Chocolate Chip Espresso Muffins

Photo from SeriousEats.com

Please excuse my extreme laziness and enjoy the pretty photo that I did not take!

I had been craving a chocolate muffin for whatever reason, so instead of buying one, I decided to make a batch to satisfy my craving and provide a treat for my co-workers. 

I found this recipe on Serious Eats and am mostly happy with the results. The top of the muffin has more flavor and a better texture than the bottom, which is a little dry. I left them in the oven for 17 minutes, as the recipe suggests, but should have pulled them at 15 or 16 minutes. I am still getting used to my new oven which holds heat like a champ. I didn't fill my muffin tins as full as the recipe's author did, so my yield was 18 muffins instead of 12. 

Omega-3 Granola

I always crave yogurt and granola in the winter, but store-bought granola is so expensive. Every year I have to remind myself that making granola at home is super easy and recipes for just about any combination you can imagine abound on the internet.

This recipe for Omega-3 Granola from Epicurious is one of my favorites. As I mentioned in my last granola post (almost exactly one year ago), the beauty of homemade granola is that you can throw in whatever you have in the pantry. When I made this batch of granola this weekend, I only had 2/3 cup of walnuts in the freezer, so I threw in 1/3 cup of chopped hazelnuts. I also love dried cranberries, so I used 3/4 cup of chopped dates and 1/4 cup cranberries.

Finally, I bought a container of dried egg whites this weekend, for a super-secret December project, and I decided to try them in this recipe. As far as I can tell, they worked out just fine, and I didn't have to waste a couple egg yolks.

Sour Cream Banana Bread

This might be the most perfect looking banana bread I have ever made...

But unfortunately, it isn't the tastiest. In fact, if you ate this with your eyes and nose closed, you wouldn't even know it was banana bread!

This recipe is from Chow and is the second banana bread recipe I have made in the past two weeks. I made it mainly because I had some sour cream to use up. The first one I made was called Perfect Banana Bread and I found it on the blog, I Am Baker. I neglected to take a picture of the first one, which is why it didn't make it onto the blog. Well, that, and I insisted in adding 1/4 cup of flaxseed meal to it, and I think it made it cook a little funky. I think that if I am going to add flaxseed meal, I need to adjust other ingredients. But, even with that mess up, the top was the most flavorful and crunchy top I have ever had. I will be trying it again.

Flour's "Famous" Banana Bread

Any longtime readers of BlB will know that I am always looking for a good banana bread recipe. I have tried one with a messy topping that overflowed onto the bottom of my oven, one with espresso and whiskey to kick start the morning (or any time of day), one with a boozy glaze, one with peanut butter, one that is spicy and chocolatey, and now I have made what could be considered the most traditional of banana bread recipes. And guess what? I wasn't impressed.

I found this recipe on the blog, Ipso Fatto, but Flour's Famous Banana Bread recipe is all over the internet. Flour is a popular bakery in Boston that is always getting written up or visited on some food-interest show. I had high hopes for this bread! I almost didn't include the walnuts, because I don't love them, but I wanted to make the recipe as is and I figured I could use some Omega-3 in my life. Most blogs link to the recipe on the Food Network. Giada visited Flour on her show and Joanne Chang, the chef and owner of Flour, provided the recipe to Food Network. I used the alternate measurements that Ipso Fatto provides from the Flour cookbook.

Yes, this bread created a crunchy top, which, in my opinion, is the most important part of banana bread. And yes, it was moist and the ratio of walnuts to bread was pleasing. But, the downfall of this bread is that it tasted like vegetable oil. It totally masks the 3 1/2 bananas in the bread. I think butter would have blended better. Or maybe a mixture of the two.

So, my epic hunt for the perfect banana bread recipe continues. (I have already found two more contenders this week!)

Pancakes!

When I was walking Patton after work and thinking about what I should have for dinner, I started to think about butter and maple syrup. And that naturally led me to pancakes!

I used a combination of Mark Bittman's recipe for Everyday Pancakes and a CHOW recipe for Basic Pancakes. Mine ended up with that great crisp edge that you see in the picture, but the insides were light and fluffy with a hint of vanilla and the right amount of salt. I added blueberries to a couple of them that I was going to eat right away, but I like the plain ones gently warmed the next day and spread with a thin layer of peanut butter. Yum!

Pancakes
Adapted from Mark Bittman and CHOW
Makes about 10 (approximately 5 inches in diameter)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt (if you use table salt, decrease to 1/2 teaspoon)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups whole milk (normally I would use skim milk, but I had whole milk leftover from the vanilla bean ice cream, so I wanted to use it up)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1. Whisk the flour, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl until combined. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until combined. Whisk in the milk, then the sugar and vanilla. Continue whisking until the sugar is dissolved. Add in the melted butter and whisk some more!

2. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stop whisking when everything is combined. (You don't want to over whisk it.) This batter is very thick; you can add more milk if you like thinner pancakes.

3. Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium low heat. Grease the pan with butter, a neutral oil, cooking spray, etc. (I like to use butter because I think it tastes better). Add pancakes by the ladleful. (If you are adding blueberries, plop them onto the batter now.) When bubbles form on the edges, they should be ready to flip. Lower the heat if they are getting too brown. The pancakes should be finished when the second side is golden (the pancakes won't need as long on the second side).

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I had three ripe bananas on the counter and decided it was time to make another loaf of banana bread. I love banana bread, if you couldn't tell by this, this, and this.

I found this most recent recipe on Joy the Baker's blog, which I just love. She is very clever and her pictures actually make her food look good, unlike mine that look like they are taken in a dark cave. (Note to self: find a job that lets you stay home during the day to cook and photograph using natural light.)

This bread turned out well. The only changes I made to Joy's recipe was that I don't have allspice, so I left it out and I decided at the end that I didn't want to add peanuts (even though I dug them out of the cupboard). As you can see in the picture, I did add some mini chocolate chips because I had about 1/3 or 1/2 cup remaining in a bag.

The best part about this bread? The ground flaxseed! The Bananas Foster bread I made a couple weeks ago also had ground flaxseed in it (both recipes are adapted from a Cooking Light recipe. Coincidence? I don't think so.)

Jeanne Torregrossa's Coffee Cake

After I made the Heirloom Bakery coffee cake last month, my grandmother emailed me to tell me that my great grandmother (her mother) made coffee cake almost every week. I dug out the recipe and made it for Thanksgiving Day breakfast. It was delicious and got rave reviews from MM's family!

I didn't have any blueberries on hand, so I used walnuts, but I bet it would be even better with blueberries. I am a topping fiend, so I think I will double the amount of topping the next time I make it.


Jeanne Torregrossa's Coffee Cake

Topping

1/3 cup of chopped nuts or 1/2 cup blueberries
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons all purpose flour

Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a small bowl, mix together all of the topping ingredients.

3. In a stand mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and cream well. Add the eggs and mix well.

4. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and vanilla extract.

5. Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until combined. Add 1/3 of the sour cream mixture to the mixing bowl and mix until combined. Continue until both mixtures are gone.

6. Spoon a little more than half of the batter into a greased 8 inch square baking dish (or other dish of your choosing). Sprinkle 2/3 of the topping over the batter, then spoon the remaining batter over that, and then sprinkle the rest of the topping.

7. Bake in a preheated oven for 45-50 minutes. Leave in the oven for 10 minutes after shutting it off. (I had other baking to do, so I couldn't leave mine in the oven and I only needed to bake it for about 40 minutes.)

Applesauce Multigrain Muffins

Well at least it looks good...

I generally like anything made with oats, but these poor muffins may be the exception. They weren't horrible, but I probably won't make them again.

The recipe is from the Washington Post and seeing as I don't even know what Country Choice Organic multigrain hot cereal is (boy, that's a mouthful!), I used old-fashioned rolled oats. I found the muffins to be a little two chewy (maybe that is a result of the oats?) and not necessarily dry, but the texture was off. I also think the muffins tasted too much like canola oil. If I were to make these again, I would be tempted to use vegetable oil instead - or just leave the oil out all together and increase the amount of applesauce.

Pumpkin Fig Hazelnut Granola

I was looking for something to do with the remnants of the can of pumpkin from last weekend's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and luckily the blogosphere is awash with pumpkin recipes this time of year. I stumbled upon a recipe for pumpkin cranberry granola on the Framed blog and as it only calls for 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, that was just about perfect.

But I soon realized that I didn't have some of the other ingredients that the recipe calls for, so I just threw in what I had. The recipe below is for the granola I ended up making.

Pumpkin Fig Hazelnut Granola

5 cups old fashioned oats
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom (I would probably leave this out next time as it overpowered the other spices)
3/4 teaspoon salt (I used table salt, but I think I would use coarse kosher salt next time)
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup real maple syrup (don't even think of using pancake syrup)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup dried cranberries (I would have used more cranberries if I had them, but that's the beauty of granola, you can throw in whatever you have on hand or prefer.)
3/4 cup chopped dried figs

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. (I have mixed feelings about the use of parchment paper here. I felt that it absorbed too much of the granola's moisture and its sogginess slowed the process of the granola crisping. It eventually did get crispy, but I think it took longer than necessary. Additionally, the whole purpose of the parchment paper is to prevent sticking and for ease of clean-up, but I found that the oats sneaked under the parchment anyway, which defeated the purpose. I probably won't use parchment paper next time.)

2. Stir oats, spices, salt and hazelnuts together in a large bowl.

3. Whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, canola oil, honey, maple syrup and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over oat mixture and stir to combine. Spread mixture onto the baking sheet.

4. Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and stir. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven, stir in dried fruits and bake for another 5 minutes. Let cool completely and store in an airtight container.