Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Muffins, muffins, muffins! It’s time for another marvelous muffin recipe. Last week, I had a bunch of bananas that were going brown and was thinking about making some lovely banana bread, but the Simmering Seoulmate had a hankering for muffins. So, we decided to make oatmeal banana muffins. I’ve got quite a sweet tooth, so I incorporated some chocolate chips. You can customized this recipe to suit your preferences by omitting the chocolate or by adding add other types of chocolate chips, such as peanut butter chips, or even add some nuts or berries. These delightful treats make a great mid afternoon snack or a quick and easy breakfast. I like to eat them warmed up with a bit of butter on chilly mornings with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F or 190 ̊ C. In a large bowl stir together all of your dry ingredients, with the exception of the chocolate chips. In a smaller bowl, combine vanilla, butter, eggs, and bananas. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix until all the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spoon the mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and removed clean. Let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 15 muffins.

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Happy Sunday! I hope you've all have a nice relaxing weekend. Summer is finally here! In Korea, rainy season has just begun. It’s really not that bad, you just get used to carrying an umbrella with you everywhere for a few weeks. It doesn't usually rain all day either. Last night, the Simmering Seoulmate and I braved the rain and sticky heat and went out for dinner with a friend at our favourite Mexican place in all of Seoul, Gusto Taco. It’s a small restaurant right next to Sangsu station that serves up excellent tacos, nachos, burritos and one of my personal favourites, taquitos, which come served in a cute cauldron of cheesey goodness. Of course they serve delicious cocktails too. 

The night was filled with rain, friends, food, and a little debauchery in Hongdae of course. All in all a great way pick me up.

With summer finally here, blueberries are finally in season, and while still expensive, I thought I’d buy a package and whip up something delicious. While I debated for a long time about using them in the pancakes I made recently, I decided to go with muffins instead. I also had a bunch of lemons in the fridge so those are the flavours I went with. This recipe also uses yogurt, which I found quite interesting. It made the muffins perfectly moist and they tasted amazing. They also froze well, which made them last longer! I will definitely be making them again! Yum!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins
Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients
1 egg
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one lemon
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, I used fresh)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 ̊ F (190 ̊ C). In a large bowl combine the butter and egg and beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour in yogurt and heavy cream and mix together with mixer for about 30 seconds. In a medium bowl, sift together sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture a half at a time. The mixture will be quite thick, more like a cookie dough consistency. Fold in blueberries. Line muffin pan with paper liners and spoon mixture into each one. Pop into the oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

Makes 10 muffins.

P.s. If you enjoy Mexican and are in Seoul, defiantly check out Gusto Taco. I know I will be back there again very soon!

Pancakes

I am the luckiest girl in the world. My boyfriend cooks me breakfast every day. Sometimes its French toast or fried potatoes and other days it’s a slice of toast with peanut butter or a bagel with cream cheese. It doesn't matter what it is, it’s that it is served to me as I primp myself for work every day. What a guy. So, once and awhile I like to treat him to one of his favorites. Pancakes. Store bought mixes are okay, but I really don’t care for the ones they sell in Korea. Homemade pancakes are easy and delicious, so that’s what I prefer to do. This past weekend, I whipped up a batch. They end up fluffy, but still light. For mine, I always include chocolate chips, while my boyfriend prefers his au natural.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 tbsp melted butter
A small handful of chocolate chips, blueberries, or sliced strawberries

Directions
In a large bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in milk, butter and egg. Mix together with a wooden spoon.
Heat a lightly oiled pan over medium high heat and use a soup ladle to pour batter into the pan. Add chocolate chips, fresh fruit, or leave them plain. When the batter begins to bubble flip the pancakes and cook for another 2 minutes. Serve with butter and classic Canadian maple syrup. Enjoy!

Makes 10 pancakes. 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I had a ton of bananas that were turning black…story of my life. So, I decided to bake delicious chocolate chip banana bread. I have tried several recipes, but finally I have tweaked this simple one from The Food Network and it is perfection! 

There are several times that I enjoy eating banana bread, here are a few. Firstly, I love to eat banana bread warmed up with a bit of butter for a quick breakfast in the morning, on days when I’m running late. AKA every day… I also like to wrap up a slice and eat it as a snack, when hunger strikes after my kindy classes finish at 3pm. Finally, banana bread makes a delightful evening snack with a cup of herbal tea. 

This recipe makes two small loaves. You can keep a loaf in the fridge for about a week or in the freezer for about a month.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
4 very ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup coconut oil (can use vegetable oil instead)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your pans with a bit of cooking spray or butter. I skipped this step, and had mixed results. One pan I used must have been a non-stick one and the loaf fell right out. However, the second loaf stuck to the bottom of my other pan.

In a medium bowl stir flour, baking soda and powder, salt. Next take a large bowl and stir eggs and sugar together with a wooden spoon. Mash bananas in a separate bowl with a fork and add them to the egg and sugar mixture. Add vanilla, coconut oil and cinnamon. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Divide batter into two 9x5 loaf pans. Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until the top has browned nicely. Use a toothpick to check if the middle is cooked through.

Enjoy!