Honey Cornbread Mini Muffins

I mentioned in a few other posts about a party our entire family had last month for our Italian cousins who were visiting while on their honeymoon.  I took a lot of pics of everyone's American contributions (everyone made American food so they got to try lots of different things!) and meant to do one big post about it, but haven't been quite as organized as I anticipated.  So, here is one of the things I made.

I found a great recipe for cornbread to go along with my crockpot 3-bean chili (coming soon, I promise!) and went with minis since we were feeding a huge crowd.  These muffins were SO delicious...a nice combo of sweet and savory goodness that can just be popped right into your mouth.

'Tis the season for soups and stews, so this recipe is coming just in time!


Honey Cornbread Mini Muffins
slightly adapted from The Neelys

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup AP flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup honey

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl.  In another bowl, mix milk, eggs, butter and honey.  Add wet ingredients to dry.  Stir until just mixed.

Line or grease a mini muffin tray (24) and evenly distribute batter.  Bake for about 11-13 minutes, until golden.

Quick & Easy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

One month from today, my daughter will be 4 years old.  How the heck did that happen already?  I used to get a little annoyed when people said, "enjoy it - time goes by SO fast!"

But you know what?  They're right.

Fortunately, Bella and I have MANY days together in the kitchen to look forward to, regardless of how fast time goes by.  These delicious muffins are our latest creation.  And she loved every bite.

Quick & Easy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
slightly adapted from Pixelated Crumb

1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.

Beat oil, sugar, eggs and bananas until combined in a large bowl (I did this by hand).  Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Fold into wet ingredients, being careful not to overmix.  Add vanilla and chocolate chips and stir until just combined.

Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from tin and cool on rack.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Bella loves taking a trip to what she calls the "muffin store".  It's really a local market that has anything you could possibly need, but their muffins are to die for (and they're actually shipped from a very well known bakery a little bit further away).

Her favorite variety, by far, is chocolate chip.  Smart girl.

This is a great recipe that satisfies our craving so we don't necessarily have to go to the muffin store.  Homemade is always the better way to go :)

Chocolate Chip Muffins
from Mehan's Kitchen

1/2 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups AP flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with 12 paper liners.

Whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla in a bowl until smooth.  In another bowl, stir flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.  Make a well in center of dry mixture and add wet mixture.  Beat until smooth and well mixed, about 1-2 minutes.

Fold chocolate chips into batter until well distributed.  Do not overmix.  Spoon batter into each muffin cup, filling to rim.

Bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden.  Transfer to wire rack and let cool.

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Our latest recipe swap theme was fruit.  Fruit in anything - sweet or savory.  And I was very happy to receive Katie's recipe for these delicious muffins.  Be sure to check out her blog if you don't already know about it...she's got some great recipes!

I LOVED these muffins...they were sweet but not too sweet, soft, fluffy and really tasty.  You could really feel the creaminess from the cream cheese.  And, talk about easy to make.  I brought most of these to work and they were a huge hit with my coworkers.

If you're looking for a last minute addition to your Easter brunch, definitely make these!



Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
from So Tasty, So Yummy

2 cups AP flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream together cream cheese, butter and sugar.  Add eggs, milk and vanilla and mix until just combined.

In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add dry ingredients to mixing bowl and mix until just combined.  Do not over mix.  Batter will be thick, like cookie dough.  Fold in strawberries.

Spoon batter into paper lined muffin pans.  Fill each cup about 3/4 high.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until tops are golden.  Cool on rack for at least 15 minutes.

Makes 24 muffins.

Diner Style Cranberry Walnut Muffins (Secret Recipe Club)

One of the things I love most about the Secret Recipe Club is that it exposes me to some great blogs that I've never seen before.  This month is no exception.  Amber, who writes Bluebonnets and Brownies, is originally from Texas and currently lives in the great state of NJ :)  As soon as I received my assignment I headed right over to the blog (as usual) and immediately fell in love.  Amber's got some great recipes - it was tough to pick just one!

One thing NJ is well known for is their diners.  The fact that you can go pretty much anywhere in the state and get a kick ass meal round the clock is awesome.  So when I saw Amber's recipe for these muffins, which were called "diner style", I had to try them out.

These muffins were delicious!  I'm not sure I agree that they're diner style, though.  The muffins I usually see in the diners around here are way bigger (yeah, I guess if I had a big muffin pan, mine would be too) and fluffier.  Still, they were good, and very easy to make.

I'm looking forward to trying more of Amber's recipes...be sure to check out her blog if you haven't done so before!

Diner Style Cranberry Walnut Muffins
from Bluebonnets and Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
3 cups pancake mix
1/2 cup milk (I used 1%)
3/4 cup cranberries (I used frozen, which I thawed first)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
turbinado sugar for topping (optional...I wanted to use it and forgot!)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Cream sugar and butter together in mixing bowl.  Add eggs one at a time, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next.  Add pancake mix in one cup at a time, also fully incorporating each time.

Scrape bowl down then add milk while mixing on low speed.  Fold cranberries and walnuts in by hand.

Spoon mix into paper lined cups evenly.  Sprinkle with sugar if using.  Bake for 25-35 minutes.  Cool before removing from pan.

Coffee Cake Muffins

10am playdate.

Hostess says she'll have fresh fruit.  Plus she's making quiche.  And sangria.

So what do you bring?

These beauties.

Coffee Cake Muffins
from Mark Bittman, via The Chicagoist

5 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
2 cups AP flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed

For the topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts, pecans or cashews

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin tins with paper liners.  In a small bowl, mix topping ingredients together, along with 2 tablespoons of the melted butter.  Set aside.

In another bowl, mix together flour, sugar and baking powder.  In a third bowl, mix milk, egg and remaining 3 tablespoons of melted butter together.

Make a well in dry ingredients, add wet to it, and blend.  Fold until dry ingredients are wet, then add in half of the brown sugar/nut mixture.  Batter should be lumpy, not smooth, and thick but very moist.  Add more milk if needed to achieve this consistency.

Spoon batter into tins, filling them about 2/3 of the way.  Sprinkle remaining brown sugar/nut mixture on top.    Bake 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let rest at least 5 minutes before serving.

Linked to: Sweets for a Saturday

Who you callin' googootz?

Any Sopranos fans out there?  Remember when Tony referred to AJ as "googootz"?  At the time, I had no clue what it meant and immediately ran to google, which I'm guessing some of you may have just done yourselves.  I hated being stumped by an Italian slang word or term of endearment...I thought I knew them all!

Well, this is what he was talking about.

Below is a part of a cucuzza (aka "googootz"), between a pen (to give you a point of reference for size) and part of a zucchini.  I'd already used half of each of them...they were HUGE.

Googootz is slang for zucchini in Italian, and can be used interchangeably with the more common variety.  They're big suckers that just grow, and grow, and grow....

I took part of each of these and threw them in my food processor to make these delicious muffins.  I thought it was a bit ironic that although the recipe yielded 24 muffins, I ended up with 32 :)  This stuff just won't go away!

For those into "hiding" veggies for their kids, these are worth a shot.  It wasn't my intent when I made them, but afterwards, I figured it would be a nice way to get a little green into Bella...I mean, the kid never turns down chocolate. Unfortunately, she wasn't fooled.  Smartie.

I subbed no-sugar-added applesauce for half of the oil in the original recipe for a more healthy version.  Good stuff!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
adapted from Allrecipes


3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease or line two 12 cup muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in sugar and oil. Add the cocoa, vanilla and zucchini and stir well.

Stir in the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and cardamom. Mix until just moist.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 of the way. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack. Store loosely covered.

Linked to:  Mangia Mondays

Calling all Moms...

Teeny time, Gymboree, school, park, playground, playdates, sports, parties, music class, gymnastics, karate, dance class...go ahead, Moms - add your child's activity of the day to this list.  It's endless, right?

Well, whatever it is, don't forget to pack that snack!  One more thing to add to that list...

As a Mom (Dads too - shouldn't leave them out!), it's important to have a list of go-to food items that you can make in advance.  I've found that muffins are perfect - not only are they delicious, but they're a nutritious snack that can be frozen and taken out easily to defrost in individual portions.  They're great for breakfast, too.

Bella is a big fan of "cupcakes", as she calls them, so I like to change it up and create different varieties.  As always, I go by my mood as well as what's available in my kitchen.

I wasn't sure what to call these, but based on the ingredients I used, and where my head is at these days, I thought the name I chose was the most fitting.  Even Bella said yesterday, "I need to go sit on the beach.  I need the sun on my face."  We're soooo OVER winter in this house!

Tropical Muffins
largely adapted from Allrecipes

2 cups AP flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons clementine juice
2 cups frozen mango chunks
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup walnuts


In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In another bowl, combine the eggs, oil and juice; add to the dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in the mango, banana, coconut and nuts.


Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.

"Mommy, I want a cupcake!"

I want to share with you one of Bella's favorites that's taken up much freezer space since the fall.  When she wants one, she asks for a cupcake, so you know she REALLY must love them :)  I'll be making a few more batches very soon since we're running low.

This recipe is so easy, it's almost embarrassing.  But they taste great!

Moms of picky toddlers, this one's for you...pumpkin is a vegetable, after all!

Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
from Our Best Bites

2 boxes of spice cake mix (I've also used gingerbread)

1 30-oz. can pumpkin

1 12-oz. bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Combine cake mixes and pumpkin. Add in chocolate chips.

Spoon mixture into lined muffin tins. This can make as many as 48 muffins or as few as 36, just depending on how full the tins are filled. These really don't rise very much, so you can fill the tins pretty full. If aesthetics are a concern, keep in mind that how they look going into the oven is very much what they will look like coming out of the oven. So a cookie scoop works great to keep things on the prettier side.

Bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean.