Give me liberty or a bran muffin!

 Cinnamon Apple Mini Muffins 

Muffins:

3 Cups flour

1 Cup sugar

3 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. grated orange peel (fresh is best for this recipe)

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

3/4 Cup cold butter or margarine

1-1 1/2 Cups grated apple (about 4 apples)

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

2 6-oz. containers plain yogurt

Topping:

1/2 Cup butter or margarine, melted (1 stick)

1/3 Cup cinnamon sugar  (1⁄3 Cup sugar plus 1-2 tsp. cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, orange peel and nutmeg. 

Cut in the butter using 2 forks or your fingers. 

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, vanilla and yogurt. 

Stir into the flour mixture. 

Add the apples and stir well. The batter will be very thick. 

Spray mini muffin pans well with non-stick cooking spray. 

Drop about 1 TB. of batter into each muffin cup. 

Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes. 

While the muffins bake, melt the butter for the topping in a bowl and set aside. 

Place the cinnamon sugar in a second bowl. 

Remove the muffins from the pan and while still hot, roll in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar. 


Be careful to make it just a quick dip in the butter, the muffins will soak up a lot if given a chance and then you will end up melting more butter at then end! Place on a cooling rack.

Prep. time: 15 minutes plus 10 minutes post-cooking rolling

Baking time: 20-25 minutes

Yield: 60

You can never have enough garlic. With enough garlic, you can eat The New York Times

Garlic Parmesan Crostini

Ingredients

1 cup Unsalted Butter room temperature, 2 sticks

1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese freshly grated (or Asiago)

1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt

1 1/4 teaspoons Granulated Garlic

2 Tablespoons Fresh Flat Leaf Parsley finely chopped

1 Baguette cut on a sharp diagonal

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place oven rack on the second spot from the top of the oven.

Mash together room temperature butter, granulated garlic, and salt.

Stir in the parsley and grated cheese.

Generously coat the top side of all slices of bread.

Place Crostini on a baking sheet.

Bake, uncovered for about 12 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve warm with soup.

The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.

 

Vanilla Sugar Sprinkle Cookies

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour sifted or aerated

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine together flour and salt and mix.

In a separate bowl, using electric mixer, beat softened butter and granulated sugar until light in color and fluffy. Add an egg and vanilla – continue beating for a couple minutes. Turn off the electric mixer, add flour-salt mixture and then continue beating on low speed until well-combined but without over mixing.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Roll these cookie balls in sprinkles. Arrange on parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing 2 inches apart. Freeze until firm, for about 30 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 14 minutes. Do not over-bake. Remove from the oven, and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.