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Almond Cupcakes

7/30/2020

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This started when one of my best friends gave me some homemade apple jam made from her homegrown apples. Since I don't eat a lot of toast in general, I was trying to figure out if there were baked goods I could use it in without losing it as a flavor. While apple sauce and any fruit in general is a wonderful source of moisture for cakes, I wanted to actually taste it. Also, most baked goods that include apples tend to ask for the original fruit itself, whether in slices or chunks, rather than in jam form.

So, then came the idea of using it as a filling in cored out cupcakes, and I stumbled across this recipe for an almond cupcake that, coincidentally, was already going the jam-filled route! As it so happened, the cupcake itself was good enough to stand on its own even without the extra jam and icing, so it's getting its own recipe space. Extra bonus is that since it's made from almond flour rather than refined flour, I can eat a lot more of it without getting nasty sugar spikes! Yum!
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Cupcake:
  • 3 cups almond flour or meal
  • 1-1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 6 large eggs
  • 1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar (to taste)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
Icing:
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/2 cup fig (or your favorite) jam
  • Toasted sliced almonds (for serving)
  • ½
Cupcake:
  1. Preheat oven to 325°. Place cupcake liners in a 12-cup cupcake tray.
  2. Sift almond flour through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl; discard any large pieces. Whisk in baking powder and salt.
  3. Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk eggs and granulated sugar on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and whisk in almond-flour mixture and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute.
  4. Divide batter among cupcake cups (each one should hold a little less than 1/3 cups). Bake cupcakes, rotating pan partway through, until the tops are golden and a tester inserted into the centers comes out clean, about 15–20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to a wire rack and let cool.
Icing:
  1. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  2. Reduce speed to low and, with motor running, add powdered sugar in 2 additions, beating until fully incorporated after each, about 2 minutes.
  3. Add cream, almond extract, vanilla, and salt and beat until light and creamy, about 1 minute.
  4. Using an apple corer or a knife, punch out about 1" from the top of each cupcake to form a hole in the center. Fill hole with a heaping teaspoonful of jam.
  5. Spread frosting over cupcakes and top each with a small handful of almonds.
Note: While the cupcake can have the sugar reduced a little more if you wish, the icing depends on the sugar for stiffening (and to help mask the pure butter taste, which I personally don't find as fun when eating straight unless it's salted butter). If you're set on reducing the sugar in the icing, then reduce how much cream you add as well, and watch the icing on warm days - you may need to keep it refrigerated to prevent melting.
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Paleo Banana Nut Muffins

8/22/2018

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Adapted from this recipe, don't let the "paleo" part fool you - this was a super-moist fluffy muffin that had none of the meal-like texture that I usually associate with nut or coconut-based flours. Granted, there's very little "flour" associated with it at all - just enough to hold everything together, which is why I love it since I'm highly sensitive to refined carbs. Even with all the bananas, it didn't taste over-sweet - in fact, some might find it not sweet enough, though I found it perfectly to my taste, especially with the walnuts to help add texture and the addition of some dark chocolate chips. I think this is a fabulous breakfast muffin, where you don't feel like you just ate a cup of sugar, can spread a little bit of butter and salt atop it if you'd rather have some savory than sweet, and feel like you ate something reasonably healthy with all the fruit and nut bases in it (not to mention a nice shot of chocolate)!
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  • 3 - 4 large ripe bananas (1_2/3 cups mashed or 380 grams)
  • 3 eggs room temperature
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil melted
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup almond butter
  • 1/3 cup (50g) coconut flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup toasted walnuts chopped
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line a 12 pan muffin tin with paper liners or grease with coconut oil.
  2. In a large bowl or mixer, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, coconut oil, vanilla extract and almond butter until fully combined.
  3. Sift the coconut flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and add to the wet ingredients and mix well. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips.
  4. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin tins.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven for about 17-19 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.
  6. Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes. Flip out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.
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Coconut Banana Bread w/ Lime Glaze

5/4/2016

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My mother likes to eat bananas just as they're coasting from raw to ripe - in other words, she usually manages to eat only 2-3 out of a bunch before the rest are too ripe for her taste. Inevitably, the rest languish away. In the past I've just thrown them into a smoothie if I notice them in time, but this time, I decided to do some serious research into a go-to banana bread recipe. This was adapted from a myrecipes.com page, and I have to say, the sweet lime glaze certainly adds a nice accent!
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  • 9" x 5" loaf pan
  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
  • 1/4 cup plain yogurt
  • (optional) 3 tbsp dark rum or 1 tbsp molasses
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup flaked coconut + extra for garnishing
Glaze:​
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1-1/2 tbsp fresh lime or lemon juice

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
  3. Beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Add banana, yogurt, rum or molasses, and vanilla. Beat until blended.
  5. Add flour mixture, beat at low speed just until fully blended. Stir in the flaked coconut.
  6. Spoon into the loaf pan and sprinkle with some extra coconut. Bake for 1 hour or until wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean.
  7. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack, remove from pan. Combine powdered sugar and lime juice, stirring with a whisk, and drizzle over warm bread. Cool completely on wire rack.
Notes: The amount of banana you can throw in there is somewhat forgiving - I threw in 4 bananas, and didn't bother measuring how much there was except to ensure that it was at least 1.5 cups. I also sort of eyeball the time - depending on what pan you use (the first time I made this was in a much larger pan) it may take much less than 1 hour to finish. My rule of thumb is that it should turn golden, but it should not start to brown. Try the toothpick trick every 5 minutes after the 40 minute mark to test its doneness.
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Pumpkin Bread / Cupcakes

10/4/2015

 
This recipe came from a good friend of mine, and even when accidentally over-baked, it still turned out more than edible, so it's quite robust! The original recipe called for 1.5 cups of sugar, but as I'm notoriously sugar-shy, I dropped it down to 1 cup and folks are still loving it. I think one can also experiment with some brown sugar substitution instead, to give it that extra holiday-taste and help keep even more moisture in. The original recipe also called for only 3 cups of pumpkin, but since my family loves the pumpkin taste, I bumped that up to 4.
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  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 4 cups shredded fresh pumpkin
  • (optional) chopped walnuts
Servings: 1 loaf or 1.5 dozen small cupcakes
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
  2. Sift the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs, then mix in the vanilla, sugar, and vegetable oil. (If the oil remains separate, use a hand whisk and beat until everything looks reasonably combined.) Combine with the dry ingredients and then fold in the shredded pumpkin (and walnuts if you're adding them). Once the ingredients are all incorporated pour into a non- stick 9" x 5" loaf pan (if your pan is not non- stick, coat it with butter and flour) or spoon into 18 cupcake molds.
  4. For loaves, bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. For cupcakes, bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove to cool for 5-10 minutes, then move either the loaf or the cupcakes to a wire rack to cool completely so that steam trapped between the pan and the bread doesn't make it soggy.
Note: A sour cream cheese frosting goes GREAT with this!

Rhubarb Buttermilk Muffins

4/9/2015

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This is a great way to mop up "rhubarb scraps" from other recipes, such as rhubarb pie, when you've got a bunch of stalks left over. These muffins passed the "dad test".

I have not yet tried the version with the topping - since my family tends to like things less sweet, I simply left that part out.
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  • 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 
  • 1/4 cup salad oil 
  • 1 egg 
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract 
  • 1 cup buttermilk 
  • 2 cups finely diced rhubarb 
  • 1 cup pecan pieces 
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
  • 1 tsp baking powder 
  • 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt
Topping:
  • 1/3 cup sugar 
  • 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
  • 1 tbsp melted margarine

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease 24 medium-sized muffin cups.
  2. Combine in large bowl: brown sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat until well mixed. Stir into mixture buttermilk, rhubarb, and pecans.
  3. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture all at once to rhubarb mixture and stir until all ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
  4. Fill prepared muffin pan 3/4 full with batter.
  5. Quickly combine topping ingredients and sprinkle on top of batter in each muffin cup.
  6. Bake in preheated oven on center shelf 15 to 20 minutes.
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ARCHIVE: Corn Muffins (from Bouchon)

1/1/2015

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  • 201 grams (1_1/4 cups + 3 tbsp) all purpose flour
  • 51 grams (1/3 cup) mix of fine and medium ground cornmeal
  • 12 grams (2_1/2 tsp) baking powder
  • 135 grams (1/2 cup + 3 tbsp) granulated sugar
  • 36 grams (1_1/2 tsp) salt
  • 168 grams (2/3 cup) whole milk
  • 90 grams (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) eggs (or, 1_1/2 eggs)
  • 90 grams (1/4 cup + 2_1/2 tbsp) canola oil
  • 72 grams (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) frozen corn kernels
  1. Sift flour, cornmeal, and baking powder together. Combine sugar and salt with it.
  2. Add the milk and eggs and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the oil, then increase the speed to medium-low and mix for about 30 seconds to combine.
  3. Fold in the corn. Transfer batter to a covered container and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 36 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line the muffin pan with muffin papers and spray the papers with nonstick spray.
  5. Pipe or spoon the batter into the muffin papers, stopping 1/2" from the top (135 grams each).
  6. Place the pan in the oven, lower oven temperature to 325 F, and bake for 28-30 mins or until muffins are golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely.
  7. Muffins are best the day they are baked, but they can be wrapped individually in a few layers of plastic wrap or stored in a single layer in a covered container at room tempreature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 week.
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ARCHIVE: Glazed Mango Pecan Muffin (from The Cypress B&B)

1/1/2015

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  • 2 cups unbleached flour
  • 3/4 cups sugar
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1_1/2 cups mango (skinned and diced)
  • 2 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  • Topping:
  • 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice (fresh)
  • 1 tbsp dark rum or brandy

Servings: 12
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl mix butter and sugar, beat well.
  2. Add eggs (beat in one at a time). Then add sour cream, milk, and vanilla. Mix well.
  3. Stir in lemon zest and diced mango.
  4. In another bowl, mix flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Pour flour mix into liquids, stir until just combined.
  5. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
  6. Bake for 16-20 minutes. Cool muffins for 5 minutes.
  7. Mix together glaze ingredients and drizzle over the top of each muffin and serve.
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Corn Muffins

1/1/2015

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Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery
  • 201 grams (1_1/4 cups + 3 tbsp) all purpose flour
  • 51 grams (1/3 cup) mix of fine and medium ground cornmeal
  • 12 grams (2_1/2 tsp) baking powder
  • 135 grams (1/2 cup + 3 tbsp) granulated sugar
  • 36 grams (1_1/2 tsp) salt
  • 168 grams (2/3 cup) whole milk
  • 90 grams (1/4 cup + 2 tbsp) eggs (or, 1_1/2 eggs)
  • 90 grams (1/4 cup + 2_1/2 tbsp) canola oil
  • 72 grams (1/2 cup + 2 tbsp) frozen corn kernels
  1. Sift flour, cornmeal, and baking powder together. Combine sugar and salt with it.
  2. Add the milk and eggs and mix on low speed for about 30 seconds, until just combined. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the oil, then increase the speed to medium-low and mix for about 30 seconds to combine.
  3. Fold in the corn. Transfer batter to a covered container and refrigerate overnight, or for up to 36 hours.
  4. Preheat oven to 425 F. Line the muffin pan with muffin papers and spray the papers with nonstick spray.
  5. Pipe or spoon the batter into the muffin papers, stopping 1/2" from the top (135 grams each).
  6. Place the pan in the oven, lower oven temperature to 325 F, and bake for 28-30 mins or until muffins are golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and cool completely.
  7. Muffins are best the day they are baked, but they can be wrapped individually in a few layers of plastic wrap or stored in a single layer in a covered container at room tempreature for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 1 week.
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Double-Chocolate Muffins

1/1/2015

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  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate pieces
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line twelve 2.5" muffin cups with paper bake cups, set aside. In a medium bowl stir together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of flour mixture; set aside.
  2. In a small bowl combine egg, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full.
  3. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are firm (tops will be slightly rounded). Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.
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    Picture

    Sweet Enough

    Part of the reason I started baking was because I like my goodies to be less obviously sweet - I want to taste the flavor, not just the sugar. So most of these recipes will have the sugar dialed down.

    This site also acts as my mobile recipe box, so instructions are often pared down to a minimum - very few frills but for some hints and suggestions!

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