Finally, a Versatile Chocolate Muffin!

I used to buy occasionally those little cookbooks that you find at supermarket checkouts, back before I really got hooked on websites like http://www.foodnetwork.com/, http://www.recipezaar.com/, and all of the specialty recipe sites out there. Some of those little books looked good but I rarely used. Others have been used heavily. One of those heavily used is a Betty Crocker holiday cookbook. In it is a recipe I've been meaning to try for several years and just never got around to doing it: chocolate pistachio bread. Now I've been searching for chocolate muffin recipes, and I remembered that recipe and gave it a try. The longest part of preparation was the shelling of the pistachios, and little C helped with that which made it more fun (not necessarily faster but definitely more fun). These - or a variation - would be a great addition to a Christmas gift basket, holiday brunch, or snack tray. Tender, moist, rich chocolate flavor, the light flavor and crunch of the pistachio pieces, the crunch of the crusty top on the muffin all make this one to repeat. Don't like pistachios? Don't fret! Substitute chopped dried cherries, dried blueberries, chopped walnuts, peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, or whatever else you like to combine with chocolate and is no larger than a chocolate chip!

2/3 c. granulated sugar
1/3 c. butter or margarine, melted (I used Blue Bonnet margarine)
3/4 c. milk (I used Silk plain soy milk)
1 egg (I used 1/4 c. Eggbeaters)
1 1/2 c. flour
1 c. chopped pistachio nuts (I cheated and did 1 c. of pistachio nuts then chopped them)
1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 c. baking cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
coarse sugar crystals (decorating sugar), if desired

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease bottom and sides of loaf pan, 9x5x3 inches, with shortening (I used 12 muffin liners in a muffin tin.)
2. Mix sugar, butter, milk, and egg in a large bowl until well blended.
3. Stir in remaining ingredients except decorating sugar. (I stirred in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt, then gently stirred in the chopped pistachio nuts and chocolate chips.)
4. Spread into prepared pan (or scoop into muffin tin - the wells of the muffin tin were 3/4 full, about 1/3 c. batter per muffin). Sprinkle with sugar crystals.
5. Bake 50-55 minutes (for muffins, mine came out at 22 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (really look at the toothpick - it won't come out clean if you ran through a melted chocolate chip!). Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan; remove from pan to wire cooling rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours, before slicing.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins

I thought I would experiment with some pumpkin recipes this week, and I started off this morning with pumpkin oatmeal muffins, a new-to-me recipe from Recipezaar, posted by Engineer in the Kitchen that has the added interest of being vegan. This, I believe, is a bit of a case of there can be too much of a good thing. In this instance, it's "low fat" and I'm going to try this recipe again and replace the applesauce with oil. I used muffin papers (come on, it's the week of Halloween, I have a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old, and I have these cute Halloween muffin papers in my cupboard), and the lack of oil/fat in these muffins made them stick so badly to the papers that a good muffin was lost. This could probably be avoided by not using muffin papers and instead greasing muffin cups, but I'm thinking that 1/4 c. of oil for 12 muffins is not going to kill me but might keep the muffins from sticking to the papers! Otherwise, the texture was nice: soft but firm. The flavor was good, pumpkin with a slight earthy flavor from the oats. Chopped nuts, raisins, chopped crystallized ginger, chopped dried pineapple, or other dried berries would all be good additions to these muffins. I might also experiment with substituting wheat flour for some of the all purpose flour. All in all, I'd say that this has the makings of a great breakfast muffin.

1 c. oats (I used old fashioned)
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. packed brown sugar (I used light brown)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt (I used kosher)
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c. rice milk (I used Silk original soy milk)
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. applesauce (I will use vegetable oil next time

1. Blend the oats in a blender or food processor until they are crumbs (not quite flour).
2. In a large bowl, mix the first nine ingredients (oats through baking soda).
3. In a small bowl, mix the remaining three ingredients.
4. Stir the wet mixture into the dry mix until moistened.
5. Fill muffin tins (6 Texas sized or 12 regular) and bake at 400 degrees F, 25 minutes for Texas and 18 minutes for regular.