Yields: 1 dozen muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 cup whole milk
1large egg, beaten
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate medium sized bowl, whisk together the butter, sugar, peanut butter, eggs, and milk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until combined; fold in the chocolate chips.

Coat a nonstick muffin pan with cooking spray (or line with muffin liners). Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter. Bake 15-20 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Best served same day.

Source: Adapted from Real Simple

I was really excited when Josie chose Peach Jam Scones for this week’s recipe. You see, when Shawnda and I went to Rebecca’s cooking class in Austin, she actually made this recipe for us and it was really good! I only took a bite during class & took the rest home to share & of course that meant it disappeared quickly and I’ve been craving more since!

Rebecca made a confession in that class: she never ever uses a food processor for this kind of stuff. She was advised to adapt the recipes using something like a food processor so her recipes were more friendly for the home cook but she actually does it all by hand; she likes the feel of the dough and insists its the only way to do it. Depending upon my mood, I like to work with dough by hand as well but sometimes I just don’t want to be messy. The recipe below is written for a food processor, but you can definitely mix it all up by hand in a bowl. You want to use really light hands though to keep from over working the dough and handle it as little as possible so the butter doesn’t melt. Since I have warm hands, I use a pastry cutter instead of using my hands & I chill the scones for 10-15 minutes before putting in the oven. Unless you’ve got company coming, I’d recommend at least halving the recipe (I actually made 1/3 of the original recipe) and/or freezing unbaked scones for later use!

Peach Jam Scones
Yields 8 very large scones

6 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled
1 1/2 – 2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup high quality peach jam
3 fresh peaches, pitted & sliced (or a 8 oz. pkg frozen peaches, defrosted & drained)

Preheat oven to 425°F. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, process the flour, 1 cup of sugar, the baking powder and salt for about 30 seconds. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Pulse about 15 times, until the butter-flour mixture is crumbly. With the processor running, slowly pour 1 1/2 cups buttermilk through the feed tube. Stop the processor as soon as the buttermilk has been added. If the dough has begun to stick together in a ball, remove it. Otherwise, add buttermilk a Tablespoon at a time and pulse until dough begins to clump up and form a ball.

Place the dough on a lightly floured flat surface. Pat dough into a 1/4-inch-thick rectangle, about 12×10 inches. Spread a thin layer of jam length-wise over half the dough and arrange the peach slices in a single layer on top of the jam. Fold the plain dough over the peaches making a 12 by 5-inch rectangle with the jam & peaches inside. Cut into 8 triangles and sprinkle the top with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

I have an egg intolerance. It sucks. I didn’t always have an intolerance for eggs, but its developed over the last few years. I’ve been tested and I’m not allergic so I can eat eggs but its not good. I feel sick for hours/days depending upon the quantity. The exception seems to be baked goods where eggs are not a major ingredient such as cookies. French toast is not one of those exceptions though. I considered skipping out on this week’s project but decided hubby would love this dish so I went ahead and fixed it (and tasted a couple bites cause I couldn’t resist). Rebecca wasn’t kidding when she said this dish was very rich; we definitely thought it was more bread pudding/dessert-ish than breakfast-ish. It was just so incredibly rich (and I used half-and-half instead of cream) that none of us could eat very much of it; not that I could anyway because of the egg content.

This post comes with a warning: Learn how to use your broiler. I’ve only used the broiler in our house once before. I have a double oven. Sounds amazing right? Except not. The top one which is tiny is where my broiler is located and its never heated properly. I actually thought it wasn’t on (why is there no visible flame with my gas broiler??) and walked and away and this was the result! The sugar definitely didn’t get all caramelized and pretty. I snapped a picture quickly with the intent of making another batch of french toast for a better photo but decided I’d keep it real

I’m not perfect in the kitchen. I burn stuff. I have failures for sure. But if they’re edible, we don’t stop ourselves from digging in. A few pieces were too crisp/burnt for eating, but we actually preferred the top crisp layer to the bottom softer layers. Definitely smoosh those layers down if you give this recipe a try; mine was too uneven which is what yielded the burnt tops + unmelted sugar. I’d highly recommend using a torch if you’ve got it!

Despite the burnt parts, we did enjoy this recipe. It also gave me a chance to try my hand at homemade Challah (a recipe to be posted another time). Definitely grab a glass of milk for this one and be sure to check out everyone else‘s results for this week’s Project Pastry Queen project! Oh and special thanks to Shawnda for choosing this week’s recipe!

Overnight Creme Brulee French Toast
Yields: 8-10 Servings

1 large loaf of challah
8 large egg yolks
4 cups heavy whipping cream or half-and-half
3/4 cup plus 3-4 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup pure vanilla extract
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Grease a 2 1/2-quart-oven-safe casserole or souffle dish. Slice the challah into 1/2-inch slices, then into cuves. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, cream, 3/4 cup sugar, salt, vanilla & butter. Put a quarter of the bread cubes in the casserole dish. Pour in enough of the cream mixture to cover the bread. Using a spoon, press the cream mixture into the bread so that it is thoroughly soaked.  Continue layering in the same way until all the bread is soaked with the cream mixture. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat 325°F. Put the casserole in a larger baking pan and set in the oven. Pour enough boiling water into the larger pan to reach halfway up the sides of the casserole/souffle dish. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the top is light brown and set.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with 3-4 Tablespoons of sugar in an even layer. Return to oven with broiler set on medium-high, or a kitchen torch to cook the topping until the sugar becomes brown and liquefies. (It will harden as it cools). Serve warm.

Source: The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather

Peaches, peaches, peaches. I’ve definitely been eating/using a lot of peaches lately. I have several other posts involving fresh peaches that I haven’t gotten around to writing up yet that will soon make their appearance! Actually I have a huge backlog of posts in general right now that I need to catch up on. I’m trying desperately to catch up! Anyway, with the abundance of peaches around these parts — I’ve been baking up all sorts of peach goodness and these muffins just might be my favorite of the season (well the peach kolaches might win out) but these run a close second! Go whip up a batch with those peaches sitting on your counter!

While you’re waiting for these glorious peach muffins to come out of the oven, you can read my results from the 7 link challenge from ProBlogger. I noticed that Chelle & Jenn both participated this week and thought I’d give it a try as well! I did a little bit of tweaking to the original questions posed like Chelle did, so here we are:

1. Your first post – Confession: I’ve deleted most of the early posts from my beginning days of blogging. You see, when I started blogging about food/recipes it was a way to share recipes with a small handful of friends. I didn’t even know REAL food blogs existed. Pictures of food to go along with the recipes, what?? With that in mind, the oldest post I left on the blog cause the recipe was too good to delete: Chicken Tortilla Soup. Don’t worry, I’ll be revisiting that one this fall/winter with actual photos.
2. A post you enjoyed writing the most — Natural Pumpkin & Peanut Butter Dog Treats cause I was soooo excited about our new pup (and geez was she skinny when we got her!). Actually that excitement and love still exists over a year later. She really is the best dog ever! (p.s. there are more dog treat recipes here in case you’re smitten with your dog like I am!)
3. A post which had a great discussion – Menu Planning 101. It’s interesting to see how everyone approaches menu planning!
4. A post with a recipe from someone else’s blog – Light Brioche Burger Buns by Smitten Kitchen. They really are fabulous. I’m hooked on these for burgers.
5. A post with a title that you are proud of – I actually never use creative titles! Does that mean I’m a horribly boring blogger?! I figure you’re coming here for recipes so I just want it to be easy and you know what you’re getting into But since this is a 7 LINK challenge I should link to something so I’m going to go with a recipe with a “unique” name… Ally’s Cookies (aka No-Bake Cookies).
6. A post that you wish more people had read – I had to think about this one for quite awhile but finally decide on Texas Chili (or not). Most of my self developed recipes go through several rounds of testing but this Chili took two years of refinement. Its perfect for us and I love my chili. I’m still super proud that hubby loves it since he didn’t think I’d ever be able to match/beat his dad’s!
7. Your most visited post ever — Of all time: Salmon & Asparagus Pasta (clearly a post from the old days with the fabulous photo! :: sarcasm ::). Since relocating to my own domain last year: Creamy Taco Mac. Maybe I need to blog about pasta more??

And seriously, if you haven’t gotten up yet to get those peaches off the counter and make these… do it!! Oh and you love streusel, consider doubling the recipe. I was trying to be healthy and not go overboard (haha)!

Peach Muffins with Streusel Topping
Yields: 18 muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 c plain lowfat yogurt
2 large eggs
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted & cooled
3 Tbsp milk
1 1/2 cups peaches, pitted & chopped

Streusel:
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Coat 18 muffin tins with vegetable oil spray or line cups using liners.

Combine all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt and eggs together. Gently fold the yogurt-egg mixture into the dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in the melted butter and chopped peaches. Use a large ice-cream scoop to divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Prepare Streusel: In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour,  and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in pecans.

Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffins comes out clean, approximately 25-30 minutes.

Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then flip out onto a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving. Best served same day.

I am smitten with the Pastry Queen. Is that weird to say?? Sorry if that’s awkward for you, Rebecca, but I am. Shawnda of Confections of a Foodie Bride has a shared love of the Pastry Queen and her recipes, so we recently met up for one of Rebecca Rather’s cooking classes in Austin. It was a sit, eat & watch cooking class rather than a hands-on class which was perfectly okay since I get plenty of hands on kitchen experience at home. I’ve been eyeing this kolache recipe, along with many many others, since this cookbook landed on my doorstep several years ago but I hadn’t ever gotten around to making the kolaches; this is the case with all my cookbooks as my ever growing collection continues to grow. But Shawnda & I have are going to change that — we’re going to cook our way through Rebecca’s first cookbook, The Pastry Queen! This is post #1 of Project Pastry Queen (I’ve also added a new tag so you can easily find all the recipes in the future). Are you a pastry queen fan and want to join in on the fun? Leave a comment or shoot me a message!

[The Foodie Bride, The Pastry Queen, and Me]

Now for these kolaches, one reason I’ve never made them is that all in all it calls for 9 cups of flour. Yes, you read that right. NINE. haha. Hello carbs!! BUT these are ridiculous delicious and great for an occassional treat and of course they do make a lot of kolaches so you can share with your friends! Having been born & raised in Texas, I never realized that they don’t have kolaches everywhere. The origins of kolaches aren’t exactly clear — some say Polish though in my experience, most say Czech. Origins aside, if you’ve never had a kolache, then you must give them a try. They are a sweet & soft and filled with all sorts of wonderful fillings.

When we visit a kolache shop (there are a lot in Texas although one of the most famous ones is located in West, Texas), I almost always get the savory kolaches whereas hubby goes for the cream cheese ones. So deciding what fillings to use was easy — cream cheese, jalapeno sausage & cheese, and peaches. The first two were natural choices since they’re our personal faves and peaches were a must because (1) its peach season (2) The Pastry Queen resides in Fredericksburg, Texas — home of our hill country peach capital. They were all fabulously delicious and we couldn’t decide which were our favorites. Hubby even liked peach although he’s anti cooked fruit.

Experiment with fillings when you give this a try. You can use the peach filling recipe as the basis of try other fruit fillings (just substitute blueberries & blueberry preserve for instance). The fruit filling is easily halved, or even quartered, so you can try out multiple flavors when you whip these up. Don’t wait years to try this recipe out at home like I did. Its worth it! (Oh and don’t be discouraged by the lengthy recipe. Its really not too complicated!)

Kolaches
Yields 18 large buns (or 27 smaller buns)

Dough:
2 cups milk
1 (1/4 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water (110°F to 115°F)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 teaspoons salt
8 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 batch of filling (see recipes below)

Streusel Topping:
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

For the Dough: Warm the milk in a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Heat just until it starts to steam and a skin is formed – do not simmer or boil. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly – to about 110°F - 115°F. Meanwhile, dissolve the yeast in the water. Let it sit until it is foamy. If yeast doesn’t foam, discard and start over.

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, salt and melted butter. Add in milk and the yeast mixture. Add in the flour, 2 cups at a time, making sure not to overwork the dough. Keep adding flour until it is fully incorporated. The dough should be sticky, moist and light.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and set in a draft-free place and allow to rise until doubled, 1 to 2 hours. Punch down the dough, recover, and refrigerate the dough for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Grease a 12×17 inch baking sheet. With lightly oiled fingers, shape dough into balls – about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, about the size of small limes. Arrange the balls on the baking sheet – 3 across and 6 down. (I actually make mine 4 across and 5 down and use an extra cookie sheet for the remaining kolaches). Gently flatten balls of dough.

For the Filling: Make filling of choice (see recipes below). Use your thumb to make a generious indentation in each dough round. Fill each indentation with filling mixture, a heaping Tablespoon or two depending upon the size of your kolaches. Cover the tray with a clean tea towel and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

For the Streusel: Meanwhile, to make the topping, use your hands, a food processor or a pastry cutter to mix the topping ingredients until crumbly. Scatter the topping over the kolaches right before they go into the oven. (Yes it seems like a lot of streusel, but don’t be shy!)

Bake the kolaches until lightly browned – about 25 to 30 minutes. Cool slightly. Serve warm (or at room temperature).

Peach Kolache Filling

2 cups pitted, chopped peaches
1 cup good quality peach jam

Mix together the peaches and peach jam. Follow recipe above as directed.

Cream Cheese Kolache Filling

8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup sugar
Zest of one lemon
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl. Follow recipe above as directed.

Sausage & Cheese Kolaches

~ 1 1/4 lb Smoked Sausage (highly recommend using a Jalapeno sausage)
~ 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Follow directions for dough. Press dough into 5 inch circles. In center of rounds, add 1 Tbsp shredded cheese and medium-sized smoked sausage. Enclose sausage and cheese, pigs-in-a-blanket style. Place seam-side down on baking sheets. Allow to rise in a warm place ~1 hour. Bake as directed above.

Source: Adapted from The Pastry Queen

Its that time of year! Zucchini overload! We don’t have any zucchini planted but our friends/neighbors do and we’ve already gotten a few good large zucchinis from them. So of course I whipped up some Zucchini bread! I love love love zucchini bread.

I can still remember the first time my mom made zucchini bread in high school. I didn’t like zucchini at all at the time and I’m sure I gave her a crazy look as she tried to get us to try some zucchini bread. I mean really veggies in dessert or muffins?? That’s just wrong, right? But once I finally tried it, I was sold. Tasty, moist and packs in some extra veggies for those unsuspecting veggie haters!

Zucchini Bread
Yield: 1 loaf

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting *
1 pound zucchini, ends and stems removed, cut in half lengthwise & seeded if using large zucchini
¾ cups sugar
½ cup pecans, chopped coarse
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 Tbsp lemon juice
6 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled

Set oven rack in middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease & flour a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; tapping out the excess flour.

Cut halved zucchini into 1-inch pieces if using a food processor. Fit food processor with the metal blade and process the zucchini with 2 tablespoons of the sugar until the zucchini is coarsely shredded, twelve to fifteen 1-second pulses. Transfer the mixture to a fine-mesh strainer set at least 2 inches over a bowl and allow to drain for 30 minutes. (If you don’t have a food processor, don’t cut into 1-inch pieces, and shred with a box grater. Then toss with 2 Tbsp of sugar & drain).

Meanwhile, spread the nuts on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 5-7 minutes. Allow to cool completely. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl; add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and whisk until combined. Set aside.

Whisk together the remaining ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar, yogurt, eggs, lemon juice, and melted butter in a 2-cup glass measure until combined. Set aside.

After the zucchini has drained, squeeze the zucchini with several layers of paper towels to absorb excess moisture. Stir the zucchini and the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula.

Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Cool for at least one hour before serving. Bread can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.

* can substitute whole wheat pastry flour. tested with good results.

Source: Cooks Illustrated as seen on The Way the Cookie Crumbles

Can you believe next weekend is May already?? Seriously, how did that happen?! The beginning of May means that Mother’s Day is just around the corner so I’ve been testing out a few brunch recipes since we’re staying in this year with my mom. Still haven’t quite figured out what I want to serve/make yet but I’m getting there with the menu. Do you have a favorite brunch food??

I’ve never made lemon poppy anything until these. I honestly can’t even recall ever having eaten anything that was lemon poppy seed. Boy have I been missing out! These are fabulous. Not too sweet. Lemony but not too lemony. These have quickly become one of our favorite muffins. Give ‘em a try!

Glazed Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Yields: ~48 mini muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
2 large eggs
2 tsp poppy seeds

Glaze:
6 Tbsp confectioners sugar
4 tsp lemon juice

I love muffins. They’re good for breakfast, snacks and dessert. I mean cookies and brownies are good for all that too, but you definitely feel a little guilty for eating a brownie for breakfast. But muffins, no guilt. Especially if they’re made with whole wheat flour! We started weight watchers last June and I’ve only made muffins ONCE since then. I was due for some tasty muffins. I could have gone for my standby favorite, Banana Chocolate Crumb Muffins, but I was attempting to be healthier with my muffin baking choice. So I popped over to Epicurious. Do y’all use epicurious? Its one of my go-to spots when hunting for a new recipe. Most recipes I’ve tried from Gourmet magazine have been hits! So when I saw this one for Applesauce Spice Muffins, I knew I had a winner.

In typical fashion, I don’t know how to follow a recipe. Even when I have the best intentions of following a recipe as described, I don’t. I always wind up making changes.  First, I substituted the all-purpose flour for white whole wheat to make the recipe healthier. And I’m a cinnamon fiend so of course it was only natural to double the cinnamon. And then I wanted to trim the fat so I cut the butter, which was actually mentioned in several reviews of the recipe. I also opted to top the muffins with nuts rather than mix them in, therefore using fewer nuts. While nuts have healthy fats… they’re still fats and extra calories. I was able to use fewer nuts this way

If you’re not being particularly mindful of your waistline, I’d go ahead and use 1/2 cup of butter to yield a better texture. These were a tiny bit on the dry side but honestly, we didn’t mind a bit.I’d also increase the sugar up to a cup if you prefer a sweeter muffin, these are little more bread like than super sweet, which is my preference for breakfast muffins. They are tasty and hearty muffins. I love that they keep me full for a couple hours which is great! They’re much more filling than the cereal I typically have for breakfast.

Looking for a healthier, tasty breakfast muffin? These are your friend!

Whole Wheat Applesauce Spice Muffins
Yields: 12 Muffins

For muffins:
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1 cup unsweetened applesauce

For the topping:
1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped (optional)
2 Tbsp Turbinado sugar

Set oven rack in middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease standard muffin pan.

Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices, and salt in a bowl. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a large bowl until combined well. Add butter, whisking until mixture is creamy. Stir in applesauce. Then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened. Divide batter among muffin cups.

Stir together topping ingredients (pecans and sugar) and sprinkle on top of muffins. Gently press into muffin batter. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool completely before storing.

Source: Adapted from Gourmet, November 2003

I’ve been seriously slacking on the blogging. Actually not just the blogging but the cooking in general. My job has me going 100 miles a minute and I can’t seem to keep up.Its hard to be in a transitional position at a small organization. I’m basically doing my old job on top of my new job which begins on May 1st. Its been this way for months but lately as we approach that May 1st day, I’m getting bombarded with projects for the new job. Its hard keeping up with both! I’m hoping it slows down soon so I can catch my breath. I miss cooking!

Despite my whining, I manage to get a little cooking in occasionally and take the time to capture a few photos! Sometimes you just need to mix it up a little bit! I’m honestly not a huge fan of french toast but hubby is. He could probably eat the stuff every single weekend. So I decided it was time to try out something new when I remembered a recipe in one of my Nigella cookbooks for what she calls Doughnut French Toast. Don’t go getting too excited. It doesn’t taste anything like a doughnut to me! But it was a nice change of pace. This sugared french toast would be perfect drenched in fresh strawberries!

We’ll be heading out for Easter weekend tomorrow. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend filled with great food and family!

Sugared French Toast

2 eggs
1/2 cup full fat milk
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 slices from a small white loaf or 2 slices from a large white loaf, each large slice cut in half
1-ounce butter, plus a drop flavourless oil, for frying
1/4 cup sugar

Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla in a wide shallow bowl.

Soak the bread halves in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side.

Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan/skillet, fry the egg-soaked bread until golden and scorched in parts on both sides.

Put the sugar onto a plate and then dredge the cooked bread until coated like a sugared doughnut.

Source: Nigella Express, 2007.

I absolutely love muffins for breakfast. They’re perfect to whip up on the weekend to keep through the week. A good muffin and a piece of fruit and I’m a happy camper in the morning! I love making banana muffins cause I’m not big on bananas even though they’re good for you, but put them in a muffin and I love them! So I frequently make banana muffins. I went to make my usual banana nut muffins but remembered a recipe for Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake which Chelle & Annie made awhile back. Its been on my list of things to try but haven’t gotten around to it yet. It was my inspiration for these banana chocolate crumb muffins! These are perfect for breakfast or for a sweet little snack! Go whip up a batch right now… seriously, I’ve eaten three since I made these a few hours ago Shhhh…..

Like this? Check out this previous recipe: Chocolate Banana Nut Bread.

Banana Chocolate Crumb Muffins

3-4 bananas, mashed
1/4 c melted butter
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour (can sub 3/4 – 1 c all-purpose for wheat pastry flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 c mini chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Grease or line muffin tin with liners. In a large mixing bowl using a wooden spoon, mix butter and mashed bananas. Mix in granulated sugar, egg & vanilla. Sprinkle baking soda, baking powder and salt over the mixture. Add the flour, mix until just incorporated. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar & 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Stir in mini chocolate chips. Sprinkle topping over muffins.

Bake in preheated oven 20-25  minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.