Strawberry Muffins

It is summer and the strawberries are getting better. We used to live  in California and the strawberries were so good as they were grown there.  When you live on the east coast the strawberries have a bit of travel and they just aren't as good.  Lately they are quite good.  But I can't eat a pound of strawberries by myself and Lee doesn't usually eat much.  So I decided to put them in some muffins. 

Strawberry Muffins

cupcake liners 

Pam

2 cups +2 teaspoons flour, divided use

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) softened butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup milk or half and half. I used half and half.

2 1/4 diced strawberries, divided

Topping

3 Tablespoons raw sugar or Turbinado sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

        

Preheat the oven to 375°. Place the cupcake liners in a 12 cup muffin pan. Spray lightly with Pam.  Set aside.

In a stand mixer, I use a Kitchen Aid, beat the softened butter until light and fluffy, scraping down as needed.  While it is beating, mix 2 cups of the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Add the sugar into the mixer and keep beating.  When the sugar is incorporated add in the eggs and then the vanilla and almond extract.

Mix in half the flour and then 1/2 the milk.  When those are mixed, add in the other half of the flour and the rest of the milk.

Sprinkle 2 cups of the strawberries with the last 2 teaspoons of flour. Mix gently. This will help to prevent all the strawberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffin cups.

Set aside about 1/2 cup of the berries and fold the bigger portion into the batter. 

Use an ice cream scoop.  Place one scant scoop of batter in each muffin cup.  

Top with a few of the reserved strawberries and press down gently to keep them from rolling off.

For the topping, mix the vanilla with the raw sugar in a small bowl.  Sprinkle it over the muffins.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the tops start to turn brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

The muffins were just the right amount of sweet and tart.  They were moist and delicious.

        

They were great plain. But also delightful with butter.

Keep leftovers in an air tight container.  The fresh strawberries made the muffins a little too moist the next day.  I put them in the toaster oven on 300° for a couple of minutes and that fixed the issue.

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

 I felt like making a double chocolate cookie.  But I wanted to make it marginally healthier and have some fiber.  That means I was going to substitute some of the flour with oatmeal and add some nuts.  This is the cookie I made.

Double Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup butter, room temperature (2 sticks)

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups oatmeal

1 cup chocolate chips 

1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

Preheat the oven to 350°.

Beat the butter for about 5 minutes, until light and creamy.  Scrape down when necessary. 

Add in the sugar and brown sugar and keep beating.  A stand mixture really helps with this.  I use a Kitchen Aid.

While the butter is being beaten, put the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.gently whisk to mix.

Place the eggs and vanilla in the mixer and keep beating.

Add the flour mixture, a cup or so at a time, to the mixer and beat slowly so it doesn't make a mess.

When blended, add in the oats and mix.  It really helps to have a stand mixer at this time.

Put the chocolate chips and chopped nuts in and mix a bit.  Then remove the mixing bowl and stir a few times to make sure the chips and nuts are evenly distributed.

Use a medium cookie scoop and place the dough on parchment or Silpat mats.  

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes. The center may still be a bit moist. Cool for a minute or two and then transfer to a cooling rack.

I like these cookies.  They are nice and chocolatey. But I still prefer an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.  Or oatmeal scotchies.  Those are good.  I may have to make them next.

Buttery Sandwich Bread

 Making bread has become a regular thing for me.  And not just the same kind of bread.  I'm having fun exploring new recipes.  Maybe I'm enjoying it because it has been so cold this winter.  

Kneading and baking and then posting the recipes keeps me busy and warm when I can't really do anything outside.

Buttery Sandwich Bread

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups warm milk

2 packages yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) room temperature butter, cut in pieces

1 Tablespoon salt

6 cups bread flour

Because it is cold, I warm the bowl of the mixer.  I fill it with hot tap water and sit it aside.  

After I get out the bread ingredients, I dump out the water and put in 1/2 cup warm water, sugar and yeast. 

This activates the yeast and it will bloom to show that it is still alive.

Heat the milk until warm.  I tested it on my wrist like I would for a baby bottle. If it's too hot it will kill the yeast.

Add the warm milk, 2 cups flour, cut up butter and salt.  Mix slowly with the dough hook.  If you don't have a Kitchen Aid mixer this can be done by hand, but it will get harder to mix as you add more flour.

Add about 1 cup at a time and mix slowly with the dough hook.  The dough came together after I had about 5 1/2 cups in the mix.  It pulled away from the sides of the bowl. I mixed for about 4 or 5 minutes, then I scraped out the dough onto a floured surface.

The dough was still sticky so I sprinkled some of the additional 1/2 cup of flour on top and began kneading.  Even though I have a dough hook, I like the process of kneading and I can tell when it has absorbed all the flour it needs and it is smooth and not sticky.

Put a Tablespoon or so of vegetable oil in a large bowl.  Spread it ip the sides and place the dough ball in the bowl.  Turn it around until the dough has oil on the surface. 

Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm spot for about 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.

Spray two bread pans with Pam.  Punch down the dough and cut it in half.  

Roll each piece out into a rectangle about 8 X 12 with a rolling pin.  

Roll it up tightly from the short side.  

Pinch the edges closed and fold the ends over.  Pinch those creases, too.

Place each dough "log" in a bread pan with the seam side down and cover it with the saved plastic wrap. 

Let it rise for about an hour or until it rises above the edge of the pan. 

Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the plastic wrap and place the pans in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes.  The bread should be a golden brown and sound hollow when tapped.

Brush melted butter over the top.  

Let cool a few minutes and then turn them onto a cooling rack.

Cool the bread about 20 minutes.  When just warm, cut a slice and try it.  I like my fresh bread plain and also with a bit of butter

We can't eat two whole loaves before they will go bad.  I freeze one loaf.  This time I took the suggestion I saw on a blog and wrapped some of the pieces I was going to freeze. 

I cut the loaf in 18 slices, then wrapped each 6 pieces in plastic wrap.  I put the wrapped bread in freezer bags and froze them. This way I can take out a few pieces at a time and it will be fresher longer.

This bread turned out great.  It is buttery even without butter.  And with butter it is delightful.