Applesauce Spice Muffins

The work / school week started off with muffins and ended with muffins. We kicked off Monday with deep, dark and delicious Double Chocolate muffins and welcomed in Friday with the flavors of fall. These glorious little cakes are moist with applesauce and spiced with the flavors of cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg.

A wonderful way to ensure a moist crumb is to use applesauce whenever you can. There isn't a hint of dryness in these little babies! Plus, the apple flavor is truly heightened with the addition of all those "apple pie" spices we have loved since childhood.

I made these at 6 AM today and they were ready in 1/2 hour. So by my math, the prep time took no more than 10 minutes and they were baked to perfection in 20 minutes. To save yourself cleanup time, line your muffin cups with liners. These are parchment fluted liners but any muffin liner will work well. I love the parchment liners because they peel off so easily and are a nice change visually as well.

For this recipe, use unsweetened applesauce only. The sugar adds the required sweetness. I used a finer ground turbinado sugar for the batter and a coarse turbinado sugar for the topping. If you prefer, use a light brown sugar in the batter at a 1:1 ratio. The taste will pretty much be the same. Do not use white sugar. You will lose so much flavor if you go that route.

I like the texture and flavor of this brand
but any sugar free applesauce should do the trick

So are you ready? Let's get baking !

RECIPE:
*altered source recipe: Applesauce Spice Muffins, Epicurious.com

WHAT YOU NEED

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup turbinado sugar (not coarse ground)
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

coarse turbinado sugar and cinnamon for topping

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 400F
LINE 12 muffin cups with paper liners

IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 7 ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together eggs and sugar
ADD butter and applesauce to egg mixture and whisk until thoroughly combined
FOLD wet ingredients into dry ingredients blending just until combined

USING your ice cream scoop, add one scoop of batter to each muffin cup
SPRINKLE tops with turbinado sugar and ground cinnamon
BAKE 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean

REMOVE immediately from muffin tray and place muffins on cooling rack

SUPERB WARM AND FRESH FROM THE OVEN !


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Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cupcakes

Another fall recipe and expect many more! I love this time of the year and cannot get enough of fall baking. Spices abound!

What better way to welcome in this cooler season with Gingerbread Cupcakes? These are gluten-free and contain coconut flour vs a wheat-based flour. They are rich, super moist and spiced to perfection. I topped them with a vanilla bean buttercream but a cream cheese frosting would also be incredible.

For depth of flavor I added 1/4 cup of molasses to accompany the honey as a sweetener. It adds a dark spicy flavor so well loved in gingerbread.

These little cakes are perfect for back to school treats or to savor with a hot drink on a cool night. I will be making many more of these !

LET'S GET BAKING

RECIPE:
*altered source recipe for cupcakes only: Ginger Cupcakes, Gluten-Free Cupcakes, Elana Amsterdam

WHAT YOU NEED

CUPCAKES

1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (preferably grapeseed)
1/4 cup molasses (NOT black strap)
1/4 cup honey

FROSTING

1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
3 tablespoons whipping cream

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 10 muffin cups with paper liners
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together first 5 ingredients
IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together remaining wet ingredients
ADD wet ingredients to dry ingredients whisking briskly until fully combined
ADD 1/4 cup of batter to each muffin cup
BAKE 18-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean
LET cool in pan 5 minutes then transfer cupcakes to cooling rack

MAKE FROSTING

IN BOWL OF STAND MIXER, fitted with paddle attachment
BEAT butter on high speed until light and fluffy
SLOWLY add in powdered sugar and once somewhat combined, mix on HIGH speed for 3 minutes
ADD cream and vanilla
MIX on high speed another 2-3 minutes
PIPE over cooled cupcakes

ENJOY !


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Cinnamon Twists

Our family started off Saturday by enjoying freshly made cinnamon twists. These are yeast based donuts , shaped into twists, deep fried to a golden brown then dipped in a cinnamon vanilla glaze. One word: FANTASTIC!

About a month ago I headed to Syracuse, NY for a shopping excursion and found myself happily immersed in all that is Williams Sonoma. I left that store like a pack mule weighed down with several heavy bags containing baking tins, spices, bowls, and you guessed it - a few cookbooks! One of those cookbooks was Donuts by Elinor Klivans.

When I saw it on the shelf I knew it had to come home with me. The pictures are amazing. The recipes even more so. There is even one for salted caramel donuts. I mean who can resist that ?!

After I returned home from my little shopping extravaganza I promptly unpacked and then lost track of several items I "had to have". Sure enough, this lovely book got tucked away with a slew of other cookbooks and I hate to admit it but I had completely forgotten I owned it until last night. Last night a craving for donuts hit and I went to get my trusted donut cookbook Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni when I spotted this one nestled in right beside it.


As I flipped through the gorgeous glossy pages filled with pictures of enticing puffy and golden pastries my eyes fell upon the picture for cinnamon twists. They looked incredible. Challenging, yes, but incredible! So today before the sun came up there I was standing in my kitchen still in full PJ mode. Just me, my cuppa joe, Majestic (my beloved KitchenAid stand mixer) and this gorgeous cookbook.

The ingredients list for Cinnamon Twists is straight forward and the instructions crystal clear. I was a little worried during the dough making stage though as my dough didn't match up to the description in the book. It said the dough will not pull away from the sides of the bowl. Hmmm, mine sure did. In fact I found the dough rather dry versus their description of "sticky". Regardless I maintained an optimistic mindset and keep moving forward. After a 45 minutes initial rise phase I rolled out the dough, cut it into strips with my pizza cutter, twisted it up as the book instructed and let them rise again. Then once the oil was at 350F and the twists had rested another 1/2 hr I began the deep-fry stage. A minute on one side, flip, a minute on the other. Out they came, drained and then dipped in a cinnamon glaze.

I couldn't believe how great they tasted. These far surpassed any coffee-shop version but the thing I loved the most was the lack of yeast taste. I have made donuts before many times and sometimes the recipe simply calls for, at least in my opinion, too much yeast. The flavor just takes over and overpowers everything else. I am not a fan of that yeast flavor to begin with and when I took a bite of a fresh cinnamon twist my grin could not have been wider. Not a hint of yeast flavor - instead just a phenomenal soft, puffy sweetness flavored with cinnamon and vanilla. I was in heaven.

So are you ready to make some incredible twisty donuts? Then let's get to it !

RECIPE:
*source recipe: Cinnamon Twists, Donuts by Elinor Klivans
Note: I purchased the hard-cover version which is no longer available at Amazon. The soft cover book is coming out Sept 2011 so pre-order now !

WHAT YOU NEED

Dutch oven, deep fryer or large deep saucepan
Canola oil for frying
Oil/candy thermometer

TWISTS
3/4 cup whole milk (I used 2% and it worked fine)
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package ( 2 1/2 teaspoons) quick-rise yeast
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

CINNAMON GLAZE
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 tablespoons very hot water

MAKE IT

IN SMALL SAUCEPAN, heat butter and milk until foamy but not yet boiling. Remove from heat
WITH STAND MIXER fitted with paddle attachment, slowly combine 2 1/2 cups flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt and yeast
SLOWLY pour in hot milk/butter mixture
BLEND on medium speed 2 minutes
ADD eggs and vanilla
MIX on medium speed 2 more minutes
ADD remaining 3/4 cup of flour and continue to beat on MED speed for one more minute
SCRAPE dough off paddle, leave dough in bowl and cover with a tea towel
LET rise 45 minutes

LINE 2 COOKIE SHEETS with waxed paper
SPRAY wax paper with cooking spray

ON FLOURED WORK SURFACE, roll dough into 18" x 9" rectangle
WITH PIZZA CUTTER or sharp knife, cut into 18 strips 9" long x 1" wide
FOLD strips in have and twist 3-4 time to make tight spirals
PLACE ON lined cookie sheets
COVER with tea towels and let rest 30 minutes

PLACE 2 cooling racks over paper towels to catch any drips
POUR OIL to depth of 2 inches into saucepan
HEAT oil to 350F
FRY twists 1 minute per side
WITH slotted steel spatula, transfer twists to cooling racks

MAKE GLAZE

IN LARGE wide mouthed bowl, sift in powdered sugar
WHISK in all remaining glaze ingredients until smooth
DIP tops of warm twists into glaze and place back on cooling rack, glaze side up, until set (about 5 minutes).

ENJOY!

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Vanilla Jam Donut Muffins

This week I am baking from Anna Olson's cookbook Sugar. I love this cookbook and it has been part of my collection for several years now.

I have tested many recipes from this cookbook all with great success. The book is divided into sections based on ingredients which is unique because most publishers prefer to break up segments based on type of dessert (cakes, cookies, bars, etc). Anna has an entire section dedicated to vanilla and that is where I ventured today.

To start off my baking extravaganza for the week I decided to try out Anna's recipe for Vanilla Jam Muffins which in essence are donut muffins filled with a dollop of your preferred jam.

The key to success with this recipe is to choose a thick jam. Do not go with runny or you will have a "puddly" mess instead of a fluffy, sweet, jam filled breakfast treat.

This recipe makes a lot of batter. Though it states it makes 12 muffins it made 18 for me and I had the liners filled to the top. They don't overflow and make a mess either. They puff up nicely and result in perfect muffins tops.

The crowing glory is the topping. After they are baked you simply dip the tops in melted butter then in a sugar/cinnamon blend. This step really is important as it creates that donut flavor we all love.

I did alter her recipe as I went along. I wanted to use my new vanilla bean paste so went that route (along with pure extract) versus steeping beans in warm milk. I also found that the recipe called for a large quantity of nutmeg: 1 teaspoon. I added 1/2 teaspoon instead. I find nutmeg is a wonderful addition but be careful with the amount. Too much can overpower all the other flavors.

I also filled a few with Nutella instead of jam for my daughter who loves Nutella. They turned out very well too and she was one happy kid. Happy Kid = Happy Mommy!

So let's get started!

It's muffin time !

RECIPE:
*source recipe, Vanilla Jam Muffins, Sugar by Anna Olson

WHAT YOU NEED

MUFFINS

1 1/2 cups milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (optional)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cups vegetable oil (neutral flavor)
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 (thick variety)

TOPPING

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

MAKE IT

PREHEAT oven to 350F
LINE 12 muffin cups with paper liners

IN MEDIUM BOWL, whisk together first 6 ingredients
IN LARGE BOWL, whisk together remaining muffin ingredients except jam
FOLD wet ingredients into dry ingredients blending just til combined. Do not overmix!

FILL muffin cups 2/3 full with batter
SPOON tablespoon jam on top of each muffin
TOP with muffin batter filling to top of paper liners

BAKE 35-40 minutes (do not over bake or bottoms will be dry). Mine were perfect at 35 minutes
LET cool in pan 5 minutes
TRANSFER to cooling rack

PREPARE two bowls for toppings: one with melted butter, one with combined sugar and cinnamon
DIP warm muffin tops in melted butter then in sugar/cinnamon mix

DIG IN !

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