Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Muffins

Muffins! Who doesn't love a soft and tasty muffin for breakfast, or to kick that 'wall' we all hit at work in the middle of the afternoon?

You know what I realized? Butterscotch is delicious, and I do not think to use it in baking nearly enough.  After throwing butterscotch chips in these muffins, both my husband and I were surprised by how much we really loved them! Lesson learned, our lives need more butterscotch.

Blueberry Granola Muffins

OK! Time to get back on track! This whole posting around once a week thing doesn't sit to well with me, but I currently have no-one to blame but myself :) So no excuses, right? It is true that after we got over out jet-lag (AKA completely useless for a week around the house) spring cleaning kicked in so that is a bonus, but I haven't shared some delicious desserts and meals that are piling up in my iPhoto, and that's no fun.  What good is tasty food if you can't share it with anyone?


So I'll start off with something quick and tasty. Blueberry Granola Muffins! Yay muffins!

Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

The other day I had two sad looking banana's so I decided to whip up my husband's favourite muffin, the Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins that are a stable at our house. After quickly scanning my fridge I realized that we were out of sour cream! Since I couldn't make these specific muffins, I checked out my Mostly Muffins cookbook for another option.


Poor John, as soon as I saw these Peanut Butter Banana muffins I knew they had to be made! They just sounded delicious and perfect to take for breakfast at work. Why poor John?  For some reason he doesn't like peanut butter messing with his favourite muffins, but even he had to agree that these were good.

I used chunky peanut butter, but smooth would work really well too.  I made 16 muffins from this recipe, but it originally states that it makes 12 if you want big muffin tops on your muffins :). If you don't have cupcake liners, be sure to grease your muffin cups so that they don't stick to the pan.


Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 2 overripe bananas, mashed
• 2/3 cup peanut butter (I used chunky peanut butter)
• 2/3 cup soy milk
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and fill your muffin pans with cupcake liners
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt
3. In a second large bowl, whisk together the egg, mashed bananas, peanut butter, soy milk, vegetable oil, and vanilla
4. Create a well in the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients
5. Add the chocolate chips and mix until just combined
6. Fill your prepared muffin cups, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of a muffin
7. Let stand in the pan for about 5 minutes before carefully removing
8. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Streusel Topping

The pumpkin affair continues, and there is no end in sight! So far this Fall I have whipped up Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Streusel Topping, Pumpkin Spice Latte's, Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake, and now these Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Streusel Topping.  I also have Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting coming this week, and so many more recipes bookmarked to try. I hope you aren't pumpkin'd out yet, because I'm sure not :)

If you are as pro-pumpkin as I am, I have also made Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with a cinnamon glaze, Pumpkin Bread, Chocolate and Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, and Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins. Whew!

This is another amazing pumpkin recipe from the beautiful Tracy of Sugarcrafter.net, I think she understand the pumpkin love!


This recipe makes 12 muffins.


Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins with Streusel Topping

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• Streusel Topping
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup cold butter

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F and line a muffin pan with liners
2. Whisk together the whole wheat flour, salt, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and rolled oats in a large bowl
3. In a second large bowl, whisk together the egg, pureed pumpkin, milk, and sour cream until smooth
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well
5. Divide the batter between the 12 prepared muffin cups
6. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, oats, brown sugar, and cinnamon
7. Add the cold butter and cut it into the streusel mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs (you can use a pastry cutter, two knives, or even your fingers to do this!)
8. Sprinkle the streusel topping on top of the filled muffin cups
9. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the centre of a muffin
10. Enjoy!

Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

In addition to the Tiffany & Co. cupcakes, I was also asked to make some muffins for the bridal shower as well.  I whipped up some Lemon Blueberry Muffins, and these tasty Double Chocolate Chip Muffins.


I used both semi-sweet chocolate chips and milk chocolate chips for these muffins and I think that using the two different types of chocolate really made them delicious.

The recipe is adapted from the cookbook: Company's Coming Mostly Muffins.  This recipe can be modified to add your favourite chocolate chips, berries, dry fruit, anything!

The recipe makes 2 dozen muffins.


Double Chocolate Chip Muffins

• 4 cups flour
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

1. Line your muffin tins with paper liners (or grease well) and preheat the oven to 375 F
2. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt
3. In a second bowl, cream together the butter and sugar
4. Add the eggs (2 at a time) to the butter/sugar mixture and mix well
5. Add the yogurt to the wet ingredients and again mix well (if using plain yogurt, add 2 tsp of vanilla at this point)
6. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the well
7. Add the chocolate chips, and mix until the batter just starts to come together
8. Fill the prepared muffin tins, and bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a muffin
9. Let cool before serving
10. Enjoy!

Rhubarb White Chocolate Muffins

This is the second of four rhubarb recipes I have made in the last couple of weeks, and I am still looking for more! 


Since we leave so early in the morning for work, I love to have something quick and delicious like muffins on hand so we can grab them on our way out the door.  It only made sense to get some rhubarb in my next batch!

I modified a recipe from Company's Coming Mostly Muffins and I am so happy with how the muffins turned out! They are so delicious.  The white chocolate balances out the tart rhubarb nicely but they are not too sweet to enjoy for breakfast at insanely early hours.


You could also substitute another tart fruit like cranberries, or milk chocolate would taste great too.  I usually like to substitute unsweetened applesauce instead of vegetable or canola oil in my muffins, but I was all out this time.  It works great in muffins though!

This recipe makes 12 muffins.


Rhubarb White Chocolate Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (or unsweetened applesauce)
• 1 cup chopped rhubarb (small pieces)
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a muffin tin with paper liners (or grease well)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
3. In a small bowl, lightly whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and vegetable oil
4. Make a small well in the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients in
5. Add the rhubarb and chocolate chips to the well, and stir until just moistened
6. Fill the prepared muffin tin, and bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted
7. Let cool before serving
8. Enjoy!

Raspberry Citrus Whole Wheat Muffins

I received this recipe from one of my aunt's a few months ago.  One bonus of this blog is that my family now sends me all sorts of fun recipes when they come across them if they think I would be interested, it's awesome!

These looked not only delicious, but are healthy too. They were really quick to make, and made for some wonderful and quick breakfasts on the way to work in the morning. The original recipe is from smuckers.ca, but I have listed the recipe with my modifications.

This recipe makes 12 muffins, but they will disappear in no time!


Raspberry Citrus Whole Wheat Muffins

• 2/3 cup raspberry orange juice
• 2 tsp lemon zest
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam
• 1 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and line a muffin tin with cupcake liners (or spray with baking spray)
2. Mix the juice, zest, eggs, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl
3. In a second bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, ground flax seeds, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix until just combined
5. Fold in the raspberry jam and fresh (or frozen) raspberries
6. Fill the muffin cups, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted)
7. Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Even though we had only arrived home the night before, when I woke up Sunday morning I couldn't wait to hit the kitchen again. I missed it!

Since we had so little food in the house, I decided to make some muffins that we could enjoy as a snack and for breakfast throughout the week.  

I love these muffins because they had an amazing lemony surprise in the middle! I found this stuff in the same section as the jams in my grocery store. It is delicious, and has an awesome texture that is similar to the lemon part of lemon meringue pie, so it is really easy to work with.

Does any one else see a silly face in this muffin?


This recipe is from Company's Coming Mostly Muffins, and it makes 12 tasty (and easy!) muffins.

Lemon Blueberry Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup blueberries (you can use fresh or frozen)
• 1 lemon, zested
• approx 1/2 cup lemon spread

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a muffin pan with cupcake liners (or generously grease the muffin pan)
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
3. In a second bowl, mix together the eggs, melted butter (or margarine), milk and lemon zest
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients, and pour the wet ingredients into the well
5. Add the blueberries, and mix until the batter is just moistened
6. Fill each muffin cup half full, and then place 1 - 2 teaspoons of lemon spread onto the batter
7. Cover up the lemon spread with the remaining batter
8. Bake for about 20 to 24 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a muffin
9. Enjoy!

This is what we left behind Saturday morning:

And this is what we came home to Saturday night:

I think I'm ready to go back to Mexico now.

Cranberry & Chocolate Muffins

In less than 36 hours we will be on a plane, on our way to sunny and warm Mexico! The timing couldn't be better, apparently a blizzard is moving it's way in and the temperatures are going to drop like crazy over the week. Fingers crossed that the blizzard arrives after our plane is set to take off!


In preparation for the 6 hour plane ride, followed by a wait in customs, and then a 1.5 to 2 hour bus ride to our final destination, I made some tasty and quick muffins to keep us from becoming famished.  I don't know about you, but I need to eat on a very regular basis, or I become a grumpy girl! These muffins will definitely do the trick :)

This recipe is adapted from the Cranberry Sparkle Muffins recipe in the Mostly Muffins cookbook by Company's Coming.  They were super easy to make, and you can use any type of berry that you have on hand.  The recipe originally called for fresh cranberries, but since I had some dried ones on hand from the Christmas season, I threw those in instead and they worked great.

Another bonus about this recipe? It is quite healthy too! I think next time I make these I will try substituting half of the white flour for whole wheat flour.  This makes 12 deliciously light and tasty muffins.


Cranberry & Chocolate Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup vanilla or plain yogurt (I used low-fat plain, and it worked great!)
• 1 tsp vanilla (if using plain yogurt)
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• extra sugar for sprinkling

1. Preheat your oven to 375F, and grease a muffin pan
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt
3. In a second bowl, cream together the margarine and sugar until fluffy
4. Add the eggs (one at a time) to the margarine/sugar, and mix well after each egg
5. Add the yogurt, and vanilla if using, to the wet ingredients and mix well
6. Prepare a well in the dry ingredients, and slowly pour the wet ingredients into the well
7. Add the dried cranberries and chocolate chips to the bowl, and mix slowly until the batter is just moistened
8. Fill the prepared muffin tin with the batter and then sprinkle the top of the batter with the extra sugar
9. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into a muffin
10. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes, before turning onto a rack to cool
11. Enjoy!

I will do my best to add some new material to the blog over the next couple weeks, but I am not sure what the internet situation will be like. Please bear with me if I am unable to access it over the next two weeks :)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Pumpkin muffins with a cream cheese center, delicious! These make such an amazing breakfast, I have been looking forward to them every morning. 


These muffins have a recipe for the filling, but since I had a bowl of cream cheese icing in the fridge already, I figured I would give that a shot.  It seemed like such a good idea! What I discovered after pulling the muffins out of the oven is that while cream cheese icing is delicious on top of cupcakes and cakes, it isn't exactly prime for the baking process. And now I know! 

So I would definitely recommend giving the filling that the recipe suggests a try, the cream cheese icing that I used just bubbled right out of the muffins! About half of it soaked into the muffins, which in turn did make a delicious center, but the rest made a nice mess of my pans.

You can also put a streusel topping on them, which is in the original recipe, but we preferred them without it.  I have included the topping in this recipe so you have the option when you make them. Trust me, you will thank me if you make them. They are that good.


The original recipe is from allrecipes.com, and can be found here.  Please make them soon! :)


Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

• Cream Cheese Filling
• 1 package (250 g) cream cheese
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• Streusel Topping
• 4 1/2 tbsp flour
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup rolled oats
• Muffin Recipe
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups canned pureed pumpkin (or one 398 ml can)
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat your oven to 375 F, and line 18 muffin cups with paper liners
2. Beat the cream cheese, then add the egg, vanilla and brown sugar.  Continue beating until smooth, then set aside for later
3. If using the streusel topping: In a second bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and rolled oats.  Then mix in the butter with a fork until crumbly.  Set aside with the cream cheese filling.
4. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. 
5. In a medium bowl add the pureed pumpkin, eggs, vegetable oil and vanilla, mixing well
6. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix together until the batter is smooth
7. Divide half of the batter between the 18 muffin cups (about 1 tablespoon in each)
8. Add 1 tsp of cream cheese frosting on top of the batter, and then cover with the remaining batter
9. Sprinkle with the streusel topping (if using) pressing it into the batter
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes
11. Enjoy!

Zucchini Loaves and Muffins

Right now everyone has an abundance of zucchini in their gardens, and I have managed to get my hands on a couple of nice large zucchini.  Over the last couple of weeks I have made some zucchini loaves and some zucchini muffins, both of which are great for breakfast and for snacking.  The original recipe was my grandmothers, and it has been a favorite as long as I can remember.

The first time I made the recipe, instead of 1 cup of oil I used 3/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce and 1/4 cup butter.  These loaves turned out amazing! I froze one loaf, and found that these freeze exceptionally well.  This substitution worked perfectly, and cut out the oil which is always a bonus. I finished these loaves in record timing, I think I ate some slices with just about every meal!


The second time I made this recipe, I made one loaf and a dozen muffins.  I tried using 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of regular flour, instead of 3 cups of regular flour.  I didn't have any unsweetened apple sauce left, so I cut the oil down to 2/3 cup, and used about 2 1/2 cups of grated zucchini instead of 2 cups in order to maintain the moisture level.  These came out just as fluffy as the first batch (despite the addition of some whole wheat flour), but you could taste the addition of the whole wheat flour a little bit. I personally thought these were absolutely delicious, but I do know that some people do not enjoy whole wheat flour in their baking.  I think I will make these with whole wheat flour from now on because I really enjoyed them and I love the additional benefits of whole wheat flour.

Next time I make these, I will use both the unsweetened apple sauce substitution, and the whole wheat flour (in addition to regular flour).  This is such a delicious recipe, and the loaves or muffins are great for breakfast, lunches, or make an awesome snack!


I have included the original recipe, as well as the different variations I have tried so far.  Please feel free to play with recipes, you never know what you might discover! This recipes make 2 loaves.


Zucchini Loaf 

• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/4 tbsp baking powder

1. Butter the two loaf pans, then dust with flour. Preheat your oven to 375 F
2. Combine the vegetable oil, sugar, zucchini, and vanilla, then beat well
3. Add the eggs and continue beating until fully mixed
4. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and baking powder
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and mix well
6. Pour into the two prepared loaf pans, and then bake for 45 - 55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center
7. Enjoy!

Variations/Options

• The cup of oil can be removed and substituted with unsweetened apple sauce (1:1 substitution), or a combination of unsweetened apple sauce and butter (to make up 1 cup)
• You can use 2 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 cup of regular flour, instead of 3 cups of regular flour
• You can also use less oil if you do not wish to substitute apple sauce, and use a larger amount of grated zucchini in the recipe.
• If you wish to make muffins instead of loaves, you can butter and flour your muffin tins, or use paper cupcake liners.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 375 F; the muffins are done when a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the center of a muffin

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I found this recipe for Lemon Poppyseed Muffins on http://tastykitchen.com. I love that site! It was posted by bakeaholic (http://www.bakeaholic.ca/), you should definitely check out her site! There are so many yummy recipes on it.


I have made these for a couple different occasions so far, and they always disappear so fast, it is amazing! This recipe also makes great mini lemon poppy-seed muffins too.
This time when I made them, I made 24 mini and 15 large muffins out of one batch.


Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 lemons (juiced and zested)
• 2 tbsp poppy seeds

1. Line your muffin tins with paper liners, and set your oven to 350F
2. Sift the first 3 ingredients together in a bowl
3. In a second bowl, mix the oil, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla together
4. Add the lemon juice and lemon zest to the buttermilk mixture, and mix thoroughly
5. Add the bowl of wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is just combined
6. Add the 2 tablespoons of poppyseeds to the batter and mix well
7. Back for about 18 minutes for regular muffins, or about 9 minutes for mini muffins

Mini muffins!