Hello Frosty!

Last week I was desperately trying to figure out what to give my kids teachers for Christmas. Gift giving at school has become too extravagent for me. Often, it is a contest for parents to see who can out-do the other. And kid gifts? What can you actually find for $5 or less that isn’t a piece of junk? I would rather give $5 cash to go to charity. Anyway.

My goal was to give something to the teachers that wouldn’t be tossed in the back of a cabinet, or given as a white elephant gift! (Or break the bank)… Baking is always a solution. Time was not on my side however, so this is what I found… I love the snowman jar!

Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix 

(Thank you Mr. Breakfast!) 

• 1 one-quart wide-mouth jar
• 2 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Pour this mixture into the jar and pack it down. Next combine the two sugars and cinnamon and place over flour layer, pack again…finally, end with chocolate chips and top your jar. If you are able to find a cool jar like this one, even better!

Note, on the website Mr. Breakfast, the directions split the flour layer… but it later suggests to prepare the mixture in the jar as I listed above…it worked much better.

Finally, attach these directions to the jar. I printed a nice little card and laminated it (at my office),  and attached it to the jars.

 Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Muffins
(12 servings)

• 1 jar muffin mix
• 2 eggs – beaten
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or muffin papers.

Pour the muffin mix into a large bowl and stir to combine. In a seperate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the mix and stir until just moistened. Distribute the batter evenly into muffin cups. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Annie's Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin is a staple of the holidays. Everywhere you turn it’s pumpkin this, pumpkin that… from entrees to desserts and ice creams, salted seeds, and bowls made out of pumpkin rhine. Oh, and I shouldn’t forget the season opener – the jack-o-lantern. I bought a pumpkin about two weeks before halloween this year – for the kids to carve. Needsless to say that nearly a month later, he still sits lonely in the garage. I just may be able to use it for a science experiment on it soon. Anyway – Last holiday season I was given a slice of pumpkin bread. I had not had any before, so I had nothing to compare it to. It was quite wonderful though. My sil served it cool with a dusting of powdered sugar. I knew I had to have the recipe. She received the recipe after a “taste testing” too. She received it from a friend at church who graciously gave it to her in a nice hallmark card. I jotted it hurriedly on a scrap sheet of paper. I also failed to write down how long to cook it. Anyway, it is a very easy recipe that most anyone could throw together. I named the pumpkin bread after its author, Annie S.

Annie’s Pumpkin Bread

• 1 ½ Cups plus 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 ½ Cup Sugar 
• ¾ tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• ½ tsp Cinnamon
• ½ tsp Nutmeg
• ½ Cup Oil
• 2 eggs slightly beaten
• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin
• 1/3 Cup Water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour desired pan(s).

Sift together dry ingredients, set aside.

Beat together eggs, oil, water and pumpkin. Make a well in dry ingredients and add wet mixture. Stir with spoon just until all ingredients are wet. Pour into greased pan(s), fill pan 2/3 full. Bake about one hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Makes one 9″ loaf pan. When doubled will make three 8″ loafs.

I always double the recipe

 ”Eww, those bananas are black!” Those would be my seven year old informing me that what I was peeling was gross. The bananas were perfect though. I have been waiting for several days for them to be read to bake with. Though apparently grossed out, she still was eager to help “smoosh” them into a measuring cup. She was fascinated as the gooey bananas slithered between her fingers. Anyway, everyone in my house enjoys banana bread. I prefer having no nuts and chocolate chips or chunks in mine, but my father is allergic to chocolate (horror I know!) so I try to accommodate him when possible. So I chose to use white chips in this loaf. With the chips, I added some dried cranberries – I think they go well with white chocolate in baking. And as for the bananas, I used three large (black) bananas that were still chunky. I think its cool to come across a small chunk of banana – enhancing the sweetness and surprise of the loaf.

I have made several versions of banana bread, some with butter, some with oil or shortening. And when the recipe calls for milk, I prefer using buttermilk. My usual recipe makes two loafs – yes I could just half the recipe, but I recently saw a recipe at Cookie Madness that used buttermilk, and it cut back on the amount of oil needed. I was game for a try (and I have never gone wrong with one of her recipes).

The loaf turned out wonderfully. I offered my husband a taste which turned into a slice. I will make this recipe again, and recommend it to banana bread connoisseurs.

Low Fat Banana Bread
(Recipe from Cookie Madness who adapted it from Epicurious)

Ingredients:

• 1 ¾ cups flour (7.7 ounces)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 3 ripe bananas – 1 cup smashed
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (generous)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

*I added 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips and 1/3 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×5 inch metal loaf pan with flour-added cooking spray.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy and light (about 5 minutes). Mix in smashed bananas, buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Add flour mixture to banana mixture and stir just until blended. Transfer batter to prepared pan.
Bake bread until golden brown on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Turn bread out onto rack and cool.
Makes 1 loaf.

A good friend gave me this recipe a while back. It was written on an old fashioned recipe card. She said she had never made it, but the lady that gave it to her swore it was the best ever. I’m not sure they are the “best”, but I like any blueberry muffin that is home baked. One thing for sure, this was an easy recipe that is pretty much dummy proof.

And the name? Blueberry Muffins is boring, so I gave em my own version. Besides, they are good enough that buying (aka eating) one, you won’t mind getting one free.

BOJO Muffins
(Berries, Orange Juice, Oats)

Ingredients:

• 1½ C. All Purpose Flour
• 1¼ tsp Baking Powder
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ C. Rolled Oats
• ½ C. Orange Juice
• ½ C Oil
• 1 Egg, slightly Beaten
• ½ C Sugar
• 1 C. Blueberries

Topping*:

• 2 Tbl. Sugar
• ¼ tsp Cinnamon

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees and line 12 muffin tin with paper liners. Mix Flour, Salt, Soda and Baking Powder in a small bowl, set aside.

Combine Orange Juice, oil, eggs and oats. Stir in sugar, then flour mixture. Stir to combine, then add blueberries. Spoon into muffin cups, fill 2/3 full. Blend remaining sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over batter. Bake for 18 – 22 minutes.

*I had some streusel that was already prepared, I topped the muffins with this.

Waste not Muffins

I hate to throw food away. Period. So I spend a good amount of time searching for recipes to use up what I don’t want to waste. Today, it was bananas. I only had about 45 minutes to get a recipe mixed and baked before I had to leave for work. And for whatever reason, I was obsessed with doing this today. So off I went. I think this recipe is often used for quick bread too, but I stuck with the muffins due to time. This recipe seemed quick and simple. I found it at several sites, but used this one specifically. Oh, and the messy stuff all over the pan was my last minute rendition of struessell topping. ~ I ran so short on time, I actually had to take the muffins, still in the pans, to work with me to remove and plate. (That’s why I don’t have an “out of the pan” picture).

Directions:

Mix the mashed banana, sugar, egg and margarine together. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Mix wet and dry ingredients all together, being careful not to over-stir! Pour into greased muffin tins, (I used a silicone muffin pan – whic I love) and bake in 350 degrees oven for approximately 20 minutes. (Mine was ready in about 18)

I topped them with a butter/brown sugar/flour topping… I think I used too much butter! But I had thrown the topping together in quite a hurry too.