Do You Know the Muffin Man?

I don’t know why but the other day I just had a craving for chocolate chip muffins and my dad had bought jumbo cranberry orange, and chocolate-chocolate chip muffins and even though they were good once they were warmed up they just didn’t satisfy me. So, the past couple of days I have been looking through chocolate chip muffin recipes and I would either find pumpkin chocolate chip muffins (which I think would taste good but I refuse to use pumpkin before October), blueberry muffins (I don’t like blueberries) or banana chocolate chip muffins and I don’t like banana either. But finally I found this recipe for regular chocolate chip muffins and I like them a lot! It's moist and light. It's hard to get it all out of the liner but I think if I had cooked it a little longer I wouldn't have that problem. The chocolate chips are also really good, it adds a nice little surprise in the end :). Another bright side to this is these muffins are pretty healthy for you too! 

I would also like to mention this is the first time I've ever made muffins and I think I did a pretty good job :D The muffins probably could have been cooked for a little longer but I was too impatient and wanted them out of the oven.  8/10

The batter looked so smooth and creamy :)

Batter filled cups

now they are cooling, waiting so be consumed me me!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

slightly adapted from Shannon's webside Cooking Done Light

makes 12 muffins (I got 12 muffins plus 8 mini miffins)

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour (1 cup whole wheat flour)

2/3 cups all-pupose flour (1 cup all-pupose flour)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 whole egg + 1 egg white

1 cup plain, fat free yogurt (I used Dannon's fat free, plain greek yogurt)

2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup skim milk (I used 2% milk)

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and line muffin tin with paper liners
2. 
   
   In a large bowl combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
3. 
   
   In another bowl whisk together eggs, yogurt, oil, milk, sugar, and vailla extract. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and sirt until everything is smooth and moist. Fold in the chocolate chips
4. 
   
   Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake 20-25 minutes, or until goldenbrown on the top and when tooth pick is inserted it come out clean.

(estimated) Nutrition Facts

per serving (1 muffin or 2 mini muffins):

Calories 154.2 Total Fat 5.3 g Saturated Fat 2.2 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g Monounsaturated Fat 1.1 g Cholesterol 14.8 mg Sodium 231.2 mg Potassium 19.7 mg Total Carbohydrate 22.9 g Dietary Fiber 1.0 g Sugars 11.4 g Protein 4.4 g

Monster PB and Oatmeal Cookies

So a few weekends ago...or maybe last weekend, my dad got this recipe from one of his friends from high school over facebook and he asked me to make them. I said yeah because oatmeal and peanut butter are just an amazing combination! Well long story short I halved the recipe and I wasn't really measuring correctly and I just went willy nilly with the ingredients and they turned out good but I also omitted the m&ms that were supposed to go in. Then, on Friday my dad tells me that his friend wants me to try them with m&ms and I'm like YEAH! because I wanted to try it again but by then I knew I wouldn't be able to handle half the recipe so I cut it to 1/3 of the recipe and added in the m&ms and by God they are really truly amazing things. (and when you read the full recipe you'll understand why i cut it to 1/3)

little uncooked dough balls :)

the finished product

Monster Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

from my dad's friend, Anne 

makes: too many to count (by thirding the recipe i got 71 cookies and 1 jumbo cookie)

Ingredients

12 eggs (4 eggs)

1 tbsp vanilla extract (1/2 tbsp vanilla extract)

8 tsp baking soda (2 2/3 tsp baking soda)

18 cups oatmeal (6 cups oatmeal)

3 lbs peanut butter (not reduced fat) (1 lbs peanut butter)

2 pounds brown sugar (2/3 lbs brown sugar {about 2.5 cups})

4 cups sugar (1 1/3 cup sugar)

1 lbs margarine (soft) (1/3 lbs {10 tbsp} margarine)

1 lbs chocolate chips (about 1/3 lbs chocolate chips) 

1 lbs m&ms (about half of a 12oz bag of m&ms)

Directions

1. 
   
   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. 
   
   Beat eggs in a HUGE bowl.
3. 
   
   Add remaining ingredients in order (you will definitely be working with your hands...)
4. 
   Roll the dough into about 1 in. round balls and place on an ungreased baking sheet and spread about 1.5in apart. If you like thin and crisp cookies then you can smush them down to create 1.5 in disks.
5. 
   
   Bake for 12-15 minutes (mine came out perfect at 12 minutes)

**side note: cookies freeze well if you want to save them

(estimated) Nutrition Facts

Per Serving (one cookie):

Calories 121.7 Total Fat 5.6 g Saturated Fat 1.4 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.6 g Cholesterol 12.3 mg Sodium 95.0 mg Potassium 21.0 mg Total Carbohydrate 18.1 g Dietary Fiber 1.1 g Sugars 12.8 g Protein 2.6 g

Biscuit Attempt

So last weekend I was shopping for my sister's 15th birthday that is coming up and while I was eating lunch at the food court I saw William Sonoma and I hadn't been there in ages. I know their stuff is pricey but sometimes they have good deals...maybe...right? Well I convinced my mom (it didn't take much) to take a detour from present shopping and go in there. Well after a while of looking through the store (everything was so shiny and pretty... I wanted to buy it all *.*) I found biscuit cutters! I know I could probably find cheaper biscuit cutters somewhere else but it was an impulse buy because I really wanted to make biscuits. I had never done this from scratch, and usually my family buys the ones in a can that I'm afraid to open because I don't like how it bursts open. Well last night I decided I would make biscuits for breakfast and went to Taste of Home and I found this recipe. It sounded pretty good, and I have a ton of flour (whole wheat, all-purpose, and bread flour) that I've been trying to use up because there's like 3 bags and one container full of the stuff. Long story short, many people gave this an awesome review and it had 4 stars :) you can't beat that, so I printed out the recipe and baked them this morning. In the end I didn't really like them as much as I wanted to. they were good just not the best I've ever had (aka the bread rolls at Red Lobster :P yum!). They also didn't rise as much as I expected but that might have to do with the altitude of the mile high state or maybe I just rolled them too thin... 3.5/5

maybe I rolled it out too thin?

I just think this is a cool shoot

you can see my eye...which is kind of creepy, but look how good my biscuits look!

final product

Fluffy Whole Wheat Biscuits

from Taste of Home

makes 12 biscuits (I got 14)

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
1 cup milk (I used 2%)

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt; mix well. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times (whoops I miss read that and though it said minutes... luckily I though that was too long and only did it for 3 minutes). Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

(based on Taste of Home site)
Nutrition Facts:
1 serving (1 each)
 122 calories, 5 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 13 mg cholesterol, 330 mg sodium, 17 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 3 g protein.

...and in the morning, I'm making waffles!

So yesterday my mom told me that she's having her friend over for Labor Day for a brunch because she couldn't find a restaurant that would be open and have a brunch for today (go figure...). Well she asked me to make waffles because i do love making things and it would help her out, so i yes YES!

I usually make waffles and pancakes out of a box mix but lately I've been frustrated with the box mix because the little closey/open tab thing annoys me so i decided to make the waffles from scratch. I remembered that Alton Brown had an episode about making waffles and i wanted to try it out. So, I went to foodnetwork.com and got the Basic Waffle Recipe (only after reading the reviews to see if i should change anything or not even make them).

They were really fun to make and my mom, dad, sister, and mom's co-worker seem to really like them. I haven't eaten them yet because it was too late for breakfast for me, but I might have them for dessert later tonight....if there's any left that is.

the batter :)

I had to hurry with this one because i didn't want it to cook on one side more than the other.

Doesn't it look magnificent?

ta-daaaaa!

Cinnamon Waffles
adapted from Alton Brown's basic waffle recipe
makes 6 8" round waffles (I got 10 6" round waffles)

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cups room temperature buttermilk (I used low fat and it wasn't room temperature)
vegtable oil spray for greasing

Directions 

1. Preheat your waffle maker
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flours, salt, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl mix together the melted butter and the eggs together until well blended, then add the buttermilk. 
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Then add the vanilla and the ground cinnamon and gently stir. Let the batter rest for 5 minutes.
4. Ladle batter onto greased waffle maker and cook until both sides or a golden brown. Serve immediately or keep in an oven at 200 degrees F until ready to serve.  

(based on what the ammount I made)
Nutrition Facts
Per Serving:
Calories 189.6 Total Fat 6.8 g Saturated Fat 3.7 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g Monounsaturated Fat 2.1 g Cholesterol 78.2 mg Sodium 415.8 mg Potassium 121.5 mg Total Carbohydrate 25.6 g Dietary Fiber 0.7 g Sugars 6.2 g Protein 6.1 g

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

OK, so I'm Becca and this is my first ever blog post! I've been wanted to do this for a little while now, but I finally got the nerve to actually start it, ha ha. Anyhow, onto the baked goods!

My first post will be about Cinnamon Raisin Bagels. A few weeks a go I got this book called  1001 cupcakes, cookies & other tempting treats at Barns and Nobles, well i was really excited because on every page there was something that i wanted to bake and every recipe had an alternative recipe to it, which made it better! Well on page 63 there was a bagel recipe and my dad usually likes eating bagels in the morning and i saw on the alternative recipe box a way to make it a  cinnamon raisin bagel (which my dad loves). so on Friday I told him that I would make these bagels and then see if he likes them compared to the store bought ones. He hasn't tried it, but he said he would once he got back from golf this afternoon, and I'm really excited! i love it when people taste the things I bake even if I don't like one of the ingredients (I don't happen to like raisins...I don't think...and so I'll probably just eat around the raisins).

the first time I made the dough it turned out like this:

the second time I made the dough after a few adjustments :)

proofing in the oven because my house was freezing

poaching in some simmering water

the final product! a little over done but that's OK with me :) 

My own comments or variations will be in purple.

Cinnamon & Raisin Bagels

Souce: 1001 cupcakes, cookies & other tempting treats

makes 10 mini bagels 

Ingredients

vegetable oil for greasing

2 1/2 cups of bread flour (extra for dusting)

2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon (1.5 tsp cinnamon)

1 envelope of active dry yeast

1 tbsp of lightly beaten egg

3/4 cup of lukewarm water (110-115 degrees F)

1/3 cup of raisins

1 egg white (omited)

2 tsp water (omited)

My own directions (because the first directions are confusing a kind of long):

1. 
   
   Heat 3/4 cup water to 110-115 degrees F and use to dissolve yeast in a mixing bowl.


2. 
   
   Once yeast is dissolved sift flour, salt and cinnamon together. Once it is well mixed add the tbsp of egg (DON'T GET RID OF THE REST OF THE EGG!).
3. 
   
   Knead dough onto a floured surface for 10 minutes or until it is smooth. form into a ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp wash cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Punch down dough and knead in the raisins for 2 minutes then divide dough into 10 balls and let rise for 5 minutes. Once this is done, gently flatten the dough balls with the palm of your band and take a wooden spoon and create a hole in the center of the disc (you may need to shape the dough once you've made the hole). Let the dough rise in a warm place for 20 minutes.
4. 
   
   Set the oven to 425 degrees F (I used convection bake, which may have made them a little over done) and bring a large sauce pan full of water to a simmer. Poach the bagels for 1 minute on one side and 30 seconds on the other. Drain the excess water onto a dish towel.
5. 
   
   Lightly grease a 2 baking sheets and place 5 bagels on each sheet. Take the rest of the egg you didn't use and brush it over the tops of each bagel. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes (I had to stop at 23 minutes because they were on the verge of over baking).
6. 
   
   Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

(estimated)Nutrition Facts
Per Serving:

Calories 142.6 Total Fat 0.9 g Saturated Fat 0.2 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g Cholesterol 10.6 mg Sodium 470.0 mg Potassium 75.0 mg Total Carbohydrate 28.9 g Dietary Fiber 1.2 g Sugars 2.8 g Protein 4.6 g