Cranberry Applesauce Muffins

If you have ever read any of my posts here, you know that I am a) definitely not a professional food photographer and b) I am not "monetizing" the blog with any kind of promotion, either of ingredients or equipment.

What I do like to do with my little essays is present some recipes I've found pleasing to others that I hope readers will want to try. Along with the recipes I like to include some narrative that includes some "history" on when I started making the dish, a family story or other background comments I hope might be interesting. Sometimes I may also include some hints on how to make cooking and baking a little easier and/or less expensive.

All that said, today I would like to recommend and feature two "tools" that are pretty indispensable for me in my everyday cooking and baking. The muffin recipe that follows uses both pieces of equipment, with only measuring spoons and a mixing spoon to prepare the entire recipe.

First, a clear glass 1 quart measuring cup that doubles as a mixing bowl as well.

Those who know me know that I like to minimize the number of dishes that are going to be needing to be washed when I finish making something, and having to use many different measuring cups for a single recipe is especially not my favorite thing.  The nice thing about this large measuring cup/bowl is that many recipes can be adapted to just keep adding ingredients to the bowl rather than measuring each separately.

Today's mini-muffin recipe is especially easy to adapt to using only the measuring bowl. As you'll see in the recipe, I first layer in the cranberry sauce and applesauce and then pour the canola oil over:

 
3/4 cup cranberries + 1/4 cup applesauce + 1/4 cup canola oil = 1 1/4 cup total. (Though I realize now that the angle of the photo makes this look like 1 1/2 cups, it really is the right amount. As I said before, I am definitely not a pro at food photography!)

Then I add the eggs, brown sugar, and spices:

 

At this point, I beat everything together until well mixed. The clear glass helps me to see if I have any spots where some of the ingredients didn't get stirred in.



Now to the dry ingredients and the other "basic tool" that I have had for decades, literally! This, my friends who may be a little new to baking, is a flour sifter!

Probably the most important thing a flour sifter does is make sure that those "concentrated" ingredients like baking soda, baking powder, spices, and even cocoa are evenly distributed throughout the flour. I know that many, many people no longer have one of these, and you can get by without one. If the recipe says "sift together...," then you can just put all those ingredients in a large bowl and stir well with a fork to be sure that everything is evenly mixed. If you ever make the mistake of not thoroughly sifting or stirring in the baking soda, I can tell you from sad experience that you may get very uneven rising--and some bites will not taste good at all!

Wait, you may say. If it is so important to sift the spices along with the flour, why do I suggest adding them with the wet ingredients here?



When I am doing a lot of baking, I don't always wash my sifter between every recipe! If the only things going into the sifter are flour, baking soda, and/or baking powder, there is no problem with just reusing the sifter without washing. If I don't want to use the same spices in consecutive recipes, there could be a residue left in the sifter from one to the next. Thus, I long ago learned that spices can  be evenly mixed in with a very liquid set of ingredients, and my sifter would be left for only those more basic ingredients. So for this recipe, I have used my somewhat unorthodox method. If this sounds heretical to you, do feel free to sift those spices in with the flour.

Now, finally, on to the recipe.

If you are like most people I know, cranberry relish is a very seasonal dish, so you might well have a can of cranberry sauce left over from Thanksgiving or Christmas. Instead of having that linger on the shelf until next fall, this is a good way to use it up.

Cranberry Applesauce Mini Muffins

3/4 c cranberry sauce--the "whole berry" kind if you are using canned
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce, preferably homemade!
1/4 c canola oil
2 eggs
1/3 c brown sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t ginger
1 1/2 c flour--either unbleached, whole wheat, or a mixture of the two
1 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and use non-stick cooking spray to prepare enough mini muffin pans for 36 muffins. Be sure to cover each litle cup completely to avoid any sticking!

2.  Put the first 8 ingredients in a clear glass quart measure or other large bowl, in the order listed. Beat until thoroughly mixed.

3.  Sift the flour, soda, and baking powder together (or mix with a fork in a second bowl). Pour over the liquid ingredients and stir gently with a fork just until blended. Try not to over-mix.

4.  Spoon the batter into the greased pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes, until the muffins are nicely browned and spring back if touched lightly.

5.  Remove from oven and loosen from pans as soon as possible. Cool.

Makes 36 mini muffins.

If you prefer to make regular size muffins, this recipe will make about 12. Bake at 350 for approximately 16 to 20 minutes.

Quick Raspberry Muffins, AND a Quick Bread

This post shows the versatility of many batters.

It started out as just a muffin recipe, one that has been sitting in my draft folder for months. I've made these muffins several times, but this week, with the first of the fall crop of raspberries just really getting up to speed, I was looking for a recipe for a loaf bread--you know, the kind like those ubiquitous banana breads that show up at morning coffees.

Knowing that there are great similarities between the two types of baked goods, I took the muffin recipe and, with hardly any tweaking, had quickly stirred up a couple of loaves of wonderfully moist bread, a little on the tart side but excellent with a little honey butter spread.

The one problem with this as a loaf bread is that the amount of batter is a little too much for a "standard" 9 X 5" loaf pan. As noted below, you can use the standard pan and a "miniature"  3 X 5" pan or a few muffins.

Since I had plenty of raspberries this week, I doubled the recipe and used it for three loaves made in 8 1/2" X 4 1/2" pans.

While the batter is the same, the baking temperature and time will be different. The baking temperature should be 375 degreesfor muffins but only 350 degrees for loaf breads. Unsurprisingly, the time in the oven will also vary, with the muffins and smaller loaves requiring less time than the large loaf.

Whether you want muffins or loaves of bread, this is a wonderful recipe, especially if you have only a cup of raspberries and want to stretch them over several servings. The applesauce can take advantage of the early fall apple crop too. Oh, and note how very little oil is used--a nice bonus!


First, Muffins

Perhaps your picture of a muffin is one of those huge, overly sweetened and garnished desserts masquerading as a breakfast bread at your local coffee place. However, they once were rather plain Jane sides for a light meal of soup and salad or even a fairly healthy after school snack for kids. The nice thing about traditional muffins is that they really do live up to their "quick bread" categorization, and it isn't hard to whip up a batch with little equipment or time.

First, there is the "muffin method," which means you will just stir the dry ingredients in a bowl (no sifter needed), form a "well" in the middle, and then add the liquid ingredients all at once. Stir only until the mixture is just blended, no more, even if there are a few lumps here and there. An ordinary table fork or a wood spoon will do for the stirring, and you really should avoid using any kind of mixture. (Overbeating muffins results in a toughened texture and little "tunnels" in the finished product.) If you have special add-ins like berries, grated carrot, raisins, or nuts, you will fold them in at the very end, again mixing only until the added ingredients are well distributed through all the batter.

One of my least favorite parts of muffins is preparing the pans. You can use cupcake liners, but the muffins often end up sticking to these little papers. My preference is to use a cooking spray (like Spam), but kids who may be helping you sometimes enjoy the messy job of rubbing oil all around all the parts of each muffin "hole."

If you started preheating the oven just before you began putting the dry ingredients in a bowl, it will probably be heated just about the same time that you have the first pan of muffins ready to go. Then it's time to wait maybe 15 minutes or so, and, voila, hot bread to go with the rest of the meal. What could be easier?

For me, raspberries are the "frugal" choice, since I have these in abundance in my backyard garden. However, strawberries, blackberries or raspberries could all be substituted. Even chopped peaches and nectarines could work; with these, I would probably add a half teaspoon of almond extract.

Nuts--walnuts, almonds or pecans--are another nice add-on, either sprinkled over the top or stirred into the batter with the fruit.

Whichever variation you like, do give these quick recipes a try the next time you have a few extra minutes to spend in the kitchen.

Old-fashioned Raspberry Muffins

1 c whole wheat flour (OR use all unbleached flour)
1 c all purpose unbleached flour
2 t baking powder
3/4 c sugar
1 t cinnamon
1 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 T canola oil
1 c fresh or frozen raspberries; if using frozen berries, thaw and drain the juice (save it for other uses like adding it to a smoothie)
1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

1.  Stir the flours, baking powder, sugar, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until they are well-mixed.

Make a "well" in the center of the mixture. (This means that you will form a depression in the middle of the dry ingredients where you will pour the liquid ingredients all at once.)


2.  Measure the applesauce into a 2 cup measure and then add the egg and oil. Stir together until they are all well-mixed.

 

3.  Pour the applesauce mixture into the dry ingredients and stir gently with a fork or wood spoon, just until there are no streaks of the flours left. Don't worry if there are a few lumps.

4.  Fold in the raspberries, and walnuts if used. Stir just enough to swirl them evenly through the batter.

5.  Spoon the batter into well-oiled muffin pans, filling each one about half full, or use cupcake liners. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 16 minutes. Don't worry if you do not have enough pans to bake all the muffins at once; just set the batter aside until the first pan is baked.

6.  Remove from oven and leave in the pans for 3 or 4 minutes. Then take the muffins out of the pans and place on a cooling rack. Serve warm or cold.

This recipe makes about 18 muffin. As you can see at the edge of this photo, you can also make some muffins and a loaf of bread, following the baking instructions below.

These go well with butter or cream cheese and perhaps a drizzle of honey or even a bit of raspberry jam. Since raspberries are bit more tart than some other fruits, a sweet topping may be warranted.

Or...Raspberry Applesauce Bread

Follow the recipe above, through step 4. Bake at 350 degrees, in a well-oiled 9" X 5" loaf pan for about 40 to 45 minutes. If you do this, I would suggest putting some of the batter in a small (3 X 5 or so) pan or making 3 or 4 muffins with part of the batter, as it filled the loaf pan very, very full,  Bake the small loaf or muffins for about 20 minutes. Allow to sit in the pans about 5 minute before turning on to a rack to finish cooling.

As noted above, a double recipe will be enough for three 8 1/2" X 4 1/2" loaves.

Old-fashioned Bran Muffins

When preparing to make some quick bread for a morning coffee, I started my usual online search, looking for muffins using the apple butter and raisin bran that I wanted to use up. While there were lots of recipes using these, almost all were unfortunately much higher in sugar and fats than I wanted.

Not that I should have been surprised.

I'm not sure when it started, but the lowly muffin has evolved over the past decade or so from pretty basic and sturdy individual breads to be a side for unpretentious meals into giant sweets that often differ from cupcakes only by having a streusel type topping instead of frosting. Nothing I saw in my search was very inspiring.

Fortunately, I still have my recipe card file, pretty frozen in time, with very few entries added in the past 5 to 10 years. There, in the large bread section, was a subtab for "Muffins, Biscuits, Cornbread." These were the decades old recipes I had used over and over for after school snacks for my kids.

One of the most used recipes was one cut off the back of a raisin bran cereal box and taped to pretty now battered index card. It was a good basic recipe but without the apple butter I wanted to use up.

No problem. As usual, I ended up playing with the original recipe and ended up with muffins that were a hit with kids and adults. They aren't covered with lots of streusel and they have only a couple of tablespoons of oil, but they are tasty snacks you can feel pretty comfortable giving to the kids as a filler food while they wait for dinner.

Apple Butter Raisin Bran Muffins

 

2 c raisin bran

¼ c raisins

1 c water and ½ c dry milk powder (OR see Substitutions below)

½ c apple butter (OR see Substitutions below)

1 egg

¼ c sugar

2 T oil

1 1/4 c flour

1 T baking powder

1 t pumpkin pie spice

¼ c walnuts

1.  Stir the raisin bran, raisins, water and dry milk powder in a large mixing bowl and set aside for 20 to 30 minutes.

2. Fold the apple butter, egg, sugar, and oil into the raisin bran mix and beat until evenly blended.










3.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice together and gently sift it into the liquid ingredients. Add the walnuts and then mix only enough to moisten all the dry ingredients. Don't overbeat.





4.  Drop the batter into well-oiled muffin pans and bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes for large muffins, 12 to 15 minutes for mini-muffins. Allow to cool a minute or two before removing from the pans.

This recipe makes 12 to 15 full-sized muffins or 12 full-sized and 12 mini-muffins. It probably would make about 4 dozen mini-muffins though I haven't yet made the entire recipe into the smaller muffins.

Substitutions:

Instead of dry milk and water, use 1 c milk, skim, 2% or whole, whatever you have.
Instead of apple butter, substitute applesauce and increase the amount of sugar to 1/2 cup. Increase the amount of pumpkin pie spice to 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons, depending on your preference for spiciness.

Some general muffin hints

As noted, muffins need a gentle hand once the dry and moist ingredients are mixed. Overbeating can lead to tougher breads and sometimes relatively large "tunnels" in the muffins that are not too attractive.

If you don't have enough pans to bake the muffins all at once, don't worry. You can let the remaining batter sit on the counter while the first batch is baking.

Be sure you have oiled (or sprayed) the pans well. With the low fat content here, the breads are going to be much more likely to stick if you don't do this. You can use cupcake liners if you'd like, but the muffins are more likely to stick to the papers than cupcakes might--for the same reason that there is less fat in the batter. If you'd like, you can use the cupcake liners and then spray those lightly with non-stick spray.

Applesauce Zucchini Muffins

There was a time when muffins were the plain Jane cousins of cupcakes, back before they were laden with chocolate chips and dried cranberries, covered with thick layers of streusel topping and loaded up with butter or oil and lots and lots of sugar. They had few ingredients and were usually served with butter and some kind of jam or preserves.

I'd like to suggest that simple muffins of the plainer variety can still be something your family will love even as they are getting more nutrition and fewer empty calories. Today's recipe is one of those basic breads, perfect for having ready when the kids get home from school and can't wait for dinner. Because of the applesauce in the mix, you won't even need to serve with jam--though that is certainly a possibility that most kids will not turn down.

Following the recipe are a few variation suggestions, along with thoughts on how to cut down on prep time when you really, really want to get something in the oven quickly.

Applesauce Zucchini Muffins

2 c unbleached flour (can use up to 1 c of whole wheat flour to substitute for part of the flour)
1/3 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1 c grated zucchini OR yellow summer squash, lightly packed
approximately 3/4 c applesauce
milk--see Step 2
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 T butter, melted (may substitute canola oil)

1.  Stir the dry ingredients in a bowl until well mixed.  Form a well in the middle; this is where you will be pouring the rest of the ingredients
2.  Place the zucchini and applesauce in a 2 cup measure and fill to the top with milk.
3.  Pour the zucchini applesauce mixture into the well, along with the egg and butter.  Stir gently, only until the mixture is completely blended, with no dry spots. The batter may be a bit lumpy--that is fine!
4.  Spoon the mixture into well-oiled muffin pans. Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for about 14 minutes. Remove from pans while still hot and place on a cooling rack. Best served warm from the oven, while the fragrance fills the house.

This makes 12 to 14 muffins. (If you only have one muffin pan that holds 12 muffins, you can put the remaining batter into a small loaf pan and bake for perhaps a minute or two longer than the muffins.)

Variations:

This is a pretty basic muffin recipe, with little fat because of the applesauce. You can add in raisins or nuts or sunflower seeds, substitute grated carrots or butternut squash for the zucchini, and even mix in half a cup or so of blueberries or chopped strawberries or raspberries.  The sugar could be increased by a tablespoon or two if you use tart berries. Add nutmeg or ginger along with the cinnamon or leave all the spices out and add some grated orange or lemon rind. A half teaspoon of vanilla could also be used instead of the spices.

Make Ahead Hints

I used a package of grated summer squash from my freezer for this week's muffins, so these were especially quick to make. In season, I grate what always seems like an overabundance of zucchini and squash and package in 1 cup portions, in the cheap sandwich bags that fold over rather than zip closed. I then put several of these into a larger (1 gallon size is good) freezer bag. When packaged in this way and used within the next several months, there is no need to blanch these vegetables.

Even if you don't have garden produce to use in this recipe, why not grate several cups while you have the grater (or processor or blender) out and freeze the extras in the same way? Carrots could be frozen for up to a couple of months for use in later muffin, cake, or other recipes.

If you like the idea of making basic muffins like these, measure out the flour, sugar, and baking powder and put them into a small zippered plastic bag. Make up three or four of these at a time. Label each with what is inside and keep in a sealed canister or quart jar. Then, when you are ready for muffins, you have a head start; just take out a bag as though it was a purchased mix and add the remaining ingredients.

With pre-mixed dry ingredients and pre-grated veggies, these muffins take less time to stir together than it will take to get the oven pre-heated. 

...and on to the New

Some added comments to yesterday's post:

Pumpkin Seeds:

The method for roasting the pumpkin seeds may seem more cumbersome than the common approach to just rinse the seeds, coat with oil, and bake. The advantage to the brining is a much crunchier product and more even seasoning of the seeds.

Pumpkin Puree:

I neglected to weigh my pumpkin before roasting, so I can't give a good estimate of the ratio of uncooked pumpkin to pulp. However, as noted, I had paid less than $2 for the pumpkin, even as the price of canned pumpkin was well over $1 for the 15 ounce size. (There apparently was a significant pumpkin harvest shortfall in late 2009, so the price had jumped throughout all of 2010.) My pumpkin was "average" for the ones sold this fall; as seems typical here, pumpkins tend to be sold per fruit rather than by the pound.

What did I get for my $1.88? Eight cups of pumpkin puree and 2 1/2 cups of roasted pumpkin seeds. A good reminder to me to shop for pie pumpkins again next year, since they are so easy to prepare and can be frozen for ready use in recipes.

And how do I plan to use this pumpkin? Some will be frozen in half cup packages for adding to spaghetti sauce, chili, etc.--just as I use pureed squash, for adding to the nutrient load and building some added depth to the overall flavor.

There will also be some frozen in one cup portions for desserts. My August 24, 2009 post on this blog includes a recipe for a pumpkin apple upside down cake that makes a spectacular fall dessert. However, my personal, preferred dessert approach is pumpkin pudding, which is really just your favorite pumpkin pie filling poured into a pie plate or casserole dish and baked without any crust. Same great flavor but without the extra calories of the pastry.

If you are an ice cream lover, you can also take your favorite pumpkin pie filling recipe, omit the eggs, cut the milk in half (or omit completely), double the spices, and stir into about an equal amount of softened vanilla ice cream. Refreeze and enjoy at any season, not just when pumpkin pie ice cream might possibly be available. (You can choose to stir the pumpkin and ice cream together thoroughly for a solid effect or only marble the filling into the ice cream.)

The recipe I use as a basis for pumpkin pie, pumpkin pudding, or pumpkin ice cream is essentially the "Libby's Classic Pumpkin Pie" that you will find all over the internet--as well as on the side of Libby's pumpkin. I will admit to a couple of adjustments: the original recipe calls for 1/2 t salt, which I omit, and I often shake the cinnamon and ginger into the filling a little more generously than called for. Other than that, I try to actually follow this recipe!

Pumpkin Pie Filling

2 c pumpkin, either canned or prepared at home
2 eggs
3/4 c sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t ginger
1/4 t cloves
1 2/3 c evaporated milk ( 12 oz can)

Combine all ingredients, beating to be sure everything is well blended. If making a pie, place in a 9 inch prepared pie shell. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 and bake 45 more minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.


I am also going to include a recipe that I have not personally tested, since it comes highly recommended by my daughter and is one that my sister Linda made often when her kids were growing up. Looking at the amount of sugar in the recipe, it is clear that these are the kind of muffins that should be for dessert, not as a bread side--but then, that seems to be what all muffins are now. I think I'm showing my age when I say that the muffins I learned how to make in home ec class years ago were all pretty plain, usually intended as a base for some butter and homemade jams and jellies.

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

2 1/2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 T pumpkin pie spice
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 eggs
1 c solid pack pumpkin
1/2 c oil
2 c finely chopped apple

Streusel Topping
2 T flour
1/4 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
4 t butter

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the eggs, pumpkin and oil and add to the flour mixture, stirring gently until just moistened--do not overbeat. Fold in the apples.

Spoon batter into greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full. Sprinkle with Streusel Topping and bake for 35 to 40 minutes for large muffins, a little less for medium muffins. Makes 6 giant muffins, 9 to 12 medium muffins.

Streusel Topping
Combine flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.


And finally,

Black-eyed Peas

I started my New Year's with black-eyed peas, but not in the way I had initially planned. I decided to try a bowl of them for breakfast with only a scoop of good salsa over the top. My fears about these being too strong-flavored were instantly gone, as I found the flavor of this combination perfect as a savory start to the day and the new year.

An aside:
I had prepared the peas by soaking in salt water and then rinsing that off before cooking, and the final product didn't need any salt at all. I had written about this approach in an earlier blog but hadn't tried it until now--I would always forget and just start soaking beans, not thinking of the salting step until too late. I'd love to find a site that may have scientifically checked the sodium levels of beans prepared this way.

But back to the black-eyed peas. I decided to go for a kind of wintery salad mix instead of making a vegetarian version of Hoppin' John or anything similar, pulling out things already in the cupboard and produce drawer.

New Year's Salad

1 c cubed sweet potato (1 medium)
4 c cooked black-eyed peas, drained (probably two cans if you are not using those prepared yourself)
1 c coarsely chopped orange bell pepper (l large)
1/2 c chopped red onion (1/2 medium)
3/4 c diced celery
4 oz can diced green chiles; do not drain
1 c frozen corn
1/3 to 1/2 c chopped cilantro, or more to taste
3 T olive oil
2 T balsamic or cider vinegar--or a mixture
2 t cumin
1 t dried basil
2 to 3 T sugar, to taste
seasoning salt and black pepper to taste

Place the sweet potato cubes in a covered container with about a teaspoon of water and microwave for about 2 to 3 minutes until just tender.

Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl and toss to mix well. Allow to marinate a few hours, taste for seasoning, and serve.

Not sure about any good luck this will bring, but it certainly does add a lot of flavor to any foods with which it is served!