Recipe #122: Vanilla Date Walnut Muffins

Vanilla Date Walnut Muffins

Well, I'm in the "V" muffins now! These muffins were made from a recipe I found on the internet, "Vanilla Crumb Muffins," at a website called Bake or Break. I made a few alterations: the recipe called for sour cream, for which I substituted plain Greek yogurt. And I didn't do the crumb topping, adding a brown sugar and walnut topping instead. And I added dates and walnuts as well.

The muffins came out pretty good, although they were a bit dry. The fact that there didn't seem to be enough liquid made it so I had to stir much longer than is good for the batter. I think I would use buttermilk in the future if I were to make these again as that would add more liquid. Oil would also be a better choice since it is a more liquid fat. 

They tasted a lot like coffee cake, especially with the brown sugar topping. That was fine, but not what I like in a muffin. They had a nice strong vanilla flavor (from 3 t vanilla extract), though, which is what you want in a vanilla muffin, after all. I rate these at 4 out of 5.

Recipe #109: Pumpkin Muffins

Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins

For these muffins, I looked for a recipe that combines pumpkin with dried cranberries, since I have those on hand and I think they go well with pumpkin (shades of Thanksgiving!). It turns out there were a lot to choose from on the internet! The one I chose, Pumpkin-Cranberry Muffins, came from the website, My Recipes, which is a part of the website, AllRecipes.

The recipe was pretty good all by itself, so I made very few changes. I exchanged 1/2 cup all-purpose flour for 1/2 cup graham flour, and I increased the amount of brown sugar relative to the white sugar by 1/4 cup (3/4 c white, 1/2 c brown vs 1 c white, 1/4 c brown). And as always, I added 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

The muffins were wonderful! They were moist, sweet, hearty and delicious! I would definitely make these again. My tasters were very pleased.

Rating: 5+ out of 5

Next: Poppyseed Muffins

Recipe #108: Plum Muffins

Plum Chocolate Chip Muffins

For the next "P" muffins, Plum, I chose a recipe from the website, Cafe Baker, a New Zealand site, called Plum and White Chocolate Muffins. This was an interesting recipe. I had not considered combining those two ingredients  nor had I even thought of making plum muffins before now!

I made some changes to the recipe, of course. Since I didn't have any white chocolate (and don't really like it since it doesn't have any real chocolate in it), I decided to use dark chocolate chips. Other substitutions I made were similar to ones I'd made in other recipes: I used buttermilk in place of milk, and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose. The recipe called for a specific type of canned plums (available in NZ, perhaps), but since I didn't have those, I used plain old Libby plums with the lightly sweetened juice that came with them. I also added walnuts (as I do with most of my muffins).

These came out really well. They were tasty--the plums were a bit tart and the chocolate chips were a nice surprise. The texture was hearty as should be with muffins. My tasters enjoyed them. I would definitely make these again.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Next: Pumpkin Muffins

Recipe #107: Pineapple Muffins

Pineapple Muffins

For pineapple muffins I used a recipe from the website, My Recipes.  It had a large yield, so I ended up with almost two dozen muffins, but that was okay as I am planning to give some away. I substituted some whole wheat flour for the all-purpose flour, and some brown sugar for the sugar. I also used buttermilk in place of milk to go with the pineapple juice. And I added 1/2 cup pecans.

These muffins were very good, although once again, I couldn't really taste the pineapple so much. My tasters enjoyed them--they were moist, not too sweet, and hearty-ish. (Is that a thing?)

If I make these again, however, I will make the pineapple in larger chunks and add it last so that the pineapple will be more visible and therefore more taste-able.

I rate these muffins 5 out of 5.

Next:  Plum Muffins

Recipe #106: Pomegranate Muffins

Pomegranate Muffins

For the next "P" muffin on my list, pomegranate muffins, I chose a recipe that used pomegranate juice only. Apparently, people do eat pomegranate seeds (oddly), but that prospect did not appeal to me, so I decided juice would have to do. I chose the recipe Cranberry Pomegranate Muffins from the website Kirbie's Cravings. Though the first ingredient is cranberry, pomegranate juice (2/3 cup) is also prominently featured, despite its being a pomegranate-cranberry mixture. The recipe uses 1 cup of dried cranberries, but I decided that was going to be too sour (the pomegranate juice itself is pretty tart), so I added a half cup of dates and reduced the cranberries to 1/2 cup. I also added 1/2 cup of walnuts and used oil in place of butter. For the flour, I used one cup of white whole wheat flour and one cup of all-purpose flour.

The muffins turned out moist, sweet and hearty. We all thought they were delicious! The only comment I have on the flavor is that I really couldn't taste the pomegranate, which makes me wonder whether pomegranate has a distinctive flavor. Though drinking pomegranate juice seems to be a fad at the moment, it must be for reasons other than taste. Considering how expensive it is, I probably won't be buying any more of the juice, though I might make additional batches of pomegranate muffins in the future, at least until the juice I have runs out.

I rate these muffins 5 out of 5.

Next: Pineapple Muffins

Recipe #105: Pistachio Muffins

Pistachio Muffins

For the next "P" muffin on the list, I chose to make Pistachio Muffins from the recipe, Healthier Pistachio Muffins, from a website called Cook Nourish Bliss. These muffins were a little complicated to make, mostly because I had to shell all the pistachios and then chop them up in my mini chopper. This took a while. And they were kind of hard, so didn't chop all that fine. But I used them as they were. There were a lot of them, though. I like pistachios, so that was a good thing for me!

For the recipe, I pretty much stuck to the ingredients except that I used regular plain yogurt instead of Greek yogurt, and I used some agave sweetener and honey in place of the maple syrup, since I didn't have any maple syrup and didn't want to buy it (it's kind of expensive). I also added some pistachio extract, since I happened to have a little bottle of that on hand. It was great to finally find a use for it!

The muffins tasted good, though they were not very sweet. I think I've gotten used to extra sweet muffins and so they were a little disappointing for that reason. But I don't really need to eat such sweet muffins and so it's all good.

Anyway, I probably wouldn't make these again because it was too much work, but maybe I'd use pistachios in other recipes. However, unsalted pistachios are very expensive, so I might not buy them again once my current package is empty.

I rate these 5 out of 5 as they were tasty and had nice texture and seemed healthy, as advertised.

Next: Pineapple Muffins

Recipe #104: Pine Nut Muffins

Pine Nut Muffins

Pine nuts were another type of food I'd never tried, but they tasted okay (maybe a little bit bitter), so I thought they'd make some nice muffins. I chose a recipe called Honey Date Pine Nut Muffins from the website, Food Lust People Love. The recipe was adapted from a plain honey muffin recipe that the author, Stacy Rushton, found on the Taste of Home website.

Stacy lives in Dubai, and so was interested in creating muffins for her Muslim friends to eat during Ramadan. Dates are an important food during that time, as is yogurt. Pine nuts go nicely with honey and dates, I think. These muffins came out sweet and hearty (perhaps because I used white whole wheat flour instead of all purpose flour). I also used oil instead of butter, but otherwise followed the recipe. Unfortunately, as with Stacy's recipe, my muffins didn't rise very high either. That was okay, though, because they tasted good.

I found that most of the pine nut recipes I encountered call for the nuts to be ground up before putting them together with the flour. They seemed to be meant to take the place of flour. And because pine nut "flour" has no gluten, I'm guessing that's the reason the muffins didn't rise very much. I guess that was fine, though the flavor of the muffins reminded me, in a way, of German muffins that have ground nuts, although in that case they're almonds. Interesting.

My tasters liked them, as did I, and so they were a success. I probably wouldn't make them again, however, as the pine nuts were a little hard to obtain.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5, because they didn't rise very high.

Next: Pistachio Muffins

Recipe #103: Persimmon Muffins

Persimmon Raisin Muffins

I had never tasted a persimmon, but I decided to try it anyway and so looked for a nice recipe for this latest "P" muffin idea. I found two I liked and ended up combining them. At times this has been a bad idea, but in the case of these Persimmon (Raisin) Muffins, I think the experiment succeeded.

I first chose a recipe on the website The Ingredient Guru--Persimmon Raisin Muffins--and then one from the Food Network site--Persimmon Muffins. I started with the Persimmon Raisin Muffins, but when I realized there was no fat and no liquid in the recipe, I quickly changed course, moving to the Persimmon Muffins recipe, making changes to accommodate the ingredients I had already mixed from the first recipe. I was grateful that they came out okay, even delicious. I also added the raisins and pecans that were called for in the first recipe.

The muffins were very good--sweet, moist and healthy with white whole wheat flour and nice spices. I didn't really taste the persimmons, however. I think that's because the fruit has a very mild flavor to begin with. Perhaps I chose fruit that was not quite ripe. I couldn't tell because I'd never eaten persimmons before.

Anyway, I don't think I'll make these again because the persimmons were quite expensive.

Rating: 5 out of 5 (I know, I'm an easy grader)

Next is pine nuts!

Recipe #102: Peppermint Chocolate Muffins

Peppermint Chocolate Muffins

The next muffin type on the "P" list was peppermint, so I looked for peppermint muffin recipes. Not surprisingly, the recipes I found were chocolate muffins with peppermint. I thought that sounded pretty darn good, so I chose Hot Chocolate Peppermint Muffins from the website, One Sweet Mess.

This was a pretty impressive recipe, though I did make a few changes. Instead of butter and coconut oil, I used 1/3 cup oil, and instead of buttermilk I used yogurt and milk combined. I used regular salt instead of kosher salt, and I left out the espresso powder as well as the mini marshmallows. I substituted semi-sweet mini chips for the dark chocolate chips. And because I wanted the peppermint flavor to be front and center (they are, after all, peppermint chocolate muffins), I decided to add a half teaspoon of mint extract and only one teaspoon of vanilla. And though the recipe called for the 1/3 cup of peppermint chips to be sprinkled on top of the muffins only, I used 1/2 cup peppermint chips and added the extra to the batter. Finally, I added a half cup of walnuts.

They were delicious! So good, in fact, my husband has decided these would be the ones he would request for his birthday! They were not too sweet, they were moist and slightly chewy, the peppermint flavor was just right, and the peppermint chips inside melted to small red sweet dots that looked and tasted good! My tasters loved them.

I will be making these again soon! Rating: 5 out of 5

Next "P" Muffin: Persimmon.

Recipe #101: Pecan Banana Praline

Pecan Banana Praline Muffins

I wanted to make pecan muffins as my next recipe, but looking for pecans as a principal ingredient, I found a recipe that also has praline in the title. I've loved praline ever since I lived in Louisiana, so I was pleased to add another "P" to make these muffins extra special. And indeed they were!

I found Praline Banana Nut Muffins at the Lemony Thyme website. They were loaded with pecans--inside and outside (twice!)--which was just perfect. I changed two things in the recipe: I used 2/3 cup oil instead of butter and 1 cup of plain yogurt instead of the cream cheese. Otherwise, I kept to the instructions, including the before- and after-baking praline topping.

These were very good muffins, and my tasters loved them. They were sweet, as you can imagine, but that was okay (though the calorie count was a bit high, I must say).

I would definitely make these again.

Rating: 5 out of 5

We'll be in the "Ps" for a while longer!  Next: Peppermint Chocolate Muffins.

Recipe #100: Pear-Blueberry Muffins

Pear-Blueberry Muffins

For these muffins I chose my tried-and-true King Arthur Flour Basic Muffins, adding 1 cup of diced canned pears with fresh blueberries (for added flavor), as well as 1/2 cup walnuts. I sprinkled the tops with sparkling sugar before baking.

These muffins came out very good and my tasters enjoyed them.

Rating: 5 out of 5.


Next in the "P" category: Pecan Banana Praline Muffins. 

Recipe #99: Oatmeal-Cranberry Muffins

Oatmeal-Cranberry Muffins

Because I had some leftover craisins and plenty of oatmeal, I decided to make some muffins with those ingredients. I chose Oatmeal-Cranberry Muffins, trying not to stray too far from the "O" muffin list that I had just completed.

For these muffins, I chose the recipe, Cranberry Oatmeal Muffins, from the website The Spruce Eats. The recipe used fresh cranberries, all purpose flour and butter, among other ingredients. I substituted white whole wheat flour, margarine, and dried sweetened cranberries soaked in some orange juice. I also sprinkled the tops with sparkling sugar before baking. I also made sure to do as the recipe suggested and soaked the old fashioned oats in the milk before mixing them in. The last time I used old fashioned oats I didn't do that and regretted it.

These muffins were excellent! I would definitely make them again. My tasters enjoyed them also.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Next: Pear-Blueberry Muffins

Recipe #98: Pear Crumble Muffins

Pear Crumble Muffins

I learned my lesson with the canned vs. fresh peaches mistake, this time looking for a recipe that used canned pears. The recipe I chose, Pear Crumble Muffins, from Laura Fuentes' website, produced muffins that were quite nice tasting. The only changes I made were to the flour (I used white whole wheat flour) and I skipped the crumble topping, using sparkling sugar on top instead.

These were quite good, with nice flavor and texture. The photo is from the website, so includes the crumble topping that I didn't add.

I would probably make these again, although perhaps only as a way to use up pears!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Next: More Pears!

Recipe #97: Oreo Double Chocolate Muffins

Oreo Double Chocolate Muffins

On the advice of a friend, I took a step back to the "O" muffins list for this week's muffins, Oreo Double Chocolate Muffins, taken from the website, Tastes of Lizzy T. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the ones I made, so I'm including the photo from the website.

They look delicious, and they were! They were quite sweet, which was fine with me, but at least one of my tasters thought they were a little too sweet (although with a nice texture). I did not add the powdered sugar on top, but otherwise followed the recipe.

I would probably make these again, but perhaps only for a special occasion as the calorie count was high.

I rate these 5 out of 5 for taste an texture.

Next: Back to "P" muffins with Pear Muffins

Recipe #96: Peanut Butter Muffins

Peanut Butter Muffins

Peanut Butter Muffins are next on the list of "P" muffins. On the internet, there were a variety of recipes for Peanut Butter Muffins. Some of them had chocolate chips, a combination which many people like, but I do not, so I chose a recipe that was just peanut butter, Peanut Butter Muffins, from the website Real Simple.

The recipe seemed simple enough, alright, but the results were not that wonderful. I'm not sure why, but they came out kind of gummy and not very flavorful. It might have been because I used natural peanut butter, which was itself kind of gummy. But whatever the reason, I was disappointed that they tasted like bread with peanut butter on it. My tasters were in agreement, although they thought they were okay, for the most part. I won't be making them again, at any rate.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Next on the "P" list:  Pear Muffins!

Recipe #95: Peach Muffins

Spiced Peach Muffins

For the first of the "P" additions to the 201 Recipes book, I chose Peach Muffins. I got this recipe for Spiced Peach Muffins from the King Arthur Flour website.

I didn't get a photo of the ones I made, so I'm using the one the website had for the muffins. 

The recipe yield was two dozen, but I decided to cut it in half and made one dozen. The muffins were quite spicy, which was nice, but since I didn't have the fresh peaches called for in the recipe, I used canned peaches, which made the muffins a little bit too mushy. They tasted alright, but they were a tad bland, I think. My tasters liked them well enough, but I won't be making these again.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Next "P" treat: Peanut Butter Muffins

Recipe #94: Orange Poppyseed Muffins

Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Another "O" recipe! These muffins were made from a recipe I found on the website, Well-Plated by Erin. They are called Orange Muffins with Poppy Seeds, and they turned out wonderful!

There were plenty of poppy seeds and lots of orange flavor. I didn't change too much in this recipe--just used regular plain yogurt for the Greek yogurt, and instead of using confectioner's sugar on the glaze, I used granulated sugar and made a syrup of sorts. That really added to the muffins. I've found that I don't care for the metallic taste of powdered sugar so I've stopped using it. My tasters really enjoyed these. They were sweet and rich textured. I would make these again, for sure!

Well, we've come to the end of the "O" treats, so we're moving on to the "Ps"!

Rating: 5 out of 5

Next recipe: 

Recipe #93: Orange Chocolate Muffins

Orange Chocolate Muffins

Continuing with the "O" muffins that I'm adding to those in the book, 201 Muffins, I made orange chocolate muffins. For these muffins, I chose Chocolate Orange Muffins, a recipe from a blog called The Hedge Combers, a Cornish foodie website. Being from the UK, the recipe was in metric and had to be translated. But that was the only problem with this recipe. The muffins turned out delicious. I love the combination of orange and chocolate, and these had both in abundance. I added the sugar crystals on top, but otherwise stuck to the recipe. I and my tasters liked them a lot! I would definitely make these again.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Next up:  Orange Poppy Seed Muffins

Recipe #92: Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

This recipe was not taken from the book, 201 Muffins. I decided there were not enough orange recipes, so I'm adding two or three, starting with Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins.

For these muffins, I used a recipe I've used before: the Basic Muffins recipe from King Arthur Flour's website. I looked at several orange chocolate chip recipes, but I didn't like them--most either had not enough orange flavor or were too complicated (unnecessarily, I determined). So I made my own version, starting with the Basic Muffins recipe, using chunks of orange for the fruit (1 cup) and 1/2 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup walnuts. I did a bit of tinkering that I now don't recall. They came out a little dry, I think, though I'm not sure why--maybe the result of my tinkering? My tasters liked them though they didn't rave. I probably won't make them again unless I come across a better recipe.

I rated these 4 out of 5, mostly for the dryness.

Next up, another orange recipe, this time Orange Chocolate Muffins.

Recipe #91: Orange Cranberry Muffins

Orange Cranberry Muffins

For these muffins, I found a number of recipes on the internet. I chose one that used dried cranberries, as I found when I used fresh cranberries back in the "C" recipes that they were a little too tart for my taste. The recipe I chose was Cranberry Orange Muffins from the Food Network.  The dried cranberries I used were Craisins, which are cranberries with sugar added, so sweeter still!

I changed a few ingredients: white whole wheat flour for half of the flour, and oil for the butter. I also added walnuts and two tablespoons of triple-sec liqueur to the orange juice. I sprinkled some sugar on top, as the recipe suggested.

I think these came out rather nice; a little bit tart but also sweet. The whole wheat flour added some flavor and texture. My tasters enjoyed them, as did I.

I rate these 5 out of 5. I would definitely make them again!

For next time, I plan to add a recipe that will take the place of the next recipe in the book: Papaya Muffins. I don't like papaya, so I will go with an additional orange recipe: Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins.