Lazy Sunday Muffins

Don't panic, I'm still alive! This past month I've been busy preparing for and then enjoying my sister's wedding, with very little time for extra-curricular activities (like blogging). Now that my time is mine again, I've resolved to post at least once a week. I need to flex my creative muscles if I'm ever going to find a writing job!

The happy couple!

 Today is quite a gloomy contrast to the beautiful weather we had yesterday, so I thought I would warm things up with a batch of muffins. Rather than turn to my tried-and-true recipe collection I set out to find something a little different. Per usual, the options I found online were good but not great. So I took a cappuccino muffin recipe and tweaked it to trim the calories and up the deliciousness. What I ended up with were muffins that taste decadent but are actually very healthy!

Instead of plain instant coffee, I used hazelnut for a "gourmet" flavor.

I was a little skeptical at first when I saw olive oil on the ingredient list, but once I tasted the final product I was sold! It keeps the muffins seriously moist and gives them almost a silky texture inside. As for the coffee and chocolate, you can use whatever you have on hand. I like using flavored instant coffee for an added punch, and I pretty much only use dark chocolate because I find milk chocolate to be uncomfortably sweet. Feel free to experiment with your own variations and let me know how they turn out!

How could I say no to Ikea food?!

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
3/4 cup Splenda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
cinnamon & nutmeg to taste (1-2 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup skim milk
2 Tb instant coffee granules (3 single serving pouches)
1/4 cup + 2 Tb olive oil
2 egg whites (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
8 squares crushed dark chocolate (about 30g)

* Mix together flour, Splenda, baking powder, spices, and salt in large bowl and set aside.
* In a small bowl, whisk together milk and instant coffee until it is dissolved.
* Add oil, egg whites, and vanilla and whisk until combined.
* Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients until just moistened.
* Gently stir in chocolate pieces. Do not over-mix or the muffins will dry out!

Bake in greased muffin pan or paper cups at 375 for about 16 min or until muffins pass the toothpick test. Makes one dozen muffins.

Nom nom nom

Tip: If you can't eat all the muffins immediately, they can be frozen and saved for later. Just pop a frozen muffin in the microwave for about 30 seconds and it will be ready to enjoy!

Muffins and Cookies and Cakes (Oh My!)

As many of you already know, my sister's bridal shower was last weekend.  In preparation for the party, I spent all day last Friday pretty much chained to my oven making various sweets.  Well, almost all day.  I spent some time in the morning at the gym creating a negative calorie bank for me to fill later with sugar cookies.  It was a very delicious decision.

First up I made strawberry cupcakes topped with Sunkist fruit gems that I sliced into the shape of little flowers and leaves.  I forgot to take a picture of the finished product, but just imagine these tasty bites:

Covered in a classic white icing and decorated with sugary goodness:

Next on the agenda was trying out my brand new purchase of customizable cookie cutters.  I bought the set for $19.99 at Williams Sonoma and it was worth every penny.  You slide in the letters like a stamp and then, presto!  Your cookies are imprinted with a message.

The main ingredient in any good sugar cookie is butter.  Lots and lots of butter.  These cookies have so much butter in them that you have to refrigerate them after cutting out the dough and before baking just so they don't melt before they cook.  I'm a big fan of healthy desserts, but sometimes you just need butter in your life.  It's a beautiful thing.

Lastly I made some graham muffins and cream cheese icing for the bachelorettes.  This is absolutely my new favorite snack food.  If you just eat it as a muffin it's quite healthy, and if you're not worried about such things then go for the icing as well (it is also full of heavenly butter).

Ingredients:

16 crushed graham crackers (about 2 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 cup skim milk
1 egg (beaten)
2 Tb. honey
cinnamon
nutmeg

Mix them all together and bake at 400 for 15-18 minutes.  It's that easy.  I don't really measure spices, so just add them to taste.  If you're into cloves (personally I'm not) a dash may also go well with this blend.  The batter looks pretty gross, but the end result is beyond tasty.  For a cream cheese icing recipe, see my previous post on carrot cake!