TWD: Honey Nut Brownies & Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins

Ruh roh! Somehow two Tuesdays have gone by without me posting my Tuesdays with Dorie treats. I baked them... just didn't post them!

Anyway, this week, Suzy of Suzy Homemaker chose Honey Nut Brownies and last week, Lauryn of Bella Baker chose Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins.


First up, the brownies... from the discussion forum I heard that these "brownies" tasted more of honey than chocolate. Those that baked early advised using a honey you really like because the honey flavor was front and center. Sadly, I'm not in love with the honey I have on hand, so I used Lyle's Golden Syrup instead. Lyle's is, I believe, a British product and tastes of caramel and has a consistency much like honey. I figured it would be a perfect match. I also increased the chocolate by half again, and used cashews to add another level of tastiness.


I must say... boy, were these ever good! Wow! I couldn't stop myself from cutting off a hunk every time I walked by. I'm glad I only made 1/2 batch! Now I need to find a good honey and try them as intended.

Moving on to the Citrus Currant Sunshine Muffins, they were aptly named because the day I made them the sun came out after what has seemed like forever! I get so tired of these grey, gloomy, Ohio winter skies, I just crave sunshine so badly this time of year.

Enter the muffins...


I even took them outside, risking a too-bright picture because it was so nice to see some sun.

These tasted lightly of orange and lemon and were nice and soft.


Next time I let the clouds get to me, I'm going to bake another batch of these and see if they will work their magic again on those nasty clouds.

OK, that's all folks. If you'd like to see the recipes, please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, from My Home to Yours", or click on the links in the second paragraph for Suzy and Lauryn's web sites.

TWD: Corniest Corn Muffins

Jill of My Next Life chose Corniest Corn Muffins for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

I was thinking about an old co-worker as I made these. (I'll call him Joe, to protect the innocent.) Joe was Irish, like, from-Ireland Irish, complete with an adorable Irish accent.

Joe had this thing about corn.


And it wasn't "A Good Thing", as Martha would say. It was a bad thing.

Joe despised corn. The mere mention of corn would send him off on a tirade (and this from a normally mild-mannered fellow). According to Joe, during the potato famine period in Irish history, a lot of people were starving, but somehow they got ahold of some corn. According to Joe, corn has no nutritional value, and so it didn't solve the famine problem and people were still starving.

My husband also worked with me at the time and he was witness to at least one lecture on the evils of corn. Nowadays, every so often, one of us will say to the other "remember how Joe used to get so upset when someone mentioned corn?".

I think Joe just might have approved of these muffins, though. They were just barely sweet, hearty muffins, chock full of corn. I haven't made cornbread many times, but when I have it usually turns out crumbly. These muffins weren't crumbly at all. I think these will be the "corn muffins" I turn to if I'm ever in need of a good recipe.

Thanks, Jill, for a great pick. Please check out Jill's site (at the link above) if you'd like to see the recipe, or see Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Great Grains Muffins

Christine of Happy Tummy chose Great Grains Muffins for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe.

These are supposed to be half-way healthy, what with the whole-wheat flour, oatmeal, and cornmeal in the mix. Healthy... unless you go renegade and add chocolate chips instead of dried fruit.


D'oh!

Yea, about that. I knew my kids would NO WAY eat these with raisins or other dried fruit. And I thought they might be a tad, well, dull without any chewies in there.

Besides, I'm on my annual health and fitness kick and I've been doing really well in the exercise and kicking-the-bad-eating-habit, so I figured, what they hay. (I've decided to try to kick, and I mean, for good, some of the worst offenders from my bad eating habits, tackling one per month. This month, I started with the worst of my worst, which is my SUGAR habit. I decided to go cold turkey and stop eating processed sugar all but one day a week. On that day, I let myself have a few of whatever I've baked for the week and maybe some M&M's at the movies. And shock of shockers, I've actually stuck with it! And even more shocking, it wasn't that BAD!! AND delightfully shocking, along with exercising regularly, I've lost about 7 pounds so far! (Who knew that not eating sugar would actually help you lose weight?! (she says sarcastically). I'm going to call the newspapers and alert everyone! (even more sarcasm)). Funny thing, putting my mind to something... somehow it worked. )

Anyway, where was I? The muffins. The muffins were decent. The taste was nice and they were moist, but there was something about the cornmeal... you either need to go all out with cornmeal, like with cornbread, or leave it out, in my opinion. Adding just a small amount to otherwise soft treats makes it kinda gritty. But I'm glad I tried them. I'm sure there were plenty of folks who liked them. I'm probably the oddball.

OK, that's that. I'll let you know how I'm doing with my February Bad Habit... cutting back on Diet Mountain Dew.

If you'd like to check out the muffins, visit Christine's blog, or Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, "From my Home to Yours".

TWD: Muffins and Cookies and Cake, Oh my!

Whew! January is almost over, which brings me back to the world of blogging.

Hi. Hello. I've missed seeing all the lovely blogs and even lovlier baked treats. I needed a break from blogging, but I kept up with the baking. It's been a fantastic month of Tuesdays with Dorie recipes, too. There hasn't been one stinker in the bunch.

Here we go in reverse order... first up, or I guess that would be last up, Jennifer of Cooking for Comfort chose Nutty, Chocolaty, Swirly Sour Cream Bundt Cake.



I wasn't expecting to like this, what with the dreaded cinnamon-chocolate combination in the swirl. But guess, what? I loved it, it was SO fantastic. The cake was nice and moist and the swirl was sweet and tasty. I made a few modifications, namely, leaving out the orange zest from the batter and the nuts and raisins from the swirl. Care was also taken to make sure the swirl was well hidden beneath layers of batter. I also used my 1/2 sized bundt pan for the first time... the cake was so adorable to boot!



Before that, Betsy of A Cup of Sweetness chose Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.


I made these as directed and they were just perfect. Lemony and crunchy from the poppy seeds, moist and tender from the sour cream in the batter. They weren't terribly sweet but that's OK because they were muffins, not cake. No complaints at all with these little yummies.

Next, Margo of Effort to Deliciousness chose Fluff-Filled Chocolate Madeleines.


My madeleines, without their fluff filling, or chocolate glaze were the poor cousins of those lucky madeleines that were made like they were supposed to be. (I soooooo did not need an almost-full jar of marshmallow fluff in my pantry, so I skipped the filling. Plain old laziness dictated that mine would not get a dip in the chocolate pool.) But you know what? They still tasted awesome, like bite-size chocolate cakes.


Of course, they didn't have the much-coveted hump on the back. But, really, who cares? Not me and not my taste buds.

And finally, that brings us to the first recipe of 2011, Midnight Crackles, which were chosen by Laurie of Slush (and founder of TWD) and Julie of Someone's in the Kitchen for the third anniversary of TWD.


It's been a while, but I seem to remember these might have had some spices in them... whatever it was, I left them out. I wanted pure, unadulterated chocolate.

And this cookie delivered just that. They were seriously good. If they would have had some chocoalte chips in them, they would have been the best ever Chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Underbaking them a little was key, by the way.

OK, folks, that's January! In a nutshell. If you'd like to see the recipes, check out the lovely ladies' blogs, or get ahold of a Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking, From my Home to Yours.

TWD: Allspice Crumb Muffins

It's time for another edition of Tuesday's with Dorie, folks. This week Kayte of Grandma’s Kitchen Table chose Allspice Crumb Muffins.


They were a light and fluffy muffin with allspice in both the muffin base and the struesel topping.


I'll cut to the chase... they weren't too pretty, but they tasted *really* good. And I'll take tasty over looks any day.



I have no idea what happened to the struesel topping. My guess is that the butter in the struesel topping wasn't cold enough or maybe there was just too much of it. After baking, the muffin cups were quite greasy... no doubt from all of that butter.

They were enjoyed by all, though, and that's what counts. Thanks Kayte, for a great pick!

If you'd like to see the recipe, check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours", or visit Kayte's site.

TWD: Brownie Buttons (& Orange Berry Muffins)

Jayma of Two Scientists Experimenting in the Kitchen chose Brownie Buttons for this week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe. I gotta say, Jayma, your pick ROCKED! This was the best brownie recipe we've done with TWD so far, if you ask me.


These brownies were devoured in about 30 minutes flat at my house. I'd say about half didn't even make it to the white chocolate dippin' part.


I dressed them up with some sanding sugar and sprinkles. My photos of chocolate treats usually end up so dull and boring, I figured I had to give these little guys a fighting chance at looking as good as they tasted.

I took mine out of the oven a few minutes before the lower baking time. They seemed almost done and I like them a little under done anyway. I think I got about 16 bites (can't remember exactly). Oh, and I left out the orange zest... why mess with chocolate when it's perfect already?

Speaking of orange, I made Orange Berry Muffins a few weeks ago, in my never-ending quest to catch up. This recipe was chosen waaaaay back in week 5 of TWD by Michelle of Sugar and Spice.


I sprinkled them with some basic streusel topping before baking.


They were very good! I only used half the orange zest called for and the orange taste was barely noticeable.

Oh, and before I sign off, let me share with you a visitor to our yard this week. Say hello to Mr. Black Rat Snake. (EWWWwww!) Although not poisonous (dear hubby says he's actually beneficial... um, OK) he scared the bejeesus out of me.


I'm guessing he was at least 3 feet long.

OK, if you want to check out the recipes, please pick up a copy of Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From My Home to Yours" or stop by either Jayma or Michelle's blogs.

Sssssssee you next week (get it? snake humor! har, har).

TWD: Fresh Mango Bread

Wow, it seems like forever since I've blogged, but it's only been since last week. Maybe it's because I've managed to get myself hooked on a certain celebrity gossip blog and I haven't been giving the food blogging world it's fair share of Internet time.

(In case you're not up to speed, feel free to ask me what Brittany Spears, the hot new hotties from Star Trek, or Robert Pattinson are up to (sigh...). I got the scoop!)

I'm pretty sure none of those skinny celebs have been munching on mango muffins like the Tuesday's with Dorie crowd has this past week. Poor them! Thanks go out to Kelly of Baking with the Boys for picking the Fresh Mango Bread for our enjoyment.

I cut the recipe down and made muffins so I wouldn't have to figure out what pan size to use.


I bedazzled my muffins (culinarily speaking) with some streusel topping (made from 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour, and 3 tablespoons cold butter, cut in with a pastry blender, a food processor, or just your fingers). It was yummy!


I traded the raisins for some chopped macadamia nuts, because I knew there was no chance my kids would try them with raisins. (Why does everyone hate raisins? I don't get it.) I also had to sub lemon zest for the lime zest because I've become a pro at forgetting key recipe ingredients the moment I enter the grocery store.

The verdict? They were darn good! In spite of the stringiness of the mango, which made me think I was eating short little blond hairs with my muffin, I really liked them. Someone on the TWD forum mentioned that the more ripe the mango, the more stringy it is... so I might even try these again with non-hairy, er, non-stringy mangoes.

Okey, dokey, thanks for stopping by! Please check out Dorie Greenspan's book "Baking, From my Home to Yours", or Kelly's site above if you'd like to see the recipe.

TWD: Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

I’m not sure why my childhood and adolescence were completely void of cornbread.



Was it that we westerners fed the corn to the cows and sheep, saving none for human consumption?

Was it meat-and-potatoes all the way in the small, farm towns of my childhood?




Maybe German folks don’t “do” cornbread. Maybe Lutherans and Catholics don’t either? I dunno.




What about the American Indians and Latinos I grew up with? Were my friend’s families secretly eating cornbread without my knowing?

I pondered these questions as I ate my chili and cornbread muffin, this week’s Tuesday’s with Dorie pick, (actually, they were Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins). Many thanks to Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake for choosing.


Too bad we didn’t have Paula Deen on Food TV whipping up good ole' Southern home cooking back then. Maybe then I'd have known about and maybe even tried them.

Suffice it to say I didn’t know what to expect this week. I’ve never made cornbread. I was a little perplexed by the stiff, dry batter. Was I supposed to mush it down, or leave it like this?


I ended up mushing it down a bit and it seemed to turn out OK. I opted for the standard cornbread rather than the savory version which included red bell peppers, cilantro, and black pepper.

The verdict? I thought they tasted good. However, they were very crumbly and literally fell apart in my hands as I ate them. That's kind of a deal-breaker for me. I like food that stays together. I doubt I'll make these again.

But as always, it was a learning experience.


By the way, I asked my mom if we ever ate cornbread when I was young. She said she made cornbread occasionally, but when pressed, she couldn’t remember what she made it with. Or where we lived at the time. I think she’s making it up, LOL.

TWD: Pumpkin Muffins

One great thing about pumpkin desserts is the color. That burnt orange color... love it!

This week's Tuesday's with Dorie recipe was Pumpkin Muffins, and was chosen by Kelly of "Sounding My Barbaric Gulp". Thanks Kelly! These lovely muffins have gotten me in the fall baking spirit.

My 9 year old took this picture. Don't they look great against the just-turning fall leaves?


A lot of folks said they loved these muffins. I don't know if it's my imagination or not, but it seemed like a lot of the folks that loved them added chocolate chips. Is that true? Anyone?

Personally, I thought they were a little bland. I did enjoy the crunch of the sunflower seeds on top, though. It was an interesting and tasty addition. I decided to up the yummy-factor by adding a healthy dollop of cream cheese icing to the muffins. They pretty much rocked after that. (Although I think it's quite possible that a burlap bag would taste delish with a dollop of cream cheese icing on top.)

I ended up with 12 muffins plus enough batter for a 2-inch mini cake.


Next week, we'll break out the muffin pans again for "Chocolate Chocolate Cupcakes". See you then!