This recipe was created in partnership with Fleischmann’s® Simply Homemade®.

I think it’s no secret here that I don’t bake very often. It’s not that I dislike baking, it’s just more of a process for me than cooking (and it’s hard to find the time!). Cooking comes to me very naturally, I don’t always feel the need to use exact measurements or ingredients and I can be really creative with what I have on hand. There are times where I wish baking came to me more naturally, but the reality is it doesn’t so it takes a bit of persuading from my sweet kids to talk me into baking them treats.

When I told my kids I was going to try out a new line of baking mixes for the blog, they were thrilled (and so was I!). I couldn’t wait to try the new Fleischmann’s® Simply Homemade® Muffin & Bread Mixes, not only because they are filled with ingredients I feel good about (real fruit and juices!), but they are also created to use with Greek yogurt – an ingredient I love to include in recipes whenever I can.

(more…)

The post Cinnamon Banana Nut Muffins appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

(more…)

The post Roasted Chile and Cheddar Corn Muffins appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

(this giveaway is now closed)

I’ve been seeing posts about Tate’s Bake Shop all over the web lately.  Lots of great baking going on out there!  Tate’s might be a new name to you, but they are not new by any means…they opened their doors in the Hamptons, NY in 1980 and sold some of their baked goods at Ina Garten’s own shop Barefoot Contessa. After I was recently contacted by them to try their cookies and check out their cookbook I quickly realized I was introduced to them a couple of years ago by my sister in law Jamie.  Jamie raved about this cookbook and has actually posted these yummy blueberry muffins and blueberry buckle from it too.

I absolutely loved their cookies…they are made just how I like them, crisp on the edges, slightly chewy in the middle.  And they are buttery…in a very good way. I was mailed a nice sample of their chocolate chip, macadamia nut and oatmeal raisin cookies.  I’m hoarding a package of the oatmeal raisin ones in the pantry…

You want to try some of these cookies? (I know you do…)

Tate’s Bake Shop is offering one of my readers this same cookie package along with their awesome cookbook.  Ina Garten actually wrote the foreward in the book, and I will assure you, you will find some wonderful recipes in there.  I have my eye on a few already, and have already baked these Carrot Muffins up twice this past weekend.

Giveaway: Tate’s Bake Shop Gift Pack and Tate’s Bake Shop Cookbook

Ends Thursday, midnight (EST)

To enter into the giveaway:

Leave a comment on this post telling me your most favorite kind of cookie.  Mine is definitely oatmeal raisin.

Sorry, giveaway open to US readers only.

Additional Entries can be earned by:

1.  Become a fan of Tate’s Bake Shop on Facebook.  “Like” them and then come back and leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

2. Become a fan of Aggie’s Kitchen on Facebook.  “Like” Aggie’s Kitchen then come back to this page and leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

3. Follow @AggiesKitchen on Twitter, then come back to this page and leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

4.  Share about giveaway and link back to this post on Facebook, Twitter or your own blog and leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

Bonus: Tate’s Bake Shop is offering a discount code “cookie” to Aggie’s Kitchen readers for 15% off on any tatesbakeshop.com purchase from now through December 31st.

Now as far as these muffins go…they were delicious.  If you are a carrot cake fan, then you will love these.  They were dense and full of goodness, I even added a little coconut to the second batch.  I bet these would actually make a great cupcake with some cream cheese frosting…um, yea….now we’re talking.

Tate’s Bake Shop Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups carrots, grated
• 1/2 cup, pecans
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 apple, peeled and cored, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan cups.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, oil and eggs. Mix until they are well combined. Stir in the carrots, pecans, vanilla, and apple. Fold in the flour mixture.
4. Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared muffin cups. The muffin cups should be filled to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Recipe from Tate's Bake Shop cookbook

(Note: Original recipe says it makes 10 muffins, I was able to get 12 muffins in each batch)

The post Tate’s Bake Shop Carrot Muffins and a cookie & cookbook giveaway appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I’ve mentioned before that my little guy is a.k.a. “the muffin man” around our house.  I made these for him (and me) the other day after looking at some pitiful leftover zucchini that was screaming “use me!!” in the veggie drawer.  I adapted a zucchini bread recipe that I found in my beloved Magnolia Bakery cookbook into muffins and they turned out perfectly.  I cut down the amount of sugar and oil in the recipe by substituting natural unsweetened applesauce.  My rule of thumb (which is not backed up by any scientific baking data) is to substitute half the oil for the same amount of applesauce, and cut the sugar in just about half when doing so.  If you like more of a sweeter muffin then stick to the original amount of sugar in the recipe, but I like to cut back on the sugar whenever possible.

Don’t forget to enter your favorite Chili recipe into my Chili Cookoff Contest for a chance to win an awesome gift basket from Bush’s Beans!  Winner will be chosen randomly, contest ends Saturday, April 3 at midnight.

Zucchini Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil (preferably canola)
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/3 cup sugar (original recipe calls for 3/4 cup sugar)
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup shredded zucchini, plus a little extra for optional topping (about 1 medium zucchini, with skin)
• 3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin with non stick spray.
2. In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, n the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and thick, about 3 minutes. Stir in zucchini.
4. Add dry ingredients and gently mix until just combined. Stir in the chopped nuts.
5. Pour the batter into muffin tins, filling each tin about 3/4 full. Sprinkle some shredded zucchini on top of each uncooked muffin. Place in preheated oven and bake for about 15-18 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean. Let cool slightly before taking out of muffin pan. Makes a dozen muffins.

Recipe adapted from Zucchini Walnut Bread, The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

The post Zucchini Nut Muffins appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

My little guy was definitely born with a sweet tooth.  I can tell you, he didn’t get it from me.  I, on the other hand, am more of a salty crunchy snack kind of person…I have no problems getting through a bag of sea salted pita chips dunked in spicy hummus…okay, let’s not talk about it (I have recently discovered I have a bit of an addiction…).

Since my son enjoys his sweets so much, I really try to keep some “better for you” sweet snacks for him in the house…granola bars, cocoa almonds (Emerald makes them – awesome!), and of course lots of fruit.  But what really makes my boy happy is a muffin.  He is over the moon when I tell him I’m going to bake up some muffins.

To keep my cookbook buying addiction under control lately, I’ve started to check out cookbooks from the library.  The last time I was there I saw my friend Liz’s kid friendly cookbook on the shelf and I was excited to bring it home.  I immediately looked to the baked goods section, knowing I had some very ripe bananas on the counter needing to be used up immediately.  I was very happy to find this Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipe…and so was the little Muffin Man.

I made half the batch as written, and the other half I sprinkled shredded coconut over the tops before baking to make them a little more fun (for me!).  Sammy enjoyed both, but said he would save the coconut ones for me since they were my favorite.  🙂

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Recipe from Meal Makeover Moms

(printable recipe)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup wheat germ or ground flaxseed
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I used regular sugar because I was out of brown sugar)
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup 1% lowfat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
shredded coconut, optional

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray
and set aside.
2. Whisk together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ, baking powder, and
salt in a large bowl.
3. Combine the bananas, eggs, sugar, oil, milk, and vanilla in a medium bowl and stir until
well blended. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and stir until just
moistened. Stir in the chocolate chips.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Top with each muffin with shredded coconut if using.  Bake about 20 minutes, or until the   muffins are light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
5. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins and cool an
additional 5 minutes before serving. To make 24 mini muffins, bake about 14 minutes.

The post An afterschool snack… appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

I think I’ve been bit by the baking bug.  I’m not really sure how it happened…it kinda came out of nowhere.  I’ve always avoided baking for some reason, partly because I’ve never been good of it (not a big fan of measuring!) and because honestly, I just don’t like the temptation of having sweets in the house.  Lately though I’ve just wanted to bake bake bake.  And luckily I have had reasons for the baking…so after a nice taste or two, off the sweets go to a good home.  I think I may have finally found a healthy balance…

Now this basket of sweet little muffins were actually not meant for sharing.  These muffins were baked with love on Saturday morning for my little guy who just beams with excitement anytime I ask him to help me in the kitchen lately.  He’s a big fan of stirring and likes to sample everything from the flour to the sugar to the chopped apples that were added into this batter.  His enthusiasm is pretty cute if I do say so myself.  🙂

I made these muffins from a recipe I found in a new cookbook I picked up for myself the other day at Home Goods…The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.  There are so many recipes I want to try in this book.  There is a good variety of different treats…from cookies to bars to cheesecakes (uh hello Mocha Rum Cheescake!) to pies.  I started with the muffins since I had everything I needed on hand and because my kids absolutely go crazy for muffins.  I love that there is oatmeal in them, and the addition of finely chopped apple gave them that little extra something.  They weren’t overly sweet and turned out very moist. These muffins are a perfect mid morning or afternoon snack for the kids…or with a cup of hot tea for yourself.

Oatmeal-Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rolled oats (not quick-cooking oats)
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used non fat)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 TB baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup finely chopped apple, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease well a 12 cup muffin tin.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the oats and the milk and set aside for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, making a well in the center. Stir in the liquid ingredients and the oatmeal mixture until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Batter may be lumpy. Fold in chopped apple.
5. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for 16-18 minutes until lightly golden or a cake tester inserted into center of muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached. Do not over bake.

Recipe adapted from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

So in the spirit of the holidays and because I loved this cute little cookbook so much… I ended up picking up an extra copy to share with one of you!  All you need to do is leave a comment on this post answering this question:

What is your most favorite thing to bake?

Earn additional opportunities to win by sharing this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter and/or on your own blog, just leave an additional comment or comments telling me you did so.

Giveaway ends Thursday night 10pm Eastern time.  (Sorry, US residents only) I will draw a comment number using Random.org and announce the winner on Friday!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Follow Aggie’s Kitchen’s board Healthy Breakfasts on Pinterest.

The post Oatmeal-Apple Muffins …and a gift for you! appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

The family is getting together today to celebrate and meet a new addition to our growing family…baby Brady is the 2nd great grandchild and one of 16 cousins – Welcome to the family Baby Brady!!  It also happens to be Jamie’s birthday (as well as Brady’s parent’s 5th anniversary!  Big congrats!) and since I know how much she loves PB and Chocolate (something we have in common!) I wanted to surprise her with some of these cupcakes!  I’ve been eying them in Ina’s Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook for sometime now and this was the perfect occasion for them.  Unfortunately I am not making it to the family get together, but have sent the cupcakes up with the husband and kids!  And I forgot to leave one home for myself!!  I did get to taste a piece of cupcake and frosting separately and that was really really good…can’t imagine what I’m missing not having an entire cupcake to enjoy all to myself with a glass of milk!  Maybe Jamie will let us all know if they are as delicious as they look…

Here is a copy of the recipe on Food Network’s site!

Enjoy your birthday Jamie…and your cupcakes!  Big birthday hugs to you!

Also…congratulations to the Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner giveaway…I drew a number using random.org and Cindy from FarmgirlCyn is the winner!  Your gift bag is on its way Cindy!  Thank you to everyone for entering!

PS…thank you all so much for the nice comments on my new design!  I am really excited about it and want to extend a BIG thank you to Hannah from Sherbert Blossom for all of her hard work in creating Aggie’s Kitchen’s new look!  It’s still a work in progress on my part, but I hope you will find it easy to navigate and resourceful!  Stay tuned for an organized recipe index…

The post Ina’s Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

This is also my kind of baking. The recipe is straight forward and they cook up quick too. Nothing fancy about these little muffins, just plain goodness.

I think my son was a little disappointed when he realized that these weren’t for him…so I guess I can make another batch for the kids tomorrow!

Pint-Size Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup lowfat milk
• 1/2 cup lowfat plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds

Directions:

1. Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour mini muffin pans or line with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda in medium bowl. Whisk milk, yogurt and lemon juice in small bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat sugar, butter, and lemon peel in large bowl to blend. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until mixture is light and fluffy, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in dry ingredients in 3 additions alternately with yogurt mixture in 2 additions. Mix until just blended. Mix in poppy seeds. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups by generous tablespoonfuls.
2. Bake muffins until tester inserted into center comes out clean, 22-24 minutes (I thought 18 minutes was better). Cool in pans 5 minutes. Remove muffins from pans and cool on rack.

Recipe adapted from bon appetit magazine, May 2009

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

The post Pint-Size Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Since I’m not one to bake unless I really have a reason to, I’ve been waiting patiently for the perfect occasion to make these. Well, my mom’s birthday is this weekend and we are going to surprise her with a visit tomorrow with the kids (hope she’s not reading this tonight!)…my mom loves peanut butter so I’m thinking these are a perfect birthday treat for her.

I just recently discovered a brand of peanut butter that I have totally fallen in love with…Peanut Butter & Co. They have the most amazing flavors…ones I’ve tried are Dark Chocolate Dreams, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and White Chocolate Wonderful. I like adding a heaping teaspoon of these delicious flavors into a bowl of plain lowfat yogurt for dessert…mmmm. So good.

When I decided to make these bars today I had all the ingredients in the pantry…as far as peanut butter though, all I had was the White Chocolate Wonderful. This peanut butter isn’t the most inexpensive peanut butter so I cringed a little using up the whole jar for the recipe (actually 2 oz. less than the recipe called for), but I figured it would make the bars that much better.

I thought the bars turned out good…crumbly and buttery, but they held their shape well. My only complaint was that I thought there should have been more jam than what the recipe asked for. Next time I will just eye ball it and make sure to spread a nice thick layer of jam on them. Also, I think my pan might have been too small…my bars came out kind of thick, but that’s not really a bad thing.

If you are a PB&J lover, bake up a batch of these bars and grab a glass of milk…

(I’m loving my new Martha Stewart Collection plates from Macy’s…)

White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam (I used strawberry)
• 2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (I totally forgot to add these!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.
4. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.
5. Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Recipe by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa at Home

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

Happy Birthday Mom!!
xoxo

The post White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

These cupcakes were perfect for a last minute sweet to bring to a gathering. We were getting together with my husband’s family, he is the youngest of 7 and there are lots of grandchildren and cousins in the family, 15 to be exact. Not everyone was able to make it this time, but there were plenty of us still. I wanted to bring something fun for all of the kids, and of course for the grown ups too. And really, I wanted to get rid of a bunch of candy canes hanging around the house.

Candy Cane Chocolate Cupcakes

Ingredients:

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Easy Vanilla Frosting

• 1 1/2 sticks of butter, room temperature
• 2 1/4 confectioners sugar.
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• splash of milk

Directions:

One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with liners; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla; mix batter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
2. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about one-third full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Easy Vanilla Frosting

1. Combine ingredients in a mixer, mix for about 4 minutes until smooth.
2. Top with crushed candy canes. (To crush, place candy canes or candy cane pieces in small ziplock bag. Using a the handle of a knife gently crush candy canes into small pieces.)

Recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

The post Candy Cane Chocolate Cupcakes appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.