Caramel Apple Oatmeal Muffins

 Inspired by the salted caramel chips at Trader Joe's, we had these muffins for breakfast this morning. Apple and caramel are one of my favorite flavor combinations and apple is my transition food between Summer and Fall. 😋🍎🍂

I was so nervous about how they would turn out, I only baked 6 as a trial. But they were moist, apple-y and sweet, but not too sweet. Next time I'll throw some pecans or walnuts in my half of the batch... 😜

Preheat oven to 425. Grease or place 12 muffin papers into standard sized muffin tin. You may make more or less depending on how full you fill them.

First mix 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt with 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a small bowl. 

Next grind 1/2 cup of rolled oats in food processor or blender until they have a flour-like consistency. Then pour them into a new mixing bowl.

Add:

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

3/8 cup or 6 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

Grate a cored and quartered apple until you have 1 cup. You don't need to grate it first, but you can if you want.

Add:

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1 beaten egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

the sour cream/baking soda mixture

Stir until mixed but don't over mix or the muffins will become tough. Stir in grated apple and 1/4-1/3 cup caramel chips.  Gently fold them in, making sure they are both well incorporated.

Spoon into prepared muffin tin. The batter will be very thick.

Bake for 5 minutes at 425. Then turn off the oven and turn temperature to 350. Do not open or remove the muffins from the oven. Just continue to bake for 10-14 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack for 5-10 minutes before removing. Continue to cool on rack or enjoy while warm. 😊

Best Irish Soda Bread

 I have tried a lot of soda bread recipes over the years for St Patrick's Day but this one by far was my favorite. It was a very simple recipe with an interesting method. Turns out it was the recipe I've been searching for. And even warmed up nicely the next day... :) 

4 cups flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425.

Mix dry ingredients together and then mix in buttermilk until all the flour mixture is wet. Be careful not to overmix or your bread will be tough.

Gently knead on lightly floured surface.

Place in greased and floured round cake pan (8 or 9"). Cut cross on top with sharp knife. Cover with second round cake pan of same size, lining up the edges of the two pans. Place carefully into oven.

Bake for 30 minutes. Then remove top pan and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until dark golden brown and sounds hollow when bottom is tapped.

Remove from pan and let cool a bit on wire rack. Serve warm with or without butter. 

Skillet Cornbread

 This is the best from-scratch cornbread I've ever made! And it's the perfect amount of batter for my new little Ninja skillet and makes just enough for two meals for my hubby and I! 

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/8 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Mix dry ingredients together.

Add...

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg

Mix until well incorporated. 

Bake at 375 in small greased skillet or baking dish for 18 minutes or until pick comes out clean.

Serve warm with butter and your favorite toppings. Ours are honey and jalapeno jelly! 

Pumpkin Butter Muffins

 I really love this muffin! I know this sounds strange, but I was inspired by this soap I bought at Bath & Body Works. Don't worry... It doesn't taste like soap. LOL

It was also my first time using my new silicone muffin cups, which, by the way, work great! 

These taste a lot like mini pumpkin coffee cakes. They stay moist for days and have a hint of coconut... You know, the soap. ;) 

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Make a well in the flour mixture. 

2 cups pumpkin butter (or pumpkin puree)

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (can substitute with vanilla)

/1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk the wet ingredients together and pour into the flour well. Mix until just combined.

Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full.

Combine brown sugar with a little white sugar. Mix with pumpkin pie spice, to taste.

Sprinkle generously on top of muffins.

Bake at 425 for 5 minutes. Then lower oven temperature to 350 and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a pick comes out clean. 

Cool in wire rack. 

These are good warm or at room temperature. 

Jalapeno Popper Bread

This is a variation on my Bacon Cheddar Zucchini Bread recipe. A friend from church suggested it might be good with jalapenos in it. So I decided to try a bread with all my favorite jalapeno popper ingredients. Here it is...

Just like the other one, the dough is very thick. Much like drop biscuit dough. I'm guessing you could bake it like you would a biscuit, but I did mine in my mini loaf pans. 

3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon chili powder

3/4 cup grated cheddar (I suggest sharp)

1 jalapeno, finely chopped (you can remove or leave the seeds)

1/2 cup bacon bits

1 cup grated zucchini (do not peel but do remove the seeds before grating)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 Tablespoon vinegar added. Let stand 15 minutes before using)

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted 

Mix dry ingredients together, including cheese, chili powder, jalapenos and bacon bits. 

Add remaining ingredients and stir until just well-mixed. Do not overmix. It will make the bread tough.

Press into greased bread pan of your choice.

Bake at 350 until golden brown on top and a tester comes out clean. Time will depend on size of pan.

Melt more butter to brush on bread.  

Brush with melted butter twice while baking and once more after removing from the oven.

Let cool on wire rack for 10-13 minutes before removing from pan.

Best eaten warm. But it does warm up fine in the microwave.

Bacon Cheddar Zucchini Bread

 This bread was born from my need to find something to do with the giant zucchini we came home to from our vacation! It will become a regular thing though...  I also used chives from my garden. Yum!

Just a warning... The dough is very thick. Much like drop biscuit dough. I'm guessing you could bake it like you would a biscuit, but I did mine in my mini loaf pans. 

3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon dry dill weed

3/4 cup grated cheddar (I suggest sharp)

1/8-1/4 cup chopped chives or thinly sliced green onion tops

1/2 cup bacon bits

1-2 large cloves of garlic, grated or finely minced

1 cup grated zucchini (do not peel but do remove the seeds before grating)

1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk with 1 Tablespoon vinegar added. Let stand 15 minutes before using)

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup butter, melted

Mix dry ingredients together, including cheese, dill weed, chives and bacon bits. 

Add remaining ingredients and stir until just well-mixed. Do not overmix. It will make the bread tough.

Press into greased bread pan of your choice.

Bake at 350 until golden brown on top and a tester comes out clean. Time will depend on size of pan. 

Melt some more butter. Brush with melted butter twice while baking and once more after removing from the oven.

Let cool on wire rack for 10-13 minutes before removing from pan.

Best eaten warm. But it does warm up fine in the microwave.

Even Better Soft Pretzels

Every time I think I have found the perfect soft pretzel recipe, I find a better one. This one is a combination of a few recipes that make amazing soft pretzels. Unfortunately it makes 12 and they are best when still warm... ;)

Mix in stand mixer bowl:
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle with:
1 package or 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast

Let sit 5 minutes until it gets foamy.

Add:
2 Tablespoons melted butter
2 cups flour

Mix on med-low speed until sticky dough comes together and becomes smooth.

Add 1/4 cup of flour at a time until the dough pulls away from the bowl and is not longer sticky and springs back when touched. This takes about 5 minutes.

Place dough in greased bowl and cover with towel. Put in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.

Punch dough down a few times and cut into 12 equal pieces using a pizza cutter or bread knife.

Roll into long ropes and twist into pretzel shapes.

Boil 8 cups of water in large pot. Add 3/4 cup baking soda and stir to dissolve.

Place pretzels into boiling soda water and boil 1 to 2 at a time for 45 seconds. Flip pretzels half-way through. Remove from water and let drain on baking rack.

Put pretzels on well-greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.

There are lots of options for washes and toppings:
1. Egg wash- 1 egg yolk and 1 Tablespoon water (be generous!)
2. Coarse salt
3. Butter - brush with melted butter before and after baking
4. Garlic and Italian seasoning with EVOO
5. Cinnamon sugar (this is best with butter)

Bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Beer Cheese Batter Bread

This is just the right bread to serve with a hearty soup or stew on a cold day. It has a muffin-like texture that tastes like just the right amount of beer. The trick is the double-sifting of the flour. Don't skip it!

3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sugar

Spoon flour into measuring cup and level with knife edge. Then sift or shake flour through a sieve into a large mixing bowl. Mix in baking powder, sugar and salt. Then sift again.

Toss with some finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Pour in 12 oz of room temperature beer. Lightly stir in.

Add 1/4 cup melted butter. Stir in but be careful not to overmix batter so that your bread will rise.

Pour batter into greased bread pan.

Pour 3 Tablespoons of melted butter over the top of batter.

Bake at 375 for about 1 hour. Cool 1 minutes before removing from pan to cool.

Serve warm.

Apple Friendship Bread Muffins

I finally found a variation that I like. Best one yet. 

! cup Amish Friendship Bread starter

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 small box of vanilla pudding & 1 butterscotch

1 small finely chopped apple tossed with 2 Tablespoons of cinnamon sugar

1/2 cup toffee bits

1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts 

Add ingredient to starter, one at a time, stirring well after each addition. 

Streusel:

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch nutmeg

2 Tablespoons butter

Mix dry ingredients and then cut in butter.

Put into prepared muffin tins. Bake at 365.  Bake for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with streusel and continue to bake for about 15 minutes or until a pick comes out clean.

Vegan Zucchini Bread

When I think of vegan, I think healthy and not tasty. This bread is tasty and not healthy. It is also moist, tender and very easy to make... Enjoy!

1 cup grated zucchini

3oz unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

Mix well.

Stir in:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Do not over mix.

Pour into greased and sugared bread pan.

Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes or until pick comes out clean.

Let cool on rack. Remove from pan. Let cool before serving.

Soda Biscuits

These are absolutely, hands down the BEST biscuits ever! They are light, fluffy, tender, buttery deliciousness! They don't look pretty but we LOVE them! In fact, we have declared them too tasty to use for biscuits and gravy. And that's really saying something because we really love our biscuits and gravy around here.

Bake up a batch to go along with a pot of your favorite soup for a lovely cold winter's night supper.

Don't worry if the dough seems a bit wet. It is. And they will spread some, but they'll be just fine... :)

2 cups Bisquik baking mix (I use a homemade one)
1/2 cup lemon lime soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup butter

Preheat oven to 450. Put butter in glass baking pan and place in oven to melt. (Don't let it brown!)

Mix baking mix, soda, and sour cream together. Remember, it will be wet.

Drop into the buttered baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on edges and lightly browned on top.

Let sit for 5 minutes before removing from pan. Eat while hot.

Apple Fritters

This is a variation of one of my boys’ (and my dad’s) favorite breakfast foods. And just the thing to make when you have a bunch of apples!

1 cup milk

2 eggs

1 Tbsp oil

Whisk these together in a bowl.

2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

4 Tbsp sugar

Whisk in flour 1/2 cup at a time. Add remaining dry ingredients after first cup of flour is mixed. Mix until smooth.

Stir in 1 medium apple, peeled and finely chopped.

Drop into hot oil heated to 375. Cook until golden brown on all sides. Turn while cooking if necessary.

Remove from oil and let drain on plate lined with paper towels.

Toss while still hot in a bag of cinnamon sugar.

Eat right out of the bag! :o)

Strawberry Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast

This summer has been glorious and sunny! If only every summer in the PNW was like this!!! In celebration of yet another sunny morning, I took some homemade strawberry freezer jam out (made with strawberries from my own garden no less) and created this…

1 1-lb loaf Italian bread

1/2 cup strawberry jam (I think it would be pretty tasty with orange marmalade instead)

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/8 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon grated orange zest

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Slice the bread into 9 slices. Cut each slice in half, making a pocket. Do not cut them all the way through! I made all my pocket slices before cutting them into thin slices all the way through…

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and orange zest with electric mixer until smooth. Spread it inside of each slice of bread.

  Next, spread a thin layer of jam on top of the cream cheese.

Beat the eggs, milk and vanilla well. Pour into shallow pan for dipping.

(I made too much egg, so I changed it in the recipe)

  Dip each piece of bread in the egg mixture on each side. Don’t soak it too much! Place on a preheated and lightly greased griddle. I set mine at 350.

Cook until both sides are browned.

Serve immediately dusted with powdered sugar.

Gluten Free Cranberry Orange Scones

I have been making GF things for my friends for a long time. But before now, I have always made flour-free foods. This time I decided to try my hand at truly GF baking.

I wasn’t sure how it was supposed to taste, so I sent it off to my GF tester (aka – my son’s fiancée). She and her sister gave it a “thumbs up”, so here it is…

First I settled on a GF “Bisquick” alternative. I used the one here at glutenfreerecipebox.com.

Then I just used that as a base for making scones.

I’ve made scones often enough that I knew what they needed, so I just improvised from there. A little of this, a little of that, butter, cream, cranberries, orange, and of course, powdered sugar glaze, and I had a batch of scones that looked good enough to fool anyone. ;o) Just kidding! But they did look gorgeous!

Now no one needs to feel left out of your next traditional English tea party…

2 cups GF baking mix

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

zest and juice of 1 small orange

1/2 cup dried cranberries

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400.

Mix baking mix and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in orange zest and cranberries. Mix in cream, until dough is very well mixed. (I use my hand for this step). Knead about 5 times in bowl.

Pat into a circle about 1” thick. Place on a greased or parchment-papered baking sheet. Cut into 8 wedges, separating them a bit but leaving in a circle.

Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown and pick comes out clean.

Let cool on wire rack for about 30 minutes.

Whisk together powdered sugar and orange juice until smooth to make a glaze that is just thin enough to drizzle over the scones.

Let cool until glaze sets.

Store in airtight container.

Blueberry Lemon Streusel Muffins

This is a simplification of a recipe I found on Pinterest. I am going to write it in steps so that no one will be as confused as I was when I made it. It has quite a few steps (but still less than the original recipe) and dirties quite a few bowls but, thankfully, it was worth it in the end… My quest for the perfect blueberry muffin may be over???

 

Step one: Combine 1/4 cup sugar and the zest of 1 lemon in a small bowl. Set aside.

Step two: Combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl. Mix in 3 Tablespoons melted butter until it turns into pea-sized pieces.

Step three: Mix 2 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.

Step four: Whisk together 2 eggs and 1 1/8 cups sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add 1/4 cup melted butter and whisk until combined. Whisk in 1 cup buttermilk and 1 teaspoon vanilla.

Step five: Take the lemon/sugar combination and sift out the lemon zest through a fine sieve, reserving the sugar for topping the muffins. Stir the sugary lemon zest into the flour mixture.

Step six: Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the egg/sugar mixture. Mix until it is just combined. The batter will be very lumpy. Don’t worry, you don’t want to mix it too much!

Step seven: Gently fold in 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen, toss them with 1 Tablespoon of flour before folding in.

Step eight: Fill 12-15 prepared muffin cups. Top each with streusel and a bit of the lemon sugar. Bake at 425 for 17-20 minutes or until the tops are firm and golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes in pan and another 5 minutes on wire rack. Eat warm.

Smaug’s Treasure French Toast

Here’s another of my recreations from the now discontinued Denny’s Hobbit menu… They called it Lonely Mountain Treasure. We call it Smaug’s Treasure French Toast. Just like the gold of the dragon’s hoard under the Lonely Mountain.

This French toast is simply lemon poppyseed Friendship Bread sliced, dipped in egg batter, and cooked to a golden brown on the griddle. Then topped off with a drizzle of lemon glaze. This is a treasure that makes any morning extra special!

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter (here’s a recipe for the starter if you don’t have one)

1 cup oil

1 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 cups flour

1/2 cup milk

3 eggs

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tablespoons poppy seeds

2 small boxes or 1 large box of lemon instant pudding

Preheat oven to 325.

Add each ingredient in order, stirring after each, to make sure batter is smooth. Use a wooden or plastic spoon only.

Grease 2 bread pans (metal pans are fine). Sprinkle the pans with sugar. Pour in batter. Bake for about one hour (or until golden brown and tester comes out clean).

Cool completely on wire rack.

This is better if the bread is a few days old and has sat out sliced for a few hours first.

Make a batter of 4 eggs, 1 cup milk and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat well and pour into shallow pan for dipping.

 

Dip both sides of a slice of bread into the batter. Place on a greased griddle preheated to 350.

Cook until both sides are golden brown.

Make a glaze with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and enough lemon juice to make it a drizzling consistency.

Serve hot with glaze drizzled on it.

“ Bilbo had heard tell and sing of dragon-hoards before, but the splendor, the lust, the glory of such treasure had never yet come home to him. His heart was filled and pierced with enchantment and with the desire of dwarves; and he gazed motionless, almost forgetting the frightful guardian, at the gold beyond price and count.” The Hobbit