Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Banana-Chocolate Chip Streusel Muffins

Note: the Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Check out my coverage of the 45th and 46th Bake-Off, and follow the recipes posted so far by clicking the bakeoff tag below.

These are the type of muffins that make me happy: the kind that include chocolate chip cookie dough. You heard me. This recipe by Kim Van Dunk of Caldwell, New Jersey is a Bake-Off finalist I can really appreciate!

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Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Chocolate Chip-Banana Nut Muffins

Much ado about muffin! These ones have a sweet secret: they're made with cookie dough! This tasty AM treat comes from Mindy Beaumont of Crozet, Virginia. Good luck at the Bake-Off!

Chocolate Chip-Banana Nut Muffins

• Prep Time: 20 Min
• Total Time: 1 Hr
• Makes: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 container Pillsbury Gluten Free refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
• 2 ripe medium bananas, chopped (1 1/2 cups)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon coarse white sparkling sugar

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Spray 12 regular-size muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray, or place a liner in each muffin cup.
2. In large bowl, beat eggs and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed about 30 seconds or until frothy and light yellow. Break up cookie dough into egg mixture; add bananas and baking powder. Beat on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth and well blended. Gently stir in 1 cup of the walnuts.
3. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup walnuts and the sugar. Bake 24 to 27 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pan to cooling rack. Cool 5 minutes. Serve warm or cool. Store covered.

Note: the Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Check out my coverage of the 45th and 46th Bake-Off, and follow the recipes posted so far by clicking the bakeoff tag below.

Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Glazed Orange Muffins

Paula Mahagnoul of Keystone, South Dakota knows what the keystone of an awesome breakfast is: muffins made with sugar cookie dough. Yep, that's right!

These zesty muffins come together in minutes and guarantee warm feelings on chilly mornings. Good luck at the Bake-Off!

Glazed Orange Muffins

• Prep Time: 20 Min
• Total Time: 1 Hr
• Makes: 6 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 roll Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Watkins™ Pure Orange Extract
• 2 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 6 jumbo muffin cups with Crisco® Butter Flavor or Original No-Stick Cooking Spray, or place Reynolds® Baking Cup in each muffin cup.
2. In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Add buttermilk, egg, 1 teaspoon of the orange extract, 2 teaspoons of the orange peel and the baking powder. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 30 to 60 seconds or until well blended. Spoon about 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup, filling about two-thirds full.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix powdered sugar, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of the orange extract, remaining 1/2 teaspoon of the orange peel and 2 to 3 teaspoons water until smooth and thin enough to glaze. Remove baking cups from muffins, if used. Spoon and spread glaze over muffins, allowing some to drip down sides. Serve warm. Store covered.

Note: the Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Check out my coverage of the 45th and 46th Bake-Off, and follow the recipes posted so far by clicking the bakeoff tag below.

Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

CakeSpy Note: OMG! It's getting to be that time of year again. The Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Since I so deeply loved attending the 45th Bake-Off as well as the 46th Bake-Off, I thought I would get you excited the 47th one early by sharing all of the sweet recipes in the running. I will focus on sweets! You can follow them by clicking the bakeoff tag below to see the recipes posted so far (as well as recipes from previous Bake-Off events). 

These are muffins, yes...but since they have frosting, I can permit them on this site.

This clever cakey muffin comes from Lise Ode of Cumming, Georgia, who is apparently a morning carbohydrate maven. Why would I say that? Because she also had a recipe in last year's Bake-Off, which is worth checking out: German Chocolate Doughnuts.

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

• Prep Time: 25 Min
• Total Time: 1 Hr 25 Min
• Makes: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 container Pillsbury™ Gluten Free refrigerated pie and pastry dough
• 2 cup fresh blueberries
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Let dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften. Place baking cups in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.
2. In small bowl, place 36 blueberries; set aside. In large bowl, break up pastry dough. Add eggs, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the baking powder and lemon extract. Mix with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed about 30 seconds or until well blended. Gently stir in remaining blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (cups will be full).
3. Bake 22 to 29 minutes or until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining 1/4 cup sugar with electric mixer on medium speed 30 to 60 seconds or until smooth. Spread or pipe cream cheese mixture onto muffins. Top each muffin with 3 blueberries. Store covered in refrigerator.

Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Cinnamon-Pumpkin Muffins

CakeSpy Note: OMG! It's getting to be that time of year again. The Pillsbury Bake-Off is coming in November! Since I so deeply loved attending the 45th Bake-Off as well as the 46th Bake-Off, I thought I would get you excited the 47th one early by sharing all of the sweet recipes in the running. I will focus on sweets! You can follow them by clicking the bakeoff tag below to see the recipes posted so far (as well as recipes from previous Bake-Off events). 

I famously consider muffins a waste of my time. My primary issue: they are just not cake.

However, every now and again a muffin comes along that I feel as if I could fit into my diet and life without much issue. Well, it certainly helps that Anna Zovko of Tampa, Florida includes sugar cookie dough in the batter! Plus, there is glaze. Now that's my kind of muffin.

Good luck at the Bake-Off!

Cinnamon-Pumpkin Muffins

• Prep Time: 20 Min
• Total Time: 1 Hr 5 Min
• Makes: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 roll Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookie dough
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 3/4 cup self-rising flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup cream cheese creamy ready-to-spread frosting

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Let cookie dough stand at room temperature 10 minutes to soften. Place baking cups in each of 12 regular-size muffin cups.
2. In large bowl, break up cookie dough. Add eggs and pumpkin. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until well blended. Add flour and 2 teaspoons of the cinnamon; beat on low speed about 30 seconds or until blended. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
3. In small bowl, mix sugar and remaining 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon until blended. Sprinkle rounded 1/4 teaspoon sugar mixture over batter in each muffin cup.
4. Bake 18 to 28 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 3 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool at least 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, place frosting in medium resealable food-storage plastic bag. Cut off small corner of bag. Squeeze bag to drizzle frosting over each muffin. Store covered.

Pastry Profiles: Carrot Muffin, El Tesoro Cafe, Santa Fe NM

I've never known a muffin like this before.

I met this muffin at a place called El Tesoro, which is located in the Sanbusco Market Center in the Guadalupe District of Santa Fe. Per the Sanbusco Center website, "This treasure, as the name El Tesoro implies, has been serving food to Santa Feans for the past ten years.  Breakfast and lunch are served daily.  The menus are a beautiful blend of New Mexican, Central American and American entrees; it is a local’s favorite for fresh guacamole, great green chile, pupusas, salvadorean tamales, salads and salmon tacos.  The food is prepared fresh daily with items made to order."

Now, a New Mexican-Central American eatery wouldn't be the place I'd expect to find a top-tier muffin...or to have a muffin on the menu at all...but that's just what they have here.

It's a carrot zucchini muffin you see in the picture above, and while the taste is just fantastic--spicy, lightly sweet, very moist--what is really intriguing about this muffin is the texture.

It's soft and cakey on the inside, but has a firm yet silky-smooth crust on the exterior. It's almost like the exterior of a popover. It makes you want to keep eating just for another bite of that perfect texture. How on earth did they do it? I would love to know!

But mostly, I'd like to eat another, and soon!

El Tesoro, 500 Montezuma Avenue, at the Sanbusco Center; online here.

Maine Event: Maine Wild Blueberry Muffins Recipe

 When it comes to Maine Blueberries, technically Pie takes the cake--Wild Blueberry Pie is the official state dessert. 

But the fact is, when you go to gift shops, you'll find postcards touting this recipe for Wild Blueberry Muffins, so I vote that they are worth your time, too.

Maine Wild Blueberry Muffins Recipe

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups Maine wild blueberries

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a muffin pan.
2. Beat egg slightly; stir in milk and oil. Mix in the dry ingredients until the flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy--don't overmix. Add the blueberries. 
3. Fill the muffin cups and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Yield: 12 muffins.

Muffin Tops: An Ode to US States With Official State Muffins

Now, it's true that CakeSpy has gone on the record as saying that muffins are just ugly cupcakes. But the fact is, when it comes to official state treats, more states (3) have declared an official state muffin than have declared an official state cupcake (0, to the best of my research, although some have official state cookies and/or cakes).

And with that in mind, why don't we take a moment to celebrate this trinity of muffin royalty in the US? Here they are:

Massachusetts: Corn Muffin. Though Rhode Island is famous for its corn cakes (Jonnycakes), it's Massachusetts that has made much ado about the muffin. Per FoodTimeline.org, "The schoolchildren of Massachusetts petitioned for the CORN MUFFIN, a staple of New England cooking, and the Legislature made it official in 1986."

Minnesota: Blueberry Muffin. That two-timing blueberry makes an appearance in official state goodies in both Minnesota and in Maine, where they call Blueberry Pie their official state dessert (although some argue it should be the Whoopie Pie). As I learned here, "Minnesota designated the blueberry muffin as the official state muffin in 1988. Wild blueberries are native to northeastern Minnesota, growing in bogs, on hillsides, and in cut-over forested areas."

New York: Apple Muffin. That's right! One might think the apple muffin would be the official state muffin of Washington, but one would be incorrect. While the apple is the official state fruit of both Washington and New York, it was the latter that claimed the muffin as well, made official in 1987: "The apple muffin was adopted as the official State muffin of New York in 1987 through efforts of students throughout New York State." That is to say, get on the ball, schoolchildren of Washington! But make it apple cake, OK? Ok. Cool.

For more official state foods, visit foodtimeline.org.