Muffin and Cupcake madness

This is my stand mixer, that is right my very own kitchen aid stand mixer, not my mom's mine :) and it's the pink breast cancer one :) I loooove it, so the very first thing I created with it had to be for someone I love, who else but my friend Erin :)

Soo since my workterm started I have been making alot of muffins... I just love them. But before I get into the muffins I will give you some pictures of the Chocolate mint cupcakes that I made for Erin one of my good friends :)

Adapted From Martha Stewart's Cookbook Cupcakes:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 cup of Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

2 lg eggs

3/4 cups buttermilk

3 tbsp veg oil

1 tsp peppermint extract

3/4 cup warm water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, extract, and the water; beat on low speed until smooth and combined, scraping down sides as needed.

2. Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 min. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool 10 minutes; turn out cupcakes onto racks to cool completely. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.

I didn't make the icing because I made so many cupcakes I didn't want to screw up the icing and have to make more, I bought icing from the supermarket and added peppermint extract to it. The purple and green sprinkles I got at the bulk barn for a pretty good price I will definitely buy them again and use them for other creations, like the rainbow star cake I will be making for Krystle soon :)

I don't have any muffin pictures uploaded yet but I will Post the recipes just because i want you to go make them now and love them so much :)

Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

ok well the crumble is good and makes it more like a mini coffee cake.....but isn't necessary the second time I made these I just sprinkled some sugar on top and it was scrumptious.

what I have done for different variations....

Blueberry Banana Variation:

I add some vanilla, as well as a banana and substitute in brown sugar for the white and use buttermilk instead of regular milk. I also cut down the amount of oil from 1/3 to 1/4 because it left a oil puddle on the bottom of my muffin pans.

Apple Cinnamon Variation:

I left out the blueberries, and added one cup of chopped apple that I had coated in cinnamon sugar and added about 1/2 tsp or less of cinnamon to the batter. As well I made the same substations that I did for the blueberry banana (buttermilk, brown sugar, cut the oil and a splash of vanilla)

The base of this recipe has so many things that can be done to them .... I think next sunday I will make strawberry chocolate :) yummm

Go make some muffins :)