Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts

Monday, November 7, 2011

Muffin Monday.

No posts all weekend.
Fail.

Sorry guys, but it is in the past right?

The most exciting thing I did this weekend?


I baked muffins!

I love baking and cooking!

And Matt loves him some blueberry muffins.

I can't wait to be his wife and bake for him every day! And practice makes perfect right?

I got the recipe from here.

They were actually really good! 


{I know, I know I'm not supposed to be surprised when something I bake turns out well... but I'm new to this Betty Crocker thing, so that's just how it goes.}

For this time around I used the full fat recipe (since healthier ingredients seem to be more expensive).

But there is an alternative to certain ingredients that might not be so healthy. 

I'm going to give the healthy recipe, hopefully that one turns out as well as the other one did!
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The Best Blueberry Muffins
{makes 12 muffins}

Ingredients:
Jam:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tsp sugar 

Muffins:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1 1/8 cups sugar/splenda*
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose/white wheat flour*
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp table salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup apple sauce
1 cup non fat milk with 1 tbsp lemon juice 
(allow juice to sit for 10 minutes to lose some acidity before mixing with milk)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract 


Directions:
Begin by making the jam: bring 1 cup of blueberries and 1 teaspoon of sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the berries, mashing with a spoon several times to break some of the berries open, stir frequently until mixture is thickened and reduced to about a ¼ cup (about 6 minutes). Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, adjust your oven rack to upper-middle position and heat 425ยบ. Spray muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk 1 1/8 cups sugar and eggs together in a medium bowl until thick and texture is consistent (about 45 seconds). Slowly whisk in butter and oil (or applesauce) until combined. Whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture and the remaining cup of blueberries into the flour mixture until just moistened (batter will be very lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not overmix). Divide the batter equally among the prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon a teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Use a chopstick or skewer to gently swirl the berry jam into the batter using figure-eight motion. Bake until the muffin tops are golden and just firm, about 17 to 19 minutes (about 25 minutes for large muffins) rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
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My suggestion is to make the muffins to eat directly after! They are much better warm and with a crispy top. They get soggy if you wait overnight. They are amazing. And very easy to make. 

Hopefully this recipe serves you well as well!


<3
xo/Austin

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Nutella Heaven.

So I don't know about you, but I love Nutella. 
As I am suffering through eating only lettuce and chicken (well I might be exaggerating just a little), I am craving everything yummy. Nutella is today's star!

One:

The one writing the blog where I found this promised that it is the best Nutella recipe you will ever try. I think that is a pretty bold claim considering all the wonderful Nutella recipes out there. All it means to me is I need to make these! 

Two:

Oh how I love Oreo truffles. 
Add Nutella to it and it has to make it that much better!

Three:

Puppy Chow. The best recipe from when we're kids, am I right?
This recipe looks so easy and it looks so delicious!
I cannot wait to make this!

Four:

Mmmmm. One of my favorite recipes of all time is no bake cookies! These plus Nutella sounds mind-blowing! Someone try it ASAP and let me know how it tastes?

Five:

This is the only one I have actually made of the list. Why? Because it only takes 5 minutes!
You mix up the ingredients in a mug, pop it in the microwave, and enjoy. It turns out pretty gooey if you follow the recipe to a T (which is perfect for me, I love gooey, cake batter-y cake). If you want it to be cooked completely all the way through, just microwave for an extra minute or so. Keep an eye on it while it is cooking so it doesn't over flow or blow up though! Enjoy! I can't wait to make it again!

Are you going to go buy a tub of Nutella and try all of these recipes now?
Question: Which looks yummiest to you?
bon' appetit,
xo/Austin

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Keep it Pinteresting.

So I need to be studying for a huge practical for anatomy right now... but I love Pinteresting Tuesdays, so I thought I deserve a little break and some blog love.

What I am saying, is this will be short and sweet!

One:

So this is a newspaper ad cut out from a long time ago. (I wish I had a more educated guess than that, but I don't want to be way off and lead you wrong!) This made me laugh. And also really sad. If only I lived in the era where "men wouldn't look at me when I was skinny!" Also, I realize that I could have been very wealthy had I lived in the time of this article... because I would say I'm very "talented" at gaining ten pounds on command! If anyone has any questions on "how to", scroll down to Two..

Two:

This is one of my many extremely affective ways to gain ten pounds! So while I am trying to stick to a pretty strict diet while I am waiting to try on dresses, I am simultaneously craving anything that is sweet and sugary and yummy. Exhibit A: The Reece's Ice Cream Sandwich. I cannot wait to try it! And if any of you try it before I do, let me know how it is! (Maybe I can live vicariously through you?)
Three:

I want it! I love giraffes. If I had any kind of crochet/knitting talent... I just might attempt to make this. But since I don't, you need to make it for me ;] Here is the link for me a Pillow Pal Giraffe.

Four:

I want it. I love pretty much everything that has to do with animal print. And this especially is amazing. Maybe for a bridal shower? (PS if you haven't noticed, that is the second food related pin this week... Can you tell I have a sweet tooth?)

Five:

Amen, dude.

Off to study. Enjoy the rest of your day! Wish me luck on my test!

xo/Austin

Friday, October 7, 2011

Peanut Butter Goodness.

Sometimes Chocolate Chip just isn't good enough.

I found the easiest, most delicious Peanut Butter cookies ever on Pinterest!

I found this recipe from Jamhands blog.

The recipe only calls for three ingredients...

Peanut Butter
Sugar
Egg

Let me tell you how to do it...

1 Cup of Peanut Butter (I used light PB--the cookies are definitely rich enough without using full fat PB)
1 Cup of Sugar
1 Egg

That's it.

Step-by-step:

  1. Combine all the ingredients together and mix well until it is all thoroughly combined.
  2. Roll balls of dough into balls--about 12 (just a hair smaller than golf balls).
  3. Place them on the cookie pan (No need to grease it, the peanut butter works well for that)
  4. Flatten each ball. 
  5. To get the classic Peanut Butter Cookie look with th criss/cross pattern on top of the cookies, take a fork, wet it a bit, dip it in sugar and press into the dough in two opposite angles on each cookie.
  6. Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.
  7. Enjoy! 
I'm telling you guys, these are the easiest cookies I have ever made, and I don't even really love normal peanut butter cookies, but these are to die for!

Let me know if you try to make them and what you think!

Hope your weekend is starting off great!

<3
xo|Austin