Cherry Cherry Lady

Hello!

Here’s a recipe for some wonderful cherry coconut muffins – easy, fast, delicious! I made these an hour ago, and already ate three.

Ingredients:
makes 12

2 cups cherries, halved and pitted

3/4 stick butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk (which is not, for whatever reason, in the picture)

1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup flour
3/4 cup coconut flakes, unsweetened

Directions:

In a bowl, mix butter, eggs, milk, and sugar. Whisk strongly until the sugar has dissolved and you have a homogeneous batter.
Fold salt, baking powder, coconut flakes, and flour into the egg mix. Lastly, add the cherries, and mix gently.

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Scoop out the batter into your muffin pan (lined with paper).

Bake for 20-22 mins. (until… wait for it… tooth pick comes out clean)

Let cool, and decorate to your liking.

I went with these little flags. They create a nautical flair, no?
Here’s the whole armada (minus one, which sailed right into my stomach):

xoxo, F.

Almond Muffins

Good evening!

This is my attempt at a ‘healthy’ muffin. No sugar, no butter! Whole-wheat flour! Maybe next time I’ll cut the eggs, too. The thing is: I bake a lot. Which means: we eat a lot of baked goods. Which is awesome. But every once in a while I simply feel better when I reduce my intake of fat and sugar a little… I have used agave syrup in pies before, but never in batter. I was skeptical – but it turned out ok. These muffins are not as fluffy and spongy as your usual ones; instead, they are rather moist and dense. I think they would go well with bananas, or maple syrup? We ate ours plain, and I cannot complain, either. Here we go:

Ingredients:
makes 12

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup almonds, finely ground

2 eggs
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and almonds.
In a second bowl, mix the eggs with agave syrup, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mix.

Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Line your cupcake pan with paper liners; scoop out the batter.

Bake for approx. 20 mins., until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

xoxo, F.

Beer Cocoa Muffins

Hello there!

Yes, it is true – these muffins are made with beer. I don’t know about you guys, but I have never baked with beer before. But I love drinking it, and I also love baked goods that are chocolaty and not too sweet. And, it turns out, this is the perfect recipe to fulfill these desires.
This is my version of a recipe I found on the wonderful food blog Bread and Honey. This is certainly one of my favorite blogs! It is full of beautiful pictures, and as much a celebration of cooking as of eating (which I find very important). Anyways, I did a couple of things differently: I left out the coffee (because I didn’t have any at home), and the frosting (because I wasn’t in the mood for frosting). Here we go:

Ingredients (makes 12):

1/2 cup dark beer
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa, unsweetened
1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/2 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsps. baking powder

Directions:

In a small pot over medium heat, heat the beer and the butter until the butter has melted; stir. Remove from heat; whisk in the cocoa and the sugar.

In a bowl, mix the sour cream with the egg and the vanilla. Fold into the beer mix.

In a second bowl, combine the flour and the baking powder; fold into the batter.

Preheat your oven to 350° F.

Pour the batter into your muffin pan, and bake for 25 mins.

Aren’t they beautiful? I decorated mine with some caramel bites. And, you ask, do they taste like beer? Not really. I find they have a very chocolaty, malty taste. I love them! And I will certainly make them again.

xoxo, F.