Muffin Madness!
I am not a baker- never have been! I am actually really bad at following recipes and I prefer to not have to measure things out. I also have yet to learn the science of baking, which really is key! But I want to learn! I hope to improve my knowledge and skills when it comes to all of the culinary arts. So I decided to start simple: Muffins! It was an adventure, but I am amazed that I can now say I created a muffin recipe (a couple actually)! My recipes are super basic and I am probably not the first person to come up with them, but hey my family is super thrilled with the results and I did something new. So don't mind me while I do a little happy dance over here.
It all started with my Little Jedi's birthday. After much deliberation we decided to make brownies for his party and turns out, despite their healthy ingredients, they were killer good! The left overs ended up being enjoyed by my Dreamboat and my mom-in-law with their morning coffee the next day! With this strange diet we are on I am always looking for special treats I can make my family and friends and foods that you can just grab and go and these brownies were a good start, but I wanted something more breakfasty and I wanted to create it myself.
I started with an attempt at making a chocolate muffin, which turned out ok, but more like a cupcake. They make a great treat, but not something I could justify serving my family every week.
Then there were the vanilla muffins with chocolate chips- also delicious and tasted great with grilled peaches and buttered pecan gelato (so I was told by those who actually ate that party in a bowl!) Still not what I was looking for though.
Later in the week, as I was batch cooking, I was inspired by the copious amounts of various winter squashes I was baking. So, I made some adjustments to my recipe and tried again (with the help of my Little Jedi). The flavor was great, but the muffin completely sunk in the middle! So we filled it with an egg, baked it a little longer and created a great grab and go breakfast item.
I will actually be keeping this recipe "flop" and making them again, but we still did not have a true muffin! I only had enough ingredients to try one more time. We tweaked the recipe, crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. 20 minutes later we pulled the muffins out of the oven and... we had success!!! My Dreamboat says they are pillows for your mouth and my Little Jedi gives them an enthusiastic two thumbs up!
These are a quick and easy healthy muffin recipe full of protein and goodness!
Mourning Cloud Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup Almond Butter
1/2 cup Winter Squash or Pumpkin (I used Acorn Squash)
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Honey (or Maple Syrup)
1 tsp Vanilla
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
Optional: 1/2-1 tsp cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cardamom and/or ginger
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Line your cupcake baking tray with baking cups
Put all of your ingredients into a blender and mix until combined
Pour into your baking cups
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes
Once out of the oven allow them to cool for an additional 15 minutes
Enjoy!
I told you they were simple, but the beautiful thing is you can feel great feeding them to your family and they will take you no time to make. In my world that is a successful recipe!
