Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Babka Cookie Muffin バブカ クッキー マフィン
Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:
1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
FOR THE MUFFINS:
1 3/4 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (57g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
1/2 cup (140g) “battered babka crumbs”
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup butter milk
Directions:
TO MAKE THE CRUMB TOPPING:
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl.
Add the butter, and mix with your fingers until the mixture forms crumbs. Set aside (#3).
TO MAKE THE MUFFINS:
Preheat oven to 375°F. Line or grease a 12-cup standard muffin pan.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, sugar, and babka crumbs until thoroughly combined.
Add the egg and vanilla, and mix well. Add the milk and mix well (#1).
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until fully blended (#2).
Scoop the batter into the muffin tins. (I used the second largest ice cream scoop).
Distribute the crumb topping over the muffin batter (#3).
Bake 20 to 25 minute, or until the muffins are lightly browned and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean (#4). Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
These muffins were quite good. They had a mild chocolately/bobka flavor. They were not too sweet and had a moist dense texture. The crumbs were literally “the icing on the top” with a slight browned butter sugar sweetness. We may have to go out and buy another babka for the next batch.
Monday, February 10, 2025
Apple Pie Muffin Made with Juiced Apple アップルパイマフィン
Ingredients (X 1, made 12 muffins)
For the crumbs:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbs butter
For the muffins:
Juice 3 apples. Drain the pulp (1,2,&3) and save both the pulp and the juice.
1 to 1 1/2 cup of apple pulp.
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour,
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon,
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened,
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/3 cup apple juice, at room temperature.
Directions:
Prepare oven and cooking utensils: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
Make the crumbs for the Muffins: Stir together brown sugar, pie spice,1/2 cup of the flour, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon in a medium bowl until well combined. Work in 4 tablespoons of the butter using fingertips until mixture is well combined and resembles wet sand. Set aside. (On a whim my wife decided to add 1 tsp. of salt. This was a remarkable improvement. The salt complemented and accentuated the sweetness of the crumbs. It also provided a surprising note of enrichment.)
Make the batter for the muffin: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat granulated sugar and remaining 2/3 cup butter on medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition, about 30 seconds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together salt, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Whisk together sour cream and apple juice until well combined. Stir flour mixture into butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream mixture, until flour mixture is moistened but large flour streaks remain.
Assembly: Spoon batter into bottom of each paper liner. Sprinkle 1 packed teaspoon brown sugar mixture evenly over batter in each muffin liner
Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 12 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway. Let cool in pan 10 minutes. (#4)\
These were very good muffins and a bit less work than the previous version of apple pie muffin. It had a very tender moist texture with a subtle apple flavor. The salted crumb topping was a nice surprise accentuating the taste of the crumbs that complemented the slightly sweet apple flavor of the muffins.
Monday, January 20, 2025
Apple Pie Muffin and Pan Cake アップルパイ マフィン
The original recipe came from “Serious Eats”. This is a somewhat complicated muffin to make. It comes in 3 parts. First is making the apples by coating them with spices and then cooking them in melted butter until they start getting soft. Second is a layer of crumbs to put between two layers of dough. Third is the muffin dough itself.
My wife made muffins (pictures #1 and #2) and baked in a baking dish as a flat cake (picture #3).
The problem was that these three different parts were not specified in the original recipe but instead all clumped together with phrases like, “2 1/4 cups AP flour divided” and it wasn’t until you were knee deep in the directions that you discovered 1/2 cup of the flour was supposed to be used to make crumbs and the other 1 3/4 cups was used for the actual muffin batter. As a matter of fact the recipe did not even specify there was a layer of crumbs and it took my wife some time to figure out the recipe consisted of 3 parts at which point the recipe started to make sense. Added to all that we wanted to use up all the Granny Smith apples but once we cooked them all we realized we had too many for just one batch of a dozen muffins. So we decided to double the recipe and make 1/2 as muffins and 1/2 as a pan cake (i.e. a flat cake baked in a baking pan). Hopefully we have sorted out the three components of the recipe below so they are clearer than the original and by showing the recipe as X1 for just muffins and X2 for muffins and pan cake. Good Luck.
Ingredients (X 1)
For the Spiced Apples:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 small tart apple such as Granny Smith cut into 1/4 inch pieces (1 cup chopped)
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
For the crumbs:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tbs butter
For the muffins:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour,
1 teaspoons ground cinnamon,
2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened,
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
1/3 cup apple cider, at room temperature (We didn’t have any cider so we juiced another apple)
Ingredients (X2) We wanted to use up the Granny Smith Apples but we ended up with too many apples so we chose to double the recipe and make 1/2 as muffins and 1/2 as pan cake
For the Spiced Apples:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tart apples such as Granny Smith, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
For the crumbs:
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup flour
3 tsp cinnamon
8 tbs butter
For the muffins:
1 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened,
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt; for table salt use half as much by volume
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2/3 cup apple cider, at room temperature (We didn’t have any cider so we juiced another apple)
Directions: whether making 1X or 2X of the recipe just use the quantity of ingredients specified for that amount.
For the Spiced Apples: In a 10-inch skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Once melted, add apple pieces, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and pie spice and cook, stirring frequently, until apples are tender, about 10 minutes. Transfer apple mixture to a fine mesh strainer set over a medium bowl. Thoroughly strain, gently stirring to remove as much excess moisture from apples as possible; set aside to let apples strain until they reach room temperature, about 15 minutes. Spread strained apples in an even layer on a large plate and refrigerate uncovered until cooled, 15 to 20 minutes. Reserve strained sauce for use as a glaze.
Prepare oven and cooking utensils: Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. If making pan cake grease the medium sized pyrex cooking pan then line with greased parchment paper.
Make the crumbs for the Muffins: Stir together brown sugar, pie spice,1/2 cup of the flour, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon in a medium bowl until well combined. Work in 4 tablespoons of the butter using fingertips until mixture is well combined and resembles wet sand. Set aside.
Make the batter for the muffin: In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat granulated sugar and remaining 2/3 cup butter on medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition, about 30
seconds.
In a medium bowl, whisk together salt, baking powder, baking soda, remaining 1 3/4
cups flour, and remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
In a small measuring cup whisk together sour cream and cider (apple juice) until well combined.
Stir flour mixture into butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream mixture, until flour mixture is moistened but large flour streaks remain. Fold cooled apples into batter until evenly dispersed and batter is just combined. (Do not over-mix.)
Assembly: Spoon 2 tablespoons batter into bottom of each paper liner. Sprinkle 1 packed teaspoon brown sugar mixture evenly over batter in each muffin liner; top with remaining batter (about 3 tablespoons per well) spreading into an even layer. (Liners will be very full.) (1 and 2 in the composite)
Bake for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue baking until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 12 to 18 minutes, rotating pan halfway. Let cool in pan 10 minutes.
If making pan cake, spoon 1/2 the batter into the baking dish, cover with crumbs, and cover crumbs with remaining batter. Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes reduce temperature to 375 and bake for 30 minutes and start testing for doneness by seeing if wooden pick comes out clean (3 and 4 in the composite).
Carefully remove from pan and serve warm or at room temperature, drizzling with reserved strained apple juices from step 2 just before serving.
Although this is a fairly convoluted recipe for apple based muffins it is probably worth it because the end result is very good. They do taste distinctly of apple pie. The texture is very light, soft and tender. The cooked apples introduce a burst of cinnamon flavored moistness that is very pleasant. The crumbs kind of melted into the texture making an internal layer of buttery cinnamon flavored dough. The pan cake had all the similar characteristics but was simpler to make. These muffins are a bit unique in the combination of flavors and textures they deliver. Despite the initial difficulties now that we have the recipe sorted out we will be making them again.
Saturday, February 3, 2024
Chestnut, Brown Butter, Sage Muffin 栗の粉とセイジマフィン
I ask my wife to continue as usual.
Ingredients: (makes 12 small muffins)
Several bunches of sage (with about 5 leaves on each, one of which used in the browned butter the other steeped in the milk).
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup milk
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup chestnut flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup yogurt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Ingredients X2: (suggested to make larger muffins)
Several bunches of sage (one of which used in the browned butter the other steeped in the milk. The more leaves use the more intense the sage flavor).
12 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup chestnut flour
1/2 cup sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine milk and sage in small saucepan and heat to a bare simmer, then remove from heat and cover. Allow to steep at least 10 minutes, then remove sage, squeezing as much milk as possible from sage before discarding.
2. Place butter and remaining sage in small saucepan and heat over medium until melted and foamy. Allow to cook until liquid butter is golden brown and solids at bottom are deep brown and smell nutty. Transfer to a heatproof container, remove the sage and make sure to scrape out as much of the browned butter solids as possible.
3. Combine all purpose flour, chestnut flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium mixing bowl. Sift if necessary, or simply whisk together. In separate mixing bowl, combine sage milk, sage butter, yogurt and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until all streaks of flour are incorporated and batter is fluffy and slightly lumpy. Divide evenly between cups in a 12 cup muffin pan lined with paper cups. Bake 7 minutes, then rotate pan and bake another 3-5 minutes, until a skewer inserted into muffin comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake. Allow to cool in pan slightly before transferring to rack to finish cooling.
These are truly remarkable muffins. They are a combination of unexpected tastes that work extremely well together. The combination of browned butter and sage came through with a pleasing robustness. The chestnut flour added a slightly nutty dimension. The chestnut flour also contributes to the very light and tender texture of the muffin. While these muffins were a bit of surprise flavor-wise they were also a great new discovery. Next time we’ll double the recipe so the muffins are a bit larger.
P.S. In early February, the plum tree in our yard started blooming. It is always amazing and nice to see this when it is still winter and the weather is still cold. It is such a nice early harbinger of hope for the upcoming spring.
Monday, January 22, 2024
Goat Cheese Scallion Muffin ゴートチーズと青葱マフィン
Ingredients(makes 12 muffins)
1 1/2 cups (200 grams) whole-wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/3 cup (80 milliliters) mild-tasting olive oil, plus more for brushing the pan
2/3 cup (180 milliliters) buttermilk
1/2 cup (113 grams) plain Greek yogurt (homemade)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon honey
4 ounces (115 grams) fresh goat cheese (chevre), crumbled
1/4 cup green part of fresh scallions, finely chopped (original recipe calls for 1/2 cup or 22 grams of finely chopped fresh chives)
Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Brush a nonstick muffin tin with olive oil.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients; the flour, baking powder, onion powder, baking soda, scallions, pepper and salt until combined.
In a large bowl whisk together the wet ingredients; goat cheese, buttermilk, yogurt, oil, egg and honey until everything is mixed and creamy. Add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and stir until just combined.
Using a 1/4-cup (60-milliliter) measure, divide the batter among the muffin tin cups; each should be filled about three-quarters of the way.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then run a small offset spatula or butter knife around the perimeter of each muffin before removing them from the tin. Serve warm.
The muffin had a nice scallion flavor which became better and more mellow with time. We are not sure if using chives may have been a bit gentler flavor. In any case, we used shy of 1/4 cup which can be reduced further, although we do not mind the scallion flavor at all. The texture was extremely tender. This was a hardy muffin with a nice robust flavor. Great with eggs for breakfast of with soup for lunch.
Saturday, July 29, 2023
Rescued green bean soup グリーンビーンズスープ
My wife had just baked some muffins as an “apricot muffins rescue”; the fresh apricots were too mushy to eat. As part of what is turning out to be standard food rescue protocal she introduced the offending apricots to the Vita-mix and viola, she had apricot puree which she added to the muffin batter. So we had a lunch of the apricot muffin, green bean soup, sous vide chicken salad with mango, sugar snap in salt broth, corn, roasted pepper, edamame and bacon salad.
There is no recipe for green bean soup but just for the record.
Ingredients:
1 bag (32oz) fresh green beans, boiled for few minutes in salted water
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs butter
1 cup whey (since we had it after my wife made cheese curd) (or chicken broth)
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Puree the green beans in the Vita-mix or other high-power blender adding a small mount of liquid and puree until smooth
Sauté the onion in the oil and butter on medium flame until cooked but not browned
Add the green bean puree and the whey and cook for 20-30 minutes.
Using an immersion blender, blend until smooth and no onion bits remain.
Season with salt and pepper
I served this hot initially but for the left overs, I diluted it with milk and served cold which was also quite nice. This is a great way to salvage green beans that otherwise because they are too fibrous would have been thrown out.
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
Apricot muffin アプリコットマフィン
As usual, I will ask my wife to take over. And as usual she took the recipe as “advisory”. For example, the recipe called for 1 cup greek yogurt. That was not readily available but ricotta cheese was so she used the cheese instead. Also the recipe called for milk and dried apricots. But we were using fresh apricots so she substituted the apricot puree for the milk and dried fruit. But somehow it all still worked!
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup ricotta cheese
½ cup melted butter
1/4 cup pureed apricots
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Puree the apricots and set aside. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the ricotta cheese, melted butter, egg and apricot puree in a separate bowl just until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full with batter (an ice cream scoop works perfectly for this). Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
These muffins were very good. The texture was surprisingly soft and tender. (Due to the use of ricotta cheese, perhaps?) The flavor was slightly sweet but the apricot was basically not detectable. Nonetheless these muffins were quite a pleasure to have with coffee for breakfast.
Sunday, July 9, 2023
Corn Sage Muffin Variation コーン、セージ、マフィンバリエーション
The picture below shows the salad she added.
The ingredients and directions for the two recipes she combine are shown below for convenience
Ingredients: For the muffin
1 cup grated corn
1 stick butter
6 large sage leaves (or several sprigs of rosemary)
1 cup of corn salad (this is the current variation in the recipe) (Salad recipe below)
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 corn flour (or corn meal)
2 cups All Purpose (AP) flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar (or more for a slightly sweeter muffin)
Directions:
Grate the ears of corn on a stand grater. Scrape the ears with the back of the knife to get the remaining "corn milk" . Melt the butter in a saucepan (do not allow it to boil or brown). Mix in the grated corn, salt, and sage leaves. Cook until creamy and thickened, making a kind of polenta. Remove the sage leaves. To achieve a really smooth emersion blend it further in a “motor boat” blender. Allow the mixture to cool. Add the buttermilk and eggs and mix until blended.
In a large bowl sift together the corn flour (or corn meal), AP flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sugar. Add the 1 cup of corn salad and mix in the dry ingredients to coat with a bit of the flour. Add the liquid ingredients and stir until blended. Scoop into the prepared muffin tin. Cook in 400F degree oven for 18 to 20 minutes for muffins, or until a skewer comes out clean and the muffins are nicely browned.
Ingredients: For the corn salad
1 roasted red pepper, skin, ribs and seeds removed and cut into small squares
2 ears of fresh corn on cob, microwaved wrapped in wet paper towel for 2 minutes or more until cooked
1 sweet (Vidalia) onion, finely chopped
2 strips of bacon, cooked to crisp and crumbled
1 large jalapeño pepper, seeded, deveined and finely chopped
1 cup of boiled edamame, shelled (or lima beans)
For dressing:
1 tbs Dijon mustard
1 tbs honey
2 tbs rice vinegar (or any vinegar)
8 tbs or more fruity olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
For roasted red pepper
I roasted them at 450F in the toaster oven on convection mode for 20 minutes turning a few times so that all the surface was cooked/charred. I then put them in Ziploc bags to steam for 30 minutes. Once cooled down, remove the stem end, skin, ribs, seeds and peel. (The skin will come off easily).
Combine all the ingredients, add the dressing and stir well.
Tuesday, June 27, 2023
Mini Apple Spiced Muffins アップルシナモンミニマフィン
Ingredients: (makes about 24 to 30 mini-muffins)
1 apple, cored, skinned and cut into small pieces
1 cup bran cereal (we used Kellogg Special k, since that was only cereal we had)
3/4 cup AP flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tps baking soda
3 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 cup Greek yogurt (we used home-made and strained kind)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F
Place the cereal in food processor and grind it to a fine texture. In a bowl, combine the cereal, flour, baking soda, and sugar.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg, butter, yogurt, cinnamon and vanilla.
Mix the wet and dry ingredients (do not over mix)
Fold in the apple
Add the batter in a greased mini muffin pan and bake 13-15 minutes.
For a freebee cookbook recipe, this is really good. My wife further expanded her repertoires. This is just the right size if you want a little added-something with your usual breakfast repertoire.
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Ginger Cookie Crumb Muffin
This was not quite following the recipe but she made it very similar to the “Cookie and cream crumb muffin”. I will ask her to take over.
Ingredients: (makes 12 muffins)
2 cups AP flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
3/4 cup roughly crushed ginger cookies
1/2 cup finely cut candied ginger (or to taste)
1 cup toasted pecans (roughly chopped)
For the crumb:
1/2 cup butter room temp.
1 tbs. honey
1/4 cup regular sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup of crushed ginger cookies.
Directions:
For the muffins: put the cookies in a plastic sandwich bag and using a meat pounder crush them into large pieces. (Otherwise the CuisineArt chopper has a hard time handling whole cookies. We found it’s attempt to do so is quite pyrotechnic.) Add the pieces to a cuisineArt grinder and process until the cookies are small crumb as shown in the picture below. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a 12 -cup muffin pan with liners of choice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla extract, egg, melted butter, and sour cream until combined.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Add in the crushed cookies and pecans and stir the whole mixture together with a spatula until there are no dry pockets.
For the topping :
In a medium bowl, using your hands mix the butter honey, brown sugar, sugar, flour, salt and additional crushed cookies until the mixture is creamy and smooth.
Evenly and generously cover each tin of muffin batter with the topping. Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until just golden. A cake tester should come out clean. These muffins were very flavorful although it took several days for the ginger flavor to fully mature.
The topping was crunchy and the muffin itself was tender in texture with a bright ginger flavor. The pecans added a nice nutty texture and taste. Another great breakfast addition.
Friday, May 19, 2023
Cookie Butter Swirls クッキーバターバンズ
Ingredients (makes 12 buns):
Dough
120g (½ cup) Milk (my wife used 1/4 cups evaporated milk, since she had it, and 1/4 cup regular milk)
120g (½ cup) Yogurt, plain unsweetened
2 Eggs (one whole egg + an egg yolk for the dough and the egg white for an egg wash on the final buns.)
45g (3 tbsp + 2 tsp) Sugar
6g (2 tsp) Instant yeast
85g (6 tbsp) Butter, softened
420g (3 ½ cup) All-purpose flour
5g (1 tsp) Fine salt
Filling
370 g Cookie butter (This used up all the available cookie butter)
Glaze
The egg white from the separated egg above.
Sugar
Directions:
Set up the proofer
Set the proofer to 78°F (25°C) and put the water tray in the middle of the warming plate. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) of water into the tray and place the rack on top of the tray.
Mix the dough:
Using a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of the mixer. In a separate bowl, mix the milk, yogurt, and egg, until well combined. Add the wet mixture to the dry. Add the butter. Mix on low speed for 2 to 3 minutes until no dry remains and the butter in incorporated. Turn to medium speed and mix for 7 to 10 minutes until the ingredients form a smooth elastic dough.
1st fermentation: Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and place in the Folding Proofer for 1 to 1 ½ hours until doubled in size.
Roll the dough:
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Roll into a rectangle measuring about 10.5" x 16" (27 x 40cm).
With the dough facing you lengthwise, spread filling over the entire surface of the dough.
Spread the cookie butter in a thin layer (#1)
Fold the dough into thirds like a letter. To do so, take the left side and fold it in toward the center. Take the right third of the dough and fold in to the center on top of the fold just made.
Refrigerate it for about 15 minutes which will make it easier to cut and shape.
Roll the dough out again to a 16.5" x 8.5" (42 x 22cm) rectangle (#2). Do the letter fold again and re-roll it out to 16.5” x 8.5” again.
Line two sheet pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
Cut the dough into 12 strips. To do this, mark the dough with 3 lines making 4 section. Then mark each of these 4 sections with 2 lines making a total of 12 sections. Then go back and cut the entire length of the dough where marked (#2). Take one dough strip and twist each end in opposite directions until the entire strip is twisted (#3).
Starting at one end coil the strip to form a circular bun, tucking the tail underneath (#4).
Place on the prepared pan. Repeat until all 12 buns are shaped and placed 6 on each of the 2 trays (#4). (The buns are placed 6 to a tray and each tray is cooked individually. This allows each bun to receive even heat and expand without touching another bun).
Final proof: The cookie sheets do not fit in the proofer. Cover it with a plastic wrap, and place the trays on the towel so they are not resting on the cold table top. Cover with another towel. Allow the buns to rise for about 1 hour.
Glaze the surface: First paint on the egg white then sprinkle on the sugar
Near the end of the proofing time preheat the oven to 375° (190°C).
Bake: Bake the buns at 375°F (190°C) for 18-20 minutes (#6).
My wife is really getting good at forming these swirl/buns. Her idea of using the cookie butter (this is made of chocolate cover cookies) really worked. The buns were sweet but not too sweet with a subtle chocolate flavor and slightly crunchy surface and soft inside.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Cookie and Cream Crumb Muffin
The recipe came from “Dough-eyed” website.
Ingredients: (makes 12 muffins)
For the muffins:
2 cups AP flour
2/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup melted butter
1/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
3/4 cup roughly crushed Oreos (we used our crushed chocolate covered cookies)
1/2 cup chocolate chunks (we didn’t have any so we did not include them)
For the crumb:
1/2 cup shortening, room temp.
1 tbs. honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup regular sugar
2/3 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
(Recipe called for an additional 1/2 cup of crushed cookies. Since we didn’t have any left we did not include this.)
Directions:
For the muffins:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and line a 12 -cup muffin pan with liners of choice. Set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla extract, egg, melted butter, and sour cream until combined.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture. Add in the crushed cookies (and chocolate chunks if using them) and stir the whole mixture together with a spatula until there are no dry pockets.
Scoop the batter evenly into your prepared tin, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
For the topping :
In a medium bowl, using your hands mix the shortening, honey, brown sugar, turbinado sugar, flour, salt and (additional crushed cookies if using them).
Evenly and generously cover each tin of muffin batter with the topping. Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, or until just golden. A cake tester should come out clean.
These muffins were amazing and very good. The topping formed a nice crunchy crust that tasted of toasted butter and honey. The muffin was fairly firm but nicely moist. Interestingly, it tasted distinctly like the cookies we had used. In fact it tasted like the cookies in fluffy format. The chocolate flavor really came through and was very pleasant. Never would have imagined something like this. We probably prefer this rendition of crushed cookie muffins more than the cookie butter crumb version.
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Cookie Butter Crumb Muffin クッキーバターマフィン
This is a continuation of my wife’s saga about finding old forgotten chocolate covered cookies in the pantry and making muffins from them. She found this recipe on the Internet. Since this recipe calls for “cookie butter”, which she did not have, she started the whole saga by making cookie butter and then proceeded to make this interesting (in a good way) muffin.
The recipe comes from “Bake or Break”
Ingredients:
FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:
1/2 cup (60g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (50g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons (42g) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
FOR THE MUFFINS:
1 3/4 cups (210g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (57g) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (100g) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (140g) cookie butter* (such as Biscoff or Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter)
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
*My wife made “cookie butter” from the chocolate cookies.
Directions:
TO MAKE THE CRUMB TOPPING:
Combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
Add the butter, and mix with your fingers until the mixture forms crumbs. Set aside.
TO MAKE THE MUFFINS:
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar, and cookie butter until thoroughly combined.
Add the egg and vanilla, and mix well. Add the milk and mix well.
Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and mix until fully blended.
Scoop the batter into the muffin tins using a 3 tablespoon scoop (I used the second largest ice cream scoop).
Distribute the crumb topping over the muffin batter.
Bake 20 to 25 minute, or until the muffins are lightly browned and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
I’m not sure what we expected from these muffins but they were quite good. The topping formed a crunchy crust and the muffins were very tender in texture and pleasantly sweet. Interestingly, the cookie flavor was completely nonexistent. If you were not told, you would never guess cookies were involved in the muffin. I may have detected a slight hint of chocolate but the predominant flavor was cinnamon. Amazing!
Sunday, February 19, 2023
Bran and Raisin Muffin ブラン、レイズン マフィン
Ingredients (made 12 muffins):
2 cups unprocessed bran
1 1/2 cups raisins (one cup rehydrated, the remaining 1/2 cup added to the batter)
1 1/2 cup water (1 cup to rehydrate the raisins, 1/2 cup to go into the batter).
1/2 cup buttermilk
The zest from one orange plus 1 tsp orange flavoring
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white (or just 2 eggs, optional)
1/2 cup pastry flour (or AP flour)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 Tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
Directions:
Toast the bran until it is fragrant. Pour the bran into a bowl add the buttermilk and remaining 1/2 cup of water and stir to combine (#3). Hydrate the raisins in 1 cup of water on the stove until the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Add to a food processor and puree (#2). Add the oil, brown sugar, eggs, and continue pureeing. Put the two flours, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine. Add the bran mixture to the flour mixture then add the raisin mixture. Stir until completely blended. Add the remaining raisins. Scoop the batter into muffin tins (#4). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the muffins are well browned and firm to the touch.
Saturday, December 17, 2022
Mini-honey corn muffin ミニハチミツコーンマフィン
This is another one of my wife’s baking projects. This time it’s mini honey corn muffins. They have a pleasant sweetness and corn flavor. The texture is coarse and they are a bit on the dry side. So, my wife concocted honey butter (shown on the muffin on the left below). This picture shows the butter before the muffin is toasted. We made the picture this way so the congealed honey butter is visible. The small muffins are quite nice as a breakfast with other assorted baked goods.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (1/2 cup AP flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour can be used as a substitute.
1 cup yellow corn meal (corn flour might be another substitute).
3 Tbs. Sugar
2 tsp. Baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk (or buttermilk)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1 cup fresh corn (optional, I didn’t use it)
Directions:
Mix the dry ingredients (flours through salt) in a bowl. In another bowl mix the wet ingredients (eggs through honey). Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold in the corn kernels if using them. Put into mini muffin tins lined with paper muffin cups. Bake in a 350 F oven for 18 to 23 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes (picture below).
Thursday, October 20, 2022
Blueberry puree and pecan muffin ブルーベリーピュレー、ピーカンマフィン
This is another variation on the theme of blueberry muffins. When we got less than perfect (in terms of the shape/consistency and sourness) blueberries, my wife slowly cooked and then pureed them using the immersion blender. You could add sugar and the puree worked well when added to our morning yogurt. My wife tried using blueberry puree in muffins and found that it really added a blueberry flavor in conjunction with the whole blueberries.
At one point she found the whole blueberries were gone but she had more puree than she could use in the morning yogurt. She didn’t want the puree to go bad so she decided to made a blueberry muffin “sans” the whole blueberry but just using the leftover puree as the liquid in the batter. She made this blueberry muffin with the puree as the blueberry “representative” and the addition of pecans to see how it works. As you can see below, the entire muffin turned sort-of purple.
1 cup toasted pecans).
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup combination of buttermilk and blueberry puree (i.e. however much puree is available combined with buttermilk to make 1 cup) room temperature
(Optional) finely grated zest of 1 lemon. We did not use this.
Directions:
To make the blueberry puree, bring 1 cup of blueberries to a very low simmer in a small saucepan. Cook until the berries have broken down. Puree using an immersion blended. Cool to room temperature.
Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk/blueberry puree, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes, and it will thicken up (picture below).
Monday, September 5, 2022
New Blueberry muffin 新ブルーベリーマフィン
Although we generally like home delivery of groceries, the quality of produce can be a bit unreliable. Since it was high-season for blueberries, we ordered some and several batches arrived in good shape and were delicious. But the last time, the blueberries that arrived had a hard life. Many were smashed or extremely soft. We had to discard about 1/3 of them and even the ones we saved were bit too soft to eat as whole fresh fruit on yogurt for example. So, my wife just heated them up in a sauce pan (no water or sugar, just gently cooked) until they were the consistence of soft jam. The next morning, I pureed them using an immersion blender. The blueberry puree was pretty good. We added a teaspoon of it to our morning yogurt. Somehow the blueberry taste intensified in the puree and actually tasted richer than the whole blueberries we had been adding. My wife, then expanded the blueberry repertoire by making this new version of blueberry muffin using both whole and pureed blueberry. The blueberry puree made the muffin really good with strong blueberry flavor. The puree was added to the top of the muffin. The cut surface looks like only a few whole blueberries were added to but the distribution was somewhat uneven. Other sections of the muffins had plenty of whole blueberries. This is based on the recipe called “America’s test kitchen’s best blueberry muffins”.
Ingredients
1 cup of whole blueberries (or optional substitute toasted pecans).
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
To make the blueberry puree, bring 1 cup of blueberries to a very low simmer in a small saucepan. Cook until the berries have broken down. Puree. Cool to room temperature.
Whisk the dry ingredients (flour through salt) in a large bowl. Whisk 1 cup sugar and eggs in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous. Slowly whisk in the butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk, lemon zest (if using) and vanilla until combined. Fold wet mixture and remaining berries into flour mixture until just moistened (lumpy is fine). If the batter seems loose, let it mellow for 5 minutes, and it will thicken up.
Divide among 12 greased muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups). Spoon 1 teaspoon of the blueberry puree into the center of each mound. (First picture below) Gently swirl into the batter using a toothpick and a figure-eight motion.
Bake at 425F until tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes. (Second picture below). Cool in muffin tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.
Addendum:
My wife was impressed by how the blueberry puree added a good blueberry flavor to the muffins. We had some left over puree but no whole blueberries left. So my wife decided to substitute toasted pecans for the whole blueberries. (Toasted pecans as a substitute for whole blueberries is not a substitute I would have made or let alone even thought of ) but this really worked. The picture below shows the result. It’a almost like two muffins in one. The top is blueberry muffin and the underneath is pecan muffin. And the blueberries and pecans really work well together. The pecans add a nice crunchy textural element.
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Home-made English Muffin 自家製イングリッシュマフィン
Ingredients: (12 muffins)
4 cups (560 g) AP flour
Monday, February 7, 2022
Mayonnaise muffins マヨマフィン
I am wondering if I should change the name of the blog since my wife’s baking is more frequent than my Izakaya dishes these days. In any case, here is another of my wife’s baking projects. This is an installment of what she is now calling her new series “cooking with mayonnaise” which evolved after she made the mayo/miso peanut butter cookies logged onto the Hellmans mayonnaise web site and found more baking recipes.** This is a mini muffin. It has a relatively dense texture and sweet taste including the topping. We think it makes a nice sweet mouthful as a desert rather than as a breakfast As usual I ask my wife to provide us with "how-to"s.
**Note: we just found out this mayo is called Hellman’s in the eastern U.S. and Best Foods in the western U.S.
For the muffin
1 cup AP flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
For the topping
(Original recipe) (I recommend reducing the amount of topping. See below)
1/2 cup AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup toasted walnuts finely chopped
1/4 tsp. Cinnamon
Half quantity of topping
1/4 cup AP flour
1/6 cup sugar
1/8 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
Directions:
To make the topping, combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl. Using your fingers mix into crumbs and then set aside. For the muffin, beat together the sugar through vanilla until completely combined. Whisk in the flour until combined. Pour into greased muffin tins (I recommend using mini muffin papers. It will make it much easier to get the muffins out of the pan.) Top with the prepared crumbs. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in the pan. Remove from the pan an cool further on a wire rack.
The next picture shows the muffins right out of the pan.
I see why the recipe calls for making these as mini rather than full sized muffins. They are very rich and sweet. A full muffin could easily be “too much of a good thing”. The muffin has a moist dense texture and pleasant vanilla flavor. The topping adds a nice crunch element and the nutty flavor of the toasted walnuts. The combination makes the perfect desert bite.