double chocolate banana muffins

Going Bananas....

I love a freshly baked banana bread anytime, but some how whenever i've gone through any recipes with chocolate and banana, it always used to weird me out, i couldn't get myself to imagine liking that combination (even before trying it).

So when i read this recipe, i thought the best way to know whether i'll like it or not is to try in once and for all..they recipe looked quite appealing and easy, so i went ahead a gave it a try.And i was convinced.I got lovely moist chocolaty muffins, with just a hint of banana flavor, which actually tasted good.

I substituted all of the refined flour for whole wheat and oats, because the moisture from the bananas take care of not making the cake dry. So what you have is yummy chocolaty, whole wheat muffins..

Ingredients:
2 medium bananas (about 1 cup), over-ripe
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp milk (or sub 2% dairy milk)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp (packed) light brown sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (look for dutch-processed)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1-1/8 tsp baking soda
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup ground oats
1/4 cup miniature chocolate chips (bittersweet or semisweet)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, use the back of a fork to mash the banana until only very small lumps remain. Add the vanilla and the egg and use the fork to whisk the mixture together until completely combined. Add the oil and milk and stir to combine. Add the sugars and stir again.
Using a spatula, stir in the cocoa powder, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix until the cocoa is completely incorporated. Stir in the salt and baking soda, then gently fold in the flour, until just combined.
Divide the batter among 12 paper-lined muffin cups, about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with the chocolate chips. Bake for 15-17 minutes, rotating once, until the muffin tops look set, and a cake-tester inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, before removing and cooling completely on a baking rack. Serve warm or at room-temperature.

miniature muffins for little one's tiffin

I know..who would believe these are actually heathy !!!

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Picnic time....

Since the time i've seen this post, i've been wanting to try these...for someone who loves chocolate chip cookies...this is like even better, because i'm not a cookie person...i prefer cakes n muffins. And I love chcolate chip anything...

I made them to carry along on our weekend trip to Matheran. and they were perfect to snack along for int he car and all through out our trekking...

Although i didn't finally use the same recipe. i looked for a different one with whole wheat n oatmeal. I don't remember where i found this recipe. but it did turn out really good. 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1 egg

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup refined flour

3/4 cup ground oats

1/3 cup brown sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt 

3/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius. and line your muffin tins with paper liners.

beat egg, milk and butter in a bowl. Sift all the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and whisk till properly mixed.

whisk dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with spoon ( no electric beater required). Mix in the chocolate chips and walnuts.

I topped each muffin with a sprinkling of sugar crystals to give it a nice sugary look.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.

caramel cupcakes

Something about caramel.....

sorry about the really really long break in posts, but was really busy the last few weeks..what with the wedding season starting over hear.
So caramel cupcakes....you see speaking from a health point of view chocolate is better then caramel. But there is something about caramel..the sticky, sweet goo.. that is caramel. how can anyone say no to anything caramel.
I've had a few caramel cupcake recipes bookmarked since a long time, but most of these recipes had caramel as a filling or as caramel frosting. what i really wanted to try was a caramel flavored batter, as i usually prefer plain and light cakes. rather than a heavy and extremely rich cake.
after a lot of browsing, i came across a recipe on someone's Facebook page that swirled the caramel into a plain yellow cake which really appealed to me. so i adapted a similar idea for my own caramel cupcakes..

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour

100 g butter

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

vanilla essence

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk

1 tsp baking powder

for caramel sauce:-

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter

1/4 cup cream

Method:

for the caramel sauce - heat sugar and butter on medium heat until melted, do not stir, u can swirl the pan to distribute the sugar and melt it evenly, keep heating until sugar turns a nice amber color. remove from heat and add the cream all at once and stir to mix evenly and dissipate the air bubble...be sure to pour in the cream from some distance so as not to burn your hands. cook for a few more minutes to get the right consistency. remove from heat and let cool completely...the sauce will turn thicker once it cools.

for the cupcakes - cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add the eggs one at a time until well blended, add the vanilla essence. Add half of the sifted flour and baking powder, then add the butter milk, followed by the rest of the flour mixture. fill your lined cupcake tins halfway, then add 2 tbsp of caramel sauce and top with another tbsp of batter. swirl with a fork. 

bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.

can top with extra caramel sauce before serving.

topped with caramel...yummmm!!!

light and Heavenly....

caramel sauce...

Wholesome Yeasted Nachni Muffins

this one is a true experiment....why so...

well, I had some left over cookie dough after i tried making teething cookies for my 8 month old. The problem with the cookies, they didn't turn out crisp and were very crumbly, although the taste was good. could be because of more liquid in it as i added applesauce, or could b because i didn't add any baking powder or soda, as they were for an infant.

anyways i decided against making cookies out of the rest of the dough, and thought i can finish the dough by making muffins out of it.

since i didn't add any leavening agent in the dough, i was thing id baking powder mixed in water or milk, and then mixed with the dough would work. then i thought why not try leavening them with yeast instead.also b'coz i had bought some fresh yeast for making pizzas, but didn't get to make them and didn't want to waste the yeast. so I thought why not experiment.

the result, well i think i added a bit too much yeast (20 - 25 g), and they were smelling a bit to yeasty, other than that you could say i was like a combination of a bread and cake, not too bad, but not that good either. 

If i do try it again with less yeast will let you know...

Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 tbsp applesauce
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp dried ginger powder (optional)
1/4 cup nachni flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
5 tsp oats
1/4th cup lukewarm milk
1 large banana chopped
15g fresh yeast

Method:
soak the yeast in some lukewarm water with 1 tsp sugar for 5 to 10 minutes
cream butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg and beat well, add in the apple sauce. add in the yeast, stir in the milk
sieve the dry ingredients separately, a mix into the wet mixture. Add the chopped bananas and mix.
cover and keep for 45 minute to an hour in a warm and dark place. (i use a switched off preheated oven for yeasted recipes if the weather is not favorable)
the mixture will become frothy after an hour.
spoon 2 tbsp into a lined muffin tin and bake in a preheated oven at 180 for 12 - 15 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

a bit bready from the inside....
but extremely soft

Savoury Muffins

I do love to make desserts and feed them to my family and friends... but when it comes to my personal preference..i'm more of a savory person.
So when i saw this recipe for savory muffins.....i Thought to myself..MUFFINS.....and SAVORY.....I got to try these.....
these are perfect as an evening snack with a dollop of ketchup or just like that....or to serve to guests.
the best part of the recipe is that u can put whatever you want in it. just like a sandwich.
I didn't follow this recipe exactly, just used the same base recipe and did whatever i liked with it. and you can do the same... i think these would taste even better if I use yeast as the leavening agent instead of baking powder and soda...and after trying my yeasted nachni muffins, i think i'm sometime in the future i'm gonna try this same recipe with yeast...

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

½ tbsp baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp oregano

½ cup plain yoghurt

½ cup cheddar cheese

1 egg

⅛ Cup butter (2 – 3 tbsp)

¼ cup capsicum, chopped

¼ cup onion, chopped 

⅛ cup boiled chicken or sweet corn

⅛ cup pizza sauce/ tomato ketchup

¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp red chili flakes

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp sugar. 

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, baking soda, oregano and pepper flakes. Stir in the cheddar cheese.

In another bowl, whisk yoghurt, eggs and butter. Stir in the flour mixture and mix until just blended. Add the pizza sauce, capsicum, onion and chicken at the very end.

Fill muffin cups and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and oregano. Bake for 20 mins.

Serve with tomato ketchup.

Oreo cupcakes

who doesn't love oreos. and to imagine your favorite cookie incorporated into cupcakes.....need i say more.
if you make a batch of these you will be an instant hit with all the kids, teenagers, maybe even a few adults...i'm surely a fan.

the recipe is pretty simple, its a vanilla cupcake recipe with crushed oreos mixed in it and half an oreo cookie at the base, and topped with oreo flavored buttercream...Too much of Oreos can't go wrong.. trust me
I found this recipe on sugarcrafter, the only changes i made was to add half an oreo at the base

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 and 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 large egg whites or 2 whole eggs

1 and 1/2 cups sour milk (or buttermilk)

1 and 1/2 cups finely chopped Oreo pieces

20 oreo halves with cream filling

Frosting:-

6 tbsp butter, softened

3 cups powdered or icing sugar

2-3 drops vanilla essence

2 – 4 tbsp milk

Oreo crumbs.

Method

For the cupcakes, preheat the oven to 180ºC.  Mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a large bowl, mix together the butter with the sugar and vanilla. Then, add the egg whites, half at a time. The mixture will go from crumbly to soupy.

Then, add the egg whites, half at a time.  The mixture will go from crumbly to soupy. Stir in the Oreo pieces

Place one oreo halve – cream side up, in each muffin mould. Now, pour the batter over these cookie halves.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting - First, mix together the butter, and vanilla.  Add in the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Then, add in the milk, and mix until well-blended. Finally, mix in the Oreo pieces.

My frosting became a little runny, so i drizzled it on top. you can also use whipped cream mixed with crushed oreos, i think i would have liked it better, i'm not a very big fan of buttercream as I find it a little too sweet. but even without any frosting these cupcakes are really good.

Chocolate muffins.....

My first post....

as i have finally decided to start blogging, i thought of wt my first post should be. And felt it would only be right to start blogging with the recipe that started my food photography craze. i had only photographed this with the intention of showing it off to my brothers and making them jealous, but the pic came out so good that after thins i ended up wanting to photograph all my desserts.

this is a very basic muffin recipe that i found on joyofbaking, and my motto is to always find the simplest of recipes. if a simple recipe gives you delicious muffins why even try a more complicated one.
The chocolate sauce that i drizzled on top..was absolutely delicious, rich, creamy and oh so chocolatey...my secret -  it was actually a devils food cake frosting recipe that i found on the net, but when i made it, it turned out really liquidy, and i didn't know how to thicken it enough to use as frosting....so instead i just used it as chocolate sauce and didn't tell anyone that it was meant to be frosting...haha ..

Chocolate sauce

Ingredients:-
125 ml water
30 g brown sugar
175 g butter, cubed
300 g dark chocolate, chopped

Put water, brown sugar, and butter in a pan over low heat to melt. when the mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so that all the chocolate is hit with the heat. leave it for a minute to melt before whisking till smooth and glossy.
Note- to make frosting reduce the water to around 80 ml. leave the mixture for about an hour whisking now and again and refrigerate before using.