Raspberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

Yesterday I had a full day of baking planned and it was so very good to get back into my kitchen - don't get me wrong, the break over the Christmas has been lovely, but yesterday while I was getting my bake on, music up, dancing feet on, I was definitely in my happy place. One of the goodies I baked yesterday was these Raspberry and Cream Cheese Muffins. They smell delicious and Mr B tells me they taste awesome as well! 

Raspberry and Cream Cheese Muffins

You will need:
2 cups plain flour
2 tspns baking powder
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
100ml sunflower oil
125ml milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
180g fresh or frozen raspberries
110g cream cheese

Pre-heat oven to 180C and line a muffin tin with 12 paper cases.

Place all ingredients, except the raspberries and cream cheese, into a large bowl and mix to combine.

Add the raspberries and just fold through the mixture gently.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cases, filling them about 2/3 full. Place a small spoonful of cream cheese into the centre of each muffin. Now the cream cheese I had was straight from the fridge and fairly solid, so I used a melon baller to get equal sized portions.

Bake for 25-30 mins or until the muffins are golden and bounce back when touched. Allow to cool in the tin before removing to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

And have a look at these little ginger-dead men I made for Mr B's lunches using some cookie cutters Mum and Dad brought me for Christmas. I admit I did squeal and dance around clapping my hands when they came out of the oven - they are just so cute!!

Mrs B xx

Cranberry and Oat Muffins

Mr B is going through a mega cranberry phase at the moment.....I'm not entirely sure he knows they are fruit and I don't want to break the spell just yet so whilst he is blissfully unaware I'll just keep cooking with them!

This week I made these Cranberry and Oat Muffins which Mr B informs me are totally awesome and need to make their way onto permanent rotation....the oats are totally sneaky on my behalf so no need to mention that to Mr B either! Like the whole delicious thing wasn't good enough, they are also super easy to make!

You will need:

2 cups of self raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats
125g butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
125g dried cranberries

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Line 2 x 12 hole muffin pans with paper cases.

Combine the flour, sugar and oats in a bowl.

Pour over the melted butter, milk, eggs and cranberries. Stir until combined.

Divide the mixture between your muffin pans. Bake for 20 mins or until they bounce back when touched.

Mrs B xx

Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread Muffins

Thank goodness it's the end of the week. 

What's this you say? End of the week? But it's only Thursday?! 

Mr B and I are jumping ship early this week as it's our 5 year anniversary. Yep 5 whole years! 

The ladies I work with spoilt us with a voucher for a beautiful weekend away as a wedding gift so we are setting off nice and early tomorrow, after a sleep in and a pancake breakfast of course! Although Mr B has made a point of telling me several times a day this week that you only get 10 years for murder so I'm undecided if he is coming just yet - but then I think if I left Mr B at home and went on my own, who would get me a cup of tea in bed or a whiskey and lemonade while I soak in the spa? 

So while we are away soaking up some relaxation and some luxury this weekend, may I suggest you whip up your own piece of heaven? Turn your favourite music up, sing along, bust out some moves, bake these gorgeous cinnamon roll monkey bread muffins, have one hot out of the oven with a cup of tea while you curl up in the sun or in a big warm comfy bed with a good book and just enjoy!

Now when I started to make this recipe last weekend I intended to make Cinnamon Roll Muffins, but then half way through I kind of changed my mind to Monkey Bread so they have ended up as a cross between the two....hence the Cinnamon Roll Monkey Bread Muffins!

For the coating you will need:

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 tspn ground cinnamon
For the dough you will need:

1 cup room temperature buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup tightly packed, brown sugar 

1 tspn bicarb soda

1/2 tspn salt

1/2 tspn vanilla extract

3 cups plain flour (plus extra for dusting)

For the topping you will need

80g butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 tspn ground cinnamon
For the icing you will need:

1 cup icing sugar

2-3 tbspns milk 

Pre-heat oven to 160C and grease a normal 12 hole muffin tin. 

Combine the coating ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the dough hooks, combine the buttermilk, egg,  brown sugar, bicarb soda, salt and vanilla. Add the flour and mix all the ingredients together on a low speed  until just combined - try not to over mix. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour in 1/4 cup measurements until it comes together and is easy to manipulate.

Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a good minute.  Grab your rolling pin and roll the dough into a rectangle. Don't be too fussed on the size and shape though.  

Cut the dough into 1cm cubes and drop into the bowl with the coating. Toss it all around so that the cubes are well coated in the cinnamon sugar mix. Evenly divide the cubes between your muffin cups. 

Combine the topping ingredients in a microwave safe jug and heat in 30 second bursts until butter is melted, sugar is dissolved and everything is combined. Spoon tablespoons of the mixture over the dough. Don't worry if you don't use it all because we will use it later on in the recipe. The topping mix will bubble up during cooking and the dough will spread out so don't over fill the cups too much. Place a baking tray underneath them during cooking just incase....Mr B can attest to that as he has spent the last 2 nights scrubbing burnt sugar from the bottom of our oven! 

Bake for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow the muffins to rest in the pan for about 5 minutes. Now at this stage I poured my remaining topping mix into an oven dish and placed the muffins upside down in it so that the tops would have a chance to soak some of the gooey cinnamon goodness up. I popped them back in the oven for maybe 5-8 mins. When you get them out, allow them to cool slightly before removing to a rack and leaving them to cool completely. This will be hard because you will want to pick bits off them - hell go for it if you want to because let's be honest they are damn awesome at this stage....but save at least one for adding the icing to because I know it's hard to believe but they are even more awesome with that! 

Now for the icing combine the icing sugar and milk in a jug or small bowl and mix until smooth. If it looks too thick, add a little more milk until it thins out enough to use as a glaze. Dip a small spoon or fork into the icing and just have fun drizzling it over the muffins or if the mood takes you, just pick a whole one up and dip it straight in there! But most importantly, enjoy them!

Mrs B xx

Sunday night musings.....

Well another weekend has come and gone before we even knew it had arrived!

It all kicked off on Friday night, poor Mr B was exhausted and asleep on the couch by 5pm so being the good little house wife I am, I left him a steak and some chips out on the bench ready to be cooked and took myself out to dinner with the ladies from work.

We went to a restaurant called The Drunken Admiral down on the waterfront. It's a fantastic little seafood place and the atmosphere and menu there just go hand in hand with a great night out. The meals did not disappoint with everyone oohing and aahing over everyone else's mains. I had pan fried blue-eye rubbed with Indian spices and served with coconut rice and mint yoghurt - totally as good as it sounds! Just when we thought we could not be anymore satisfied......they brought out the dessert menu. A few of us decided to share the 'Undecided Dessert Plate' which was supposed to be a dessert tasting plate to serve 2 people and every night they change what is on it. Ours came out with some lemon curd (that tasted like the perfect lemon meringue pie filling), a twist on a summer pudding (which was a lovely fruit jelly topped with a vanilla bean custard), some chocolate mousse topped with shaved chocolate and a bowl of macadamia ice cream....excuse me while I slip blissfully into dessert heaven!! (Thanks Netty for the photo!!)

  

Saturday was a bit cold and miserable so Mr B and I organised a lunch / shopping date with his Mum and sister. First thing's first though, we had to feed our lil babies...........

At the moment we have 13 sheep staying in our back paddock and 5 of them are ready to have lamb's any day now! It is quite funny to see all their little personalities come out and the way they follow us around (like sheep!!) when we go for a walk up there.  

Lunch was lovely too - I didn't have the camera with me, but I had the biggest pineapple fritters I have ever seen.....it also didn't hurt that the pineapple was soaked in rum and vanilla before it was battered either! 

After lunch we were people 'with no purpose,' as Mr B's Mum put it, but somehow we managed to cover a fair bit of ground (and shop up a storm while we were at it!). By the time Mr B and I got home it was dark and time for dinner and a warm bed! 

As for today, well this morning I woke up and thought it was Monday, then I thought it was Thursday, then I thought maybe Friday....eventually I figured out it was Sunday so I got up and got Mr B and I some brekkie in bed - only way to spend a Sunday morning, lying in bed with a coffee and some hot buttery english muffins!

When we managed to drag ourselves out of bed, we went to visit some friends of ours who have recently had a little bub. I have been trying to restrain myself, but couldn't hold out anymore, there was a cute, newborn little baby with my name all over it for hugs! He was a gorgeous little boy and slept peacefully the whole time we were there (cluck cluck!!)

A quick trip to the supermarket later and the only thing left to do for the day was dive into the kitchen. I whipped up these Date and Banana Muffins using the recipe for my Date Loaf and I just added 2 chopped bananas into the date mixture before I microwaved it. These are really delicious and I can't wait to try one with some butter and a cup of tea!

Sheppard's Pie for dinner....ssshhhh don't tell the sheep!!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend 

Mr and Mrs B xx

Lemon Muffins with Strawberry Cheesecake Filling

When I'm not in the kitchen or curled up on the couch / in bed or out exploring the world / buying shoes, I'm at work. 

I know. 

Believe me I'm not a fan of it either. 

If I had my way I spend my days baking up a storm in some exotic location whilst wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes from my never ending collection, but alas in the real world, I work a 9-5...or in my case a 7:30 - 4....so today I wanted to share something with you.....

My desk. 

Which, for 8 hours a day, is my home.

I believe three of the most important things that make work less like work are 

1) working with great people (which I do)

2) enjoying what you do (which most days I do)

and 3) adding some personal touches to your workspace 

Note the essential elements below....

- Skull coffee mug

- Shoe clock

- Paper weight (gift from Mum and Dad when I started work)

- Mood calendar to advise / warn people when it is safe to enter or better to stay away 

- Red Nose Day teddy bear holding a Daffodil Day flower pot

- Wedding photos (and on the wall next to my desk, family photos) to remind me that life is about more then       

   just work

- Shoe calendar  (to remind me life is about shoes!) 

- Collection of nail files, combs and pen....plus phone, sticky notes and essential scribble paper 

- And I always have the radio on for some background noise....plus an impromptu dance / sing in the middle    

   of the day never goes astray!

 

Do you know what else never goes astray? Muffins! Tangy lemon muffins topped with a dollop of sweet creamy strawberry cheesecake!

All you will need is:

2.5 cups self raising flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Juice and rind from one large (or 2 small) lemons
100g cream cheese softened
2 tbspns strawberry jam
1 tbspn icing sugar

Combine the cream cheese, strawberry jam and icing sugar in a bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.

Pre-heat oven to 160C (fan forced) and grease a 12 hole muffin tray.

Combine the flour, sugar, milk, egg, oil, lemon rind and juice in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth.

3/4 fill each muffin cup and top with a tbspn of the cheesecake mixture.

Bake for 20-25 mins until they bounce back when touched or a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Take them to work, share them out, people will love you, that's just how it goes.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Mrs B x

Bubba Chopper's Apple, Oat and Cinnamon Muffins

I think I have mentioned before that Mr B and I are ready for a Bubba B when we get back from Europe in a few months, which in itself is exciting, but on top of that, Mr B's best friend and his partner and my best friend and her partner are both expecting at the moment, so there is some mega excitement all round!

I had lunch with my friend on Sunday and she told me the news, and apart from bursting with happiness for her and her partner, my mind also started to tick with something special I could do for her.

Over lunch we discussed all the things she could and couldn't eat (oh my god....no salami, no chorizo, no feta!!!) and how she is mega hungry and mega tired, and so when I got home that afternoon I was sitting around having a ponder as I do...and decided that next weekend I would make her a basket full of yummy, nutritious, filling, low-fat, pregnancy friendly goodies....then I sat some more, my thumbs started to twitch so I whipped out the computer for some ideas and started to write them down....and then I think I blacked out or something because all of a sudden I was in the kitchen and there was apple and cinnamon and oats going everywhere......

Apple, Oat and Cinnamon Muffins

For the muffin batter you will need:

 ½ cup sultanas
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup self raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1.5 cups yoghurt
1 tspn cinnamon (plus extra for decorating)
2 eggs
100ml light olive oil
1.5 tspn baking powder

For the topping you will need:

2 tbspns butter melted
3 tbspns brown sugar
3/4 tspn ground cinnamon
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 apple, thinly sliced

Prehat oven to 150C and grease / line your muffin tin.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the yoghurt, eggs and olive oil.

Add the flours, cinnamon and baking powder. Beat well. Stir through the oats and sultanas.

Fill your muffin cases roughly 3/4 full.

For the topping, combine the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

Top each cupcake with a tspn oats and some thinly sliced apple (push it into the mix a bit otherwise it falls off when you get them out of the oven...).

Brush with the cinnamon butter and bake for about 20-30 mins depending on what size you make. They are done when a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Very simple, very easy, even Mr B who does not do oats gave them his tick of approval and as for my friend? I quote "now known as the most delicious muffin I have ever tasted." Ohhh yeah go me! Although I'm kinda wishing I kept one for myself to try!!

Never mind. I'm on cloud 9 right now, I have gorgeous friends, an amazing husband, a european holiday on the horizon, thai chicken curry pies for tea tonight and a passionfruit cake for morning tea, what more could you want?!

Mrs B xx

Mum's Crowd Pleaser Pumpkin Muffins

My Mum is one of those people who is naturally gorgeous, she doesn't wear make up (except for lippy!) and her job as a nurse doesn't allow her to wear nail polish, but with the wedding fast approaching and Mum and Dad flying out for 10 days in the sun at Port Douglas tomorrow, it was the perfect opportunity to have a test run with our nails. Things didn't quite go as planned though, Mum got lost and was then running late, none of the colours available in the shellac really matched what she wanted and I knew she was generally uncomfortable about the whole thing....but you know what, she settled on a colour, she relaxed, she gave it a go, the result was gorgeous and I was very proud of her for stepping outside her comfort zone and letting someone pamper her for a change!

So this year when I started planning the list of pumpkin / apple / pecan / halloween and autumn inspired baking, I knew I had to make my Mum's pumpkin muffins. Mum has made these muffins for as long as I can remember. She normally only makes 1 batch a year so they are always a special treat to be savoured...and believe me, a warm pumpkin muffin with a smidgen of melty butter and a hot cuppa is pure heaven on a plate.

And to cater for differing tastes (aka fussy taste buds as I got older) Mum started making half the batch with sultanas and half without as some years I was all for sultanas in my muffins and some years I was adamant they were just not meant to be there! These days I think I prefer them without, but I still like the idea of making half and half especially if you are serving them at a morning tea or sharing them with friends :)


Mum's Crowd Pleaser Pumpkin Muffins

60g butter (melted)
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/3 cups plain flour
2 tspns baking powder
1/2 tspn salt
1 tspn mixed spice
1/4 cup sultanas

Pre-heat oven to 200C and grease a 12 hole muffin tin.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar.

Add the milk, egg and pumpkin puree and beat to combine.

Add the plain flour, baking powder, salt and mixed spice. Beat until mixture is just combined. (it won't be mega smooth because of the pumpkin, but just so you don't have big lumps of flour!)

Now what I do at this stage is divide half the mixture between 6 muffin cups....then I stir 1/4 cup of sultanas through the remaining mixture and divide that between the remaining muffin cups.

Bake for around 20 mins or until a skewer inserted comes out clear.

Em x