Excellent Orange Muffin

Ingredients

• Dry ingredients:
• 1 ¾ cup (210g) all purpose flour (or gluten free flour)
• ½ cup (56g) blanched fine almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 
  
• Wet ingredients:
• Zest from 2 large oranges
• 1 cup (200g) organic cane sugar (or granulated sugar)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• ½ cup (100g) freshly squeezed orange juice (from about 2 large oranges)
• ⅓ cup (75g)  whole-milk or 2% Greek yogurt*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ½ cup (1 stick, 113g) salted butter, melted (or sub olive oil or avocado oil)
• Sprinkle with coarse sugar or organic sugar, if desired
• 
  
• Optional:
• 1/2 cup of mini or regular chocolate chips
• 1 heaping cup fresh or dried cranberries 
•  

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray or use silicone muffin tins.
  Mix together dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add chocolate chips and/or cranberries, if using to dry ingredients.  Set aside.
  

  • In a separate large bowl add the orange zest and sugar and use your fingers to rub the orange zest into the sugar for at least 30 seconds to infuse the sugar with orange flavour.
    
    
    Mix together wet ingredients: In the same large bowl with the orange zest and sugar, add in eggs, orange juice, yogurt, vanilla extract and almond extract. (Do not mix in the butter yet!) Whisk together until well-combined and smooth.
    
    
    • Combine: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon until just combined. Finally, stir in the melted butter (or oil) until well combined. Do not overmix the batter, you just want to stir it until the batter is smooth.
      Bake: Divide batter evenly between the prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with  coarse sugar, if desired (but absolutely recommended). Bake for 15-19 minutes or until the tester comes out clean.
      Enjoy!
      

      
      

 HEALTHY BRAN MUFFINS

                                     

These bran muffins are Flavourful, wholesome, and tender.  Make sure you’re using pure wheat bran, not bran cereal. Use your favourite add-ins, or leave the muffins plain. 

Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 cups (195g) whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour if preferred
• 1 cup (52g) wheat bran
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (170g) honey or pure maple syrup
• 1/3 cup (75g) coconut oil, melted Or use vegetable oil, melted butter, or avocado oil instead
• 1/3 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce, at room temperature or use a mashed banana
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup (240ml) nondairy milk (or dairy milk), at room temperature
• 2/3 cup (about 100g) raisins or, as I prefer, chocolate chips
• Sprinkling of raw sugar for tops

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or use muffin liners or silicone muffin tins.
2. Whisk the flour, wheat bran, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until combined. Set aside.
3. Whisk the egg, honey, melted coconut oil, applesauce, vanilla, and milk together in a medium bowl until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and whisk to combine. Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and fold in the raisins or chocolate chips, if using.  I like to sprinkle raw sugar on the tops and sometimes add a walnut or pecan half on top as well.
4. Spoon the batter evenly into muffin tins (makes 12). Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 14–15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.


5. 
   

Easy Focacia Bread

Prep Time      15 minutes

Cook Time    25 minutes

Rising Time 10 hours

Ingredients

4 cups          All-Purpose Flour

2 Tsp           Kosher Salt

2-1/4 Tsp     Instant Yeast (1 packet)

• This recipe calls for Instant Yeast which is also called Rapid Rise Yeast. It's quite magical as it doesn't require proofing like regular yeast does. Don't try to use regular yeast in this recipe. You can find Instant or Rapid Rise Yeast at most grocery stores, right next to the regular yeast. You can also buy it in bulk and store it indefinitely in the freezer. It's infinitely cheaper buying yeast in bulk vs purchasing it in the little packets.

2 Cups        Warm Tap Water

1 Tsp          Soft Butter for greasing pan

4 TBSP     Olive Oil divided

Italian Seasoning or finely chopped fresh herbs (optional)

Flaky Sea Salt or Kosher Salt (sprinkle sparingly)

Directions

                                        Prepare the Dough

1. In a medium-large bowl, combine flour, salt, and instant yeast. Stir well. Add the warm water. Using a  Whisk, sturdy wooden spoon or a rubber spatula, mix until all of the flour is well incorporated (there should be no small pockets of flour. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.  (Don't worry about exact time with the initial rising of this easy focaccia bread.  Your results will be wonderful as long as it rises at least 8 hours. )

2. Lightly butter two 9-inch cake pans. Line pans with parchment paper. Pour one tablespoon of olive oil into the center of each pan. Divide dough in half with a large spoon or rubber spatula and place one piece of dough in each pan, turning to coat with oil. Tuck edges of dough underneath to form a rough ball. 

3. Cover each pan tightly with plastic wrap and allow the dough balls to rest for 2 hours (it may take as long as 3 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen). The dough should cover most of the pan. (The second rise (in the pan) should be at least 2 hours (or until the dough has nicely risen). If your kitchen is really warm, it may take a bit less time. Rather than using an exact time, use the appearance of the dough as your guide - it should be close to filling the pan.)

   
   

     Bake

   
   

   1. Preheat oven to 450˚F with a rack positioned in the center of the oven.
   2. Drizzle another tablespoon of oil over each round of dough. With oiled fingers, using both hands, press straight down and create deep dimples that go all the way through the dough (in other words, you'll actually be making deep holes.) If necessary, gently stretch the dough as you dimple to allow the dough to fill the pan.  Don't be shy when you "dimple" the dough, just before baking. You want to poke your fingers in all the way to the bottom of the pan and actually make little holes with your fingers. This will ensure nice deep dimples that won't disappear in the oven.
   3. Sprinkle tops with Italian seasoning (or fresh herbs) and flaky sea salt.
   4. Transfer the pans to the oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 425˚F. Bake for 22 to 28 minutes, until the tops are golden and the undersides are crisp. Remove pans from the oven. With a metal spatula remove bread rounds from the pans and transfer to a cooling rack.
   5. Serve warm or allow to cool completely then store in a zippered bag.

       To freeze, allow bread to cool completely, then transfer to a ziplock bag and freeze.  Thaw and enjoy at room temperature or warm for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  

      This Easy Focaccia Bread is fabulous as a dinner bread, with salads, for sandwiches, for a dipping bread... You can also  drizzle a little oil in a sauté pan, add the focaccia and let it cook over medium heat until it's golden and crisp. So good! 

      
      

      

      Mmmmm Mmmmmm

      
      
      

      1. 
         

       

 Cranberry Sauce Muffins

You know when you make that delicious chicken or turkey with all the fixings and at the end of the day you have left over cranberry sauce but no turkey left.  So, what do you do with that sauce??  Make Muffins!  I tried this recipe and quite liked it.  As you can see there are no photos as I ate them all up, they were that good.  Actually I freeze my muffins and thaw one in the fridge overnight so I can eat it with my coffee in the morning.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup leftover cranberry sauce

¾ cup milk

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners.

Beat cranberry sauce, milk, oil, egg, and vanilla together in a bowl until well combined.

Whisk flour, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt together in a separate bowl.

Stir dry ingredients into wet ingredients until batter is just moistened.

Pour into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Each muffin is about 145 Calories.  Muffins freeze well.

 Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork

I am not big on pulled pork nor am I big on things made with BBQ sauce.  This recipe has both and I LOVE it!  Recipe calls for Pork Shoulder Roast.  I used the sale slab of pork (I don't even know what it was called) and cooked it on the slowwwwww setting - i.e. 12 hours on low.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 (4 pound) pork shoulder roast 
• 1 cup barbeque sauce (I used "Dianna")
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon prepared yellow mustard
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 small onion, or 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 ½ teaspoons dried thyme
• 8 hamburger buns, split
• 2 tablespoons butter, or as needed

Directions

1.    Pour vegetable oil into the bottom of a slow cooker. Place pork roast into the slow cooker. In a bowl combine barbeque sauce, vinegar, chicken broth, brown sugar, yellow mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion, garlic, and thyme - mix well and pour into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours or High for 5 to 6 hours until pork shreds easily with a fork.

2.    Remove pork from the slow cooker, and shred the meat using two forks. Return shredded pork to the slow cooker, and stir to combine with juices.

3.    Spread the inside of both halves of hamburger buns with butter. Toast buns, butter-side down, in a skillet over medium heat until golden brown. Spoon pulled pork into toasted buns.

4.  Enjoy!

 

 

Gwyneth Paltow (sort of) Blueberry Muffin

This is a recipe that was developed by someone who altered Gwyneth Paltrow's Blueberry Muffin recipe which I altered too.  When I run out of blueberries (but following the recipe with 2-1/2 cups of blueberries, it is really very very good!), I use chocolate chips which make delicious muffins too.   I also add nuts, whatever kind I have on hand, to top each muffin.

Ingredients:

8 TBSP unsalted Butter, melted and cooled (113 grams)

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk (any kind)

2 Cups all-purpose flour (I use whole wheat flour)

3/4 Cups of granulated Sugar or Splenda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp fine kosher salt (I use fine sea salt)

2-1/2 Cups Blueberries

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F.  Prepare muffin tin with liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

2.  Whisk together butter, eggs and milk in a medium bowl.  

3.  In a large bowl whisk flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. (If using choc chips you can add them to dry ingredients)

4.  Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients (I usually have to add an additional 1/8 cup milk otherwise batter is too thick).

5.  Gently fold in blueberries.

6.  Divide batter among 12 muffin tins.  Bake 25-30 minutes.

 TIP ... Before you bake cookies ...

DO NOT USE the Western Family brand of butter sold at SAVE ON FOODS in the cookie recipes on this site or in my books.  I don't know what is wrong with it but the cookies splay across the baking sheet and DO NOT TURN OUT.  

I have also heard that the No Name Butter, which I have used in the past, does the same thing now.  Be careful.  It may cost a bit more to purchase a brand name butter, but at least your baking with be presentable and delicious and edible.