Oatmeal, Date and Apple Muffins

Summer has come and gone, vacation time flew by like it never existed and already we're back to school, in full swing, like nothing ever happened. And I know, I should, maybe, perhaps, explain where I've been, why I've neglected this blog, my readers, my friends, for such a long time but, I doubt you'd find any of it interesting. Really, it's been a case of I just don't get excited about food the way I used to... Weird, I know! And I miss getting excited about cooking, baking, finding new recipes, I really do. Summer was just all about the sandwiches and salads and taking the kids to their baseball practices and games, all the time, so everything had to be made quickly and eaten quickly and when we did have time to sit down and eat I just didn't have the energy to make anything complicated interesting blog worthy... 

But, lately I've become obsessed with finding the perfect date muffin. One that isn't so sweet it's more like a cupcake, or so moist and fluffy it falls apart. I wanted a muffin worthy of being eaten for breakfast, a sturdy muffin you can feel good about, not guilt ridden afterwards. And, after many tries, I think I've found it!

I tweaked my Buttermilk Oatmeal Muffin recipe and made it into the perfect (imho) Oatmeal, Date and Apple Muffins. Not too sweet, not too moist, full of texture from the dates and pecans, and healthy too! Each muffin has almost 3 g of fiber! Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Maybe, just maybe, I'm getting excited about this food business again after all...

Oatmeal, Date and Apple Muffins

Makes 18 regular sized muffins

These make a quick, hearty breakfast you can grab on the go any day of the week; add fruit and some yogurt, and you've got yourself a pretty healthy breakfast!

1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3 tbsp of granulated sugar

3/4 cup chopped, pitted dates

1/2 cup chopped, toasted pecans

2 eggs

1/4 cup canola oil

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1 tbsp molasses

2 tsp vanilla

3 small apples, peeled and grated (about 1 cup packed of grated apples)

Preheat your oven to 400F. Line your muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, date and pecans. Make sure to distribute the dates well throughout the dry ingredients to prevent them from sticking together.

In another bowl mix the eggs, canola oil, buttermilk, molasses and vanilla. Fold in the grated apples. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ones and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. If you over mix, you'll end up with tough muffins.

Distribute the batter evenly among 18 muffin cups and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins completely on a wire rack.

Nutritional information per muffin:

Calories: 165; Total Fat: 6.7g; Cholesterol: 21.2mg; Sodium: 184.3mg; Total Carbohydrate: 27.5g; Dietary Fiber: 2.8g; Sugars: 9.1g; Protein: 3.7g

Three Years!!! (Apple Coffe Cake Recipe)

There are so many things going through my head right now. Has it really been three years since I hit "publish post" for the very first time? Have I really made caramel that many times since? Did we eat all those desserts? Really? And how in the world did three years, three years, go by so freaking fast? Yes, today folks, this little webspace of mine is three years old. Yes, there has been a lot more sweet than savory appearing in these pages. Yes, we ate everything I made, but we did share a lot of it. And yes, there will be more baking, cooking and sharing in the coming years and I wouldn't have it any other way; I've been enjoying myself way too much to quit. I'm hoping you've also enjoyed reading my ramblings and trying some of the recipes I've posted. I've discovered so many new techniques and flavors since starting to blog and I suspect I'm not done learning!

I've made a few changes here and there and I'd like to share them with you. There are some tabs near the top there, under the header and I've finally got that recipe index I've always wanted! It's a work in progress as I'm not sure about the categories I've chosen, but it's there and functional! I've also decided to (finally) write an "About Page". I know, I know, about time, right? This one I've mentioned before, but if you haven't had a chance yet, go on over and visit And then I do the Dishes on Facebook, leave a comment, question, whatever you like! And, last but not least, there's this nifty little "print button" at the bottom of each post and I would not forgive myself if I didn't thank Taylor over at Print Friendly. Best product support ever! Thanks so very much! And thank you guys, readers and friends for your support. For reading and commenting and keeping this little project of mine going. I couldn't do it without you. Thank you!

Now, onto the recipe! If you like coffee cake, this is the recipe you want! As you may already know, I have many, many recipe books and magazines but the best, tried and true recipes often come from those free recipe booklets handed out at grocery stores or stuck to pages of magazines. This recipe comes from such a booklet, Robin Hood Baking Festival 1992. I've long since adapted the recipe to suit my family's tastes but every time I find a little booklet of recipes, I can't help but keep it. You never know what little gem you might find inside.

Apple Coffee Cake
Adapted from Robin Hood

Topping:
3 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg, freshly grated
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp tonka bean, freshly grated (optional)
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 cups peeled and grated apples, lightly packed

Topping:
Combine all ingredients. Mix well and set aside.

Cake:
Preheat your oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 10-inch springform pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves and tonka bean, if using. Mix well. In another bowl, beat eggs, sour cream or yogurt and melted butter. Stir into dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in grated apples. Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan and sprinkle topping over the batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake rest in the pan a few minutes before unmolding and placing it on a baking rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Maple Glaze
adapted from Comfy Belly

I added this glaze as an afterthought because I thought the cake looked plain in the photos. It certainly doesn't need the glaze taste wise, but it does add a little more sweetness, and it looks nice. You could also drizzle some caramel sauce on top, that would be just decadent!

1/2 cup milk (I used 2%)
1/2 cup maple syrup
Pinch of fleur de sel
1 tsp unsalted butter

In a saucepan, pour the milk and maple syrup. Add pinch of fleur de sel and bring to a boil. Whisk constantly until the mixture is thickened and starts to look like caramel. This can take from 5 to 10 minutes. When you're happy with the consistency, whisk in the butter, strain the glaze into a heatproof bowl and let it cool slightly. Now, you can pour the glaze directly onto the hot cake, in which case most of the glaze will be absorbed into the cake, which would be delicious. But, if you're going for the same look as in my photos, wait until the glaze and cake are cooled and drizzle the glaze onto the cake. If the glaze has hardened too much to pour, you can microwave it a few seconds to get it to the right consistency.

TWD - Parisian Apple Tartlet

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe has to be the simplest one to be chosen, at least since I joined in the fun! Puff pastry, apples, a little sugar and butter and you're done! I was a little bit disappointed in the puff pastry I bought. I got it at a local bakery but I think it had been in the freezer a bit too long because it didn't puff up quite as much as I had expected. And I must not have used enough sugar, my tarts turned out a bit bland. Oh, well, nothing a gigantic scoop of vanilla ice cream can't fix!

Visit Jessica's blog, My Baking Heart for this week's recipe and the rest of the Tuesdays with Dorie gang for tartlets galore!

Fall Favorites

I love to watch TV. There. I said it. I watch more TV than I probably should. Just tonight, I watched CSI. What an episode! And tomorrow, Life! I hate to miss something good on TV. I always have. That's why from the age of 10 to about 18 years old, I had a subscription to TV Guide. Remember the good old days when TV Guide was actually a printed magazine? I kept those old magazines for such a long time. Then I actually decided it was time to move on so I clipped a few interesting things from them. Back then I wasn't necessarily interested in the same things I am today but I actually kept the recipes.

Yes, there were recipes in TV Guide! And many good ones for that matter. I didn't make any of them for a long time, I just cut and pasted the recipes in a kind of scrapbook because I liked the photos. Imagine that. The only problem is that I didn't keep the date or the celebrity's name who had provided the recipe. I really wish I knew who gave this recipe to TV Guide because I would like to say thank you! I've made these muffins so many times, mostly in the Fall. We bought so many apples at the farmer's market, any recipe I can find using apples, I make it! If you find yourself with an abundance of apples, I recommend you make these muffins ASAP!


Cranberry Apple Muffins
adapted from a late 1980's TV Guide

1/2 cup vegetable oil (or 1/4 cup oil and 1/4 cup apple sauce)
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 medium apples, peeled and grated
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup fresh whole cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tins and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract and grated apples. In another bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add pecans, raisins and cranberries. Stir to combine. Divide batter into muffin tins and bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

Tuesdays With Dorie - Apple Cheddar Scones

As my mom was visiting this weekend, I was glad that this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was a breakfast treat. Karina of The Floured Apron chose Apple Cheddar Scones for us and since I love to use company as an excuse to make special breakfasts, this was perfect.

And I love scones, all kids of scones. I have a tried and true recipe, one that never fails. I can add anything to it, reduce the amount of sugar and make savory scones with it, it’s perfect. But, since I love scones so much, I was happy to try Dorie’s recipe, you know, to see if it would measure up to my go to scones. I did make a few changes though. Just a few! I used fresh apples instead of the dried apples called for in the recipe. I just didn’t relish the idea of dried apple chunks in my moist and tender scones. I used aged cheddar with port wine from Fromagerie Perron. That cheese is fabulous I tell you, fabulous, and I wanted to see if its taste would complement the apples.

The last change I made was to pat the dough into a circle onto a parchment lined pizza pan and score the scones into 12 wedges. I prefer baking them this way since I get the best of both worlds: the exterior of the scones get golden and crispy, and the middle stays moist and tender. Oh, and once the dough was scored I brushed it with a little milk and sprinkled the scones with a bit of coarse sugar, just for fun. That's it!

The resulting scones were incredible. We could taste the cheese and the apples, the scones weren’t too moist or too dry, they were just perfect. And the hint of crunch from the cornmeal was surprisingly pleasant. Mom heartily approved of this week's choice of recipe, so if you'd like to try these for yourselves you can find the recipe in Baking From My Home To Yours or on Karina's website. And don't forget to check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll!

PS: Happy Canada Day to all you Canadian foodies out there!

You Blog, I Blog...

I always feel a bit shy blogging about a recipe that has been blogged about recently by someone else. Especially when I got the recipe from Deb at Smitten Kitchen. But I just couldn’t help but make these strait away and tell all of you about them.

I made the Peanut Sesame Noodles for dinner last week and we absolutely loved them. It was such a departure from what we usually have and this refreshing dish will definitely be making a repeat performance next summer. The only change I made was to use cooked chicken instead of tofu.

Yesterday, we found this wonderful kitchen store, I felt like a kid in a toy store! I got a few things, just a few, including some muffin top pans. I’ve been looking for some of those for ages and this morning I tried them out on some Whole Wheat Apple Muffins.

As Deb says, the lid really is the best part! These muffins turned out incredibly moist and tender, and made a gorgeous Sunday morning breakfast. I used vegetable oil instead of butter and halved the amount. I replaced the other half with applesauce. A little healthier for a breakfast muffin!

Click, click for the recipes and don’t forget to thank Deb!

Cake and a Few Things Unexpected

As most bloggers do, I love to read other’s blogs and drool over the photos and recipes. If I had time to bake everyday I’d have no problem with the growing list of recipes I’ve accumulated over the last year or so. But life gets in the way of baking and the list grows and grows.

Last week I saw a recipe on Brilynn’s blog, Jumbo Empanadas, that she made for the Foodtv.ca Cooking Club and I just couldn’t resist adding it to the list. I had a little time on my hands, on Easter Sunday, and I decided to bake the Light Swirl Coffee Cake from Brilynn’s blog. First I had to make apple butter though as it was one of the ingredients of the cake. So I made like 2 cups of apple butter to use 3 tbsp in a cake recipe! Yes I know, I’m obsessed, I have been called that before, I’m used to it. But if you make that apple butter, you’ll see it was worth it! Eat-it-by-the-spoonful worth it, tell-yourself-it's-healthy-because-it's-made-with-apples worth it. Of the 2 cups I made, I gave a small jar to a friend and there is only a small jar left. Oh yes, it's very, very good.

Now back to the cake, I’m not sure the 3 tbsp of apple butter it contains make much of a difference in the taste of the cake but that is one moist and delightful coffee cake! It was my first time baking a marbled cake and I’m really happy with the way it turned out.

When I first saw the recipe, it was the cake that drew my attention, but in the end the apple butter was just as incredible as the cake. Two keeper recipes in one, unexpected is good.

Light Swirl Coffee Cake
Adapted From Christine Cushing

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted (500 ml)
1 tsp baking powder (5 ml)
1 tsp baking soda (5 ml)
1/4 tsp salt (1 ml)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (2 ml)
3/4 cup white sugar (175 ml)
0.625 or 2/3 cup butter unsalted butter at room temperature (150 ml)
1 cup no fat yogurt (250 ml), divided
3 x large eggs
1 tsp vanilla (5 ml)
1 tbsp lemon juice (15 ml)
3 Tbsps apple butter (45 ml)
2 Tbsps cocoa powder, sifted (25 ml)

Maple Glaze
1/4 cup maple syrup( 50 ml)
1 tbsp corn syrup (15 ml)
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice *(I had none of this so I used a mix of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and
ginger to make ¼ tsp)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a bundt or tube pan. Tap away excess flour. Set aside.

In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in sugar. Add the soft butter and ½ the yogurt and mix on low speed for about 2 minutes, just until mixture starts to come together.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, lemon juice, apple butter and rest of yogurt. Add this mixture to the flour mixture in three batches, beating in between additions. Scrape down the sides and beat for 1 minute on medium speed, until batter is smooth.

Transfer half the batter to another small bowl. Add the cocoa powder to one batch and stir with rubber spatula to combine thoroughly. Pour chocolate batter carefully into other half and fold just twice to create swirl. Pour batter into prepared pan, gently.

Bake on the middle rack of oven for 45 to 55 minutes. Cake is done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean and top is golden. Leave cake in pan and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make glaze by combining all ingredients in small saucepan, until it comes to a boil.

Remove cake from pan, flip upside down and drizzle with glaze. Cool completely.

Apple Butter
Adapted from Michael Smith

10 x crisp apples, such as Spartans, Macs or Granny Smiths, cored and cut into quarters (Don't peel since much of the flavor is in the peel.)
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of apple juice
1/4 tsp each of nutmeg and cinnamon

1/16 to 1/8 tsp of cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until apples break down and become very soft. Continue to reduce until 80% of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is very thick and dark brown.

Puree with an immersion blender, a standard blender or in a food processor. Sieve to remove any remaining pieces of apple peels.

Here’s something else I hadn’t expected, a few weeks ago, Lynn of the famed Cookie Baker Lynn blog, surprised the heck out of me by awarding this little blog an E for Excellence. Thank you so much Lynn, it makes me very happy to know that my photography and recipes are being enjoyed!

Now to pass along this award to a few deserving bloggers:

Brilynn of Jumbo Empanadas, who always makes me laugh and has some of the best recipes;
Nic of Cherrapeno, for her tempting dishes and witty posts;
Patricia of Technicolor Kitchen for her great photos and sweet treats;
Kevin of Closet Cooking who amazes me with all of his varied recipes;
And Kristen of Dine and Dish who inspires me by the quality of her photography and writings.

I always look forward to new posts from these guys as they always contribute to my growing list of recipes to try!