Category: Breads and Muffins

Sunday Baking Fun

Breads and Muffins, Breakfast and Brunch

I spied a few sad browning bananas on the counter, so I decided to have a little baking fun. I made two different recipes; chocolate banana bread and blueberry banana muffins. I may have gone a little crazy, but luckily I have an awesome neighbor whose family loves to taste test my creations 😉

BLUEBERRY BANANA MUFFINS

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 cup plus 1 tsp sugar, divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ripe mashed banana
  • 2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preparation

Heat oven to 375°. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or use non-stick cooking spray. Whisk butter, eggs and milk in a bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. I always say let them sit and cool, but really the girls and I will eat one fresh out of the oven and risk burning our tongues 😉

CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1/3 cup 2% or whole milk 1 tbs vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1/2 bag chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray

In a medium bowl, combine your dry ingredients

In a large bowl, combine your wet ingredients

Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix by hand just until combined.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick or cake-tester comes out clean

Teriyaki Salmon and Cheesy Muffins

Asian, Breads and Muffins, One pot meal, Seafood

I hope everyone is doing the well. While I have been cooking, it has mostly been quick and easy things. Between the Pandemic and all the other horrible things happening recently, I have not really been in the right state of mind to cook or write, but I am slowly starting to dip my toe back in, so here is something I made the other night that was super easy and I thought I would share.

I found this teriyaki marinade at the store last week. I usually tend to make my own concoction or different Asian sauces, but this looked like a good one. Low sodium and pretty straightforward ingredients; garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, soy sauce, onion, and vinegar.

I bought this pretty salmon that was on sale at the store. I saw an interesting fact about fresh salmon- when you get it, just should smell like watermelon. Just a hint of it. It is true! Next time you get some salmon, try it out. It should not smell fishy. I marinaded the salmon for about 15 minutes. Rebecca made some cheesy mini muffins -the kind from Jim and Nicks, which you can find on the baking aisle with the cake mixes and such.

The salmon cooked the same time as the muffins, about 15 minutes. These were on the thick side, so 12-15 minutes is usually the range. The oven was at 425. I added a side of broccoli to complete the meal!

Oven Baked BBQ Ribs

Breads and Muffins, Pork, Side dishes...veggies

My family LOVES ribs, so when I saw these at the grocery store, I knew I had to get them. Usually I buy them already cut up, but I was up for the challenge of trying to cook them in the oven as a whole rack. I researched tons of recipes, and decided on doing a rub then adding a sauce at the end.

These were pork spare ribs. They came vacuum-packed and were sitting in a bit of liquid that I rinsed off under cold water. I patted them dry with a paper towel, then peeled off the silver-skin. This is the shiny, white piece of membrane that sits on top of the bones and makes things tough and chewy once cooked. Most of it comes off pretty easy when you slide your finger under it, but a couple parts I needed to use my paring knife to help loosen it up. 

I preheated the oven to 300. In a small bowl I made a rub with different spices from my cabinet. I didn’t really measure; I used a combo of cumin, coriander, smoked mild paprika, garlic and onion powder, and chili powder. I rubbed the mixture all over ribs and placed on a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

I cooked them in the oven for about 2 hours. Then I took them out and brushed them with BBQ sauce. I happened to have a jar of our family’s favorite sauce, Sticky Fingers in the fridge. So I painted it with that and let it cook for 20 more minutes.

I served with a side of creamed corn- 3 cans of corn drained- obviously fresh would be best, but we had canned in the pantry. Half a container of cream cheese, a few pats of butter, and a splash of heavy cream. I just mixed everything together and let the ingredients melt in to each other. I also gave them a bit of a mash to release some of those sweet corn starches.

My 13 year old helped make the cheddar biscuits. You know the ones. From that seafood restaurant. They sell them in a cheat box mix where all you have to do is add the cheddar cheese and some water and butter.

It was a perfect meal 😉

Blueberry Banana Muffin Cake. I SAID MUFFIN CAKE!!! Is anyone listening?

Breads and Muffins, Sweet Treats
2 mixes, 2 ripe bananas smashed, 1 cup milk. Combine and cook at 400 for 30 minutes.
It told me it felt naked, so we added frosting and sprinkles.
Sprinkles are required.
It was a big hit! Yeah for muffin cakes!
One more sneak before bed.
I think it was a hit.

Blueberries for Days

Breads and Muffins, Breakfast and Brunch

The last time I went to the store, they had organic blueberries and raspberries on sale. They were buy one get one free, so I loaded up! Katie can sit an eat an entire container of raspberries (same) so those did not last very long. Rebecca also likes to sit and pick the plumpest blueberries from the containers and eat them mindlessly while reading or watching TV. I am happy for this healthy habit, because it negates all the chips and ice cream we eat during the summertime 😉

Yesterday I spied a couple more containers of blueberries left, so I asked them what they wanted me to make for breakfast; blueberry waffles, pancakes, or muffins. Pancakes was the number one resounding pick, but I knew I probably had plenty left for muffins as well!

So I made a recipe similar to this. Instead of the honey, I added one tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of syrup, which was just the perfect amount of sweetness against the sweet but tart blueberries. They were a hit! Clean plates all around!

After our bellies settled, I decided to get back in the kitchen and bake the muffins. Fruity muffins make me feel like I am eating a semi-healthy treat; after all, they are filled with fr

VERY Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled 2 large eggs 1/2 cups milk 2 cups all purpose flour 3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for the tops at the end 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 pints fresh blueberries (1 pint would be fine, but I wanted to use them all up) Directions- Preheat oven to 375 and line 2 6- cup muffin tins or 1 12-cup muffin tin with liners. Whisk the eggs, butter, and milk together in one bowl. In another bowl, whisk all of the dry ingredients. Stir the wet ingredients in to the dry ingredients. Gently fold in the blueberries. Using an ice cream scoop, divide all the batter in the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining sugar. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. The muffins should be golden brown and as with most baked goods, you can test it out with a toothpick or knife to make sure it comes out clean. Enjoy! Let cool a little- molten blueberries are no fun to bite in to =)