Fig Muffins with Goat Cheese Filling

There was a time when I could eat the same thing for breakfast every morning, or every weekday morning anyway, for an entire year if not longer. I’d pour the same cold cereal into a bowl every Monday through Friday without any interest in mixing it up. Something happened to change my thinking on that lately. Now, I can only go for about a week with the same thing for breakfast each morning, and then I have to have something different. I never go all out and cook eggs or anything like that on a weekday morning, but I’ve been switching around my breakfast with homemade granola and yogurt, whole grain toast, bagels, and most recently these muffins. Whatever I’m choosing for breakfast, I like for it to include some whole grains and fruit, and these muffins fit that demand perfectly. They’re from Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck, and they’re made with white whole wheat flour, dried figs, and olive oil, with a goat cheese and lemon zest filling. If you’re not familiar with white whole wheat flour, it’s not a refined flour but is made from a white wheat rather than hard red wheat berries. It looks the same as all-purpose flour but has the nutritional profile of regular whole wheat flour. 

To start the muffins, the filling was made and set aside. Room temperature goat cheese was mixed with lemon zest, some honey, and vanilla extract. The muffin batter was made by sifting white whole wheat flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt. A well was made in the middle of the flour mixture. In a separate bowl, eggs were whisked, and brown sugar, vanilla extract, olive oil, and buttermilk were added. The wet ingredients were poured into the well in the flour mixture, and the batter was stirred together with a rubber spatula. Chopped dried figs were folded into the mix. The batter was spooned into a buttered muffin tin, and each cup was filled to about half. The goat cheese filling was then spooned into the center of each muffin cup, and the remaining batter covered the filling. Just before going into the oven, each muffin was sprinkled with turbinado sugar. 

This was a great way to start the day. The chewy, sweet figs were delicious with the tangy goat cheese filling. Just because I’m switching up my breakfast choices more frequently now, that doesn’t mean I can’t circle back to repeat one now and then. These muffins will undoubtedly make repeat appearances. 

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Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

It’s that time of year. I can’t look at a pumpkin recipe and just go on about my day. I have to stop and try almost everything I see that’s made with pumpkin. It can’t be helped. The other day I happened upon a slideshow of pumpkin recipes on the Martha site, and when I saw these Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins, I could not resist. I had some pumpkin puree on hand after making the Pumpkin Roulade, so there was really no reason not to go ahead and make the muffins. They’re cakey and tender with the pumpkin puree and butter, and the spices give them that lovely pumpkin pie flavor. When they come out of the oven and have cooled a bit, they’re brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar. They would be perfect for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning or every morning for the rest of pumpkin season.

To start, the dry ingredients were sifted together, and those included flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. I added cinnamon as well. In a separate bowl, buttermilk and pumpkin puree were whisked. In the bowl of a stand mixer, butter was creamed with light brown sugar, and two eggs were added. Then, the dry ingredients were mixed into the butter in three stages alternating with the buttermilk mixture. The batter was spooned into buttered muffin tin cups. You don’t want to use muffin tin liners here since the baked muffins will be coated with butter and cinnamon sugar. The muffins baked for about 30 minutes. After cooling for about ten minutes, each muffin was brushed with melted butter and then rolled in cinnamon sugar.

Pumpkin puree seems to work some kind of magic on the texture and flavor of whatever it’s mixed into, and the resulting cake, bread, or muffin always lasts well too. I’ve come to believe that baked goods with pumpkin cannot possibly be bad. Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe I should try next?

Chocolate-Bananagasm Muffins

It is a catchy recipe title, and chocolate and banana in the same place always gets my attention anyway. So, it was a given that I’d try this. I shared a few of these muffins with some friends, told them what they’re called, and asked them to let me know if they were indeed bananagasmic. Everyone agreed that they were. Although, one friend felt it was more appropriate to wait until no males were in the room to admit it. Her reputation is safe. I won’t tell. The recipe comes from the new book The Sugar Cube by Kir Jensen, who operates a Portland food cart with the same name, and I received a review copy. It’s full of fun twists on classics and some new takes on sweets as well. I’ve been baking from it practically nonstop since reading it. The Twisted Toll House Cookies, which are thin and crisp and made with hazelnut flour and finely chopped chocolate, became an instant favorite in our house. Some recipes I haven’t gotten to yet but can’t wait to try include: the Bing Cherry Breakfast Clafoutis with an oat crumble topping; the Highway to Heaven Cupcakes which are chocolate cakes brushed with coffee syrup, filled with caramel sauce, topped with ganache, with an optional garnish of shards of potato chips; and the Black and White Sesame Brittle with pretty flecks of two kinds of sesame seeds. But, let’s get back to these muffins. They’re made with melted bittersweet chocolate, cocoa powder, cacao nibs, and of course, mashed bananas. The flavor was all kinds of chocolate fabulousness, and the texture of the muffins was perfect for days given the banana which kept them from becoming dry.

To start, chopped bittersweet chocolate, or feves which is what I used, was melted in a double-boiler. Mashed bananas were added to the melted chocolate. In a separate bowl, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt were sifted. With a stand mixer, butter and brown sugar were creamed, three eggs were added followed by vanilla extract, and then the dry ingredients, cacao nibs, and chocolate-banana mixture were added. As with many of the recipes in this book, finishing salt makes a big difference here. Fleur de sel was sprinkled on the muffins just before they went into the oven, and it works like a spotlight brightening every flavor.

With three eggs and two mashed bananas, the crumb was tender and lovely with nice contrast from the crunchy cacao nibs. There’s a suggestion to serve the muffins with nut butter, and out of journalistic integrity, I felt it necessary to test that concept. It’s a superb idea, but even plain, these muffins were deserving of their name.

Chocolate-Bananagasm Muffins
Recipe reprinted with publisher's permission from The Sugar Cube.

The world doesn’t need another blueberry muffin. And don’t get me started on bran. But a chocolate muffin moistened with banana purée and sprinkled with sea salt? Hell, yes! These are so moist and tender yet not too sweet, and the cacao nibs add texture and a deeper chocolate flavor. When you have a couple of death-row bananas on your hands, skip the same old banana bread and whip up a batch of these. I adapted the recipe from a great food blog called “80 Breakfasts.” Serve with salted butter or your favorite nut butter, such as fresh almond or peanut.

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

Ingredients
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons bittersweet chocolate (about 3 ounces)
2 large very ripe bananas, pureed
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt 
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1/4 cup (1 ounce) cacao nibs 
Granulated sugar for sprinklling
Fleur de sel for sprinkling 

TIP This also can be made as a lovely dessert. This amount of batter is perfect for a 4-cup mini-Bundt pan. Generously butter the pan. Baking times will vary, so check after 30 minutes; the top should spring back when touched and a knife inserted into the center should come out clean.

Instructions

PREHEAT THE OVEN to 325°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Put the chopped chocolate in a medium metal bowl and put the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Heat, stirring, until the chocolate is just melted. Remove the bowl from the heat and let cool. Stir in the banana purée.

SIFT TOGETHER THE FLOUR, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl.

IN THE BOWL OF A STAND MIXER fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients, cacao nibs, and chocolate-banana mixture and beat just until combined.

DIVIDE THE BATTER equally among the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops lightly with granulated sugar and fleur de sel and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. The tops should look crackled and slightly wet between the cracks. Let cool a bit before serving warm.

Pumpkin Cheddar Mini Muffins

Last Friday, the Good Food Awards Roadshow was welcomed to Austin with a happy hour party. Good Food Award winner Stephanie McClenny of Confituras hosted the happy hour at Springdale Farm, and it was a mini showcase of local foods and beverages. There were samples from some Austin food artisans and a few seasonal, homemade items. Carla from Austin Urban Gardens brought a kale and butternut squash salad made with all local ingredients, and I whipped up these mini, savory muffins. The idea is from Baked Explorations where they’re suggested as regular-size muffins, but I thought minis would work better as happy hour snacks. They were made with local pumpkin from my CSA, clothbound cheddar from Brazos Valley Cheese, and eggs from Smith and Smith Farms. Black pepper and cayenne pepper keep these muffins firmly in the savory category, and I garnished with pumpkin seeds, a little extra finely grated cheese, and a sprinkling of mild chile powder as visual cues of their lack of sweetness.

These are easy to make because everything is whisked and folded together in a bowl, and no mixer is required. Since I had a fresh pumpkin on hand, I roasted and pureed it, but canned pumpkin is suggested in the book. To start, that is once the pumpkin is ready, you whisk together pumpkin puree and sour cream and then add eggs and cooled, melted butter. In a separate bowl, flour, baking powder, cayenne, salt, black pepper, and brown sugar are combined, and a well is formed in the center. The wet ingredients are poured in the well, and the mixture is folded until combined. Grated cheese is folded into the batter, and this it is divided among oil-sprayed muffin cups. If you’d like to garnish the tops, you can sprinkle on more cheese, pumpkin seeds, and chile powder before baking. For the mini muffins, I baked them for 15 minutes.

The pumpkin and cheddar worked wonders together in these little guys, and the cayenne delivered a surprising hit of spice. They were great as little hors d’oeuvres with a glass of wine, and I’d like to try them too, as they were intended, as regular-size muffins for breakfast.

Ginger Peach Muffins

Sometimes you know certain flavors go together well. Take peaches and ginger. They make a great match. There's ginger cookies served with fresh peaches, a little ginger in the whipped cream for peach shortcakes, and ginger and peach jam. It's a mix that works. But, every once a while, you come across a classic flavor combination done in a way that makes it even better than you knew it would be. The ginger and peach flavor mix in these muffins was a wow, like I'd never tasted it before. Freshly grated ginger is mixed into the batter along with chopped crystallized ginger, and fresh ginger is also added to a melted butter and honey syrup used to coat the peach slices that sit on top of each muffin. It could have been the one-two punch of fresh and crystallized ginger or maybe that peach season is winding down and I really wanted to savor these, but for simple muffins, these puppies caught me by surprise. They're from Good to the Grain which means they're also made with an interesting mix of flours in addition to the interesting flavor mix. Here, oat flour is combined with all-purpose and whole wheat flours for a very tender crumb and mild, nuttiness.

You start by grating lots of fresh ginger and letting that lovely fragrance start to fill your kitchen. A little of the grated ginger was added to a skillet along with butter and honey, and the rest was left in a mixing bowl. The butter and honey in the skillet was melted, and sliced peaches were added and coated with the syrup and then the pan was set aside. The dry ingredients were sifted together, and those included oat flour, all-purpose and whole wheat flours, sugar, dark brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, the wet ingredients were added to the remaining grated ginger including melted and cooled butter, whole milk, sour cream, an egg, and finely chopped crystallized ginger. Wet ingredients were mixed into the dry, and the batter was ready. In all the muffin recipes in this book, Kim Boyce recommends using only every other cup in a muffin pan. By leaving every other cup empty, the heat circulates well and the muffins rise better. I had learned of this trick from a different muffin recipe, and it really does work well. So, the batter was poured into every other muffin cup, each muffin was topped with two peach slices, and the syrup was spooned on top of the peaches before they went into the oven.

Of course they smelled amazing as they baked, and of course they looked pretty with the peach slices on top. There was no doubting that these were going to be good. I just had no idea how good. I thought I knew all about peaches with ginger, but it's nice to be taken by surprise like this.

Oat Bran-Applesauce Mini Muffins

The Lenten season is well underway, and that means different things for me today than it did when I was a kid. Growing up, my family and I always observed Lent and the traditional rules of not eating meat on Fridays and giving something up for the 40-day period. Some people gave up candy or ice cream or whatever, but in my family, we always gave up eating between meals. 40 days of no snacks also pretty much meant 40 days of no candy since it wasn’t easy to pass off a pile of jolly ranchers as dessert. These days, things have changed. I don’t eat much meat in the first place, so telling myself I’m not going to eat meat but will eat fish on a Friday doesn’t mean much. Also, since the real idea is to simplify and be a little less decadent, sitting down to a meal of lobster just because it’s Friday is missing the point. As for not eating between meals, I let that go years ago when I couldn’t determine what might be a meal and what might be a snack depending on what I was doing each day. So, I just give up popcorn which kills me every year because I have a serious popcorn problem. And, rather than focusing solely on giving something up, I like to take on something good as well. This year, I’m cooking even more vegetables than usual and spending even more time with my healthy eating types of cookbooks. I recently picked up a copy of Power Foods which showcases 38 of the big players among nutrition-packed fruits, vegetables, proteins, and grains with recipes for every meal of the day as well as snacks. So far, I’ve only cooked from the breakfast chapter, but I see many healthy dishes for Lent and the rest of the year coming from these pages.

The little, oat bran-applesauce muffins looked like a perfect way to have a healthy, grab-and-go breakfast on hand. They’re mini muffins, so you can have one for a tiny breakfast if you’re not that hungry or grab a few on a morning when you need more energy. With no refined sugar, they’re sweetened only with applesauce, dates, and some honey. They were made by reducing applesauce with chopped, pitted dates to cook off some liquid while plumping the dates. Once cool, that mixture was combined with wheat bran, buttermilk, one egg, two tablespoons of honey, some grated fresh ginger, and vanilla. The dry ingredients were whisked together, and those were flour, ground flaxseed, baking soda, salt, ground allspice, and rolled oats. The dry ingredients were stirred into the applesauce mixture, the mini muffin cups were filled, and the muffins baked for about 20 minutes.

The ginger and allspice smelled lovely as the muffins baked, and I thought those flavors were even better after the muffins had sat for a day. Yes, they do contain wheat bran and flaxseed and no actual sugar, but the dates and applesauce give them sweetness and keep the texture very tender. I have several other pages in the book marked, and I predict it will still be getting a lot of use beyond these 40 days.

Cider-Glazed Apple Muffins with Blackberries

Is it just me, or have there been an awfully lot of tempting apple cakes out there lately? I’ve wanted to try them all, but I knew what would happen if I had an entire, big apple cake in this house. It would disappear too quickly, and I would need to spend a lot more time in running shoes. When I found this recipe for apple muffins, it seemed like a perfect compromise. Kurt loves muffins for breakfast, and a few could go into the freezer for a later date. The other part of this story is that one of those cake recipes that is tempting me involves apples and blackberries. When I found some fresh blackberries from Mexico at the grocery store, I had to add them to the tops of these muffins. I found the recipe on Epicurious, and it’s from the September 1997 issue of Gourmet.

My only changes to the original recipe were to bake the muffins at regular size rather than as mini muffins and to top them with blackberries. I left the apple chunks slightly bigger than one-quarter inch pieces and didn’t chop the walnuts fine either, but no big changes. While the muffins were baking, apple cider was simmered until reduced to a syrup. When the muffins were removed from the oven, they were poked on top with a skewer and then brushed with the syrup.

With apple chunks, walnuts, apple cider, and blackberries in the muffins, these were full of delicious. The syrup glaze on top kept the muffins moist and gave them a little shine. The walnuts were particularly nice with the flavor of apples and cider. This was a practical choice for satisfying my apple cake craving, but that doesn’t mean I won’t change my mind and bake a big, full cake in the very near future.

Cherry-Zucchini Muffins

In my last CSA pick-up, I received a gigantic zucchini that could have fed an army. I asked around for ideas for using it in multiple dishes. Someone on Twitter mentioned that when his zucchini get that large, he feeds them to his animals. I can understand that given that at this kind of size there are bigger seeds and the texture is starchier, but I was determined to make good use of this monster for human consumption. In the end, I chopped some of it and roasted it for a pasta dish, and for the rest, some sort of zucchini bread was a no-brainer. A quick bread is a good way to go with a big, starchy zucchini because it’s grated before being mixed into the batter, and the texture matters less that way. After looking at a few options for zucchini bread, I came upon a recipe for muffins in Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. In the book, these are actually cranberry-zucchini muffins, but I used cherries because that felt summerier.

This is a very quick muffin batter to assemble. The great big half of zucchini was grated and set aside. Eggs, sugar, oil, and vanilla were whisked together, and then the zucchini was added. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt were incorporated before frozen cherries were folded into the batter. Into the oven went the muffins, and they emerged golden with little, green flecks.

I liked seeing the bits of green from the zucchini just to remember that it was in there. It’s, of course, completely imperceptible in the flavor, but it does a magic trick on the texture. This is a muffin that can sit for a few days and still taste just as tender and delicious as the first day thanks to all that grated zucchini. These muffins also freeze very well, and I’ve already pulled the second half of the batch out of the freezer to finish them. This size of zucchini wouldn’t be a good choice for a raw salad or for pickles, but it did make some very fine muffins.

Espresso Banana Muffins

When I was a student at the University of Texas, I used to love the banana espresso shakes at Quackenbush’s Cafe which was located right across the street from the side of campus where I spent my time. You could get the standard banana and espresso blended into a rich, ice cream shake, or you could add peanut butter. I soon realized what an incredible thing it was to taste espresso and banana at the same time. Our local Cafe Pacha makes a similar beverage, but they keep it on the lighter side with just banana, ice, milk, and espresso and no ice cream. Since I already had a history with this flavor combination, I knew I was going to like these muffins as soon as I saw the recipe. This is from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson, and it’s simple enough that I could bake these regularly and enjoy a continuous supply.

The obvious first ingredient here is overripe bananas. For some reason, we never have extra bananas in our house. They’re always eaten before reaching that overripe-I should bake something with these state. In fact, when I want to bake anything involving bananas, I have to plan ahead, remember to buy extra, and allow them ripen. So, I’m not even sure how it came to pass, but last week I was in the unusual situation of actually having extra, quickly ripening bananas. It was kind of exciting to get to make a banana recipe on the spur of the moment. Since I was in the spirit of using up those mushy bananas and baking something unplanned, I had to substitute a couple of other ingredients to avoid a trip to the grocery store. The recipe calls for white, whole-wheat flour which I didn’t have. I used half unbleached, white flour and half whole wheat flour. It also calls for a cup and a quarter of chopped walnuts. I only had about half a cup, so I added some almonds and pecans as well. Everything else, including the plain yogurt and espresso powder, I had on hand.

As I mixed everything together and scooped the batter into the muffin tin, the aroma of espresso mingling with banana hinted at how delicious these were going to be. Fresh out of the oven, I could barely wait to have a taste. And, one of these muffins with a steaming cup of cappuccino was perfection. Now that I’ve tried these once, I may be buying extra bananas every week in hopes of finding overripe ones that need to be used a few days later.

Cranberry Currant Oat Muffins

Decadent items like Mushrooms and Leeks with Pecorino Fonduta and Smore Brownies find their way onto my plate often enough, but I do try to stick to healthy options most of the time. Tofu oven fries are good; they really are. And, I really am a big fan of broccoli. Last Saturday, I wanted to bake something for breakfast, but I wanted a healthy option. When I’m feeling like upping the whole grains, limiting the saturated fats, and getting plenty of antioxidants, I turn to The Mayo Clinic Williams-Sonoma Cookbook which is where I found these Cranberry Currant Oat Muffins.

All of the Williams-Sonoma cookbooks are well done, and I use several of them. Soup and After Dinner are two other favorites. They all include photos for every recipe and good, clear information. In the MC WS Cookbook, each ingredient amount is listed by volume, by weight, and by metric equivalent. Also, nutritional information is listed for each recipe. If you’re curious, the nutritional stats for one of these muffins (if the batter is divided into 18 muffins) are:
180 calories
5 g protein
35 g carbohydrates
3 g fat
< 1 g saturated fat
13 mg cholesterol
145 mg sodium
3 g dietary fiber

They’re made with whole wheat flour, oats, buttermilk, two little tablespoons of canola oil, one whole egg and one egg white, brown sugar, and nutmeg. One cup each of dried cranberries and currants is used, and all that dried fruit keeps the muffins very moist. Just before they go in the oven, each muffin is topped with cinnamon sugar. I used turbinado sugar in the topping which added a little crunch. Freshly grated nutmeg in the batter makes the muffins deliciously fragrant. In fact, the nutmeg is the secret to these muffins’ success in my opinion. The warm spice flavor mingles with the nuttiness of the whole wheat and oats and delivers all the goodness you expect based on the aroma.

When Kurt tried them, he requested them warm from the oven every day. They were great for breakfast and equally enjoyable for dessert last night.