breakfast

Muffin Buzz

Posted on by Ang Anderson

If you are looking for something to give you an energy boost this holiday weekend, may I suggest these delightful coffee-filled muffins?

If you are tired of drinking your caffeine and would prefer to indulge that addiction in muffin (or dare I say cupcake?) form, may I recommend these sweet little baked goods?

They are made with Starbucks VIA® Instant Coffee and will knock your socks off. Okay, I know it is technically still summer and you probably don’t have socks on. But if you do…well, let’s just say I didn’t warn you. I found the magical VIA® at my local Target store, which now has a Starbucks inside. *swoons for a minute*

Speaking of swooning…just look at this frosted muffin, which we can now officially crown as a glorious cupcake.

Psst…the frosting has VIA® Instant Coffee in it too, just in case the muffin alone wasn’t enough to beckon you.

And did I mention there are also chocolate chips? Here is a close up of the sweet little chocolatey bits before they were frosted up.

It’s been decided. She’s a tasty treat and good for a caffeine fix to boot, naked or dressed in frosting.

Here is the recipe, adapted slightly from The Tasty Kitchen’s post by nancypants

FOR THE MUFFINS:

  • 2 packages Starbucks VIA® Instant Coffee
  • ½ cups Warm Milk
  • ¼ cups Melted Butter
  • 1 whole Egg
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 1 cup Flour
  • ⅓ cups Sugar
  • 1-½ teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 1 cup Chocolate Chips

FOR THE ICING (OPTIONAL):

  • ½ cups Butter, Softened
  • 2 cups Powdered Sugar, Or More As Needed
  • ½ teaspoons Vanilla
  • 1 package Starbucks VIA® Instant Coffee
  • 1 Tablespoon Boiling Water

Dissolve Starbucks VIA® instant coffee in warm milk. Stir and mash with a spoon up against the side of the bowl until instant coffee is completely dissolved. Next, add melted butter, egg, and vanilla and whisk until combined.

In another bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

Pour wet ingredients into a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir well to incorporate completely. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips.  Fill muffin tins 2/3 full and bake at 375° for 17-20 minutes

For the Icing:

Start by beating together the butter, sifted powdered sugar (which you can use more than
two cups of to attain the right consistency) and vanilla. In a small bowl, mix the VIA® Instant Coffee together with the boiling water until coffee is dissolved.  Add it to the butter mixture and mix until fully incorporated.

Botched Biscotti

Posted on by Ang Anderson

In the spirit of truth and honesty, I would like to admit that I made a mistake in the kitchen this past week. I managed to royally botch a batch of biscotti.  My grandma loves to have biscotti with her coffee and I love baking it for her.  Traditionally, I use a chocolate chip version but this week I wanted to try using Heath toffee bits instead.  I set to work on a batch the other night.  Apparently, I was just a wee bit distracted because I did not follow the recipe as I should have.  The botched biscotti is pictured above.

Here is the biscotti recipe from Giada de Laurentiis that I usually follow:

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon ground anise seed (I never use the anise seed)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar and butter in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Add the ground anise seed and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Form the dough into a 16-inch-long, 3-inch-wide log. Transfer the log to the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick slices. Arrange the biscotti cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake the cookies until pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely.  (The biscotti can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

********************************************************************************************************************

For my accidental version, I put the sugar in with the dry ingredients (oops!) and then decided to add an additional 1/2 cup of sugar to cream with the butter.  I baked it for 30 minutes as per usual.  It spread out.  It flattened out.  It looked dreadful.  It looked awful.  As far as the first round of biscotti baking goes, it was a total goner.  I thought it was absolutely ruined but decided to take a nibble and see what it tasted like.  Lo and behold, it was an accidental sweet treat success.  It became the hit of our household.  My husband and son gobbled it up to the point of belly aches.  My husband asked if I could repeat the ‘mistake’.  Oh, you bet I could!  My sweet son asked for pancakes the next morning and ‘some of those’ with his cute little smile that tells me he’s in love with the sweet.  The end result was a sort of chewy, yummy, cookie-like treat.  As is such with the life span of most sweet treats at our home, the botched biscotti did not last more than 24 hours.

I know a few of you who have an aversion to chocolate (gasp!) and these would be a great treat for you to try.  The toffee bits were melty just like I would prefer my chocolate to be.  Based on my addiction to the cacao bean and its descendants, I can only imagine that these would make a good substitute.

Here is my version, also known as Our Happy Accident, adapted from Giada’s.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup sugar (for flour mixture)
  • 1/2 cup sugar (to cream with butter)
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs
  • I do not use the anise seeds
  • 1 bag Heath Toffee Bits

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, 3/4 cup sugar and salt in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup sugar and butter in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the toffee bits.

Form the dough into a 16-inch-long, 3-inch-wide log. Transfer the log to the prepared baking sheet. Bake until light golden, about 30 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.  Cut into bars and devour.

**************************************************************************************************

Have you ever made a mistake in the kitchen?  I would love to hear your botched recipe story and hope that you were able to turn it into some sort of success.  As for me, I think I just got lucky!

Mini Maple Pancake Muffins

Posted on by Ang Anderson

I saw these sweet little muffins on Bakerella‘s website awhile ago and have been waiting for the right moment to try them. I am happy to announce that this morning presented the perfect opportunity. We had recently been gifted some homemade maple syrup from Grandpa Anderson. Mmmmmmm….

Yes, he taps his maple trees and gives us syrup! He has a special place in our hearts for this amazing feat.

As per usual, Easton wanted pancakes for breakfast. I showed him Bakerella‘s post on the Mini Maple Pancake Muffins and asked him if these would work today. He asked,  “How long is it gonna take?”. I replied, “About the same time as the pancakes to mix up and then eight minutes to bake in the oven.” He agreed that the timeframe was satisfactory and went to watch Curious George. I began mixing up the batter much like I do the pancakes we have nearly every day. I also found myself excited to use my new mini-muffin pan! I am a big fan of the very kid friendly, bite-size perfection that the mini-muffin produces. So, this was our breakfast this morning and they were a hit!

I didn’t have buttermilk or feel like doing a substitute so I just used regular milk and it worked just fine. Bakerella‘s photos are exquisite and I urge you to check them out. These were a nice change from our usual breakfast and, of course, the kids enjoyed dipping in the syrup. Easton told everyone we encountered today how his mom had made him these chocolate chip muffins.  *heart swells*

I do have to be completely honest. I am still salivating over the Chocolate Pastry. I know, I’m weird like that. But pastry or muffin? You’ll have me at pastry every time. I have been pondering my fascination and think the memories they evoke are part of the pull.  Plus, they are just ridiculously good. But, then it also occurred to me that maybe my kids would have memories of me making these little muffins. I envision them saying, “Remember when mom used to make those little chocolate chip pancake muffins that we would dip in Grandpa’s maple syrup?”

So, as much as I would personally prefer the heaven-sent chocolate pastry and my memories of France, I am happy to be making new memories for my babes. I urge you to do the same! Muffin, pastry, cookie, pie, cake. Just go forth and bake!!