Apple-Carrot Muffins (a.k.a. Juicer Muffins)

This morning, I lugged the juicer out from the under the counter.

I juiced some oranges (I am grinning at those of you going, "Helllllllo!  Tropicana!  It's near the dairy section at the supermarket..."), and some carrots, celery, and apples. 

Carrot-celery-apple juice is my favorite.  It is delicious and so crazy good for you.  (The trick is to drink it VERY cold.)

And the oranges?  Well, a friend gave me several pounds of organic oranges and we couldn't eat them fast enough before they began to don a green, moldy coat.  So I juiced them.

When using a juicer, the actual juice goes one way, and the pulp goes the other.  The orange pulp was looking quite delicious, and I decided to save it and develop an orange cake recipe.  And the apple-celery-carrot pulp?  I couldn't throw it away, either. 

I sat down, scratched my head, and came up with this recipe. 

(If you don't have a juicer, you can just shred some apples and carrots and really mash up some oranges and you'll be in good shape to make these muffins.)

I realize this photo looks a bit like....well...the exodus of refuse? 

So sorry.

Doh!  Now we can't stop thinking about it.

Let's try to move on with our 5th-grade-health-class-maturity minds...

Next up:  apples.

(I slice and core the apples before I juice them.)

 It's like insta-applesauce! 

 Carrots.  Seriously.  How healthy does that look?

 Here's the juice.

(From left:  apple, carrot, orange, and celery.)

It looks like a color palate for 1970s kitchen appliances.

Mix together dry ingredients and whisk to combine.

Whisk the wet ingredients together.

And mix them with the dry.

Now add in the pulp

(or the shredded apples and carrots and mashed orange

if you don't have a juicer.)

 Fill muffin tins,

and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

Mmmmmm.

Full of goodness.

And so of course you must slather them with butter.

Lots of it.

Enjoy this!

Apple-Carrot Muffins (Juicer Muffins)
Makes 18 regular muffins

2 eggs
3/4 cup grapeseed oil (or substitute canola)
1/4 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed-brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 tablespoons milled flax seed (optional)
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup mashed orange pulp
2 cups carrot pulp (or shredded carrots)
1 cup apple pulp (or shredded apples)
3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)
1/2 shredded coconut (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease muffin tins.

In a large bowl, beat eggs, oil, milk, and vanilla with a wire whisk until well blended. 

Add flour, brown sugar, baking soda, flax seed, cinnamon and salt.  Stir just until moistened and blended.  (Don't overmix!)

Add in orange pulp, carrot and apple pulps, and pecans, raisins, and coconut (if using).  Mix well.

Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Eat with a smile and enjoy being R-E-G-U-L-A-R for a few days :)

Adapted from a Gold Medal Organic All-Purpose Flour recipe

Blueberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

The best blueberry muffins. 

However, take note:  if an abundance of unnecessary crumbs on your table and floor make you want to stab your eyes out with pencils, please skip the streusel topping. 

I left several muffins streusel-less and served those to my children. 

Crumbs and I do not get along.

(This recipe is also fantastic without the berries.)

"Berry Best" Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Streusel Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup flour
Zest from 1/2 a lemon, grated (about 2 teaspoons)
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, softened

Muffins
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Zest from 1/2 a lemon, grated (about 2 teaspoons)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 large egg
1 cup berries (I used thawed frozen blueberries.  Raspberries, blackberries or a mixture of all three work well, too.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For Streusel Topping:  mix brown sugar, flour and lemon zest together in a bowl.  Stir in nuts and butter.  Mix together until butter is evenly distributed and mixture is crumbly.  Set aside.

For Muffins:  combine flour, sugar, baking powder, lemon zest, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Make an indention in the center.  Add milk, butter and egg to the indention and mix until smooth.  Fold in the berries.

Spoon into 12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups, filling each only 2/3 full.  Top with 1 tablespoon of struesel topping.  Do not overfill the muffin cups or topping will run over into pan.  Bake on middle rack in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Place on a rack and cool for 5 minutes, then remove muffins from tin and serve warm. 

From:  Simply Classic (Junior League of Seattle)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

The boys and I are heading over to the house of some new friends this morning. 

We cannot go empty-handed! 

I searched my favorite food blogs for a good pumpkin cream cheese muffin. 

I found this one over at Annie's Eats.  It's a yummy pumpkin and spice batter with a surprise center of sweetened cream cheese.

I started right in on the measuring and mixing before reading through the entire recipe (a big no-no!). 

I then noticed that the cream cheese and powdered sugar mixture has to be rolled in a "log" and frozen for at least two hours.

STINK!  What to do?  I had to be at my friend's house in two hours.

Enter my favorite kitchen term:  MODIFICATION!

I just "sandwiched" scoops of the cream cheese mixture between scoops of batter. 

And topped with yummy struesel...

It worked just fine!

But I will try the recipe again in the future and do it as she suggests.

This recipe makes 24 regular muffins or 18 regular muffins plus 12 mini-muffins.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

For the muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
4 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2 cups pumpkin puree (about one can)
1¼ cups vegetable oil

For the topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Directions:

To prepare the filling, combine the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl and mix well until blended and smooth. Transfer the mixture to a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a log about 1½-inches in diameter. Smooth the plastic wrap tightly around the log, and reinforce with a piece of foil. Transfer to the freezer and chill until at least slightly firm, at least 2 hours.

(Ginny's note: Due to time constraints, I didn't freeze the filling.  But if you have time, by all means do it!)

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, pumpkin pie spice, salt and baking soda; whisk to blend. In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the eggs, sugar, pumpkin puree and oil. Mix on medium-low speed until blended. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients, mixing just until incorporated.

To make the topping, combine the sugar, flour and cinnamon in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Add in the butter pieces and cut into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or two forks until the mixture is coarse and crumbly. Transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

To assemble the muffins, fill each muffin well with a small amount of batter, just enough to cover the bottom of the liner (1-2 tablespoons). Slice the log of cream cheese filling into 24 equal pieces. Place a slice of the cream cheese mixture into each muffin well. Divide the remaining batter among the muffin cups, placing on top of the cream cheese to cover completely. Sprinkle a small amount of the topping mixture over each of the muffin wells.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before serving. (It may be hard to resist immediate consumption, but the cream cheese filling gets very hot!)

From:  Annie's Eats