TWD: All Spice Crumb Muffins

Fall is finally here, my favorite time of the year! The best time to be in love... for cuddling and snuggling... for long walks and hikes... for staying in to watch college football while eating take out Thai food... for toe socks and comfy jammies... for silk pashminas and cashmere sweaters.... Ha ha! I don't know if it's the season or what not, but I am extra happy these days. Life is beautiful!

Biting into this muffin is like biting into fall! The nutty, peppery taste of the all spice is very prevalent. The crumb top is sweet and crunchy, the muffin has a good crumb and smells oh so good!

Not that they are not perfect as they are now, but next time, I will add some apples and applesauce for pockets of gooey surprise in every bite.

This week's TWD recipe was chosen by Kayte of Grandma's Kitchen Table. Visit her blog for the recipe and to read her story. Check out the other TWDer's and what they are baking in their kitchen.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Blueberry Muffins

Earlier this week, a fellow foodie told me that he loves blueberry muffins, the top part to be exact, and I totally understand why. Long before I discovered this blueberry muffin recipe, I used to just eat the top of the muffin and leave the rest for the "thanks for stopping by bin" a.k.a. trash. These little bad boys made me a believer of eating the whole thing. The texture is more of a cake than muffin, spongy and oh so light with a good crumb. It's has the right amount of sweetness that balances the creamy tanginess from the mascarpone, ricotta and cream cheese.

My son Khalel (yup, that's Superman's name!) loves blueberry muffins, thus my quest to find the best blueberry muffin recipe for him. About a year ago, while still in that quest, I stumbled upon the recipe for Holy Muffin, and since then, I tweaked the recipe to suit my palate.

This recipe will make about 12 regular muffins and a small loaf pan.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

4 oz cream cheese

4 oz ricotta cheese

4 oz mascarpone cheese

6 tbsp butter

1 cup sugar

2 L eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 t vanilla extract

1 t almond extract

1 pint fresh blueberries**

**I discovered that if I leave fresh blueberries in the refrigerator for about 3-5 days, just when they start to become prune-y or wrinkly, the sweetness intensifies and it becomes less watery, thus when I add to the muffin, it's not as soggy as when using 'fresh' ones. They also remain suspended in the batter thus I don't get the blueberries all in the bottom of the muffin.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-tin muffin pan and a mini loaf pan with Baking Joy. In a bowl, mix the first 4 ingredients, set aside. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, the sugar, cream cheese, mascarpone and ricotta at medium speed until smooth. Add the almond and vanilla extracts. Add the eggs one at a time with a minute interval. Incorporate the dry mixture alternating with the milk, ending with the dry mixture. Scoop batter halfway in the muffin pans, then drop 5 blueberries. Fill muffin tin 3/4 full, drop 3 more blueberries, and try to submerge them in the batter by pushing them in and smoothing the top. Bake 20-25 minutes until browned or when a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

One of these days, I will turn 'John-the-muffin-top-lover' to a convert with these muffins!

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffins

Whole Wheat Banana Nut Muffin
Makes 12 muffins

My friend Jason gave me a quart bag full of shelled pecans from his parents' Pecan trees last month. So these past few weeks, I have been mulling over what I should do with them. Too many weeks and 1/2-of-the-bag gone -- Bill started snacking on them, and I started adding them to my Greek Yogurt in the morning (which by the way is great with honey, dates and pecans) -- I finally settled on making it with my favorite muffin, inspired by the overripe bananas in my counter (yet again)! This is my favorite recipe for banana nut muffin, and actually, it's the ONLY banana nut muffin that comes out of my kitchen.

Ingredient

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 stick butter
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 overripe bananas, mashed
1 ripe banana, diced
3/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pans with Wilton Bake Easy (a product I totally recommend), set aside. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, beat together the sugar, and butter until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and mashed bananas and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients, then fold in the nuts and diced bananas. Scoop and distribute evenly in the muffin pan. Bake for 22 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.