It’s freezing. Like literally. I tried to go out for a long long run this morning and I ended up cutting it to a medium long run, because 5 miles in my legs were so frozen that they weren’t moving. No good.

So for the rest of the day, I’ve been cocooning in the house. Cuddling on the couch, watching football, and of course, baking. Okay, that sounds way more blissful and relaxing than our afternoon actually was. We were really stressed out watching the Ravens game and trying to keep Noel from breaking things at the Broadkill Beach Club. Yikes!

But there was baking! And what better thing to make on a cold day than some warm and hearty muffins so keep you warm and satisfied on a cold January day? And these muffins are so easy, you can whip them up during a commercial break from the football game!

Cranberry Oat Muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup regular oatmeal
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 stick melted butter
1 cup milk
1 egg

Toss cranberries in granulated sugar to coat.

Combine dry ingredients well. Stir together milk, egg, and melted butter. Combine liquid ingredients with dry mixture. Add cranberries. Bake 15 to 20 minutes in 12 well greased muffin cups at 425°F.

In addition to our Magic and Merriment trip, we had a very Merry Christmas with our families. We’re fortunate enough that although our families are in three states, they’re all relatively close together so we can see everyone in the holiday period! We started off by seeing my Mom at her new house on Friday night with a side of tTHE BEST cream of crab soup!

Then Saturday morning we were off to PA to enjoy Ravens and Christmas Eve/Christmas morning with Noel’s brother and his family. Gosh do I love those kids! And they’re basically the perfect age to really love the whole Christmas routine–from leaving cookies for Santa and reading The Night Before Christmas, to running down the stairs Christmas morning! So wonderfully magical. And we made out pretty well Christmas morning–who knew Santa would know to leave us gifts in PA? But this is by far the favorite:

Yeah, Noel looks pretty good as a werewolf, right?

After a morning with Noel’s family, we headed off to the Broadkill Beach Club to catch up with the rest of my family. We made it to Delaware in record time, then settled in to exchange presents and enjoy a traditional Christmas ham.

The strange thing about all of this? I didn’t cook AT ALL. I didn’t even carry a tray of cookies or treats with me. So by Boxing Day, I was pretty much going through withdraw. Good thing Dad made my Christmas gifts cupcake themed this year, including a babycakes cupcake maker, which I used to make these Dangerous Donut Muffins that morning. It worked like a charm and so did this recipe!

Donut Danger Muffins
Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoons Nutmeg (I used apple pie spice)
1/2 teaspoons Cinnamon
1/3 cups melted butter
3/4 cups White Sugar
1 whole Egg
3/4 cups Milk

Directions:

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Combine melted butter, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl.

Shake muffins out while still hot. Butter the tops, then roll them into the sugar/cinnamon mix. Let cool.

This face says it all!

Check another one off the 30 before 30 list!

This past weekend, Noel and I hosted our seven year old niece, Brehan, for the weekend, AND we returned her in one piece! We had an action packed weekend, with a visit to the new American Girl store in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia on Friday (followed by an obscene amount of traffic), then two fun filled days at the beach!

Bree was her sweetest self all weekend so Noel and I really enjoyed being responsible for a wee one for the weekend. I’m not sure what my favorite part of the visit was–American Girl was fantastic. I’ve been a longtime fan since I got my first doll many, many years ago and I guess I’m now what people would call an adult collector/fanatic. It was fun to shop with someone just as enthusiastic about the dolls as I am!

It was also really nice to soak up the sun during a picture postcard perfect weekend at the BBC. Seriously, beach weekends don’t get better than this–perfect weather in the 80s, low humidity, nice onshore breeze. Add in my sneak off time with my sister Kori Saturday afternoon to see the new Harry Potter movie, and this weekend was a pefect 10!

But maybe my favorite thing we did with Bree was one of the things we do best–cooking. We made mussels and grilled chicken. We churned ice cream. And we tricked Bree into breakfast (her least favorite meal of the day) two ways, first, by making blueberry oatmeal pancakes with a side of bacon and second, by starting our first morning together by making muffins. There were ripe bananas on the counter, chocolate and cinnamon chips in the cupboard, so a new recipe was tried. It was a little on the sweet side for me, but a big hit with everyone else this weekend–Bree included!

Banana Chocolate and Cinnamon Chip Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

This is another winning recipe from my favorite bakers at KAF! Someone didn’t even know she was eating a healthy breakfast as she woofed these down!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup mashed banana, about 2 medium or 1 1/2 large bananas
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk (I used half and half since we were out of milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 cup cinnamon chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar till smooth. Beat in the mashed banana, then the egg, vanilla, and milk.

Add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour, stirring till smooth; if the mixture has a lot of lumps, beat at a higher speed until they’ve nearly disappeared. Stir in the chocolate chips and cinnamon chips.

Heap the thick batter into the prepared muffin cups, mounding them quite full. Bake the muffins for 20 to 23 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of one of the middle muffins in the pan comes out clean.

You all know I have a tendency to get a little bit excited about local produce. Maybe sometimes too excited.

Like last weekend. Instead of our normal Sunday Baltimore Farmer’s Market run, I decided to go to the uptown Waverly Market on Saturday. Because, you know, I had other stuff I was doing on Sunday morning. After becoming thoroughly disoriented on my way to Waverly and then further confused by the market setup–they practically let you park in the MIDDLE of the market!–I was overly excited by the produce.

There seemed to be more and different things than I had seen just a week before downtown, including strawberries, my favorite early summer seasonal item. Okay, maybe it’s a tie between peas and strawberries, but I do LOVE strawberries. I excitedly snatched up some strawberries and took them home.

But then when I went to eat a few. And it was not good. They weren’t bad per se, they were just early season. So instead of letting them die a slow death in the fridge, I went to look for recipes. I had a strawberry loaf in mind. But then I found these muffins, and they seemed the perfect compromise. The bready treat I was looking for, but without two sticks of butter! Bonus!

Strawberry Muffins
Adapted from Whole Living

These muffins aren’t too sweet and don’t have too many strawberries–so they’re just right! Because they’re not overly sweet, they make a good breakfast item or afternoon snack!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup low-fat buttermilk (I used 1 cup skim milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. Toss together strawberries and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a potato masher, lightly mash berries; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. In a glass 2-quart measuring cup or a medium bowl, combine buttermilk, oil, egg, and vanilla; whisk to combine.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture and the berry mixture (with juice). Fold just until combined. Using an ice cream scoop, divide the batter among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool 5 minutes in the pan, then transfer muffins to a wire rack to cool completely.

One good thing about running. Bananas.

I used to have some serious issues with bananas. Guilt issues. About them being shipped long distances in cargo containers. There is nothing even remotely local about a banana. It screams tropical, you could never grow me in your subtropical climate zone. And so when Noel and I went all local eating a few years back, I tried to give up bananas even though I love them. But now that I’m running like a nut, I can have my beloved bananas back. Because bananas are a runner’s super food. So they get a pass.

And it’s a good thing they do, because not only do I get to enjoy them as my favorite morning snack, but I also get banana love back in my baking. Which turned out to be a very good thing for certain free laborers who helped to paint a few weekends back. Because these are the best banana muffins I have ever made. Should I have expected anything less? No, because this recipe is out of the first Baked cookbook. And everything out of Baked is delicious. It just is.

Banana Chocolate Espresso Muffins
Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking

The number one question I was asked when I served these? Do they taste like espresso. And the answer is a big NO! The espresso in these muffins enhances the flavor of the chocolate chips, which really sets them off against the banana. Which is fantastic, because this is one STRONG banana. But that’s the way I like it!

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (about 4–I used 3 really ripe ones and a yellow one)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk (as always, I used skim)
1 large egg
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350. Spray 2 12-cup muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, stir together the bananas, sugars, butter, milk, and egg. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, instant espresso powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well and stir just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill each cup about 3/4 full. Bake in the center of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Move the muffin pan to a cooling rack, and let cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove the muffins from the pan and let them finish cooling on the cooling rack. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or frozen (they thaw out great!)

So, poll time–are you a morning person or a night person?

It didn’t fully hit me until I was married to Noel, but I am clearly a morning person. And he is clearly a night person. How we manage to live together without killing each other, I’m not sure. Okay, he would say it’s because he’s molded his night person self to fit my early bird personality, but I would say it’s because I let him sleep in on weekends.

This is how our weekend mornings usually go. I wake up and tiptoe out of bed. I try to stay quiet so I don’t wake the cats up (good luck to me on that one) and I enjoy some quiet time before Noel wakes up. Usually it’s just computer time, but a few weeks ago, I spent my Sunday morning quiet whipping up a batch of these muffins. I had banana bread on the brain, and who doesn’t love a good muffin with Sunday morning coffee. These were done before we headed off to the Farmer’s market–and what a lovely treat they were for a cool and rainy Sunday morning.

Whole Wheat Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

These muffins are a perfect banana bread fix with just the right amount of chocolate chips. King Arthur recommends you use really really ripe bananas, but I thought these had a good banana taste with my medium rip ones. You decide.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch of cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
2/3 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line muffin cups with liners.

Beat together the butter, sugar, baking soda, salt, spices and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the banana, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth. Add the flour, stirring until smooth, then add the chocolate chips.

Place 1/4 cup of batter in each muffin cup. Top with sparkling sugar or raw sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden.

Since my junior year in college–after the ill-fated first year of college and the dread freshman 15 + the bonus sophmore 15–and the need to work it off, I’ve been kind of a fitness nut. Some even like to use the term gym rat, although as a person who has had actual real life encounters with rats and at least one nutria, I take offense at that label.

Lately, I’ve been getting into running. I needed something to mix up my workout routine and I didn’t want the constraints of a class setting at the land of the beautiful people Merritt, and I certainly couldn’t afford a regular trainer. So running seemed like a natural fit, especially since for the past few years I’ve been fascinated with the Baltimore Marathon, and dabbled with the idea of trying to do a half marathon myself. I know, it’s possibly crazy, but as you may have guessed from reading this blog, I like to attempt the possibly crazy.

The funny thing about running is that after a typical 4 mile run I’m either one of two things–insanely energized or totally exhausted. Weird right? I could see being somewhat tired or totally exhausted, or even slightly energized or high octane, but such totally opposite reactions? To any runners out there, do you have this same reaction, or is my body just strange?

After my Monday night run this week, I was in the zooming place. I was chat, chat, chatty during dinner. I was cleaning. And I wanted to bake. So when I spotted these muffins in the new King Arthur catalog as I flipped through it during dinner I was hooked. I had everything in the house to make them and they seemed deliciously healthy–low oil, carrots, zucchini and whole wheat flour. I was not dissapointed and neither was Noel–who although skeptical at first–has been eating these for breakfast all week.

Carrot Zucchini Muffins
Adapted from the King Arthur Catalog (the page with PJ, one of my baking heroes!)

I changed a few things from the catalog, mainly to fit with what I had in my pantry and because I don’t really care for nuts. I also doubled the recipe (to the size you see below) to make a full 12 muffins. But still, they were delicious. A totally satisfying way to get a few more summer veggies in your daily diet, disguised as a sweet!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup dried fruit (I used craisins)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 and line muffin tins with paper.

Whisk together the sugar, oil, salt, and eggs. Add the grated veggies and the dried fruit.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients in another bowl. Add to the veggie mixture and stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly among the cups, then let the muffins rest for 10 minutes before placing in the oven.

Bake the muffins until the edges are browned and they feel firm if gently pressed, 18-25 minutes. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then complete cooling on a rack.

One a penny, two a penny–just in time for Easter–hot cross buns!

Did anyone else sing that song in grade school?? Anyone, anyone? Okay, no. Well it’s okay, because Noel looked at me a little weird when I walked around singing it the whole day I was working on the buns. Apparently my elementary school music teacher was the only one fond of this little english nursery rhyme. But it certainly made an impression on me, since I’m still singing it 20 odd years later.

Did I mention they’re not just any hot cross buns–but rather, whole wheat ones! I know it’s hard to believe that a sweet yeast bread can work with a whole wheat base, but believe it. It worked. And they’re delicious.

It’s all thanks to the wonders contained in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book, which I treated myself to for my birthday. I knew the folks at King Arthur were amazing based on the recipes on their website, but wow, this cookbook has really knocked my socks off. It basically has whole grain recipes for everything that you could possibly want to bake–from quick breads, to cookies, cakes, pastry, and bread! Plus sections on how to, where to buy, and tips. Noel and I actually did a comparison between the whole grain book and the all purpose bakers companion book in the bookstore, and every category in the all purpose book also had a section in the whole grains book. As someone who is always looking to integrate more whole grains into my diet, I was so excited to find this great resource. If you’re a baker who loves to work with whole grains–it’s worth checking out.

And what better way to start out than with an old favorite like hot cross buns? Every year in the spring I start looking for hot cross buns in local bakeries and at *my favorite food guilty pleasure* Panera. I normally end up buying a bunch, hoarding them (i.e. NOT sharing them with Noel), and then quickly devouring them before they go stale. All the way up to Easter it’s the same thing, and then suddenly they’re gone, and a whole year of hot cross buns deprivation looms. But no more! Because these buns are awesome, and deserve to be made throughout the year, not just at Easter time!

Whole Wheat Hot Cross Buns
Adapted from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

If you make these, be warned, they’re not exactly the light and fluffy buns you get with a white hot cross bun. But rather, you get something richer, with almost a nutty undertone that compliments wonderfully with the currants and the cross of icing. But they’re not any less addicting. I think these lasted exactly 21.5 hours in our house–both Noel and I just couldn’t stop eating them. The usual suspects were fans as well!

Ingredients:
1 cup of currants (or raisins) moistened in 2 tablespoons of water, rum or brandy (I used brandy)
2/3 cup lukewarm water
1/3 cup orange juice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 1/4 cups traditional whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast

Icing:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
5 to 6 teaspoons milk or cream

Directions:

In a small ceramic or plastic bowl, combine the currants with the brandy (or other liquid). Set aside.

Combine all of the dry dough ingredients (except the currants!) and mix in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Add the wet ingredients (still not the currants!) and mix until the ingredients just start to come together. Stop the mixer and switch to the dough hook. Mix until you have a medium soft, smooth dough. This will take a bit–but make sure all of your ingredients are well mixed (if you’re still seeing large chunks of butter, for example, keep mixing). Cover and let the dough rise until it’s puffy, but not quite doubled in size, about 1-2 hours. Your rise time will depend on how warm it is in your kitchen, and how humid it is. If two hours have passed and you still don’t feel like the dough has risen enough, let it go a bit longer.

After the dough has risen, lightly grease two or three round pans (I used two 8 inch pans and a six inch pan). Gently deflate the dough on a lightly greased surface. Knead in the currants. Cut or divide the dough into 24 pieces. Shape or roll each piece into a ball.

Place as many balls as you can in each pan, so there is about an inch of space between each ball. Cover, and let the pans rest in a warm place until they are puffy and almost touching, about 1 to 2 hours. When you have about ten minutes left in your rise time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Uncover and bake the buns, until they’re lightly golden, about 25 minutes.

While the rolls are cooling, mix the icing ingredients, adding one teaspoon of milk at a time until the icing is smooth, but not too thin to pipe. After the rolls have cooled for about 15 minutes, pipe on the icing in the cross shape. If you don’t have piping bags, you can use a zip top plastic bag with the corner snipped off.

And be ready to love a sweet bun like never before!

My plan was to post this earlier in the week, so those who chose to could actually MAKE these FOR St. Patty’s Day.

But a family emergency has had me away from home for a few days. It looks like everything is going to be okay–thank goodness–and a positive side effect is I got to spend two days of quality time with my darling nieces and nephew.

So instead of eating these this St. Patty’s day, you’ll just have to feast your eyes. And promise to make them for yourself this weekend for a late celebration. Because they’re delightful. Especially with your morning cuppa!

Reminder: Today is the last day to enter my Birthday Giveaway!

Irish Soda Bread Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

These muffins are more like scones than your average muffin. They’re lightly sweet and a real treat. Although KAF warns they might dry out, we found they were still good three days after baking.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup White Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups currants
1 teaspoon caraway seeds, or to taste
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk, yogurt, or sour cream (I used yogurt)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
raw sugar, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line muffin pan with papers, then grease papers with cooking spray (this really works!)

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, currants, and caraway seeds.

In another bowl, stir together the egg, buttermilk (or equivalent) and melted butter.

Quickly and gently combine the dry and wet ingredients; this will take just a few stirs with a big spoon. Don’t over stir or the muffins will be tough!

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cups (mine looked overflowing). Top with raw sugar, if desired.

Bake the muffins for 20 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove them from the oven. Tip the muffins in the pan, so their bottoms don’t get soggy. Wait 5 minutes, then transfer the muffins to a rack to cool.

Ours were great with a smear of butter during my pre-birthday weekend on the shore.

Do you ever come across a recipe and think, “Now this is just too good to be true?”

That was the first thing that popped into my brain when I first read this recipe, on Wednesday, February 5, the fifth day of the Snowmageddon/Snoverkill lockdown. “Even Bittman can’t come up with a good, doesn’t-turn-into-a-rock-the-second-its-cool 100 percent whole wheat muffin,” was the second. You have to use some white flour to get a little lift. Or at least some vital wheat gluten. Or something else magic.

But I was intrigued enough that on Thursday, February 6, I was whipping these up for breakfast. What can I say, being snowed in for a sixth straight day gives you time to follow spontaneous muffin urges!

And you know what, Bittman was right! These WERE good. Like a white flour muffin, not overly sweet, with a good crumb. As I mulled my shock over a muffin, it hit me–there was a secret ingredient! Mashed or pureed fruit. Not to lend flavor or sweetness so much as to give these muffins that extra lift. I’m so used to using fruit to give flavor, that it hadn’t even occurred to me at first that these muffins used fruit for texture and moisture, with the flavor almost fully masked by the nutty goodness of whole wheat. That Mark Bittman, he is a clever man!

Whole Wheat Muffins
Adapted from Mark Bittman’s The Minimalist column in the New York Times

I’m really a little bit in love with these muffins now. They were so easy to make, they’re so tasty, and I’ve been happily snacking on them out of my freezer for almost a month now! I can’t wait until June, when the blueberries come in and I can mix a fresh pint into this batter–yes I’m already dreaming about the Farmer’s Market. It’s March now, and with only 8 weeks to go until opening weekend, I’m allowed!

Really, there’s no reason for you not to make these for breakfast this Saturday morning. Snow or not, they won’t disappoint.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3/4 to 1 cup sugar, depending on sweetness of fruit (my experience was the muffins were a bit too sweet with 1 cup and pumpkin, so go easy on the sugar if you don’t want them too sweet!)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed or puréed banana, sweet potato, apple, zucchini, cooked or canned pumpkin, or other fruits or vegetables (this is a great way to use whatever you have around!)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup skim milk with 1/2 tablespoon of white vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and spray one 12 cup muffin pan or one 24 cup mini muffin pan. Mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the melted butter, your fruit or veggie of choice, egg and buttermilk. Fold wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined. If the mixture seems too stiff (mine did) add a bit more milk.

Fill muffin pan; bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until muffins are golden and puffy. Serve immediately, with a bit of melted butter. If you have any leftovers, these freeze beautifully, especially the mini muffins, which will thaw in about 30 minutes on the countertop.