Pear & Ginger muffins

Packers will be coming tomorrow to pack all d stuff, thus, tonite will be my last bake post unless it’s ABM baking related cause I don’t have oven in SG. For my last bake, I selected this recipe simply because I happened to have most of d ingredients on hand. & for tonite’s bake, I even happened to have a friend over to help out, who also became d 1st to taste it.
End result – very soft & tasty batch of muffins! Hurray! My last bake is successful! For this recipe, I actually reduced d amt of sugar & taster said that d sweetness is just right, coming mainly from d pears. Do note that it’s best eaten while still a bit warm out from oven.

• 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar (I used brown sugar)
• ½ cup plus 6 tsp packed light brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup whipping cream
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp honey
• 2 eggs
• 1½ cup peeled & diced pears,
• ¼ cup candied ginger, diced

1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Whisk d flour, sugar & baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl, mix sour cream, oil, honey, & eggs well be4 gently fold in into d dry mixture. DO NOT OVERMIX (note that this can be done d nite be4)
4. Fold in the diced pear & candied ginger. Again DO NOT OVERMIX.
5. Spoon batter evenly among the muffin cups to 2/3 full.
6. Then sprinkle d top with ½ tsp brown sugar & bake for 20mins. Remove & allow to cool be4 eating.

Dried Fig Muffins

Hayden has been sick with diarrhea & vomiting after his sch Halloween’s party. And he’s not eating at all because he was aware that he will be vomiting them out later. Thus, within 2 days, he has lost almost 1kg! Even d doc suggested putting him on drip in order to ensure he does not dehydrate further & stress out his kidneys. But in d end, hubby decided to take him home & try medication instead. So, with Hayden not eating well, I went online to search for something to bake that will have a strong taste to get Hayden interested in eating again.
That’s when I saw this interesting muffin receipe from HHB’s blog & since I love figs, I decided to give it a try. But as usual, I made some adjustment to it to reduce d sweetness since d originator stated in her post that it’s still too sweet for her even after she has reduced d amt.
End result – Hayden ate ½ muffin! Hubby commented that d muffin texture is ok but it’s too sweet for him & he does not like it at all. I informed him that I have reduced d sugar amt by 1/3 alrdy & d sweetness is from d figs. Well, cant go rd & please everyone. Since d main aim is to get Hayden to eat, I will consider this a success…
Yield 9 muffins

• 205g dried figs (de-stem & cut quarters)
• 90g unsalted butter
• 250ml apple juice
• Grated zest of 1 lemon
• 315g plain flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 125g sugar
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1½ tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. Heat juice & butter in a saucepan over low heat until butter has melted.
2. Remove from heat & add in figs & zest. Leave to cool for abt 1hr or till figs r softened.
3. Preheat oven to 170C.
4. In a mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, salt & baking powder.
4. Make a well in d centre & add all d wet ingredients. Stir until just combined with d batter still slightly lumpy. Do not over-mix.
5. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling to d rim of d cup.
6. Bake for abt 25-30 mins or until golden. U can also insert a toothpick into d centre & it’s done when toothpick comes out clean. Transfer muffin onto cooling rack & leave to cool completely.

English Muffin_II

Sunday is coming again & I’m still trying to figure out what kind of BF to make. I was surfing thru d web & chanced upon HHB’s post on her scones. In her post, she mentioned abt how 1 can still have freshly baked scones in pj without losing much beauty sleep by refrigerating d dough overnite. That’s when I remembered d last rd of soft & fluffy English muffin & decided to c if I can do d same.

And with last rd of sticky experience, I decided to change d recipe/method a bit to c if it can be better managed. Instead of pouring all d ingredients into d ABM immediately, I only pour in ¾ of d wet ingredients. After 5 mins into d dough setting, I checked for wetness be4 pouring in another 1-2tbsp of d wet ingredients. That way, I wont get a dough that’s too sticky to manage. All this was done last nite ard 10pm. By d time d dough cycle is done, it is alrdy 11+. That’s when I drop d dough into a greased bowl, covered & pop into d fridge overnite.

Next morning, I got up only ard 8+ to remove d dough out from d fridge, rolled out, cut into circles & let rise in room temp while I go wash up. After which, I heat up d frying pan & started ‘cooking’ d muffins. This is really better! It’s more manageable than my previous attempt with d rather sticky dough & d muffin shape r more rounded as compared to my previous attempt too! They tasted a bit diff due to d diff ingredients but yet still soft & fluffy! YES!

• 80ml low-fat milk, warmed
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp yeast
• 26g unsalted butter, soften
• 2 cups + 4tbsp Bread Flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 100ml buttermilk

Too bad all 15 muffins were gone be4 I remembered to take any more pics! Argh!

Pumpkin Muffins

I have always wanted to try baking something with pumpkin but was quite put off on d process of making pumpkin puree. Then 2 days ago, I saw Blessed Homemaker’s post on her pumpkin muffin & decided to give it a try since I have 2 butternut squash on hand. So I went ahead & prepared d puree using d baking method on that very nite.

Preparing d squash puree - cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds & stringy fibers. Place cut-side down on a baking pan with 1 cup of water. Bake at 150 degrees C for ard 30-45 mins (depending on size). Scoop out the pulp & puree in a food processor until smooth. By d time I finished pureeing, it’s alrdy ard 11pm so I decided to freeze d puree until I have time to bake d muffin.

Now, 2days later, with time on hand, I decided to go ahead & give d muffin recipe a try. However, in d mid of measuring d ingredients, I realised I did not have enough sugar! OMG! But since I have alrdy thawed d puree, I decided to go ahead. Thus, I was very careful when it’s time to fold d wet mixture into d dry ingredients. D wet mixture was poured part by part into d dry ingredients till d batter is ‘wet’ enough. This yields 9 muffins & 1 can really tasted d sunflower seed oil. This batch is also darker in color because of d brown sugar.

While d 1st batch of muffins were baking in d oven, I was cleaning up d kitchen when my eyes kept falling onto d bal wet mixture. Since it will be such a waste to throw it away, I decided to use it up by using icing sugar instead. This in turn yields 2 muffins. This rd d batter is much ‘wetter’ than d previous batch & d sunflower seed oil taste is stronger too.

(A) Dry Mix (+ r d ingredients for 2nd batch)
250g cake flour + 70g cake flour
1½ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp
½ tsp baking soda + pinch
126g brown sugar + 20g icing sugar
¼ tsp salt + pinch

(B) Wet Mix
110ml pkt milk
130ml whipping cream
100g sunflower seed oil
2 eggs

(C) 140g pumpkin puree

Method
1. Preheat oven @170C. Prepare muffin cups.
2. Mix (A) in a bowl.
3. In another bowl, whisk (B) till smooth.
4. Add (C) to (B).
5. Add wet mixture to (A) & stir till just blended.
6. Spoon onto prepared tin. If desired, sprinkle some chocolate chips on top.
7. Baking for 15 - 20 mins or until cooked.
8. Cool on rack.

English Muffins

Sunday is usually d day we don’t go out for BF so I was browsing through Cookie Baker Lynn’s blog & saw this simple/easy English muffin recipe & decided to give it a try. However, as mentioned in previous post, I believed that our weather temp might play a very important part in any dough related baking. Therefore, I decided to try & error by adding ingredients part by part so that I can stop as & when I c fits. Thus, ingredients r a little diff from d original.

As stated in d original post, it does yield a very sticky dough & I really have a very hard time trying to cut it into circles. By d time I put them onto d frying pan, their r in all kinds of odd shape. Also, as advised by Lynn, I didn’t add cornmeal in order to ensure my frying pan’s surface does not get scratch.

End result - OMG! Never taste such soft & fluffy English muffins! I just cant stop eating it even after finishing d 3rd piece! Yum, yum! However, I never get that little "cut me" divot. Maybe next time…

• 180ml low-fat milk, warmed
• 30ml whipping cream
• 23g unsalted butter, soften
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 cups + 4tbsp Bread Flour
• 1 tsp yeast

1. Place ingredients in ABM following manufacturer's instructions & set d "dough" setting. The dough shd be very soft & a bit sticky so do check after 5mins into kneading & add flour/milk if required.


2. After d cycle is complete, trf dough to a floured surface & roll it out until its abt 1/2-inch thick. Cut out circles with a floured 3-inch cutter. Re-roll & cut out leftover dough until it’s all finish. Cover muffins with a damp cloth & let rest for abt 20 mins.


3. Heat a frying pan over low heat. Do not grease, but sprinkle with cornmeal if desired. Cook each side for abt 7 mins. If possible, try using a larger pan so that you'll be better able to keep up with d rising muffins. Check after 3-4 mins to ensure muffins r browning gently. If they seem to be cooking either too fast or too slowly, adjust temp of frying pan.
   
4. When muffins r brown on both sides, trf to a wire rack for cooling, & proceed with d rest.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

After trying to finish as much ingredients in d fridge for d HMB, there’s still some bal whipping cream to be utilize. So I decided on this Chocolate Chip muffin recipe to use it up. Original recipe yield 12 regular sized muffins but I split it up into lots of tiny muffins & 11 smalls.







End result - muffins didnt raise nicely but both testers (hubby & MIL) said quite soft & fluffy with crispy top due to d toppings.

• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• 2 large eggs
• 240ml whipping cream
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cups white sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Topping (mix together):

• 1 tbsp white sugar
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon

1. In a bowl whisk together eggs, milk, & vanilla extract.
2. In another large bowl shift together flour, sugar, baking powder, & salt.
3. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Then fold wet ingredients into dry with a rubber spatula, along with the melted butter.
5. Stir only until ingredients r combined. Do Not over mix or muffin will turn out tough.
6. Fill pre-line muffin cups with batter & sprinkle a little topping on each muffin.
7. Place in pre-heated oven & bake @ 180C for abt 15-18mins.
8. Move to a wire rack & let cool for abt 5 mins be4 removing from muffin cups.

Cocoa Muffins w/Yogurt

Need to finish up d last cup of yogurt & decided to give this recipe a try. Original recipe asked for ¼cup cocoa powder. But I made a BIG mistake sieving ¾cup cocoa powder instead! So to make up for d diff, I omitted d ½cup chocolate chips instead.
End result – looks horrible (similar to my first 2 attempts) but not sweet at all! Good enough to share with Hayden’s teachers & Hubby’s ofc ;->

1¾ cup All-purpose flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup cocoa powder
100g butter, melted
1 egg
1 cup plain yoghurt
½ cup milk
½ tsp vanilla essence

Method
1) Preheat oven at 180C
2) Sieve flour, bicarbonate soda & cocoa powder together. Stir in sugar.
3) Beat egg & vanilla essence be4 adding in all d wet ingredients into flour mixture.
4) Fold till batter is dampened, but not smooth.
5) Spoon batter evenly into lined/greased muffin tray.
6) Bake for 20 mins or till skewer comes out clean.

Prune Honey Muffins

Saw this interesting recipe which requires a blender, so thot I give it a try. End result XXX. d mini ones looked great while d large ones looked burned. Both has VERY chewy top & bottom, so chewy that 1 cant bite through it. However, after peeling off d top/bottom, d middle is very soft & nice.. Wonder what went wrong???

Cranberries Muffins

Friends have been telling me to try out d portable oven from my landlord, so when I saw this muffin recipe, thot I give it a try. However, instead of strawberry, I used whatever I have on hand - cranberries. I half all ingredients & d result was horrible! 1st of all, when I took it out by 20mins, d top were burned; 2ndly, when I checked d bottom, it's uncooked! Guess I need to adj d temp if I do decide to try again. But believe it or not, Hubby ate 2 of it after I put it into d microware for 2mins & Hayden ate d top portion of 1 muffin..