Banana Caramel Muffins

This year is my third and final year of residency (well, technically, I'm sticking around to be Chief Resident next year, but I'll be attending at times by that point). I had very ambitious thoughts about bringing in breakfast on the Monday mornings that we didn't have conference. Sadly, the 12-15 hours shifts tired me out and I only brought in breakfast twice (and one time I cheated with a boxed coffee cake mix!)

I brought these in to share with my wonderful interns & medical students. They were AWESOME! It was like having dessert for breakfast with the caramel glaze, but was a great way to kick off the week. You'll have more glaze than needed - I have to admit I ate a spoonful before throwing it away. If you're having guests, you could probably double the muffin portion of the recipe and have plenty of the glaze with a single batch of it.



BANANA CARAMEL MUFFINS

One Bowl Banana Muffins (Adapted from Herbavoracious)

2 large ripe bananas, peeled
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375. Line 10-12 spots in a muffins tin with muffin/cupcake liners, or grease the pan with non-stick spray.

Mash the bananas in a microwave safe bowl. Add the butter and microwave 20 seconds at a time until the butter is softened but not melted. (It is fine if a little bit of it melts).

Using a potato masher or whatever you have to hand, mash the bananas and butter together until there isn't a lot of lumpiness left.

Thoroughly stir in the sugar, beaten egg, milk, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Fold in the flour until just moistened. (Do not over beat)

Distribute the batter into the tins. Bake until quite dark brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry, rotating once about halfway through baking. Total baking time was about 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan & allow to cool completely.

Caramel Glaze (Adapted from Taste & Tell)
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar

In a saucepan, combine the butter and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Whisk in the cream and powdered sugar until no lumps remain. Immediately spoon over the muffins, or dip the top of the muffins into the glaze.

ENJOY!

Mini Corn Puddings

I made these mini corn puddings to accompany my Spicy Chili. While they were named "puddings" due to how moist they are, they are definitely still muffins. I enjoyed the texture & flavor of the muffins themselves, but to me, they have a bit too much whole corn kernels for them to become a staple in my recipe box. (And when I make them again, I'm sure I'll cut the corn down by about half). If you like lots of corn in your corn muffins, I think you'll love these!



MINI CORN PUDDINGS (Adapted from Martha Stewart)
Makes approx 12 mini muffins

Butter, room temperature, for pan
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 large egg white
3/4 cup sour cream
Approx 5 oz frozen corn kernels, thawed and patted dry

Preheat oven to 425 degrees, with rack in upper third. Butter 12 mini muffin cups; set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix in egg, sour cream, and corn. Mix just until incorporated (do not overmix).

Dividing evenly, spoon batter into prepared muffin pan. Bake until tops have browned and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 10 to 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes in pan; turn out onto a cooling rack. Serve, or cool completely and store at room temperature in an airtight container, up to 2 days.

ENJOY!

Lemon Cranberry Muffins

With a few left over cranberries in the fridge during the holiday season, I wanted to find a way to incorporate them into a warm winter breakfast. I knew waffles would be a no-go (My blueberry waffles turned out wonderfully this summer, but whole fruits/berries in Belgium waffle makers makes a mess, and the waffles are difficult to get out). My next thought was muffins, and I had everything I needed to make them.

The lemon & cranberry combination works well together in these muffins. The cranberries are quite tart, but the muffin itself is just sweet enough to counteract the tartness. They store well in a tupperware for a couple days, making them a great Sunday breakfast, with leftovers to eat the next few mornings. (And they're easy to bring with on the commute to work when you're running behind... Not that I ever get a late start on these early, dark mornings...)



LEMON CRANBERRY MUFFINS (Adapted from Food Republik)
Makes approximately 14-16 muffins

1 - 6oz container of lemon yogurt
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
pinch salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1/4 cup oil
2 cups fresh cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix the yogurt, sugar, salt, eggs and lemon extract together in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir together until moistened.

Add oil and mix until batter is smooth and homogeneous. Fold in cranberries.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into muffins comes out clean.

ENJOY!

Doughnut Muffins

I was soooooooo excited when I saw this recipe! Around the country, it is becoming state fair season. Having spent much of my life in Minnesota, and having a husband from Minnesota, going to the Minnesota State Fair was an annual event for us. We rarely went on rides (too expensive!), but we loved to people watch, walk through the barns (to see the worlds largest pig, of course!), and eat.

I almost always came home with a stomach ache! The state fair is the one time a year I could get fresh cheese curds or mini donuts or a bucket of cookies. I would usually pass on the other "Deep fried ______ on a stick." (I've seen everything I could think of deep fried at the state fair - Twinkies, Oreos, candy bars, pickles, bologna.....) And don't forget the dairy barn with the butter princess carving & the delicious fresh milk shakes. Or how about the "All You Can Drink" Milk stand (they served over 30,000 gallons last year!), usually conveniently located near the buckets of cookies.

As we are now living 1400 miles away from "home," and all of our friends in Minnesota have Facebook updates about the state fair, I knew I had to make these muffins to remind of the fair. They were a great substitution! My husband, who isn't a sweets person, but LOVES cinnamon & sugar, quickly devoured them. He put two on his plate, took a bite, and grabbed a third before he went to sit down!

With the fall apple season quickly approaching, I'm hoping to alter the recipe to mimic the tasty apple cider donuts served at all of the local orchards. (Not that I need another excuse to make these delicious muffins!)



DOUGHNUT MUFFINS (Adapted from How to Simplify)

For the muffins:

1 3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup milk

For the coating:

1/4 -1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin tin.

Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Combine oil, sugar, egg, vanilla and milk in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon.

Shake muffins out of the muffin tin while the muffins are still hot. Dip muffins in the melted butter and then into the sugar and cinnamon mixture. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool.

ENJOY!

Coffee Cake Muffins

These were a great start to a post-call morning. They were relatively easy to make, and I had everything on hand, which is even better. They were extremely moist with the perfect amount of cinnamon/brown sugar.



COFFEE CAKE MUFFINS (From Genesis of a Cook)
Makes 10 standard muffins

Streusel Topping:
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
Dash of salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 stick of room temp butter, cut into small pieces

Muffins:
1/2 stick (1/4 c) butter, slightly softened
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease muffin tins.

Prepare streusel topping: Stir together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon & salt. Cut in butter until mixture forms large coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder & baking soda.

Using a mixer on medium speed, cream butter & sugar. Add egg, beating until well combined. Mix in vanilla & sour cream. Reduce speed to low, and add dry ingredients gradually until just combined.

Divide half of the batter among prepared muffin cups. Top with half of the streusel mixture. Divide the rest of the batter among the cups & top with the remaining streusel. (Make sure the cups are not more than 2/3-3/4 full, or they will ooze over the top of the pan).

Bake for 18 minutes. Cool in pan for 5-7 minutes, then carefully remove from pan. Finish cooling on wire rack.