Surprise Muffins

SURPRISE!!! Here's a muffin recipe the whole family will love. And if they don't, you ask? My suggestion would be to seek out new family members. I am assuming (you know what they say about assuming, though) that the name of these muffins comes from the "surprise" chocolate chip-peanut butter middle when you bite into these. These look like just another muffin on the outside yet taste like no other muffin you've ever eaten on the inside. We all know how delicious the chocolate-peanut butter combination is (we do all know this, right?), and it really makes this muffin a winner. The maple extract adds a nice warm flavor, too, and becomes more pronounced the longer these muffins sit. For good measure, the oat bran adds that whole grains goodness everybody's talking about these days. (What? Not everybody is talking about whole grains these days?) These muffins are delicious and not overly sweet, even with the chocolate-peanut butter middle. I got this recipe from The Spirit of Christmas Cookbook - Volume 2. Don't wait until Christmas to make these, though. Go bake a batch today and let me know what you think.

Surprise Muffins

Source: The Spirit of Christmas Cookbook - Volume 2, p. 20

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oat bran
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 teaspoon maple extract

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. In a small bowl, combine peanut butter and chocolate chips; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, bran, brown sugar, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk milk, oil, eggs and maple extract. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add milk mixture; stir just until moistened. Spoon about 2 tablespoons batter into each cup of a greased muffin pan. Spoon about 2 teaspoons peanut butter mixture over batter in each cup. Spoon remaining batter over peanut butter mixture, filling each cup three-fourths full. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until muffins pull away from sides of pan. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Store in an airtight container. Muffins may be served at room temperature or reheated. To reheat, cover and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 5 to 8 minutes or until heated through. (These reheat well in the microwave, too. Just wrap a muffin in a paper towel then cook on HIGH 100% power for 30 seconds).

Yield: 12 muffins

 
 

Recipe request from my friend Kristen

I've made this recipe for my friend Kristen and her family twice, and they just love it. She asked me to post it here so if she ever stumbles upon the desire to learn how to bake (it's doubtful) she can make them on her own.

I recommend you bake these the night before and let them sit overnight before cutting and serving. These freeze well for up to one month. My favorite way to eat these is straight out of the freezer.

Peanut Butter Cranberry Bars

Source: Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens magazine

1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup (4 T.) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter - do not use natural peanut butter (See Note 1 below)
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 ounces 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup peanut butter - do not use natural peanut butter (See Note 1 below)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan; set aside. In a small bowl, combine cranberries and water. Cover and let stand 20 minutes. Drain well.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter with an electric mixer until well combined. Beat in brown sugar. Beat in flour on low speed (mixture will be crumbly). Stir in drained cranberries. (See Note 2 below.) Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture. Press remaining crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a medium bowl beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar with an electric mixer until smooth. Add egg, 2/3 cup peanut butter, and lemon juice; beat until well combined. (See Note 3 below.) Spread evenly over crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over top, pressing lightly into filling with the back of a spoon.

Bake about 25 minutes more or until top is lightly browned and edges are puffed. (Do not overbake these or they will not have the moist peanut butter creaminess in the middle that makes them so good. I usually take mine out of the oven at 22 minutes.) Cool completely on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Note 1: Natural peanut butter is peanut butter that has oil on the top that needs to be stirred into the peanut butter before using. See picture below.

Note 2: Original recipe called for 1/2 cup chopped peanuts to be stirred in with the drained cranberries. Since I wanted a soft bar (nothing with crunch), I omitted them. If you want to use peanuts in this recipe, stir 1/2 cup chopped peanuts and cranberries together and proceed with the recipe as written.

Note 3: You can use 1 T. milk and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract in place of the fresh lemon juice.


Natural Peanut Butter and Regular Peanut Butter:
(As I mentioned above, use regular peanut butter for this recipe.)


Pictures of Peanut Butter Cranberry Bars:

Pasta + Candy Bar Pie = Oh, my tummy aches!!!

I think I may fall asleep typing this post tonight. Between eating a big bowl of pasta for lunch/dinner today and eating a piece of Candy Bar Pie for dessert, I am miserably stuffed and currently have no plans to eat again until dinner at Brio with my neighbor/friend Colleen tomorrow night. (I say that now, but I'm sure a peach muffin will be appealing in the morning.) All I know at this point is that a long, heart-pumping and sweaty workout on the stationary bike is in order tomorrow morning. I'd like to burn at least 450-500 of the 5,000 or so calories I've eaten today. (I really hope I haven't eaten that much, but feeling the way I do right now, it wouldn't surprise me.)

I was in Florida when my brother Mike's (36th!) birthday rolled around last month, but I finally got around to making him a celebratory treat. I made the pie last night and let it chill overnight in the fridge. After tasting it, we both agree it was really good. However, Mike thought the Snickers miniatures were too hard and somewhat difficult to chew, and I thought it was just a bit over-the-top too rich and heavy. I did like the creaminess of the middle layer, though. Take my word...a small piece is all you need. I let the pie sit out on the counter for 20 minutes before cutting it, yet the miniatures on the bottom were somewhat difficult to cut through...not impossible to cut through, but I had to cut slowly and use a bit of force. If you plan to try this recipe, I would recommend using thinly sliced candy bar pieces instead and letting the pie sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before cutting. If you decide to use miniatures, cut them in half instead of keeping them whole like I did. Use a warm sharp knife to cut the pie, too, or the top chocolate layer will crack as you cut the pie into pieces. Anyway, it's a really good recipe, but take it from me...this would be best served after a light lunch or dinner.

Candy Bar Pie

Source: Taste of Home

5 Snickers candy bars (2.07 ounces each), cut into ¼-inch pieces
1 pastry shell (9 inches), baked and cooled
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
½ cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup sour cream
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 T. whipping cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place candy bar pieces in the pastry shell; set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, sour cream and peanut butter; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into pastry shell. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until set. Cool completely on wire rack.

In small heavy saucepan, melt chocolate chips with cream over low heat until smooth. Spread over filling. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Cut with a warm knife.

Yield: 8-10 servings

More notes: I used 24 Snickers miniatures to line the bottom of the baked pie shell. I also used 1/3-less-fat cream cheese and light sour cream. Make sure not to use that old Peter Pan peanut butter sitting in your pantry, though. I like my brother, so I used Skippy. I also used Guittard semisweet chocolate chips (my favorite chocolate chips). I baked this for the full 40 minutes and it set perfectly…smooth top surface and light brown crust.