Thursday, July 30, 2009

Muffin cakes

Lately, whenever I open the pantry I am greeted by this

MUFFINS5

They’ve been in there for a couple of weeks. Different ones on different days. I think they are on a rota or something.

Mayhem reminds me every day that the dinos would like some muffins. Mayhem himself does not like muffins so he isn’t in this for gain.

Today was the coolest it has been in weeks, which is not so cool really, more like the difference between 94 degrees and humid and 91 degrees and not quite as humid. So I decided to take pity on the dinosaurs & make them some muffins.

I was out of bananas so my standby recipe was out & I went looking for something new.  I found a recipe for peanut butter muffins written on a random scrap of paper in my mom’s old Good Housekeeping Cookbook. I had all the ingredients, so I went with it. But I used some chocolate peanut butter I bought at the Mennonite market.

 

MUFFINS1

I don’t know where the tiger came from, but the triceratops is missing.

I mixed it all together & the batter was much more cake like than muffin like and there was entirely too much mixing for the muffin method (as I know from watching Alton Brown religiously for years) . Still, cupcakes are always welcome.

 

muffins2

There was some undignified squabbling over who got to lick the bowl

 

muffins3

I had to bake them in 2 batches because my oven scoffs at the idea of baking 2 trays at once & having them come out remotely cooked properly. While the first batch was cooking a part of the baking element turned white orange & started sparking (which I didn’t realize until I took the muffins out). Sparking baking elements don’t give off heat so the muffins were not quite as done as they might have been.

muffins4

If there was any chocolate icing left – I’m looking at you DH – I’d ice them. Mayhem would eat one then. If I could find the confection sugar I’d give them a dusting of that. But they are delicious as is.

I called around & no one within 50 miles of here has a replacement baking element for my 13 year old Maytag. I had to order the part online and in 5-7 business days I can bake the other batch of muffins…cupcakes…baked thingies….

Chocolate Peanut Butter Baked Thingies

2 cups flour

2 teas baking powder

1/2 teas salt

1/2 cup chocolate & peanut butter spread (or Nutella, or just peanut butter)

1/3 cup soft butter, but not melted

1 teas vanilla

1 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup mini peanut butter chips (or chocolate or both)

2 mixing bowls – a big one & a not as big one

Don’t make my mistake. Expecting muffins I mixed this by hand. Use a blender.

Preheat your oven to 375

In the not as big bowl mix the flour, baking powder & salt.

In the big bowl cream together the butter, vanilla & the chocolate peanut butter spread. Then mix in the brown sugar one half cup at a time. Then add the eggs one at a time. Mix thoroughly with every addition. Then alternate adding some of the flour & some of the milk until it all incorporated. Mix in chips. It will look like cake batter.

Pour into lined muffin tins, about 3/4 of the way full. It will make 18-24 muffins depending on your definition of “3/4 of the way”. I never manage 3/4 and I ended up with 18 filled muffin cups

Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, test for doneness with a toothpick & bake for 5 minutes more if needed

10 comments:

Jenni said...

Ohhhhh...I don't usually get all excited over a recipe but this one I am bookmarking! YUM!

Anonymous said...

i just love it. my kids do that. except my oldest doesn't anymore..... so i know i am nearing the end of all this and it makes me a little sad.... a little happy too. but a little sad.

Aunt Becky said...

Jealous. Want to eat them NOW.

Lauren said...

awe, i LOVE the animals in the bowls, too cute!!!

and YUM to the cupcakes... dude if they are in a cupcake wrapper they are cupcakes! ;)

good luck w/ the oven, why does stuff always break in the middle of use? i had my grill run out of gas when it was FULL of 1/2 done chicken! bah!

oxoxox

Creative Junkie said...

I managed to read this entire post, but let me tell you, it was hard. The words "chocolate peanut butter" stopped me in my tracks and I think I went into a hypnotic state for a couple of minutes.

Hit 40 said...

Great recipe!!! I love the dinosaurs to add some fun to the photos. I am licking my screen right now.

I found your site on the mommy blogger site. Great information. I clicked follow for us :-)

Whitney said...

Mmmm...these sound yummy!

Sharing the comment love!

Oh! And I'm hosting a giveaway on my blog--come check it out!

The Redhead Riter said...

for you...

http://theredheadriter.blogspot.com/2009/08/secrets-friends-and-sharing.html

Secret Mom Thoughts said...

they look delish.

The Four Week Vegan said...

You know I will have to make these! I hope your oven gets fixed soon.