Tag Archives: muffins

Cranberry Pecan Muffins

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I’ve been so glad to see fresh cranberries at the grocery store these past few weeks! I just had to make something with fresh cranberries and muffins seemed like a good idea. I added some orange extract to give these muffins a subtle orange flavor. You could also add some orange zest if you wanted to.

These muffins bake up with nice rounded tops and have lots of cranberries and pecans in every bite! These are great for a Thanksgiving or Christmas breakfast or brunch, or for anytime in the fall or winter, for that matter. They also make a nice snack or dessert if you’re wanting something a little less sweet. You could probably substitute dried cranberries for the fresh, but I’ve always made these with fresh–I like their slightly sweet, tart flavor!

CRANBERRY PECAN MUFFINS by NancyC

Makes 24 muffins

  • 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
  • 1 teaspoon pure orange extract
  • Optional: 2 teaspoons orange zest
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries (or substitute dried cranberries)
  • 3/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line 24 muffin tins with paper liners; set aside.

In large bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In medium bowl, mix milk, butter, orange extract, and eggs. Add this mixture to the flour mixture, stirring until just combined, then fold in chopped cranberries and pecans and stir until evenly distributed in batter (be careful not to overmix). Batter will be thick!

Spoon batter into the lined muffin cups. Bake at 350˚F for 22 to 25 or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool muffins in pans for a few minutes, then remove and cool completely on wire rack, or serve warm.

Do you have your Thanksgiving menu planned out? Are you making anything with fresh cranberries for your special meal? Whatever your plans are, have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Let us be thankful…. HEBREWS 12:28

Sharing at Happiness is Homemade, Inspire Me Monday, Weekend Potluck, Meal Plan Monday, Fiesta Friday.

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Cranberry Sauce Muffins

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Cranberry Sauce Muffins @ NancyC

If you happen to have any extra cranberry sauce left over from the holidays, here’s a good recipe you can use it in (if you don’t, keep this in mind for next year 🙂 ). These Cranberry Sauce Muffins are sweetened with brown sugar and whole berry cranberry sauce–you can use your own homemade cranberry sauce, like this Fresh Cranberry Sauce)–or you can use whole berry cranberry sauce from a can. These muffins have some oats in them, too, so they’re both healthy and tasty! Sometimes I add a Cranberry Sauce Glaze on top of these muffins but they are great with or without the glaze, so if you’re watching your calories, just leave the glaze off. They taste great right out of the oven, spread with a little butter or Cranberry–Pecan Cream Cheese Spread. Yum!

CRANBERRY SAUCE MUFFINS by NancyC, adapted from Serious Eats

Makes 16 muffins

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
  • 1 cup quick-cooking oats
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup canola oil or light olive oil
  • 1 1/2 cups Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce (I use either my homemade recipe or the Ocean Spray® brand)
  • 1 large egg

Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line 16 muffin tins with paper baking cups.

In large bowl, blend together flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In medium bowl, combine milk, oil, cranberry sauce and egg; blend well.

Fold wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once and stir until dry ingredients are moistened.

Fill muffin cups about 3/4 (or just a little more) full. Bake 20 minutes at 400˚F, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You can eat these warm right out of the oven…spread with a little butter or Cranberry-Pecan Cream Cheese Spread. Or, let the muffins cool completely and top them with this glaze…

CRANBERRY SAUCE GLAZE 

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons milk or half and half
  • 1 Tablespoon Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce
  • chopped pecans for sprinkling over glaze

In small bowl, mix powdered sugar and milk (or half and half) together, blending well. Stir in the cranberry sauce and blend well. Drizzle over cooled muffins, then sprinkle with pecans if desired. Let glaze set and then serve.

This is a great muffin for fall and winter when you’re craving that great cranberry flavor. And it’s always nice to bake muffins and other goodies when it’s cold outside! What have you been baking this winter?

Sharing this recipe at Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Inspire Me Monday.

Whole Wheat Honey Apple Muffins

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Whole Wheat Honey Apple Muffins @ NancyC

I promised you an apple recipe and here it is! I have apples on my mind now that it’s October, and this is a great apple muffin recipe! It’s pretty healthy, too, with whole wheat flour, Greek yogurt, honey, and olive oil as some of the ingredients.

I don’t use whole wheat flour in my baking very often–I’ve found it hard to substitute in many recipes because the flavor comes out a little too wheaty for my taste. But I think it’s perfect in this muffin recipe! I don’t really notice the wheatiness that much–maybe it’s because the spices and chopped apples give this muffin such a good flavor. I like to chop my apples into small chunks for these muffins, too–that way, there’s lots of apple taste in every bite!

The streusel topping does have a lot of brown sugar in it, but you can substitute raw or organic sugar if you like. Also, when you mix the topping, it will seem like a lot of topping, but you’ll be putting about a Tablespoon of it on top of each muffin. You’ll have extra, but it’s better to have too much topping than not enough, right? You can always save it for other muffins or a coffee cake. If you don’t want to put so much streusel topping on these muffins, cut the streusel ingredients in half, and you should have more than enough to lightly top each muffin!

WHOLE WHEAT HONEY APPLE MUFFINS by NancyC

Makes about 19 muffins

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2/3 cup honey
  • 3/4 cup light olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 2 1/2 cups peeled and chopped apples (if you use organic apples, peeling is optional–I like to use organic Gala apples)
  • Streusel Topping: 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, 2 Tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line two muffin tins with 19 paper muffin cups.

In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and ground spices; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, then add the honey, olive oil, and vanilla extract, blending everything well. Stir in the Greek yogurt.

Add the flour mixture to the egg/honey mixture and stir just until combined, being careful not to overmix. Fold in the chopped apples.

Fill muffin cups with batter, filling about 3/4 full.

Mix streusel topping ingredients together in a medium size bowl, then top muffins with streusel topping–use a heaping 1/2 Tablespoon per muffin (or less, if you prefer).

Bake at 350˚F for 14 to 15 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or almost clean (be careful not to overbake, or muffins will be a little dry).

Let muffins cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

I really like the flavor the ground spices give these muffins–and all the tasty chunks of apples in them!

What kind of recipes do you like to make with whole wheat flour?

Linked to Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Weekend Potluck, Inspire Me Monday.

Yellow Squash Muffins

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Yellow Squash Muffins @ NancyCYellow squash in a muffin? I know that may sound a little strange, but believe me, these muffins are deliciously moist and sweetened just right with honey and brown sugar! I thought about trying yellow squash in muffins after using zucchini in quick breads and cake. So why not yellow squash in baked goods? I found a recipe that I tweaked a little at Taste of Home and wasn’t sure what to expect, but I love the way they turned out!

YELLOW SQUASH MUFFINS by NancyC, adapted from Taste of Home

Makes 11-12 muffins

  • 2 1/3 cups (about 1 lb.) sliced yellow squash, cut into 1/2″ slices-cut larger slices in half or quarters)
  • 1/2 cup butter, melted
  • 1/4 cup honey*
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar*
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375˚F. Line muffin pan with 12 paper liners; set aside

Fill a medium size saucepan with 1″ of water; add squash and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until tender. Drain water from pan and mash the squash. In same pan, blend in the butter, honey, brown sugar, and egg.

In large bowl, blend flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the squash mixture to this flour mixture and stir just until moistened.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake at 375˚F for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

NOTE: Instead of using honey and light brown sugar, you can substitute 1/2 cup of granulated sugar.

This recipe made 11 muffins for me. If you’re all out of yellow squash from your garden, you’ll have to keep this in mind to try next summer, or just buy some at the grocery store! What kinds of things do you like to make with yellow squash?

Also, Happy Fall to all of you! It’s hard to believe it is autumn already! I have some great apple recipes I’ll be sharing with you soon!

Linked to Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Weekend Potluck.

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

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Blueberry Zucchini Muffins @ NancyCI don’t have a veggie garden of my own this summer, but friends and coworkers have been so nice to share from their gardens with me! That’s how I ended up with some zucchini. Since I also had fresh blueberries just waiting to be used, I decided to make these muffins that I first made several years ago. The zucchini and blueberries make these muffins really moist and the cinnamon gives them a great flavor. If you like, you can top the muffins with a homemade cream cheese frosting and fresh blueberries (you can use fresh or frozen blueberries in the batter). You can also try substituting blackberries, raspberries, or chopped strawberries for the blueberries.

BLUEBERRY ZUCCHINI MUFFINS by NancyC

Makes 24 to 25 regular-size muffins or 12 to 13 jumbo muffins

  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup light olive oil or non-GMO canola oil
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 1/4 cups sugar
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350˚F. Line two 12-cup regular muffin pans or two 6-cup jumbo muffin pans with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, beat together eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini.

In large bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

Add the egg mixture from the medium bowl to the flour mixture in the large bowl; stir all ingredients together until moistened. Gently stir the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon batter into the muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Bake regular muffins for 22-24 minutes and jumbo muffins for 32-34 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean (if using frozen berries, your baking time may be a few minutes longer).

If you want to get a little fancy, you can top these muffins with some cream cheese frosting and garnish with a few fresh blueberries. Here’s a frosting recipe I’ve used with these muffins before:

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

  • 1 8-oz. block of cream cheese at room temperature
  • 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
  • 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • fresh blueberries for garnish

In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and butter together, then add the powdered sugar a cup at a time. Blend well. Using a rounded scoop about the size of a tablespoon, put a dollop of cream cheese frosting on the center of each muffin. You should have enough frosting to put big dollops on if you want to. Then add some fresh blueberries to the top of each muffin.

That’s pretty easy, isn’t it? If you’re not going to eat these until later, store in a covered container in the refrigerator to keep the blueberries fresh. This recipe is a great way to use your garden zucchini! Are you growing zucchini this summer?

Linked to Fiesta Friday, Meal Plan Monday, Weekend Potluck.