Banana Cream Cheese Breakfast Cakes

Oh look, another muffin recipe. Ha!  Sorry, they're just about my favorite things on this earth.  Thus, I go out in search of new muffin recipes all the time.  As a matter of fact, I should probably think about branching out to include cranberries or other kinds of fruit in my muffins.  Incidentally, that's what brought me to this next recipe. 

Banana breads and banana-things aren't always my favorite - although I love eating bananas by themselves.  However, when I saw this recipe I thought it would be fun.  Plus, I'm actually combining two different recipes to bring this to you. 

The recipe for cream cheese filling can be found here.  The banana muffin part is a recipe I found in the latest Food Network Magazine (May 2012 issue), compliments to Gary Danko.

BANANA CREAM CHEESE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups plus 3 tblsp cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 stick plus 2 tblsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup plus 6 tblsp sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs, room temperature
3 very ripe bananas, mashed

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl.

3. Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla with the paddle attachments on medium speed until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Beat in the mashed bananas until combined.  Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until almost combined, then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just combined (do not overmix).

4. Drop a small scoop of batter for each muffin.  Drop in about 1 tsp of the cream cheese mixture for each muffin then scoop on the remaining batter over the cream cheese mixture (cups should be about 3/4 full).

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the cake (not the filling) comes out clean, 20-35 minutes. Transfer the pan to a rack and let cool about 15 minutes, then remove the cakes to the rack to cool completely.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The directions for the cream cheese mixture in the magazine seemed so involved, I went back to the cream cheese filling I used for other muffins.  It was a good decision, I like the way they came out.  I love biting into muffins or cupcakes only to find a surprise in the middle.  Yum!

Oh, and I didn't bake the muffins all that long... probably only 20 minutes - max.  If I baked them for 35 they would have burned.  So my recommendation is to check them at 20 minutes and see if they need more time or not.

Oatmeal Cinnamon Muffins

Yet another experiment with muffins.  I chose this recipe because I'm looking to get rid of a box of Quaker Oats that I've had hanging around.  I only use that stuff to bake with - I prefer to eat steel cut oats (they're SO good!).  Thus when I saw this recipe, I hopped on the opportunity to use more Quaker oats.

This recipe is adapted from this one found on Allrecipes.

OATMEAL CINNAMON MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in eggs.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and baking soda; stir into oatmeal mixture just until moistened.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

PERSONAL NOTES:

To be perfectly honest, I'm not a huge fan of these. They're good when they're right out of the oven, otherwise they get super chewy real fast.  So make these if you're planning to eat/serve them all quick.

In terms of the recipe itself, I almost never keep buttermilk on hand.  So this is where I make use of the seemingly unending supply of fat free Greek yogurt.  By the way, not all Greek yogurt is created equal.  My two favorite brands are Fage and Chobani. 

If you like chewy, rustic flavored and textured muffins, then give this one a whirl. 

Cinnamon & Sugar Muffins

I really like cinnamon.  Looking back at some of my older posts, many of them are cinnamon something-or-others.  Of all the cinnamon baked goodies I've made, I can't say there's been a bad one in there.  Kinda like pumpkin, cinnamon anything is just a wonderful thing.

Enter these new muffins into the picture: Cinnamon & Sugar Muffins.  Of course I had to give them a go.  The verdict: they're really good!  Definitely a keeper recipe.  One important thing about these muffins that make them a particular favorite is that they're low in calories.  Each muffin is approximately 155 calories.  Not only that, they're DELICIOUS.  And as with muffins or scones in general, these are convenient to take with you and have on the go.  As a yoga teacher, I'm always on the go.  Thus, these guys work great for me.

I adapted the recipe from this one found on Simpledailyrecipes.

CINNAMON & SUGAR MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup non-dairy milk (soy, almond, coconut, etc.)

1/2 cup applesauce

1 tablespoon distilled vinegar

2 cups flour

2/3 cups sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

For the topping

• 1/2 cup melted butter in one bowl
• 1/2 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon in another bowl

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease bottoms of 12-muffin cup pan.

Beat milk, applesauce and vinegar in a medium bowl. Add in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt all at once. Stir just until flour is moistened. Batter will be lumpy; do not over stir.

Use a large cookie dough scooper to fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake until golden brown, 16 to 20 minutes. Immediately remove from pan and carefully roll hot muffin tops in melted butter, then in cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Store cooled muffins in a container with a loose fitting lid and enjoy them later on in your day.

PERSONAL NOTES:

These would be wonderful vegan muffins had I followed the directions as stated.  But you know me, I have to go switching things up.  In place of the non-dairy milk (for which I usually use coconut milk), I used fat free Greek yogurt.  Let's just say that's my all-time favorite go-to ingredient.  It's just so versatile.

Banana Oat Muffins

What do you do when you have a few very-ripe bananas that are on the verge of becoming compost?  You find recipes to make that use these bananas.  Banana bread came to mind but I've been trying to move away from so much bread lately.  Thus, I found the recipe I made the other day (Layered Chocolate Banana Pudding Pie) and this one here for the banana oat muffins.

 It was the perfect thing to make on a weekend morning when I didn't have too much time to bake.  They're yummy and moist.  I would definitely make these again!

BANANA OAT MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour 

3/4 cup whole wheat flour 

1 cup rolled oats 

1/2 cup sugar 

2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt 

1 egg 

3/4 cup milk 

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup mashed bananas

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the egg. Add the milk, oil and vanilla to the egg and stir everything together. Add mashed banana to the wet mixture and combine. Slowly add the dry flour mixture to the banana mixture. Stir until just combined. Divide the batter into 12 lined muffin cups. Bake muffins for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.*

*Please see personal notes below about baking temp & time

PERSONAL NOTES:

*I reduced the baking heat to 375 and baked for about 15-17 minutes.  Even then, I discovered that the muffins were cooked a little bit more than I would have liked.  In the future, I'll reduce the heat further to 350 and check at 15 minutes to see how it's faring.  Baking for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees is just too much.

Overall, this was an easy recipe to follow.  It's actually one of the reasons I like making muffins.  They're quick and simple. 

Substitutions:  I used applesauce for the oil, Egg Beaters for the egg and skim milk for the milk.  Let me tell you, I always give fresh muffins to my husband and he loves them; he never knows that I make the subsititutions.  I think it's funny.  But really, I think it's a smart way to lighten the recipe and still be able to enjoy a yummy treat.

Coffee-Coffee Cake Muffins.

That's right.  That would be coffee-flavored coffee cake muffins.  Oh and by the way; Happy Easter to everyone!

This morning my husband asked for french toast for his breakfast.  Since I pretty much only make it once a year, I decided that today would be that day.  Although, I didn't have the proper bread for the french toast.  Real french toast should only be made with Challah bread.  Anyhow, I digress.

This being Easter I thought it would be nice to come up with a new muffin recipe.  Well, maybe not new as it was thought of by someone else who put it in a book.  But I saw the muffin recipe and thought it would be nice to try a new variation of a muffin I've made several different ways.

COFFEE-COFFEE CAKE MUFFINS

This recipe comes to me courtesy of Muffins: Over 200 Recipes and Variations to Accompany Any Meal by Francesca DiPaolo

INGREDIENTS:

Muffins:
1 cup butter
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream or milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder

Filling/Topping:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a muffin pan (either lining with paper liners or using Pam to spray).

In a medium bowl, blend the eggs, sour cream (or milk), vanilla and instant coffee powder. 

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar and baking powder.

Cut in the softened butter.

Blend all until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan.  Top with 1 tablespoon reserved brown sugar mixture and then with the remaining batter.

In a small bowl, mix the filling ingredients.  Sprinkle the tops generously.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pan, and cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm.


PERSONAL NOTES:

Let's see...what did I do differently this time?

No sour cream, I used fat free Greek yogurt.  Absolutely no difference in texture or taste.  So good.

And instead of using 1 cup of butter, I used 1/2 cup butter and then 1/2 cup of applesauce to lighten it up a little bit.

Finally, I didn't have pecans or walnuts (although I'm sure either would have tasted wonderful) so I used raw hazlenuts instead.  I have to say, they really added a nice chewiness to the texture.  So good.

These are a keeper - yummy and easy to make. 

Sour Cream Coffee Cake Muffins

Yes, I've said before I'd be moving away from the simple carbs.  And yes, here I am again baking those evil sweets.  It's official; I can't let go of these things.  I'll just have to learn with having these in moderation.  Life without baked goods is not a life worth living.  Much.  Besides, I really enjoy making these things.  It's too much fun waiting to see how they all come out and imagining what the muffins will taste like. 

So I decided to go for these sour cream coffee cake muffins.  The original recipe can be found here. 

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

TOPPING:

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and beat until combined. Pour half the batter into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle half of topping over batter. Add remaining batter and topping. Bake at 325 degrees F for 40 minutes or until done.

PERSONAL NOTES:

For starters, I omitted the pecans and used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  I always believed Greek yogurt would be a sufficient substitute and I was right.  It worked great!

Next, as you can see by the photos, I made muffins instead of a full sized coffee cake.  I like making muffins because you can freeze the uneaten portions and have them when you want :)

Cinnamon Muffins. A yummy part of any breakfast.

One of my favorite things about weekend mornings home with my husband is making breakfast.  He'll ask me what I'm making and I either thumb through the recipe book or troll online until I come across something that strikes our fancy.  This weekend was no different.  Part of the fun is discovering the ingredients in my cupboard; I try not to plan too much in advance so the weekend baked goods are spontaneous and extra special (at least I think so).

So of course I was pretty psyched when I discovered I had all the ingredients to make these cinnamon muffins.  (Original recipe can be found here from allrecipes.com).

They were easy to make and came out just fine.  I've had other muffins I enjoyed more, but these really did hit the spot just fine. 

CINNAMON MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup skim milk

2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons margarine, melted

TOPPING:

1 tablespoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons margarine, melted

DIRECTIONS:

 In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and allspice. Combine the egg, milk and margarine; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon into greased or paper-lined mini muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-14 minutes or until muffins test done. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon. Brush the tops of warm muffins with margarine; sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar.

Makes 24 mini muffins.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I halved the recipe and it came out to 5 large muffins.  I was happy with that.  With just me and my husband at home, we simply didn't need more (our waistlines certainly don't!).

Snickerdoodle Muffins. Oh yeah.

There's something about cinnamon and sugar together that makes me smile.  Actually, I smile about a lot of different food combinations but these two take me back to my childhood.  To the good things in my childhood.  It's probably safe to say I'll always enjoy these two flavor combinations. 

Naturally, this looked too good to pass by when I saw it on Pinterest.  Ever since I joined that site a couple weeks ago, I cannot stop trolling for all kinds of yummy goodness that people have to share.  A lot of what I find I call "food porn".  It's just that good - at least to look at.  That said, I had to give this recipe a test drive. 

I've made snickerdoodle cookies and blondie bars so it only makes sense to try these guys out too.

Original recipe can be found here. 


SNICKERDOODLE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2 ¼ cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup buttermilk

For the Topping:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line muffin cups with muffin liners. (Do not use cooking spray.)
In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cream of tarter, nutmeg, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla extract. Beat in half of the dry ingredients. Beat in the sour cream and buttermilk. Beat in remaining dry ingredients until just incorporated (batter will be soft).
To make the topping, in a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Using an ice cream or large cookie scooper, drop the scoop of batter into the bowl with the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the dough with the mixture and roll it around until it is covered completely in cinnamon sugar. Place the ball into the muffin liner. Repeat with remaining batter. Sprinkle the leftover cinnamon sugar onto the tops the muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Set on wire rack to cool slightly, about 5 minutes. Remove muffins from tin and serve warm.

Makes 16 muffins.

PERSONAL NOTES:
I made a few changes to these.  For starters, I didn't have any buttermilk so I improvised. In place of the buttermilk I used cream cheese.  It worked out great!  The muffins are still light, fluffy and soft.

The directions state to drop scoops of batter into the cinnamon/sugar mixture but I found this very difficult.  I dropped in a scoop and it kinda went all over the place.  So instead, I scooped batter into the paper liners then I scooped smaller amounts of cinnamon/sugar and placed them on top of the batter.  I made sure the batter was covered and that was that.  I put them in the oven.  Of course, coming out the other end, some of the sugar topping baked off onto the muffin pan.  It made it a little challenging to clean, but no big deal otherwise.  The muffins looked and tasted great.
Oh - I also substituted brown sugar for the granulated sugar.  I like it better that way.

Blueberry Muffins (with Streusel)

Another Saturday morning I had the luxury of spending with my husband, rather than running off to teach a yoga class.  Since neither of us had the drive to trudge up the street for freshly made bagels, I volunteered to make blueberry muffins.  I made them 3 different ways; sans blueberries, with blueberries and blueberries with a cinnamon-sugar streusel topping.

The recipe is based on this one from food.com

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS (with some STREUSEL thrown in)

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup butter or ½ cup margarine , at room temp

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup milk

2 ½ cups fresh blueberries or 2 ½ cups frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
 

Heat oven to 375°.

Grease 18 regular-size muffin cups (or 12 large size muffins) 

In bowl, mix butter until creamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating after each.

Beat in vanilla, baking powder and salt

With spoon, fold in half of flour then half of milk into batter; repeat.

Fold in blueberries.

Spoon into muffin cups.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown and springy to touch.

Makes 18 muffins.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The original recipe called for granulated sugar and nutmeg as a topping.  I decided to go for a streusel-type topping.  While it tastes good, it looks far from perfect.  I think I put too much butter in it so it made the cinnamon-sugar mix melt quite a bit. 

My topping mix: 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tbl butter

That ought to do it in terms of the amount of butter.

(as you can see in this picture, LOTS of butter! Probably too much...)

Cheese, Tomato and Basil Muffins

Again, this is a recipe I wish I could say was mine, but it's not.  Of course it attracted my attention and of course I had to try it out.  It's a good dinner muffin - just beware that it has a pretty strong flavor so you may not want to serve it with anything too overpowering.  They also have a wonderful consistency that I can't seem to put my finger on.  They're chewy in a non-bready-way, but they're good - really, really good.  And they'd be mighty tasty with some butter spread on them too.  Just something to think about ;-)

CHEESE, TOMATO & BASIL MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2/3 cup self-rising flour

pinch of salt

1/3 cup & 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese

4 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped

2 tbsp chopped basil

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

butter to serve

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil 8 muffin tin holes. In a bowl combine flour, salt, cornmeal, cheese, tomatoes and basil. In a separate bowl beat egg, milk and oil. Mix dry and wet ingredients, divide the batter between the muffin holes and scatter over the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve with the butter.
PERSONAL NOTES:
For starters, this recipe made about 10 muffins, not 8.  Be prepared to have more batter.  I also didn't use sundried tomatoes in oil.  Frankly, it wasn't missed.  I didn't have them with butter either, but I'm sure they'd be mighty tasty with it.

Oh, they're only about 145 calories per muffin.  Sweet!

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Muffins

What more can I say about pumpkin?  I simply love the stuff and it's versatility.  You can do so much with it.  I mean, you can have it as dessert, make it as a bread, have it in soup or as a main dish.  So many options.  And although pumpkin is a winter squash I'll be eating it pretty much all year.  Plus, since you all know how much I love muffins as either a breakfast food on the go or as a midday snack, I had to try these out...

PUMPKIN CHOCOLATE SWIRL MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 egg

3/4 cup egg substitute

1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin 

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

In a mixing bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. In another bowl, combine egg, egg substitute, pumpkin, applesauce and oil; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips. Coat muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray; fill two-thirds full with batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

PERSONAL NOTES:

The recipe originally states to use chocolate chips.  Something in my mind made me think that melting the chocolate first and making chocolate swirls would be a little more fun, more whimsical.  It tastes absolutely fine.  My only recommendation with making swirls is mix the melted chocolate with about 1/2 cup of the batter first.  Since it's just the melted chocolate, it has a different consistency in the muffin.  As I said, still yummy, just different.  Next time I'll be mixing it with the batter first. 

Super yummy!

(Original recipe can be found here from allrecipes.com)

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins?  Yeah, there was no way I was avoiding these guys.  Holy Moly - they're yummy.  The muffins are very light and fluffy - almost cake-like.  The amount of chocolate chips is just the right amount - not too overpowering.  And that's coming from someone who LOVES chocolate.  This was perfect. 

At first I was a little unsure because the dough seemed a little bit on the gummy side - like it had too much flour in it or something, but really, they came out just fine.  Even the next day the consistency and freshness remained unsullied.  So wonderful.  In terms of grabbing this and eating on the go, they're probably better than some of the of the other muffins I've made.  There's nothing sticky on the tops to create a mess (like if you put one in a sandwich bag for "on the go").  They're just easy.  And the batch only took about 10 minutes to whip up.  Easy all around.  Plus, they're only about 160 calories each!

You can find the original recipe here from allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg, room temperature

1/2 cup cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup white sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups or use paper liners.

Beat cream cheese and butter together until fluffy. Beat in egg, cream and vanilla. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into cream cheese mixture until flour is moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups filling them 3/4 full.

Bake in preheated oven until tops are golden, about 20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins*
PERSONAL NOTES:

As I mentioned above, you really don't need to smother the muffins in chocolate chips. They have just enough in what the recipe calls for. Also, I used skim milk where it called for cream and Egg Beaters for the egg. YUM!

*Actually, they made more like 14...

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Back in early December, I went to dinner with a girlfriend of mine for some good Japanese food.  While I love Japanese in general, my friend went on to insist that I try the tempura cheesecake for dessert.  Really??? Fried cheesecake?  I know that somewhere in the middle of the country people are already frying up sticks of butter, but did I really want to have tempura cheesecake? 

Yes, I really did need to try the tempura cheesecake. It was outrageous.  It was warm, it was creamy and cheesecakey with a typical (and yes, absolutely delicious) tempura shell.

The reason I bring up the tempura cheesecake is because when I tried these Pumpkin Streusel Muffins, the inner cream cheese filling reminded me of the tempura cheesecake.  You really need to try it to know what I'm getting at.  And while the muffins are good at room tempurature, they are MUCH better warmed up.  Then again, most things are...right?

So here's the next muffin experimentation.  The original recipe can be found here from allrecipes.com.  It was pretty easy to make.  The combination of flavors - pumpkin and cream cheese - and textures - brown sugar and moist cake - make this a hit. 

PUMPKIN STREUSEL MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup canned or cooked pumpkin

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into cubes

STREUSEL:

 

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon cold butter

1/4 cup finely chopped nuts

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. In another bowl, beat the egg, milk, pumpkin and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups one-fourth full. Place one cream cheese cube in the center of each muffin cup; top with remaining batter. In a bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add nuts. Sprinkle over batter. Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

PERSONAL NOTES:

When adding the cream cheese to the muffins, I used reduced fat.  Plus, I added 1/2 egg and 1 tsp sugar and blended them till creamy.  I felt it added a little extra "umph" to the mix.

 

I also substituted unsweetened applesauce for the oil.  Actually, I used 1/4 cup applesauce plus 1 tbls.  Then added 1 tbls oil.  For some reason muffins come together much nicer if it has even a little bit of oil.  So I add just that small amount. 

The streusel topping became rather gooey when baked.  A lot of it stuck to the pan which made me soak it for some time before scrubbing it off.  But by then it wiped clean pretty easily.

Pound Cake Muffins

Who says muffins can't be a good breakfast?  I don't know if "good" necessarily equals "nutritious", but these pound cake muffins will do the trick first thing in the morning (or in between teaching class!).

This is a recipe I've been using for at least ten years.  Although, today is the first time I've made them in about 8 years. Let me tell you why:  They are SO good I just about can't stop eating them.  The only way to stop is to not start.  Therefore, no pound cake muffins in 8 years.  However, I was thinking of things to make that I already knew - rather than always experimenting with new items.  And thus, these scrumptious muffins came to mind.

Recipe is courtesy of Muffins: Over 200 Recipes and Variations to Accompany Any Meal by Francesca DiPaolo.  Thank you Francesca!!!

POUND CAKE MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter, softened
4 large eggs
1 tbls vanilla extract
2 cups sour cream
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375 and prepare a baking pan (either lightly greasing a muffin pan or using paper liners).

In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter.  Blend in the eggs, vanilla and sour cream.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Combine the two mixtures just enough to blend.  Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the muffins from the pan, and cool on a wire rack.  Serve warm.

Makes 12 muffins.


PERSONAL NOTES:

This is not one of those recipes that I "lighten" up by substituting applesauce for oil or anything like that.  I make this recipe exactly as it is written.  And it is sooooo outrageously delicious.

One thing you should note is that while the recipe states it makes 12 muffins, these are LARGE muffins.  I usually half the ingredients and still end up with about 8 muffins or so.  As you can tell by the pictures the muffins are fairly large and in charge.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

I tried this this week for the first time and while I think they're tasty, I also think they're lacking more of a chocolate "bite".  They'll have to have another go and either with more cocoa or more melted dark chocolate.  Oh, and the chips I placed on the muffin tops all sank in as they baked.  Can't remember if I've had that happen to me before.  Odd.  Although, it was a nice little surprise to bite into the muffin and catch a bit of milk chocolatey heaven.

Anyway, they looked really good...

The original recipe can be found here. 

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, sour cream, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

PERSONAL NOTES:

I substituted applesauce for the oil and milk chocolate chips in place of the semi sweet.  These definitely need more than milk chocolate chips!  While the taste is nice, I felt like it could use more of a chocolate punch.