Banana Pecan Mini Muffins

I had some bananas that were turning brown and my daughter suggested making banana bread. I didn't feel like waiting an hour for the bread to cook so mini muffins were the way to go! I usually don't add nuts to my banana bread but I LOVE the addition of pecans in this muffin. I will definitely be making these again!

Enjoy!

Banana Pecan Mini-Muffins
Recipe slightly adapted from Chocolate & Zucchini
Makes 48 mini muffins

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
2 ripe bananas
1/4 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 and grease mini muffin pan.

Cream butter and sugar in bowl. Add egg, bananas, and milk; mix until well combined. Add dry ingredients; mix just until combined. Fold in pecans.

Pour the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the muffins are nice and golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes then turn out on a rack to cool.

Fresh Cherry Streusel Muffins

What do you do when you have a bag of cherries and are craving muffins? You make cherry muffins! YUM! :)


Fresh Cherry Streusel Muffins
Makes 6 Texas size muffins or 12 regular

1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup pitted & chopped cherries
Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 TBSP water

Preheat oven to 400. Grease large muffin tin or line with paper liners.

Mix butter through vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Mix flour through salt; toss in cherries. Mix wet into dry just until combined. Spoon batter into tin.

For topping, combine all ingredients until crumbly. Sprinkle on top of muffins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until done.

Giant Blueberry Muffins

I love a good muffin for breakfast and these were delicious. You can't go wrong with blueberries & lemon zest. YUM!

Giant Blueberry Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

Zest of 1 lemon

1/3 cup butter, melted

1 egg

1/3 cup buttermilk

1 cup fresh blueberries

Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Mix flour through lemon zest in bowl. Mix wet ingredients in seperate bowl; gently mix into dry ingredients. Fold in blueberries.

Divide batter between large cupcake liners; sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until baked through.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins

Pumpkin, cream cheese, muffins... What's not to like? Enjoy!!!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins



Recipe adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Muffins:

4 eggs
1 1/2 cups ugar
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 375°F.

 In a large bowl mix eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil. Add  dry ingredients and mix until smooth.

In mixer bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and egg until combined.

Place paper liners in a muffin tin. Fill halfway with pumpkin batter, add a spoonful of cheesecake, then fill to the top with pumpkin. Add a dollop of cheesecake on top and swirl with a knife.

Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Pumpkin Bran Muffins

I love a good bran muffin. In fact, bran muffins are probably one of my favorite muffins... as long as it is baked right. Nothing is worse than a dry bran muffin! :) These bran muffins have the wonderful addition of pumpkin, craisins, and mini chocolate chips. They were moist and so delicious!

Pumpkin Bran Muffins
Recipe from All Day I Dream About Food

1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup unprocessed wheat bran
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2 tbsp light molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 375F and generously grease 24 mini-muffin tins and 6 regular muffin tins. Or use just the 12 larger muffin tins.

In a large bowl, stir buttermilk and bran together and let sit for 5-10 minutes. If you are using buttermilk powder, simply add 5 tbsp to the bran and then stir in 1 1/4 cups of water. Whisk in pumpkin, raisins, chocolate chips, brown sugar, egg, melted butter, molasses and vanilla.

In a smaller bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Gently fold flour mixture into the bran mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined.

Spoon batter into prepared tins, to just the top of each tin. Bake until tops are set and a tester inserted into the middle comes out clean, about 14-18 minutes for mini-muffins, and 20-24 minutes for larger muffins.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

It may not quite be Fall here in El Paso (still in the 80s-90s) but that isn't going to stop me from breaking out the pumpkin! The time between my birthday and Christmas is my favorite time of year. Lots of great holidays and lots of great opportunities to make good food. Plus, pumpkin is plentiful and we all know just how much I LOVE pumpkin!!!

This is one of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipes and I'm not quite sure why it isn't on the blog. I have been making it for 6 years or so... it is definitely a keeper! I love the addition of the apple and it keeps the muffins so moist! YUM!!!

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 egg

2 TBSP vegetable oil

1 cup apple, finely chopped

Topping:

1 TBSP flour

3 TBSP sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 TBSP butter

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients. Stir dry into wet just until combined. Fold in apples. Spoon into muffin tin.

Combine streusel ingredients until crumbly and sprinkle over muffins.

Bake for 20 minutes or until done.

Blueberry Muffins... with Jam!

I love muffins and blueberry muffins are probably one of my favorites. This recipe has an extra step but it makes the muffins SO good! Half of the blueberries are cooked down into a jam and then swirled on top of the muffins. Definitely a keeper!!!

Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from Cooks Illustrated (Found at Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

Lemon-Sugar Topping
1/3 cup sugar (2 1/3 oz)
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

Muffins
2 cups (about 10 oz) fresh blueberries
1 1/8 cups sugar (8 oz) plus 1 teaspoon
2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To make the topping: Combine the lemon zest and sugar in a small bowl and rub together with your fingertips until fragrant.

Preheat the oven to 425 F with a rack in the upper third. Spray your muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine 1 cup of the blueberries along with 1 teaspoon of sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, mashing the berries with a spoon and stirring frequently. Continue cooking until the berries break down and the mixture has a thick jam-like consistency; the volume should be reduced to about 1/4 cup. Transfer to a small bowl and cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. In another large bowl, whisk the remaining 1 1/8 cups of sugar and the eggs together until pale yellow and thick. Whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and whisk to incorporate fully. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture along with the remaining 1 cup of blueberries. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold until the dry ingredients are just moistened - the batter will be lumpy, that's fine. Don't overmix.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin pan - each well should be completely full. Add one teaspoon of the blueberry jam to the center of each well of batter. Use a skewer to gently swirl the jam into the batter. Sprinkle the muffins with the lemon sugar.

Bake for 17-19 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are golden and they spring back when gently pressed. Transfer the muffin pan to a wire rack and let the muffins cool for 5 minutes before removing them to cool completely.

Makes 12 muffins

TWD: Cornmeal and Apple Muffins

This was supposed to be a loaf but I turned it into muffins to make it easier to grab on the go. I chose to use apples to fill them and they are SO good! I love the addition of cornmeal, too. Definitely a great muffin!

Thanks to Caitlin of Engineer Baker for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

TWD: Carrot Spice Muffins

I love baking with vegetables, especially carrots! These muffins are filled with carrots, raisins, coconut, and yummy spices. We loved them and will definitely make them again!

Thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat the Crumbs for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Muffins

What happens when you are craving muffins and have lemon curd that you want to use? Well, if you are me, then you create a delicious muffin that uses the lemon curd! These are fantastic, lemony, and oh so delicious!

Lemon Curd Poppy Seed Muffins
Makes 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular

2 cups flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup lemon curd
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla (or could do half vanilla/half lemon extract for added lemon flavor)
2 TBSP poppy seeds

Topping:
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of 1 lemon

Mix flour through brown sugar in a large bowl; set aside. In a small bowl, combine eggs through poppy seeds. Mix wet into dry and stir to combine. Fill muffin tins.

Using your fingers, mix lemon zest into sugar. Sprinkle on top of muffins.

Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Strawberry Nutella Muffins

These muffins prompted my 3 year old to say, "Mommy, you make the best muffins in the world!" Yes... they are THAT good! YUM!

Strawberry Nutella Muffins

Recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 large egg
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries
1/3 cup Nutella

Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin tins.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

Combine canola oil, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla together.

Add wet to dry and stir just until combined. Fold in strawberries.

Fill each muffin cup halfway and add a spoonful of Nutella. Cover Nutella with remaining batter.

Bake for 17-10 minutes.

Banana Sour Cream Muffins

Delicious banana muffins sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar... YUM!

Banana Sour Cream Muffins
Recipe from Talking Dollars and Cents


2-1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup butter
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Sift together flour through salt; set aside.

Blend bananas, butter, and sugar in blender until smooth. Add eggs and sour cream; blend to mix.

Add blender ingredients to dry ingredients in bowl and mix well.

Fill muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes at 375.

TWD: Citrus-Craisin Sunshine Muffins

I made these muffins for breakfast this morning and they were a hit! They are very fluffy with flat tops and very citrus-y. Definitely a yummy way to start the day!

I made a few changes to the recipe to fit what I had on hand. The recipe calls for currants and orange zest but I substituted craisins and lemon zest. Since there is orange juice in the batter there was still a nice orange flavor. I loved the combination of orange, lemon, and craisins. SO GOOD!

Thanks to Lauryn of Bella Baker for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

I sometimes (okay, all the time) feel like a broken record on Tuesdays. But what can I say? Dorie Greenspan is a baking genius and pretty much ALL of her recipes rock. Seriously. They all rock. :)

These corn muffins are no different. I have a honey corn bread recipe that I always use. I love it and have been making it for years. I thought that this recipe would be good, but I didn't expect them to be SO good. Made with buttermilk and filled with lots of corn... oh my word. SO GOOD! The leftovers that were sitting on the counter were calling my name like they were chocolate chip cookies. They were so hard to resist!!!

Thanks to Jill of My Next Life for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

TWD: Great Grains Muffins

I had plans of making these muffins yesterday. Then my daughter and I caught a stomach bug and weren't able to eat anything all day. This morning we woke up feeling better but wanted to play it safe with saltines for breakfast. After 3 hours up, we both were craving "real food" and these muffins popped into my head. I can't say that I have ever made a TWD recipe on Tuesday, but hey, there is a first time for everything!

These muffins came together quickly, which was awesome because my body feels weak still and I didn't want to stand for too long in the kitchen. They baked quickly, too! (Only about 13 minutes.)

The muffins are DELICIOUS and super fluffy. They are filled with white flour, wheat flour, cornmeal, oats, raisins, maple syrup, and some cinnamon chips thrown in for good measure. Definitely a great first food after being sick! Maybe that is why "GREAT" is in the title! :)

Thanks to Christine of Happy Tummy for hosting this week! The recipe can be found at her blog.

TWD: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins are probably my favorite type of muffin. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! And, of course, since these are Dorie Greenspan's Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, you know they are awesome. I mean, look at them... They are AWESOME!

Thanks to Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog.

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

I love mini-muffins. They are the perfect size for popping into your mouth and, let's face it, anything mini is cute! :)

These pumpkin muffins are fantastic. The texture is very much like a cake donut and when rolled in cinnamon-sugar and powdered sugar, they taste almost identical. Plus, they are baked and not fried, so that makes them healthier than a donut!

I wanted to mention one change I made. The recipe calls for dipping the muffins in butter then rolling them in the sugar. I do this with another muffin I make, but didn't feel like melting the butter when I made these. If you pop them straight out of the muffin tin and put right into the sugar, the sugar will stay and you won't have to use the extra butter.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

Recipe from Cassie Craves

For the pumpkin batter:
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree
3/4 cup light-brown sugar
2 large eggs

For the sugar coating:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture and beat to combine.

2. Spoon batter into each mini muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, roll in butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

Pumpkin Surprise Streusel Muffins

Things are gonna get pretty pumpkin-y around here! Okay, so I realize that I have already posted a lot of pumpkin recipes (9 pumpkin posts -including this one- so far this month) but more are coming! I have 2 more pumpkin recipes in my draft folder and at least 20 more in my to-try folder. I know I don't have a chance of making the 20+ recipes before Thanksgiving but that doesn't mean I won't try! What does this mean for you? A TON of pumpkin posts! :)

These are a great pumpkin muffin! I love everything about them from the pumpkin flavor, the delicious struesel topping, and, of course, the hidden cream cheese in the center. Yum, yum, and yum!

Pumpkin Surprise Streusel Muffins

1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 oz cream cheese, cut into 12 cubes

Streusel:
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 TBSP buter

Combine flour through nutmeg in bowl. In seperate bowl, combine egg through vegetable oil. Stir dry ingredients into wet just until combined. Fill muffin tins with batter and put one cube of cream cheese in center of each muffin.

Combine streusel ingredients and top muffins. Bake at 400 for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

TWD: Coffee Break Muffins

Up until about 2 years ago, I couldn't stand coffee. I didn't like the smell and definately didn't like the taste. I'm not sure what changed it for me, but now I start out every morning with a cup of coffee (or two... or three... you know how it is!). I still am learning to like the coffee flavor in things other than coffee, but it is sometimes hit or miss for me.

Luckily, these muffins were a hit! Nathan and I really enjoyed them. I could taste the coffee, but it wasn't overpowering. I actually enjoyed the coffee flavor in it and would make these again.

Thanks to Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous for hosting this week. The recipe can be found at her blog or on page 15 of Baking: From My Home To Yours.

Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins

Whenever I see a new banana recipe, I seem to always bookmark it. It never fails that I have brown bananas in my fruit bowl or bananas that have been transferred to the freezer.

Another one of my favorite things is a crumb topping. Add that to a muffin and I am in heaven. These muffins are fantastic! A great banana muffin with a delicious macadamia crumb topping.

Enjoy!

Banana Macadamia Nut Muffins

Family Circle Dec 2009

Topping:

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

3 TBSP cold butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Muffins:

2 cups flour

3/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 egg

Preheat oven to 375.

For topping, mix flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts.

For muffins, whisk together flour through salt in bowl. In another bowl, whisk together bananas through egg. Make a well in center of wet ingredients and pour in dry. Stir just until moistened.

Spoon muffin mixture into muffin tins and top with crumb topping. Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.