Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins-2

Hi The Way to His Heart fans!  My name is Alida, and I blog over at Alida’s Kitchen.  Maeghan and I met on an online cooking board, and I am of course a huge fan of her blog.  We not only share a love for family-friendly cooking and baking, but we also have kids roughly the same ages.  Actually my little girl is now almost 1 year old – yikes!   How did that happen so fast!

When Maeghan asked me to guest post for her, I was excited to share a recipe that combines two of the best flavors of the holiday season into a delicious breakfast treat ~ Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins.  Truth be told, my family devoured them so quickly, I had to make this recipe four times in order to get a chance to snap pictures!

Fortunately, making these muffins so many times allowed me the opportunity to test and tweak the recipe to get it just right.  I tested the recipe using fresh ginger and ground ginger.  Either one works fine, but the fresh ginger definitely has a brighter, more pronounced ginger flavor.  The fresh cranberries add a nice tartness that complements the sweet and spicy gingerbread.   Buttermilk always gives such a moist, tender crumb to muffins.  But if you don’t have any buttermilk, you can easily make a substitute.  Simply add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a liquid measuring cup and then add regular milk up to the 1 1/4 cup line.  Let it sit for 5 minutes and you should be good to go!

Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins are perfect for Christmas morning, a quick snack for when the baby naps, or in the case of my preschooler, they are ideal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  If you’re looking for something to add to your holiday menu, these Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins are a festive, easy treat that will disappear quickly!

Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins

Cranberry Gingerbread Muffins
Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or all-purpose flour)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
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1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 1/4 tablespoons grated fresh ginger (or 2 teaspoons ground ginger – see note)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh (or frozen) cranberries, coarsely chopped
Baking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.  Spray a 12-cup standard muffin tin with baking spray (or line with paper liners) and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, molasses, oil, egg, fresh ginger, and vanilla.
Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, gently stirring until just moistened.  Fold in cranberries.
Fill prepared muffin cups with batter (approximately 3/4 full).
Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note:  If using ground ginger, add it with the dry ingredients.  If using fresh ginger, add it with the wet ingredients, as noted in the recipe.

Adapted from Taste of Home

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When it comes to the holidays there are always a few family recipes that everyone looks forward to. Recipes that single a big meal with the family and often it is just as much the preparation as it is the consumption that everyone looks forward to! For my husband, these clover rolls are a must have. They are served at all of the key holiday dinners. Last year, when my daughter was sick and we missed the big Thanksgiving gathering, we still whipped up a batch of these rolls for ourselves in our “Operation make Thanksgiving dinner happen” because without the rolls it wouldn’t be Thanksgiving!

When Smart Balance asked me to create a recipe for the holidays I decided to revamp these clover rolls. Why not make over a family recipe by ditching the shortening and butter? When it comes to those big holiday dinners, everyone could use some help with keeping things a little healthier. I promise these are just as good without the tried and true fat laden ingredients. My husband loved them and no one can tell the difference!

Clover Rolls

Ingredients

  • 3 cups 1 1/2% milk
  • 1 cup Smart Balance Better Butter Sticks, divided
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 pkgs active dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour
  • Smart Balance Original Cooking Spray
  • 5/8 cup light brown sugar

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Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease a large bowl and 2 12-cup muffins tins.

In a large saucepan, combine milk, 1/3 cup butter, sugar, salt and bring almost to a boil. Cool mixture to room temperature.

Dissolve yeast in warm water and add to milk mixture.

Add flour and knead for 10 to 12 minutes. Place in prepared greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled, about 1 to 2 hours.

Place 1 tsp of butter and 1 tsp of brown sugar in each cup of the prepared muffin tins. Make 3 small balls with the flour and place into each cup. Bake for 20 minutes or until they sound hollow when the tops are tapped.

Brush with remaining butter to soften top.

Serve warm.

Yields approximately 2 1/2 dozen rolls
Serving size 1 roll

Source: The Way to His Heart

 

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Francois Payard “MakeCaron” Giveaway!

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I am so excited to bring this giveaway to the blog! When I was first contacted by someone from Chef Francois Payard I did a little jump for joy. He is an amazing French pastry chef that is world renowned. Who wouldn’t want to go to one of his bakeries and sample some of his delicate creations? Better yet, have them delivered right to your door? I have never had something so delicious. The shell was so pillowy and soft, yet had the most delicate crunch. They are absolutely divine! It was a little bit of heaven delivered to my doorstep!

Have you ever tried to make macarons yourself? They can be temperamental in the home kitchen and the results aren’t always what you are aiming for. They may be tasty, but you don’t typically end up with that perfect macaron shell that Chef Francois Payard creates. Enter Chef Payard’s “MakeCarons.”  You’ll receive his perfect macaron shells right at your doorstep and then you have the power to create whatever flavor you’d like by making your own ganache. The shells are shipped with a recipe book for some classic ganache recipes, but the sky is the limit to what you want to create on your own! They’ve even created a spot on their website where they want to hear what you’ve created with the “MakeCaron” shells here.

Since we’ve come upon the holidays I knew I wanted to make my ganache filling in the spirit of Christmas. My favorite flavor is peppermint and I thought these would make wonderful little gifts. The “MakeCaron” box also come with a gift label so you can carefully share these wonderful treats with someone else. I made a peppermint ganache and then rolled the finished macaron lightly in candy cane dust. Not only did they taste out of this world, but they looked festive! I also made the classic chocolate ganache which was the perfect accompaniment to any of the shell flavors.

So, how can you get your hands on some of Chef Payard’s macarons? Enter using the Rafflesopter and you can win 3 boxes of “MakeCarons,” vanilla, chocolate, and raspberry flavor shells. You can enter here with 6 changes to win on the first day and one additional chance each day if you are on Twitter. Once the winner is announced your MakeCaron’s will be shipped overnight. You’ll want to try these alone first, that way if you accidentally eat most of the box no one can be upset with you. I’m speaking from experience here 😉 If you don’t win the giveaway, I urge you to take a look at their site here and purchase some as a gift or for yourself. The thoughtful folks at Chef Payard’s bakery sent me the most wonderful gift when they heard I gave birth to George and I had the opportunity to sample some of their delicious chocolates as well. I’m speechless when it comes to describing them.

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Chef Francois Payard bakery provided me with a box of “MakeCaron’s” to sample and are sponsoring this giveaway, but as always the opinions expressed here are soley my own. This giveaway is for residents of the contingent United States and will end on December 20th, 12:00 am EST.

 

And George Makes Four…

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As most of you know by now we welcomed my son, George, into the world on November 19th. It’s been a busy almost three weeks and they have flown by. I’m doing my best to enjoy every snuggle and embrace all of the love, fun, and craziness that a newborn brings into the house. This is why the blog has been a little different around here the past few weeks and will remain that way until the new year. There will mostly be guest posts for recipes and giveaways. While I know that you are all looking for recipes for the holidays, the blog already has some great ones. Since it is the holidays, I will also say, don’t stress to much about the perfect meal or treat, enjoy your loved ones and everything else will fall into place. Have fun in the kitchen and make sure it is filled with laughter. In the meantime, I’ll be here snuggling my new little guy and enjoying my family of four.

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