You all know by now that I love muffins, but I bet you didn’t know how much I love Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.  My sister is in town visiting and we were talking last night about what I should make this morning.  I was wavering between Oatmeal Raisin Cookies and Zucchini Muffins.  She and I both love Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, but for some reason I was stuck on the idea of muffins for breakfast.  At some point she said I should just make Oatmeal Raisin Muffins and once the idea was planted in my head, I couldn’t stop thinking about how to make a muffin that tasted like my favorite cookie.

It’s not easy to make a muffin taste like a cookie.  I needed to find a way to make the muffins taste buttery like a cookie without using a ridiculous amount of butter (because at that point, why not just make cookies).  I decided that browning the butter might intensify the flavor enough to do the trick.  I also had to fiddle with the amount of salt and sugar until I had a muffin that was reminiscent of a salty sweet cookie without actually being as salty or sweet as a cookie.  The whole point of this effort was to end up with something to eat for breakfast that wasn’t quite as bad for me as a stack of oatmeal raisin cookies.

I made these muffins three times before I got the combination right.  The winning batch uses whole wheat flour and rolled oats, so you’ll at least get some fiber alongside your butter and sugar.  With a cup of brown sugar in the recipe, I won’t make any claims that these are healthy.  But like I said, I was just looking for something slightly healthier than a stack of cookies.  I think I accomplished that.

Now I’m packing up the rest of these muffins and we’re heading to the cabin for a few days.  I’ll be back Sunday night to answer any questions or e-mails.  Food Blog Friday will return next week.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Muffins

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
1 1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1 cup rolled oats
2 eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper cups.

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Allow the butter to melt completely and then cook – the butter will foam and start to crackle.  Continue cooking, keeping a close eye on the pan, until the crackling subsides and little brown bits appear in the bottom of the pan when you swirl it.  Remove from heat as soon as the butter solids have browned and it smells rich and nutty.  Pour butter, including the browned bits, into a heat-proof bowl and set aside to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Whisk together until well combined then stir in oats.  In a separate bowl, whisk together browned butter, eggs, buttermilk, and brown sugar.  Stir in vanilla extract.  Add the butter mixture all at once to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined (make sure to scrape up all the flour from the bottom of the bowl).  Fold in raisins and nuts.

Using a standard-sized cookie scoop or a large spoon, divide batter between the 12 muffin cups (the cups should be mostly full).  Bake at 375 degrees for 20 – 23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Related Recipes:

• Applesauce Spice Muffins
• Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips
• Nectarine Muffins
• Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins
• Peachy Banana Bran Muffins

Around the Web:

• Blueberry Oat Muffins from Family Style Food
• Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins from Baking Bites
• Blueberry Maple Oatmeal Muffins from Closet Cooking
• Zucchini Oatmeal Muffins from Tasty Kitchen
• Overnight Oatmeal Muffin Recipe from Whipped

Happy Food Blog Friday!  This is my absolute favorite zucchini bread recipe and I’m thrilled to be able to share it with you today.  Heidi from 101 Cookbooks calls this her Special Zucchini Bread and with extras like lemon zest and poppy seeds, it truly is special. 

101 Cookbooks is an amazing food blog that I’ve been reading for years and I’d bet that most of you have been doing the same.  If you’re at all interested in cooking with natural, whole ingredients and/or expanding your vegetarian cooking repertoire, 101 Cookbooks is a must-read.  The recipes are exciting and well-written and the photography is fantastic.  If you somehow haven’t yet visited, go there now. You won’t be sorry.  In addition to the blog, I’d also like to recommend Heidi’s wonderful cookbook Super Natural Cooking.  It’s a great book.

I’ve made this zucchini bread a couple of times now, once with whole wheat flour and once with all-purpose flour.  Both versions were fantastic.  I leave out the optional crystallized ginger and curry powder, not because I don’t think it sounds good, but because I was out of both ingredients the first time I gave this a try.  I fell so madly in love with the first loaf, I didn’t want to change the flavors the second time around.

Give this lemon poppy seed version a try and you’ll never bake plain zucchini bread again!

Heidi’s Special Zucchini Bread at 101 Cookbooks
Become a fan of 101 Cookbooks on Facebook
Follow 101 Cookbooks on Twitter
Buy Super Natural Cooking

Previous Food Blog Fridays:

• Fattoush from Kalyn’s Kitchen
• Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak from Blue Kitchen
• Lemon Buttermilk Popsicles from Whipped
• Apricot Almond Tart from Tartelette
• Blueberry Orange Cornmeal Pancakes from Satisfied
• Luscious Lemon Bars from Alpineberry

Saturday night I had the pleasure of attending The Organic Stone Fruit Jubilee, a great event celebrating 60 varieties of peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, and pluots from about a dozen local certified organic farms.

After enjoying some music and eating delicious pulled-pork sandwiches topped with grilled peaches, we wandered from table to table chatting with farmers and sampling more varieties of stone fruits than I ever knew existed!

Needless to say, I walked away from the jubilee with bulging bags of peaches, nectarines, and apricots.  The peaches won’t be fully ripened for another day or two, but the nectarines were perfect Sunday morning.  I couldn’t resist eating slice after slice of the delicious fruit while cutting it up for the muffins.

I had never made nectarine muffins before, but I knew I wanted a recipe that included buttermilk.  I turned to my favorite buttermilk muffin recipe in the book Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone as a starting point and was happy to see instructions for adapting the basic recipe to make fresh fruit muffins.  Although nectarines weren’t on the list of recommended fruits, I knew they would work well here.  I also decided to add a bit of ground cinnamon and ginger as I really enjoy those flavors with peaches and nectarines.

The muffins were amazing – sweet, tart, and tender.  They reminded me of a nectarine cobbler, which says a lot since cobbler is one of my favorite desserts.  I was really happy to be able to share them with both my dad and my grandpa on Father’s Day.  It’s nice to be home.

Nectarine Muffins
Adapted from Basic Buttermilk Muffin recipe in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup diced fresh nectarine

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until well combined.  In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, brown sugar, melted butter, and vanilla extract.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a large spoon until just combined (make sure to scrape all the flour up off the bottom of the bowl).  Gently fold in the diced apricots.

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups (a mechanical ice cream scoop works great for this) – they will be almost completely full.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Related Recipes:

• Peach Cobbler
• Peach and Banana Bran Muffins
• Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins
• Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips
• Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins

Around the Web:

• Stir-Fried Beef and Nectarines from Steamy Kitchen
• Nectarine Turnovers from Baking Bites
• Nectarine Golden Cake from Sassy Radish
• Rustic Peach and Nectarine Crostata from Herbivoracious
• Tomato-Nectarine Chutney from The Perfect Pantry

I’m sure you’ve heard me say that I prefer a somewhat healthy muffin.  I know that I’ve told you before how I feel about overly sweet muffins – that if I wanted dessert, I’d rather just have a cupcake.  But I did it anyway.  I made these sweet, delicious muffins that offer very few nutritional benefits and really can’t be classified as anything but dessert.

You know what?  I don’t regret it one bit.

These are the best muffins I’ve ever made and I wouldn’t change a thing about them.  The banana and white chocolate are perfect together and the tart cherries help to balance the extra sweetness from the white chocolate.  The streusel topping, perfect.

When I noticed three well-aged bananas sitting in the fruit basket (they grow up so fast, don’t they?), I figured I’d actually make some banana bread this time instead of banishing them to the back of the freezer.  Since I’m in the process of eating down the pantry, I also pulled out a half-empty bag of white chocolate chips that had been hanging out for a while.  I learned from Amanda that white chocolate chips are really good in banana-flavored baked goods so I was pretty excited to give it a try myself.

At some point during the ingredient-gathering stage I decided that muffins sounded like more fun than bread.  Then all of a sudden tart dried cherries had made their way onto the ingredients list.  I was obviously in one of those throw-it-all-in-there moods, so it should come as no surprise that I felt a streusel topping was necessary as well.

I’m glad I let go and followed my instincts on this one.  These muffins were outstanding and I take back anything I ever said about muffins needing to be a bit healthy.  I’ll never give up the healthy ones, but there’s certainly room for an occasional muffin indulgence.  Enjoy!

Cherry Banana Muffins with White Chocolate Chips

Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1/3 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter

Muffin Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped dried tart cherries

1. Place rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375 degrees.  Grease a standard 12-cup muffin tin (I use Baker’s Joy) or line with paper cups (I spray the inside of the paper cups with baking spray, too).

2. Make streusel topping:  In a small bowl, blend together brown sugar and flour.  Blend butter into the sugar mixture with your fingertips until it has a sandy, crumb-like texture.  Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until well combined.  Set aside.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg, oil, sugar and vanilla; stir in mashed banana.

5. Pour banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined.  Don’t overmix, but make sure all the flour has been scraped off the bottom of the bowl and mixed in.  Fold in white chocolate chips and cherries.

6. Divide batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.  Sprinkle streusel mixture over the muffin batter, letting it mound slightly in the center of each muffin.

7. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 21-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Let muffins cool slightly in pan then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Related Recipes:

• Cherry Pecan Bran Muffins
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts
• Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
• Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins
• Peach and Banana Bran Muffins

Around the Web:

• Nutella Banana Muffins from Delicious Days
• Blueberry Banana Muffins from My Kitchen Snippets
• Vegan Strawberry Banana Muffins (gluten-free) from Gluten-Free Goddess
• Banana Muffins with Pecans from Nami-Nami
• Banana Nut Muffins from Simply Recipes

I was searching through old photos today and found these whole wheat blueberry muffins I made a while back.  Since I remember them tasting just as delicious as they look, I decided that they shouldn’t be kept hidden on my hard drive any longer.

The muffin recipe came from Elise at Simply Recipes and the only change I made was to use King Arthur’s White Whole Wheat Flour instead of all-purpose flour.  If you haven’t started baking with white whole wheat flour yet, now is the time to start!

The name “white whole wheat flour” might seem confusing since we are used to associating the term “white flour” with something that has had most of the nutrition processed and bleached right out of it.  But white whole wheat flour is a whole grain flour that has been milled from hard white spring wheat, rather than traditional red wheat.  It offers all the same nutritional benefits of traditional whole wheat, but has a milder flavor, lighter color, and finer grind, making it perfect for quick breads.

I happen to really enjoy the flavor of traditional whole wheat flour and still use it for yeast breads, but I find myself turning to white whole wheat for things like cookies, quick breads, pancakes, pizza dough, and even pie crusts.  It’s wonderful stuff!  And if you’re new to baking with whole wheat flour, white whole wheat might make for an easier transition – especially if you’re baking for picky eaters!

I haven’t tried any brands other than King Arthur Flour, but I know Trader Joe’s (who unfortunately stopped selling King Arthur) is now stocking their own brand of white whole wheat and Hodgson Mill is also producing a white whole wheat flour.  I’m sure there are even more brands out there now.

If you’d like to try experimenting with white whole wheat flour, I think a batch of muffins is a great place to start.  You can use it in any recipe, just replace the all-purpose or traditional whole wheat flour with an equal part of white whole wheat flour.

One thing to keep in mind:  while white whole wheat flour does bake up a bit lighter than traditional whole wheat, it is still a whole grain flour and will not perform exactly like the processed all-purpose version.  Your quick breads might not rise quite as high, and the crumb might be a bit more dense than in breads baked with all-purpose flour, but I really enjoy the flavor and texture of whole grain baked goods and think you will, too.

And really, who is going to say no to a blueberry muffin that looks like this?

If you’d like to try these blueberry muffins, head over to Simply Recipes and print the recipe.  Just don’t forget to use white whole wheat flour!

Related Recipes:

• Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes
• Whole Grain Sour Cream Blueberry Pancakes
• Whole Wheat Rosemary Pizza Dough
• Whole Wheat Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies

Around the Web:

• The Bottom Line on White Whole Wheat Flour at Dani Spies
• White Whole Wheat Pizza Dough at 101 Cookbooks
• White Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls at Baking Bites
• White Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil at Kalyn’s Kitchen
• White Whole Wheat Carrot Cupcakes with Lemon Frosting at The Perfect Pantry

Sometimes I think I would be perfectly happy in the kitchen making nothing but muffins all day long.  Quick to prepare and endlessly adaptable, muffins are fun, easy, and delicious – and I believe everyone should learn to bake them.

If you’ve been reading about my kitchen adventures for any length of time, you already know that I tend to make a lot of whole grain muffins.  While I do love sweet, cake-like muffins, I decided long ago that if I’m going to snack on something that tastes like dessert, I’d almost always rather go for an actual cupcake.

So while my muffins might not fall into the category of health food, I do try to find a nice balance between flavor, texture, and nutrition.  These cherry pecan bran muffins are no exception.  The muffins are packed with fiber but aren’t overly dense or heavy; the tart cherries and pecans lend a wonderful flavor, but also pack a nutritional punch.  Tart cherries are filled with antioxidants, are a natural source of melatonin, and might help to ease the pain of arthritis, and when taken out of the pie, pecans are good for you as well.

I’ve been eating these muffins for breakfast with a side of Greek yogurt, but they also make a great mid-afternoon snack.  You may substitute other dried fruits or nuts for the cherries and pecans, but I found this combination to be a delicious one.

Cherry Pecan Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1/2 cup boiling water
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 cup dried tart cherries, roughly chopped
1/2 cup chopped pecans

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin with butter, nonstick baking spray, or paper liners.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together wheat bran and boiling water; set aside.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.  When wheat bran has cooled, whisk in the egg, milk, oil, and brown sugar.  Pour wet bran mixture into the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon until just combined.  Fold in the chopped cherries and pecans.

3. Divide batter between the twelve muffin cups (a regular-sized ice cream scoop works well).  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 18-22 minutes, or until the top of the muffin springs back lightly to your touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Check early and don’t let them over bake.

Nutrition Info per serving (one muffin):  252 calories; 11 grams fat; 37 grams total carbohydrate; 4 grams fiber; 15 grams sugars; 5 grams protein.  Nutrition information is approximate – analyzed through NutritionData.com

Related Recipes:

• Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins
• Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts
• Peach and Banana Bran Muffins
• Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins
• Double Dark Chocolate Beet Muffins
• Whole Wheat and Oat Bran Banana Muffins
• Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins

Around the Web:

• Baby Bran Muffins from 101 Cookbooks
• Blueberry Oat Bran Muffins from Chocolate & Zucchini
• Basic Bran Muffins from Erin Cooks
• Sour Cream Bran Muffins from Smitten Kitchen
• Farmgirl Susan’s Basic Bran Muffins from Farmgirl Fare

Although this was my first time making them, I’m beginning to think that these warm and spicy pumpkin doughnuts are going to become a fall tradition around here.  Filled with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and even a hint of cardamom, these doughnuts will warm your soul on a crisp autumn morning.

Have you ever made doughnuts from scratch?  The closest I had ever come to making doughnuts was back in my college days when I learned how to make faux doughnuts (fauxnuts?) by poking holes in refrigerated biscuit dough rounds and frying them up in a skillet.  They were pretty good if you dipped them in sugar and ate them warm, but not quite the real thing.  Ok, not even close.

I have memories of the real thing, though.  You see, my mom made homemade doughnuts for us once.  They were yeast-raised doughnuts, the kind which are lightly glazed or sugar-crusted on the outside, but only slightly sweet and impossibly soft and fluffy on the inside.  Though I was small, and the recollection is a bit fuzzy, I know in my heart that they were the best doughnuts I’ve ever tasted.  While the “hot now” sign at Krispy-Kreme may make your heart flutter, I’m telling you that nothing compares to a doughnut fried up in your own kitchen.  My mom only made doughnuts once that I can recall, but that one memory fills me with so much warmth, I know that I have to make doughnuts from scratch one day for my own children.  Yes, food memories are powerful.

My favorite doughnuts are yeast-raised and glazed, and rarely do I stray from that standard when visiting a local doughnut shop.  But after deciding to make doughnuts at home, I thought it would be best to start with a simple cake doughnut on my first go-round.  And while I generally prefer plain cake doughnuts to flavored ones, I decided to give pumpkin doughnuts a try when I noticed that the leaning tower of organic canned pumpkin that had been perched precariously on my counter since that last trip to Trader Joe’s (when rumors of canned pumpkin shortages briefly got the best of me), was finally threatening to topple and, perhaps, hurt someone.

After looking through several pumpkin doughnut recipes, I chose to use one from Bon Appetit found on Epicurious. And since I can never leave a perfectly good recipe alone, I made a few changes like doubling all the spices and adding a touch of molasses.  I also chose not to add the white glaze, and instead dusted the finished doughnuts lightly with powdered sugar mixed with a bit of pumpkin pie spice.  They were absolutely delicious!

The dough is very sticky when it’s first mixed, so you need to chill it in the refrigerator for a few hours before you can work with it.

The next step reminded me a lot of making biscuits, and in fact I did use a biscuit cutter.  Just dump some of the dough out onto a lightly floured surface,  then pat it out lightly with your hands.

Since the dough is still rather sticky, even after refrigeration, I dipped the cutter in flour before cutting each round.

After you cut out some rounds, it’s time to cut the holes.  I wasn’t sure what to use, since I don’t have a one-inch round cutter like the recipe specified.  But I do have an apple corer, and it worked well, even though the holes were a bit smaller than one inch.  Again, I made sure to dip the apple corer in flour before cutting each hole.

When deep-frying, you need to make sure you control the temperature of the oil.  Although it’s hard to keep it at the same exact temperature all the time, you should adjust the heat to try to keep the oil between 365 and 370 degrees as much as possible.  If it’s too cool, the doughnuts will absorb too much oil and if it’s too hot, the doughnuts will brown too fast and the middles won’t be fully cooked.  Make sure you have a thermometer clipped to side of your pan to make it easy to monitor the temperature of the oil.

Cook the doughnuts in batches, without overcrowding the pot.  Adding too many doughnuts at once will cause the oil temperature to drop rapidly, resulting in greasy doughnuts.

Cook the doughnuts until they are golden brown, then remove with a slotted spoon to a tray lined with paper towels.

After the doughnut holes have cooled, they can be rolled in cinnamon sugar, or whatever topping you decide to create.

I decided that I like these pumpkin doughnuts plain, but I did sprinkle a few with powdered sugar and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.  Perfect!

Pumpkin Doughnuts
(adapted from Bon Appétit)

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon molasses
1 cup canned pure pumpkin
Canola or Peanut Oil (for deep-frying)

toppings:
1 cup sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
powdered sugar

1. Whisk first 9 ingredients (flour through cardamom) in a medium bowl to blend well; set aside.

2. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended (mixture will be a bit grainy). Beat in egg, then yolks, then vanilla. Gradually beat in buttermilk and molasses, then beat in pumpkin, in four additions.

3. Fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture in 4 additions, blending gently after each. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least three hours.

4. Lightly flour two baking sheets.  When dough is well-chilled, lightly flour a work surface.  Starting with about 1/3 of dough, gently press it out to a round that is 1/2- to 2/3-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out dough rounds. Using 1-inch-diameter round cutter, cut out center of each dough round to make doughnuts and doughnut holes.  Arrange doughnuts and holes on the baking sheets as you go.  Gather dough scraps. Press out dough and cut out more dough rounds until all dough is used.  If dough is very sticky, dip the round cutters into flour before cutting each doughnut.

5. Line two baking sheets with several layers of paper towels.  Pour oil into large deep skillet or dutch oven to a depth of 1 1/2 inches. Attach a deep-fry thermometer  to the side of the pot and heat oil to 365°F to 370°F.  Fry doughnut holes in 2 batches until golden brown, turning occasionally, about 2 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain.  Fry doughnuts, 3 or 4 at a time, until golden brown, adjusting heat to maintain temperature, about 1 minute per side.  Using a slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain.  Cool completely.

While doughnuts are cooling, mix sugar and cinnamon.  Roll doughnut holes in the cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Lightly dust doughnuts with powdered sugar, if desired.

Related Recipes:

• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Pumpkin Scones
• Pumpkin Spice Cake
• Pumpkin Cream Cheese Roll
• Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Around the Web:

• Pumpkin Doughnuts from A Mingling of Tastes
• Pumpkin Donuts with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting from Pete Bakes!
• Baked Pumpkin Donuts from Culinary Cory
• Pumpkin and Hazelnut Doughnuts from Canelle et Vanille
• Baked Pumpkin Doughnuts from Recipe Girl

While some muffins are little more than cupcakes without the frosting, these hearty, flavorful, and nutritious whole grain apple muffins will help you power through your morning.

Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely a fan of cake-like muffins, but I think they generally make a better dessert than breakfast.  Made with whole wheat flour and heart-healthy oat bran, these muffins offer a bit more staying power than something you might pick up at a cafe on your way to work.

I made these using King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour, which I have found is great for quick breads.  But traditional whole wheat flour will work fine, and if you can find it, whole wheat pastry flour would be even better.  As always, you may substitute all-purpose flour for any portion of the whole wheat, although you’ll lose some of the nutritional value.

One of my favorite muffin tips is to use a mechanical ice cream scoop for portioning out the muffin batter, it’s quick, easy, and reduces the chance of dropping globs of batter all over the muffin tin and counter (although I still usually manage to do that).

I think these muffins make a great breakfast-on-the-go, but I also enjoy them as an afternoon snack.  They freeze well, and will defrost quickly at room temperature.  I hope you enjoy them!

Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup sour cream, at room temp.
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 granny smith apple (or your favorite type of baking apple), peeled and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

cinnamon and sugar mixture (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, oil, eggs, brown sugar and vanilla.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in apples, raisins, and nuts (if using).

5. Divide batter between the twelve muffin cups (a regular-sized ice cream scoop works well). Sprinkle tops of muffins with a mixture of cinnamon and sugar if desired.

6. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Around the Web:

• Whole Wheat Apple Muffins from Smitten Kitchen
• Gluten-Free Apple Pear Muffins from Karina’s Kitchen
• Maple-Drizzled Apple Muffins from Recipe Girl
• Apple Cinnamon Crunch Muffins from Andrea’s Recipes
• Apple Muffins from Cooking for Seven

Click any of the photos above to be taken to the recipe.  Enjoy!

I’m sitting here on this beautiful Sunday morning eating the best scone I’ve ever made in my life.  Days like this are bittersweet.  On one hand, there’s almost nothing better than a lazy Sunday morning spent baking and lounging in my pajamas.  But what’s the fun in eating such a wonderful treat, when there’s no one to share it with?

So, as as soon as I’m done writing this, I’m heading out to deliver a few scones to my friend Caron who lives nearby.  And my sister, who is coming over this afternoon, will get the rest.  My husband will be home in a few days, but scones are always best eaten on the day they are made.  I’ll just have to make a new batch for him next Sunday!

Scones are simple to make, especially if you already know how to make biscuits from scratch.  The key is to keep the ingredients cold and work quickly.  Read completely through the recipe before starting and make sure you have all your ingredients and tools ready and nearby.  And make sure you start preheating the oven as soon as you start thinking about making these.

Buttermilk Cranberry Scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1/3 cup sweetened dried cranberries, chopped fine
finely grated zest from one small lemon (about 2 teaspoons)
heavy cream (optional, for brushing tops of scones)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt.  Add butter chunks and toss lightly with flour; place bowl in fridge.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together egg, buttermilk, and lemon zest; place bowl in fridge.
4. Get organized:  measure out and chop the cranberries; set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat; set aside. Lightly dust a counter top with flour.  Pour a little bit of heavy cream in a bowl and have a pastry brush handy.
5. Remove bowls of flour and buttermilk from fridge.  Cut butter into flour with a pastry blender or rub together with your fingertips until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add cranberries and stir to combine.
6. Add buttermilk mixture all at once to flour mixture and stir until the mixture clumps together. Dump mixture out onto floured counter top and, with floured hands, gather into a ball and knead once or twice to combine everything.  Pat into a circle about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut into 8 slices, like a pie, or cut with biscuit or cookie cutters into whatever shape you prefer.  Put scones on lined baking sheet and brush lightly with heavy cream (optional).
7. Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 13-15 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove to cooling rack.
8. Enjoy with someone you love!

Recipe notes: Since I make these only on rare occasions, I buy and use the best quality unsalted butter I can find.  Brushing the scones with heavy cream is optional, but will add a nice shine to the tops.  I think these scones are perfect the way they are, but if you want to get fancy, you can drizzle a lemon glaze over the top.  Lemon Glaze: Combine about 1/2 cup powdered sugar with a couple teaspoons of fresh lemon juice and whisk to combine. Adjust sugar/juice amounts to get the consistency you prefer.  Drizzle glaze over cooled scones.

For those of you who have never made scones or biscuits from scratch before, you can read a more detailed account of the process, with photos, at How to Make the Best Buttermilk Biscuits from Scratch.  Although the recipe is not identical, the process is the same.  Scones are simply a lightly sweetened biscuit.

If you like this recipe, you might also like to try my Apricot Cream Scones.

For those of you just tuning in this month, I’m happy to say that I’m participating in the National Blog Posting Month challenge. For this year’s edition of NaBloPoMo, I’ve pledged to post a new recipe every single day for the month of November. If you don’t want to miss a recipe, sign up to receive my recipes by e-mail. You’ll only receive an e-mail when I write a new blog post, and your e-mail address will not be used for any other purpose. Interested? Sign up now!