Pumpkin-Apple Muffins with streusel topping transport me to Amish country

I had some fresh pumpkin left from yesterday’s dish; I also still had p-u-l-l-en-ty of fresh apples. So I tippy-typed an Internet search to find something that would combine the two.

Up turned a website, www.bbonline.com (Bed & Breakfast Inns Online), that listed the most memorable recipes of B&B’s nationwide. I loved it. Where can you find better, more original cooking than in a good ole B&B? I had to try some of their ideas.

This particular recipe, Pumpkin-Apple Muffins, was presented by Fields of Home Guest House and Cabins in Millersburg (Holmes County), OH. After reading this recipe and the promo about the inn ("Enjoy log-cabin comfort, quiet country fields, and flower gardens in the heart of Amish Country!”) I was ready to throw my toothbrush in a travel bag and head out driving for there. If you’ve ever spent any time in Amish Country, you know the meals make memories to linger the rest of your life. Sounded delightful!

But since traveling there wasn’t possible, my next-best option was to enjoy these muffins, which I proceeded to do. Simple recipe with the chopped apple folded in (Hubby did this part. He enjoyed himself so much over the weekend with his cooking spree when I was under the weather, he volunteered for more. Is he the perfect Hubby, or what?)

Well, these muffins turned out to be absolute sweethearts. The apple bits tucked into the spicy pumpkin batter were just exceptionally yummy. Then to top it all with that divine streusel—what can I say? This was a great Internet find. I’m depositing at least half of them into my airtight container to preserve in the fridge for Thanksgiving-week breakfasts. Apple and pumpkin will make a healthy start to the morning. And the rest? Hubby is already seeing to putting them away.

Pumpkin-Apple Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

3 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice

1 teaspoon soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

1 cup canned pumpkin (I used fresh pumpkin puree)

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 chopped peeled apple

1/4 cup sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl combine eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients, then insert the moist ingredients. Stir together until dry ingredients are just moistened. Fold in apples. Fill greased muffin cups almost full. For streusel topping combine 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Over each muffin sprinkle 1 heaping teaspoon of topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Cool in pan 10 minutes before you remove to a wire rack. Makes 12 muffins.

Yogurt addition makes fruit muffins wonderfully smooth

Saturday morning breakfast time . . . because I’d thought ahead and set most of my ingredients and cooking implements out the night before, everything was a breeze. I had been wanting to try this muffin recipe that called for a container of fruity yogurt as part of the muffin batter. The recipe specified blueberry low-fat yogurt and blueberries as key elements but noted that you could substitute your favorite fruit and flavor of yogurt (or use what you had on hand).

I was glad it also specified that at the end, the batter would be thick. The mixture was like churning butter, it was so thick and heavy. But it made a wonderfully smooth, solid muffin. The addition of the yogurt gave it a wonderful texture plus added to the muffin the health benefits of yogurt.

The recipe says the mixture makes 20, but I only got a dozen muffins. Perhaps that’s because I really like to fill the tins pretty full.

The weekend morning was cool with a light breeze—perfect for breakfast on the deck so we could utilize our new lawn furniture that has been the subject of Hubby’s mutterings: “We bought this new patio furniture and never sit out here to use it.” I had kept consoling him by saying, “We will. Just wait until cooler weather arrives.” Finally I got to be right—and made sure he observed that fact.

Everything made for a lovely Saturday morning with some lovely fruit-and-yogurty muffins.

Fruit and Yogurt Muffins

Cooking spray

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 cup white sugar (or sugar substitute)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 (6-ounce) container low-fat blueberry yogurt

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons margarine, melted

2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 20 muffin cups or line muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Stir together flour, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. In a separate bowl combine yogurt, egg, vanilla, margarine, and blueberries. Stir mixture together just until combined. Batter will be very thick. Scoop into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes. You can substitute your favorite fruit if you'd rather have something besides blueberries—strawberry yogurt and strawberries, blackberry yogurt and blackberries, etc. Makes 12-20 servings. (Recipe courtesy Chickasaw Nutrition Services.)

Little bites of carrot-cake heaven in this "lighten-up" recipe

I adore carrot cake but know the gooey cream-cheese frosting that’s part-and-parcel of it somewhat defeats the purpose of all the carrots’ nutritional value. I loved the fact that in its “Lighten Up” feature recently Southern Living produced a lighter version of a traditional carrot cake recipe; this included a frosting utilizing the 1/3-less-fat (such as Neufchatel) cream cheese. But it still seemed too much. Besides, who needs a whole cake sitting around as a temptation? 

This same magazine feature also offered this option: carrot cake muffins—identical recipe but in a muffin format that included the addition of pecans (and golden raisins, too, which I opted out of). Muffins could be enjoyed and then frozen and reheated for later dining. The recipe called for three cups of grated carrots and an 8-ounce can of crushed pineapple, drained.

I wondered whether the muffins without the frosting would be stand-alone good or a little bland. I shouldn’t have been concerned. The muffins were majorly moist and sweet and were like dining on mini-carrot cakes. By themselves they made a great Sunday-morning breakfast or as an add-on to my usual breakfast cereal. 

Southern Living tub-thumped its recipe with the headline, “You can thank us later, when your mouth isn’t full.” Via the Internet I can tippy-type my thanks even with my mouth full, which it indeed was this weekend as I enjoyed these bites of carrot heaven.

Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 (8-ounce can) crushed pineapple in juice, drained

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs (or egg substitute)

2 egg whites (or egg-white substitute)

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place about 15 paper baking cups in muffin pans; coat baking cups with cooking spray. In a large bowl combine first 5 ingredients; in the center of mixture make a well. Whisk together pineapple and next 4 ingredients; add pineapple mixture to flour mixture. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in carrots and pecans. Spoon batter into baking cups. Fill cups about 2/3 full. Bake as directed. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes about 15 muffins.

Blueberries, oatmeal, walnuts, sweet topping: these muffin gems have it all

I could barely believe it: four years had gone by since I last made Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins. The notation on my recipe card recorded that I previously had baked these for our family to enjoy while we were on the way to Renée and Andy’s wedding in the summer of 2007. The roommate of our daughter was marrying her sweetie in Colorado Springs. Our daughter and son-in-law in the back seat and Hubby and I in the front of our car had munched on Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins while we motored up to the lovely setting for the nuptials.

Now the newlyweds are about to celebrate theirfourth wedding anniversary. Time to dust off the muffin recipe and prepare this delicious treat again. Far too much time had lapsed since we’d enjoyed these goodies.

I loved these muffins because they were stuffed with healthy blueberries, had some oatmeal and walnuts stirred in, and were topped with a dusting of brown sugar. (I cannot tell a lie: in my first recent attempt, I got distracted and left out the 1/2 cup brown sugar from the ingredients. I remembered to sprinkle the brown sugar on for the topping, but I knew the insides would be a little lacking. Guess what? They were just as good without it—at least that’s how Hubby consoled me. But I did turn around and make a remediated batch, since we knew Hubby’s brother would be in town last weekend. Wouldn’t want our guest to be served muffins that were less than the best.)

I have a few muffins left over, so I’ve stored them away to pop out for Easter-morning breakfast on Sunday. Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins make a dandy treat that suits for many occasions.

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1 cup low-fat buttermilk (or 1 tablespoon vinegar mixed with enough skim milk to make 1 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed (or 1/4 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup oil

1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup frozen blueberries

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, oats, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a medium mixing bowl combine buttermilk (or skim milk mixed with vinegar), 1/2 cup brown sugar, oil, and egg; add to flour mixture. Mix just until moist. Fold in blueberries and nuts. Pour batter into greased muffin cups to 2/3 full; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until done.

Trees will be loaded soon, but can’t wait to try these Peach-Pecan Muffins

Until this weekend’s spring-spoiler cold snap here in Texas, we could view them as fuschsia-colored spring blossoms on four different trees in our garden. The cool, strong, north wind swept those petals off the branches, but before long tiny fruit will be visible. Day after spring day we’ll watch those little ones become more and more plump until—mature peaches! Does any greater anticipation exist regarding the weeks ahead? (A gardening tip: Hubby chose different varieties that ripen in succeeding months to spread out the joy!) Soon our buckets will be full of that ripe, sweet fruit. The “peach” section of my recipe book is ready for ’em.

Whetting my tastebuds for peach-harvest days was a recipe from a recent Southern Living magazine for Peach-Pecan Muffins. The recipe was part of Southern Living’s tribute to one community’s church that for decades had served Lenten meals. Peach-Pecan Muffins represented a traditional menu item that helped draw hordes of people to the luncheons.

The muffins seemed so inviting, I simply couldn’t wait for our own peaches to appear. I sent Hubby to the grocery to bring back a few peaches that bore an “imported from Chile” label. I just had to try Peach-Pecan Muffins, even if the peaches therein were derived from Chile instead of from my own back yard.

Delicious peach chunks were folded into a batter and dropped into muffin cups, with a generous topping of brown-sugar, cinnamon, and pecan streusel. We enjoyed these as a Saturday-morning breakfast item before we departed to conduct round-two of spring cleaning at our place at the lake. I prepared these delicacies on the Friday night before; all evening the plateful of just-baked, wonderful-smelling muffins tempted me, but I self-disciplined and didn’t take my first bite until morning.

Terrific as only something made with fresh peaches can be!

Peach-Pecan Muffins

Pecan Streusel:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar (can use 1/6 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Muffins:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar (or sugar substitute)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup skim milk

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

1 cup peeled, chopped, fresh peaches

cooking spray

Prepare streusel: stir together pecans and next four ingredients until mixture is crumbly. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour and next four ingredients. Make a well in center of mixture. Stir together butter, milk, and egg; add to dry ingredients by pouring liquid into well. Stir just until moistened. Gently stir in peaches. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon batter into muffin cups; fill two-thirds full. Sprinkle with pecan streusel. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12-13 muffins.

"MMM" definitely response to these surprise-middle muffins

Another Saturday needed for errand running—this one in the rain. The object: getting Hubby to accompany me. (After all, one of the errands was to exchange a Christmas gift that fit him wrong. Didn't that require his presence?) Some kind of special breakfast was in order to effect my bribe.

The title of this recipe intrigued me. What in the middle would evoke an "MMM" response? Two of Hubby's favorite food substances—peanut butter and banana—were wedged in the middle of the muffin. Had to give it a try and see whether it had persuasive powers.

The assemblage was easy, even though I erred on the side of conservatism (wouldn't my mother get a hoot out of that statement? She never believed anyone could err on the side of conservatism, especially the political variety.) where the banana slice was concerned. For fear the muffin batter wouldn't effectively cover it up as it baked, I made my banana slices a tad too skinny. Therefore the full-flavor idea of the hidden banana got shortchanged a little bit. Next time I'll insert a healthy-sized chunk—maybe up to one-inch in width. The 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter as the recipe stated turned out to be just the right amount.

When the muffins popped out of the oven, they looked nondescript enough—with only the merest hint of the surprise contained within. But when Hubby bit into one, wow! Was he intrigued!

Yup, after a breakfast of MMM . . . in the Middle Muffins, Hubby morphed into a compliant, willing, errand-running companion—for tasks that lasted most of the day Saturday. (And on a midday trip back to the house to drop off our belongings before the afternoon errand-run, he dove into the leftover muffin container for a replenishment.) The MMM factor worked, indeed.

MMM . . . in the Middle Muffins

3/4 cup milk, skim

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/3 cup margarine

2 tablespoons honey

2/3 cup sugar substitute

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg beaters)

1 banana, large, cut into 12 slices

2 tablespoons lowfat peanut butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin. In small bowl combine milk and lemon juice. Set aside. In another small bowl combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. Set this bowl aside also. In a large bowl mix margarine, honey, and sugar substitute. Add eggs (brought to room temperature) to the margarine mixture. To the margarine mixture add the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Fill each muffin tin about 1/3 full. Place banana slice onto the batter in each cup with 1/2 teaspoon of peanut butter. (Make sure the banana slice is fairly sizable.) Press down slightlly. Continue to fill each muffin cup with batter until it is 2/3 full and covers the banana. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.

Snow, beware: we have our Pear-Granola Muffins to keep us warm

When we saw it on the horizon, I went into my kneejerk Richmond, VA, reaction. The forecast for plummeting temps and snow was pretty sure to happen in the DFW Metroplex in the hours and days ahead. So, as we always observed Richmonders do during our past years of spending winters in Virginia, we grocery-shopped and cooked for the impending days of cocooning.

When the cold front finally hit on Sunday, I was ready. Pear-Granola Muffins helped make a warm breakfast on a blustery, thermometer-dipping morning (although Hubby vowed these muffins were just as good fresh from the fridge because the pear chunks tasted great super-cold). Two whole pears peeled and cubed, nonfat vanilla yogurt, whole-wheat flour, and lowfat granola (with some reserved for a crunchy topping) were the health features of this super item.

When the snow arrived (rare but not unheard of for our area of Texas), we had our healthy Pear-Granola Muffins (thanks, Chickasaw Nutrition Services for the recipe) to help us enjoy its beauty.

Pear-Granola Muffins

cooking spray

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole-wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt (or salt substitute)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)

3/4 cup brown sugar (or 3/8 cup brown-sugar substitute)

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt, nonfat

2 tablespoon margarine, melted

2 pears, diced into 1-inch cubes

3/4 cup lowfat granola, divided

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly spray cooking spray into cups of a 12-cup muffin tin. In a large bowl whisk together flours, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, brown sugar, yogurt, and melted margarine. In the center of the flour mixture make a well. Add egg mixture to the well and mix until combined. Gently fold in 1/2 cup granola and pears. Spoon batter (1/4 cup each) into prepared muffin tin. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup granola, divided among the muffins. Bake 20 minutes. Cool 5 minutes before you remove from muffin tin. Makes 12 muffins.