaten
• 6 slices cinnamon bread, crusts trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Muffins

• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Heat oven to 375°F
2. Combine all French toast topping ingredients in medium bowl; set aside,.
3. Combine 1 cup milk, melted butter, 1 egg and maple flavoring in another medium bowl. Combine all remaining muffin ingredients in large bowl. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture just until mixed.
4. Spoon batter into greased 12-cup muffin pan. Spoon French toast topping evenly over batter; press down slightly. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
5. Immediately brush muffins with maple-flavored syrup. Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle over glazed muffins. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm.

Click here for printable recipe

Cinnamon Butter Muffins

I can't believe that after all the shopping/wrapping/baking/generaL racing around that Christmas is actually OVER. So in order to stretch it out just a little bit longer, let me tell you about one of our Christmas morning traditions...along with a suggestion for one of yours.

One of our longest-standing Christmas morning traditions is cinnamon rolls baked after the initial round of present-tearing-open is over. I'm not talking homemade rolls like my mom makes...I'm talking the ones that come in the tube with the little cup of white sugar frosting at the end. I'm not sure how this started, but the time or two I have tried to deviate from the tube, there has been shock and sadness on the upturned faces gathered around my Christmas tree. So for me, it's Christmas morning with the Pillsbury Dough Boy...but maybe there is still hope for YOU?

If so, you might want to consider making these delectable cinnamon butter muffins. They are quick and easy and you probably have everything you need to make them somewhere in your kitchen...no last minute trips to the supermarket. Keep those holidays going...

CINNAMON BUTTER MUFFINS, adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 cup milk
• 3 cups flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 12 muffin muffin tin.

2. Cream butter, shortening and sugar together. Beat in the eggs, salt and nutmeg.

3. Combine flour and baking powder. Stir in flour alternately with milk into the butter mixture until the everything is just combined.

4. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 20-25 minutes.

5. Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.

6. When the muffins are done, cool for one minute and then turn out onto cooling rack.

7. Immerse each muffin briefly in melted butter and then roll in cinnamon sugar. You can either do this with the whole muffin or you can just do the top.

8. Make sure you eat the first one warm. It will make everything right with the world.

Click here for printable recipe

Coffee Walnut Chocolate Chip Muffins

I am going to go out on a limb here and say: This Is The Best Muffin I Have Ever or Will Ever Make And/Or Eat In My Life.

It's really not going too far out on this limb, because it pretty much is. Yes, I did love those adorable baby pancake muffins I made a little while back. And I consider the bacon and egg muffins in their own unique category. But when you are talking your classic sweet, standard-sized muffin, these guys are hands-down the best I have ever made. I've had this recipe forever -- it comes from The Frog Commissary Cookbook, which I love so much I had to buy a second copy because my first was literally so well-used that the pages were falling out.

What's so special about these muffins? Well, they are a combination of chocolate chips, chopped walnuts and coffee, in a thick brown sugar batter that will have you seriously considering skipping the whole pesky baking stage and just eating the batter with a spoon. But don't, because these babies bake up into decadent, tender muffins in no time flat. They would be the perfect holiday gift if you tucked them into a nice basket or a pretty plate and covered them with clear acetate wrap and some nice ribbon. If you really, really love the person you could also give them the recipe. Or you might just want to hold on to it for yourself as your secret muffin weapon.

So there you go...your search for the world's most amazing muffin is now officially over. Give them a try.

COFFEE WALNUT CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS, from The Frog Commissary Cookbook

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons instant coffee
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease/flour a 12-muffin tin.

2. Cream butter with sugars, coffee and vanilla.

3. Beat together eggs and milk.

3. Combine flour, salt and baking powder. Alternately add the wet and dry ingredients to the butter mixture until just combined.

4. Add chips and walnuts. Divide among muffin tins, filling until almost full.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

6. Cool 5 minutes and then remove from tin and cool on racks.

Click here for printable recipe

Mini Pancake Muffins

Do you ever find yourself with something in your fridge that you just can't seem to use up, even though you are pretty sure you have used it in about 17 different things?

That happened to me this week with a quart of buttermilk. The Powers That Be don't sell small containers of buttermilk, and so I had to buy a full quart to use in whatever I was making recently. Maybe it was the crumb cake? Who can remember. Anyway, whatever it was did not call for an entire quart of buttermilk, and so there it was lurking away in my fridge, taking up valuable space that could be used for butter, or bacon, or one my other major food groups.

So when I was browsing through my mile-long list of Things I Want To Make Someday and I saw these cute little pancake muffins, they catapulted right to the head of the line when I saw they called for...you know what. Even better, they come together in about 10 minutes of mixing, they bake for about 12 minutes, and 5 minutes later there you are, eating chocolate chip muffins for brunch because they have the word "pancake" in the title and therefore count as an entree. (Right?)

I found these on the always wonderful Bakerella website (go visit! she is AWESOME!) and followed her recipe pretty closely. I did bake mine a little bit longer than hers, and I used the mini chocolate chips instead of regular. They are sweet and tiny and simply adorable. I followed her advice and loosened them by running a toothpick around the edge while I let them cool - I also flipped them around a bit in the muffin tin...

I didn't let them cool TOO long because the ravenous Southern husband was circling. I'd say about after 5 minutes of cooling, they were on the plate. I served us up about 5 each...

AND...get ready, this is the very best part...I put out little bowls of melted butter and warm syrup to dunk them into for the full pancake-tasting experience. Can you STAND it???

We, um, had seconds. And maybe thirds. And as we speak, the teenager is polishing them off as a before-dinner appetizer.

Okay, go make them. And don't forget to visit www.bakerella.com.

MINI PANCAKE MUFFINS, adapted from Bakerella

1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Extra melted butter and maple syrup for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a medium bowl. Sift together with a wire whisk.
3. In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, maple syrup and melted butter until just combined.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.
5. Stir in chocolate chips. Reserve a few chips to sprinkle on the tops.
6. Divide batter into well-greased mini muffin tin
   
7. Bake for 12 minutes.
8. Cool in tin for 5-10 minutes. You may want to loosen around the edges with a toothpick to help them pop out.
9. Serve with melted butter and syrup for heavenly dunking.

Click here for printable recipe.

Maple Syrup Blueberry Muffins

I've said it before, but one of the best things about this little blog is all the great recipes folks have been sharing with me. This delectable muffin recipe is one of them, given to me by my good friend Toni who is one of my favorite fellow cooking enthusiasts, and who has promised to bring me over some of her homemade gnocchi one day. Hopefully it will be one day SOON.

In the meantime she passed along this recipe for blueberry muffins. These muffins are sweetened with maple syrup instead of sugar, which makes them just perfect to be sharing with you while I am off in the mountains of Vermont, undoubtedly stocking up on maple syrup and maple sugar candy left and right.

The recipe says these are just like little pancakes you can eat with your hands -- sweet and buttery with the blueberries and the syrup baked right in. They took less than 30 minutes start to finish, including baking time, and man did my kitchen smell like heaven. If heaven includes butter and maple syrup, which I am pretty sure it does.

So thanks for the recipe, Toni! And thanks to everyone else who has been so generous about sending me recipes; I am going to diligently, happily work my way through all of them. Wait until I get to Jenn's chocolate chip coconut cheese ball.

Maple Blueberry Muffins

adapted from The Muffin Book

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400° and grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper liners.

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

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, maple syrup, milk and melted butter. Add to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Carefully fold in berries.

4. Spoon into 12 muffin cups and bake until golder brown, about 15-18 minutes.