Any Kitchen Will Do

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Archive for the category “muffins”

20 Apr 2015

Secret Muffins

secret muffin
Little B and I have a wonderful opportunity to start spending more time together for a while. I guess that would be an obvious (to me) wonderful consequence of quitting my job. Of course part of the time will definitely be spent doing stuff in the kitchen. In recent months she has randomly thrown together fruit and veggies with cheese and called it soup. While some has been yummy, other batches not so much. Knowing that I often share kitchen experiences on my blog, she insisted this time I don’t share the recipe. It must be kept a secret! I cannot tell you we puréed a banana and berries, using them to substitute for butter, and then doubled the sweetener in some microwave muffins. At least I will stop short of listing all the ingredients or tell you how to cook them. I am a bad person, but they were soooo good!

Posted in Douglas Kitchen, eggs, fruit, muffins, Uncategorized, wheat free | Leave a Comment
12 Oct 2014

More One Minute Muffins

one minute muffins

We ran out of homemade bread! Big D is out if town! What are we to do?! I can make bread, yes. I can follow recipes and such, but it feels wrong in this instance. Here is why. Big D and I spend a lot of evenings watching each other cook and talking about things. All kinds of things. Not necessarily about what is being cooked, but other stuff. Our kitchen has a bar that opens into it, so one of us can sit out of the way and still have full access to the kitchen goings on. Little B is always nearby, but our talking is usually about something other than dinosaurs and fairies, so is often boring to her. By all means there are plenty of Little B-centric chats, but less likely during these casual cooking tete-a-tetes. Since it felt so wrong bread baking in Big D absentia, I decided to take a stab at one minute muffins again. I did so previously, with results being a little more labor intensive and very specific to accomplishing hamburger buns. Those buns were not going to hit the spot for, say, a breakfast sandwich with sausage, egg and cheese. I wanted something a bit smoother and softer. These are definitely smoother, softer, shorter and sweeter. I also give two different flour/meal choices, but share them together in spite of the very different results. Flaxseed gives a more ‘grainy’ texture, while the almond meal is smooth and spongier. Pick what pleases you. In trying to include the variations that impact results, I hope I do not confuse. Try a muffin and see what you like!
More One Minute Muffins
1-2 Tbsp butter
1/2 to 1/3 cup golden flaxseed meal or almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp stevita
1 egg
In large microwaveable mug melt butter (less butter makes for a dryer muffin). Add dry ingredients and stir (a larger quantity of meal makes for a shorter, denser muffin). Add egg and mix until fully incorporated. Place mug in microwave. Cook on high one minute – use of almond meal often needs an additional 30 seconds if the middle is still sunken after one minute. When cooked through remove from microwave and immediately flip muffin out of mug. Serve.
Posted in baked, bread, Douglas Kitchen, eggs, flaxseed, muffins, wheat free | Leave a Comment
10 Aug 2014

Jalapeno Cheddar Muffins

jalapeno bread

Holy guacamole these things are good! They also go well with guacamole. Or just butter. Or split and used for a sandwich. Or sliced thinly and toasted and used for tea sandwiches…. You probably get that they are very versatile. They are also savory and flavorful. They remind us a lot of the garlic cheddar biscuits a soon-to-be-defunct restaurant chain serves. I don’t actually like their seafood, but love their salads and (used to) adore eating the biscuits. When reheating them just brush on some melted garlic butter and you will see what I mean.

Jalapeno Cheddar Muffins

2/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup butter
8 large eggs
1/2 – 3/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
3 Tbsp fresh jalapeno, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the coconut flour, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the melted butter. Add the coconut flour mixture to the egg/butter mixture and stir to combine until it forms a wet dough mixture. Add jalapenos and 1 cup of shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is well distributed. Divide the batter among 12 greased muffin tins or eight mini loaf tins. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of the muffins/loaves. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until cheese turns golden brown. Let cool slightly before removing from pan.

Posted in baked, bread, coconut flour, Douglas Kitchen, eggs, muffins, side dish, wheat free | Leave a Comment
04 Apr 2013

Cornless Corndogs

cornless corndogs

These are sooooo easy! Whip up a batch of coconut flour ‘cornbread’, impale the cornbread muffins with pieces of hotdog and pop them in the oven. Little B really loves corndogs, but I don’t like giving her the funky ones found in the freezer section of the store or deep fried versions at fast food restaurants. I’m not saying that when I am surrounded by a carnival, and there is a severe lack of protein or low sugar options I am going to deprive her of one. I am just saying that when I have an opportunity to give her (and myself) a more nutritious version, I am going to take it. Regardless of how nutritious I try to go, they are still hotdogs. I do try to stick with Hebrew National or uncured versions, but it is still macerated meat. Oh well. Nothing is perfect. Some day I may even figure out how to make these on a stick, but for now, they are delectable muffins. They are baked, portable picnic fare that I personally dip in yellow mustard. Living on the edge. That’s me.

Cornless Cordogs

1 batch cornless cornbread
6 hotdogs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Make a batch of cornless cornbread batter. Divide it equally in a 12-count muffin tin. Cut each hot dog into four pieces. Stick two pieces of hotdog in each muffin, trying to keep them away from the edges. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until the batter is cooked and the hotdog pieces are roasted. Let cool before removing from pan. Serve immediately with mustard.

Posted in baked, beef, bread, coconut flour, eggs, muffins, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free | Leave a Comment
10 Feb 2013

King Cakelettes

king cakelettes_edited-1

Laissez les bon temp rouler! Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras is near and as always we are celebrating. We closely followed up defrocking the house of Yule and Christmas decorations with putting up green, gold and purple for Mardi Gras. After living in New Orleans a few years back I cannot help but get in the spirit of Mardi Gras. There is never a lull down there after Christmas – the frivolity of New Years quickly turns to the Mardi Gras celebrations. Parades begin in mid-January so there is no time to waste. Last year I did a king cake marathon, making sure everyone in the house had some for celebrating. I made a regular, yeasty, cinnamon-y king cake, including sharing of details about king cake history, followed by a gluten free version of the cake. They were both delectable and fun to make. This year Mardi Gras arrives during a time when we are highly sensitive to sugar, wheat and carbohydrates. What is a girl to do? Well, adapt. That is what she does. I used my experimenting with low carb muffins over the past year and incorporated my love of king cakes into these little treats. Although not the traditional ring with colored sugar, the result definitely has the right flavors and textures in play. I usually avoid making king cakes most of the year, but this time I may not. These things are stupendous and I doubt they will last us through Fat Tuesday. I really need them to, if for no other reason but to balance the green potency of chartreuse. Enjoy!

Low Carb King Cakelettes

6 eggs
4 Tbsp heavy cream or half and half
1 tsp vanilla
3 drops liquid stevia
½ tsp sea salt
2/3 cup coconut flour
¼ cup golden flaxseed meal
½ cup splenda
½ tsp baking powder
1 cup pecans, shelled

For the Filling
6 Tbsp butter, melted
¼ cup splenda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup pecans

For the Icing
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp lime or lemon juice
½ cup splenda
Green, yellow, red and blue (2 drops blue, 3 drops red for purple) food coloring (optional, if coloring icing instead of using colored sugar)

For Decorating
Purple, green and gold/yellow colored sugar or Splenda (or add color to the icing)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking pan spread out pecans in one layer. Bake in oven for about 5 minutes until they begin to brown. Prepare muffin pan with liners. In blender add wet ingredients and nuts together. Blend on low until nuts are broken up in small pieces. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups. For the filling mix together butter, ¼ cup Splenda and cinnamon in a bowl. Grind into a powder the ½ cup pecans and combine with other filling ingredients. With a teaspoon drop some filling into the middle of each muffin. It will sink a bit and be covered by the muffin batter during the baking time. Bake for about 15 minutes until tops begin to brown. While the muffins are baking combine the water, juice and Splenda until smooth (make three different batches if coloring it instead of using colored sugar. A soon as the muffins come out of the oven drizzle the icing on top (drizzle all three colors on every muffin if using colored icing). Let cool for about ten minutes. If using colored sugar, sprinkle by alternating green, purple and yellow/gold*. Use all three colors on every muffin. Serve at room temperature or freeze and gently defrost in the microwave before serving.

*I planned on using colored Splenda for sprinkling, and got good information about coloring it here. My color to sweetener ratio did not turn out as well as it did for Millie, I think it was because I did not have enough coloring gel. It was definitely on its way, but I did not have time to go get more with an eager and waiting Little B, so I improvised. I added water and lemon juice to the colored sweetener and colored the icing and drizzled instead of sprinkled. Even though it did not work out this time, I am going to follow Millie’s coloring process in the future, for springtime is coming and more sprinkling opportunities are on the horizon!

Posted in baked, cinnamon, coconut flour, eggs, flaxseed, muffins, seasonal, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free | Leave a Comment
24 Jan 2013
2 Comments

Cornbread Without Corn

coconut corn bread_edited-1How do you get cornless cornbread? Don’t put corn in it! And aren’t they cute? Big D made some awesome chili the other day and of course cornbread goes great with chili. Alas, the wheat and corn in traditional cornbread aren’t the greatest foods in the world to consume. Over the holidays we tried some low carb, corn free versions of ‘corn’ bread to make stuffing. It was okay, but the flavor and texture was not as close as these tasty little muffins. We previously tried to copy cornbread texture with flaxseed meal which did a pretty good job, but I look forward to trying this version next time we make dressing. I cooked these up in a mini muffin pan and easily got 20 muffins out of one batch of batter and cooked them for only 20 minutes – one minute per muffin – go figure. They were a bit on the dry side, compared to actual cornbread I have made in the past, but we easily resolved that issue with a slather of butter on top. Poor us. I may also try to do some kind of ‘corn dog’ version for Little B with some sausages and a larger muffin pan. I will let you know how they turn out!

Cornbread Without Corn

2/3 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup butter
8 large eggs
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together the coconut flour, salt, and baking powder. In another bowl, beat the eggs. Whisk in the melted butter. Add the coconut flour mixture to the egg/butter mixture and stir to combine until it forms a wet dough mixture. Divide the batter among 12 greased muffin tins or 20 mini muffin tins. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool before removing from pan, or burn your fingers by removing them immediately from the pan to split and melt butter on the halves before eating them too soon and burning your tongue.

Adapted from the recipe here.

Posted in baked, bread, coconut flour, eggs, muffins, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free
15 Dec 2012

Cranberry Roasted Chestnut Muffins

After you do some holiday baking and roast chestnuts on an open fire, you want to do more! We set aside some chestnuts from our recent roasting adventure so I could make these muffins. A recipe for my extra special secret cornbread dressing includes the wonderful inventions of roasted chestnuts and fresh cranberries. I have yet to convince myself to share the recipe, especially since I have not made it in a while, but did recently have a hankering for the flavors that make up the dressing. The evils of corn (it is not the fault of the natural corn, but the sugary nature of the vegetable, which is why I avoid it) have discouraged me from making the dressing in recent years. To recreate the flavor and texture in a corn free way I came up with these muffins. The flax seed gives them the texture that hints at cornbread (and adds extra fiber), while dancing well with the cranberries and chestnuts. Muffins continue to give Little B a sweet treat while keeping her diet high in fiber and low in sugar. She still gets a little confused sometimes when she can have muffins at home and not when we are out, but I have taken to having muffin back ups in my purse for such occasions. She helps make the muffins pretty much every time, which helps keep her interest, and they sate her desire for baked goods. So good so far!!

Cranberry Muffins with Roasted Chestnuts

6 eggs
6 Tbsp butter, melted
4 Tbsp heavy cream or half and half
1 tsp vanilla3 drops liquid stevia
½ tsp sea salt
½ cup coconut flour
¼ cup flaxseed meal
¼ cup powdered erythritol
½ tsp baking powder
8 ounces fresh cranberries
4 roasted chestnuts (can substitute with 10 raw pecan or walnut halves)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with liners. In blender add wet ingredients, nuts and cranberries together. Blend on low until cranberries and nuts are broken up in small pieces. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for about 15 minutes until tops begin to brown. Let cool for about ten minutes before serving.

Posted in baked, coconut flour, eggs, muffins, nuts, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free | Leave a Comment
15 Sep 2012

Wheat Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Oh the sweet smell of autumn! The smell of wood fires. The way the whole world looks like sunset all day long with the changing leaves. The rush to do things in the daylight of shorter days. It is so close I can feel it – especially with the windows open and tree tops outside my kitchen window. The smell I most often associate with autumn is spiced pumpkin, whether it is coming from a dish for breakfast, dessert or a hot beverage. The smell wafting through the air is heavenly. Every evening this week I have set a pot simmering low on the stove with water, vanilla, cinnamon sticks and ginger. The whole house smells like freshly baked pumpkin pie. Little B is currently ‘helping’ me clean up while the muffins bake. It may sound odd, but Little B has not often been interested in licking the bowl after batter has gone into baking dishes. Unlike what I recall as a little kid, I was always wanting to savor those little bits in the bowl, teasing me about how the final product would taste. As I type she is going on fifteen minutes trying to get every speck of the batter out of the mixing bowl. Regardless of how the muffins turn out, my house smells delicious and the batter is a success!

Wheat Free Pumpkin Spice Muffins

6 eggs
6 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp unsweetened coconut milk
1 tsp vanilla
10 drops liquid stevia
5 ounces pureed pumpkin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup powdered erythritol

Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare muffin pan with liners. In mixing bowl blend together wet ingredients. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for about 15 minutes until tops begin to brown. Let cool for about ten minutes before serving.

Posted in baked, cinnamon, muffins, pumpkin, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free | Leave a Comment
11 Aug 2012

Blueberry Coconut Flour Muffins

Little B used to not like blueberries at all. We stopped even offering them to her, then suddenly, they were the best thing since sliced bread! They still come after blackberries, but they rank pretty high with her these days. When we celebrated Lammas a couple of weeks ago we wanted to honor the day with what is typically use of traditional first harvest items, and the recognition that days are getting shorter and cooler. Well, not cooler yet, but linger in the anticipation. First harvest is usually grains; more specifically, wheat. Since we are avoiding wheat there was a need to focus on a more creative symbolic dish. We mixed up some grain free muffins with a different seasonal harvest item – blueberries! They were wonderful accompaniments to the other harvest items on which we feasted: apples, zucchini, pork and wine. We had a lovely evening releasing regrets and looking towards autumn – what I consider my favorite time of year. I used coconut flour again, which has become a favored ingredient in my baking lately – it does not take much to go a long way and it is good for you! I hope you enjoy the muffins, for we did, in all their bluberry-ness.

Coconut Flour Blueberry Muffins

6 eggs
4 Tbsp plus 2 Tbsp (or 12 1/2 tsp) butter
2 Tbsp heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 drops liquid stevia
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup powdered erythritol
1/2 tsp baking powder
8 ounces blueberries

Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare muffin pan with liners. In mixing bowl blend together wet ingredients. In separate bowl combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently fold in blueberries. Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups. Bake for about 15 minutes until tops begin to brown. Let cool for about ten minutes before serving.

Update 11/26/12: Little B and I made a batch of these muffins tonight. A tweak made some doubly delicious muffins! We threw all the wet ingredients, along with the blueberries into a blender and whipped them all up together before combining with wet ingredients. We also added juice from half a very juicy lime – about 1/5 cup (very juicy lime). The tweaks made them more moist and the sweet and tang of the berries and juice worked great together. Everything else remained the same in the recipe.

Posted in baked, blueberries, breakfast, eggs, fruit, muffins, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free | Leave a Comment
15 Jul 2012

Chocolate Coconut Flour Cake

Little B turned three years old this weekend. She loves birthdays and presents, so we planned on making a big deal of it. I really wanted to make her a birthday cake, so I did. The problem I faced was when to give it to her. Friday, the day before her birthday, I could not take it for her to share with her ‘school’ friends because they only allow store bought confections with ingredients listed on the label – all that peanut allergy stuff. I did find a cute cupcake cake for her to share, but I had nothing to do with the making. We were going to the shore for the weekend. I would not be able to prepare her cake at the last minute, so I sneakily made it before we left, while Little B dreamed the night away. I carefully packed candles and a lighter, along with a knife and forks, plates and napkins. In addition to wrapped presents there would be streamers and balloons. I imagined her waking up to a decorated room, a pile of presents and a cake with candles, waiting to be wished upon and blown out before we began a fun-filled day. Well, It happened pretty much the way I imagined. Except for the cake. It stayed safely ensconced in the refrigerator at home. I forgot the darned thing! We easily found a substitute by the end of the day, but geez, what a thing to leave at home! It worked out that she had three birthday cakes in three days. It was a coincidence we hope she does not remember next year. I can picture it now, “Mommy, last year I had three cakes when I turned three. I get four cakes this year because I turn four, right?” This cake recipe is my first foray into using coconut flour – whenever we can cut out processed grains and sugar we do so. I relied on and tweaked the recipe here and Little B loved it. Even after sitting in the fridge for three days it was moist and full of the chocolate Little B requested. I made a dozen cupcakes and a small cake in a 2-cup round Pyrex dish instead of more cupcakes. We had loads of fun this weekend and Little B now knows the birthday song version she calls ‘the zoo song’ – the one that ends “…and you smell like one too!” She is so awesome!

Chocolate Coconut Flour Cake

Cake
¾ cup cocoa
½ cup olive oil
5 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups powdered erythritol
1 cup coconut flour, sifted
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/3 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup water
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup butter

Frosting
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp erythritol

Preheat oven to 365 degrees. Beat together eggs. Add olive oil and vanilla. In separate bowl sift together cocoa, erythritol, baking powder and flour. Add to egg mixture and combine. Add cream and water and stir just until blended. Melt cream cheese and butter and stir together. Add to batter. Bake in 9×5 loaf pan for 45-60 minutes, or fill 12 – 18 lined cupcake papers in a muffin pan, divide batter and cook for 20-25 minutes. Cake is done when toothpick comes out clean. For loaf let cool in pan for ten minutes before turning it out onto cooling rack. If making cupcakes let cool completely before frosting.

To make the frosting whisk together the cream cheese, vanilla and sweetener until smooth. For cupcakes frost each one before serving. If making a loaf I recommend serving the frosting on the side as a spread.

Posted in baked, chocolate, muffins, Silver Spring Kitchen, wheat free | Leave a Comment

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