Chocolate Chip Banana Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

This is absolutely a mish-mash recipe. I even had two open on my computer, neither of which I committed to following in any way. One for oatmeal pumpkin muffins and one for banana muffins. Then I mixed them, used applesauce instead of something else, and threw in some chocolate chips. Muffins are great bases for whatever you feel like cooking with or just getting out of your pantry/fridge. Don't be afraid.

At any rate, these ended up being pretty good. I calculated the calories to be around 110 each (without chocolate chips). They were definitely not dry at all, and I love anything with bananas cooked in because they get so sweet and caramely.

I can't totally remember what I did, so here's the recipe for pumpkin oatmeal muffins with my notes:

1 cup flour [possibly I did 1.5 cups but I can't recall - you can always add more if it looks too wet]
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or apple pie spice or cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves/ginger)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1.25 cups pumpkin [I think I used the full 15 oz can]
1/2 cup milk [I don't think I had/used milk, just a self-serving size cup of applesauce]
2 eggs
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup oats
plus chocolate chips if you're into that
plus sliced bananas if you're into that [I think I used 3?]

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray muffin cups with cooking spray or put in liners.

Whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.

Stir pumpkin puree, milk, eggs, and maple syrup into the dry ingredients until batter is smooth; fold oats into batter. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, filling them to the top.

Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes; set aside to cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Pumpkin Apple Muffins

Who likes substituting and making things up as they go?! I do. Whenever I make muffins, I throw a bunch of stuff in there, just to use up ingredients that are on their way out and to get interesting flavor combinations tested out.

I honestly can't remember what recipe I used for these, so here's one I found that looks about right, and then I just added in some diced apples because why not? Also there this SK recipe, so I'm sure that's delicious as well.

Our adopted kitty, Jonesy. He's aggressively cuddly and hangs out with me while I cook. He's the best behaved street cat on earth.

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp + 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (usually cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, cloves, etc)
2 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp salt
3 cups sugar
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (I likely used melted butter instead - I prefer fats & sugars whose existence I understand)
1/2 cup water or orange juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil, and water in a mixing bowl. Beat until blended.
Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture - stir just until combined.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. 

Muffin Bread Pudding

As I did not eat up all my muffins from the other day and they got sort of stale, I wanted to see if I could make them into a bread pudding, which I've never made before. According to Joy of Cooking, you can't make muffins into bread pudding, so that made me sad, but I decided to google it before I gave up. SK didn't have anything, but I found a couple random blogs that had recipes, and this one seemed to match what I wanted to do most similarly. The cinnamon in it was really nice, so I would maybe add a bit more next time because I liked it so much. Looking over the recipe, I really didn't even use a lot of what it had, but I got the basics and it turned out pretty well. More cinnamon would have been good, and I guess I could have cooked it for longer, but it was tasty. Especially with some Blue Bell homemade vanilla ice cream, which will always be my love of loves for simple desserts.

1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups milk
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp almond extract [didn't have]
6 muffins, crumbled (about 4-5 cups) [I only have 5 muffins]
2 Tbl butter, melted [didn't use and didn't even see until now...]
1/2 cup raisins (optional) [didn't use]
1/2 cup slivered almonds, chopped [didn't use]

1. preheat oven to 350 f. spray or lightly butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
2. beat together sugar, eggs, and milk in a medium size bowl.
3. beat in cinnamon, nutmeg, and almond extract.
4. add crumbled muffins to the pan.  carefully toss with optional raisins.
5. pour melted butter over muffins.  add milk mixture and sprinkle with almonds.
6. bake for about 45 minutes until top is crusty and pudding looks set and is firm to the touch.
7. cut into slices while in the pan.  serve plain or with suggested accompaniments.

blueberry peach muffins

My mom bought some fruit while she was in town visiting me (yay for mommies), but sadly, I couldn't eat it all before it started getting too soft for my liking. So I baked it! Best solution to handling overripe fruit. This time I went with a Joy of Cooking basic muffin recipe and threw in the rest of my blueberries and two peaches (which I know are peaches thanks to some helpful identifying advice from a friend - peaches, nectarines, apricots, my brain can't keep them straight). They weren't the best muffins I've ever made - I used half and half (my mom bought it and I'll never use it otherwise), so maybe that was why? Or maybe because I used oil instead of butter, and I don't love oil? Or probably I overmixed it because it was smooth. I'm not sure but I just wasn't crazy about the texture. The fruit is yummy, though, of course, and my friends liked them enough to eat them, so problem solved.

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder (make sure its not clumpy, I keep finding them in my finished products)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp grated or ground nutmeg (I also add some cinnamon and cardamom, why not?)
2 large eggs
1 cup milk or cream
2/3 cup sugar or brown sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup (1/2 to 1 stick) butter, melted, or 1/4 to 1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg together. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk, sugar, butter/oil, and vanilla. Mix together with a few light strokes, just until the batter is moistened but not overmixed and smooth. Add in cut up fruit. Pour into muffin tin.

Bake for 17 minutes (longer with fruit) until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm with some butter, and it's delicious!

I've found that when I keep baked goods, it is actually better to not seal them fully because they get soggy sometimes. But it depends on a lot of things. 

Strawberry Muffins

I had some strawberries that weren't great looking, but I wasn't ready to throw them out. Of course, I was tempted to make my favorite strawberry summer cake recipe, but I said, no, Katherine, you will try something else. I didn't get too inventive, but I decided to use the Joy of Cooking's basic muffin recipe with a few alterations and just mix in the strawberries. So far, baking with strawberries has yielded delicious results, and Galaxy Cafe sells their strawberry muffins like hotcakes, so I figured it would be pretty yummy. I figured correctly. Warm from the oven, with a bit of salted butter, and I was a happy camper.

2 cups all purpose flour [I used 1 cup regular, 1 cup whole wheat]
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup milk or cream [I used fat free]
2/3 cup sugar or light brown sugar [I did 1/3 cup of each]
1/4 to 1/2 cup melted butter  (1/2 to 1 stick) or vegetable oil [I did about 1/4 cup of each]
1 tbsp vanilla [I still haven't remembered to buy more, so I didn't use any]

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together. In another bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, milk, and butter/oil together lightly. Mix the dry into the wet ingredients with a few strokes until moistened. Do not over mix, the batter should not be smooth [whoops, mine was]. Divide into prepared muffin cups.

Bake about 17 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and serve warm with butter (yes, you should). 

applesauce cake

I haven't baked anything in a couple weeks, so I was sort of itching for it a bit yesterday. I decided to do something a little different and I.... well, I made a video. On the one hand, it was fun to make and edit and what not. On the other hand, it is a little embarrassing - to have made it, to see myself in it, to watch myself stumble a bit. But oh well, I think I'll live. And when I try it again, hopefully it is all a little better. It is definitely longer than it probably needs to be, so next time I'll work on getting shorter clips to put together to use so it doesn't drag on as long (unless you're just into me chatting away).

[video is still saving/exporting/uploading, so I'll add it in later]

In terms of the recipe itself, I liked it. The final product doesn't have much of a strong flavor at all, but it is good. Like I said in the video (when I very gracefully tried it - note: learn how to eat on camera better), it tastes like a simple breakfast cake. If you wanted to add a bit more spice to it to bump up the flavor, that could be good, and as the recipe suggests, you can add in some nuts or raisins to make it a little more exciting. Or you can frost it and make it more of a sweeter dessert cupcake.

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
(1/4 tsp ground all-spice)
(1/4 tsp ground nutmeg)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup white or packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 cup lightly sweetened or unsweetened thick applesauce
(1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans)
(1 cup raisins or dried currants)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Have all the ingredients out at room temperature.

Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, spices, and salt together.

In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. Beat in the sugar for 3-5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Then beat in the egg.

On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the applesauce in 2 parts, beating after each addition until just incorporated. Then mix in nuts/raisins if desired.

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean:
12 muffins for 15-20 min
8-in square pan for 25-30 min
8-in fluted tube pan for 40-45 min
8.5 x 4.5-in loaf pan for 60-70 min

Frost with caramel frosting, quick butterscotch frosting, or quick brown butter icing, or dust with confectioner's sugar.

Nutritional information (for 1/12 of recipe)
200 calories
8g total fat
31g total carbs
1g protein

pumpkin muffins

These were a special request of the boyfriend, and I just can't help but bake him whatever he asks for. I wasn't sure if I would like them much, but they were actually really delicious. I tweaked the recipe a bit, but overall its similar. It's a pretty moist muffin with a lot of pumpkin in it, so the texture is a bit different. I'm becoming more of a fan of allrecipes as a source for my recipes.

Here is the recipe for 12 muffins and I went ahead and changed it to what I did


1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
15 oz (1 can) pumpkin
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup chopped walnuts [I only put this in 6 of them]


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Grease three 12 cup muffin pans, or line with paper muffin liners.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, pumpkin, and applesauce, until smooth. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and stir thoroughly to make a smooth batter. Stir the walnuts into the batter. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

lemon glaze muffins

My first recipe that I made from one of my new cookbooks! I got this recipe out of the Ina Garten book, Barefoot Contessa at Home. She called it the lemon yogurt cake. I, as per usual, made it in muffin tins because I just prefer the serving size. I also think I may have forgotten to add the vegetable oil, but I'm not sure. Anyway, it turned out pretty tasty. I had my sister take some home to her roommates. It's handy having people to share my experiments with! I also skipped part of the recipe (something to pour over after it baked before the glaze) since it seemed like more sugar then I needed in my life.

I also started using this iphone app - My Fitness Pal. Through that (though also many other apps/websites offer this), I track what I eat every day, and they have an area where I can enter recipes. That way, I put in the ingredients and serving size and can see the nutritional information for each thing I make and then eat. I decided to start posting the nutritional info at the bottom of recipes I make (though it is based on my specific yogurt, butter, milk, etc used). I really like the app. I find it pretty user friendly and they have a barcode option, where you can scan the barcode of the food and most of the time it is in their database, which I really like because then I know its exactly the same product I ate.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt [I used nonfat because that's what I had]
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil

glaze:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either grease a bread pan and line the bottom with parchment paper or grease a muffin tin.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into one bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Carefully fold the vegetable oil into the batter.

Pour the batter into the pans and then bake for about 50 minutes (less for muffins, just watch), until cake tester comes out clean.

After they have cooled, mix the confectioner's sugar and lemon juice and pour over them. I found that I needed more than 2 tbsp to make it the right consistency.

Nutritional information (for one of 12 muffins)
266 calories
10.7 g total fat
46.3 mg cholesterol
39 g total carbs
3.9 g protein

cornbread muffins

I haven't been on SK much lately, and I didn't cook this week because I was too sick/tired on Monday and luckily was saved by an event with food. I looked on Tuesday to see what she had posted lately, and I saw this sour cream cornbread recipe. It was interesting to me because it had some spicy pepper in it, and while I am not a spicy fan, I thought it sounded good and not overwhelming. Today after school, I decided that I was just going to have a low key night at home, and that meant cooking. The recipe is very easy to make and was done so quickly and easily that I went on to make cupcakes just so that I felt like I had my fill of cooking for the week. I keep slipping down to the kitchen to heat up another muffin and add some slightly salted butter to it.

SK note: Aleppo is a Turkish bright red pepper flake with a mild-to-moderate kick and a bit of tartness. I bought mine from Penzey’s in Grand Central. If you don’t have aleppo, a regular red pepper flake, cayenne or hot paprika, in a much smaller quantity, would be a nice substitution.

1 cup (125 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (145 grams) yellow cornmeal
2 tablespoon (25 grams) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon dried aleppo flakes [I sprinkled some cayenne in, as seen in the photo]
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup buttermilk [I made it using milk with a bit of white wine vinegar splashed in and left to sit a min]
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Generously butter a 9×5-inch loaf pan, or coat it with a nonstick spray.

Whisk flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, aleppo and salt together in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, sour cream, buttermilk and olive oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ones, mixing until just barely combined. Spread the batter in your prepared pan and bake for 22 to 25 minutes. [I put mine into a cupcake tin because I prefer my food to be already in portion sizes, and I think it took roughly the same amount of time, but just keep an eye on it.] A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

chocolate cake muffins, take 2

Last time I made chocolate cake muffins, that was the intentention of the recipe, and the recipe was sort of a yogurt snack cake. This time, I used SK's everyday chocolate cake recipe that I had made before as a loaf cake and cooked it in muffin cups so that I could serve them individually more easily. I had my first boys movie night with my students (and a male teacher came too), third movie night total (and last one tomorrow), so I wanted to make it easy for them to grab. I think it turned out well, but next time I will not fill the cups as full as I did. Instead of making a half recipe, I think I will just cook it in two batches because making them individually vs. the loaf also cut the cooking time in half.

The recipe:

1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (6 7/8 ounces) firmly packed light brown sugar - I used dark brown because that's what's available
1/2 cup (4 ounces) granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk - I used regular whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract - I only have powdered available
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (2 5/8 ounces) Dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325°F.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat well, then the milk and vanilla.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt together right into your wet ingredients. Stir together with a spoon until well-blended but do not overmix (I actually just used the mixer again because I am lazy, and it seemed fine). Scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended.
I put my little muffin paper cups into my muffin tin (these were an exciting buy at the American table at the International Women's Bazaar the other weekend) and poured the batter into 12 cups. As mentioned above, mine overflowed a bit, so I think using 2/3 or 1/2 of the batter in each would work out a little better. If you make it all in one pan, it should cook for 60 - 70 minutes. I think it took mine about 35 minutes to cook in the muffin tins. Either way, just stick a toothpick in to test, and when it comes out clean, they're ready. I dusted mine with confectioner's sugar before serving.

The boys loved them and so did my roommates, and 20 minutes after they were out of the oven, all 12 were gone and I didn't eat one.

chocolate cake muffins

Second movie night with my girls tonight, and, in addition to carrots, apples, chips, pretzels, and popcorn, I again made the thick chewy oatmeal cookies by SK (in my other move night snacks entry) and tried out another SK chocolate cake recipe for little cake muffins. The girls watched Penelope and I baked, and I think they had a good time. They are just too precious - they brought me chocolates and a traditional Bulgarian juice drink (er, not too delicious).

Chocolate Cake Muffins:

As far as the recipe, I had a few different ingredients, but I think it turned out pretty much as expected. I also accidentally added all the oil with the chocolate and then later realized it only was supposed to be half, but it didn't seem to be a major crisis. I made 12 little mini muffins and 12 regular muffins.


7 ounces (200 grams) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
1/2 cup (125 ml) plain, whole-milk yogurt (I didn't have whole milk yogurt, it seemed fine)
1 cup (200 grams) sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used a vanilla sugar because we don't have extract here)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (we don't have this so I didn't use any)
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt (I used regular salt)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper cupcake liners or lightly butter the pan (um, I rubbed it in oil and it sort of worked).

2. In a heatproof bowl set over simmering water, melt the chocolate with 1/4 cup of the oil. Once melted and smooth, remove from the heat (I did this in the microwave on high for a few seconds on and off, and stirred in between).

3. In another bowl, mix the remaining 1/4 cup oil with yogurt, sugar, eggs and vanilla and almond extracts.

4. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the yogurt mixture. Stir lightly a couple times, then add the melted chocolate and stir until just smooth.

5. Divide the batter among the muffin or springform cups and bake for 20 to 25 minutes (less for mini-springforms, more for muffins, though your oven may vary) or until they feel barely set in the middle and a tester or toothpick comes out clean.

6. Remove from the oven and cool. I dusted mine with powdered sugar before serving.