Strawberry Muffins

Organic Strawberries for $1.99, today only at the Wheaton Whole Foods!  And they are gorgeous, so sweet!

Time to make these muffins again...

Succulent Strawberry Muffins

1/4 lb. softened unsalted butter

1 & 1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt, scant

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tsp. good vanilla

18-20 medium to large strawberries, hulled and chopped

Cream butter and 1 & 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Blend well but do not overbeat.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Add alternately with cream to butter, starting and ending with flour mixture.  Fold in strawberries.

Fill 16 large muffin tins with papers.  Fill them almost full with batter, then sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar over top.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 25-30 min, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on rack.

Great Aunt Florence's Easter Orange Roll

Happy Almost Easter everyone!  Eating these orange rolls warm out of the oven on Easter morning has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember.

Basically it takes the idea of monkey bread and replaces brown sugar and cinnamon with white sugar and orange peel.  I use this homemade dough recipe for the bread, but you could easily just use a package of Rhodes unbaked dinner rolls.  My dough can be completely formed and finished the day before, you can wait 24 hours before you finally bake it, a nice plus for a busy morning.

4 & 1/2 cups flour (you may need closer to 5 cups)
4 tsp. active yeast
1/3 cup sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk, warmed to about 125 degrees F
6 TB. butter, room temp
3 large eggs, room temp
Pam for greasing the bundt pan

1 cup white sugar, in a small bowl
1 stick butter, melted, in another small bowl
the zest from a large orange

In a heavy duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine 2 cups flour, the yeast, the 1/3 cup sugar and salt.  Add the hot milk and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.  Add the butter, eggs, and 1/4 cup of the flour; beat for 1 minute.  Switch to a dough hook.  Beat in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the bowl's sides.  Knead on low speed until soft, smooth, and springy, about 5 minutes.

Scrap the dough away from the sides of the mixing bowl, cover with a dish towel and allow to rise at room temp until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours.

Melt the butter in the bowl.  Add the orange zest to the sugar and mix well, until thoroughly combined and the sugar smells deliciously orange-y.  Spray a bundt pan well with Pam or grease well with butter.

Tear off walnut sized pieces of dough, roll it into a ball and roll it quickly through the butter, then the orange sugar.  Layer the round pieces evenly throughout the pan until you run out of dough.  Cover really well with plastic wrap and allow it to finish rising in the fridge, up to 24 hours.  Or, if you want it the same day, let it finish rising at room temp for another hour or two, until doubled yet again in size.

Pull it out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before baking and allow the dough to come to room temperature.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 25-30 min.  Keep a close eye on it and cover with tin foil if it browns too fast.

Loosen the rolls from the mold when done and flip gently onto a plate, rounded side up.  Serve with butter or the good old Betty Crocker orange frosting.  (1 & 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 3 TB. softened butter, 2 TB. fresh orange juice, 1 TB. orange zest, a splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt-- cream together until smooth)

Amy from our Bible Study gives them two thumbs up!

New Favorite Discoveries

...this year.  The following items have brought my family and I (as well as a few friends) much joy.  I thought I'd make a list to share with some others.  Credit goes to Alison Chino for the FANTASTIC recommendation of item #1.

1. Slugs and Bugs Lullabies CD
Don't question this, just buy it if you have children under the age of 12 in your home.  I cannot think of another music CD where I both laughed out loud, spitting my coffee all over the car, (Tractor, Tractor; Beans) and cried with a lump in my throat (Hey Beautiful Girl) from the same record.  Alison says it's her favorite baby gift.  Be forewarned, it is now mine as well.
They're coming out with a Christmas CD this year too...

2. Smitten Kitchen's Apple and Cheddar scones
Need I say more?  Made them on Monday, froze them shaped, in dough form, then baked them right before Bible Study on Thursday morning.  Awesome.  Absolutely awesome.  I did not eat three.

3. And another food item of Smitten Kitchen's, her Sour Cream Cheddar Biscuits and the Beef Chili that went with them.  I diced the carrots small, how she recommends, and added ketchup to taste.  Added about a 1/4 cup of sugar to the biscuits, because we like things sweet in our house.

4. Stacey Kent's music.
Got her name from our fabulous friend Anthony, who is in tune with so much more pop culture and great music then I am.  She is my favorite artist discovery of this year, and we've bought three albums.  Listen to Ice Hotel on her Breakfast Tram one, it reminds me of a lighter, more cool and lyrical-french, Diana Krall.  If you like the sound and feel of Diana Krall, you will love Stacey Kent.

5. Bearpaw Boots for kids.
Thanks to my friend Katie P, I bought these boots for Sam this year and spent about half as much as what Ugg boots would have cost us.  They have a nice rugged sole, great for traipsing over ice and through Chicago snow, and are made of sheepskin, just like Uggs.

6. Intelligentsia's Black Cat Espresso Coffee Beans
Have I written about these coffee beans before?  I feel like I have.  They are a local Chicago roaster, and Rick Bayless uses these beans for making the espresso in his restaurants, Frontera and XOCO.  I love them as well, and it has been a saving grace on many a morning here, when getting in the car and driving to Starbucks (and shelling out $3.78 for a latte) is not an option.  I buy them at Whole Foods.

7. "Baked" Cookbook
This fabulous little bakery in Brooklyn came out with their first cookbook in 2008 and just released their second one this year, which is on my Christmas list.  (Ahem, Scott.)  I've noticed that this cookbook is the first one I've reached for this year when needing to make a dessert or breakfast goody.  Items that I could not live without, having now tasted them: the Baked Brownie, their chocolate chip cookie, Sweet and Salty Cake, and the Sour Cream Coffee Cake with chocolate cinnamon swirl.  Amazon sells it for $19.77 right now.

8. Lastly, (completely unrelated to music, food or clothing) How GREAT Clean Baby Peach-Fuzz Smells in the Sunshine.

Apple Bread

I've had two requests for this recipe this week, and only felt like typing it up once, so I'll post it here.  This apple bread is DELICIOUS, and freezes really well.  I made a loaf the morning of our bible study and froze the second one... defrosted it, then reheated it the oven at 350 degrees until warmed through, no one knew the difference at our small group the following Tuesday.

Apple Bread
4 cups apples, peeled, cored and chopped into large chunks, about 1/2 inch-1 inch sized
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. table salt
2 tsp. good cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour

For the topping:
3/4 cup flour
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, cool but not hard

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly spray two 9 inch loaf pans with Pam.  In your mixing bowl, beat the 4 eggs until fluffy.  Add the oil, vanilla and sugar, beat until combined.  In a smaller bowl combine the dry ingredients: flour, soda, salt and cinnamon, set aside.  Peel and chop all the apples.  Then, add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, mixing on low just until combined.  Fold in the apples by hand to keep the chunks intact.  Divide the mixture evenly into two pans.

To prepare the topping, combine all the ingredients in one bowl (to save on dishes, just use the same one that the dry ingredients were in), squeezing the butter through the flour etc. until it is combined, using your clean fingers (fastest) or a fork (neatest :).  Sprinkle the topping over the batter evenly in both pans.

Bake for about 1 hour on the center rack, rotating once.  Bread should feel fairly firm when touched in the middle.  Let cool and then remove from the pans.  It is easiest to slice when cool, but so hard to wait...

Buttermilk Pancakes

So almost every Wednesday night I end up making our family buttermilk pancakes for dinner.  We are in luck that every family member loves them, and Scott has no problems with "brinner," or "breakfast-for-dinner."

The absolute BEST recipe I've ever come across is Martha Stewart's classic buttermilk pancakes.  I've upped the sugar a tad, so they taste really good just on their own.  We change it up by adding dried cherries and granola (thanks Grace and Mrs. DG!), frozen blueberries, or Sam's favorite and constant request, Ghiradelli chocolate chips.  If he's really really lucky he'll receive a squirt of whipped cream on top too.  Nice dinner, huh.  Not a lot of protein, but it tastes so good, so comforting and predictable on a busy Wednesday night when I'm out the door for rehearsal every week at 6:30 pm.

If you've never tried making pancakes from scratch, try it at least once.  I think you'll be converted, the real buttermilk makes a massive difference.  It is also worth noting that seeking out the Farmer's Creamery brand of buttermilk is also worth the minor extra expense.  Whole Foods carries it.

Buttermilk Pancakes

2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 cup white sugar
4 TB. butter, melt and cooled slightly
2 eggs
3 cups real buttermilk (Farmer's Creamery is a great one to try)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add the 3 cups buttermilk, melted butter and eggs.  Whisk together JUST until barely mixed, a lumpy batter helps keep the pancakes light and fluffy.

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees.  Place an ovenproof plate on the top shelf.

Heat a non stick pan or griddle over medium heat.  Melt another tsp. of butter over the griddle and wipe the extra off with a paper towel.  When the griddle is hot but not smoking, scoop batter out with a 1/3 measuring cup, it keeps them a manageable size for flipping.  Cook on the first side until the pancake is covered in bubbles and browned nicely.  Flip.  Put the pancakes in the oven to keep them warm until ready to serve.

The leftovers can be cooled to room temperature and then frozen.  They reheat great in the oven or microwave for breakfast later in the week.

Sour Cream Cinnamon Coffeecake and Vanilla Chai Lattes last Thursday (oh, and Jesus too)

Don't you wish you were in our Women's Bible Study? It truly is a unique group of women, all from different backgrounds and interests. Over the past four years each of the eleven have become a dear and integral part of the group, I cannot imagine doing life without them.

Here's a treat I made last week that seemed to go over well. Also known as "Grandpa's Favorite," which is saying something because let me tell you, Grandma is quite the baker.

Sour Cream Cinnamon Coffeecake

1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda

2 sticks cool (not too hard) butter
2 cups flour
1 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. table salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup golden raisins
(And yes, you read that right. No eggs!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8 square pan. Combine the sour cream and baking soda in a small bowl, set aside. Combine flour, sugar, salt and butter in your mixing bowl, give it a few turns with the mixer until it resembles the beginnings of a pie crust, nice and crumbly. Reserve half the flour mixture for the crumble topping. Add the spices and sour cream mix into the mixing bowl. Combine well, stir in raisins. Place in prepared pan, sprinkle the reserved crumble topping evenly over coffeecake. Bake 30-40 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

As an added touch, which I only just now realized I completely forgot, you can drizzle an easy frosting over it while it's still warm. (About 1 cup powdered sugar and a few TB. milk mixed evenly together.) It was still great without it.


Vanilla Chai Lattes for 4 people

2 & 1/4 cups TAZO chai tea concentrate (they use it at Starbucks, you can get three boxes for $7 at Costco)
2 cups your favorite milk, I used skim, 2% would be better
2 TB. Monin Vanilla Syrup (can be found at specialty food shops, like Fox and Obel and Amazon)

Heat chai tea mix, milk and syrup together in a sauce pan or microwave in a pyrex bowl. If you have a steamer, steam cups of the chai to order for your lucky friends, and top the foam with a light spray of good cinnamon.

French Breakfast Muffins

This is one of those recipes you may or may not thank me for. It goes way back in my family, appearing at many a bridal or baby shower, because they can be made entirely ahead, frozen and then defrosted the morning of with no discernible difference.

They are also addictivly delicious, being rolled in butter and cinnamon sugar and tasting much like a delicious little donut. Don't ask me why they are called French, or Breakfast, I just know that they are my FAVORITE MUFFIN. That's right, I said it. My favorite, out of all the muffin recipes I've posted.

2/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup milk

-Approximately 1 cup cinnamon sugar, I like mine nice and dark with good cinnamon
-a stick (or probably two, don't hate me!) of melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 4 dozen mini muffin tins (These can absolutely be made with normal size tins, I just like them better small, the ratio of cinnamon goodness to cake is higher. It does take longer though to roll all the little ones...) In a mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture, alternating with milk. Start and end with the dry ingredients, mixing on low just until combined.

Fill muffin tins 2/3's full (as if that's possible in a mini tin, good luck) and bake 15-20 min, or until toothpick comes out clean. These muffins won't really brown, so don't look for color on them.

When cool, remove from tins and roll first in melted butter, then cinnamon sugar. At this point they can be frozen or eaten or refrigerated. I even like them cold out of the fridge.

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Ok, I realize it's been almost FOUR months since I've last posted. Is anyone still reading? Probably not. But, I made this coffeecake this morning for Bible Study and there were requests for the recipe. It's just too good not to share. The only downside is I don't think it's the type of thing you could make a day in advance. No idea where it came from, found it in my box and took a chance.

Apple Spice Coffee Cake

1 & 3/4 cup flour

1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3 tart apples, peeled and chopped (I used Braeburn)

2 TBs. lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 stick of butter, softened

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 & 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 eggs

Glaze: 3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 TB. skim milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

pinch of salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, if using a glass pan 325. Grease either a 9 inch springform pan or square pan. If you double the recipe it'll fill a 10X15 inch pan. Combine the dry ingredients in a small bowl. Toss the apples in another bowl with lemon juice, cinnamon and brown sugar. In a mixer, beat butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs. Gently mix in dry ingredients. Fold in apples. Bake 60-70 minutes, until top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Whisk the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over top.

Autumn Day Muffins

I wish you were at my house right now, enjoying the scent of these muffins wafting by your nose. They are for my Bible Study ladies tomorrow, and will hopefully also feed Scott, his office and other special people this week (Sophie and Kathy, they have your name on them!)

I got this recipe from a roomate in college, more years ago then would be lady-like to mention, and have used it annually ever since. One recipe makes 24 muffins, and it's one of those awesome muffins that is BETTER made the day before. They'll keep two days in fact, wrapped well and kept cool. I serve them with a dollap of cinnamon sugar butter smeared over each half.

Autumn Day Muffins

3 1/3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 TBS. pumpkin pie spice

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

4 large eggs

1 lb. can plain pumpkin

1 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 cups ghirardelli chocolate chips

raw sugar, for sprinkling on top (optional)

Thoroughly mix the first six ingredients in a large bowl. Break eggs into a small bowl and whisk, add melted butter and pumpkin. Mix well. Pour wet ingredients over dry and fold in with a rubber spatula, mixing only until moistened. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Scoop batter evenly into greased muffin tins and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 30-40 min. Check doneness at 25 minutes, muffins will be puffed and springy to the touch in the center. Can be wrapped when cool and kept for 1-2 days. Best when made the day before.

Cinnamon Sugar Butter

Soften two sticks of unsalted butter to room temperature. Use a hand mixer to mix in enough cinnamon sugar and salt to taste. That's it.

The World-Is-Ending Blueberry Muffin

I'm not even kidding you, if I knew the world was ending I'd flip through our wedding photos one more time, make a few phone calls involving words of love to family and friends and eat as many of these muffins as I could.
Seriously, I've made my second batch in a week and they are heavenly, only involving two more steps then your average blueberry muffin recipe. With much credit and love to Cooks Illustrated.

Best Blueberry Muffins

Lemon Sugar Topping

1/3 cup sugar

1 and 1/2 teaspoons finely grated zest from one lemon

Muffins

3 cups fresh blueberries, picked over

1 & 1/8 cups sugar, plus 2 teaspoons

2 & 1/2 cups flour

2 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon table salt

2 extra large eggs

1/2 stick (4 TB) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk

1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

For the topping: stir together sugar and lemon zest in a small bowl until combined, set aside.

For the muffins: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Bring 1 & 1/2 cups blueberries and 2 tsp. of sugar to simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 6 minutes. Cool to room temp, 10-15 min.

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl, add butter and oil until combined. Add buttermilk and vanilla to egg mixture until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 & 1/2 cups of blueberries into the flour mixture just until moistened. Do not overmix.

Divide the batter evenly among about 14 muffin cups. Spoon one teaspoon of blueberry jam into the center of each and swirl slightly with a toothpick. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden brown and just firm, 17-19 minutes. Cool in tins for 5 minutes, the finish cooling on a rack. They freeze well and can be reheated in the oven for a freshly baked texture.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (Scott's Favorite)

I've been staring at the four brown bananas on my counter for the last couple of days, not having enough energy to do anything productive with them until today.  This recipe, based off Kathleen Tate's, is fabulous.  Moist, dense and tasty, you've got to use Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate chips to get the full effect.  A four star recipe in our house, they freeze beautifully and you can heat them up in the oven for a few minutes to fool your friends into thinking they're freshly baked.  No one will be the wiser.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. table salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tps. vanilla

2 large eggs

1 & 1/2 cups smashed bananas (about 4 medium, you can squish them up right inside the peel and then squeeze them out into the mixing bowl...no need to dirty another dish!)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 & 1/2 cups Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

About 2 TB. raw sugar for topping the muffins

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare about 18 muffin cups, or use the fun medium sized white baking cups from Schweppe's, you don't even need a muffin pan then.

Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.  Cream the butter and sugars in a mixer until light and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well.  Squeeze in the bananas and mix in the sour cream.  Fold in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups.  Sprinkle them with raw sugar if desired, it gives them a little crunch on top which can be nice.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

A Day in the Life of Some Strawberries

Thank you Anna, for sharing the bounty of your handpicked strawberries.  Here is the story of what happened to them.

I decided these little fellas were screaming to be made into strawberry muffins, and this gem of a simple recipe needs more publicity.  It is just too good for me to hog.  Now normally folks, I am not into eating raw muffin batter.  Do yourself a favor and don't even taste this one...you won't be able to stop taking little swipes from the spatula.

Succulent Strawberry Muffins

1/4 lb. softened unsalted butter

1 & 1/2 cups sugar, divided

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt, scant

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tsp. good vanilla

18-20 medium to large strawberries, hulled and chopped

Cream butter and 1 & 1/4 cups sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Blend well but do not overbeat.  Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.  Add alternately with cream to butter, starting and ending with flour mixture.  Fold in strawberries.

Fill 16 large muffin tins with papers.  Fill them almost full with batter, then sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup sugar over top.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 25-30 min, or until lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on rack.

This SO beats the Bond Business

We woke up this morning to 4 inches of freshly fallen snow and a whole day to ourselves inside. I was SO thankful not to have to board a train at 5:15 in the morning and trudge my way to the office, where the Fed had an emergency meeting this morning and cut interest rates by 75 bps.  Glad to be out of it and making oatmeal and hot cocoa instead.

Even if you hate oatmeal, you should give this recipe a try, it tastes fabulous and is pretty healthy for you too!  Well, depending on how much brown sugar you add at the end...

Alsace Oatmeal with Grated Apple

1 1/2 cup old fashioned oatmeal (I like McCain's Quick Cooking)

3 cups milk

1/2 tsp. salt (or more, to taste)

1 medium apple, peeled and grated

1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp butter

Cinnamon sugar to taste

Combine oatmeal, milk and salt in a medium saucepan.  Bring almost to a boil.  Add grated apple, lemon juice and cinnamon sugar.  Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add butter and cook one minute.  Spoon into bowls and add anything you want: brown sugar, dried cranberries, maple syrup, more milk...sky's the limit!