"My Mom's Muffins" for anytime of the day, or loaves

These muffins are so good, so good you see.  You can eat them with a fox, you can eat them in a box.

Or you can eat them for breakfast, you can eat them at playdates, you can eat them with lunch.

They have all kinds of good stuff in them.

I had lent all my muffin tins out to a friend and only realized that after I had the batter made.  No biggie, just poured it into three well-greased loaf pans and continued.  I baked them for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick came out clean.

The Pioneer Woman calls these:
My Mom's Muffins
but, they're not actually my mother's muffins... yet...
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup flax meal
1 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp b soda
2 tsp b powder
1-2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup buttermilk *
1 egg
1 banana, mashed
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup molasses

- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Thoroughly grease a 12-count muffin pan.

- In a large bowl, combine flours, flaxseed meal, oats, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins. Stir together until combined.

- In a separate bowl, mix together the buttermilk, egg, banana, applesauce and molasses.

- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring until it just barely comes together. Batter should be wet and sticky; if needed, splash in a couple extra tablespoons of buttermilk.

- Scoop 1/4 cup helpings into the muffin cups and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until deep golden brown.

* If you don't have buttermilk on-hand, pour 1 Tbsp lemon juice or vinegar in a measuring cup and pour on milk to top it up to 1 cup.  Let sit about 5 minutes.

Waffles, plain ol' waffles

Here are two fabulous waffle recipes from The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook.

Regular waffles
1 3/4 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups milk
1/3 cup oil (or melted butter)
2 eggs
- whisk dry
- whisk wet
- combine to thoroughly blended
- make in waffle iron as directed (or pancakes)

Buttermilk waffles
1 3/4 cup flour (white or whole wheat)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk *
1/3 cup oil (or melted butter)
2 eggs
- whisk dry
- whisk wet
- combine to thoroughly blended
- make in waffle iron as directed (or pancakes)

* if you don't have buttermilk in your fridge here's a reliable substitution:
     pour 1 Tbsp white vinegar in a measuring glass
     top up to the top with milk and let it stand about 5 minutes to react
Here are a few more ideas to sub for buttermilk.

Each of the above recipes makes about 20 waffles in my waffle iron.  That's refilling the 4 squares 5 times with 1/3 cup batter each.  Batter recipes can be doubled.

Waffles make a great leftover snack as is or warmed slightly in the toaster.  They also freeze and thaw exceptionally well for an almost effortless breakfast.  Cook once, eat twice - yeah, baby!

Top with anything you can imagine!  Table syrup, maple syrup, corn syrup, Hot Butterscotch Sauce, fruit, whipped cream, Nutella, peanut butter with a sprinkling of brown sugar, bananas, sunbutter, lemon juice and icing sugar, an egg and a slice of bacon...

Cinnamon Roll Pancake Squares

My family loves pancakes for breakfast.  Maybe they really just love the syrup, some days I can't tell. 

The downside of pancakes for such a big crowd (and I consider my family a crowd) is how long you're standing at the stove cooking.  Yes, you can make them early and call everyone to breakfast while the pancakes have been staying warm and toasty in the oven, but you still need to stand there, watch them, flip, pour, repeat. 

Enter... waffle iron!  Then, I can pump out four servings at once, it's faster to cook and I can actually sit with my family and enjoy breakfast.

But NOW, woah!  Not only have I figured out how to make "pancakes" in the oven, but there's a simple variation that turns them into a cinnamon roll!  SO FAST!  Gobbled up by my family for a snack just now, I HAD to come tell you about it!  I JUST HAD TO!  I felt like I shouldn't keep it to myself.

You can make this for breakfast on a SCHOOL DAY!  I swear!  If you're feeling industrious, you can mix the dry and wet ingredients separately the night before, combine in the morning and you'll have earned your Supermom status for yet another day!

I used all whole wheat flour and did not have cream cheese so used a simple glaze of 1 cup icing sugar with a bit less than 2 Tbsp 10% cream.

I feel fairly certain these will still be excellent after they've cooled.  I even see me cutting up the leftovers to wrap and freeze for lunches. 

Baked Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
from Big Red Kitchen
1 1/2 cups milk
4 Tbsp melted butter
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp sugar
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease an 11×17 inch jellyroll pan.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together milk, butter and egg. Add sugar, then gradually beat the flour in. Carefully stir in the baking powder and salt.
- Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Squeeze out swirls of Cinnamon Roll Filling over pancake batter- 4 swirls across, 3 down, for 12 pancakes.  You can vary the size if you like.
- Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes until centre is set and does not give when pressed with your finger.
- Remove from oven and drizzle with Maple Cream Cheese Drizzle.
- Serve immediately. Makes 12 large pancakes.

Cinnamon Roll Filling
4 Tbsp melted butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp cinnamon
In a small bowl mix filling ingredients together until blended well. Place in a pastry bag or plastic ziptop bag and snip corner to swirl over pancake batter.

Maple Cream Cheese Drizzle
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp good maple syrup
milk
Mix the first three ingredients in a bowl until smooth, dripping in small amounts of milk until mixture is a drizzling consistency. I like to place mine in a pastry bag and drizzle that way.

My goodness, these were so easy and I think you guys can come up with some variations of your own to share with me.

Waffles, coconut waffles

Oh, what a dream these will be!  I'm making coconut waffles in the morning with a fresh fruit salad (pineapple, grapes, bananas, strawberries, kiwi and peaches).  Miam miam. 

I'm going to double the recipe and I will report back.

The next morning...

These were good!  I really liked them.  A couple people did not love the texture of having shredded coconut in the waffles, but I did and a couple others did too. 

I did not double the recipe as I only had one can of coconut milk in my pantry.  There were plenty to feed this family of six (may have made 20 waffles - 5 rounds of 4 in the waffle iron). 

When I opened up my can of coconut milk, it was a beautiful thick creamy texture usually highly coveted.  But this meant there wasn't much actual liquid in the can so I ended up adding almost a cup of milk (cow's) to get it the right consistency.

I used butter as the recipe called for but you could definitely use melted coconut oil; I'm all out.

These were sweet and crispy in the "wells" of the waffle.  I had to let my waffle iron go past the first warning beep that they were cooked to the second warning so they wouldn't be wet inside.  Go with your gut and watch the steam and when the steam stops pouring out, they're done.

Miam miam

Pumpkin waffles

This morning, I made pumpkin waffles for breakfast.  My family loves waffles.  The Big Kid likes to fill each hole with maple syrup.  I said fill.  The Wee One (now 1.5 yrs) is hilarious to watch as she tears a piece off with her hands and rubs it on her tray to dip it in her syrup.  Don't try tearing the girl twin's waffle, it is then considered broken and no good to her.

I found the recipe at Food.com and modified it to make 12 waffles instead of the default 8.  In reality, I made 24 squares (I filled my machine 6 times).

I made a batch of Canadian Living's Cinnamon Icing out of The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book.  I find CL recipes are so reliable.

Pumpkin Waffles
almost directly from Food.com, this is a recipe for 12 waffles
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 1/2 pinches salt

3 eggs

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin puree

2 1/2 cups milk

6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
1 Tbsp vanilla

- mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt in large bowl.

- in a second bowl, add eggs, sugar, pumpkin, milk, butter, and vanilla; beat well.
- gently fold in the flour mixture.

- cook according to your waffle iron directions.

- I do these in my belgian waffle iron and it uses about 1 cup + batter and takes 4-5 minutes to bake.

These are great with a little bit of syrup (or a lot), honey butter or Cinnamon Icing.  They are tasty enough to eat as is, in your hand as you are running out the door to go to work - not that I would know personally (I don't actually work), but that's what The Man said this morning as he was flying out of the house. 

These are good the next day and put in the toaster.  These are great in lunche boxes too!  BONUS!

Plain is handy because then there is inherently less mess!  The kids can wear the clothes they have on until the next meal; the walls, chairs, window and their hair don't require a complete wipe-down which they usually do require after I serve syrup.  I'm going to bring a batch to a playdate this morning and the kids can just garb one and sit down to eat with minimal supervision and no hovering.  If they do wander off with the waffle, it's not a big deal.

Thing 1 declared they were "huffle cookies".  I guess they are that sweet and spicy (but not in a hot kinda spicy).

What to do with any leftover pumpkin purée from the big can you bought?  Freeze it in 1/2 cup portions.  I use my muffin tin, drop 1/2 cup purée in it and once frozen, wrap tightly in two layers.  Label the outside with contents, quantity and date.  I drop some in just about any soup I make, there's no flavour with everything else and it adds another veggie to the mix!

Homemade Wheat Thins

What goes well with soup?  Crackers!  Who didn't have any in the house?  We didn't!

Until, that is, I made some.

These were easy and not messy to make and quick to go from recipe to table.  All qualities I value in the middle of the day when all the kids are up.

These homemade crackers are so much like the box version, yet so much better.  There are no preservatives in them at all, but who needs them when we gobble them down so fast anyhow?  These would make a good munchie for movie night, they go well with soup, they'd stand up to a dip (I'm thinking a Mexican 7 layer dip), they'd be impressive at a potluck and they're great for lunch boxes... I'm always on the hunt for things to put in lunch boxes.

The dough was easy to throw together and was a dream to work with.  Even the scraps could be reworked so there's no waste. 

Roll the dough as thin as you can, don't be afraid.  Thinner dough = crispier cracker; a thicker dough = slightly chewy cracker, but still delightful.  You choose, try two different thicknesses on two pans to find out what you like.

I rolled it out on a floured surface, slid it onto a baking sheet and cut it with my pizza cutter on the pan.  I didn't spread them out at all, just baked them in that form.  It went really well that way, they cooked evenly and didn't stick together.



Once they were cooked, they cooled on the baking pan on a cooling rack.  When they were perfectly cooled I put them into a big mason jar for storage. 

I found three blogs with the exact same ingredients and proportions, so I figured it was a sure-shot.  Here is one, and another, and another.  Happy reading.

Homemade Wheat Thins
from the three blogs mentioned above
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus extra for topping
1/4 teaspoon paprika
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (or Earth Balance)
1/4 cup water (you might need to add a little more)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- whisk dry, cut in butter to homogenous and crumbly
- add water to vanilla and add to flour mixture.  Start to combine with a fork then get your hands in there and work the dough, it should not be sticky.  If you find it won't hold together, add a drop more water until it does.
- divide in four balls (easier to work with) and lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin.  Roll out thin, aiming for 1/16"
- slide the sheet onto a cookie pan, cut into desired size and shape, sprinkle with kosher salt if desired.
- bake at 400F for 8-10 minutes, watch closely
- store in airtight container

Another banana bread

Tonight, I was in the mood for Tostitos.  So I made banana bread.  I'm not sure how one led to the other but let's keep going. 



I made a recipe based on Chocolate Covered Katie's Coconut Breakfast Cake.  It is neither breakfast time nor do I think of it as a cake nor did I go with the coconut theme.  I used her substitution idea of bananas for pineapple this time.  I'm going to make it again going with the pina colada idea.

Here's what I did to achieve my evening bliss.

Banana Bread with coconut milk
based on CCK
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs (or flax egg substitute)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 bananas very ripe and brown speckly, mashed
1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut milk **
- mix dry
- mix wet (add brown sugar here)
- combine just to moisten dry ingredients
- grease bread loaf pan, bake at 350F 35-42 minutes.  Knife inserted in centre should come out clean when done, don't underbake, if anything go over by two minutes.
- remove from pan onto cooling rack as soon as you can so the crust stays nice.  Best to let it cool before you cut it, or at least almost cool.
** I used Thai Kitchen (red label) and when I opened it there was this beautiful thick cream at the top and that's what I used in the banana loaf.  Then, when it was (barely) cool enough to eat, I slathered this thick coconut cream straight out of the can right on top of a piece of banana bread and it was VERY GOOD.

You could use 1 cup crushed pineapple, drained, in place of the mashed banana

You can add in some optional ingredients: chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts, shredded coconut, rum extract.

See the can I used?  Yummy.

This is a blob of the coconut cream straight outta the can and on a
piece of slightly warm banana bread, it melts just a bit.

This is going in the freezer for lunches next week.  Well, whatever's left after I go have another piece right now.

Chocolate waffles (pancakes too)

Oh yes, I did.

I had a playdate this afternoon and brought my four kids, waffle mix and my waffle iron.

We were all well-received. 

This is actually the underside of the waffles, they're always prettier upside down.

The chocolate waffles were very convenient because the kids (there were nine kids in all - she had five there and I have four) could come in and grab a waffle and go sit and eat or even walk around.  They don't demand a topping like a plain waffle would, they were sweet all by themselves (I mean the waffles, but the kids were great too!).  Neat and tidy, my kind of snack.

Plus, the waffle iron I have makes four squares at once so it's easy to keep up with the demand.  And there was demand, let me tell you.

I'll do this again, everyone was happy with waffles or "huffles" as my middle kids call them.

I've brought my waffle iron to a brunch as well and it was a lot of fun.  Yep, I'll do it again.

Waffles by Rana.  I could host waffle parties!  I could hire myself out with my traveling waffle iron.  "Have waffle iron, will travel."  I can see it now, we'll travel the World my waffle iron and me.  I'll be rich!

Woah, I'm not going to get rich if I give out the recipe now am I?  Ah well, I'd rather share with you for free.  Your gain.

Chocolate Brownie Waffles
straight out of the little cookbook that came with my Cuisinart
makes 14 waffles (approx.)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups milk (may use evaporated fat free milk) (I used skim milk)
2 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly**
1 cup semi-sweet mini chocolate morsels
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
** I used 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce and 1/4 butter, melted to cut back on the fat a little

Place the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl; stir with a whisk to blend. Add the milk, egg and vanilla extract. Stir with a whisk until well blended and smooth. Stir in melted butter / applesauce. Let batter stand 5 minutes. Preheat Cuisinart® Waffle Iron on setting #4.  When preheated, green indicator light will illuminate. Stir chocolate morsels and chopped walnuts/pecans into batter. Pour 1/3 cup batter onto center of each preheated waffle maker square.  Help batter spread out from center slightly. Close lid of waffle iron – green indicator light will turn off. When green indicator light turns on again, waffle is ready. Remove waffle using a heatproof plastic spatula. Repeat with remaining batter. For best results, serve immediately. Waffles may be kept warm in a 200°F oven in a single layer arranged on a wire rack set in a jelly roll type pan until ready to serve.

Oh you know you can drop this batter onto a hot griddle or frying pan to make a stack of pancakes too!  You can top it how you please, get creative.  Fruit, chocolate sauce, melted peanut butter, whipped cream, ganche... limitless.  You can serve these for breakfast, snack or a fancy dessert, they dress up real nice.

And these freeze really well.  Make sure they are completely cool, pop them into a bag and seal tightly.  When you want them, take the bag out and let thaw then toast them on a light setting on your toaster.  I'd say these were as good or better after being frozen.

Microwave Brownie in a Mug (single serving)

Midnight snack tonight.

Not too much to look at, but you can see the ooey, gooey centre just slightly undercooked.
Yes, please!

Microwave Brownie in a Mug
adapted from Chow
3 Tbsp granulated sugar, slightly rounded
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp water
1/4 tsp vanilla
A dash of salt
1 tsp Just Us! Espresso Blend ground coffee (optional, but highly recommended)
- In a small bowl or mug, mix sugar, cocoa and flour well.
- In a large mug (or small bowl), melt butter.  Add water, salt, vanilla and coffee, if using. Whisk.
- Add dry ingredients, whisk well.  Clean off edges of the mug with your clean finger, lick finger.
- Microwave for 60-75 seconds: 60 seconds for a molten bottom, 75 for uniformly done.

NOte on the coffee: you can use 3 Tbsp strong, brewed coffee (hot or cold) (and omit the 3 Tbsp water) to avoid the grits of coffee grinds in your cake, but I rather like the bits in my cake.

I cooked it in the microwave for 60 seconds.  (one measuring spoon and one button on my microwave!)

Perfection when served as is.

Then again, you could stick a small chunk of dark chocolate in the centre while hot, top with ice cream, whipped cream, Newfie cream (Carnation canned cream, like clotted cream I think), crème douce (whipping cream, heavy cream), or dust with icing sugar, or a ganache (nah, that's just too rich).

You can double (or more) this recipe. Then you can cook two at one time (I recommend two bowls) or use half now and store half in the cupboard for later... like later tonight when you're up with your toddler AGAIN and it only takes one beep of the microwave to cook it - One Minute button, thank you. Um, combine the dry ingredients and store those, then add the wet when you NEED CAKE FAST. I know what I'm talking about here!

EDIT: I have made it with cow's milk, soy milk, Earth Balance and applesauce in place of the melted butter. You take your pick.

If you have time to think and plan ahead, make a pan of these luscious brownies, they freeze really well and you can ship them across the country (though this costs a small fortune as they are dense and heavy).


SMALLER SERVING
It has come to my attention that the full recipe above is rich (yes, you're welcome) but perhaps too much for 1 person in one sitting.  Here is the math worked out for 2/3 of the cake above:
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp flour
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp butter, melted (or applesauce or Earth Balance, melted)
2 Tbsp water (or brewed coffee and omit coffee granules)
1/8 tsp vanilla
dash salt
2/3 tsp coffee granules
- mix dry
- melt butter in cereal bowl, add water, vanilla, salt and coffee (if using).
- add dry, mix well
- microwave 50 seconds to 1 minute


Did you share your brownie?  You don't have to, you know...
Did you add anything to it? 

Did you top it with something?