38 | 52 Plum Muffins

Don't think that I can't see it.

You. Rolling your eyes.

At yet another plum recipe.

I'm sorry but I can't help it!

Not sure where exactly it comes from but I keep wanting to try new plum (baking) recipes.

And when should I actually make them if not now?!

So I beg you. Please. Stay with me.

And just enjoy the plummy ride.

Plum Muffins

From Christina's Cucina

260 g (2 cups) flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

2 eggs

100 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil

250 ml (1 cup) yogurt

300 g (10.5 oz) plums, chopped

• Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). 
• Combine flour, baking powder and soda, and sugar in a bowl.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and yogurt. Pour into dry ingredients and mix until just combined (works best with a wooden spoon).
• Add plums and fold in carefully. Fill muffin cups/pan and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

My modifications:

I used coconut oil instead of olive oil.

The taste:

Good, moist, comforting.

It actually tastes as if there are oats in the batter. Strange because, as you know, there are none.

Definitely to be enjoyed on the day of baking when the top is still a bit 'crusty'.

All in all: nothing exciting or extravagant about these but you probably wouldn't pick this recipe if that's what you're after...

Do you even like plums? If so, how do you like them best?

35 | 52 Whole Wheat Banana Streusel Muffins

You know the drill...

New banana recipe up on the blog = I needed to use up my overripe bananas ;)

But it's all good! 

Because that way we can all try many yummy banana baking recipes together. 

So: long live the overripe banana. 

Without it, the baking world would not be the same.

Whole Wheat Banana Streusel Muffins

Adapted from Baked by Rachel

For the muffins

60 g (1/4 cup) butter, softened

100 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar

2 eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

190 g (1 1/2 cup) whole wheat flour

For the streusel

65 g (1/2 cup) whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

60 g (1/4 cup) butter, melted

• Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF). 
• For the streusel, whisk together dry ingredients. Add melted butter and stir until crumbly. Let cool in the fridge while you prepare the muffins.
• For the muffins, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and banana and mix until smooth. Add dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.
• Fill your muffin tin with batter, then top with cold streusel - just crumble over the muffin batter.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool.

My modifications:

I halved the amount of sugar for the muffins (the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup granulated and 1/2 cup light brown sugar. With half the amount the muffins were still sweet enough. There was an additional glaze over the streusel in the original recipe which I omitted completely. I'm sure it would have been very yummy but I didn't miss it (and I have the feeling that I was eating something remotely healthy...).

The taste:

Healthy. But in a good way! Perfect for breakfast.

What is your favorite 'healthy' muffin recipe?

16 | 52 Perfect Blueberry Muffins

Now. When a recipe title has the word 'perfect' in it I get sceptical.

Perfect. I almost feel like there's no way it could live up to the expectations.

But this recipe did. Big time.

I mean - it's Blueberry Muffins we're talking about.

But still. It's Blueberry Muffins, y'all!

And they really were perfect.

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

From Smitten Kitchen

For 9-10 smaller muffins:

71 g (5 tablesoons) butter, softened

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 teapsoon lemon zest, grated

191 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

100 g (3/4 cup) blueberries, fresh or frozen

• Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF) and line muffin pan with paper liners.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, then sour cream and lemon zest.
• Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Carefully fold in blueberries.
• Fill muffin cups 3/4 (for smaller muffins) or almost full (for bigger muffins).
• Bake 25-30 minutes until tops are golden brown.

 they were gone so quickly - I wasn't even able to take a good picture of the inside!

My modifications:

None. But next time I would omit the lemon zest or reduce it a bit. In my opinion, the muffins would even be more perfect then.

I also used frozen blueberries and it worked very well. There really is no need to defrost them. My dough did kind of freeze when I added the frozen berries but that wasn't a problem.

Oh - but I did double the recipe and received 12 perfect standard sized muffins with a great muffin top. So if you would like your muffins to be on the bigger side with muffin top - please double the amounts above. If you like your muffins smaller and without muffin top - use the amounts above.

The taste:

Perfect! What more can I say? They taste exactly like I want them to taste. And they taste really American. I know, that might sound a bit weird but it's true.

What's your favorite and most perfect muffin recipe?

15 | 52 Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

A classic. Always good. Comfort food.

Also perfect for Easter. 

I know, I know. Easter is over. 

But it will come around again next year, right?

 All muffins were gone before I had a chance to photograph them...

Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

From i heart naptime

Muffins

320 g (2 1/2 cups) flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon all-spice

300 g (1 1/2 cups) sugar

110 g (1/2 cup) packed brown sugar

4 eggs

240 ml (1 cup) vegetable oil

120 g (1/2 cup) sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 medium/big carrots, shredded

Frosting
225 g (8 oz) cream cheese

113 g (1/2 cup) butter, softened

500 g (4 cups) powdered sugar

2 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• Preheat oven to 175ºC (350ºF). Line muffin tin with paper cups.
• Mix dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and powder, and spices) in a bowl.
• In a big bowl, beat eggs. Add sugars, oil, sour cream, and vanilla and mix until combined. Add flour mix slowly until just combined. Fold in carrots.
• Fill muffin papers 2/3 and bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool.
• For the frosting, beat together cream cheese and butter. Slowly add the powdered sugar. Add vanilla. Frost muffins as you like.

My modifications: 
I reduced the white sugar to 200 g (1 cup), I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and I reduced the amount of powdered sugar in the frosting (because 500 g/4 cups is just an insanely high amount...)
Next time, I would reduce the overall amount of ingredients by 1/3 because I had way to much batter. Besides the regular muffin pan with 12 muffins, I was also able to fill 6 small paper loaf forms... 

The taste:

Good but I've had better carrot cake. It didn't really taste like carrots, actually. And it also wasn't very moist. It also wasn't dry - don't get me wrong - but it wasn't 'carrot-cake-moist'. Do you know what I mean? So all in all they were okay but I will most likely not make this recipe again.

Do you have a favorite Carrot Cake recipe?

4 | 52 Mini Corn Dog Muffins

Sounds like something you would make for a kid's birthday party, right?

Or - if you live in the US - for a Super Bowl party.

I just made it for grown-ups. For dinner.
To go with soup & salad. And no Super Bowl.

Is that ridiculous? Nah.
It's just party food without a party. And that's totally normal.

Mini Corn Dog Muffins

From Iowa Girl Eats

Makes 48 Mini Muffins

113 g (1/2 cup) melted butter

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

2 eggs

240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

160 g (1 cup) cornmeal

128 g (1 cup) all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 all-beef hot dogs, cut into slices

 Before                                                                                After

• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Whisk together melted butter and sugar.
• Add eggs and whisk to incorporate. Add buttermilk and whisk until smooth.
• In a separate bowl, combine baking soda, cornmeal, flour, and salt, and stir to combine. Whisk into wet ingredients in two batches.
• Grease a mini muffin tin and spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each mini muffin cup. Place one hot dog bite into the middle of each cup.
• Bake for 8-12 minutes (until golden brown). Cool in tin for 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, and re-heat for 20-30 seconds before serving.

My modifications:

None.

But. I only have one 24 mini muffin tin and one 12 mini muffin tin. For the muffins in the 24 tin I could only use 1 teaspoon of batter and half a slice of hot dog because they are so small. Too small for this recipe. Plus, the beef sausage you can easily get here is bigger in diameter than hot dog sausages....

There was a bit of batter left in the end and I used it for 2 regular sized muffins, sticking 5 slices of sausage in each (see picture below). I think this is what I will do for the whole batch next time. It just gives a better corn bread-sausage-ratio, in my opinion.

The taste:

Like very good, moist, spongy corn bread with a hint of sausage :)

Bigger really is better for these, in my opinion. Especially if you don't make them for a party.

Is there any party food that you like to eat even without a party?

38*52 Brezel-Muffins

Oktoberfest in Munich has started!

I actually don't find this exciting news at all, but why not bake something that fits into the Oktoberfest theme?

Plus - and this was actually the main reason for the recipe below - I forgot about 2 pretzels I had bought so I wanted to make something using these stale pretzels.

Brezel-Muffins

Original recipe with inspiration help by kochbar.de and ichkoche.at

2 Brezeln/pretzels, stale

1 onion

250 ml milk

2 eggs

8 olives, green

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons flour

75 g cheese, grated

• Cut the pretzels into slices and/or pieces. Mix milk and eggs and pour over pretzel pieces, let soak for about 15 minutes.
• Cut onion into small pieces and fry in a pan until translucent. Add to the pretzel-milk-egg mix. 
• Cut olives into small slices and add as well. Dust baking powder and flour over pretzel-mix and combine. Add grated cheese and mix.
• Pour into prepared muffin pan and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20-30 minutes. 

My modifications:

None, since it is my recipe. I just used the two recipes mentioned above for inspiration.

The taste:

Good! Like a bread/pretzel dumpling in muffin shape. And a bit like an omelette. It's great with pumpkin soup!

What's your favorite recipe for using stale bread or other food that has to be used up?

49/52 Gingerbread Muffins with Chocolate Glaze

Let's start the Christmas baking extravaganza with something other than cookies.

Mini muffins, for example. Almost the same, just less crispy.

I made these mini muffins for a Christmas get-together from work and everybody seemed to like them.

Gingerbread Muffins with Chocolate Glaze

Adapted from Martha Stewart (muffins and glaze)

Makes 12 regular or 36 mini muffins

Muffins: 

2 teaspoons baking soda

340 g (2 1/2 cups) flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

114 g (1 stick) butter, room temperature

150 g (2/3 cup) brown sugar

250 ml (1 cup) molasses

2 eggs, room temperature

Glaze:

80 g dark chocolate

125 ml (1/2 cup) heavy cream

• Preheat oven to 170°C (350°F). Line muffin tin with paper cups. 
• Bring 250 ml (1 cup) water to the boil, add baking soda, set aside.
• Combine flour, spices, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and set aside.
• Cream the butter until light. Add the brown sugar and beat for 1 to 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
• Fill muffin paper cups 3/4 full, then bake for 20-25 minutes (regular muffins) or 10-12 minutes (mini muffins). Let cool completely before decorating.

•  For the glaze, break the chocolate into smaller pieces. Heat up the cream, and pour it over the chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth. Let the glaze stand for another 10 minutes.
• Dip the muffins into the glaze, let them drip for a couple of seconds, then turn right-side up. It does take a couple of hours for the glaze to completely set, so please plan ahead to avoid disappointment.

My modifications:

I added 2 additional teaspoons of gingerbread spice (the spice mixture used for German gingerbreads). To me, it just didn't taste gingerbready enough before.

I also added 1 teaspoon of gingerbread spice to the glaze.

The taste:

Good. But I somehow expected more. But they were good. But nothing more.

What would you bring to a Christmas get-together from work?

48/52 Banana-Apple-Oatmeal-Muffins

I'm back from a beautiful vacation in sunny California, being thrown right into Christmas.
And snow. Today.

There is no sign of Christmas or even advent in our apartment yet but I hope to change that today. Happy 1. advent, by the way! Hope y'all will do some candle burning today.

So before all the christmas-cookie-baking-and-eating-extravaganza commences, I thought that baking something quick and light and healthy would be good. Oh I know, that's totally not how it works, 1. advent and all. But that's just the way it is this year. I promise you will get to read tons of Christmas recipes right here, just starting next week.

Until then I will (hopefully) enjoy some healthy muffins, take endless trips to the basement to make this apartment look christmassy....

Banana-Apple-Oatmeal-Muffins

Adapted from Jess Jones

250 g (2 1/2 cups) oats

250 g (1 cup) yoghurt (low fat if you like)

2 eggs

150 g (3/4 cup) sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 banana

1 apple

• Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
• Blend all ingredients in your food processor or blender or blend with your immersion blender until oats are smooth.
• Pour batter into muffin tin (greased or sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) or silicone muffin pan. Try to avoid paper liners as the muffins will stick to those.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.

My modifications:

I used 1 banana and 1 apple instead of 2 bananas. Just felt like doing that. But you can of course use 2 bananas and no apple like the original recipe suggests.

The cinnamon is also my addition.

The taste:

Like solid oatmeal (if that makes sense). I love the taste of apple in them, so I would definately use the apple again. It's a perfect breakfast muffin and it tastes healthy but very good.

What's your favorite healthy snack at the moment?