Muffin Puffins

Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Cake

• 2 cups sifted flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups grated raw carrots
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

Frosting

• 8 ounces cream cheese
• 1/4 lb. butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 lb. powdered sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients and oil with carrots. Add one egg at a time and beat well after each egg.
2.  Pour batter into muffin pan. Fill about 3/4 of the way to the top and bake for about 15 minutes.
3. Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until creamy. Add powdered sugar. Spread frosting over cooled cake.
4. Refrigerate and eat cold for best taste!

We hope that everyone has a Happy Easter!

Easy and Delicious French Toast

Okay so it’s not a muffin or something that can even be baked, but it’s delicious none-the-less. Most people are probably intimidated by making French Toast (probably because it’s french), but don’t let the title fool you; it’s super easy! 

Ingredients

1 egg

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbs cinnamon

pinch of salt

2-3 slices of bread (generally you would want to use french bread in order to stay consistent with the whole “french” theme, but any kind of bread will do. I used Italian) 

1.Mix all ingredients in a bowl together. 

2. Soak slices of bread in mixture for 10-15 seconds. 

3. Place bread on oiled skillet or griddle. Cook until bread is crisp on the edges. 

Top off this recipe with syrup, powdered sugar, and your favorite fruit. 

Earl Gray Lemon Zest Cupcakes 

Cake: 

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

2 tbs vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 tbs baking powder

1/2 cup milk 

2 packets of earl gray 

1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix the wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately and then combine. (Cut open two packets of earl gray and put leaves in with dry mixture) Squeeze lemon juice into cake mixture. 

Fill muffin cups up halfway and bake for approximately 20-30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown. 

Icing 

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tbs vanilla

1 stick butter

2 tbs milk

melt butter. mix in ingredients. 

Ganache

8 oz semi sweet chocolate bar or chips

1 cup heavy cream

Bring cream to a simmer in a saucepan. Place chocolate into heatproof bowl and pour cream over it.  Let stand for ten minutes and then whisk until smooth. Cool, whisking occasionally. 

It takes a while for it to become smooth, so be patient. It’ll turn out! 

Add some coconut on top of the cupcake. It adds a good flavor.

A good recipe for Easter. We created ours to look like little birds nests.  

Upside Doooughnut Muffins (Jelly)

(like upside down cake, but doughnuts)

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil
2 eggs
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup jam (We used Blackberry and Apple Pear Walnut)

for the topping
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 35F. 

2. Whisk together milk, vanilla, sugar, oil and eggs. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and cinnamon. Combine.  Do not overmix.

3. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full with batter, reserving some batter. Spoon a tablespoon jam on top of each muffin and top with muffin batter filling to top of paper liners. Bake 25-30 minutes. 

4. Prepare two separate bowls: one with melted butter, one with combined sugar and cinnamon. Dip warm muffin tops in melted butter then in sugar/cinnamon mix. 

Because the jelly was heavier than the batter itself, the jelly sunk to the bottom of the pan instead of staying in the middle like a typical jelly doughnut. But that’s okay, it’s just like an upside down cake. 

These muffins are great on top of vanilla ice cream.

Dear Muffin Puffins,

I have successfully made your Earl Grey Orange muffins for a party this weekend, and they were a hit! Thanks for making these delicious recipes. I have made them again today for my skating team. One thing I played around with was adding an extra tea bag, which helped add more of the Earl Grey flavor. I also put orange zest into the glaze. Yum!!! You guys are great. :)

Thanks, Hil! :) 

Holiday Baking

Uh-oh! These aren’t muffins! 

It’s okay. Because it’s becoming that time of year where you need to bake everything; not just muffins. 

We like to call these:

Schpankings 

1 brick/bar of chocolate of your choosing

desired amount of cornflakes

1. Melt chocoalte

2. Mix in cornflakes. 

3. Put in clumps onto wax paper and wait for the chocolate to harden to eat. 

That’s it! How easy and super delish! 

…

And whoever said that you needed cookie cutters to make cut out cookies? Don’t be creatively constrained by cookie cutters, make whatever shapes you want!

Banana Pancake Muffins

2 cups bisquick pancake mix

1 1/2 cup water

2 overly ripe bananas 

1 Tbsp syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400.

2. Mash bananas. 

3. Mix all ingredients together.  Pour mixture into muffin pans about halfway. 

4. Cook for 10 minutes. Drizzle syrup on top. 

Candy Corn Butterscotch Muffins

Have a ton of Candy Corn left over from Halloween? Here’s a way to get rid of it!

1 cup milk 

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil 

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar 

1 cup butterscotch

1 cup of candy corn

1 Tbs baking powder 

1/2 tsp. salt 

2 cups flour 

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

2. Mix wet ingredients together. Mix dry ingredients together. Mix the two together. 

3. Fill muffin cups halfway. Bake for 15 minutes. 

-The Turtle Man

Wise words from “Call of the Wild” on Animal Planet. Watch it.