Carrot Cake Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

I have been MIA for quite some time and I can assure you that my posts will be very sporadic over the next month.  I will try to be in touch as much as possible but there is lots going on over here! While I should be packing and planning for a cross country move to Colorado on July 1st...

Most of my free time over the past month has been spent baking.  I have turned out dozens upon dozens upon dozens of cookies, bars and other treats all to raise money for the American Cancer Society and Hood to Coast Relay.  The support from friends, family and people I've never even met has been truly overwhelming. Thanks to y'all, I've raised $3,000+ and baked 75+ dozen goodies.  Amazing!!!  

I've also been busy planning Molly's bridal shower.  I can't believe the littlest sis is getting MARRIED!!  We'll be having the most perfect little Southern Brunch this Sunday to celebrate the bride-to-be.  I can't WAIT to share the details next week!!  

Oh and about these muffins, since we'll be having a gourmet brunch this weekend, I wanted to be sure you had something to make for yourself TOO!  These muffins are not a new recipe but they've recently made a comeback in our household.  Any excuse to incorporate dessert in breakfast is fine by me... Enjoy!

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

I'm going to go ahead and call today "make-over Monday".  Most of my time spent baking and cooking is in an effort to try and create new recipes.  However, there are days that I just want to make one of my old favorites.  There are also times when I'm making an old recipe and I decide to switch things up, like with these Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins!

My changes were small, switching out the butter for canola oil, increasing the amount of peanut butter and using dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet chocolate, but these little tweaks were just what the muffins needed.  The original post has been updated to reflect my changes.  Enjoy :)

Apple Cinnamon Butterscotch Muffins

Here is a sweet little treat to start your day off right.  Apple muffins studded with butterscotch chips and toasted pecans -- so maybe it is more like dessert.  Regardless, these muffins are great and best served warm, in my opinion.

In case you are not a fan of butterscotch, feel free to eliminate the chips all together or substitute cinnamon chips.

Very Blueberry Muffins

Maggie has posted two versions of blueberry muffins but these muffins I'm sharing with you today are not your standard blueberry muffins.  They are very "blueberry-y" and are made in a way I had never heard of until I discovered this recipe in Cooks Illustrated...and they're so summery and perfect!!

To put it simply, half of the blueberries in this recipe are cooked down to make a "jam" while the other half are left as fresh blueberries.  The fresh blueberries are folded into the batter just like any other recipe would call for, but the "jam" is then swirled into the batter to make them amaaazing!!!

These would make for a festive breakfast to serve to guests this weekend to celebrate the 4th of July.  Enjoy!

Corn-Filled Mini-Muffins

This is the second time I have made these muffins this month; they are that good.  The first time I made them they were gone so fast I never even got a chance to take any pictures!

I find that a lot of corn bread is a little too dry for my liking; not these little muffins.  They are moist with extra flavor from the corn.  They are a fun side dish to serve with just about anything.  And although the recipe calls for frozen corn, using fresh summer corn this time of year would be great!

Morning Glory Muffins

These muffins have just about every great ingredient you can think of for a muffin!  They are the perfect healthy kick-start to your day.  My mom brought these delicious muffins to have for breakfast when she and my aunt came to visit last weekend; they were a hit!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

I hope you don't mind that I'm sharing a pumpkin recipe when Spring is just around the corner (thank goodness!).  I just love pumpkin (year round) -- especially because it is great for making health(ier) baked goods.  These muffins for example.  I do love muffins, scones, pastries, etc. as much as the next person but I also like to have healthy alternatives.  These are my other favorite -- Pumpkin Banana Muffins.  So in case you have a can of pumpkin hiding away in the back of your cupboard, now you know what to do with it.

Cheers to the last day of February!

Note:  Canned pumpkin is still sold in grocery stores.  I saw a huge display just yesterday in my grocery store.

Oatmeal Muffins

 These muffins are perfect for breakfast.  They are full of oatmeal and there is a perfect hint of cinnamon.  Serve them warm with a little honey and I promise you will love your breakfast!

One Year Ago: Oat Snack Mix

Pumpkin and Cream Cheese Muffins with Pecan Streusel

Hopefully you aren't sick of pumpkin yet because this might be the best recipe thus far!!  If there is one thing that makes it on your brunch menu this holiday season, it should be these muffins.  I never even got the chance to try one but I brought them to work and everyone raved... and they were gone in less than two hours.  

I decided to make mini muffins.  I ended up with 24 mini muffins PLUS 6 normal size muffins.  Depending on how many people you need to serve, this is a good option. 

Healthy Pumpkin Banana Muffins

These muffins turned out great.  I was hesitant -- banana and pumpkin?  After making these muffins, I am a fan.

To be honest, I made them because I had a bunch of ripe bananas and a half can of pumpkin leftover from Pumpkin Blondies I made over the weekend.  I wanted to make something healthy for breakfast that I could grab as I run out the door in the morning.

Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting

I  never tried Mascarpone cheese until this recipe.  I'm glad I made these because I now know what I've been missing!  Mascarpone cheese is amazing!!!!  These are super easy to make and would impress just about anyone.  The recipe says to top the muffins with toasted walnuts, which I think would really add to the presentation, but I was in a big hurry to get these finished and didn't have time.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

These muffins taste just like cinnamon rolls.  I think cinnamon rolls in muffin form are a great idea!  They are portable, you can store them easily, and they are the perfect size.  Usually if you make cinnamon rolls in a pan, if there are any leftovers (and that's a big if), you debate whether or not to leave them in the pan or take them out and keep them on another plate, it just makes for a lot of clean up.  These muffins are great though because you just pop them right out of the muffin tins and you're good to go!  I suggest serving these warm, they are softer that way and melt in your mouth.  Yumm.

Blueberry Muffins: Two Ways

**Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I bought enough blueberries at the farmer's market to make two different blueberry muffin recipes -- Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins and Blueberry Streusel Muffins.  I preferred the Streusel recipe, which is actually the healthier of the two.

**Old-Fashioned Blueberry Muffins

Banana Crunch Muffins

These are not your typical banana muffins.  They have tons of flavor and lots of ingredients!  They are perfect for breakfast on-the-go and super easy to make.  Make a batch and freeze some of them; let them thaw overnight and they will be perfect in the morning!  You may also like Maggie's Banana Crumb Muffins.

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Picture updated June 2012

These muffins incorporate three of my favorite foods:  bananas, chocolate, and peanut butter.  You may notice a theme here, we love the chocolate peanut butter combo.  I have actually made two other chocolate peanut butter recipes in the past week that I will be posting here shortly.

Banana Crumb Muffins

My co-workers get to try a LOT of my treats.  Well, I received a special request at work for "banana nut" muffins.  I remembered seeing this recipe on Annie's Eats last year and thought they would be perfect with the addition of walnuts.  I can't believe I waited a year to make these.  They were delicious and only took about 10 minutes to throw together.  These might be my new favorite banana recipe... oh wait, the banana chocolate walnut cake I made last month was pretty amazing!

Cinnamon Raisin Pull-Apart Muffins

YUUMMM!  These are a must-try.  I recommend serving them warm; fresh out of the oven is best but if that is not a possibility the microwave will work just fine.  The directions say to use a stand mixer attachment for kneading the dough, however, if you don't have this attachment, or don't have a stand mixer at all (like me...I know this is hard to believe that a girl who has a baking blog doesn't have a stand mixer, but graduation is right around the corner mom!), you can knead the dough the old-fashioned way, by hand, and it turns out perfectly.  I personally think that the extra little bit of TLC made these taste extra great!