Category: Breakfast

In September of 2020, we took a pandemic-style trip to Door County – stayed in an AirBnb with a private entrance & no shared spaces, ate all our meals carryout, did nothing indoors – and we never had cherry pancakes for breakfast while we were there. So the first Sunday we were back, we had cherry pancakes at home. Which left me with about a cup of thawed-out pie cherries, and these muffins are the result. Not a replacement for my Better-Than-Stella’s-Cherry-Muffins, simply an alternative.

Makes about 13 muffins

2 1/2 cups unbleached flour (feel free to sub in other types, gluten free, etc.)
1/2 cup grated almond paste
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sour cream
5 tablespoons coconut oil (again, feel free to sub in other types, melted butter, vegetable oil, etc.)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup King Arthur cherry jammy bits, or dried cherries
1 scant cup tart cherries, thawed and well-drained if frozen, well-drained if jarred

sliced almonds and granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Heat the oven to 375°, and line the wells of a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners, or grease them. You may need a custard cup or other container to make muffin #13,

Place the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the grated almond paste, and toss, and then add the baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar, and toss again. Make a well in the center, and add the eggs, milk, sour cream, and extracts. Mix, but only until all the dry ingredients are moistened – the batter will still be quite lumpy – then fold in the bits or dried cherries, and tart cherries.

Portion the batter into the pan(s) – a muffin scoop is helpful here – and sprinkle the almonds and sugar on top. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until raised and firm.

orginally posted October 2020

Obviously this picture was taken when I was in my enchanted-with-Instagram-filters-phase, which Insta tells me was October 26th, 2014.

Anyways this is my version of the notorious – at least for a time in probably the 1980s – Morning Glory Muffins. The most delicious versions are fairly high in sugar and fat. There are also lowfat healthier and less-tasty versions.

My version is a compromise.

Makes 12-14 muffins

• 1/2-3/4 cup raisons – brown or yellow – or use King Arthur fruit cake blend, with yellow raisons, currants, diced pineapple, cranberries, and dates
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil OR 10 tablespoons of melted butter
• 2 cups grated carrots – I like them peeled before grating
• 1 large apple, peeled or un-peeled, grated or diced
• 1/3-1/2 cup nuts – toasted walnuts are very nice
• 1/2 cup coconut – I prefer sweetened, but unsweetened works
• 1/2 cup yogurt (vanilla or plain) or buttermilk or a combination, or the non-dairy milk or yogurt of your choice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• good-sized pinch of Kosher salt
• 2 cups of unbleached flour OR 1 cup unbleached flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour OR 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour and 1/2 cup wheat germ or bran cereal

Heat the oven to 375° and grease a 12-well muffin tin, or line it with paper liners. You may need an extra custard cup or silcone pan or two.

Optional – Put the raisons into a small heat proof bowl, and pour boiling water over to soften them.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and add the sugar and oil.

Add the carrots, apples, nuts, and coconut, and mix.

Stir in the yogurt.

Measure the baking powder and soda and vanilla into the bowl, add the salt, and give it a stir.

Add the flour, and drain the raisins and add them, and fold it all together until there are no dry spots.

Scoop the batter into the prepared pan(s), and bake for about 25-30 minutes until they’re raised and firm.

Eat plain, or with butter or cream cheese and/or honey. These muffins are known as grab & go car food, but I prefer to eat them seated, even at my desk.

Adapted from a recipe written on the back of a notebook I had in library school (1989-1991) that John, aged two or three, scribbled on

Mark and I split an apricot & white chocolate scone at Colectivo a few Saturdays ago. It was good, but we agreed that we’d have preferred a scone with lots of chopped apricots, like theirs had, but instead of a white frosting that didn’t taste particularly of white chocolate, white chocolate chips IN the scone would be better.

So I made some on Sunday morning.

They’re a little bit like this King Arthur Flour recipe, but less butter and cream cheese, more like my cinnamon scone recipe.

3 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
4 tablespoons butter (half a stick)
4 oz. cream cheese (half an 8 oz. bar)
1 egg
about 2/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup dried apricots, chopped
3/4 cup white chocolate chips
a little extra buttermilk for brushing the tops, and coarse or granulated sugar for sprinkling on top

Heat the oven to 400°.

Place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in the work bowl of a food processor, or your stand mixer, or a mixing bowl. Pulse 2-3 times, or stir a bit, to blend the dry ingredients. Slice the butter and cream cheese into chunks and put them on top of the flour. If using a food processor, pulse; mix with the paddle blade of the mixer; or use a pastry blender to cut the butter & cream cheese into the flour until the mixture looks like coarse meal.

If using a food processor, dump the mixture into a mixing bowl. If using a mixer remove the bowl, and if you’re blending by hand you’re all set. Add the apricots and chocolate chips to the flour mixture, and toss together.

Break the egg into a 1 cup measure with a spout, beat with a fork, and add enough buttermilk milk to make 1 cup. Add the extracts to the egg and buttermilk milk and pour the liquid into the bowl. Mix with a fork, and keep stirring until it clumps, and there are no pockets of dry flour, adding extra buttermilk or water as necessary.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until you have a homogeneous dough. Divide the dough in half, and flatten each half into a disk. Brush the top of the disks with a little more buttermilk, and sprinkle with sugar. Use a knife to divide each disk into 6 wedges and place on an ungreased baking sheet, and bake until firm and nicely browned – about 20 minutes. You can also make the dough into one bigger disk for 8 larger scones, but I like the small ones.

Originally posted in 2018 – but the picture is from 2012, and the cinnamon scone recipe is from the ’90s – so I’ve obviously been baking scones for a long time