EVEN MORE POPPERS--MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP & FUNNELFUDGE

I have found so many good recipes for muffins in Mad about Muffins, A Cookbook for Muffin Lovers by Dot Vartan.  The last couple of days I have tried two more recipes from the cookbook with just a few changes.  

I started making poppers when I tried a recipe for pumpkin poppers. A popper is just a mini-muffin, but so much cuter and you don't have to eat so much either. (You know I LOVE "portion-controlled" recipes.)

I made the Mint Chocolate Chip muffins in my mini-muffin tins but I did make the Funnelfudge muffins in a regular muffin tin.  I just cut them in half so there would be enough for my husband to share with the other volunteers in the tax office at Fort Leavenworth.  (I don't know what I will do when the taxes have all been done and my husband is no longer going over there 5 days a week.  I will have to find somewhere else to donate my baked goods.)

Remember, with the print friendly button on the bar at the bottom of the post, you can chose to remove images when you print.

MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP POPPERS

1-1/4     cups all-purpose flour
1            tablespoon baking powder
1/4         teaspoon salt
1/4         cup powdered cocoa
3/4         cup stevia (or sugar)
1/4         teaspoon cinnamon
1            egg
1/4         cup canola oil
2/3         cup skim milk
1            teaspoon mint extract
1            cup miniature chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray 24 mini-muffin cups with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Resift the flour mixture with the cocoa, stevia, and cinnamon.

In another bowl, lightly beat the egg with a whisk.

Stir in the oil, milk, and mint extract.

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and stir just til combined.

Stir in the chips.

Fill the muffin cups evenly with all of the batter...cups will be full.

Bake for 12 minutes.

Cool 2 minutes in tins before removing to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Makes 24 poppers. Store in an airtight container.





(If you chose to make regular muffins, preheat oven to 375 degrees F and bake for 18 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.)

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The Funnelfudge muffins make a really good chocolate muffin even without the "kiss".  I didn't have the 5 squares of semi-sweet chocolate that Dot's recipe called for so I substituted a German's Sweet Chocolate Bar. My husband thinks they would have been good with chocolate chips instead of the "kiss". If I didn't use the "kiss", I would cook them in my mini - muffin tin and make poppers.

FUNNELFUDGE MUFFINS

1/2       cup margarine (1 stick)
1/3       cup water
1          bar (4 - oz) German's Sweet Chocolate Bar
5          tablespoons cocoa
2/3       cup sugar
2          cups all-purpose flour
1          tablespoon baking powder
1/4       teaspoon salt
1          egg
1/2       cup skim milk
1/2       cup light or fat-free sour cream
2          teaspoon vanilla extract
12        Hershey Kisses candies

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Spray a 12-cup regular muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a small saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat.

Add the water and chocolate bar and stir until the chocolate bar is melted.  

Set aside and cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the cocoa, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. 

(twice)

In another bowl, combine the egg, milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract.  

Mix with a whisk til smooth.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, 

and pour in the egg mixture and the cooled chocolate mixture.

Stir with a wooden spoon til well blended.

Fill muffin tin. 

Unwrap kisses, (I used milk chocolate, but think the dark chocolate would taste great also.)

and place one in the center of each muffin cup of batter...

and push it down in the batter. (Make sure you push down well. A few I didn't push as far and they baked up in the muffin.)

Bake for 20 minutes.

Cool in muffin tin. 

Remove to wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins with a surprise in the center. Store in an airtight container.

FROM A HALF SQUARE TRIANGLE UNIT TO A .....

I had so much fun last year taking a nine-patch that had been cut in the middle horizontally and vertically and then seeing all the different "squares" I could come up with. I hope you didn't miss that post. It is one of my more popular ones.

At the last gathering of our NNL quilting group, we started planning and working on some quilts for the Linus Project. Kay had a bunch of half square triangle units she planned to work with. She had made them for a quilt for her son, but when she showed him her "design", he asked her where the plaids were.  (She didn't know he wanted plaid prints in the quilt.)  SO, she had all these half square triangle units that she decided she would cut up to make quilts for the Linus Project.  

While she was cutting the large units into fourths, I started playing with the smaller pieces.....just like I did when she cut the nine patch blocks up.  

First she squared the block up to 9-1/2 inches by trimming off the excess.

Then she cut in the middle at 4-3/4 inches.

And finally she cut each of these two strips in the middle at 4 -3/4 inches.

This gave her two solid squares and two half square triangle units.











Then I started playing around with them...

First, your traditional pinwheel...

Here they were with several different units that she had cut (We were trying to decide how she was going to arrange them for the Linus Quilt. We liked this idea but she didn't have a piece of fabric that we liked to go with them for a sashing and border.) 

Anyway, here is another design I came up with....

and here with two "blocks". (I wanted to see how the pattern would look on a larger scale.)

another different one....(I liked the looks of this one.)












And finally a different block....

I call this one
"Day"....

and this one "Night"....
















I am anxious to see Kay's quilt. Since we were having so much trouble with the print for the sashing and borders, she put them away and worked on something else that day.  I will update this the next time we meet and show you her quilt.

BLT MACARONI SALAD

This BLT Macaroni Salad was Kay's contribution at the New Dinner Club. Kay brought the ingredients and mixed the salad at Linda's so I was able to get a few extra pictures. She couldn't remember exactly where she had found the recipe. She thought a friend had published it on Facebook.

BLT MACARONI SALAD

3/4     cup mayo
4-1/2  tablespoons chili sauce
3         tablespoons lemon juice
1-1/2   teaspoons sugar
4-1/2  cups elbow macaroni - cooked (2-1/4 cups dry)
3/4     cup tomato, seeded & chopped
3         tablespoons green onions - chopped
4-1/2  cup lettuce - shredded
6         slices bacon - cooked & crumbled

In a large bowl, combine the first four ingredients. Mix well.

Add macaroni, tomato & onion - toss to coat.

Cover & refrigerate.

Just before serving, add the lettuce and bacon....toss to coat.

Other dishes served that night: 
FRESH BROCCOLI SALAD

STEVE'S BAKED BEANS

(LIGHT) CARROT CAKE

MORE POPPERS - BANANA BUTTERSCOTCH CHOCOLATE & OATMEAL APPLESAUCE

I have fallen in love with my two mini muffin pans. It all started when I made some PUMPKIN POPPERS for my husband to take to share with the other volunteers in the tax office at Fort Leavenworth. I had made mini muffins before but they didn't look like these. I was a little concerned baking them because the recipe said to fill the cups full. I was afraid they would run over as they cooked, but they didn't. Instead they turned out the cutest mini muffins that looked like a bigger doughnut hole. Everyone at the tax office loved them.  

Being so successful I decided to try the idea again....this time using banana for the pumpkin and making a couple more changes.  Well, I liked these even more than the pumpkin ones. So did some of the people of the Fort.  My husband decided he liked the pumpkin ones the best. (This is so funny because he isn't real fond of pumpkin.) The recipe for them is in the same post.

In this post I am sharing two different recipes using the idea again. If you want to make regular muffins as the original recipe calls for, I will include the baking time for that.

I don't have but a couple of pictures making the Banana Butterscotch Chocolate Poppers because the power went off right after I got the chocolate melted. It came on briefly so I got most of it mixed up and then the power went off again. The power was off  a couple of hours. I decided to go on and bake the muffins anyway and they turned out fine.

Remember you can print the recipes using the print friendly button on the bar at the bottom of this post.  You will have the option to remove the images. (to save printer ink)

BANANA BUTTERSCOTCH CHOCOLATE POPPERS

4         tablespoons margarine or butter
6         tablespoons cocoa
4         tablespoons hot water
1-1/4  cups all-purpose flour
1/2      cups stevia or sugar
1         tablespoon baking powder
1         teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4      teaspoon salt
2/3      cup skim milk
1         large egg
1         teaspoon vanilla extract
2         mashed bananas
1/2      cup butterscotch chips
Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  (375 degrees F. for regular muffins) Spray the mini-muffin pans with cooking spray.

Melt the margarine in the microwave or in a saucepan.

Combine the cocoa and the hot water with the melted margarine. Let it cool slightly.








In a large bowl, sift together the flour, stevia, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Using a wire whisk or fork, beat the milk, egg, and vanilla in a small bowl, blending well.

Add the bananas to the milk mixture....

then the cooled chocolate mixture.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring just until blended.

Stir in the butterscotch chips.  

Pour the batter into the muffin pans.

Bake 12 minutes for the mini muffins....22 to 25 minutes or until the tops of the muffins spring back when pressed lightly with a finger for the regular sized muffins.





Cool a few minutes and remove to cool on wire racks.

May sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar if you like.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Will make about 30 mini muffins or 12 regular sized muffins.

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These Oatmeal Applesauce Poppers make a great breakfast "muffin" to enjoy with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk (in my case since I don't drink coffee). I really liked them.

OATMEAL APPLESAUCE POPPERS

1-1/2       cups rolled oats
1-1/4       cups sifted all-purpose flour (sift some first and then measure)
1-1/2       teaspoons baking powder
1              teaspoon baking soda
1              teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2           cup packed light brown sugar
1              cup applesauce
1/2           cup milk
1              teaspoon vanilla extract
3              tablespoons canola oil
1              egg

Topping:

1/2           cup rolled oats
2              tablespoons brown sugar
1/4           teaspoon cinnamon
2              tablespoons melted margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for mini muffins (375 degrees F for regular muffins) Spray the muffin tins with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, applesauce, milk, vanilla extract, oil, and egg.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Fill the muffins tins.

Stir together the oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted margarine for the topping.

Sprinkle a little of the mixture over the batter in the cups.

Bake 12 minutes for the min muffins and 20 minutes for the larger ones. Test doneness with a toothpick.

Cool a few minutes and then remove to cool on wire rack.

Makes 2-1/2 dozen mini muffins (poppers) or 1 dozen regular muffins.






These two recipe were inspired by recipes from Mad about Muffins, A Cookbook for Muffin Loves - Recipes by Dot Vartan.