Milk and Honey Poppy Seed Muffins #Improv

After totally neglecting the Improv challenge for the last few months, I am happy to say that I'm back in the saddle!  For those not in the know, the Improv challenge is a fun way for us to play with our food. Each month our fabulous new leader, Lesa from Edesia's Notebook, provides us with two ingredients with which to make marvelous creations. This month our theme is Milk and Honey...such a tasty combo! Interested in participating? Go ahead and visit Edesia's Notebook...you don't even need a blog.

How fitting is it that my husband brought home a carton of Almond Milk with a Hint of Honey?!

 I honestly didn't know what I was going to make until I started gathering my ingredients. Of course there was honey, but I also grabbed a bottle of poppy seed and some frosted flakes. Muffins were in the works!

Milk and Honey Poppy Seed Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk or almond milk
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 teaspoon coconut extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons poppy seed
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup crushed frosted flakes

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.; line a 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.
2. In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, combine the milk, eggs, coconut oil, extracts, and honey. Stir in the poppy seed and allow to soak for 30 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk mixture and stir until just moistened (batter will be lumpy). Spoon batter into cupcake liners. Sprinkle the frosted flakes over the muffin tops.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly touched.

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 45 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 20 mins.
Total time: 65 mins.

The cornflakes give the muffins a little crunch....

Perfect for breakfast!

Or dessert...

Check out what everyone else has made with Milk and Honey!

***CORRECTION made from original post ---should be 1 egg, not 2!****

An InLinkz Link-up

Fried Brie and Raspberry Salad with Honey-Balsamic Vinaigrette.....#thesaladbar

With all of the bleak weather around here lately, I think it's about time for some Spring food, don't you? How about a tasty salad? My friend Wendy from The Weekend Gourmet thought that salads would make a nice monthly feature and I think so too. We're calling it The Salad Bar and each month we'll feature a salad with a theme. The first theme? Berries!

I have to say, berries are right up my ally. I love them all. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries....they're all good! I was just a little stymied over what I was going to pair with my berries. Of course, all it takes is a little stroll through Trader Joe's to get inspired....look what I found! Slicing Brie! I had an idea!

Now, bear with me as I assemble my salad...I don't necessarily measure my salad ingredients. This recipe will make about 4 servings.

Fried Brie and Raspberry Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon coarse ground mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Salad:

8 oz brie, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 egg, beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
canola oil for frying (about 1/2 cup)
6-8 oz baby lettuce leaves (I used a Spring mix)
6 oz fresh raspberries
1/2 cup candied pecans

Whisk together the vinaigrette ingredients and keep chilled until ready to use.

Dip the brie slices in the beaten egg. Season the panko bread crumbs with a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Roll the brie slices in the seasoned crumbs, coating each side completely. Place the breaded slices in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium/high heat. Fry the brie slices, 3-4 at a time, until golden, about a minute per side. Watch carefully so that the cheese doesn't ooze out into the oil. Drain on paper towels.

Arrange the lettuce on a serving plate. Sprinkle the raspberries and the pecans over the top. Place 3-4 brie slices on each salad; drizzle the vinaigrette over all.

You're going to want to freeze these for a bit so they won't get too melty in the hot oil.

Martha used Dijon mustard in her vinaigrette...I used coarse ground mustard...whatever works!

Packaged lettuce, candied pecans, and raspberries...this was an easy salad to make.

I have to say that I love this new monthly salad idea...what do you think?

 Check out the salads everyone else is making:

Sweet Potato and Honey Noodle Kugel

Welcome to another Improv challenge--this month the theme is Sweet Potatoes and Honey! For those of you not in the know, the Improv challenge is brought to you by Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Each month, Kristen gives us two seasonal flavors to play with. Sweet Potatoes and Honey are two of my favorite things.

At first, I was stymied. I've made so many sweet potato things that I didn't know if I had another idea in me. Then, while I was toying with the idea of a cookie or (yet another) muffin, my husband came up with the perfect idea: Noodle Kugel! A kugel is a Jewish pudding of sorts, usually made with potatoes or egg noodles. Sometimes savory and sometimes sweet, there are many variations of kugel, but my favorite is the sweet variety....and both the sweet potato and the honey are natural additions for a sweet, noodle kugel.

I was running short on time, so I took a shortcut and bought these frozen sweet potatoes. Notice how they are already cubed--this was almost too easy.

Sweet Potato and Honey Noodle Kugel

Printable Recipe

2 cups cubed sweet potatoes

1/2 cup honey

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided

8 oz kosher for Passover egg noodles, cooked per package directions

2 cups kosher for Passover corn flakes

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.; coat a 1 1/2 qt. casserole dish with cooking spray.

Combine the sweet potatoes and the honey in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are just fork tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

It couldn't be easier to combine the sweet potatoes and the honey--just cook for a few minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

In a large bowl, combine the cooled sweet potatoes with the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon; stir in the egg noodles. Pour the noodle mixture into the prepared casserole dish. 

In a small bowl, combine the cornflakes, melted butter, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Spread the cornflakes mixture evenly over the noodles. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the kugel is set and the cornflakes are browned. Serve warm or cold.

Spray your measuring cup with some cooking spray before you add the honey--it will slide right out!

It's hard not to eat the cornflakes off of the top. They are buttery and sugary--like candy!

Notice the beautiful sweet potatoes peeking through....

Is is it a dessert? A side? A meal?

How do you like your kugel?

Now check out the other Sweet Potato and Honey creations.....

Newtons Fruit Thins....A Review

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastmaker program, I was sent a package of the new Newtons Fruit Thins.

 I love trying new things, don't you? It's especially nice when it's delivered to your door. These cookies were waiting for me when I came home the other day...on the day that the temperature in the Twin Cities was a record 103 degrees. Yikes. No way was I going to turn on the oven and bake anything. Perfect timing.

Of course I had to haul out some ice cream--actually some Culver's Frozen Custard--to try with them.

I had actually tried these cookies a couple of weeks ago...the Chocolate Raspberry....and I liked them. In fact, I was going to pick up another package. Pete didn't like the Chocolate Raspberry flavor, so I had the whole package to myself. Too bad, he likes the Fig and Honey.

These are crispy cookies. Says so right on the package.

One of the reasons I like these cookies (besides the fact that they are tasty), is because I can portion them out nicely when I'm counting my calories. They aren't diet food, nor do they advertise themselves to be. But, I don't really do diet food...I just like to be aware of how much is much. Three of these cookies count up to 140 calories. Not bad. Plus I get 2 grams of fiber out them. That beats a glazed donut.

They come in a nice resealable package. I had to quickly open them myself. Why am I the only one around here who can open a package the right way? You can't reseal it if it isn't opened right. Sheesh.

So what do they taste like? This particular flavor, Fig and Honey, tastes like a cross between a fancy graham cracker and an oatmeal cookie. There are figs in there...little pieces...and some raisins. I couldn't discern between the two of them, but does it matter?

Crumbled on ice cream. Good suggestion.

The Newton Fruit Thins come in four flavors. Besides the Chocolate Raspberry and the Fig and Honey, there are the Cranberry Citrus Oat and the Blueberry Brown Sugar (my next try). They all have the little bits of chewy fruit in them and they are all crispy. I'll say it again...I like them.

Pecan Cookie Waffles with Honey-Cinnamon Butter

My love affair with the Pillsbury Doughboy began many years ago when I was still a child. As you may have deduced from the title of my blog, my father was a baker. For a time, he was the proud owner of the Seymour Bakery, right dab in the middle of Main Street in the small town of Seymour, Wisconsin (nowadays, Seymour is known as “the home of the hamburger”, but that’s the topic for a whole other blog). In those days, Pillsbury had a wholesale division dedicated to supplying bakeries with flour and other everyday necessities and my father was one of their happy customers. It was because of his association with Pillsbury, that he somehow got his hands on a rather large, mechanical Doughboy, which sat for a time in a prominent spot in the bakery’s display window. Daddy hired someone out of Green Bay to change the displays seasonally. There was always some sort of mechanical doll swaying to and fro, making music and promoting whatever holiday was forthcoming. The Doughboy, though, was special. There he was, with that huge grin on his face and, about every minute or so, he would poke himself in the belly and let loose with the famous giggle—Hoo!Hoo! I loved him….

Throughout the years, I was in touch with the Doughboy off and on. In college, my roommate’s mother would bring us wonderful treats that happened to be Pillsbury Bake-Off® specialties. It took me several years to finally figure out that the Banana Crunch Cake that she made (and I adored) was actually a $25,000 winner from the 24th Bake-Off® in 1973. When I was finally on my own and had to make my own treats, the Doughboy was there for me again with those convenient crescent rolls, pie crusts, cinnamon rolls and, as always, the easy recipes that came out of the Bake-Off®.

Flash forward to 2010 and the 44th Pillsbury Bake-Off® is almost upon us. This year, I have been honored to have my recipe--Pecan Cookie Waffles with Honey-Cinnamon Butter-- chosen to compete with 99 others in Orlando, Florida on April 12. I have had the opportunity (thanks to the wonder that is the Internet) to befriend many of the other contestants---such a great group of people! The competition will be fierce, but I’m happy with my creation. I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking it’s the year of the Million Dollar Waffle…..

You can find a printable version of the recipe right here: Pecan Cookie Waffles with Honey-Cinnamon Butter

We start by mixing up some butter, honey and cinnamon. This will top off your finished waffles with just the right amount of sweetness. I'm certain that if you would rather top your waffles with some sliced bananas and some whipped cream, that would be OK, too. Or maybe some butter pecan ice cream? Oh, the possibilities.....

Next we'll just break some Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough (cookie dough! Isn't that the coolest thing ever?) up into a nice large bowl, add a couple of eggs and beat it until it's smooth. Then we'll add a little vanilla and some light cream and mix until we have a thin batter. Earlier, I had toasted some pecans---we'll toss some of those in the mix, too. 

Just for the occasion, I splurged and bought an obscenely expensive waffle maker. If ever there was a time for an expensive waffle maker in my life, it is now. This baby weighs a ton and blew a fuse in the kitchen last night, but it sure does put out a nice waffle. The funny thing is, this recipe turns out good in my $9.99 machine, too....

And there you have it! Topped with the sweet honey-cinnamon butter and some toasted pecans....I may have to go whip up another batch right now....