Carrot Muffins

There are only so many times you can spend 5-30 minutes trying to look up a favorite recipe before you say "Enough is enough! I am putting this on the blog!" 

Today I reached this point. 

I originally found this recipe over on tasty kitchen. The recipe is actually entitled "Easy Breakfast Muffins" and it includes different mix-in options from apples to chocolate chips and so on. But seeing as how I almost always make the carrot ones... well you know.

Carrot Muffins (aka Easy Breakfast Muffins)

• FOR THE MUFFIN BASE:
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 whole Egg
• ½ cups Canola Oil
• 1 cup Milk
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1-½ cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Add all dry ingredients (flour through salt plus cinnamon) into a bowl. Mix well. Add egg, oil, milk, vanilla, and carrots. Stir by hand gently just until mixed together. Over stirring will result in tough muffins.  

Spray two 12-count muffin tins (as in 24 muffins) with non-stick spray. Fill each muffin cup 1/2 way full of batter. Bake 18-20 minutes until done. 

Delicious!

Now if by chance you don't want carrot muffins (because you are crazy...) you could try the following mix-in ideas and nix the 1 1/2 cups shredded carrots and the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon:

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup shredded zucchini and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup chopped/peeled apple and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cup blueberries (Don't do it! Use this recipe for TO DIE FOR blueberry muffins... or any berry muffin for that matter.)
2 medium-sized ripe bananas, mashed (Don't do bananas either. If you want banana muffins use this recipe. It is my favorite and my best.)

But, allow me one last bit of advice: I hate, HATE!, carrots. But, I LOVE carrot muffins. Even above apple and zucchini. So try it with carrots at least once.

For me.

 If you hate them, there is something wrong with you.
 (j/k You can hate them. But you will be weird.)

 

The BEST Buttermilk Banana Bread Recipe

I've never been a banana kind of person. I would occassionally eat them when they were coated in vanilla icecream and hot fudge, or maybe in small quantities in a bowl of cheerios. 

But just to wolf down a banana? No thank you! 

Banana bread was naturally never a favorite because, duh, it tasted like bananas.

But my children love bananas. In spurts. Like they love yogurt, or grapefruits. (You know the dilemna, you buy just a couple and they inhale them so the next time you go to the store you buy a lot and it sits in the fridge for years...) 

So one particular "off season" for bananas in our house I happened to be on this blog: The House of Smiths. 

Ever heard of it? 

Of course you have. 

It just so happened the very day she posted her banana bread recipe I had super ripe bananas sitting in my fruit basket. Happy happenstance. 

When I took my first bite of this banana bread I immediately called my husband and said "I just made the best banana bread EVER! You have got to try this!" To which he responded, "I don't really like banana bread." "I know, neither do I. But this stuff is ridiculous." And I was right. It was ridiculous. And he came home and had a loaf and agreed with me.

That, my friends, was more than a year ago. I make this banana bread all the time now. And every time I log onto Shelly's blog and search for the recipe. Only problem being, her blog is so awesome i get on "just to look up the banana bread recipe" and get sucked into her blog's awesomeness for long periods of time and then my children come in crying "I thought you were making us breakfast....!"

sigh...

Make this banana bread. 

And, I don't ever want to hear you crying about not having buttermilk in your fridge. Buttermilk is a STAPLE in our fridge. Almost as much so as regular milk. It last forever practically (usually at least a month) and it is a key ingredient in this banana bread and our favorite pancakes: Truckstop Pancakes, which we make ALL the time. Just man up and buy yourself some buttermilk. (You can use it in mashed potatoes as well. It adds a really nice tang.)

The BEST Buttermilk Banana Bread Recipe (From House of Smiths)

Mix Together:

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Set this aside. 

In another bowl, cream together:

3/4 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 eggs

4 ripe mashed bananas 

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix well.

Pour batter into prepared (sprayed with cooking spray) MINI loaf pans. This part is super important. Shelly says the bread doesn't bake up as delicious in standard bread pans. I've always done as she says.

Bake @ 350 for 30-35 minutes or until done. 

Makes 6-7 small loaves.  

YUM! 

Mine is just about to come out of the oven and every child in my house is doing a happy dance. 

Husband loves his banana bread best with chocolate chips and so I always add some to a couple loaves just for him. 

Because I love him. 

Lots.

Waffles of Insane Greatness

I have a love hate relationship with waffles. When I was little I hated waffles because all the butter would get stuck in the little pockets. (I was a crazy kid...) 

As I've matured and embraced whole pockets full of butter I have had an idea of what the perfect waffle would be. I've tried every recipe out there from ones that have you separate your eggs to ones that have oats. And while some of them where okay I never truly found what I was looking for. Crispy outsides, airy insides, and a batter that didn't end up tasting like cardboard. (picky girl right?)

Well this morning the craving for waffles appeared again. So I hopped on food network dot com and typed in waffles. 

When you come across a recipe entitled "Waffles of Insane Greatness" you make those ones. Especially when 198 reviews have given it 5 stars AND you have all the ingredients AND it's as simple as dump and stir.

Result: I'm probably not going to be searching for another waffle recipe. 

Crispy outside, airy inside, PACKED with yumminess.

 Is it the absolute best waffle recipe out there? Who's to say.

 But it is definitely the best waffle recipe I've ever tried. And I've tried all those recipes claiming to be the best. 

Waffles of Insane Greatness

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk or buttermilk
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Butter and syrup, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. Add the milk, vegetable oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and mix well. Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. (I let it sit while my waffle iron heated up and while I did the girl's hair. I don't exactly think it was 30 minutes though, probably more like 15, which still worked. Next time I'll plan accordingly and make the batter first thing and then let it sit the full 30 minutes. But I had to cut a little boys hair this morning)

Preheat a waffle iron. Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. (I didn't believe this would be so, but I trusted them and my waffles popped right off. No problems at all. So really, don't spray it) Follow the directions on your waffle iron to cook the waffles. Serve immediately with butter and syrup.

I have one of those 4 waffle waffle irons and this recipe made 2 batches. Just the perfect amount for my family of one adult breakfast eater and 4 children. (And, where my husband one who ate breakfast, there would have been plenty for him as well.)

Fail Proof Soft Sugar Cookies

These are so so good!! PLUS, if I can make them work then this recipe is really is fail proof. I have never had any look with sugar cookies, and these turned out perfect! So, here it is! I won't make you wait anymore.

Fail Proof Soft Sugar Cookies

1 cup Shortening
2 cups Sugar
1 cup Buttermilk
2 Eggs
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
6 cups Flour

Cream shortening and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add salt and baking powder to the first 2 cups of flour. Alternately add buttermilk and 2 cups of flour mixing well after each additional cup. Add more flour if needed to make a soft sticky dough. Turn out dough on to the counter with remaining flour and lightly knead. Roll out dough to 1/2 in thick and cut out cookies. Bake at 400 degrees and bake for no more than 10 min. Cookies should be pale and soft to the touch. This recipe makes a lot and they freeze really well.

Oatmeal Lover's Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe makes heaps of cookies that are amazing!

2 cups Butter                                                  5 cups Old-Fashioned Oatmeal
2 cups Brown Sugar                                       1 tsp Salt
2 cups White Sugar                                        2 tsp Baking Soda
4 Eggs                                                             2 tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Vanilla                                                    24 oz Package Chocolate Chips
4 cups Unbleached Flour                                3 cups Chopped Pecans

Measure out the 5 cups of oatmeal in a food processor or blender and powderize. In a bowl cream butter and sugars. Add in the eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix flour, oatmeal, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Combine the wet and dry once mixed add in the chocolate chips and pecans. Roll into golf sized balls spacing them 2" apart. Flatten with the bottom of a glass before baking.

Bake 350* 8-10 min (DO NOT OVER BAKE)