TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

Sorry for my horribly inconsistent posting over here!  I have a few things up

my sleeves so hopefully soon I will get here w/some non-TWD recipes and life updates :)

In the meantime, I give you Dorie's Corniest Corn Muffins!  These were chosen from page 4 of BFMHTY by Jill of My Next Life.

I was really excited to make these b/c I have not done much cornmeal baking and hubs LOVES cornbread and corn muffins.  I made these while he was out filming a game and was so excited to share them w/him!  And then he didn't get home until 11 and wasn't hungry.  And then he ate cereal for breakfast.  So sadly, I've yet to hear hubs' opinion of these, but I sure do love them!

Mine didn't puff up as much as the book, and the only plain corn (not creamed or in butter sauce) that I had was a frozen steamer pouch that was a bit past it's prime, so I may have to try these again w/fresh corn. 

Thanks to Jill for picking the recipe, and head over to the TWD leave your link post to see who baked along this week!

TWD: chocolate oatmeal drops

Wow...I have been a bad blogger lately.  And things have been so crazy that I'm quite confused about the days.  I finally got a moment to sit down w/my google reader and saw a TWD post.   My thought was "Oh yeah, that's tomorrow...I guess I could go ahead and schedule my post so it will be up first thing in the morning..."  Then I kept scrolling through reader and saw two more TWD posts--oh crap!  Today IS Tuesday!  So here, even though I baked the cookies five whole days in advance, I am posting towards the end of the day. 

 I made these cookies Friday evening when several of my sweet Bible study girls came to hang out and watch movies :).  They are very much like a brownie in cookie form, and were great warm from the oven, but I must say that I wasn't sure about the oatmeal in them.  I felt kinda like the oatmeal was an add-in like chocolate chips...but to me oatmeal isn't quite special enough to be the special addition to a cookie.  I think maybe I would have liked them better w/more oatmeal or w/chocolate chips instead.  We ate some and then I sent the rest on w/my sister to a friend from high school who has recently had a loss in his family.  I think chocolate cookies are perfect for sad hearts!

For the recipe you can either flip to page 75 of Baking from My Home to Yours (which I know you bought after seeing all the TWD posts right?  right?  well, you should!)  Or you can head over to Caroline & Claire's blog: Bake with Us where they posted the recipe. 

Oh yeah, and when I was really sick a few weeks ago, I actually did make the Great Grains muffins picked by Christine of Happy Tummy, but I never got around to posting about them--or eating all of them for that matter.  Made them on Feb. 1 and took this picture of the remaining muffins yesterday (didn't finish them--they went in the trash after their photo shoot).  They were ok, but I left them completely plain b/c hubs doesn't do fruit or nuts but likes muffins, but then they were too plain.  Oh well...

 

 Don't forget to check out the TWD leave your link post to see who baked along!

some favorite recipes

Here are some of my go-to recipes that I have not yet posted on:

Hash Brown Casserole
adapted from Taste of the South magazine

1 bag southern style hash brown potatoes, thawed
1 stick melted butter
1 tub sour cream (i think 16 oz?)
1/2 block velveta cheese, cubed
approx 1 cup fiesta blend shredded cheese (i just grab a big handful and throw it in)
1 can cream of chicken soup
dash pepper
approx one sleeve ritz cracker crumbs, crushed.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients but cracker crumbs in a large bowl until combined.

Spread into one greased 9x13" baking dish, or 2 8x8" baking dishes.

Sprinkle the top evenly with cracker crumbs (you can mix them or top them w/extra butter if you want. Bake for 45 min-1 hour or until bubbly and smelling good!



Don't forget to let your pup lick the bowl (this is the most important part of the recipe, it makes sure that the extra love gets in)

This is one of my most requested pot luck recipes. I found it and made it a few years ago for my Bible study girls while they were still in college and it became an instant favorite. It is super easy and you can make it in advance. There is absolutely NO nutritional value or culinary prowess required. It's just good plain comfort food. It's also good for breakfast, can be made into a yummy cheesy potato soup when pureed with milk (using your fancy immersion blender that you got for Christmas last year) and heated over the stove, and it helps make you fatter! (exactly what we're all looking for right?) But seriously, my proudest moment with this casserole was when I took it to hubs' grandmother's little country church potluck, and this was the only dish that was completely! (and you know those old country ladies are good cooks!)

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Yellow Squash Muffins

2 cups cooked pureed yellow squash
2 eggs
1 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
3 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Combine squash w/eggs and butter.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of dry mixture, add squash mixture to dry ingredients, stirring only until moist.

Spoon into greased muffin tins filling 3/4 full.

Bake at 375 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Doggies like this batter too...

I found this recipe somewhere online after receiving a massive amount of summer squash and being unable to eat it all myself (i am just one person!). I knew that there just had to be some kind of bread or muffin recipe using squash, and found a great one on my first try! Of course, the orginal recipe was a "healthier" version which involved applesauce and maybe oil...I made it unhealthy, but oh well. These have been a hit wherever I have taken them--even with people who hate squash! They really taste like a corn muffin, just without a cornmeal texture. Very very good for breakfast or with dinner! (sadly, hubs still won't try them....)

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Eggnog bread pudding

1/2 loaf day old sourdough bread, cubed (could also use brioche or any sweet-ish bread)
2 tbsp. melted butter
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups prepared eggnog from grocery
1/2 cup packed brown sugar.
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
(can include a splash of rum)

grease 8x8" pan
layer pecans and bread cubes
mix remaining ingredients, pour over bread cubes and press down so that the tops of the bread are covered by the wet mixture.
allow to rest in refridgerator for at least 1 hour (best overnight)
bake for 45 minutes at 350 F.

This is the first recipe that I ever came up with myself, and also the first dessert that I made COMPLETELY from scratch, in that I used my homemade sourdough bread for this. I love to pour some extra eggnog over the top of it as a sauce--especially for breakfast! I honestly do not like eggnog to drink, but I really enjoy this. As I've gotten more accustomed to baking I play around more with the spices in this (i now have more spices than "pumpkin pie" and cinnamon!) but this is my base recipe. It would be good with a hard sauce or something like that too.

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Pumpkin Roll
original from Two Peas and Their Pod

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
¾ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsps cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp salt

Filling
1 cup powdered sugar
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese
4 T butter
½ tsp vanilla

Beat eggs and sugar together. Add pumpkin and lemon juice and mix together. In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Fold into pumpkin mixture.

Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray. Spread pumpkin mixture evenly in pan. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Turn out immediately onto a clean dishtowel that has been sprinkled with powdered sugar. Remove the parchment paper. Sprinkle more powdered sugar on top of cake. Start at one end, carefully rolling towel and cake together. Cool on countertop or in fridge.

Combine 1 cup powdered sugar, cream cheese, and butter, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Gently unroll cake, remove the towel. Spread filling evenly over cake. Roll back up! Cover with foil and put in fridge or freezer. Best when made a day ahead.

**Okay...I'm cheating a little here b/c this is not the exact recipe that I make. This is the base recipe that I have adapted, but I have to keep some of my adaptations a secret on this one b/c I get the most orders for it. The filling is exactly how I make it though. This is amazing for dessert, or can even be eaten for breakfast!**

dessert table at one of my open house events

Well, these are some of my favorites and are all really easy--I hope you try and enjoy them!

TWD remixed: Allspice Crumb muffin pudding

After a week in which I baked full recipes of both the TWD allspice muffins & the MSC pumpkin patch cupcakes, I was up to my ears is spiced goodies! This is not a good thing for a lady who is trying to make better choices with my eating habits. I gave away a LOT of the cupcakes, but there were still 4 lonely allspice muffins that had gone kinda stale.

As I have mentioned before, I HATE waste, so just tossing the muffins in the trash was not an option for me. I was lying in bed this morning at the very early time of 8:30 (for me, on a saturday morning, that is VERY early) pondering the muffins. And then it hit me--use them in a bread pudding!!

I adore bread puddings and have a go-to holiday recipe for eggnog bread pudding that I created using my homemade sourdough bread (I will share that later this season). It is oh-so-yummy, and I remembered what a wonderful breakfast it makes on cold mornings! Well, it's 40 degrees outside, and 60 in my house b/c we have not turned on the heat, so I popped out of bed to make a muffin pudding!

a steaming bowl of comfort pudding :)

It came out of the oven warm and bubbly and crisp on top and I must admit that I had seconds!

And here is the (kinda) recipe, I kinda just threw it together, so I'm approximating:

4 muffins (a few days old) from Dorie's Allspice Crumb Muffin recipe (found here) cut into cubes
(I realize that this is not a real "ingredient" for people to have on hand so you could really substitute any kind of stale cinnamon swirl bread, brioche, whatever. Just add some allspice to get the full effect)
approx. 1/2 cup walnuts
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice.


Butter a 1 quart baking dish and fill with muffin cubes and walnuts.

Whisk together remaining ingredients and pour over the bread/nut mixture. Lightly press down the bread cubes with the back of a spoon to make sure that all the bread is covered with the liquid mixture. Leave on the counter for 30 minutes to allow bread to soak up liquid.

Preheat oven to 350', then bake the pudding for 1 hour.

I think it's yummiest right out of the oven!



And for your viewing enjoyment, here is a cold weather bulldog:

sporting the colors of her favorite team: UK

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

These muffins were super easy and yummy yummy yummy!! A perfect treat for these days that are finally feeling like fall :)

I had honestly not really given these much of a thought. After another CRAZY day at the office I was debating on what to do with my evening, especially since hubs would be gone once again filming a game (and for those of you who may be wondering...we have not had our first frost yet, so he's still sleeping in the other room. boo on him).

These past few months of baking (and eating) have done bad things to my waistline, so once again I am actually making a concentrated effort to eat better and get some exercise in. So I came home from work and immediately took Butch outside for a walk. We stopped to chat w/our neighbor across the street (yes...Butchy talks too) and while we were talking she (Butch, not the neighbor who is a man) squatted and pooped right in his yard!!!! I was so embarrassed. He said it was no big deal and not to bother picking it up, but when our conversation later turned to food I decided that these muffins would make a nice "I'm sorry that my bulldog pooped in your yard" gift. (Also, he said that I look like I've lost weight..and considering that I've gained 5 pounds, that definitely deserves a thank you!--plus it gets some muffins out of my house)

right before going into the oven

The muffins were super quick and easy to throw together. You basically have 3 steps: make the crumb topping, mix the dry ingredients, and mix the wet ingredients (okay...maybe a few more steps: you have to mix the dry and wet ingredients together, fill the muffin cups and top them w/the crumb topping). I didn't have whole milk on hand, so I mixed equal parts heavy cream and non-fat milk together...not sure if it really works right, but they came out fine! I might have over mixed the batter a little bit b/c I kept finding huge bits of dry ingredients that needed to be incorporated, but again, it did not seem to cause any problems.

right out of the oven

Much thanks to Kayte for choosing this perfect fall recipe! Be sure to head over to her blog: Grandma's Kitchen Table for the recipe, and, as always, check out the TWD blogroll to see how everyone else did!

mmm....yummy!