Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

Fall is FINALLY here!! I do not think that I am alone in saying that it is my favorite season. Especially now that I am back in an area that actually has real seasons. The air is getting a little cooler and the leaves are starting to change colors. I’ve even busted out a few sweaters! But, even more than cool weather, colored leaves, and sweater, what I love the most about fall is probably the food. Warm stews and soups, apple cider, and, of course, PUMPKIN! Judging by the view of my blogs Pinterest page, I am not the only person excited about baking with pumpkin again.

To be perfectly honest, I did some premature pumpkin baking this year. These muffins were actually a part of my great pre-baby freezer stocking! . I waited to post the recipe because I wanted to see how they held up to freezing and reheating after a month. I am happy to report that these froze and reheated beautifully.  There really was no sacrifice in flavor or texture after hanging out in freezer bag for a month. Anytime I wanted a delicious, easy, one-handed snack, I would just grab one of these out of the freezer and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and boom! You pretty much have a freshly baked muffin! Perfect for first time parents of a newborn, busy parents of back-to-school children, or busy people with no children!

I’m muffin crazy, how about you?

Banana Oat Muffins
Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Muffins
Cinnamon Sugar Doughnut Muffins
Blueberry Doughnut Muffins

Peanut Butter Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel

I’m sure it’s no surprise to regular readers that Jesse and I have a thing for the chocolate/peanut butter combination. Yes, it is a true love affair. So, when Jesse asked me to bake something a few weekends ago and I asked, “Like what?” it’s not that surprising that his answer was, “Something with chocolate and peanut butter.” Referring back to all of those links I just shared, I have a lot of chocolate/peanut butter recipes under my belt. Which is awesome when I want a tried and true recipe to quickly whip up, but when I’m wanting something new I can share on here, it makes things a bit more challenging.

At this point, coming up with new chocolate/peanut butter combinations is challenging. So I sat and pondered. I thought of cookies, and cupcakes, and brownies… Then I started to think of Jesse’s other favorite sweet treats. Towards the top of his list of favorites is Cinnamon Crumb Cake. When I tell him I’m making crumb cake he gets a look in his eyes, like a kid hearing the faint music of an ice cream truck. So I wondered if there were a way for me to combine the chocolate/peanut butter combo with a crumb cake of sorts. After a bit of researching I found something that looked inspiring. She put chocolate chips right in the crumb topping?! Perfect! Of course, I am a huge fan of the recipe I always use (something about that mile high, truly crumby, crumb topping!), so I used her idea as base to adapt my usual recipe.

Trying not to brag here, but the results were AMAZING! The cake had a nice moist and tender crumb with just the right density (even though I was slightly worried it could be too dense with the addition of peanut butter). The crumb topping was thick and warm with just the hint of cinnamon that was perfectly paired with the chocolate chips. I liked mine drizzled with just a little bit of chocolate syrup, Jesse said it didn’t need it. He declared that it was one of the best baked goods I’ve ever made. And I think he might be right!

 

 

 

Strawberry Muffins

For the past few weeks I’ve been on a huge muffin kick. They make a great grab and go breakfast (even if the Chocolate Chip version isn’t so healthy), an even better second breakfast, and a pretty nice snack, too!

Since April is the kick off for strawberry season in California, I decided to try my hand at creating a strawberry muffin. We were absolutely thrilled with the results, light and fluffy with a nice strawberry punch. I liked mine with just a little butter (well truthfully, the Land O’Lakes spreadable butter with canola oil) and Jesse liked his plain (though of course he said they’d be just that much better with icing, haha).

*Side note – When I took this picture I totally felt like I was in one of those commercials with just the hands spreading butter/margarine on toast/a muffin and voice overs talking about great said butter/margarine is. 🙂

Looking for more strawberry recipes?

Strawberry Sorbet
Strawberry Brownie Tarts
Strawberry Lime Cupcakes
Strawberry Vanilla Scones

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Since my flight from Boston got in so late last Saturday night, I wasn’t feeling up to making a big Easter brunch on Sunday. Instead we met some friends at Broken Yolk (I can’t resist the California Breakfast Burrito, drool). We expected that they would be pretty packed and were pleasantly surprised to get a table almost right away. The staff must have also been expecting long waits because they were carrying around trays of mini-chocolate chip muffins for people waiting to be seated and waiting for their food. I, of course, snagged one and for the next 2 days I couldn’t stop thinking about them. Needless to say, I recreated them at home just 2 days later.

Let’s be serious for a second. These do not make a nutritiously sound breakfast. They are glorified chocolate chip mini-cakes, with no real redeeming nutritional value. But… they make an absolutely perfect second breakfast (ya know, that meal between first breakfast and lunch) for this 5-month pregnant lady. 🙂 And a delicious evening snack for anyone.

 

Love Muffins? Me too!

Easy Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins
Blackberry and Lemon Muffins
Banana Oat Muffins