Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

I thought I'd share this great recipe, loaded with flavour, nutrients and energy. Great as a breakfast or a healthy snack!


Carrot Oatmeal Muffins
Yield: 12

Start the day off right with these muffins loaded with oatmeal, whole wheat flour, carrot and low in fat - all the stuff that’s good for you and they taste amazing!
Ingredients:

Carrot Oatmeal Muffins

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour, sifted (425 ml)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (250 ml)
• 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (5 ml)
• 2 1/2 tsp baking soda (12 ml)
• 1 tsp salt (5 ml)
• 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (250 ml)
• 2/3 cup brown sugar (150 ml)
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, chopped (60 ml)
• 1 cup grated carrots (250 ml)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup peach nectar (125 ml)
• 3/4 cup buttermilk (175 ml)
• 1 cup apple juice (250 ml)
• 2 tsp vanilla (10 ml)
• 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (30 ml)
• Apple butter, for serving (optional)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a medium muffin tin by lining with muffin papper or brushing/spraying with oil.
Sift together whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Add the brown sugar, apricots and carrots. Stir to combine.
Add the egg, peach nectar, buttermilk, apple juice, vanilla and oil to a medium bowl. Whisk until combined. Pour the liquid into the flour mixture ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until just combined. Some of the flour may still remain visible. Do not over mix or the muffins will be tough.
Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin tins. Put in the middle rack of oven. Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Makes 12 medium sized muffins.

Chef Michael Smith's Peanut Butter Cups

Click the photo for the link to the original recipe.

These homemade peanut butter cups are amazing! I recently watched an episode of Chef at Home, and immediately began to make these as soon as I realised I had all of the ingredients. They're unbelievably easy to make, and really satisfy your peanut butter and chocolate craving. I would like to try substituting peanut butter for almond butter in this recipe!

Anyways, here's the recipe.

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces of 70% bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces


• 1/2 cup peanut butter


• 1/2 cup cream cheese


• 1 tbsp confectioners sugar


• 1 tbsp vanilla


• 4 x paper or foil muffin cup liners

Method:

1. Melt chocolate in a bowl set over a small pot of simmering water.
2. Using a pastry brush or new paintbrush paint chocolate onto the inside of the muffin cups.
3. Place them in a muffin tin for easier handling.
4. Paint a thick layer and then refrigerate until it has set hard.
5. Puree the peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a food processor until smooth.
6. Spoon or pipe into the hardened chocolate cups and then pour a thick layer of the remaining melted chocolate over the top making sure the edges are sealed.
7. Put back in fridge until the tops have set.
8. Peel liners off before serving.

Note: You don't need to puree the peanut butter and cream cheese, I simply mashed them together with a spoon. You can also use an electric mixer. I also changed the recipe so that the sugar is actually confectioner's sugar as opposed to granulated. It gives the texture a less gritty feeling, and sets the mixture up nicely.

Lemon Loaf

I have been thinking about baking a lemon loaf for a while now, but I haven't found a recipe I was happy with, or had the time to bake! I found this recipe today, and it looks amazing! I haven't decided if I want to frost the loaf completley, or pour a syrup glaze over it.

Anyway, here is the recipe for the lemon loaf with frosting from : http://www.taste.com.au/

Lemon Loaf

Ingredients (serves 8)

• 125g butter, softened
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 lemon, rind finely grated
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 cup Greek-style yoghurt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups self-raising flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup almond meal (ground almonds)
  

Lemon icing

• 2 cups pure icing sugar, sifted
• 1 lemon, rind finely grated, juiced
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Line base and sides of a 7cm-deep, 10.5cm x 20.5cm (base) loaf pan with baking paper, allowing a 2cm overhang at both long ends.
Using electric beaters, cream butter, sugar and lemon rind on high speed until pale and creamy. Add egg yolks, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine yoghurt and milk in a jug. Fold flour, almond meal and yoghurt mixture, 1 at a time, into butter mixture.
Using electric beaters, beat eggwhites in a bowl until soft peaks form. Stir one-quarter of the eggwhites into batter. Gently fold in remaining eggwhites. Spoon into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Reduce oven to 160°C and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool loaf in pan for 10 minutes. Lift onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Make lemon icing: Combine icing sugar, 2 tablespoons lemon juice and butter in a bowl. Beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Drizzle lemon icing over loaf. Sprinkle with lemon rind and serve.

Banana Loaf

This banana loaf, which is essentially more like a banana cake, is one of my favourite quick breads! This recipe differs from other conventional banana bread recipes because this loaf is a lot more moist and rich! It's great as a breakfast, but also wonderful as a dessert!



Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 large eggs, beaten lightly
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large, very ripe bananas (brown), mashed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup toasted nuts such as pecans, walnuts, almonds (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips (or chunks)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, chocolate and nuts (if using)

Combine mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter and vanilla. Fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture, gently. Do not overmix the batter.

Bake immediately for 60-70 minutes, using a skewer to test if done. The loaf should be a little moist on the inside.

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cups

Quite an amazing recipe, a really rich chocolate mousse. Surprisingly without the addition of eggs, or meringue. I saw this recipe on Chef Michael Smith's "Chef at Large". I actually whipped this up last minute with some ingredients I had lying around at home, and it turned out to be a really great dessert! Although the recipe includes making the milk chocolate cups and piping the mousse into them, I didn't bother with that. Instead I just poured the mixture into seperate cups and chilled them!

Ingredients:

For the Milk Chocolate Cups:

8 oz milk chocolate, chopped
For the Dark Chocolate Mocha Mousse
1 lb. 70% dark chocolate, chopped
1 cup brewed coffee
2 tbsp sugar
2 cups 35% whipping cream
1 tbsp vanilla extract

For the White Chocolate Drizzle
4 oz white chocolate, chopped

Method:

For the Milk Chocolate Cups
Gently melt the milk chocolate in a medium bowl set over a small pot of simmering water. Meanwhile line your choice of four ramekins, very small bowls or muffin pan molds with plastic wrap. Press the wrap evenly into the mold of your choice paying particular attention to the bottom corner where the sides meet the bottom. Spoon two or three spoonfuls of melted chocolate into each mold. Swirl it up and around the sides to form an even coat. As it cools it will thicken slightly and adhere to the sides. Refrigerate until set.
For the Dark Chocolate Mocha Mousse
Gently melt the dark chocolate in a medium bowl set over a small pot of simmering water, you may reuse the milk chocolate bowl. Add the coffee and stir until melted. Remove the bowl from the simmering water and let cool. Meanwhile whip the 35% cream with the sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Fold the cooled chocolate and coffee mixture into the whipped cream and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until the mousse has set.
For the White Chocolate Drizzle
Gently melt the white chocolate in a clean medium bowl set over a small pot of simmering water. Remove the milk chocolate cups from fridge and carefully ease them out of their molds then peel off the plastic wrap. Place them onto a serving platter. Scoop the mousse into a piping bag or a freezer bag. Cut off the corner and pipe into the chocolate cups. Using a spoon or a fork, drizzle the top of the chocolate mousse with melted white chocolate. Refrigerate until firm.

Oreo Truffles

This amazing recipe which has gotten my whole family (and friends who have tried it!) hooked! These oreo truffles are unbelievably easy to make, and taste rich and delicious (you wouldn't even know they were oreo!) I originally found this recipe at Bakerella's blog, and thought it seemed simple so I just had to try it out. I'm glad I did, because it turned out to be one of my favourites!

Prep Time:
30 min
Total Time:
1 hr 30 min
Makes:
3-1/2 doz. or 42 servings, one truffle each

Ingredients:
1 pkg. (1 lb. 2 oz.) OREO Cookies, finely crushed, divided
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
2 pkg. (8 squares each) BAKER'S Semi-Sweet or White Chocolate, melted

Method:
MIX 3 cups of the cookie crumbs and the cream cheese until well blended. Shape into 42 (1-inch) balls.
DIP balls in melted chocolate; place on waxed paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover melted chocolate can be stored in tightly covered container at room temperature and saved for another use.) Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs.
REFRIGERATE 1 hour or until firm. Store any leftover truffles in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

Ofcourse you can always try dipping them in the white chocolate and sprinking some extra cookie crumbs on top! Pretty simple! Try it out today!