Blueberry Muffins (蓝莓松饼)

This was an impromptu bake after seeing my sister purchased some muffins from a so called healthy bakery. The muffins she bought claimed to be both delicious and contains ingredients that were good for the body. I took a bite and was so disappointed. :P Neither was it delicious, it was sugar loaded, so sweet! Healthy? Really? So I decided to bake some for her and my dad, since he too enjoys anything blueberry. Again this is another "extraction" from my IG and FB share, so bare with the short post. :)

Blueberry muffin (makes 10-12) 

150 g unsalted butter , room temp
135 g sugar
2 large egg
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
250 g sour cream or plain yogurt
100 ml fresh milk
Zest of 1 lemon
300 g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
150 g blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, need not defrost)

1. Preheat oven to 170C, prepare cupcake liners. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar till creamy. Add vanilla extract and lemon zest and continue to beat till fluffy.
2. Add egg one at a time and beat till incorporate before adding another.
3. Add 1/3 of cake flour, salt, baking powder in and mix well.
4. Add all of sour cream / yoghurt in and beat till mixed in.
5. Add another 1/3 flour in and mix well.
6. Add in the milk and mix well again, then lastly add the last 1/3 flour in and incorporate till batter is smooth. 
7. Lastly toss in blueberries and mix gently.
8. Pour the batter into the cupcake liners. Bake in the preheated oven and bake for 15-18 mins or till the tester comes out clean.

Texture of the muffins were soft and creamy. Best with a cup of Jo or hot tea. I recommend using fresh blueberries, which somehow the fruits' prime condition contributes a juicier and sweeter flavour to the bake. But frozen is fine too lah. :)

Happy Baking!

Healthy Treats: Banana and Oat Muffin

When you have that 2 or 3 overly ripe bananas in your kitchen, "looking" at you every time you walk pass. You know it ain't that tasty anymore since it's too ripe and mushy when you peel it. And kept emitting that ever so fragrant banana scent, telling you it's now or never! Never because it might just rot before you can get to it. :P I am sure everyone of us experience this all too often! Well, as I always say, there's never enough banana recipes to go around! So here I am again, after trying to justify why I am posting this yet another banana cake recipe on my blog, (busted! lol!!) share with you this wonderful and healthy muffin cake that you will not feel guilty chowing down 2-3 of these babies.

Actually I got this recipe idea from Veronica from Peng's kitchen. I believe she got her recipe from Kevin Chai's  book. I decided to modify it to even healthier version by not using butter and adding some wholewheat flour. Check it out:

Healthy Banana and Oat Muffins (makes about 10-12 small)

120ml vegetable oil

70g dark brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 whole egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup low fat plain yoghurt / fresh milk

140g ripe and mashed bananas

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

100g cake flour

25g wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4tsp baking soda

90g instant oat 

Walnuts(roughly chopped) and chocolate chips each 1/4 cup

• Preheat the oven to 175C. Line muffin tins with paper liners.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the oil, egg and sugar together till brown sugar has melted. If sugar did not melt properly, place mixture over double boiler to help speed up the process. 
• Add milk, vanilla extract and salt and stir well.
• Sift in cake flour, baking powder and baking soda and stir well. 
• Lastly, add in wholewheat flour and oats, stir well till combined
• Add in walnut and chocolate chips in desired and stir to mix.
• Scoop batter into muffin cups or baking trays. Bake in the oven for 15-18 minutes till tester comes out clean.

I actually divided the batter into 2 portions and half for walnuts and the other half for chocolate chips. Since my hubs and I wants the healthier version, we opted for the walnut ones...:D

I was surprise these muffins turned out moist and delicious! I really enjoy the walnut chunks and the slight chewy texture given by the oats. I am already planning to bake these again for my parents knowing that they will enjoy them and also not harmful to their health. :)

 See that chunky walnut in there? Yummy! Nom nom nom...I love walnuts! And don't get me started on how healthy they are to us...so snack on them walnuts! :D

Alright, gonna keep this short since tomorrow is still another school day. *sigh* And there's much to do. :P Will try to be back with another post real soon...hopefully before end of the month! *Fingers crossed*

Have a good evening then everyone!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Salted Caramel Glaze

As always, when I have over ripe bananas at home, I will always try to look for new banana recipes to try out. Not that I have no favorite old recipes to fall back to, just that I believe like everyone else, it's nice to explore and discover new interesting ways of incorporating this versatile fruit into bakes. I happen to stumble upon this great recipe on Martha Stewart website which seems to fit the bill. It uses wholewheat flour and vegetable oil which seems pretty healthy, so I'm sold!

It was easy to fall in love with these muffins. Why? It taste soft and delicious, bursting with banana flavor and it won't bust your weighing scale even if you down a couple more. Hahaha! I also added a cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter (why not?!) which makes it even better. To kick up another notch (like Emeril Lagasse always say), I added salted caramel glaze over the muffins.....heaven! So who say a simple old banana can't be a wonderful sweet treat after all?

 

I made some changes to the original recipe, here is my version. Alternatively, click here for original version.

Ingredients for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins With Salted Caramel Glaze

Salted Caramel Glaze: (Enough to glaze 18-20 muffins)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp water

2 tsp corn syrup/honey

3 tbsp heavy cream

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar, water, corn syrup. Cook mixture until it begins to bubble.
• Bring the mixture to a full boil and cook until it becomes dark amber in color and smells like caramel, about 6 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and carefully whisk in heavy cream, butter and sea salt. Allow caramel to cool down for 15 minutes.
• Lastly, stir in the vanilla extract and sea salt. Use immediately or cover and store at room temperature up to a day.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins: (makes 12 standard or 16 mini)

4 large ripe bananas

140g light brown sugar

110ml vegetable oil

1 large egg

140g cake flour

130g wholewheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup fresh whole milk + 1 tsp vinegar

1 tbsp pure vanilla extract 

1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Preheat the oven to 175C. Line 12 muffin liners.
• In a large mixing bowl, add in the 4 banana flesh and mix with the paddle attachment. Beat until mashed, about 1 minute. Add brown sugar, oil, and egg; beat until smooth. Reduce speed to low. Add flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; beat until smooth. Add milk vinegar mixture and vanilla; beat until combined. Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips till just combined.
• Fill muffin liners three-quarters full. Slice remaining banana into 1/8-inch-thick rounds; place a slice on each muffin. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 25 minutes for regular muffins and 20 for mini, rotating pan halfway through. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Store, covered, at room temperature.
•  
• Once the muffins are cooled, drizzle the caramel glaze over the top. You can use piping bags or squirt bottles to do that.

Since I did reduce the amount of sugar, the muffins were just right with the chocolate chips and the salted caramel. Each bite is rich banana aroma, chocolaty, sweet caramel with a hint of saltiness. I simply adore it! 

I'm linking this post to Cook Like A Star organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Baby Sumo from Eat your heart out and Riceball from Riceball Eats
Cook like a Star - December 2012
Martha Stewart

Okay all, got to run again. Have a great weekend!

Banana Oreo Muffins & Oreo Cream Chiffon Cake

Hi all! I'm back. :) I was away for a few good days and it seems like a few weeks to me! :P Perhaps it's the super long flights I had to take to and fro or maybe it's the 15 hours time difference between the countries made me a little out of my system now. Nevertheless, I am glad this short trip back to California got all the urgent matters settled. :) I have much to tell you folks about my trip but I guess it'll be in another post since I have yet got my photos & stuff organized. So don't go too far my friends!

Today I wanted to blog about a couple of bakes I did awhile back. Nothing fancy but its something I would recommend to you all out there. :) First up is Banana Oreo Muffins which I first saw at Jess's blog (A.K.A. Bakericious). She got this recipe from Cuisine Pardise. Since my kids are Oreo junkies, I guess this recipe will definitely be a hit.

So here it is my version:I did a slight modification to the recipe, so here is my version:

Recipe for Banana Oreo Muffins:
220g butter, room temperature
180 caster sugar
4 large eggs
1.5 tsp vanilla essence / extract
3 medium bananas, mashed with fork
110g plain flour
110g cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
50ml buttermilk (~50ml fresh milk + 1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice)
100g Oreo Cookies blended till fine crumbs
12 - 16 pieces of Oreo mini cookies for garnishing (optional)

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 175C. Prepare a baking tray with about 16 muffin cups.
  
• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and caster sugar together till light and fluffy. Crack an egg in the mixture one at a time, making sure it is well blended before adding the next.
• Add in mashed bananas, vanilla extract and mix well again.
• Now add in the plain flour and mix well. Follow by adding the buttermilk and mix again. Then add in the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and mix till just combined.
• Lastly, stir in the blended Oreo crumbs and mix till uniform.
  
• Pour the cake batter into the muffin paper liners all the way to 3/4 full. Top it off with a small Oreo cookie and repeat till all the batter has been used up.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 22 minutes still the tester comes out clean. Remove muffins from oven and let cool on rack before serving.

I have omitted the condensed milk in the original recipe and replace it with buttermilk. The outcome was still really good. :) *phew* This is truly a nice and versatile recipe, do try it out! ;P The muffins were soft and very flavorful, banana and Oreo scent that is. :) My kids loved it and so did I. :) The only down side to this is the cookie on top tends to soften on the next day. :P But I guess it can't be helped. :P

The remaining batter was made into a mini loaf cake which was great too. :) I will make this again next time when I have the same ingredients sitting in my kitchen. :) Thanks to Ellena and Jess. :)

The other Oreo bake is actually a birthday cake I made for my niece. She is also a BIG fan of Oreo cookies, so choosing this flavor was obvious. :)

The Oreo chiffon cake used here is the same recipe I used in my Oreo Yule Log Cake. Main difference is I made it in a tube pan and ice it up with Valrohna chocolate cream, topped it off with a generous layer of Oreo crumbs and stick mini Oreos all around it.

Sorry folks, no sliced up photo for this one. I made and gave the whole cake to my niece, so I didn't even see how it is inside....not to mention how it taste, lol! But since my niece had raved about this Oreo chiffon the previous time, I was sure she'll love it. :)

Talking about chiffon cakes....I have this big order of 10 (20cm) chiffon cakes of 3 different flavors this week. Scary right? 10 chiffon in one day! Lol! With proper time planning, I'm sure I can do it, but it's the washing up part that I'm dreading. *sigh* :P Anyway, wish me plenty of luck.... multiply by 10. :)) Will let you folks know the outcome in my next post.

Got to go now, you all have a good day!

A healthy meal & Wholewheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

I don't really meet up with my side of the family very often even though I have relocated back to Singapore. Partly because we stay quite far away from them, takes about 30 minutes minimum to drive there if the traffic is good. Furthermore, weekdays are usually tight down by children school schedule, so it seems quite out of routine just to drop by and say hi. So I really enjoy visiting my parents that once a week or two, and spending quality time to catch up. However today, thanks to my dear husband, I am taking time off from my weekday schedule to meet up with my 3 sisters for a nice dinner together. We do that when it's one of our birthdays or some special occasion. This time we decided to dine at Cedele at Wheelock Place.

Have totally forgotten to snap any pictures of the restaurant. *sorry*:P This place serves excellent meals from hearty salads to deliciously unique pastas. Besides that, you can count on Cedele for providing quality healthy meals like wild mushroom soup or wholegrain sandwiches and even organic drinks and ice creams.

For me, I ordered Red Chilli Crab Pasta:

This is quite a delicious pasta with a generous amount of crab meat in it, topped with a lightly-fried soft shell crab. The tomato sauce is slightly spicy which gives the taste a nice "kick". Yum! Overall, well balanced taste and flavor...something I would go for again when I go back to Cedele next time.

Believe or not but all 3 of my sisters each ordered a platter of this Sea Bass and Shrimp Tampo. Why? Perhaps it's the delicious citrus vinaigrette over the fresh greens & crunchy sunflower seeds, or maybe they love the nicely grilled sweet shrimps and flaky sea bass. But I think most importantly, they choose this mainly because it's healthy and delicious!

We finished off our lovely dinner with 4 scoops of organic egg-less ice creams, classic chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Okay, about the 4th scoop...it was served later because of my sis had to run off to buy something at the grocer before it closes. It was in fact Chai Teh with Figs...the best I must say. Slightly scented Chai tea and chunks of chewy dried figs, very unique! :) Anyway, if you do drop by Wheelock Place next time, why not give Cedele a try. ;)

Cedele @ Wheelock Place
501 Orchard Road
#03-14
Wheelock Place
Singapore 238880

Tel: 6732 8520
My initial intention before meeting up with my sisters was to bake a birthday cake for the birthday sister. But after talking to her, she told me it's already past and no point blowing candles and all. And since it was a school day, I didn't want to risk baking something too adventurous and did not have time to finish up later. So I ended up baking something healthy which I am sure my sisters and parents will love; Wholewheat Banana Blueberry Muffins. And since my family loved the Blueberry Yogurt Muffins that I baked for them the previous time, this one should not disappoint as well. :)

Muffins again!?! Apologies to those reader that come and probably felt disappointed about seeing muffin posts again. I really hope you all don't find my bake getting boring. :P But this muffins are really easy to whip up and fool proof to bake. Not to mention I am still using my MIL's halogen oven...can't be too demanding right? Besides, these healthy muffins are delicious! In fact this is the 2nd time I made them!

Ingredients for Healthy Banana Blueberry Muffins: (makes about 10 to 12)
125g wholewheat flour
135g all purpose flour
40g wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
110g unsalted butter, room temperature
65g caster sugar
65g light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 ripe bananas, peeled & mashed
80ml fresh milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fresh / frozen blueberries

Method:

• Preheating the oven to 180°C. Grease muffin tins if using or line it with paper cups.
• Whisk together wholewheat flour, plain flour, salt, baking soda and powder in a large bowl. Set aside till needed.
  
• Beat butter, sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs and continue to beat till creamy and sugar has mostly melted.
• Add in the mashed bananas and mix well. Then add milk and vanilla extract and again stir to blend.
• Now add in the flour mixture in and stir till well combined. Lastly add in the blueberries and combine.
  
• Pour the batter into prepared muffin cups / tins and bake for 25 minutes or till tester comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and let cool on rack. Good up to 3 days in air tight containers and refrigerate after.
  

These muffins are surprisingly tender and moist, even though there's wholewheat and wheat germ inside. The muffin tops are a real treat, slight crunchy bits from the grains gives it extra texture and chewiness. ;)

I have also made a few with chocolate chips which my younger daughter just love. ^o^ It's not easy to get my kids to eat whole grain food, so this was really a great recipe to get my kids started. ;)

Final Thoughts: I had a super duper time with my sisters tonight. Enjoyed a delicious dinner with them and catching up was really fun. I just wish we get to do this more often! I was glad we went to dine at a place like Cedele, quiet and good service. Their food was truly healthy and delicious. We all know that there's never a bad day to eat healthy, whether it's dinning out or simply whipping up something simple at home. So to all the dear friends out there, as the saying goes, "Eat Healthy, Live Happy!" ^v^

Blueberry Yoghurt Muffins

My dad has been asking me to bake some fruit muffins for him. It was almost 2 weeks ago then. :P I felt kind of bad the previous time I went back to visit my parents...empty handed! I know it'll sound like an excuse if I tell him I'm too busy to bake. :P Furthermore it wasn't anything hard to do...probably 2 hours tops. So this weekend I made it a point to complete his "order" before it slips out of my mind again. Something not too sweet, so I went with simple Blueberry Yogurt Muffins...sort of a classic choice. :) Good thing I was meeting with my parents for dinner on Saturday, they can have these for breakfast on Sunday morning. :)

I guess besides banana bread, blueberry muffins are probably one of those most frequently baked cake at home. :) Even if fresh berries are not available, frozen ones will do just as fine. :) For me, I simply couldn't resist, but to buy a large box of fresh blueberries during my last trip back to California, brought it all the way back home to Singapore and freeze 3/4 of them. Now I have blueberries to bake all year round, heehee. ;P

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins
85g unsalted butter
150g cake flour
200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
215g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
100ml fresh milk
150 non-fat blueberry yogurt
1.5 cups fresh / frozen blueberries

Method:

• Preheat the oven 180°C. Line a standard muffin tray with paper cups.
• Cream the butter, sugar in a large mixing bowl till light and fluffy, about 3 mins.
• Add eggs, one at a time to the mixture and beat till well mixed.
• In a bowl, mix the yogurt and milk together and set aside. In another bowl, sieve flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
  
• Into the egg mixture, add the 1/3 milk yogurt mixture and mix well. Then add 1/4 of flour mixture and mix well. Repeat till all is combined but do not over mix.
• Lastly add the blueberries in gently. Then pour the batter into the paper cups and bake the muffins in the oven for 25 minutes till golden brown and tester comes out clean.

I love the moist texture of the muffins and the blueberries give it a slight tang to counter the sweetness.

I'm not sure if it's just me, but do you find that those blueberries look "purplish"? Always thought they are blue...until now! Lol! BTW, I better call my dad later and check if he likes it ...whether I pass his QC. :) Blue or purple, they are plum and juicy, yum! Do ahead and bake a batch of muffins for your love ones today. ;)