MagicallyDelicious

So I have spent a lot of time being disappointed by the way my blueberry muffins look.  It seemed no matter what I did, they were always not super brown on top, and flat.  Flat, flat, flat.

I did some Googling and found some ideas about how to make muffins that look like they came from a bakery with high, domed crunchy tops.  Here are my tips, and a great recipe for blueberry muffins.

Add more baking powder

Muffin batter is a little thicker than other types, and it needs a little extra oomph to rise.  The recipe I used to make these ended up with 4 t of baking powder in it.  I couldn’t taste it and they popped up nicely.

Grease the top of the muffin pan

Add a little slippery stuff to the top side of your muffin tin, not just the cups. As your muffins rise, they’ll spread around the openings of the muffin tin and adding some grease will make them easier to slip out when they’re done. If you forget, just use a butter knife and slowly and carefully release the edges of your muffins as soon as they come out of the oven.

Fill the cups to the top

Most recipes tell you to fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.  You’ll get a little dome, but nothing that looks like it came from the bakery.  Don’t be afraid to fill those cups all the way up with batter.

Cheat a little

Reserve a few blueberries per muffin to drop into the top. That way you can be fairly certain you’ll still have some visible after they bake.

Turn up the heat

For the first five minutes of baking, crank up the temperature to 425 degrees. Yes I know it sounds crazy but you’ll give your muffins a head start on rising, and they’ll brown better. Then just turn down the temp to your recipe’s temperature for the remainder of the baking time.

Make them sparkle

Add a little crunch and shine to your muffins by using sanding sugar on top. Just sprinkle in about 1/2 to a teaspoon per muffin – the larger grains of sugar will remain on top and will be crunchy and sparkly when your muffins come out of the oven piping hot and looking picture perfect.

Give these tips a try and make Best of the Best Blueberry Muffins from AllRecipes.com

It’s easy to tell which recipes are my favorites by how weathered the cards are.  This one is my most trusty recipe – everyone loves it and it’s very easy to make.  It’s delicious with pecans or without.  With cream cheese frosting or without.  There are a few keys to a great banana bread.

1. The bananas – they have to be really black to get a good banana flavor.
2. The bake time – I almost always cook my banana bread longer than the recipe indicates.  I’ve found that if the break (the top where the bread breaks open) is  just dry, the bread is done throughout.  If it’s still wet, you’ll find the middle of your bread a bit mushy.
3. The flavor – Cinnamon tastes especially good in banana bread; I always add more than the recipe says.  I usually cheat on the vanilla also, adding just a bit more.
4. The pan preparation – This recipe doesn’t say it, but if you don’t grease your pan well you’ll be peeling the bottom off and you’ll have a big crater in it.  I use the cooking spray with flour in it because my pan always, always sticks.

One of the things I love best about recipes, even in baking, they become your own.  No one’s banana bread comes out quite like mine (for better or worse!), even when I share the recipe.

There’s just something in the amount of time or speed at which it’s mixed, the ingredients that get measured slightly differently.  The way it’s panned, de-panned.  When it’s sliced.  The love that goes into it.

So, I hope you enjoy my banana bread recipe, and I hope you’ll make a loaf or more.  Just by making it, you make it your own.

The picture even refused to upload right side up, and I refuse to try to fix it.

I’ll start by saying, I’d planned to write a post talking about how good this banana bread is, and showing a lovely picture.  But I decided instead to tell the truth.  I’ll preface by saying, none of this is the recipe’s fault.  The parts of the bread I could salvage did taste good, and I’d recommend trying this recipe.  But not if you’re having a day like mine.

I tend to be an all or nothing kind of person.  So when I have a day where things go wonky, I’m all in.  I can’t just have one thing go bad and move on.  I have to be sure that everything I touch goes far, far South.  Today I blew up things at work that would normally be a walk in the park.  And then blew them up again, inexplicably.

Normally when I have this kind of day, I turn straight to baking.  Stress baking I call it.  Because there’s something really centering about following a recipe precisely, and knowing that the result will be something beautiful and delicious that people will drool over and/or enjoy thoroughly.  It gives me something to focus on for an hour, helps me clear my head and move on.

Today was not a clear my head and move on kind of day.  Enter: the Paleo Banana Bread Incident, which it will be called from now on.

I read the recipe as I always do.  Gathered, measured and mixed the ingredients as always.  Slid it in the oven and set the timer as always.  And let my nose be my guide.

About 10 minutes before the recipe said it would be done, the bread smelled done.  I’ve never made this recipe before, and haven’t ever worked with almond flour before.  So I went with what I knew about a white flour bread, checked with a toothpick that came out clean, pushed on it and it felt firm, and it was dark brown on the outside like a white flour bread would look when it’s done.  So I did what I rarely do and moved away from the recipe and took it out early.

It stuck to the bottom of the pan, which isn’t unusual for my pan – I keep meaning to get a new one.  I flipped it over and instead of the torn bottom I expected…goo.  It looked like oatmeal inside.  So I flipped it back into the pan and put it back in the oven.  I figured it couldn’t get any worse, and I was right.

I was able to salvage about 3 small slices of the bread and the only way to make it look decent was to cut those slices in half down the middle.  What was done was very good, and as I said when I started this long, sad story, I’d recommend making it if you’re a gluten-free or paleo baker.  I’d probably add a little salt – it’s not as sweet as a normal banana bread but it’s good.

The picture above is what happened when I tried to slice it.  It came apart in strange clumps and the best I could do was get a few pieces from around the edges.  I should have taken a picture of the goo, but I was still in denial, and hoped I could salvage the destruction.

In any case, I hope you have learned from my mistakes.  The morals of this story are:

1. Follow the directions if you have no experience making a recipe.  The rules are probably there for a reason.
2. Everyone has off days – whatever your skill level there will be some flops.  You can laugh or cry; laughing’s more fun.
3. Make sure I don’t try to help you in any way if you see I’m having one of *those* days.  There’s no telling what could happen to you.

If you dare take advice from me tonight, give the Paleo Banana Bread a try – it’s good if you, you know, bake it all the way through.

Cooking with wine can be a great way to use the end of that bottle of French wine you might have open in the refrigerator. It can really add a new layer of flavor to your main dish. But what do you need to know to have a successful dish?

The number one rule – don’t cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink. Of course if we’re using the end of that open bottle, you’ve already enjoyed it and you know what the flavor is like.

What type of character does your wine have? Red or white, fruity, herby, spicy? Consider the character of the wine you’ll use when you decide what dish to use it in. If you’d pour a glass of wine to enjoy with your dish, it will probably go well in the dish.

You can use wine at any point in the cooking process. Add flavor as you make the sauce by deglazing the pan with it, marinate vegetables, or finish your sauce with it.  If you deglaze with the wine, be sure to let it reduce to cook the alcohol out and concentrate the flavor.  And taste before you add it to your protein.  You still have a chance to go another way or add other flavors, so there’s not much risk in giving it a try.

Bottom line, don’t be afraid to play with flavors and add wine to your dishes – taste as you go and your food will be better for a little vino.  Just be sure to save yourself a glass to enjoy with your dish, too!

Have you ever had a craving for s’mores but you want to skip that whole “sleeping on the damp, cold, hard ground in a tent” thing?  Try this quick idea.

Here’s all you need:

• jumbo marshmallows
• skewers
• graham crackers
• milk chocolate candy bar
• any candle you’ll be unlikely to accidentally knock over
• individually wrapped soft caramels (optional)

Just thread the marshmallow onto the skewer, and rotate it slowly over the flame, but keep it moving so that it doesn’t flambé.  When it’s done, assemble the s’more as usual, sandwiching the marshmallow and candy bar between the graham crackers and enjoy the messy goodness.

For added sweetness, thread a caramel on top of the marshmallow on the skewer before you start roasting it, and then pull the toasted marshmallow up over the caramel and sandwich between the grahams with the chocolate.

Thanks to AllRecipes.com’s Shudderuppers recipe for the caramel idea!