November 1: Graham Cracker Muffins

Placing the muffin liners is an important job!

Crunching the crackers.

Mix, mix, mix!

Who wouldn't want a strainer for a hat?

Mix master. :)

While these are interesting, they weren't a favorite around here.  Ty and Brielle had fun making them, but no one was really interested in eating them...I guess it's hard to improve graham crackers. :)

Graham Cracker Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 2 Tbs. honey

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease 10 muffin cups or line with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl, combine cracker crumbs, sugar, and baking powder.
4. Stir in milk, egg, and honey; mix just until moistened.
5. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
7. Let stand for 5 minutes, then move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe from Kaboose.com

October 4: Oatmeal Butterscotch Muffins

Another muffin recipe attempt:  Seth really liked them; Koen ate one, said he liked it, and then wouldn't eat any more; Ty refused to try them, and Brielle seemed to enjoy them...maybe because she was the only one who helped to make them!  Like most oatmeal muffins, these did begin to get crumbly after the first day or two.  We stored them on the counter, so maybe the refrigerator would've worked better in helping these last longer. 

Oatmeal Butterscotch Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips

1. Mix all together in a large bowl.
2. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden.

Recipe taken from http://www.sarahsdeals.net/search/label/Recipes

September 5: A Truck Parade and Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

Our family...waiting for the truck parade to start.

Tysen, Koen, and Henry...still waiting.

The kids got to sit in the firetruck after the parade ended.

Labor Day in Holland means the Truck Parade!  We took Koen to the parade a few years ago, but this year the whole gang ventured out for the experience.  It really is a phenomenal (and LOUD) experience!  After the parade, the trucks all convene at the Civic Center and the spectators can go get a closer look at the trucks and pick up free goodies from the companies represented.  The boys were THRILLED with the morning...big trucks with their loud horns, free stuff like candy, Frisbees, and ice cream, even a visit with Great-Grandma Davies who lives downtown Holland.  Brielle wasn't quite as excited about it...the loud truck horns were not her favorite thing to hear.  We all enjoyed our brisk morning out!




Once we arrived home, we dragged out the ingredients for Almond Poppy Seed Muffins.  I'm on a mission to find muffin recipes Koen likes so he can take them to school for lunch.  The only sandwich he enjoys is something with peanut butter, but peanut butter is not allowed due to other students' allergies.  I know he'll eat pumpkin muffins, but I want him to continue to like pumpkin muffins after the year is over, so I don't want to send on every day.  When I went through my recipes I'd suggested Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, but in informed me he actually likes almond poppy seed better (thank you, Costco).  Surprisingly, I didn't have a recipe for that on hand, so I ventured online and came up with a few possibilities.  I had all the ingredients in the house for the following, and I'm told they turned out quite well!  After mixing these together, I wondered about just taking the almond bar recipe I have and adding poppy seeds in.  It would be a much denser muffin, but would taste delicious, I think.  I may have to try that in the future!

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

• 1/2 cup butter 
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp. almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/8 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 Tbs. poppy seeds

1. Cream butter and sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, beat well.
3. Add almond extract, beat well.
4. Mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
5. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk.
6. Mix until just combined with each addition.
7. Fold in poppy seeds.
8. Spoon into greased muffin tins or use paper baking liners, filling 2/3 full.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.
10. Remove from pan to cool on rack.

Yield:  12 muffins
(found on cooks.com)

August 29: Everyone Helps!

We made our tried-and-true Pumpkin Muffins again this week.  Boring, I know, but the kids LOVE these!!!  They ask to make them just about every week.  I love that Brielle now has an interest in helping, too!  She didn't actually get to help mix anything, but she was a great help when it came to licking a spoon clean! ;)

May 23: Healthy Apple and Oatmeal Muffins

This was certainly not the most successful kitchen experience as far as Ty was concerned.  He lost a lot of interest while we were soaking the oats for 30 minutes...who can blame him?  He didn't want to grate the apples, which I though he'd find fun.  And finally, he wasn't impressed with the taste...both he and Brielle  were finished after one bite.  Koen wouldn't even try them, and Seth wasn't impressed either.  They smell fabulous, but they are very dense.  They're either going in the freezer for when I'm eating carbs again or out to the birds.  On that note, here's the recipe. (Find the original recipe at food.com)

Healthy Apple and Oatmeal Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups quick oats
• 1 1/2 cups apple juice
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 medium apples, grated
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 4 egg whites, beaten  to soft peaks
• apple wedges for garnish

Soak the oats, apple juice, sugar, and vanilla for 30 minutes.  Mix in the flour, grated apples, baking powder, and cinnamon.  Fold in the beaten egg whites.  Spoon into muffin tins.  Top muffins with 2 sliced apple wedges (cut quarters of an apple into 3 or 4 wedges) and bake at 340 degrees (that's not a typo...340 degrees) for 25-30 minutes or until muffins are cooked through and golden.  Cool for a few minutes before removing from the pan to cool on a wire rack.  Yield:  12 (We got 18)

September 27: Pumpkin Muffins (again)

These boys LOVE their pumpkin muffins!!!  When I asked Ty what he wanted to make today, this was his choice!  Interestingly, both boys choose the pumpkin/spice cake over the chocolate.  Whose kids are these anyway? ;)  I guess it is a good choice for the autumn season.

(Side note:  A few days after this I saw pumpkin in our stores in the US again!!!  It's been off the shelves for MONTHS due to last year's freeze.  And while were EXTREMELY grateful to Grandpa and Grandma Davies for being our pumpkin suppliers, we should be OK again.)

I know I've posted the recipe previously, but for the record...

Yummy Muffins

• 1 large can of pumpkin
• 2 boxes of spice, chocolate, or carrot cake mix
• 1/2 cup water

(If you use the smaller can of pumpkin, just halve the recipe)

Mix all ingredients.  Mixture will be lumpy.  Divide into 18 muffin tins/paper liners.  Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes.  Enjoy!

August 17: Banana Muffins

We had extra-ripe bananas today, so banana muffins was the no-brainer choice for baking day.  Tysen devours muffins, so he was thrilled we were making them ,but Koen opted out of the baking session meaning he didn't get to enjoy them.  Bummer for him because they were great as usual!  Here's the simple recipe we usually use.

Banana Bread

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup butter
2 very ripe bananas
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
     In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. 
     Put all the rest of the ingredients into the blender - the butter (I usually soften this first), the bananas, and the eggs - and let 'er rip!  Blend this until smooth.
     Pour the blended banana mixture into the flour mixture and stir until thoroughly combined.
     Spoon the batter into a well-greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.  If you want, you can bake this in muffin pans instead.  Grease the cups (or use paper cups), fill them almost to the top, and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.
     Makes 1 loaf or about 10 muffins.
(recipe from Clueless in the Kitchen by Evelyn Raab)

June 15: Baking Day -- Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate muffins (or Black Muffins, as Koen calls them) are a favorite around our house!  They NEVER last longer than two days, unless it's a double batch.  It's a simple and quick recipe but quite tasty and actually healthy for us with all the fiber in them.  I originally got the recipe from a Weight Watchers meeting.  If you'd like to try them for yourself, here's the recipe!

Chocolate Muffins: 
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 small can pumpkin (like Libby's Pumpkin)
1/4 cup water
(we like to add in some chocolate chips as well)

Mix the ingredients together and place the batter in greased muffin tins (or use paper liners in the tins).  Bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees.  Yield 18 muffins

Variation:  While we didn't make them this week, we also enjoy Pumpkin Muffins made the same way.  Simply use Spice Cake Mix instead of the Chocolate Cake Mix and keep everything else the same.