Gracie's Chocolate Muffins

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter wanted to play Nick Jr.  She hadn't played in quite some time, so I set her up with her very favorite Holly Hobby Dress-up game, then I went about my business.  Shortly after, she came up to me with a print out.  I began to scold her, because my kids have been known to have an little problem regarding printing stuff.  As in, they would use my entire ink cartridge in one day and send me out for another if I didn't put my foot down.  Before I was able to really get on her, she said, "But MOM!  It is a recipe!  I HAD to print it so that I could make it!"  Now, how can I be mad at that?  A girl after my own heart, printing out recipes when she could be playing computer games.

We made the muffins, and I must say they were DELICIOUS!  Nice choice Grace!  Her brothers appreciated her effort very much!  She was very excited for me to blog her recipe too, so here it is!

Gracie's Chocolate Muffins

1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 c. milk

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted

1/2 c. chocolate chips

Additional Chocolate chips for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 375*.  Grease or line with paper cupcake liners a 12 muffin pan.

Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, soda, and salt in a medium bowl.  Whisk to blend.

Add the eggs, milk, and melted butter.  Stir until just blended.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Spoon into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle a few additional chocolate chips on top of each muffin.   Bake until puffed and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean; 18-20 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes.  Invert and cool completely.  

Makes 12 muffins

Source: Slightly adapted from a recipe Grace found on Nick Jr.

Banana Crumb Muffins

I think I have finally found another winning banana recipe.  Yes, there are so many out there, but just not many can come close to our love of this banana bread recipe.  These muffins are heavenly.  My only complaint is that I think I will need to do a double batch next time because these only lasted a few hours here.

Banana Crumb Muffins

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

3 bananas, mashed

3/4 c. granulated sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 c. butter, melted

1/3 c. packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 Tbsp. butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly spray 10 nonstick muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray, or line with paper muffin cups.

In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 c. flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.  In another bowl, beat together bananas, granulated sugar, egg, vanilla, and melted butter.  Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.  

In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, 2 Tbsp. flour, and cinnamon.  Cut in 1 Tbsp. butter until  mixture resembles coarse cornmeal.  Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in a preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.  

Adapted from: Allrecipes

Blueberry-Yogurt Muffins

I have been making these blueberry muffins for years.  I got the recipe out of a Cooking Light Five Star Recipes book that I picked up at the grocery store checkout, oh, maybe in 2002;)  It was originally published in the September 1992 issue of Cooking Light.  I absolutely love to use myrecipes (which includes most of Cooking Lights recipes) as a source for healthy and delicious food, but this delicious one isn't on there!  I actually looked this one up on the internet and couldn't find it anywhere!  I certainly don't know why!  It is one of my most-made muffins.  They are something I can really feel good about feeding my kids before sending them off to school in the morning.  They also love to take them for school snacks.

Sorry about the horrible picture quality.  I snapped this one at night, right after I made them, so the lighting was terrible.  Also, this time I made mini-muffins instead of the larger ones that the recipe indicates.  I often do this, they are just more manageable for the kids that way.  If you decide to go with the mini-muffins, be sure to cut the baking time down.

Blueberry-Yogurt Muffins

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/3 c. sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 c. unsweetened orange juice

2 Tbsp. Vegetable oil (I use Canola)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

8 oz. carton vanilla low-fat yogurt

1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed

Cooking spray

1 Tbsp. sugar

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.  Combine egg and next 4 ingredients; add to dry ingredients.  Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.  Gently fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter evenly into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle 1 Tbsp. sugar evenly over batter.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until golden.  Remove from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

When I saw these adorable little pancake muffins on bakerella. I knew I had to try them.  We love to have a big breakfast on Saturday and I am always looking for new things to try.  The hard part is always finding something my husband and kids will enjoy.  The aren't fans of the egg bake type dishes that there are so many variations of (although I would love to make more of those).  Honestly, the rest of my family would probably be happiest if I just made pancakes or waffles every single time.  For me, that is far too boring, though.  The thing I enjoy about cooking is exploring new foods, so there is no way I want to get stuck in that kind of rut;P

These were an absolute hit and I will definitely be making them again.  As a matter of fact, I made a double batch and they were all gone by lunchtime.  Another plus, these are actually even easier than pancakes!  No standing over a griddle flipping forever!  

Mini Maple Chocolate Chip Pancake Muffins

1 c. flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 Tbsp. sugar

2/3 c. buttermilk

1 egg

2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup (honestly, I only had the fake stuff on hand so that is what I used.  I'm sure the real thing would be better though)

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1/2 c. milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350*.  

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl.  Sift together with a wire whisk.  

In another bowl, stir buttermilk, egg, syrup, and butter until just combined.  Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips reserving a few to sprinkle on the tops.  

Divide batter equally between 24 mini muffins.  Sprinkle reserved chips on top.  Bake for 8-9 minutes.  

Let cool slightly and remove from pan.  You may need to use a toothpick around the edges to separate the pancake muffins from the pan.  

Serve immediately with warmed butter or just warm maple syrup.  (We just dipped them in syrup and it was fantastic)