Almond Agave Muffins

We try to incorporate a lot of local products and organic products into our baked goods. Sometimes this is impossible. There are no local farmers growing bananas or coconut. When we aren't using organic cane sugar, we use honey from a local vendor and also agave nectar. Agave nectar has been used centuries and it is finally catching on and growing very popular in Western countries. The appeal to agave is due in part to its very low glycemic index. You get the sweetness but not the blood sugar spike that comes from other sugars. It can be used interchangeably with honey, thought agave nectar doesn't have quite the viscosity that honey does. 

We're in the process of making more items to showcase in the upcoming market season and be able to offer on-line through our store. I decided to use agave nectar in a recipe I had for almond muffins and liked it. There are a few things I would change next time, but I was very pleased with the first test batch.

Enjoy this recipe for a Superfood muffin that you can feel good about eating.

Ingredients: 1 c sliced almonds, .5 tsp cinnamon, 2 TBSP agave, 1.5 c whole wheat flour, 2 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp sea salt, 2 eggs, .75 c mashed ripe bananas, .5 c coconut oil*, .5 c agave, 1/3 c milk, .25 tsp pure almond extract

Ingredients:  (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prep a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with cooking spray or liners. (2) In a small bowl, combine sliced almonds, cinnamon, and 2 Tbsp agave and toss until evenly coated. Set aside. (3) Whisk flour, sea salt, and powder in a large bowl. (4) In a med. bowl, whisk eggs, bananas, oil, agave, milk and extract until well blended. (5) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just blended. Divide batter amongst muffin cups and sprinkle topping on top. (6) Bake for 28 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes then transfer to a rack and cool completely.


*You can use canola oil instead of coconut oil.
*Adding blueberries or raspberries take these muffins up a notch.

Easter Braids

My Italian mother-in-law has certain holiday treats that she makes. Usually these treats are made at Christmas time or for Easter. If you even think about making these family treats at other times of the year, you will usually get the 'eye'. Of course she broke this rule when she made her Easter Italian cookies one year for Thanksgiving because of the grandson's asked of it. So I guess, these special treats can be made anytime of the year, however, I'll probably still be afraid of getting the 'eye' and will only stick to making them during Christmas or Easter.

I've mastered making the Easter Italian cookies and Spritz cookies but still have a few more items to perfect. I've learned to ask Mom H about recipes she gave my husband and I when we got married because sometimes she 'forgets' to put in a certain ingredient or a technique. Another aunt and I wonder if this is on purpose so those of us that have married into the family fail at making one of these family recipes.

I know better to post one of her recipes so I picked a recipe that is close to what Mom H uses to make her Easter Braids. She doesn't make them in a ring nor does she dye the eggs that are used. I decided to do them differently than what she does. Hopefully this doesn't mean I'll get the 'eye' next time I see her.  Enjoy and don't worry, Mom H won't give you the 'eye'.

Ingredients: 1 package rapid rise instant yeast, 1.25 c milk, pinch of salt, .5 c butter, 2 eggs (beaten), .5 c sugar, 3.5 c flour, 1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water, Raw eggs (dyed or not)

Instructions: (1) In a small pan, warm milk and butter on the stove to melt the butter but don't boil or make the mixture too hot. It can kill the yeast if it is too hot when poured in #3. (2) In a large bowl, whisk yeast, salt, eggs, and sugar. (3) Add warm butter mixture to large bowl. Add half the amount of flour and mix until smooth (using a mixture with a dough hook is best). Add remaining amount of flour until stiff. (If you have to add more flour to form a stiff dough, do so.) (5) Kneed until smooth either with dough hook or on a board sprinkled with flour. Place in a greased bowl and cover and set in a warm area to double in size, about 1 hour. (6) Punch down dough and divide into 12 pieces. Roll each piece to 1" thickness, about 14" long. Take 2 pieces and 'braid' them forming a loop/circle. Add to a cookie sheet spread with Pam or with parchment paper or silicon mat and cover and let rise. (7) Add egg to the middle and brush egg wash on to bread. Bake at 350 until golden brown, about 20 min.

*Eggs can be dyed without cooking, just make sure to not crack the eggs. Eggs will cook while the bread is baking. Eggs can be eaten just make sure to store finished bread in fridge to keep eggs safe for consumption.

*Add sprinkles to tops of bread before baking to add a celebratory flare.

Sugary Popovers

Popovers are great. They remind me of these donuts I use to get when I was a kid. Light and airy and covered sugar. To make popovers hallow, the batter has to be poured into a hot pan before it is placed into a hot oven. The pan and the oven cause the batter to steam, which causes the popovers to be puffy and filled with air. One sure way of causing the popovers to crash is to open the oven door. This will cause the heat to escape and the popovers to deflate; only open the door when they are just about ready.
Enjoy this recipe. I used brown sugar instead of white sugar but they still taste delicious. They are best served warm and with a glass of milk.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, .5 tsp sea salt, .25 tsp ground cinnamon, 2 TBSP + .5 c light brown sugar (packed), 2 c milk*, 4 eggs, .5 stick of butter

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 425F and make sure rack is in the center of the oven. Prep a popover pan or a muffin pan with butter and place in oven until hot. (2) Whisk flour, salt, cinnamon, and 2 TBSPs of brown sugar in a small bowl. (3) Whisk milk (room temperature), eggs, and 2 TBSPs melted butter in a medium bowl. (4) Gradually add the flour mixture to the milk mixture and whisk until combined. (5) Remove hot pan from oven and pour batter into cups to the rim. Bake for 20 min. then turn temperature down to 325 and continue to bake for another 40 min or until popovers are completely browned and poufy. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes or until cool enough to handle. (6) Place .5 c of brown sugar in a small bowl. Brush remaining butter on the tops of the popovers and remove them from the pan. Toss them, one at a time, in the brown sugar, coating each popover completely. Serve immediately if possible or within 3 hours.

Guinness Muffins

Irish Eyes are smiling. Guinness, invented back in the 1700s by Arthur Guinness, is a dark, thick, stout beer. Some people love a pint of Guinness. I'm not one of those people. I'm not really a beer drinker in general. This recipe is for those friends of mine, Irish or not, who enjoy a nice pint of beer. These muffins have a distinctive taste. Trust me, if you don't like Guinness you will probably not like these muffins.


Ingredients: 2 c flour, 1 c rye flour, 1 tsp caraway seeds, .5 tsp baking soda, .5 tsp sea salt, .25 c dark brown sugar (packed), .25 c butter (melted)*, 12oz Guinness or another dark beer*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with cooking spray or liners. (2) Whisk flour, rye, caraway seeds, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar and butter until blended. (3) Add brown sugar mixture and Guinness to flour mixture and stir until just blended. (4) Divide batter amongst the prepared muffin cups and bake until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean, about 26 minutes. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and serve warm or let cool completely on a wire rack.

*To reduce the risk of having a thick head when poured, chill the bottle or can of beer well.

Brown Bread Muffins

The most famous New England bread is Brown Bread. It is blend of wheat and cornmeal and sometimes rye. The bread is usually steamed, often in cans. B&M offers brown bread with or without raisins. I never knew about brown bread until I moved to Boston and was dating my husband. Sometimes for Sunday dinner, there would be brown bread.  Being a Southerner, we would have buttermilk biscuits on the dinner table. Being north of the Mason Dixon line, I had to get use to bread out of a can.  These muffins are a version of the traditional Boston Brown Bread. Since St. Patty's Day is this weekend, I figured I would try a few recipes in between preparing for a wedding this week. Hope you enjoy the recipe and the next few to follow.


Ingredients: 1c whole wheat flour, .5 c cornmeal, 1.5 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp sea salt, 1/3 c dark brown sugar (packed), 1 egg, 1/3 c dark molasses, 1/3 c canola oil, 1 c buttermilk, 1 c raisins*

Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 400 and prep a 12-c or 6-c muffin pan with cooking spray or paper linings. (2) Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. (3) In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar, egg, molasses and oil until well blended. Whisk in buttermilk until blended. (3) Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir just until blended. Fold in raisins. (4) Divide batter equally amongst prepared muffin cups. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 16 minutes (longer if using a bigger pan). Cool in a pan for a few minutes and serve while still warm or transfer to a rack and cool completely.

*I opted not to have raisins in my brown bread.

Grapefruit Pound Cake

Image from Cooking Light, Jan. 2012

Grapefruit. I love grapefruit. Grapefruits are actually hybrids, a cross made between an orange and a pummelo.   I especially love Pink and Ruby grapefruits over the White grapefruit because they are sweeter. The White grapefruit isn't bad, just more tangy and less sweet then the pink/red fleshed grapefruits.  I bought way too many grapefruits so I decided to use some and make a pound cake.   Enjoy this light and tasty recipe.

Ingredients: 2 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, sea salt, 1 2/3 cups sugar, 6 TBSP butter, 6 oz. cream cheese, 2 eggs*, .25 c canola oil, 2 TBSPs grapefruit rind*, .5 tsp pure vanilla .5 c milk, .5 c fresh grapefruit juice, 1.25 c powdered sugar


Instructions: (1) Preheat oven to 325 and coat a bundt, tube, or bread loaf pan with cooking spray. (2) Measure out flour to roughly 2 cups and level. Combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt to a bowl and stir well. (3) Cream sugar, butter, and cream cheese in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix well. Beat in oil, grapefruit rind, and vanilla.  (4) Add flour mixture and milk to egg mixture alternately, ending with flour mixture. Spoon batter into prepared pan and bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cook on wire rack before inverting. Cool completely. (5) Place grapefruit juice in a saucepan over med-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to about 3 TBSP of sauce and cool slightly. Stir in powdered sugar and 1/8 tsp of salt and drizzle over cake.

*Room Temperature eggs work best.
*I usually add more than 2 TBSP of grated grapefruit rind and more grapefruit juice for the icing. I used ruby grapefruits over the white grapefruits.