MUFFINS and Substitutions and my story :)

Applesauce Blueberry Muffins

I've got my first 2 dozen in the oven cooking, and will be adding to and editing this post for the next hour or so.

Okay so I started with my basic banana bread recipe, one that I frequently make into muffins instead, and decided to triple my recipe because I've got several hungry mouths who eat lots (my older boys and hubby will eat 1-1/2 dozen between them); it's a two bowl, one larger than the other recipe.  However today I don't have bananas dark enough so I substituted applesauce, something I have done before often, 3-1/2 cups.  Then I put in 3/4 cup of oil, nothing changed there, then I put in 3/4 cup of honey and 1/2 cup of molasses (so you should end up with 1-1/4 cup of liquid sweeteners, but can decrease honey to 1/2 cup) for the sugar, then the eggs, well all I have are the tiny eggs from my neighbor so I put in 4 of these little darlings (instead of 3 normally when I triple the recipe).  This is in bowl [bigger] One, mix them all together well.

Now for Bowl Two:  okay, while I was digging [in my freezer] for blueberries, I found a bag with graham cracker crumbs, along with my ground flax seed meal wheat germ.  I pulled them all out with the blueberries., then I started measuring.   2-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs, then about 1/2 cup each of the flax seed meal & wheat germ (bought both of these from Smith's in the baking aisle, they are Bob's Red Mill).  Then I added 3 cups of flour & 1 cup of rolled oats (oatmeal).  Then for the leavening:  I put in 4-1/2 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. of baking soda (recipe called for 3/4 tsp, but since I used honey I just rounded up to a full teaspoon), 1 tsp cinnamon (rounded up again from 3/4 tsp, 'cuz I like cinnamon).

With the electric mixer running in liquids bowl, dump in dry ingredients slowly, mixing carefully after each addition.  Then add 2 cups of fresh or frozen blueberries, and if desired 1-2 cups of chopped nuts or sunflower seeds; I didn't because my pecans are frozen and I don't have any sunflower seeds.

Baking:  well the website said that you should decrease the baking temperature by 25 degrees, but I decided to keep the temp at 350 deg Farenheit.  Still am figuring out how long, as I've been cooking 2 dozen [regular-sized] muffins at a time. Normal cooking time for 1 dozen muffins is 18-20 minutes.
Okay cooking time for 2 dozen is 25-28 minutes!!   I got exactly 4 dozen muffins by using my 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, I put a heaping scoop into each muffin cup.

Now...  here's the original Banana Bread Recipe

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 [lrg] egg
1 cup mashed bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup oil
1/2 tsp. lemon zest (optional)
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix flour, cinnamon, baking powder and soda together thoroughly.  Mix egg, sugar, bananas, oil, and zest together thoroughly; add dry ingredients to wet ingredients 1/3 at a time, mixing well after each addition; fold in nuts.  Bake in a greased 4x8 or 5x9 loaf pan at 350 degrees Farenheit for 20-30 minutes.

"Baby, it's cold outside!"

I'm sitting at the computer over by the window, and my fingers are chilled.
The Today Show is playing in the background, and every so often they break for the weather -- KSL Weather keeps saying that it's going to snow here today. The weather pattern they show indicates that the Uintah Basin is going to be right down the middle of the snow coming (it's already snowing in SLC), plus we get to have more snow tomorrow -- not a good thing when your spouse's job is driving! Our high today for Vernal is 50*F and the low for tonight is supposed to be 26*F -- now I live in Maeser, so our low will be 3 or 4 degrees colder than Vernal.
LOL, the funny thing is that when I was listening to the radio (98.5), they said that the high today wasn't going to be above 40 degrees -- both the radio & TV agree that it's going to be windy though.

I guess it's time to get dressed (I'm still in my flannel jammies), and get outside -- to hang the extension cord to plug in the dog house light, to get the cases of "free" water [from my brother Glen] out of the back of our white truck, to gather up hoses & garden tools & anything else I've forgotten about, and most of all to get some wood so I can get the fire going again.

Back in the house, I'll be getting some apples cooking to make applesauce, and of course continuing in my battle against the never-ending laundry pile.

=) Gayle