Basic Muffin....add what you like!

We like muffins around here.  I make them a couple times a week for breakfast.  This is my basic go to muffin recipe.  You can throw in whatever you like to this recipe.  My kids favorite add-in is miniature butterscotch chips.  (I get these in the bulk section at Winco.)  For some reason when you add in butterscotch chips the muffins taste like yellow cake batter.  Weird, but good.

Basic Buttermilk Muffins 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 lg. eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk, plain yogurt or sour cream
• 2/3 cup white sugar or brown sugar  (I always use some kind of cane sugar here...or brown if I am out of cane, very rarely white sugar)
• 4 T. melted butter or vegetable oil
• 1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare muffin pan either with cupcake liners or nonstick spray.  Combine dry ingredients.  Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, sugar, butter or oil and vanilla.  Do not over mix; batter should not be smooth.  Gently fold in add in of your choice: 1/2 cup mini-butterscotch chips, 1 cup blueberries, 1 cups nuts, etc. Divide evenly amount muffin cups. Bake until tester comes out clean, 12 to 15 minutes.

****If you do not have buttermilk, plain yogurt or sour cream, you can use 1 cup regular milk and omit the baking soda.

Start The New Year Off Right....Lemon Blueberry Muffins!

I started the New Year off right.  Last night I passed out on the couch at 8:30!  The kids stayed up until 9:30...Holy Smokes Batman.  They are such party animals.  This morning I made Lemon Blueberry Muffins and they were fab-oo!  I found this recipe at For The Love of Cooking.  I will be trying lots of things from this site. 

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup of frozen blueberries, plus a few extra for the top of each muffin
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• Finely grated zest of 2 small lemons
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• Demerara for sprinkling on top of muffins or 2 packets of raw cane sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine dry ingredients.  In a separate bowl combine eggs, milk, oil, zest and lemon juice.  Fold into the dry ingredients. Next fold in blueberries.  Scoop into muffin pan.  Sprinkle a couple more blueberries on top of each muffin and then sprinkle with demerara or raw sugar.  Bake for 20 to 23, until tester comes out clean.  Let cool in pan 5 minutes and then cool a little longer on a rack.  Enjoy as they are or slather with butter!

Little Drummer Boy

Homemade Potato Chips

This is what happens when your husband watches Food Network!  He saw a show about a place on the East Coast which serves Ribs N' Chips.  Homemade potato chips to be exact.  Since we were going to have hamburgers for dinner making chips seemed like the right thing to do.  It was really quite easy, especially since Rowdy did all the work.

Thinly slice potatoes.

Soak slices in a bowl of ice water to do something to the starch...not sure what.

Some more great photography!  Pat the potatoes dry on a towel.

Heat oil to 350 degrees in the magic pot.  Once oil is hot, drop in a layer of chips and fry until golden.

Drain on a paper towel and try not to eat them all before you cook the hamburgers.

Yummy!

Homemade Potato Chips

• Russet potatoes, with or without peels
• Canola oil
• Salt or seasoning of choice

Thinly slice potatoes with whatever method you have.  I used my Kitchen Aid slicer/grater attachment.  You could also use a food processor or a really sharp knife.  Soak potatoes in a bowl of ice water for at least one hour.  After soaking potatoes, pat dry with a non-fuzzy towel.  Heat oil to 350 degrees.  We have an instant read thermometer that we stuck in to see when oil was hot enough.  Start frying potatoes in small batches until golden brown and drain on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt immediately upon removing from grease.  I liked my a little chewy (but still cooked all the way) and everyone else liked them really crispy.

This post is linked up with Tasty Tuesday.

Pretzel, Kiss, M&M Thingy's

This is a fun treat.  We make them every year.  This is one the kids can pretty much do on their own, that is if you trust them to not eat all the candy!  I am a salty/sweet kind of girl.  These are perfect for the salty/sweet people.

What you need:

• Checkerboard or windowpane pretzels
• M&M's
• Hershey Kisses

Preheat oven to 170 degrees.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.  Spread out pretzels.  Carefully supervise as kisses are unwrapped to be sure that you will have some for the actually finished product!  Place one kiss on each pretzel.  Place cookie sheet in oven and watch carefully.  Set timer for 5 minutes.  After the first five minutes gently try to press an M&M into the kiss.  If it seems a little firm still check every 30 seconds to 1 minute with the M&M.  They will go from hard to melty really quick!  When kisses are the right mushiness, remove from the oven and press one M&M into each kiss.  Let cool until chocolate hardens.  If you can't wait, place in fridge until chocolate is hard.  Kisses Hugs make really cute pretzel thingys.  Hugs melt a lot faster than the solid milk chocolate so you will need to check them sooner than 5 minutes. 

This post has been linked up with Works For Me Wednesday.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

I am attempting to make a comeback.  All comebacks should involve peanut butter.  Everyday should involve peanut butter, even if it is just a spoonful to give you a little boost in the afternoon.  All my chicks love this recipe.

Combine the dry ingredients.

Here is the finished batter...it is a very wet batter.

Be sure that your assistant gives the batter a taste test.

Enjoy!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

• 1-1/4 cups whole wheat or all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 3/4 cup Demerara or packed brown sugar
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Dash ground cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 1/4 heaping cup peanut butter (please do not use reduced fat!)
• 1-1/4 cups milk
• 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine dry ingredients.  Stir to combine.  Pour in milk, egg and peanut butter.  Mix well.  The batter will seem kind of runny for a muffin batter, but trust me, they will be muffins in the end.  Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing.  Makes 12 muffins.

This post was linked up with Tasty Tuesday.

Toffee Squares

Try Cleta Bailey's Toffee Squares and you will not be disappointed. There is no boiling sugar involved, no candy thermometer involed, no burning your skin off while dealing with molten sugar involed, just a simple, yummy with coffee treat!