Sugar Muffins

“Is it sugar muffin season?”
says everybody who has every had them.
“Yes,” says Jill. “It’s always sugar muffin season.”

inspiration
Jill from What We Can Leave Out

dry ingredients
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

wet ingredients
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
2/3 cup melted butter

topping ingredients
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup cinnamon sugar mix

directions
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Create a well in the dry mix.

Mix wet ingredients together in measuring cup. Pour into well in dry mix. Gently fold/stir together.

Lightly grease muffin cups or line with paper bake cups. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake at 350° oven for 20-25 minutes until golden.

While baking, melt 1/2 cup butter and place in bowl. Place 1/2 cup cinnamon/sugar in a bowl.

When muffins are golden, immediately dip tops of muffins in melted butter, then roll tops in cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.

Makes 24 muffins.

our comments
No holiday is complete–from Thanksgiving to Woodruffest–without Jill’s famous sugar muffins.

Molasses Cookies

Oops!
None left to photograph…

Doris: What are all those moles tunneling through my yard looking for?
Us: Hum. Not sure.
Doris: Mole asses!

our inspiration
Margaret from Church. I’ve loved these kind of cookies for years but never found a good recipe; when Margaret brought them to a church function and I tasted their perfection…I got the recipe!
Tim says they are complex!

ingredients
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp salt
¾ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar, plus extra for rolling
1 egg
¼ cup molasses

directions
Combine first six ingredients in a medium bowl.

Cream butter and sugar with mixer.
Add egg and molasses.
Add dry mixture.

Chill in refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°
Roll 1 tbsp portions into balls and roll in extra granulated sugar.
Place on cookie sheet.
Press with fork in cross pattern.
Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.

Hotty Toddy Cookies

“Gosh Almighty!”

(It’s an SEC/Mississippi Thing.)

inspiration
http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/mexican-hot-chocolate-shortbread

our comments
Our dearest friend Jill sent this recipe a few days before the Alabama/Ole Miss Game 2014. I thought they’d be perfect for that fall football evening. LIttle did I realize that the Mighty Alabama would fall that night, but Gosh Almighty, these cookies are good! Hence I’ve changed the name from Mexican Hot Chocolate Shortbread to the more appropriate Hotty Toddy. Bill said he didn’t really like these cookies, but I think that was the football talking. The heat is perfect. (But don’t go over ½ tsp…that is too much.)

After reading the Splendid Table site comments, I bought almond flour at Earth Fair where I could portion out what I needed; I didn’t bother checking for ‘doneness,’ I just went with the time and enjoyed the melty middles. My photo didn’t turn out as pretty as the picture on Splendid Table…and the cookies didn’t stick around long enough for another photo shoot!

Makes about 24 cookies.

ingredients
1 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup almond flour
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp almond extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp espresso powder
½ tsp salt
¼ to ½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
~ ¼ cup granulated sugar for dusting

directions
Line two cookie sheets with parchment.

Whisk flours together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, espresso, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Using a stand mixer, cream butter, vanilla, and almond extract for 1 to 2 minutes until pale and smooth. Turn speed to low and add brown sugar mixture, mixing for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth. Add flour mixture in thirds until just combined. Add chocolate chips, mixing until just combined.

Use a wooden spoon to make sure all dough is all mixed with no hidden butter or flour left out.

Take 1 rounded tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball. (Do not work too much as you don’t want to heat them.) Roll balls in bowl of granulated sugar to dust. Place on prepared cookie sheets; gently flatten with hand, spoon, juice jar, or cookie stamp, leaving room between cookies for spreading.

Refrigerate unbaked cookies for 1 to 5 hours. (Or place in freezer for 20 minutes.)

Position rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 F.

Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, for 8 to 10 minutes, turning pan halfway through for even doneness. (Check for firm edges; but they will set up more as they cool.) Cool cookies on wire racks. Store in airtight container for up to 3 days…if you can!

Granita

Strawberry/Blueberry/Cantaloupe Granita

“It’s fresssssh.”

(Giada)

inspiration
Giada

ingredients
Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
(if making a smaller granita, therefore needing less syrup, use a 1:1 ratio of water to sugar)

Fruit*
½ cups fresh mint  leaves, packed, divided
1 large cantaloupe melon, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch chunks (about 4 cups)
1 tablespoons fresh lime juice
lime zest
(small) amount of clear adult beverage (optional)
*or use any combination of strawberries, blueberries, and/or whateverberries that mush up and freeze well. (see our comments)

directions
Simple Syrup
Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat over medium. (You can add some mint leaves to this as well.) Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. (If adding mint, strain before using.)

Fruit
In a blender or with an immersion blender, puree fruit, lime juice, and lime zest until desired consistency. Slowly add the cooled syrup, until the right sweetness is achieved. Stir in chopped mint leaves and clear adult beverage if using. Pour mixture into a 9x13x2″ glass baking dish (use a dish to fit the amount of fruit so that granita is about 1″ to 1 ½” deep) and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours or overnight. Throughout the freezing, use a fork to scrape and stir the granita to prevent it from freezing too solidly. Serve chopped.

our comments
This is a summer staple for us! It is an excellent Brain Freeze!
Simple Syrup truly is simple. (You can store the extra in the refrigerator for a few days.) We have made this with a variety of fruits…but the irony is Giada calling this “Fresssssh,” as our best advice is to use fruit that is ripe. My Caymanian grandmother always said, “You eat fruit when it is fit. When it is ripe, it is too fit.” I love to do this recipe with cantaloupe that has gone too mushy but still has good flavor; the cantaloupe then has a creaminess about it that is divine. Strawberries that have gone too far also work well for this. And blueberries, ahhhh, so good. Of course, you can use fit fruit, too!

What ripe fruit do you have?

Tosca Cake: an Almond Cake for Midsummer’s Eve

“What about our vacation?”

(Overheard at Mesa Verde National Park Campground…at the comfort station pay phone. Ask us about this one.)

our inspiration
NPR’s Tosca Cake

ingredients
for the cake layer
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
8 Tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup milk
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar

for the tosca topping
4 Tbsp butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup whipping cream*
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1 cup sliced almonds
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan. Then line the bottom of the pan with parchment and butter  it.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In another container, mix together the butter, vanilla, and milk. (Butter should be liquid but cool.)

With an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar on a high speed until pale and thick. Add the dry mixture and the wet mixture in turns–mixing after each addition until just barely combined–ending with the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the top is just barely set at the edges and wiggly over most and only slightly golden.

While the cake is baking, prepare the topping. Combine the butter, sugar, cream, flour, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Place over a medium-high heat and stir to melt butter. When the mixture has combined, add the almonds, and allow the mixture to come to a simmer. Let simmer 1 minute, turn off the heat, and stir in the extracts. The topping should be thick but fairly loose.

When the cake is just barely set, remove it from the oven. Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Spoon the topping on the cake covering to the edge. Depending on the cake and the topping, the topping may sink. (This is okay and makes for a yummy inside surprise.) Place the cake back in the oven and bake an additional 15 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Allow to cool, watching the tightness on the springform. (The topping can be a bear to scrub off the pan.)

Serve as is, or drizzled with melted chocolate, or a side of vanilla ice cream…or both.

our comments
Big happy sigh.

*If you are out of whipping cream, send someone to the store. There is no substitute. Especially Greek yogurt…trust us; it didn’t work.