Apple Cinnamon Muffins..late minute breakfast idea

I love the smell of Cinnamon Apple in the morning. It smells like victory.-Garfield-

Despite my love for muffins, I must confess, I hardly made them at home. Simple, no fuss recipes are all stacked in the dozens of cookbooks that I collect over the years, yet, these little cuties were usually bought than baked at home. Disgrace! I know. Every me I grabbed a muffin from the Coffee Bean when I need my morning dose of coffee, I would make note to self, to get up a wee bit earlier and quickly whisk a batter that would produce a batch of muffins that could be enjoyed by the rest of the family. Oh wishes, how lovely they are, yet in bleary-eyed mornings when I was always in a rush, muffins seem to be the last thing in mind.

Probably more driven by the enthusiasm to feed Couscous, I decided to throw in food/fruits that she likes and bring in more variety to her breakfast. I stumbled upon this lovely site, and somehow the gorgeous looking muffins lured me to the kitchen to make this wonderful batch of goodness. Again and again. They were just amazing. Couscous loves them, which is a big deal for me, as she can be a fussy eater!

Cinnamon and apples are good pairing, marriage made in heaven. But what gave these muffins a notch up in my book is the addition of brown sugar. Crusted cinnamon sugar which brings back good memories of cinnamon sugar pretzels and churros. I am crazy about cinnamon sugar, and I believe I am not the only one!


The recipe also calls for yogurt and apple sauce, which is a bonus if these muffins are served for kids, bring on the fruit and dairy intake, in any form. As Couscous was introduced to (and loves!) homemade yogurt and homemade applesauce since 6 months old, I have been generously making them on weekly basis. More often than not, my bakes tend to incorporate the yogurt as I think they do enhance the softness of cakes and muffins.


If you are in the mad morning rush, fret not, these muffins are ready in less than half an hour, and creates such a lovely start to the morning. So put your pinny on and let's start baking!

Apple Cinnamon muffins

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 large eggs
170g plain yogurt
1 large red Gala apple-diced
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup raisins

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C and prepare the applesauce. In a small dutch oven, cook the apple with 1 tsp sugar, cinnamon stick and 3 tbsp water. Cook on medium heat until apple pieces are soft and almost mushy. Discard the cinnamon stick, pulse the apple pieces until they become pureed. Keep aside.
2. Cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, yogurt, applesauce and vanilla and continue whisking for few more minutes.
3. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Sift the mixture into the batter, combine all the ingredients.
4. In a separate bowl, combine the cinnamon, raisins and brown sugar. Mix half of the portion into the batter.
5. Spoon the batter into muffin cases until up to 3/4 full. Sprinkle the raisin-cinnamon sugar on top of the muffins.
6. Bake the muffins for around 18 minutes until skewer comes out clean.
7. Cool slightly on wire rack and serve whilst still warm. Enjoy your breakfast!

A Road Trip back home and Malaysian style Cardamom Waffles

A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams

Last week we took a relaxing drive back to my ancestral home to celebrate Mom's birthday as well as a mini break for me with the family. After years of celebrating her birthdays with a quick international phone call or many belated birthday gifts, it was good to know that all it took to go home is just a mere 2 hours drive from where we live. I needed to breathe in the fresh air from my backyard, and reminisce my childhood, stress-free and carefree, with a good book on a swing. Or just let Couscous roam about in spacious rooms and lounges as the space knows no end. So that's what we did. With a good, old fashioned cheesecake and a little jewellery box, we surprised Mom at midnight and promised her some good food would come later, for nearly a week with me being the sous chef!

Just like Couscous discovered the territories of the cats, fish and the various flowers and orchids in our garden, my husband discovered a thing or two about my mother. Some baking pans stacked away in the loft, and treasures of the past that made him finally realised where my baking gene came from! My mom used to bake a lot. She even did professional baking demonstration etc, and if you prod more, her face would brighten up and let you see the other side of her; the baker who patiently ladled another batter into the layered cake in the middle of her sleepless night, just for the neighbour's request. I remembered those childhood days where a throng of her friends would come over for some free cooking lessons, and I learned from early on the basic of baking and cooking just by observing her in action. Alas, those days were gone and nowadays unless if I am at home, there will not be much of baking going on. All the fancy pans were kept into her little secret hiding place, until we came along and decided to take charge!

If there is one thing my mother never made, it would be waffles. Despite owning the waffle griddle, she confessed that it was never used, not a single time, all these years of possession. She happily gave it to me, and I happily mixed a batter one fine afternoon. Excited like a child once again, as growing up my mother never let me come near her baking stuff.

I wanted some Malaysian flavours. After years of having proper continental shop-bought waffles, hand on heart, I prefer the old, rustic Malaysian apam balik, hot griddled fat pancakes laced with creamy sweetcorn, a generous sprinkle of sugar and crushed peanuts. Yum! The waffles were totally addictive and with such wholesome flavours. I was glad that the waffles turned out almost like apam balik, if not better.

How do you make your waffles?

Malaysian style Cardamom Waffles

2 1/2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 eggs-separated
1/4 cup sugar
2/3 cup oil or melted butter
2 cups milk
a pinch of salt

Filling
1 cup cream of sweetcorn (from a can)
1/2 cup toasted, crushed peanuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar


Method
1. Separate the eggs. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks are formed, and set aside.
2. Combine all the dry ingredients and make a well in the centre.
3. Add the egg yolks, milk and oil, combine until all the ingredients are well mixed.
4. Fold in the egg whites and the batter is now ready for the griddle.
5. Brush the non-stick waffle pan or waffle griddle with some melted butter or oil. Alternatively non stick spray can also be used.
6. Ladle or using a cup, pour the batter over the griddle and cover with the lid for few minutes or until the switch is automatically off.
7. Layer the filling between the waffles by spreading the corn followed by sprinkles of sugar and peanuts. Enjoy warm!

Note: Use the manual if you have specific waffle pan but generally 5 minutes is all it takes for waffle to be cooked until golden brown.

White Flour Poori

I am initially hesitant to put up this recipe on the blog, as I would not claim this to be a 'healthy' recipe, and we really do try to steer clear from the deep fried goodies. But you know what, those pooris happened to be one of my childhood favourites,so when my aunt made them recently and they puffed up so nicely, I just had to do them myself and share them with all of you!

Our household usually prefers the plain flour poori, instead of the healthy wholemeal version, and believe it or not, I have never made the wholemeal pooris at all, and have always stuck by this awesome recipe, so I couldn't compare which would taste better. I know that most Indian households prefer poori with channa curry, but in our carnivorous family, every time when there is some leftover beef or lamb curry from the night before, pooris always fare well on our breakfast menu.

I have an eternal love for all things bread, healthy or not, they feature much better than rice on my day-to-day menu. From unleavened Indian breads, to buns and seeded loaves, they remain here to stay, Noawadays I could count the days of deep frying pooris, thanks to the vigourous use of bread maker that produces beautiful homemade brioche and loaves, and also my personal desire to stay trim, but then those puffed up heavenly would make me succumb, and down I fall from my so-called healthy bandwagon. But one thing for sure, there is no regret, as they do taste divine. The taste and oh so smooth flaky pieces surely do make up for the whopping calories, in my book at least!

My generous aunt has graciously shared her recipe here, so here goes, white flour poori that will never fail you, and will always be the crowning jewel on your breakfast table.

White Flour Poori

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbsp milk powder
salted lukewarm water as required
Oil for deep frying

Method

1. In a bowl, place the flour, milk powder, baking powder and ghee. Add the salted water gradually and knead until dough is formed. Rest the dough for 10 minutes.

2. Form small balls, the size of pingpong balls. Using a rolling pin, roll each ball into a disc of about 1 cm thickness.

3. Ensure that oil is very hot ( but not smokey) before frying each disc of poori. Fry until both sides turned golden brown. If the oil is at right temperature, the pooris should puffed up during frying.

4. Serve warm with curry of your choice.

Note: Sending this recipe to this month's Kerala Kitchen and Let's Cook: Scrumptious Breakfast, an event hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates.