French Breakfast Puffs

So it has been a while since I’ve been in a baking mood. Not just because it’s been very hot, but also because the last two weeks were stressful with bills and financial matters. I’m happy to say though, that all that’s taken care of, and I woke this morning with my usual urge to bake.

 

I didn’t come up with these on my own, but I must say that the recipe is so easy, I just took one look and the ingredients were in my mind. Takes a total of 35 minutes or so for the whole process, and I’m eating yummy breakfast puffs.

Recipe:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

cinnamon (optional) 1/4 teaspoon

 

3 tablespoons butter, meltedc

cinnamon

sugar

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour,  sugar, baking powder, nutmeg and salt in a bowl. In a separate bowl combine vanilla, almond extract, egg, milk and melted butter.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix just until blended.

Lightly grease muffin cups or line with muffin papers. Fill 2/3 full with batter. Bake 20-25 minutes.

In the meantime, melt butter. In a separate bowl combine sugar and cinnamon. Allow muffins to cool for at least 10 minutes. Roll muffin tops in butter, then sugar.

Adapted from Fresh.

Blondies

Yet another recipe to cross off my Nigella Kitchen cooking challenge. I love these bars, and I”m eagerly awaiting dinnertime so I can have some more… but then, no one is around, and why wait.

2 cups rolled oats

2/3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda
10 tablespoons  soft butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 14-oz can condensed milk

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips (or chocolate chopped up into bits)

1 rectangular baking dish, 13 x 9 x 2 covered in foil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the oats, flour, and baking soda in a bowl.

In another bowl, mix or beat the soft butter with the sugar until pale and airily creamy, then beat in the condensed milk followed by the oats, flour, and baking soda mixture.

When these are well mixed, beat in the egg, and into this relatively thick mixture fold the chocolate chips.

Dollop this thick , bumpy batter into the prepared pan, and smooth it down with a spatula, then cook in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes. When ready, it will be quite a pronounced dark gold around the edges and coming away from the pan. It will look and feel cooked on top, though just beneath it will still seem frighteningly squishy, not to say, wibbly.

But it firms up as it cool in the pan, so to end up with the requisite chewiness you have to take it out of the oven while it feels a tad undercooked.

Freezer note: they can be frozen for up to 3 months in an airtight container, layered with parchment paper. Thaw overnight in a cool place.