Peach Cobbler Muffins

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my love for summer fruit in my Cherry Garcia muffin blog post. Ever since then I've been thinking of ways to incorporate the beautiful summer fruit we have in abundance at the moment into my muffin recipes. A super traditional summer dessert is a peach cobbler, a soft and juicy baked fruit dish topped with flaky biscuits. That was the inspiration behind these muffins. Ripe peaches or nectarines cut into chunks and folded into a cinnamon-scented batter and topped with a cinnamon streusel.

Cinnamon Streusel
3 Tbs sugar
1/4 cup flour 
1/4 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
2 Tbs oil

Batter
2-3 peaches or nectarines
2 cups flour (all-purpose, whole wheat, spelt)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup milk (any type)
1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar

In a small bowl mix together the streusel until it resembles wet sand and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C

Line a standard-size muffin pan with paper liners

Dice the peaches or nectarines into small cubes and set aside.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until combined. 
In a liquid measuring cup mix together the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and add the 1/2 cup sugar.
Fold the diced fruit into the batter.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and sprinkle each muffin with some cinnamon streusel slightly pressing the streusel into the batter. 
Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

We all know that old saying: when life gives you lemons make lemonade. How about using that fresh lemon juice and make some lemon poppyseed muffins instead. They're bright and citrusy and with those little bits of crunchy poppy seeds, they make for a delicious summer snack! Most recipes for this classic muffin recipe use dairy products, but this recipe is dairy-free just use any non-dairy milk!

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins 

2 1/2 cups flour 

2 tsp baking powder 

1/4 tsp baking soda 

1/2 tsp salt 

3 Tbs poppy seeds 

1 Tbs lemon zest (one lemon)

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 1 1/12 lemons) 

1/3 cup milk of your choice 

2/3 cup vegetable or canola oil 

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar 

Lemon Glaze 

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar 

2 Tbs lemon juice (1/2 lemon) 

Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C

Line a standard-size muffin pan with paper liners or spray with oil. 

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, poppy seeds, and lemon zest. 

To get the most juice out of the lemons roll them on the counter using a little bit of pressure. Cut the lemon in half width-wise and squeeze over your hand to catch any seeds. 

In a liquid measuring cup mix together the lemon juice and milk. Add the oil to the lemon milk mixture and mix in the eggs as well. 

Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients along with the sugar. Stir together until just combined. Scoop into the prepared muffin tin and bake for 15-18 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for  5 minutes in the pan and then remove them from the pan and place on a cooling rack. 

While the muffins cool, make the glaze. In a bowl mix together the sugar and lemon juice if the glaze is too loose add a bit more sugar if it's too thick add a little splash of water. 

Once the muffins are cool drizzle the glaze over the top. To prevent making a mess on your counter place the cooling rack on a piece of parchment so the excess glaze drips on to the paper and not your counter. 

Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days (you'll eat them all before then) they also freeze beautifully. 

Yield: 12 muffins 

Cherry Garcia Muffins

Last week when I was in the shuk, the large beautiful market place in the heart of Jerusalem that is bursting with amazing fresh produce and spices, I bought more cherries than any one person can eat. The produce in Israel is seasonal and local which means we only have certain produce certain times of the year. We might not be able to get some fruits throughout the year, but that's ok because the few weeks that they are available they are so incredibly delicious that you're ok with the fact that you can't have a peach in December.

Late spring is when the market starts filling with the fruits of summer; peaches, nectarines, apricots, cherries, plums, watermelon, to name a few. When these fruits are available you buy them in abundance like I did with the cherries last week.

The other day I was munching on some of these cherries and I got to thinking how I can add them to a muffin. I'm always trying to come up with new muffin recipes and now that it's summer I was thinking of ice cream flavors that can be turned into a muffin. My favorite ice cream flavor is cookie dough, but I didn't think that would translate well into muffin form and I would much rather just eat raw cookie dough. I'm sure many of you are familiar with the Ben&Jerry's ice cream flavor that is packed with chunks of chocolate and cherries, Cherry Garcia, and I thought that would really work as a muffin. The sweet-tart cherries with the creamy rich dark chocolate are an amazing combination. Pack those delicious flavors into a light and tender muffin and you've got yourself a great summer treat.

Cherry Garcia Muffins
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup milk of your choice
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar + 1 Tbs sugar
2 cups of cherries about 30-35
100 grams/3.5 oz dark chocolate bar cut into chunks or 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C
Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with oil.

In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon until just combined. In a liquid measuring cup mix together the oil, milk, egg, and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and add 1/2 cup sugar.
Using a cherry pitter or a straw push the pits out of the cherries and cut in half. Or you can use your fingers to pull the cherries apart and remove the pit.
Fold the pitted and halved cherries and the chocolate chunks into the batter.
Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin and sprinkle each muffin with the remaining one tablespoon of sugar.
Bake for 15-18 minutes.

Sesame Carrots

If you've been following my Instagram page you know how much I love techina. The funny thing is I didn't eat techina until I moved to Israel. When I lived in America my only knowledge of techina is the watery stuff in a squeeze bottle at the falafel and pizza place. Then I moved to Israel and I was a madricha at a seminary in Jerusalem. My co-madricha who would soon become one of my closest friends, would put techina on everything and I thought it was so weird because techina goes on falafel and that's it. She convinced me to give it a try and my life was changed for the better.
Fun fact - the summer after we were madrichot we were counselors on a summer program together and the two of us along with the other two female counselors loved techina so much that we were actually known as the techinis.
I learned from her how to properly make techina (you can too check out this blog post).
I now drizzle techina on pretty much everything.

The other day I was thinking techina is just ground sesame seeds and sesame is a big flavor in some Asian cuisines so why not give techina a try in an Asian inspired dish.

Sesame Carrots

1/4 cup techina paste
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 - 1 tsp sriracha
1 Tbs silan
1 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp orange zest
1 inch of ginger
1 clove garlic
1 green onion
6-8 medium carrots
1 Tbs sesame seeds - for garnish

Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper

In a large bowl mix together the techina, soy sauce, sesame oil, sriracha, silan, and vinegar. With a microplane, grate in the orange zest, ginger, and garlic. Cut the white and light green part off of the green onion (set the dark green part aside for later), finely chop, and add to the techina mixture. Peel the carrots and cut them into sticks by cutting them in half horizontally then vertically then each of those pieces into three or four sticks. Place the carrots in the techina mixture and toss until everything is well coated. Spread out in an even layer on the prepared cookie sheet and roast for 20-25 minutes.

In the meantime toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly golden - watch them closely they burn easily. Slice the reserved dark green part of the green onion on a bias.
Arrange the carrots on a platter and top with the toasted sesame seeds and green onions.

This dish can be served warm, cold, or at room temperature.

Blueberry Oat Crumb Muffins

These muffins are one my favorite. A sweet cinnamon-scented batter packed with bursts of tart blueberries, what's not to love?!

Batter 
1/3 cup vegetable oil 

1 egg 

1/2 cup milk of your choice 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp lemon zest (optional, but highly recommended)

1 1/2 cups flour 

1/2 tsp salt  

2 tsp baking powder 

1 tsp cinnamon 

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries tossed with 1 Tbs flour. If using frozen do not thaw them. 
If you have another type of berry on hand use them in place or in addition to the blueberries. 

Topping 

1/2 cup oats - preferably quick-cooking, but old-fashioned works too 

1/2 cup flour 

1/4 cup brown or white sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp salt 

1/4 cup room temperature butter or 3 Tbs vegetable oil 

Glaze 

1 cup confectioners' sugar 

2 tsp lemon juice 
1/2 tsp lemon zest (optional)

1 tsp milk of your choice 

Preheat oven to 400º F/200°C 

Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a liquid measuring cup or medium-size bowl, whisk together the oil, egg, milk, sugar, lemon zest (if using), and vanilla - set aside. 

In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon until well combined.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredient mixture. Mix together until just combined, being sure not to overmix as this will result in a dense muffin.

In a small bowl toss the blueberries with 1 Tbs of flour. This will help them not sink to the bottom of the muffins during baking. 

Gently fold the flour-coated blueberries into the batter. 

In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients for the topping. Add the butter and mix with your fingers until you have large crumbs. If you are using oil, don't add it all at once, slowly pour it in and mix the dry ingredients with it, pinching the mixture together until you have a crumbly texture. 

Scoop the muffin batter into prepared tins and generously pack the crumb topping on top. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

To make the glaze, mix together ingredients adding milk until you have a drizzle consistency. 

Allow the muffins to cool before drizzling them with the glaze. 

Brownies

I hope that you make these brownies and feel just as happy when they come out of the oven! 

2 dark chocolate bars - 200 grams total

1/2 cup oil

2 cup sugar 

4 eggs 

1 tsp vanilla extract  

2/3 cups flour/GF flour/potato starch/almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup cocoa powder 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional) 

Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C 

Spray a 9x13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. 

To melt the chocolate bars: 

Microwave: In a microwave-safe bowl, break the chocolate bars into pieces. Microwave for 30-second intervals, stirring until all the chocolate is melted and smooth. 

Stove Top: fill a pot with about 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. In a glass or metal mixing bowl that is slightly larger than the pot add the chocolate bar pieces. Place the bowl on top of the pot making sure that the bottom of the bowl is not touching the simmering water. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth and remove from the stove.

To the melted chocolate add the oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla stir until well combined. 

Sift in whichever flour product you are using, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt. Mix until well combined and there are no lumps. If you are using nuts add them in and reserve a few to sprinkle over the top. 

Pour the brownie batter into the prepared baking pan. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and your kitchen starts to smell heavenly. 

Rainbow Quinoa

1 cup quinoa - rinsed*

1 3/4 cups water 

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil 

1 carrot, small dice

1 yellow pepper, small dice

1 red pepper, small dice 

1 small red onion, small dice - soak in water for 10 minutes to mellow the sharp flavor 

Handful of fresh parsley, about 3 Tbsp minced

Fresh dill, about 1 Tbsp minced

2 Tbsp olive oil 

Juice of 1/2 lemon about 2 Tbsp 

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper 

1/2 tsp cumin 

Place the rinsed quinoa, water, salt, and olive oil into a medium pot. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat, cover the pot and let the quinoa cook for 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the quinoa sit in the covered pot for 5. Transfer to a bowl and let the quinoa cool. 

Once the quinoa is cool add the remaining ingredients. Give it a stir, check for seasoning, and enjoy! This lasts all week in the fridge if you don’t finish it all in one sitting. 

Feel free to add in diced cucumber as well - when I make a big batch to have on hand all week I don’t add the cucumber because it doesn’t stay fresh and crisp in the salad all week. 

To add more protein to this salad feel free to add 1 cup of canned chickpeas. 

The salad is delicious as is or topped with plenty of techina and crumbled feta. 

If you're not a quinoa fan this recipe also works great with bulgur - just cook according to package directions and follow the rest of the steps. 

Yield: 6-8 portions