Lemon Raspberry Streusel Muffins

These are officially the single BEST muffins I have both made and eaten in my entire life. The husband was actually annoyed I was going to give some away :) We've each eaten 2 since they came out of the oven a few hours ago.


This is one of those recipes where I will say please don't change a thing! Don't try to make it healthy, or lower in fat, or anything. Just eat it and enjoy. 

Ingredients:
Muffin:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tsp lemon extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp grated lemon peel
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (I used frozen)
• 
  
• Streusel topping:
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. 

2. In a small bowl, combine eggs, yogurt, lemon extract, oil and lemon peel; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in raspberries. 

3. Mix brown sugar, flower, cinnamon and melted butter together in small bowl for streusel topping.

3. Fill 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups about 3/4 full.

4.  Sprinkle about 1 tsp of topping over each muffin

5. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean (muffin will spring back if you touch it lightly).

6. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Banana Muffins

When my husband and I were married, my mom's 'little sister' through Big Brothers & Sisters gave us a cookbook from the McConnel Club in St.Marys, ON. It was a 95th anniversary cookbook of treasured recipes over the years.
Most of the recipes are very basic, and absolutely amazing. This banana muffin recipe has to be the shortest recipe I've seen, yet it is fantastic. It's original submission was from Barbara Brocklebank (I have no idea who she is). The only thing I changed personally was to add 1 tsp cinnamon as well.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed banana (3 frozen, thawed)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or pastry flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg + 1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla


Directions:
1. Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and banana and beat till smooth.
2. Add flour and nutmeg.
3. Dissolve soda in hot water and add to mixture. Add vanilla, mix until blended. 
4. Bake in greased muffin tins at 375F for 18-23 minutes.

Carrot cupcakes with cream-cheese frosting

• I made these a few months ago, for some sort of birthday, or celebration. I honestly cannot remember what for....although I have a feeling it involved my mother-in-law, as I know that she loves carrot cupcakes. Somehow in the excitement these past few months, I forgot to post!! Well, better late than never!

• Carrot Cupcakes:
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 1/8 cups white sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple, well-drained
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin cups.
2. In a bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Mix in heavy cream.Put in fridge to chill, but NOT longer than 2-3 hours or you will have to let warm a bit before you can frost. 
3. Beat together the eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar in a bowl, and mix in the oil and vanilla. Fold in carrots and pineapple. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Mix flour mixture into the carrot mixture until evenly moist. Fold in 1/2 cup walnuts (optional). Transfer to the prepared muffin cups.
4. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on wire racks before topping with the icing and sprinkling with remaining walnuts

Source: www.allrecipes.com

Rhubarb Crumble Muffins

i love spring, and I love all of the new fruits & vegetables that come along with it. I recently discovered a daily (yes, daily!) farmer's market in Woodstock (just outside of Home Hardware for those of you in the area) and I have started to frequent it. Today they had a bunch of rhubarb for just $1, so I grabbed some, figuring that I'd know what to do with it later.

I found this recipe for Rhubarb muffins on AllRecipes, and I adapted it slightly to make it healthier. I used my regular crumb topping recipe. Halfway through the baking time, I realized I accidentally forgot the vanilla extract - but they still turned out really, really well. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups diced rhubarb
• 
  
• Crumb topping:
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/4 cup oats
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 18 muffin pans or line with paper cups.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix by hand just until blended. Stir in the rhubarb. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling almost to the top. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining flour, oats, melted butter, white sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of this mixture on top of each muffin.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes before removing.

Bran Muffins

          As most of you have probably noticed, I love muffins. They are probably the next best thing, after coffee of course. Which is quite convenient, since the two go so well together! Unfortunately, most cafe or store-bought muffins are absolutely terrible for you - close to 500 calories for a good Raisin Bran muffin (you could have TWO donuts instead!!) So I usually make my own, and try my hardest to get them to be as close to bakery quality as possible, but without compromising on calories. 

         These raisin bran muffins come in at less than 150 calories each, and with almost 1/3 of your daily fibre intake. Plus, they are still moist and they keep for about 5 days in a good Tupperware container. And they mimic any good cafe muffin. This recipe makes 12 muffins and doubles easily.


  
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup buttermilk (or 1 cup milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice)
1/3 cup applesauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together applesauce, oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in raisins and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
4. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

Source: Adapted from "Classic Bran Muffin" recipe, Allrecipes

Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Just like almost everybody I know, I am constantly on the

prowl for healthy recipes that don't compromise on flavour or

appearance. I found a blueberry muffin recipe on www.allrecipes.com with

a scrumptious-looking picture but with less than 150 calories per serving

- WAY less than most muffin recipes.

The overall result was very good, though I wasn't "wowed" the way

that I hoped. At the end of the day, I still prefer a full-fat, high

calorie muffin taste-wise, but since my waist won't let me indulge like

I used to, these are a good runner-up ):

These muffins are actually best the next day, so they

are perfect to make for snacks the week ahead. I will certainly make

them again when I am looking for a healthy yet tasty muffin.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup wheat bran
• 1/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 tbsp ground flax meal
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup blueberries (frozen works perfectly)
• 1/2 cup light sour cream or applesauce
• 1 cup buttermilk (milk with 1 tsp lemon juice works)
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumb topping, if desired: Mix 2 tbsp each of flour, brown sugar, white sugar, oats and butter. Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon and mix well. Sprinkle over muffins.

Directions:

1) Combine dry ingredients in large mixing bowl. Add blueberries.

2) In separate bowl, mix wet ingredients.

3) Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. DO NOT overmix.

4) Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F for 18-21 minutes. Muffins are done when toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Source: Adapted from "Health Nut Blueberry Muffins", www.allrecipes.com