Happy October! October is my favorite month of the year for multiple reasons. First, it’s full of all kinds of fun dates, like my wedding anniversary, my birthday and Halloween (my second favorite holiday after Christmas). Second, especially for us New Englanders, the crisp weather and colorful foliage is seriously on point. Third, the weather has cooled off enough, but it’s not busy holiday season yet, which means time for making all the fall treats!

I was loving the Food Network Magazine’s concept for the October muffins – Apple Pumpkin Muffins. Pumpkin muffins are topped with some cinnamon spiced apples and a vanilla glaze. I have to be honest that these muffins were a bit of a letdown for me. I loved the apples and the texture was great, but it was missing one very important thing – pumpkin!

If I’m eating a pumpkin baked good I want it to immediately have a strong pumpkin taste, not a subtle, “I think this is pumpkin…” taste. I’m not surprised that the pumpkin flavor was so light since the recipe only uses half a cup of pumpkin. If I was to make these again I might try substituting an additional quarter cup of pumpkin puree for one of the eggs.

I might even use a different pumpkin muffin recipe entirely, but I would definitely keep the buttery cinnamon cooked apples on top. These apples would also be really good in last month’s Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins instead of the jelly since apples and peanut butter taste so well together. Case in point – these Peanut Butter Apple Bars. The Apple Pumpkin Muffins might be a good recipe to make for someone who isn’t a big pumpkin fan and won’t be offended by the lack of pumpkin punch because they still taste good, I just had extra high hopes.

Looking ahead into November and December I have to say that I am not thrilled with the Food Network Magazine’s muffin picks for those months. Since I’m underwhelmed by the recipes (and they call for some odd ingredients) I’ve decided that I am going to create my own perfect November and December muffins so stay tuned!

Apple Pumpkin Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

for the apple topping

• 1 granny smith apple
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch of ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt

for the muffins

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs

for the glaze

• ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 teaspoons whole milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

for the apple topping

1. Peel and core the apple. Cut into 12 wedges then chop each wedge into ½” pieces.
2. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Melt the tablespoon of butter then add the apple pieces, sugar and pinch of cinnamon and salt. Cook until the apples are cooked and browned, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool while you make the muffin batter.

for the muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F then line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt to combine.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, milk, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and eggs. Stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Scoop the batter evenly into the prepared baking cups.
4. Bake the muffins for 2 minutes. Quickly and carefully, pull the muffins out of the oven and top each with some of the apple mixture, dividing among the baking cups. Return the muffins to the oven and bake for 20-22 more minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes then let them cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

for the glaze

1. Whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla in a small bowl. If the glaze is too thick, add a little more milk. Drizzle over the cooled muffins and let set for 10 minutes.

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 Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

I can’t believe it’s already late September! Time goes by way too quickly for my liking, but at least it’s Friday so I’m not really complaining. I had a completely different recipe scheduled to share today, but then I made this Fall Fruit Salad and it was so good I decided it needed to be shared here on Lemon & Mocha.

As soon as fall hits, everyone is all about the pumpkins and apples, myself definitely included. As great as those flavors are, there’s so many other seasonal fall fruits that often get ignored. I’m here to bring their gorgeous selves to the center stage with this Early Fall Fruit Salad. I’m including the ‘early’ because most of these fruits are in season right now and won’t be in just a week or two. It’s hard to keep up with all the seasonal fruits and vegetables going in and out of the stores! Just a few weeks ago I wanted to buy some fresh cherries, but seemingly overnight they had all disappeared from the produce shelves. So take advantage of these juicy fruits while you can!

I mixed together blackberries, plums, figs and strawberries. I find that fall fruits and berries aren’t as sweet as most summer fruits so I’ve added a little maple syrup to sweeten them up. You’re going to want to use a bold maple syrup for that extra depth of flavor. I used an infused maple syrup, which you can read about in my Instagram post. I also added some lime juice and fresh mint, which really brings the whole fruit salad together.

This fruit salad did not last long in our house. Matt opted to eat it as is, while I scooped mine over fluffy pancakes – so good! Another reason I love this fruit salad is having fruit prepped and ready in the fridge makes us much more inclined to reach for them as snacks during the week.

There’s a little bit of time left while some of these fruits are still in season so we’ll definitely be back to the store soon to make some more Fall Fruit Salad. I hope you all enjoy and have a great weekend!

Fall Fruit Salad

 

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Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 ounces blackberries
• 8 ounces strawberries, sliced
• 2 ripe plums, cored and sliced
• 8 figs, quartered
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
• Juice from 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon whole fresh mint leaves

Directions

1. Combine the fruit in a serving bowl. Pour the maple syrup and lime juice over top. Gently toss to combine. Top with the fresh mint leaves; if they are large cut them in half.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

As if the monthly Food Network Magazine muffins weren’t enough I’m now introducing even more muffins! That’s okay though because these Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins are so worth it. You know those mini muffins you can buy prepackaged at the grocery store? The Little Bites or Little Debbie ones, etc.? These Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins taste just like that so if you are a fan then you will be loving these mini bites. If you’ve never had them, I would almost describe them as chocolate chip pancakes, but in the form of a muffin. They are light, moist, soft – and chocolatey from all the mini chocolate chips, which is obviously the best part.

There are two dangerous aspects of this recipe. The first is that they are so easy to make. The second is that they are completely pop-able. As in, you just want to keep popping more and more of them in your mouth until they’re all gone. Oops. I first made these muffins to bring to my friend’s brunch football tailgate. I wanted something that didn’t need to stay hot and that would be a universal hit.

I highly recommend these mini muffins for brunch tailgates, morning potlucks or to have on hand when you’re going to be having guests stay with you. Or for eating in the car on a road trip, eating while watching Netflix or eating while biking along the coast. Also for breakfast, snack, lunch or dessert. Did I forget anything?

If you want to turn them into double chocolate chip mini muffins check out my note in the recipe. Also, a couple tips for baking and storing the muffins. As you can see in the photos, the muffins stay pale on the top. They do not get golden brown like a lot of other muffin recipes so if you are waiting for that you will overcook them. Just follow the recipe instructions and note so you will have perfectly moist and fluffy mini muffins.

I store the mini muffins at room temperature in a sealed plastic container so they stay soft just like the ones from the grocery store. Normally with muffins you don’t want them to get soft because you want the tops to stay nice and crunchy, but this is one case where they taste so good soft all over. I hope you all love these mini muffins as much as we do!

Chocolate Chip Mini Muffins

 

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Yield: 48 mini muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1¼ cups buttermilk
• ⅓ cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly spray a 24 cup mini muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray (or 48 cup if you have it). Set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, brown sugar, baking powder and salt until combined.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, beat the egg until frothy. Add the milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract then beat until combined. Pour into the flour mixture and stir until just combined - try not to over-mix. Fold in the mini chocolate chips.
4. Scoop the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan. It makes 48 mini muffins so if you only have one 24 cup mini muffin pan you will have to refill it after the first batch is done and the pan has had a chance to cool. Fill the muffin cups ¾ full. Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean or with a crumb or two. Let cool for 1 minute in the pan before carefully transferring the muffins to a wire cooling rack.

Notes

The tops of the muffins stay pale so don’t wait for them to get golden or the muffins will be overcooked. Just check them with a toothpick at 9 minutes and see if they need more time or not from there.
If you want some chocolate chips right on the top of your mini muffins for presentation purposes, carefully pull out the muffin pan after they have been baking for about 2 minutes and quickly place a couple mini chips on the top of the muffins before returning to the oven.
If you want to make double chocolate mini muffins, you could add 2 tablespoons of sifted cocoa powder to the flour mixture. I haven’t experimented with this version enough, but you might want to add a little espresso powder to emphasize the chocolate flavor and a little more vegetable oil (maybe ½ to 1 tablespoon?) to keep them moist. I will try the chocolate version again soon and report back. Everyone that ate them liked them, I’m just extra picky when it comes to my own baking!

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Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 0 Comments

Thank you, Food Network Magazine, for bringing these outrageous Peanut Butter and Jelly Muffins into our lives! As you know from last week’s Peanut Butter and Strawberry Wrap, I am a big peanut butter and jelly fan. When I first saw these listed as the September muffins for the Food Network Magazine’s Muffin of the Month article, I wasn’t sure how my beloved sandwich would translate into muffin form. The answer is very, very, VERY well! Yes, three ‘very’s and some all-caps because these muffins deserve it.

The base is a peanut butter muffin that is made with half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour. If that wasn’t peanutty enough, the top of the muffin is dipped in melted peanut butter then coated in chopped honey-roasted peanuts. Pure peanut butter heaven.

As if they couldn’t get any better, a big dollop of strawberry jam, or your preferred jelly, is loaded into the middle of the muffin. I don’t know who the genius was at Food Network Magazine that developed this recipe, but it literally tastes like someone took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich – bread and all – and morphed it into a muffin for your breakfast and snacking pleasure.

The brown sugar and the honey-roasted peanuts allow for just the right amount of sweetness without them tipping over into the full-on dessert category. I think the combination of the flours really gives it that sandwich taste, in the best way possible.

If you don’t like jelly or jam you could always skip that part, but I will let you know that is what took the muffins to the next level of deliciousness for me. Everyone who tried these was a big fan and the recipe is definitely going in my make-again pile. If you like a classic PB&J you are going to go nuts for these muffins! See what I did there? 😄

Peanut Butter & Jelly Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup whole wheat flour
• ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter, divided
• 1 cup whole milk
• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup honey-roasted peanuts, finely chopped
• 1 cup strawberry jelly or jam

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F then line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together both flours, baking powder and salt.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together ⅓ cup of the peanut butter, milk, brown sugar, melted butter, vanilla and eggs until combined. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined.
4. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Fill them about ¾ of the way full. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops are lightly browned. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
5. Once the muffins are cool, use a melon baller or a teaspoon to scoop out a small, shallow hole in the center of each muffin. Place the chopped peanuts on a small plate. In a small microwave-safe bowl, microwave the remaining ⅔ cup of peanut butter until melted. Start with 20 seconds and then microwave in additional 10 second increments if needed. Dip the top of the muffin in the melted peanut butter, let the excess drip off, then dip into the chopped peanuts. Repeat with the rest of the muffins. Spoon about 1 heaping teaspoon of strawberry jelly or jam into the shallow hole in each muffin. Repeat for the remaining muffins then let set for 5 minutes before serving.

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Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

I told you I would make it back to the July muffins in August! The Blueberry Nectarine Muffins were too good not to share early, but today we’re talking all about these Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Muffins the Food Network Magazine selected for the July muffins. I was really excited for these muffins because I know zucchini can help make baked goods extra moist, just like my Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread. I also love lemon desserts – Lemon Cookie Butter Cheesecake Parfaits or Lemon Curd Tart with Fresh Berries, anyone?

Especially after how amazing the August Blueberry Nectarine Muffins came out my expectations were very high for these Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Muffins. I can’t say they completely met my expectations. They were really great muffins, though. The grated zucchini and the buttermilk helped make them very moist. The sugary crackly top of the lemon-poppy seed sugar was on point.

Even still, I felt like they were missing a little something. The topping was full of lemon flavor, but I think the lemon flavor of the actual muffins was a bit more subdued and I prefer lemon to really punch my taste buds. Since it is more subtle, maybe these muffins would be more universally appealing in case someone isn’t obsessed with lemon. I think if my expectations weren’t so high I would have liked these muffins even more. I did, however, like them a lot better the second day after they had completely cooled and the flavors had a chance to meld than when I first tried them warm out of the oven.

I would still recommend them though because the flavor and the texture was good, although if you really want them to scream lemon I would experiment with adding some more zest or some lemon juice to the batter. You could even try adding lemon yogurt instead of the plain yogurt or buttermilk. I will definitely be giving them a second shot in the future with some added lemony goodness.

Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Muffins

 

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Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons poppy seeds
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup buttermilk or plain yogurt (not Greek)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup packed grated zucchini (about 1 zucchini)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F then line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners and set aside.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the lemon zest, sugar and poppy seeds. Measure out 3 tablespoons of the lemon-poppy seed sugar and set aside in a small bowl.
3. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. In the medium bowl with the remaining lemon-poppy seed sugar, add the vegetable oil, buttermilk (or yogurt), vanilla and eggs. Whisk to combine then stir into the flour mixture until just combined. Mix in the grated zucchini.
5. Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Fill the liners about ¾ full then sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the 3 tablespoons of lemon-poppy seed sugar. Bake for 23-25 minutes or until the muffin edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

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Recipe from January/February 2018 issue of Food Network Magazine.

Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission for my referral. This does not affect the retail cost of the item. Thank you for supporting Lemon & Mocha!

Lauren Uncategorized 0 Comments