Baking: Muffins | Gninethree

Category Archives: Baking: Muffins

Peanut Butter Muffin Pies

March 9, 2012 Baking: Muffins, Recipes

I am a huge peanut butter fan. And I mean HUGE… The sort of fan who eats peanut butter out of the jar with a spoon (and does the same with Nutella too) Yes my mother has become increasingly alarmed by the bad eating habits I have picked up staying overseas (and no, finishing 437ml of Chunky Monkey at one sitting is not considered a bad eating habit..it’s normal!)

But seriously, nothing makes your day better than a dollop (or two, or three or four or maybe half the jar) of Peanut Butter or Nutella. You know that creaminess and sweetness that lingers in your mouth when you put the spoon into your mouth…simply bliss!

But yes I do acknowledge that spreads are actually meant to be spread on something and not simply eaten plain. And of course they gave amazing flavour to frosting and buttercream as well! Which brings me to my bake of the week- Peanut Butter Muffin Pies!

To set the record straight, I dont think that muffin pies actually do exist and I have to confess… these were actually supposed to be whoopie pies >< Big boo boo there but that’s because I mistakenly assumed that my muffin pan was actually shallow enough to pass off as a whoopie pie pan! How naive. I know. So I changed their names from Whoopie Pies to Muffin Pies (get it?)

I chose creamy peanut butter instead for this filling because frosting is meant to be smooth though I love chunky peanut butter a whole lot more. And I actually bought 25% reduced fat Skippy’s Creamy Peanut Butter because I would be adding 1/2 more cup of butter + 3/4 cups of icing sugar to the peanut butter already so I figured that would already overcompensate the missing 25%… Sigh the lengths I would go to to convince myself that I am trying my hardest to be healthy. Hur Hur.

Apple Cinnamon Crumble Muffins

November 13, 2011 Baking: Muffins, Recipes

Makes 12 Muffins

75ml of olive oil
200ml of buttermilk
Zest of 1 lemon
2 large free range eggs
150g of caster sugar
250g of self raising flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
250g of peeled and diced cooking apple (Approx 1 large cooking apple)

For the crumble topping:

50g of vanilla sugar
50g of plain flour
50g of butter

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 190˚C. Line a muffin/cupcake tray with paper cases.
Measure the oil and buttermilk in a pyrex jug and then stir through the lemon zest and set aside.
Using a handblender with a food processor attachment, blitz the ingredients for the crumble topping until you get left with rough crumbs. You can also do this by hand in a bowl using your fingertips to combine the ingredients together. Set the crumble topping aside.
In a standalone mixer, beat the eggs with the sugar until light and fluffy.
Add in the oil, buttermilk and lemon zest and whisk until combined.
Gently fold in the flour and cinnamon until just combined. Fold through 3/4 of the diced apple until combined. Be sure not to over mix the batter.
Spoon the mixture into the paper cases, top with the remaining apple and about a teaspoonful of the crumble topping.

Place in the oven on the middle wrack to cook for 20 minutes until brown on top.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Sugar Free Wholegrain Banana Cinnamon Muffins

October 4, 2011 Baking: Muffins, Recipes

A few days ago, MP and I both weighed ourselves on the weighing scale and he is now heavier than me despite still being shorter so I scouted the internet for a recipe that was low in calories and sugar but still yummy so he could enjoy it without the worry of the extra few pounds! Hee! I mixed and matched a few things- found a 28 calorie granola apple muffin recipe but since there were no apples in the kitchen, I changed the recipe to bananas instead and replaced the sugar with honey. I have never ever counted calories before because I dont know how but I do know that bananas are definitely more fattening that apples so Im just assuming that it is now 50 calories (probably even less!) Oh yes and it’s wheat and dairy free (no butter or milk) too! You can make the muffins vegan too by replacing the eggs with applesauce (which you can find in Adl but not in Sg)!

Ingredients:

2 cups of wholegrain millet flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup of honey
2 eggs
3 bananas (mashed)
1 cup granola/cornflakes/M&Ms for toppings (do bear in mind that the type of toppings you choose to put on the muffin will affect its calorie count! =P)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C.

2. Engage a helper for the manual labour part ;)

3. Mix dry ingredients

4. Mix wet ingredients and beat well.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix gently.

6. Pour batter into muffin pan or cups

7. Add Granola/cornflakes/M&Ms to the top of Muffins

8. Bake for 12 min-15min

9. Enjoy your hard work! And dont forget to reward the helper with one (maybe two) muffins!

Baklava Muffins..well sort off ;)

May 14, 2011 Baking: Muffins, Recipes

Baklava is a rich, sweet pastry made of layers of filo pastry filled with chopped nuts and sweetened with syrup or honey. The word baklava has Turkish origins, reflecting the fact that the dish was perfected in the Ottoman Empire of Turkey. During the period of the Ottoman Empire, the Greeks and Turks freely mixed, exchanging foods and cultural traditions. The result was a rich culinary mix of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean, including baklava, which is commonly associated with Greek cuisine today.

Ive always wanted to make the original version and been especially inspired since Masterchef last night when they were asked to make Baklawa (the Lebanese version of Baklava) but it looked way too sweet with all the syrup so I found a Nigella Lawson recipe online for Baklava muffins and she describes them as…

….these taste so good: gooey, crunchy, soft and filling; sticky buns for the slapdash cook – Nigella Lawson

So let’s see if it holds true! ;)

Filling:

½ cup (50g) chopped walnuts
1/3 cup (67g) sugar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted

Muffins:

1 cup + 7 tablespoons (210g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup (50g) sugar
1 large egg
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, melted
1 cup + 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Directions:

Mix all the filling ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda; add sugar.
Whisk the egg, melted butter and buttermilk in a separate bowl. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid. Mix lightly and gently
Fill the cups 1/3 full, add a scant tablespoon of filling, then cover with more muffin batter until 2/3 full.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the muffins from the pan and place them on a rack.

Banana Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

April 20, 2011 Baking: Muffins, Recipes

Mum takes out 2 punnets of blueberries and says Jie thinks they’re too sour and doesnt want to have them so she asks me if I could make something with them. Yes MAM! So since I am back to the land where bananas cost less than $2 or even $1 a bunch, I literally went crazy and decided to make my first item back home with bananas!! :)

This was after mum had bribed me with 2 boxes of these and I had wiped them clean..So no choice had to get to work and I am in love with my oven back home! No having to take out the tray intermittently to rotate sides, no having to keep a look out and make sure the stuff do not get burnt. Just pop it in, put on the timer and when it’s ready, it’s perfect! :D

Ingredients:

2 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups whole millet flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1/4 cup brown sugar/ honey
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup blueberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180C. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, bananas, and yogurt.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, oats, wheat germ, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add dry ingredients to the wet, lightly mixing until just combined and still slightly lumpy. Stir in blueberries.
Line muffin tins with paper liners or grease with cooking spray. Fill cups 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.