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.

Salsa

The kitchen is almost done and I am getting back into the swing of things and creating lots in the kitchen. I’ve been making cookies and bread and today I made some fresh chunky salsa. It’s been so warm out and this is the perfect cool snack with some salty tortilla chips. You can also top it on fish, chicken, and steaks or put it in tacos, wraps, and tortillas.

It’s very simple and quick to make.

You will need...

8 firm tomatoes on the vine

1 cup of cilantro, chopped

The juice of 2 limes

2 jalapeno peppers

1 small or 1/2 large red onion

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop up the tomatoes into small bite sized pieces. You can put some of the juice and seeds in but keep it to a minimum. You can save the juice and seeds to put into a tomato sauce.

Add the finely chopped cilantro.

Next chop the onion into small bites.

Now add in the juice from the limes.

Finally, chop up the jalapeno into tiny pieces add in a bit of salt and pepper and the stir it all up.

It’s best eaten when chilled in the fridge for a bit but you can eat it right away if you choose to.

Bread Maker Bread

Another week at home so as I was cleaning up I rediscovered my bread maker. I haven’t used it in some time as I have been so busy and it was easier to just buy bread. Since I have been left with so much free time on my hands, I thought I’d make some fresh bread (I’ve actually made a few loafs and will be making even more). Fresh bread is always so yummy. I made some to have for breakfast and I made some to go along with some pasta the other night.

I will admit that in the past it took some figuring out which recipe worked the best. I have made some bread that didn’t rise and some that were super dense, but take a look at the recipe below to see one that worked out perfectly!

White Bread Maker Bread

You will need...

4 cups of sifted flour (must must must be sifted)

1 ½ cups of warm water (must must must be warm)

2 tsp. of sugar

2 ½ tsp. of dry yeast (I use break maker yeast)

2 tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of oil

How to...

Sift flour.

Warm up your water. You don’t want it to boil but you want it slightly warmer than room temperature. I put it in the microwave for about a minute. Pour the water into the bread maker pan.

Now sprinkle the yeast and then the sugar on top. Allow to sit and foam/bubble for 5 minutes.

After the 5 minutes are up, add the salt and then the oil. I used Mazola oil but you can use olive oil instead.

Finally add the flour.

Place the pan into the machine and put it on the basic bread setting. Choose your crust colour and then press start. This setting usually takes about 3 hours.

Once the final “bread is ready” beep occurs, remove the pan and allow the bread to cool in the pan. The pan should be cool to the touch before you try to remove the bread.

You can slice and serve the bread warm or you can let it cool completely and either leave it or slice* it all and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy the fresh delicious bread!

*a regular bread knife will do the job but my dad gave me an electric knife and it sliced my next loaf so perfectly.