Delicious Spice Muffins

At my daughters  preschool they have a day at school where the dads get to come into the classroom and see what the kids do on a daily basis.  It is called "Doughnuts with Dad" and Abby was looking forward to it for two weeks. The sad thing is the day that Doughnuts with Dad came around we were all sick, and by sick I mean the stomach bug (I hate cleaning up barf).  Well Abby has been asking for doughnuts ever since, so we started looking at recipes to make some.  After some research I found this recipe here and it looked and sounded delicious. I loved that the doughnuts were baked, but I didn't have a doughnut pan to bake the doughnuts so I decided I would make mini muffins instead. I had to adapt the recipe a little bit because I have a little one who has some food allergies and can't handle pumpkin.  So I substituted applesauce for the pumpkin and choose to add a crumb topping instead of the cinnamon sugar topping.  It reminded me of a Costco muffin and my family thought it was delicious.

Delicious Spice Muffins


1 3/4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/8 teaspoons ground cloves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup applesauce

1/2 cup milk

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Oats
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour 
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven 350 F.  Butter a mini muffin tin and set aside.
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and spices together and set aside.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, applesauce and milk until combined. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixture and stir until just combined.
 
Fill each muffin tin with the batter. I find it easiest if I place the batter in a zip-lock bag and cut the corner off to fill the tins.  I love that there isn't any mess.  

Make the Crumb topping by combining the brown sugar, oats, flour, and cinnamon.  Then using a fork stir in the softened butter until the topping is combined.  Place the crumb topping on top of the muffins and bake for 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the muffin comes out clean.  Place muffins onto a wire rack and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Enjoy! 

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Chocolate Gelato

Well the weather has been a lot warmer recently so than means that I have been wanting to eat foods that are cold, especially after a trip to the park.  So when I say food I really mean dessert.  I think one delicious thing to eat in the summer is Gelato.  I adapted the recipe that I found here because I didn't have all the ingredients that it called for, but my improvising worked just fine.

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

Pinch of Salt

2 1/2 Cups of milk, divided (original recipe called for whole milk, but I used what I had)

5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.  In a medium saucepan, combine the 1st three ingredients, sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Then gradually add 1/4 cup of milk while whisking to dissolve the cornstarch. Then whisk in the remaining 1 3/4 milk. (reserve 1/2 cup for the end)

2.  Cook over medium heat until mixture thickens and comes to a boil (this takes the longest).  Allow to boil for 1 minute, stirring occasionally then remove from heat. 

3. Add the chocolate and let it sit for 1 minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.

4. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.  Mix in the additional 1/2 cup of milk and the vanilla. 

5. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

6. Place your gelato into your ice cream maker and freeze according to your manufacturer's directions.

Enjoy!

Please excuse the terrible phone pictures but my camera battery charger is broken and a new one is on it's way.

 

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

This recipe is really easy and makes a delicious snack that you will end up coming back for more.
I will post pictures of them soon so you can see what the finished product looks like.

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
 

1 cup white sugar
½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 egg white

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups almonds

Preheat oven to 250. Cover a baking sheet with, foil, parchment paper, or grease it well. In small bowl combine sugar, salt and cinnamon. Set aside. In a large bowl slightly beat the egg white. Add vanilla and beat until very frothy, but not stiff. Add the almonds and stir until well coated. Add the cinnamon sugar mixture and toss until evenly coated. Spread evenly on the prepared pan. Bake for one hour, stirring half way through. Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container.