Raspberries.

Blackberries.

Fresh lemon zest.

Packed into a light fluffy muffin flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Interest you yet?  Made these fellas last night and I have to say they were pretty darn yummy.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 Cups All Purpose Flour
• 2 Tbsp. Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp. Lemon zest
• 1/2 Tsp. Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 1 Cup Brown sugar
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1 Cup melted butter
• 1 Tbsp. Vanilla
• 1 Cup Raspberries, frozen or fresh
• 1 Cup blackberries, frozen or fresh
• 1/4 Cup White sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.  Light oil or butter the cups and top surface of a standard 12 – muffin pan
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, nutmeg and salt.  In a separate bowl add the eggs, brown sugar, milk, butter and vanilla.
3. Pour the wet into the dry mixture.  Stir together with a few quick strokes until a lump batter forms.
4. Add in the blackberries and raspberries
5. Spoon the mixture into the muffin cups and top with some white sugar.
6. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean after insertion.
7. Rest on a rack for a few minutes.  Serve with butter and your favorite liquid.
8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Beating a batter until a form of smoothness develops strong gluten in the flour.  This will cause your muffins to be tough.  By just applying a few strokes and leaving the batter lumpy, this will allow the muffins to be tender.

Have a super Wednesday.  I was just outside and the sun is blazing and the birds are chirping.  Come on spring – get over here.  Talk to you at the end of the week.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Let me start out by saying that we have been some seeing technical difficulties with both the rss feed of the blog and the speed in which the page loads.  We think we got all the problems addressed but if you continue to lack posts in your email or Google reader – I want to hear about it.  Deal?

OK moving on….

Wanna know something else I love?  Chips.  Chips of any kind, any type, any shape with dip or without – it doesn’t matter.  I am a CHIP Lover/Addict.  Today i want to share with you a fun little recipe that was well received at a recent House gathering.  These are simple pita chips with a couple of twists.  Super easy to make and very fun to eat… CCCCRUNCH!

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 3/4 Tsp. Ground cumin
• 1/4 Tsp. Ground red pepper
• 5 Large whole wheat or white pitas with pockets
• 1/2 Cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In cup, with fork, mix oil, cumin, and ground red pepper.
2. With knife or kitchen shears, cut each pita in half. Brush 1 side of pita halves with oil mixture. Cut each half into 8 wedges.
3. Arrange wedges, oiled-side up, in non greased sheet pans.
4. Sprinkle with Parmesan, and salt if you like.
5. Place pans on oven racks and bake crisps 12 to 15 minutes or until golden, rotating pans from upper to lower racks halfway through baking for even browning.
6. Cool chips in pans on wire racks.
7. Dip with your favorite Hummus or Bean Dip
8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: If there are any leftovers, store chips in tightly covered container or large self-sealing plastic bag up to 1 week.  They will stay crunchy – I tested out 2 batches!

The cumin flavored combined with the slight heat of the red pepper was a fantastic combination.  I feel the simple oil mixture elevated a somewhat boring piece of Pita Bread into an exciting bite for the guests.

Kick start your weekend with a super day today.  Let’s see if we can do something fun.  Have a great weekend.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty

Happy Monday! A while back, I was fooling around with muffin recipes and I made an apple granola muffin that was a 6-7 out of 10. Apples were a little bland and they were nothing to facebook and tell your friends. This time around I altered the ingredients slightly. I used organic hemp granola with a pumpkin flavor and added nutmeg into the mix for some more flavor.

Results…. ummm these are delicious! Give them a try and let me know what you think.

I have been craving homemade muffins without a huge amount of oil. I recently picked up a new box of hemp granola (pumpkin) so I thought I would incorporate that into a basic muffin mixture with some apples. This is what I came up with. A delicious muffin, moist on the inside with a little crunch on the outside from the granola.

I was really impressed with the texture of the muffin, last time I thought that maybe the apple was a little “BLAH“. This time, I added some nutmeg to the apple before hand and I think it was the final tweak.

Ingredients

• 2 Large Apple (Peeled and Cored)
• 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
• 2/3 Cup All-Purpose Flour
• 2/3 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
• 2 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 Tbsp. Ground Cinnamon
• 1 Tsp. Nutmeg
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 3/4 Cup Granola
• 4 Tbsp. Canola Oil
• 1 Large Egg (beaten)
• 1 Cup Skim Milk

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12- hole muffin pan.









2. Place the apple and half the sugar in a bowl and set aside for 5 minutes.



3. Sift together remaining sugar, flour(s), baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.



4. Stir in granola (reserving some for top of muffins).



5. In a small bowl, beat together remaining ingredients. Stir this liquid into the dry ingredients and lightly stir together.



6. Divide the mixture among the holes in the muffin pan, filling each about 2/3 full.



7. Top with remaining granola.
8. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly brown.
9. Remove the muffins from the oven and turn out immediately onto a cooling rack to cool.
10. Serve warm or at room temperature.



11. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: When mixing the dry ingredients with the wet – be sure not to over mix, lumps and some flour still showing is OK. If you over-beat the batter, the muffins will be flat.

So next time you are on the hunt for a muffin – give these a try.  I beckon they would work great with any fruit if you are in a pinch.  Have a great start to your week and stay tuned for some garden chatter.

Take care

zesty

Download my Free Recipe Book: Simply Zesty