Category Archives: Baking

Happy Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel Mother’s Day

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The primary recipes for this months Sally’s Baking Challenge is Frosted Strawberry Cookies and the alternate is Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel. She had me a “chocolate.”

These muffins may be a bit chocolate forward, i.e., the chocolate overpowers the banana, Next time I will cut the amount of chocolate back by a third or so. Nonetheless, these muffins are delicious, moist and definitely a keeper.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Cinnamon Streusel

Yield: 12 muffins

INGREDIENTS
Streusel
• 2 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 50g ( ¼ c) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 135g ( ¾ c) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Muffins
• 208g (1 and ⅔ c) all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¾ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 85g (6 Tbl) RT unsalted butter
• 100g ( ½ c) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 345g (1½ c) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large bananas)
• 60g ( ¼ c) plain yogurt or sour cream

METHOD

  1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside.
  2. Mix all the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.
  3. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  4. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until creamed, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the mashed bananas and yogurt, and then beat on high speed until combined; mixture will look curdled and that’s ok.
  5. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. Batter is thick. Do not overmix.
  6. Layer a large spoonful (about 1½ Tablespoons, 20ml scoop) of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with 1 scant Tablespoon of streusel. Layer another large spoonful of batter over each, using up the remaining batter, then finish by sprinkling remaining streusel on top of each muffin. The 12 muffin cups should be filled all the way to the very top. With a toothpick or knife, gently swirl the streusel topping with the batter.
  7. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Bake for an additional 15–16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–21 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling, or enjoy warm.
  8. Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Notes

  1. Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: For longer storage, freeze the muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then warm up in the microwave if desired.
  2. Frozen Bananas: You can use thawed frozen bananas in this muffin recipe. Thawed bananas are extra wet, so drain off as much of the excess liquid as you can before mashing.
  3. Yogurt or Sour Cream: You can use either regular or Greek plain yogurt in this recipe (any fat content) or sour cream. In a pinch, 1/4 cup (60ml) buttermilk may be substituted.
  4. Why the initial high oven temperature? Like I do for most muffin recipes, bake the muffins for 5 minutes at a very hot temperature. Then, keeping the muffins in the oven, switch to a lower temperature for the remaining bake time. This initial high temperature will quickly lift the muffin tops so they’re extra high, then the centers will bake during the lower temperature bake time.

Recovering From a Disaster

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Not often, but on rare occasion I have a baking disaster. Yesterday I wanted blueberry muffins and unfortunately used an old recipe. Apparently, there was a major error in the recipe as after two attempts I binned the results (along with the recipe) and headed to my go-to baker, Sally McKenny. (“Binned” is a term from GBBO where whatever didn’t work is tossed in the trash.)

I wisely turned to Sally’s blueberry muffin recipe and they were overwhelmingly endorsed by the QC Cadre. (For any who do not know, the QC Cadre is composed of a number of my neighbors who volunteered to sample and review my bakes.)

If you can ignore the dropped berry scones and artisan no-knead rolls in the background, here are the blueberry muffins. I cannot recommend them strongly enough.

Oh! What I Have Learned!

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There are volumes documenting all that I don’t know, and a postcard describing what I do know. I discover, or am taught, new ideas daily.

Here are two things I didn’t know, but probably everyone else did.

  • A pie shield that doesn’t fall off during baking
  • A parchment paper liner for par baking that fits the pastry

Pie Shield to Protect the Edges of the Pie

I reviewed all the pie shields on Amazon and reviews of all of them complained about them falling off. This one creates a shield from a single sheet of aluminum foil that does not come off while baking.

Trace a circle ~1”larger than your pie plate (Use a skewer or chop stick)
Trace a smaller concentric circle ~1” smaller than your pie plate
Fold the square in half, then in half again
Cut out the circles
End up with a ring ~2 inches wide.
Wrap the foil around the edge of the crust

Contour forming parchment paper liner

Ever try to fit a piece of parchment paper to a pastry shell without deforming the pastry? The simple solution is to crumple the parchment paper then smooth out (at least two times.) For smaller pastries cut slits into the edges of the paper to allow it to fit into the smaller shells.

Parchment paper, curling up on the edges
Cut into a square then folded in half, diagonally.
Fold in half again,
Fold as many times as you can. Trim to ~2” longer than the radius of the pan.
Cut the folds on the end
Unfold and lengthen any cuts as required
Crumple and smooth, crumple and smooth again
Fit to the pie plate
Add pie weights.

Fold the parchment paper diagonally in half. Place a finger in the middle of the long side of the triangle and fold across your finger. Keep your finger in the same place and fold diagonally again. Fold one short side down the the long side and repeat. Cut the large end to make a triangle ~2 inches longer than the radius of your pie plate.

What’s Up in Dede’s Bakery?

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Can you image Chocolate Pan de Cristal? It’s real and I can’t wait.

It’s time for out temples annual Gala this year themed as an “Evening In The Garden,”when I am making ganache coated brownies and almond butter, gluten free, chocolate chip and chocolate/chocolate chip cookies

I now make my own puff pastry and want to make Vol Au Vants filled with home made fig preserves paired with a nice sharp cheese.

 

 

 

 

Another Use for my Many, Many Figs

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As I was updating “What’s Up in Dede’s Bakery” this recipe crossed my path. After all, I had fresh figs (but used a previous years fig jam for this bake) and the other scheduled bakes could wait, so it usurped my plans.

The original recipe called for a Bundt or tube cake pan but I opted for two decorative pans that I haven’t used in a while. The small well pan didn’t work great. The crumb was too big for any detail of the pan to be well defined, but it did make nice bite sized mini-cakes.

This is a basic, easy cake recipe with clear directions. The result is a moist, soft, flavorful cake. The glaze adds a bit of sweetness. Sprinkled with confectioners sugar would also work well.

Moist Fig Preserve Cake with Caramel Glaze

INGREDIENTS
For the Fig Cake:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup (4-ounces) unsalted melted butter
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or 1 Tbl lemon juice in a cup of milk)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup fig preserves, or jam
• 1 cup coarsely chopped macadamias or hazelnuts
For the Caramel Glaze:
• 4 tablespoons (2-ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 dash salt
• 1/2 cup whipping cream

METHOD
Make the Fig Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
  2. Generously grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt cake pan or 12 cup one-piece tube cake pan, making sure to cover all of the nooks and crannies. (Alternatively use cake spray, it released the cakes well. I used a 6 well Bundt cake pan and a 36 well pan for bite sized cakes.)
  3. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, light brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices. Stir to blend thoroughly. Add the melted butter and vegetable oil and beat until blended.
  4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs. Add the eggs to the first mixture and beat until blended.
  5. Add the buttermilk and vanilla and beat until smooth.
  6. Add the fig preserves and chopped nuts; stir to blend.
  7. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. (1/2 cup of batter in each well of the larger pan, 1 tsp in the smaller.)
  8. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until the center of the cake reaches 190F. (The smaller pan was baked for 20 minutes, the larger one for 30 minutes.)
  9. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Slide a knife around the sides of the cake to ensure it isn’t sticking, and then carefully invert it onto a cake plate and let it cool completely.

Make the Caramel Glaze

  1. Combine the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and a dash of salt in a small saucepan.
  2. Place the pan over medium heat and cook for 1 minute, or until bubbling, stirring constantly.
  3. Add the cream to the sugar mixture and bring the glaze to a boil. Continue to cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  4. Let the glaze mixture cool slightly; drizzle the warm glaze over the cooled cake.