Big Fluffy Muffins

 

As the Fall settles in, I have been wanting to try out some new recipes while we are all hibernating inside again. I felt like having some muffins, so I found a muffin base recipe. It is a nice, fluffy, moist base that you can add so many flavour combinations to. I tried a basic blueberry muffin, but you can really try anything. Some suggestions are blueberry lemon, raspberry orange, mocha chip, apple cinnamon, banana chip, banana nut, lemon poppy seed, orange, or banana blueberry and those are just a few ideas I came up with. Now I made these muffins thinking that they would be just an average muffin and to use up some of my frozen blueberries that were going to expire so I didn't think to take pictures as I went along. However, they were so good so I'll make them again and make sure to take pictures. 

Basic Fluffy Muffin Recipe:

3 cups of flour

1 cup of sugar

½ tsp. of baking soda

1 tbsp. of baking powder

½ tsp. of salt

1 ½ cups of plain Greek yogurt

2 eggs

8 tbsp. of melted butter

1 ½-2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Prepare your muffin tins with liners. I did all my muffins big as opposed to mini muffins. It made just over 24.

Whisk the flour, soda, powder, salt, and sugar.

Melt the butter in a glass measuring cup. Cool slightly.

In another bowl, whisk up the yogurt and eggs until smooth and then fold into the dry mix.

Then fold in the butter.

Lastly, stir in the blueberries.

Now it’s time to scoop. Usually I use spoons and scoop my muffins that way but these are supposed to be big fluffy muffins so I used a 1/3 cup and filled those muffin tins up. They may look full but they won’t overflow or cause a mess while baking, I promise.

Put into the oven for about 25 minutes; they may need a few minutes longer. You want them to be golden looking and to be able to insert a toothpick and it to come out clean.

Cool the muffin slightly on a wire rack and enjoy!

These were so delicious. One of the best muffins I ever had. They were so moist and not overly sweet or heavy. I will definitely be using this as my go to muffin base and try adding different things in the future.

Nice Cream

Happy August! It’s been a hot one so far and what is better on a hot day than ice cream! Today we have a healthier option so you can have more of it! Take a look at Nicole’s nice cream that she made not too long ago on one of our hot Summer days.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Nice Cream

6 bananas, chopped and frozen
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup peanut butter (I used natural, unsalted)
Salt
1/4 cup Milk of choice (optional, for consistency)

Slice the bananas and freeze at least overnight.

Place all ingredients into a high powered blender or a food processor and blend on high until smooth. In a high power blender like a Vitamix, you may not need the milk, but will probably need it in a food processor.

If you like soft serve, you can eat right away. Otherwise scoop it into a freezer safe container and put in the freezer to harden. Depending on how long you freeze it, you may want to leave it out for a few minutes so it’s easier to scoop.

Add your favourite toppings and enjoy!

Notes:
- Can easily substitute almond butter or any other nut or seed butter.
- You probably shouldn’t use a regular blender as blending the frozen banana can be really hard on the motor. If you don’t have a high power blender, use a food processor.

Five Minute Frozen Yogurt

Oh my gosh, two weeks have passed and I had forgotten to post something. I was convinced to put up the backsplash in the new kitchen and combine that with work, I have been swamped with stuff to do!

The heat has been a huge factor over the past few weeks. It is definitely Summer now and each day has been so warm. To cool off Nicole and I have been making sweet cold treats for our families so today I’m going to share the first of those treats. It’s a very simple and easy recipe for frozen yogurt so take a look and enjoy!

Five Minute Frozen Yogurt (serves one)

2 cups of the frozen fruit of your choice (I like to mix up berries with something tropical like mangoes, peaches, or pineapple)

1 ½ tsp. of honey

¼ cup of Greek plain or vanilla yogurt

¼ cup of fruit yogurt or you can add more of the plain or vanilla Greek

You can also add in 1 banana (try to freeze it beforehand)

Add all of the ingredients into the food processor and process until smooth. A blender will work as well.

Serve immediately. The frozen fruit should make it nice and cold and the yogurt will give it that creamy consistency. You can also add a couple of ice cubes to the processor if it doesn’t seem “frozen” enough.

Summer Slushie Drinks

Ok so as promised...here is our finished DIY Mod Podge tray. It’s all dry and we added on a black decorative ribbon around the edges.

Now for the drinks...

We tried one called Summer Slush. It ended up being quite sweet so I would cut back on the sugar by at least half, maybe even more. Both of the juices are sweet along with the 7 Up that we used.

For the Summer Slush you will need 46 oz. can (4 ½ cups) of pineapple juice, 12 oz. can (1 ¼ cups) of frozen orange juice , 3 cups of sugar (this made it super sweet so try cutting it down to 1 ½ cups), 46 oz. (4 ½ cups) of water.

Combine all of the ingredients together in a saucepan and boil until the sugar dissolves. Pour into a 13x9 inch pan and a loaf pan. We used some recycled containers along with a reusable container. Freeze overnight. We let it sit for a couple of days. 

When you are ready to drink, chisel some of the frozen slush out into glasses and pour 7 Up over it. You can also pour Ginger Ale, Club Soda, or even some of Vodka, Tequila, or Wine!

Some other drinks that we thought sounded interesting are...

Mango Pineapple Frozen Sangria – Combine in a blender, 1 bottle of sparkling wine (half frozen), 1 ½ cups of frozen apple juice, 1 cup of frozen mango, 1 cup of frozen pineapple, and a 1/3 cup of triple sec. Blend it until fully mixed and serve with a garnish of fresh pineapple.

Watermelon Frosty – Combine in a blender, 2 cups of frozen watermelon cubes, ½ frozen banana, juice of half a lime, ½  tbsp. of honey, 2-3 mint leaves. Blend until incorporated but still thick. Garnish with mint and lime.

Pina Colada Smoothie – Combine in a blender 1 cup of pineapple, 1 cup of frozen mango chunks, ½ banana, and 1 cup of coconut milk.  Blend until smooth.

Maybe we’ll give some a try in the warm weather ahead. Enjoy!

Banana Splits and Homemade Ice Cream

So we have a very exciting and fun Summer theme planned out this year. We are picking some very unusual ice cream flavour names and then creating things that come from the inspiration of that name. Some will be baked goods, some will be crafts, and some will be fun activities.

To kick the ice cream theme off, we are going to share with you how to make the very popular classic, a banana split, from scratch (with your own homemade ice creams).

I love to make my own homemade ice creams in the Summer. I often try out new flavours, but also stick to many classic ones as well. I sometimes make frozen yogurt as well with my ice cream maker.

For the banana splits, we’re sticking with the basics, chocolate and vanilla.

I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker which I love. I always keep the bowl in the freezer so that it stays nice and cold. Having a completely frozen bowl and really cold ingredients are keys to success when making your own ice cream otherwise it can affect the process and it turns icy and slushy instead of creamy.

Usually the day before I make my ice cream, I’ll mix the ingredients and then let them get cold in the fridge.

For the vanilla ice cream, mix 1 ½ cup of whole milk with 1 cup of sugar. Then add in 3 cups of heavy cream along with 1 ½ tbsp. of vanilla. Chill overnight.

For the chocolate ice cream, mix 1 cup of cocoa powder with 2/3 cup of sugar, ½ cup of brown packed sugar, and then stir in 1 ½ cups of whole milk. Add in 3 ¼ cups of heavy cream along with 1 tbsp. of vanilla. Chill overnight.

When mixing day comes, I follow the machine’s instructions and pour the mix into a frozen bowl right out of the freezer. For the vanilla, it usually takes about 45 minutes for it to thicken up and for the chocolate, about 30 minutes. Once the ice cream is mixed, transfer into a Tupperware container and freeze. It’ll be soft serve for the first few hours, so if you want a more frozen ice cream, then let the ice cream stay in the freezer overnight.

Other than bananas, no banana split is complete without toppings so before you have your banana split/sundae party, gather up some toppings. You can use crushed pineapple, sprinkles, chocolate chips, mini marshmallows, Maraschinos cherries, whipped cream, and sauces. Speaking of sauces, I have included my famous gooey butterscotch sauce that you can drizzle on top.

Butterscotch Sauce:

In a sauce pan on medium heat, mix 1 cup of packed brown sugar, 2 tbsp. of butter, and 1 tbsp. of vanilla. Heat until all dissolved and bubbling. Usually 3-4 minutes. You can use after cooling slightly or if you want a thicker sauce, then let it cool sompletely.

A good fudge sauce is one that you’ll see us using as a glaze in a future post about Boston Cream cupcakes, but I like it as an ice cream sauce too.

Chocolate Fudge Sauce/ Glaze:

1 cup of semisweet chocolate

2/3 cup of heavy cream

¼ cup of light corn syrup

½ tsp. of vanilla

Microwave the chocolate, cream, corn syrup, and vanilla all together in a heatproof bowl. Stir every 30 seconds for 1-2 minutes until all of the ingredients are melted and smooth. Let it thicken for about 20 minutes.

Now it’s time to assemble your splits. There is no right or wrong way; make it exactly how you like it.