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muffins

Orange Cherry Beer Muffins

Orange Cherry Beer Muffins

 

These aren’t just muffins. They are two forms of quiet rebellion.

First, it’s beer for breakfast. And unless you’re having a brunch mimosa or in the general vicinity of Las Vegas, breakfast booze is generally frowned upon.

Second, lets be honest, muffins are basically just cupcakes.

But you and me, we’re different. We aren’t like those others. We don’t do the frowning, we do the drinking; and in the "If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you?" analogy, we are the bridge jumping friend; and we eat whatever the hell we want for breakfast, sometimes that’s baked goods made with booze; and sometimes we swear in front of old people and toddlers.

In my opinion, it’s really only that last one we need to work on.

Orange Cherry Beer Muffins

Orange Cranberry Beer Muffins

Ingredients
  

Muffins

  • 1 large naval orange
  • 2/3 cup white sugar
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter softened
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup buttermilk
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • 2/3 cup wheat beer
  • 2 cups cake flour
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp baking soda
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 cup dried cherries

Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tbs wheat beer
  • 1 tbs reserved juice from orange
  • 1 tbs reserved orange zest

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350.
  • Zest the orange, then juice it. A large orange should yield about ¼ cup juice and 3 tablespoons zest.
  • Add both kinds of sugar, and 2 tablespoons orange zest to a stand mixer mix on high for two minutes to release the orange oils from the zest. Add the butter and beat on high until the butter and sugar are well creamed.
  • Add 2 tablespoons orange juice, egg, and vanilla extract, beat on high until well combined.
  • Add the buttermilk, oil and beer, stir until combined (some curdling is expected).
  • In a sperate bowl stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  • Add flour mixture to the stand mixer and stir until just combined.
  • Stir in the dried cherries.
  • Pour in the muffin tins that have either been greased or lined with muffin papers until the wells are about 2/3’s full (about ¼ cup per well).
  • Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until the tops spring back when gently touched.

Orange Cherry Beer Muffins

 

Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

I’m a breakfast girl. It isn’t possible for me to go the 16 hours between dinner and lunch the following day without eating. I become a crazy person when I’m hungry. Like the plant from Little Shop of Horrors yelling "FEED MEEE!!!" at random strangers. If I ever get stuck on a deserted island, or in a plane crash in the Andes, don’t pray for me, pray for which ever poor soul has to deal with the hungry version of me. Not pretty. Plus I just make bad decisions when I’m hungry, which results in me coming to the conclusion that an entire jumbo sized bag of Jalapeno Kettle Chips is just one snack, and it’s totally fine for me to eat the entire thing. 

Because of this, I must eat breakfast. And besides my long standing love with Saturday Morning Breakfast indulgences, I want a super healthy breakfast 6 days a week. 

And you are probably sick of all the quinoa, but I’m not. Not yet. It SO good for you, and if you cook it the right way, it has a great flavor and texture. Don’t cook it the same way you cook rice or it will be mushy.  

My Morning Magical Quinoa Muffin Stats, calculated by Spark People Recipe Calorie Calculator:

191 Calories

3 grams of fiber

4.3 grams of protein 

Plus a healthy dose of Calcium, Vitamins A, B-6 & C

Only .5 grams of the bad Saturated Fat

Not too bad. And an easy thing to grab on your way out the door in the morning. 

So that you can conquer the world without being a whiney and unreasonable. Or maybe that’s just me. 


Quinoa Carrot Cake Breakfast Muffins

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup cooked quinoa (You need to cook your quinoa with 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts water, too much water makes it mushy)
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 2 tbs raw honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg
  • 3/4 cup carrots, peeled and finely grated (place between sheets of paper towels to remove excess water)
  • 1/4 cup of raisins
  • 2 tbs chopped walnuts

(Makes 6 muffins)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, quinoa, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and baking powder. Make a well in the ingredients. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, apple sauce, honey, egg and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the well you made in the dry ingredients. Stir until just barely combined, a few lumps is fine. If you over mix, your muffins will be tough. Add the carrots, raisins and walnuts and stir until just combined.
  3. Grease 6 wells of a muffin tin (or line with muffin papers). Pour evenly into the 6 wells, about 2/3 full.
  4. Bake at 350 for 18-22 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.


Chocolate, Bacon & Porter Muffins

There is something mysterious and alluring about Alaska. Beautiful landscapes pushing past a transcendental, white washed façade. I’ll even forgive her the birth of ignorant, poorly spoken, female politicians to glimpse the majesty of the Aurora Borealis. It just may be because of this enchanted terrain that the beer seems to have a prestigious eminence. The water is clearer and more ethereal, giving rise to a superior scaffolding for the detailed flavors put forth in Alaskan craft beer.

The Alaskan Brewing Smoked Porter has a bold, creamy, smoked profile that bridges the flavors of bacon and chocolate in these muffins. The savory sweet interplay works well for breakfast or dessert, or anytime in between.

Chocolate, Bacon & Porter Muffins

Chocolate, Bacon & Porter Muffins

Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 3/4 cup Smoked Porter
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  • 3 strips of bacon cooked, chopped
  • Preheat oven to 400.

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • In a large bowl, combine the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and smoked paprika, whisk until well combined.
  • In a separate bowl, beat the egg and the oil. Make a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg/oil, chocolate chips and the beer. Stir until combined.
  • Spray muffin tins with butter flavored cooking spray (or line with muffin papers). Add the batter to the muffin tins until about 2/3 full. Top with the chopped bacon, evenly distributed between the muffin tins.
  • Bake for 18-22 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.

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Pomegranate Streusel Muffins

POM Wonderful really is wonderful. I remember the days before POM, when I was a kid, and I had to get on my "dirty clothes"  and sit in the bathtub just to eat a pomegranate. Seriously, actual fact. Now, you can buy all these great pomegranate related products, all the antioxidant and yumminess without the blood-like stains. Win, win.

I made these during Rosh Hashanah. I’m not Jewish, but I have recently had the honor of learning about all the beautiful food traditions the Jewish religion has. I had lunch with my friend Tori, of The Shiksa In The Kitchen, the other day and she told me all about eating pomegranets during the Jewish New Year to "to remind ourselves that our good deeds in the coming year should be plentiful." Now, who can’t get behind that? Wouldn’t the world just be a better place if we all took a second to remind ourselves to do more good deeds in the coming year?

Besides the beautiful symbolism of eating pomegranates during the High Holiday, these muffins were awesome. I was so happy with how they turned out.

Pomegranate Streusel Muffins

2/3 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup almonds, chopped (BTW: POM Wonderful ALSO has almonds! And, they’re great)

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 sticks butter, cold, cut into cubes

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate juice

1/2 cup POM Wonderful Pomegranate seeds

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl add the white sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking powder, almonds, cinnamon, pecans, oats and salt. Stir to combine. Add the butter cubes and using either your hands or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it is well combined and resembles crumbs. Measure three cups of the crumb mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer. Put the rest of the crumbs into the refrigerator to chill.

Add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and pomegranate juice to the mixer. Mix on medium/low speed until just combined. Don’t over mix. Add the pomegranate seeds and stir to combine.

Spray the wells of a muffin tin with butter flavored cooking spray. Add the batter to the wells until about 1/2 way full. Top with the chilled crumbs until the wells are filled to just below the top, about 1 or 2 tbs of crumbs.

Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.

Makes 20 muffins