Looking for a way to use up some fresh cranberries that didn’t get put to use during the holidays? These orange-scented muffins are delicious, moist and not too sweet.

Since I didn’t have buttermilk, I substituted a mixture of 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup 2% milk. I made 6 muffins as is, then added chocolate chips to the rest of the batter. Both versions were great. Because of the added chocolate chips, I ended up with a total of 14 muffins instead of 12. The Wilton Sparkling Sugar I sprinkled on top of the muffins adds a pretty finishing touch.

Cranberry-Orange Muffins
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

Orange zest brings a sweet complement to the tart fresh cranberries crowding this muffin. Yields 12 muffins.

1-1/2 cups fresh cranberries, picked through and rinsed
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour; more for the pan
2 oz. (1/2 cup) cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
5 oz. (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature; more for the pan
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 tsp. finely grated orange zest (using a rasp-style zester, this is the zest of 1 small orange)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 Tbs. turbinado sugar (such as Sugar In The Raw)

Position a rack near the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F. Generously butter a standard 12-cup muffin tin, including the top rim, and dust the pan with flour. Tap out any excess.

Using a food processor, coarsely chop the cranberries.

In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing for at least 30 seconds at medium speed and scraping the bowl after each addition. Beat in the orange zest and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, briefly beat in one-third of the flour mixture, then add 1/2 cup of the buttermilk; when combined, mix in another one-third of the flour; then mix in the remaining 1/2 cup buttermilk and the orange juice, and finally mix in the rest of the flour. Scrape the bowl and beat the batter just until smooth, another 10 seconds. Using a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon, fold the cranberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter evenly into the muffin tin (each cup will be quite full). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins generously with the turbinado sugar.

Bake until the tops are golden and a skewer inserted an inch into the top of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 18 min. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 min. and then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. These muffins are best eaten the day they’re made.

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Tags: Baking, buttermilk, Christmas, fresh cranberries, holidays, Muffins, orange zest

Imagine crossing lemon cupcakes with cheesecake. What do you get? Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream. That’s right…dense lemon-flavored cupcakes with a surprise dollop of lemon cream cheese filling baked into the middle. It’s like 2 for the price of 1.

I chose these cupcakes for two reasons: the Birthday Teen loves lemony treats and the recipe made a small batch (I was able to get 6 cupcakes out of the recipe instead of 4). The Birthday Teen quickly inhaled two of them, which is always a good sign. The cupcakes took a few minutes longer to get golden brown around the edges (could be my old oven’s fault). To make the cupcakes look a bit more festive, I made a quick lemon juice and powdered sugar glaze and slathered a little on top of each cupcake. I then sprinkled the cupcake tops with yellow decorating sugar. Skipping the glaze and dusting with powdered sugar would also be a nice touch.

For other cupcake & muffin recipes, check out Cupcake Tuesday.

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream
- recipe from epicurious.com

Yield: Makes 4

3/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon cream cheese (about 2 ounces), softened 

Preheat oven to 350° F. and line four 1/2-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

Into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk in 2 teaspoons zest. In another bowl with a fork blend butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon juice until smooth. With a wooden spoon beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until smooth. Stir butter mixture into flour mixture until batter is combined well.

In a small bowl with a fork stir together cream cheese and remaining 1/2 teaspoon zest, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon juice until lemon cream is smooth.

Spoon 3 level tablespoons batter and about 1 tablespoon lemon cream into each paper liner. Spoon remaining batter over lemon cream, smoothing tops. Bake cupcakes in middle of oven 20 minutes, or until golden brown, and transfer to a rack to cool. Makes 4 cupcakes.

Tags: Baking, cream cheese, Dessert, lemon cream, lemon cupcakes

This is a simple dessert that anyone can make. Basically, it’s flaky puff pastry squares filled with homemade applesauce. The applesauce is good as is but I wanted to bump up the flavor a bit so I added about 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, adding it to the applesauce after it was finished cooking. I used Trader Joe’s Frozen Puff Pastry and didn’t bother rolling it out, although I’ll probably do that next time to get a thinner pastry and bigger squares. I had enough leftover applesauce to make at least 4-6 more turnovers. I sprinkled each turnover with Wilton Sparkling Sugar, a larger-grained sugar that adds a nice crunch to the pastry. These turnovers are best the day they’re made when the pastry is crisp (they still taste good on Day 2 but the pastry is softer). These are good served as is or warmed a bit and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with caramel sauce.

French Apple Turnovers (Chaussons Aux Pommes)
- recipe from Bon Appétit Magazine – epicurious.com

All-butter puff pastry is available at some specialty foods stores. Yield: Makes 8 turnovers. 

Filling:
3/4 pound Granny Smith apples
3/4 pound Golden Delicious apples
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Pastry:
1 14- to 16-ounce package all-butter frozen puff pastry (1 or 2 sheets, depending on brand), thawed
1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
Superfine sugar (optional)

For filling: Peel, core, and cut apples into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups). Place apples in medium saucepan; add 1/4 cup water, 3 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until apples are very tender, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Gently mash apples with fork or potato masher until mixture is very soft but still chunky. Cool completely. DO AHEAD: Filling can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

For pastry: If using 14-ounce package (1 sheet), roll out pastry on lightly floured surface to 15-inch square. If using 16-ounce package (2 sheets), stack sheets together and roll out on lightly floured surface to 15-inch square. Cut pastry into nine 5-inch squares. Place 1 generous tablespoon filling in center of each of 8 squares (reserve remaining square for another use). Lightly brush edges of 1 pastry with beaten egg. Fold half of pastry square over filling, forming triangle. Press and pinch pastry edges with fingertips to seal tightly. Lightly brush pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle lightly with superfine sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining squares. Using thin, sharp knife, make 3 small slits on top of each triangle to allow steam to escape. Place triangles on prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

Bake turnovers until beginning to color, about 15 minutes. Reverse baking sheets from top to bottom. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; continue baking until turnovers are firm and golden, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tags: apple, Baking, Dessert, puff pastry, quick, turnovers

These muffins are as good as any sold in a fancy gourmet bakery. They’re moist, not too sweet, with a light and airy texture and a fresh lemony flavor. Now with that said, I did have one issue with the recipe. The directions say to overfill the muffin cups to get 12 big, bakery-style muffin tops. I overfilled the 12 muffins cups just like the recipe instructed (with some batter to spare) but the batter overflowed the pan and made a lovely mess in my oven. I don’t know if the overflow was a freak of nature or if the instructions just need some tweaking. I’ll definitely make the muffins again but maybe next time I’ll try dividing the batter between 15 muffin cups instead of just 12.

The only addition I made to the recipe was to add a 1/2 teaspoon vanilla to the batter. The muffins were delicious and my kids devoured them. I thought they were best the day they were made but they tasted good the next day, too. As an added bonus, the recipe includes variations for making Cranberry-Orange or Banana-Walnut muffins from the same batter.

Blueberry Muffins
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

This muffin batter is also delicious with the flavoring variations that follow the recipe. Be sure to add the fruit before the batter is fully mixed to avoid overmixing. Overfilling the muffin cups gives you those great big bakery-style muffin tops. Yields 12 muffins.

Vegetable oil or cooking spray for the pan
1 lb. (3-1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. table salt
1-1/3 cups granulated sugar
5 oz. (10 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
1 cup crème fraîche or sour cream, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1-1/2 cups fresh (washed, dried, and picked over) or frozen (no need to thaw) blueberries

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil (or spray with cooking spray) the top of a standard 12-cup muffin tin and then line with paper or foil baking cups. (Spraying the pan keeps the muffin tops from sticking to the pan’s surface.)

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; mix well. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, butter, milk, crème fraîche or sour cream, eggs, egg yolk, and zest until well combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and fold gently with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are mostly moistened; the batter will be lumpy, and there should still be quite a few streaks of dry flour. Sprinkle the blueberries on the batter and fold them in until just combined. (The batter will still be lumpy; don’t try to smooth it out or you’ll overmix.)

If you have an ice cream scoop with a “sweeper” in it, use it to fill the muffin cups. Otherwise, use two spoons to spoon the batter in, distributing all of the batter evenly. The batter should mound higher than the rim of the cups by about 3/4 inch.

Bake until the muffins are golden brown and spring back lightly when you press the middle, 30 to 35 minutes. (The muffin tops will probably meld together.) Let the muffin tin cool on a rack for 15 to 20 minutes. Use a table knife to separate the tops, and then invert the pan and pop out the muffins.

Variations:
Cranberry-Orange Muffins: In place of the lemon zest and blueberries in the batter, add orange zest and chopped fresh cranberries.
Banana-Walnut Muffins: Don’t add any zest to the batter. Instead add 1-1/2 cups thinly sliced ripe banana and 3/4 cup coarsely chopped toasted walnuts.

Tags: Baking, blueberry, Breakfast, Muffins

Brownies are comfort food, plain and simple. Who can pass up a plate full of freshly baked homemade brownies and not have at least one? Good grief, that’s crazy talk!

These brownies are easy to make but the directions are a little different than other brownie recipes. In Step 3, I made the mistake of using a whisk to mix the eggs with the cocoa, vanilla, etc. Because there wasn’t enough moisture from the eggs, it all clumped up and stuck to the whisk. Definitely use a wooden spoon for this step. The rest was straight forward…just stir everything together and spoon the batter into the prepared pan. The recipe calls for Dutch-process cocoa, a mellower and less acidic cocoa that is used in batters with baking powder and/or eggs. A fairly common brand to find in the grocery store is Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. Another option is to mail order Dutch-process cocoa through kingarthurflour.com.

Fudge Brownies
-recipe from kingarthurflour.com.

Fudgy, cakey, fudgy, cakey… can’t make up your mind? If you’re looking for a brownie that’s right in between those two styles, you’ve found it. These brownies combine a fudge brownie’s ultra-moist texture with a subtle cake-like rise, for the best of both worlds. Our guarantee: These brownies, deep chocolate brown inside with a lighter-colored top crust, will be about 3/4″ to 1″ tall when cut. They’ll be ultra-moist without crossing the line into gooey/underbaked.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cups Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 cups chocolate chips

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan
 
2) In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it. Heating this mixture a second time will dissolve more of the sugar, which will yield a shiny top crust on your brownies.
 
3) While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.
 
4) Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.
 
5) Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth. Note: If you want the chips to remain intact in the baked brownies, rather than melting in, let the batter cool in the bowl for about 20 minutes before stirring in the chips.
 
6) Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9″ x 13″ pan.
 
7) Bake the brownies for about 30 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, or with just a few moist crumbs clinging to it. The brownies should feel set on the edges, and the center should look very moist, but not uncooked. Remove them from the oven and cool on a rack before cutting and serving. Yield: Two dozen 2″ brownies.

Tips from King Arthur bakers:
When testing to see if brownies are done, take a cake tester or the tip of a sharp knife and carefully poke it into the center of the pan, digging around just enough to see the interior. You should see moist crumbs, but no uncooked batter. Yes, you’ll be left with a small divot in the center of your brownies; just cut around it when you’re cutting the brownies into squares.

Tags: Baking, chocolate, fudge brownies

Cranberry sauce is a must-have with the traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Period. You just can’t have turkey and stuffing without a dollop of cranberry sauce somewhere on the plate. With that said, I still can only eat a few tablespoons of this jam-like condiment at a time. It seems that most people would agree judging by the fact that there’s always leftover cranberry sauce after the Thanksgiving meal. So what do we do with all the leftover cranberry sauce? We use it in a coffee cake.

I did a quick search for a cranberry coffee cake recipe and found this one at kingarthurflour.com. It was just what I was looking for. The only thing I did differently was to use a mixture of sour cream and milk in place of the buttermilk. The cake was moist with a light almond flavor, and went perfectly with a hot cuppa joe. If you don’t like almond-flavored treats then just use the same quantity of vanilla extract (it will be just as good). Although the cake was still tasty on the second day, I thought it was best the day it was baked.

Cranberry-Almond Coffee Cake
-recipe from kingarthurflour.com
 
This moist, golden cake hides a double layer of cranberry sauce and a sprinkling of almonds. It’s a lovely cake for Thanksgiving breakfast; and makes a satisfying autumn dessert, as well. This recipe comes from our James Beard award-winning best-seller, “The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.”

Cake
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) buttermilk or yogurt (low-fat is fine)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (10 3/4 ounces) whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup blanched slivered or sliced almonds, toasted*

Glaze
3/4 cup (3 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

*Spread almonds in an ungreased 9″ round cake pan, and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-cup (9″ to 9 ½”) tube pan or bundt-style pan.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar till smooth. Beat in the eggs, then the buttermilk or yogurt and almond extract. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat briefly again, to make sure everything is well combined. Add the baking powder, baking soda, flour, and salt, stirring just to blend. Grease and flour a tube pan. Spoon half of batter into pan. Spread half of cranberry sauce evenly atop batter, then spread remaining batter over that. Top with remaining cranberry sauce, and sprinkle toasted almonds evenly over sauce.

Bake the cake for 55 minutes, tenting it with foil for the final 15 minutes. When it’s done, a cake tester inserted into the thickest part will come out clean, and the top will spring back when you press it gently. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool it in pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn it out of the pan onto a rack set over a piece of parchment, and stir together the glaze ingredients.

Drizzle the thin glaze over the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely before serving (or serve it warm, if you don’t mind it crumbling a bit!)
Yield: 1 cake, 14 to 16 servings.

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Tags: almond, Baking, bundt, Christmas, coffee cake, cranberry, holidays, leftover cranberry sauce, Thanksgiving

I love bundt cakes and I love pears. Combine the two and you’ve got Pear Spice Cake. Now it’s not a show-stopper cake but it is simple, moist and oh so tasty.  With this recipe, I usually use Bartlett pears, I omit the raisins, and substitute pecans for the walnuts. I like how the contrast of textures and flavors work together in this cake: the crunch of the nuts against the softness of the pears; the warmth of the spices with the sweetness of the maple glaze. And if I’m feeling sassy I serve it with a dollop of brandied whipped cream. YUMM!

Pear Walnut Spice Cake
Recipe courtesy Gale Gand – foodnetwork.com
Yield: 12 servings

Cake:
1 cup raisins (dark or golden)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each ground cloves and ground allspice
2 cups peeled pear chunks (from about 3 pears)
1 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the raisins in a bowl and toss them with 2 tablespoons of the flour until lightly coated (this will prevent them from sinking in the cake batter during baking).

To make the cake: Beat the eggs and sugar in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or using a hand mixer) until fluffy. With the mixer running, slowly pour in the vanilla and the oil. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice. Mix into the egg mixture. Mix in the pears and nuts, then stir in the raisins by hand, distributing them evenly in the batter. Spoon into a 10-inch tube pan and bake about 45 to 60 minutes, until springy and dry in the center. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack, then turn it out. Freeze until ready to use or just wrap and store for up to 2 days.

To make the glaze: Stir the maple syrup and sugar together in a bowl. Glaze the cooled cake by spooning the glaze around the tops of the cakes and letting it drip down the sides.

Tags: Baking, bundt, cake, Christmas, holidays, pear, Thanksgiving

Husband isn’t much into sweets (a personality flaw, if you ask me) but he does love a scone or some kind of breakfast bread with his morning cup of English Breakfast tea. Knowing this, I like to bake things from time to time that I know he’ll enjoy. This Pear-Nut Bread was right up his alley. In fact, Husband practically inhaled the whole loaf. I found the recipe in my Portland’s Palate cookbook. The aroma of pears and spice drifted throughout the house as it baked. Oh yes, it smelled wonderful! The bread, however, took longer to bake than the recipe states so don’t be alarmed if that happens to you, too. Do the toothpick check on the bread at 30 minutes then set the timer for longer if it’s not quite done. The bread is mildly spiced, not too sweet and a great way to use up a few pears.  I thought it was even better on the second day.  

Pear-Nut Bread
-Adapted from From Portland’s Palate, A Collection of Recipes from the City of Roses

Yield: 1 loaf

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 ripe pears, peeled and mashed, or 1 (15-ounce) can unsweetened pears, drained and mashed
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 8.5″x4.5″ loaf pan. In a large bowl or mixer, combine oil, sugar, eggs and mashed pears, mixing well after each addition. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, salt, and spices. Add to sugar mixture and blend well. Add milk, vanilla, nuts and mix thoroughly. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.

Tags: Baking, breakfast bread, Christmas, holidays, pear, sweet bread, Thanksgiving