Milk Chocolate Yoghurt Muffins

It has been awhile since I last baked any muffins. I was flipping through a muffin cookbook, "750 Best Muffin Recipes", and could not decide which muffin to bake! Too many recipes, and I keep changing my mind! I finally settled on Milk Chocolate Sour Cream Muffins. I did not have any sour cream at hand, but I do have a tub of yoghurt. The rest of the ingredients are just the basic baking stuffs that I already have in my "baking pantry", including the milk chocolate bar.

I use a whole bar (200gm) of milk chocolate, cut them into chunks. As usual when making muffins, the dry ingredients are mixed in a large bowl, the wet ingredients mixed in another bowl, and combine the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stir to combine, taking care not to overmix the batter. The chocolate chunks are then stirred in gently. Spoon into the prepared muffin pan and bake as directed. This recipe yields only 10 muffins instead of 12 as indicated.

Let it cool for a few minutes, and eat it while it is still warm.

These muffins are simply delicious! Look at the melting chocolate! Yummy! The crumbs are really moist, soft and tender! And it stays as soft on the next too. They are not too sweet and each bite is just perfect with the melting chocolate chunks! Give this a try, I'm sure your family would love it too!

Milk Chocolate Sour Cream Muffins
(adapted from "750 Best Muffin Recipes", Camilla V. Saulsbury)
Makes 12 muffins
Preheat oven to 400F (200C)
12-cup muffin pan, greased

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (omitted)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (lightly packed)
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted (I use salted butter)
1 cup sour cream (I replaced with yoghurt)
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups milk chocolate chunks
2 tbsp turbinado sugar (did not use this)

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, egg, butter, sour cream and vanilla until blended.
3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Gently fold in chocolate chunks.
4. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 19 to 21 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 3 minutes, then transfer to the rack to cool.

**Using a standard-sized muffin pan, this recipe yields only 10 muffins, instead of 12. 

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Wednesday @ Months of Edible Celebrations

and 

Cook-Your-Books #21 @ Kitchen Flavours

Applesauce Cake

I made some Applesauce sometime back and really needed to use up that jar before they become "unusable"! This Applesauce was meant for a bar recipe but somehow never came round to make it! Yikes!! So that jar has been sitting in my fridge for weeks.

Applesauce Cake

Homemade Applesauce

I looked through my many cookbooks, and finally settled on this cake, just because it is absolutely easy, quick and a breeze to make! I'm feeling a little bit lazy that afternoon! 

It all takes about 2 minutes of mixing the ingredients! Seriously, just 2 minutes! And the result is a delightful, delicious cake! I did reduce the amount of spices calls for, as we like just a hint of the fragrance from the spices. As usual, I reduced the sugar to slightly less than a cup, since my applesauce is lightly sweetened, and it works out just right. You could however, use storebought unsweetened applesauce. And I used a square 10" pan for this cake.

This is one lovely cake, the texture is soft, tender and moist! The original recipe comes with the frosting of Cinnamon Icing which I skipped, as I think it is perfect just as it is! 

I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sundays hosted by Couscous & Consciousness
Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage


Applesauce Cake with Cinnamon Icing
(adapted from "Piece of Cake!" by Camilla V. Saulsbury)
Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
13 by 9-inch (33 by 23cm) metal baking pan, sprayed with nonstick baking spray with flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar (I use slightly less than 1 cup)
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I use 1/2 teaspoon)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (omit this as I use salted butter)
1/2 tsp ground allspice (I use 1/4 tsp)
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups, unsweetened applesauce, divided
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Cinnamon icing

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and allspice.
2. Add eggs, 1/2 cup (125ml) of the applesauce, butter and vanilla to flour mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat for 1 minute, until blended. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula. Add the remaining applesauce and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until just blended. Gently stir in raisins.
3. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Spread icing in a thin layer over top of cooled cake.

Cinnamon Icing

Makes 1-1/4 cups

2-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar (icing sugar)

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

In a small bowl, whisk all ingredients together until blended and smooth. Use immediately.

Storage :

Store the iced cake, loosely wrapped in foil or waxed paper, at room temperature, for up to 3 days. Alternatively, wrap the cooled, un-iced cake in plastic wrap, then foil, completely enclosing cake, and freeze for up to 6 months. Let cake thaw at room temperature for 4 to 6 hours before icing and serving.

Pumpkin Chip Muffins

First of all, thank you for all the Christmas wishes! We had a fantastic Christmas celebration over at my sister's house. Lots of delicious food, good company and lots of presents! Now that the Christmas holiday is over (for me at least), it is time to plan for the coming Chinese New Year, in less than a month!

Today, I'm sharing a lovely muffin recipe which I baked about two weeks ago. I have about 3 cups of homemade pumpkin puree in my freezer which I made last month and wanted to finish them up. My nieces and nephew came for a visit two weeks ago, perfect timing to use some of my pumpkin puree for these lovely Pumpkin Chip Muffins.

Homemade pumpkin puree

These muffins are delicious. They are really moist, soft and tasty.

As usual I reduced the sugar, to half, you would not miss out on the other half of the sugar. The sweetness is just right and with the chocolate chips scattered all over, it is definitely chocolaty sweet. I reserved some of the choc chips and sprinkle over the top of the batter before baking. 

These muffins was a hit. It was really good when eaten either warm or at room temperature. And they stay soft and moist even the next day. A definite keeper recipe!

I'm sharing this with
Cookbook Sundays hosted by Couscous & Consciousness
Bake with Bizzy hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Pumpkin Chip Muffins
(adapted from "750 Best Muffin Recipes" by Camilla V. Saulsbury)
Makes 12 muffins
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon (I use 1/4 tsp)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (I use slightly less)
1 cup granulated sugar (I use 1/2 cup)
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips


Preheat oven to 400F (200C)
12-cup muffin pan, lined with paper liners

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs, pumpkin, oil and vanilla until well blended.
3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just blended. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
4. Divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then transfer to the rack to cool.

Walnut Cake with Coffee Icing

I love to bake snacking cakes. They are half the height of the normal pound cakes or butter cakes, and that means they will be eaten up much sooner once they are cut and divided!  And that gives me an excuse to bake something else!  LOL! 

Snacking cakes are usually easy and quick to make. This walnut cake is only 8" square, the perfect size to eat for a day or two.

This cake uses whipping cream instead of butter. The coffee icing is what an icing should be, sweet! If you have a sweet tooth, then you would like this icing, for me it is just too sweet! As usual I reduced the sugar slightly for the cake!

Look at the glossy sweet coffee icing flowing down. Do you like coffee? I most certainly do, got to have my cuppa first thing in the morning before I start the day!  For this recipe, I use Nescafe instant coffee powder since I do not have any espresso powder. 

Great with a cup of plain tea or a cup of hot black coffee. Want a slice?  :)

I'm sharing this with

Cookbook Sundays, hosted by Sue from Couscous & Consciousness

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop hosted by Melynda's Sunday Cafe
Bake with Bizzy hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Walnut Cake with Coffee Icing
(adapted from "Piece of Cake" by Camilla V. Saulsbury)
Makes 9 servings
Preheat oven to 350F (180C)
8-inch (20cm) square metal baking pan, sprayed with nonstick baking spray with flour


Ingredients :
1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar (I use slightly less than a cup, loosely packed)
1-1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup heavy or whipping (35%) cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
Coffee icing

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. Add eggs, cream and vanilla to flour mixture. Using an electric mixer on medium-low speed, beat for 1 minute, until blended. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl with a spatula. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute. Gently stir in walnuts. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 28 to 33 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Spread or drizzle icing over top of cooled cake. 

I only make half a recipe from the following coffee icing for the above cake, which is sufficient.
Coffee Icing :
Makes 1-1/4 cups (300ml)
2-1/4 cups confectioners' (icing) sugar (I use slightly less than 2 cups)
3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
3 tbsp milk
2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla extract


Dissolve 2 tsp instant espresso powder in the milk before whisking.
In a small bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, butter, milk mixture and vanilla until blended and smooth. Use immediately.