Rhubarb Ginger Muffins

I've been asked a couple times last week about what foods mean springtime to me. I drew a blank. And then after thinking about it while driving back and forth to school, I came up with the short list of asparagus and fiddleheads. So really it's only a list of one. Because honestly, I have no idea where I could get fiddleheads out here in downtown Nowhere, Ohio. And then, on Wednesday, I was up in the next county running errands and had to run into Meijers to pick up a few groceries. That's when I saw them. Ruby red stalks of rhubarb. Rhubarb is so definitely spring that I forget about it at other times of the year. Or, it's definitely not a plant you can find while firmly in the icy grip of winter.Elated, I grabbed a couple stalks.

Then I got home and wondered what the hell I was going to make with them (which apparently happens every time I buy rhubarb.) I should have checked my blog because apparently I had blogged about rhubarb muffins before. Instead I looked through a pile of cookbooks and finally dragged out the massive Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking. There's a basic muffin recipe in there. There's also a variation on the basic recipe that tells how to make them with buttermilk (and I have buttermilk to use up!) And I figured I have some crystallized ginger I could throw in there too. Really it was an experiment.

A darn tasty and quick experiment that I found perfectly satisfying as an after-school or before school or late-night-whew-I'm-home snack.

Oh and if you love aprons, like me, you should check out Not Quite June Cleaver. She has a really fun blog and has monthly apron giveaways. This month's apron is all about spring.

Rhubarb Ginger Muffins

an original Shazamer recipe with help from Mary Margaret McBride

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbsp sugar

1 egg, well beaten

1 cup buttermilk

3 Tbsp melted butter

1 stalk rhubarb, minced

1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. Combine the buttermilk, melted butter, and egg in a separate bowl and then add to the dry ingredients stirring just until combined. Fold in the rhubarb and ginger.

Line a muffin tin with papers and spray briefly with cooking spray. Divide the dough between 12 muffin cups. Bake in a hot oven at 425 degrees F. for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Coffee Break Muffins

Today I was struck by the inexplicable urge to make muffins. I don't usually eat muffins, but I recently won Dorie Greenspan's Baking From My Home to Yours from CB's blogaversary giveaway and I'm still trying to figure out how to plan my schedule so that I eat on a fairly regular basis throughout the busy busy day instead of consuming the contents of my fridge in one fell swoop when I finally get home at night. So I was thinking maybe muffins might be something I can eat while I'm running from one school to the next. (Which, by the way, if you are at all interested in my reflections and thoughts on schools that I go to or teach I have a new blog that I had to start for a class.)

I usually avoid muffins because really they're a baby step away from cake and eating cake on a regular basis makes me fat. Really. I have the metabolism of a sloth. You know those furry things that live in trees in the jungle and move soooo slooooow that nobody really notices them. Yeah I have a metabolism like that. But, these muffins seem to be a little on the lighter side.

There's no milk in them either (which is a big plus in our little house). Instead these wonderfully tasty muffins use coffee for the liquid and have an extra little shot of espresso just to ramp up the coffee flavor. Yeah, I adjusted the recipe to add just a little more espresso. I figure these muffins might help me stay awake on the long drive back home at night. And because I've heard that protein helps people feel full, I added some walnuts. And Holy Moly! These muffins are really great! They form a nice little crust that gets a little bit of crunch to it. I think I might enjoy my running around when I get a muffin like this to snack on. I'm so glad I won this cookbook! If you don't already own it you should go buy it.

And don't forget to check back on Tuesday for the Big Blog Giveaway! There's going to be some cool stuff.

Coffee Break Muffins

adapted a touch from Baking From My Home to Yours

2 cups all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 Tbsp instant espresso powder

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup strong coffee, cooled

1 stick (8 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 large egg

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Fit 12 molds in a regular size muffin tin with paper cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the brown sugar, making sure there are no lumps. In another bowl, stir together the coffee, butter, egg and vanilla until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring to combine. Do not over mix. Fold in the walnuts.

Divide the batter among the 12 cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a rack.

Mini Pumpkin Muffins

I am thankful that fall is here and the holiday season is approaching. I am looking forward to the cookie baking, the caroling, the general feelings of goodwill, and gifts are fun too. But right now what's making me happy is the preparation for the season. See, the Brain and I made our semi-annual trip to Costco this weekend. We picked up a 50 pound bag of flour.

And loads of butter, chicken, broth, canned goods, a 3-pound bag of tortilla chips, and many many other foodstuffs. Oh and a 50 pound bag of sugar.

For a while, I delighted in my savvy bulk shopping. The savings on the 3 dozen eggs, 12 pounds of butter, the flour and the sugar alone came to more than $25. And I make enough Christmas cookies that I know the savings will be realized. As I was admiring the bounty of our Costco trip, it occurred to me that my mother was right. (She should be happy to hear that.) My kitchen needed some serious organizing. SO I spent the better part of Sunday and today making my kitchen cabinets work for me. Seriously. I pulled everything out of the cabinets and sorted according to "keep" "store elsewhere" and "must go" piles. The "store elsewhere" have been packed in plastic bins in the basement and the "must go" are probably going to stay in the garage until the Brain decides he's ready to let them go. The rest of the stuff went back into the cupboards. And now I have a very nicely organized kitchen.

See how shiny the counters are? And seriously my stove is probably 30 years old, but you can't tell anymore thanks to Mr. Magic Eraser.

My stepdad is thankful for these Mini Pumpkin Muffins. They really were delicious. He took the rest of them home with him. Which turned out to be a very good thing. I was having trouble resisting their pumpkiny goodness. And it was so easy just to pup them like candy.

Mini Pumpkin Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2/3 cup canola oil
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 7 ingredients (through nutmeg) in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine canola oil, eggs, and pumpkin in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk until smooth. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

Spray mini muffin tins and scoop batter into cups. Bake until a toothpic inserted in one mini muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes or so. Turn out onto rack to cool.

Rhubarb Walnut Muffins

So while I was doing an all out search for some frozen artichokes and ended up in the next county, I ran across some beautiful crimson rhubarb stalks. In a moment of impulse, I bought some. Then I came home and realized that I don't like pie. What was I going to do with this rhubarb?

After some searching, I found this fabulous recipe on the Food Network website. This is a superb way to use up rhubarb. The finished muffin has nice crunchy walnuts, crumbly sweet streusel topping, and is studded with tart little pieces of rhubarb. They are super easy to whip together too. Thank goodness I have more rhubarb to use up. I think these are going to go fast.

Rhubarb Walnut Muffins
adapted from the Food Network courtesy of Blacksmith's Inn, Bailey's Harbor, WI

1 1/2 flour
3/4 cups brown sugar (packed)
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped rhubarb

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and prepare 12 muffin cups.Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients, mixing only until moist. Fold in rhubarb and walnuts. Distribute batter among 12 muffin cups. Combine topping ingredients and sprinkle over muffins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes

Honey Date Whole Wheat Muffins

Tonight I have to get out of bed at midnight to go make the donuts. This makes breakfast tricky. Do I eat a quick breakfast before I go to work and then not eat again for 9 hours? Or do I not eat at all and run a little sluggish. If I eat at 12:15 does that count as breakfast? What do I call the meal at 9? It's looking like the traditional breakfast, lunch, and dinner aren't working so well for me with this new job.

I'm thinking muffins are the answer. Something filling, a little bit sweet, full of good for me carbs that will keep me running around the donut fryer. These Honey Date Whole Wheat Muffins rise to the challenge. The whole wheat flour and buckwheat honey add a nice earthiness and the chopped dates add nice little surprises of sweet. The muffins are under 200 calories, have a little more than 3 grams of fat, and almost 3 grams of fiber each. Way better than a fresh cake donut.

Honey Date Whole Wheat Muffins
an original Shazam recipe

1 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 large egg
1 1/4 cup 1% milk
1/4 cup buckwheat honey
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/4 cup chopped dates

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and fill 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Lightly spray liners with cooking spray.

Combine flours, baking powder, salt and ginger in a large bowl. Whisk to combine. In a separate bowl combine egg, milk, honey, and butter, whisking to combine. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients with a few swift strokes. Fold dates in before dry ingredients are completely incorporated.

Divide batter evenly among the 12 baking cups and bake for 20 minutes, or until tester comes out clean.

Banana Wheat Germ Whole Wheat Muffins

So I'm finally back home. Ok, I got home 2 days ago, but I'm finally now getting around to posting. Thanks everyone for your nice comments on the last post. The Brain has installed a railing on the basement stairs (Yay Brain!) and although I find my heart racing everytime I decide I have to go down them to do laundry I'm managing them just fine. Sure, I do grip the handrail. And yes I've already bumped my head once. But I'm going up and down them. Sometimes I just really really need to be self sufficient.

So anyhow, I got back and the house and garage were clean and my dog came for a visit and a good time was had by all. There were however two lowly very ripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl that I hadn't managed to eat before I left. Now banana bread is lovely, but really it just makes me think of cake. And I do love cake, but I just wanted something a bit healthier. So I found a recipe from Bon Appetit and made it healthier. I reduced the sugar and I added some whole wheat flour to get some added fiber. I still wanted them to be really flavorfull so I upped the vanilla too. And the verdict? These are really really good! They aren't sweet, but the banana flavor comes through as well as the nuttiness of the wheat germ. And in case you're wondering, I used the Sparks website and found that with my alterations these tasty little muffins come to 135 calories, 5.9 grams of fat, 3.8 grams of protein and 1.9 grams of fiber. That's 3 of those points that some people count. Not too shabby.

Banana Wheat Germ Whole Wheat Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup toasted wheat germ
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1/2 cup 1% milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners. Sift flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. Stir in wheat germ. Combine bananas, milk, eggs, oil and vanilla extract in large bowl and whisk to blend. Mix in dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups and bake for about 25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown and springy to the touch.

LiveSTRONG Day 2008

I am lucky. I may be on pseudo-house arrest. I may not be able to get into my pantry. I may have the world's squeakiest brace and sound like a demented version of the tin man. I may wake up sometimes in the middle of the night with a weird pain in my knee. And I may have resolved that it's possible that this isn't my last knee surgery. But I am lucky. This is all temporary. Eventually, and it's a certainty, I will be able to ride my bicycle again. I will be able to play and jump and maybe run (I've never been very good at running). I will heal one hundred percent. I don't have cancer. My body isn't mutinying against me. I am lucky.

My mom's friend Pam wasn't so lucky. She had lung cancer and finally succumbed to it two years ago. Pam had her flaws like everyone else, but she was a pretty cool lady. She taught school, but I really have no idea what grade and what she taught. I know she loved to swim. But mostly I remember driving her to the hospital when she wasn't allowed to drive anymore and listening to her talk about how when she got better she was going to have adventures. She had this attitude up until the very end. It was pretty inspiring really. And Pam's gift to me was showing me what would happen if I didn't quit smoking. That sounds so Machiavellian of me, but it's true.

The fear of lung cancer sometimes keeps me up at night. I used to smoke. I used to smoke a LOT. Some people will tell you that I survived in college on Diet Coke and cigarettes. And pretty much I did. Cigarettes became a way for me to stop myself from saying things I would regret. Cigarettes allowed me to pause and think before I spoke. Cigarettes allowed me to step outside and take a deep breathe when I got completely stressed out. And yes, I'm not from a generation where I can claim that I didn't know they were bad for me. I didn't care that I smelled bad. I didn't care that I couldn't smell anything. I was only mildly perturbed that my teeth were starting to yellow and that I'd probably get those scary lines around my lips. I had smoked for 15 years. Half of my life. And I loved it.

Those horrible photos of blackened lungs didn't do anything to break the grip that cigarettes had on me. I was addicted. What finally did it was watching Pam. Was knowing how Pam had all these adventures left in her that she wouldn't get to take. I didn't know Pam too well. But when Pam needed rides to the hospital, I didn't feel I could say no. After all, I have had far more than my share of people driving me around because I couldn't do it myself. And in the end, I was on the receiving end of these trips. Because I had a new appreciation for Pam and her unconquerable spirit. And I will never be a smoker again. How lucky I am that I had Pam in my life!

Winosandfoodies is having a Taste of Yellow blogging event where bloggers make yellow food to show their support for LiveSTRONG Day 2008. I spent a long long time thinking of a good food to make for this event. I wanted to make something that not only was yellow, but was also appropriate. For example, Saveur magazine had a recipe on how to make butter. Butter is yellow, but it doesn't seem right for a we can beat cancer type event. It's more of a oh hell let's all get fat kind of an event food. (If there is such an event please let me know!)

So I did loads of thinking and found this recipe for delicious corn muffins studded with cranberries and walnuts. Both of which have HUGE cancer fighting properties. According to work done by Catherine Neto at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth and her colleagues, cranberries have chemicals called proanthocyanidins, which originally were thought to help prevent urinary tract infections. They have found that they inhibited the growth of human lung, colon and leukemia cells in culture without affecting healthy cells. I think that's pretty promising and you can read the whole article here. Walnuts contain an antioxidant compound called ellagic acid that supports the immune system and appears to have several anticancer properties and you can read all about walnuts here. So I think these little cancer fighting yellow muffins are perfect for this event. That and they're damn tasty too!

There will be a complete roundup of entries on May 13th here. Make sure you check it out. Last year there were 149 entries and it's been accepted by the Lance Armstrong Foundation as an official LiveSTRONG Day event. And if you'd like to see the rules for the photo contest or how to submit an entry check them out here.

Dried Cranberry Black Walnut Corn Muffins

from The Cornbread Gospels

Vegetable oil cooking spray

1 cup stone ground yellow cornmeal

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup black walnuts, toasted and chopped

1 egg

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1/3 cup grape seed oil (or other mild vegetable oil)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 18 muffin cups with oil. Set aside

Combine the cornmeal, flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss them together well, breaking up any lumps of brown sugar with your fingers. Set aside.

Combine the dried cranberries and walnuts in a small bowl. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the dry cornmeal mixture over them and toss well. Set aside.

Whisk together the egg, buttermilk and oil in a small bowl.

Pour the egg mixture into the cornmeal mixture and, working with as few strokes as possible, combine the two. When they are moistened but not quite incorporated and the batter is still far from smooth, stir in the meal dusted cranberries and nuts.

Scoop the batter into the prepared cups and bake until the muffins are golden brown, slightly crusty around the edges and test clean with a toothpick, about 15 minutes.

Ah Relief

We are home. Temporarily in between Christmas celebrations. Last weekend we had a 90th birthday party, a wedding reception, and 2 Christmases with my family. This weekend we have a Christmas celebration, a birthday party and a baby shower. Celebrations and family happiness abound. But I have to say, I love my quiet little house and my nice firm mattress. I can lay awake in the early morning hours and listen comfortably to the nothingness.

I digress. After all that rich food in Michigan, and with the expectation of rich food to come, I am craving vegetables. But I'm not really cooking this week. (We're playing "what leftovers are in the freezer" for the 2 nights I actually have to think about dinner.) So I've made do with some very tasty bran muffins. I got some pretty cool silicone cupcake liners in both heart shapes and squares as a Christmas present and I wanted to try them out.

This recipe is loosely based on this recipe here. But I don't keep buttermilk on hand, so I substituted yogurt. And the reviews said it was dry, so a little applesauce couldn't hurt. And really when I was cutting up the apricots and prunes and I just kept finding more dried fruit in my cupboards, I couldn't help adding raisins and currants and craisins and adding an entire 1/2 cup more dried fruit than I was supposed to. I don't know what the original recipe tasted like, but my recipe made 18 muffins (in both heart and square shapes) and tasted darn good.

And a little relief is a good good thing.

Bran Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup oat bran

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 large eggs

1 egg white

1 1/2 cups plain non-fat yogurt

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup applesauce

1 1/2 dried fruit, chopped if big pieces, (I used prunes, apricots, golden raisins, currants, and craisins)

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degree F. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners (or use silicone ones without liners).

Whisk flours, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs and egg white in a medium bowl. Stir in the yogurt, brown sugar, applesauce, and oil. Stir the liquid mixture into the flour mixture until blended. Fold in the dried fruit and the nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake until firm when pressed gently and a tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Turn the muffins out of the cups and cool on rack. Serve warm or room temperature.