Mmmmmmuffins

I love muffins. They are a perfect little bundles of goodness. You can eat them with a tall cold glass of milk or a hot steamy cup of coffee or with an afternoon tea. They can be filled with a variety of things. They can have fruits, vegetables, nuts or chocolate in wide and varying assortments. Toss them in a lunch for a power packed pick me up. 


I should stop before I turn this post into a full fledged "Ode to the muffin" but seriously what is not to like about a muffin? 


My sister visited my parents over the weekend and being that my mum is like our own personal Martha Stewart she sent some homemade muffins that they made over the weekend. There were peach poppyseed muffins (absolutely awesome!) and a muffin that we have now renamed the "mish mash muffin". This "mish mash muffin" has in it :pattypan squash, carrots and crab apples. The best part is that the boys LOVED them, it could have been the melted sugar on top or the intense moistness but there is a ridiculous amount of veggies in them. I have to give a shout out to the clean living of the prairies too. The squash came from my mums garden as did the crab apples and the carrots came from my great aunt's garden. Totally organic. You could practically taste the love in every bite. 


Mish Mash Muffins (Makes 18)
2 cups flour
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup shredded apple
1 1/4 cup sugar (or splenda)
3/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup.chopped walnuts
1 tbsp cinnamon2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp grated orange peel
1 tsp vanilla
3 lrg eggs
1 cup oil
Sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  
Mix dry ingredients together well. Mix fruits and vegetables well. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Add the vanilla, eggs and oil. Be careful not to over mix (that is the downfall of a good muffin). 
Divy out the batter into paper muffin cups. Sprinkle some of the sugar over each muffin. Bake for approximately 22 minutes. 


A Few Notes: you can use any summer squash such as green zucchini or green or yellow patty pan. My mum likes to fancy things up a bit so she used a combo of brown and white sugar for sprinkling. Since some people don't like nuts in their muffins you could use them instead for placing on top of the muffin (easily picked out).


I had a few just passed bananas hanging around in the kitchen so I to decided to whip up some muffins this afternoon (especially since the ones mum sent in are finished up). I have a feeling these ones may not make it till tomorrow either (does anything with chocolate chips in it last overnight?). 


Banana Chip Muffins (Makes 12)
1 3/4 cups flour
1/3 cup splenda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 beaten egg
1/2 milk
1/4 unsweetened apple sauce
3/4 cup mashed banana (about 2 medium over ripe bananas)


Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix together the dry ingredients. Mix together the wet ingredients. Mix the wet and dry ingredients together. Do not over mix. Pour batter evenly into lined muffin cups. Bake for 18 minutes. 


When ever I make muffins I like to use just a standard muffin tin with the regular paper cups. I'm not particular in any way. I have tried the silicone muffin cups before but I found that they left the exterior of the muffin kind of rubbery (in texture, not flavour). I would like to branch out a bit and maybe and a fun muffin pan for the boys, like mini muffin pan. I could go for a giant muffin pan really but that would be bad for me. 


I would also like to experiment too by adding some wheat germ or ground flax seed to my muffin (and in general most quick bread) batters. The wheat germ would pump up the fibre in the muffin and the flax would up the nutrient value too while adding a pleasant nuttiness. 


Try the recipes, really. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I will leave you now as I have to go slather a piping hot muffin with butter. G'Night.