I haven't documented most of the delicious things I've been whipping up lately. I haven't really even taken pictures of most of it, but here is a small sampling.
(A good way to use up raspberries that got smashed in transportation)
(so silky and sweet)
(The Libby's recipe on the can has never let me down. I made this one with a graham cracker crust.)
S'mores Cereal Treats
(Must have been a pregnancy craving).
I promise I don't only eat sweet things. All of these goods were made when I got my baking/cooking mojo back after those "awesome" first 20 weeks or so of pregnancy. Since then, I've been cooking more savory meal-type things, but I'm usually too hungry to bother with documentation.
Anyway, by far and away, the best thing I have made in the past month or two are these Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!
It is definitely blog-worthy, so I've published the recipe below, but first I have to add a few notes. I didn't have whole-grain pastry flour, but I did have regular whole wheat flour so I used 2/3 cup to 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour. This worked perfectly. You could probably still do the 1:1 cup ratio, but I don't recommend going any heavier on the whole wheat flour, or you'll have dense, hockey-puck muffins. And obviously, if you're using the whole grain pastry flour (which is lighter) you can stick with the recipe exactly.
I also didn't have buttermilk on hand, but I used the 1 Tbsp lemon juice trick added to regular milk (or you can use vinegar) to mimic the acidic effects of buttermilk. It helps with both flavor and the rise of the muffins. Just do this step first if you don't have real buttermilk and let it sit about five minutes. Magical.
The molasses adds a slight sweet/smoky rich aroma and flavor that is an essential element to these muffins. I highly recommend trying it.
Lastly, and most importantly. I didn't have pumpkin seeds, which I'm sure would have added a nice crunch, but I wanted chocolate anyway, so go for the chocolate. Chocolate wins every time!
And by the way, these made more than 12 muffins, so I baked up about 8 or so mini muffins as well. Just watch them because they will obviously bake up faster (about 12 minutes or so).
Ingredients
- Cooking spray
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole-grain pastry flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsulphered molasses
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk
- 1/4 cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan withcooking spray.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle with the pumpkin seeds. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them and unmold. Cool completely on the rack.
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