Cheese 'n Jalapeño Corn Muffins

Our class has started on our muffin unit. For the first recipe, we made muffins with jalapeño peppers and cheddar cheese. These were the strangest muffins I've ever tasted. Good, but I'd never think of putting jalapeños and cheese into a muffin, so a round of applause for the person who did.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
125 ml sifted flour
100 ml yellow cornmeal
22 ml granulated sugar
6 ml baking powder
0.5 ml salt
0.5 of an egg
100 ml milk
40 ml oil
60 ml shredded cheese
15 ml canned chopped jalapeño peppers
And for an additional kick, add an optional pinch of ground red pepper.


Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease 6 muffin cups, set aside.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and ground red pepper.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients, set aside.
5. In a separate mixing bowl, combine the egg, milk, and oil.
6. Add the liquid ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened.
7. Fold in the cheese and peppers.
8. Spoon batter into muffin cups, each 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 23 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool the muffins in the cups for five minutes, then remove. Serve warm.

Step 1

Step 2

Mix together the liquid ingredients

Step 6

Voila! 

The muffins were a lot better than I had expected, and they're definitely worth giving a try. Just remember to have a glass of milk handy, because they're pretty spicy!

I've got to say, these muffins are almost better than Mac 'n Cheese.

Apricot Crunch Muffins

These muffins were delicious: apricot and apple sauce gave them a sweet flavour, and the almonds and cinnamon gave them some crunch and spice. Definitely a healthier alternative to banana chocolate chip muffins, and equally as tasty.

Here's the recipe, all you muffin lovers:

Ingredients
(Makes 1 dozen)
Topping:

• 40 ml sugar
• 20 ml flour
• 20 ml margarine
• 40 ml chopped or sliced almonds

Batter:

• 380 ml sifted flour
• 10 ml baking powder
• 1 ml baking soda
• 200 ml apricot nectar, apple juice
• 160 ml finely chopped dried apricots
• 60 ml brown sugar
• 2 ml cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 60 ml cooking oil

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Line twelve 2.5 inch muffin cups with liners, set aside.
3. In large bowl, combine 360 ml sifted flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda. Then stir in brown sugar. Be careful not to overmix.
4. In a separate bowl, combine egg, apricot nectar or apple juice, and oil.
5. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid mixture in
6. Stir just until moistened.
7. Fold in the chopped dry fruit using a rubber spatula.
8. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.
9. For the topping, stir together sugar and remaining flour in a small bowl. Cut in margarine until crumbly. Stir in almonds.
10. Sprinkle topping over the muffins. Set in oven.
11. Cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

The topping

Drop the batter into the muffin cups and sprinkle the topping on generously.

When they're done, let them cool a few minutes
before taking them out of the pan.

These muffins were really good, and a quick and easy recipe. Prepping time should take you no more than twenty minutes. There should be no tunnels or air pockets in the muffins once finished. This is a sign of over-mixing.

Our muffins were a little tough and the liners did not come off the muffin very easily. This was probably caused by the substitution of apple sauce for apple juice, because we didn't have any juice. I'm not a big fan of apricots, so I cut the dried apricots into very small pieces, and I didn't taste them at all in the muffins.

Sure is better than Mac 'n Cheese!

Celebrity Chef

 

Anna Olsen

For those of you new to the food world, Anna Olsen is a top Food Network chef. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, Anna grew up in Toronto, where she found her love of cooking. Anna studied the culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University in the US and has worked at restaurants in Colorado and New Orleans. Originally trained in savory cooking, this chef is also noted for her many talents in the pastry kitchen, due to having worked for almost twenty years as a professional pastry chef. Anna views cooking and baking as a way to bring people together and to have fun while doing it!

You can find Anna on one of her many Food Network shows, such as Bake With Anna Olsen and Fresh With Anna Olsen.

Here is one of Anna's traditional recipes:

Ingredients

Muffins

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup golden yellow sugar
• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 1 cup pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup finely grated carrot

Frosting

• 1/4 cup 2% Milk
• 1 tablespoon 2% Milk
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• icing sugar, sifted (3-4 cups)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Muffins

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease or line with paper cups 24 muffin cups.
2. Cream butter and sugars until evenly combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Stir in pumpkin, sour cream and vanilla.
4. In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Stir into pumpkin mixture, then stir in grated carrots.
5. Spoon into prepared tins and bake for about 25 minutes, until a tester inserted in the centre of the muffin comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the tin before removing to cool completely.

Frosting

1. Beat butter with electric beaters until fluffy. Add 2 cups of icing sugar, plus milk and vanilla and beat for 3 minutes on high speed until fluffy. Add remaining 1 to 2 cups icing sugar until frosting is a fluffy, spreadable consistency. Spread frosting generously onto each muffin.      
   

                          Much better than Mac 'n Cheese.