A Nest in the Rocks

Building a nest on the rocks of faith and family

baking

Caramel Pumpkin Doughnut Hole (Muffins)

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Doughnut Hole Muffins
 
Do you ever just want to try something different?  

My Big Helper and I were in that kind of mood last week.  We saw these and thought they looked great – but we didn’t have all of those ingredients, nor did we have a doughnut pan.  

So we decided to play, and this is what we came up with. These bake up like doughnut holes but in mini-muffin tins.  They’re sweet and decadent, yet somehow not too bad for you (at least without the icing).  And although the kids and I were all about the gooey caramel icing on top of this little doughnut bite, my husband liked them just fine without it.  

These will definitely be made again here soon.

Needed ingredients:
  • 1/4 c. butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 c. brown sugar
  • 2 c. canned pumpkin
  • 1/3 – 1/2 c. milk
  • 3/4 c. sour cream
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 c. white wheat flour
  • 1/2 c. chocolate chips (optional)
Caramel Glaze ingredients:
  • 1 c. powdered sugar
  • 1-2 T. caramel sundae topping
  • 2 T. milk
Here’s how to make your own gooey caramel pumpkin-y doughnut holes:
  1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.  Set aside.
  2. In another bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar.  Add the egg, pumpkin, milk, and sour cream until smooth.
  3. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ones until just combined.
  4. Add chocolate chips if desired.
  5. Spray the bottoms of each mini muffin cup with non-stick spray.  Add a tablespoon-sized dollop of batter to each one.  Batter will be thick!  
  6. Bake for 9 – 15 minutes at 325 or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  7. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then loosen gently and pop out – I used a toothpick and a fork.
  8. When completely cool, ice with caramel glaze.
  9. To make the glaze, mix all ingredients together until smooth.
  10. ** Store carefully – doughnut holes can absorb glaze overnight.  That’s if they last that long.  Ours barely made it until breakfast.

Blueberry Biscuits

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Recently my Little Man commented about how much he would like to eat a local fast food restaurant’s blueberry biscuit.  This treat tastes fantastic, but is no doubt quite unhealthy, so it’s not something that he’s had more than a few times.

 And then I wondered:  why couldn’t WE make blueberry biscuits?   

 I couldn’t think of a good reason not to, and so our experimentation began.  

 The first batch came out beautifully, and they were all eaten before I could get a picture of them.  The most recent batch is somewhat less pretty to look at, but the biscuits taste amazing.

 So if you’re looking to add a little variety to your biscuits, here’s how!  These couldn’t be simpler to make, but they definitely have a higher fun factor than an ordinary biscuit.

 Ingredients:

  • 2 c. flour (both white and white-wheat work well – you can use either one)
  • 4 T. softened butter
  • 4 t. baking powder
  • 3/4 c. milk
  • 1 t. salt
  • 1/4 c. blueberries – I used frozen ones that we picked last summer
Directions:
  1. Measure dry ingredients and stir together.
  2. Cut in the softened butter.
  3. Add the blueberries.
  4. Add the milk all at once.
  5. Stir rapidly for a few seconds, then turn out on a lightly floured board.  
  6. Knead vigorously for 30 seconds.
  7. Pat or roll to 1/2″ or 3/4″ thickness.
  8. Cut out and place onto a greased cookie sheet.
  9. Bake at 400 degrees for about 10  minutes or until the tops begin to brown.
  10. Mix a basic vanilla glaze with 1 c. 10X sugar, a splash of vanilla, a pinch of salt, and about 1 T. of milk (or enough to make a gravy-like consistency).  
  11. Drizzle the glaze over the biscuits.
  12. Serve warm.

How do you like to eat YOUR biscuits??

Better-than-the-Bakery Blueberry Muffins

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Better than the Bakery Blueberry Muffins @ A Nest in the Rocks

Do you like real blueberry muffins – the kind oozing with purplish blueberry goo?

If you do, then these are the muffins for you.  They’re a bit of work, coming with multiple steps and all, but I think you’ll find the finished product to be well worth it.

We love to pick our own blueberries at a no-spray, all-natural field every June.  We get up early and make the trek to the next county over, where we pick bucket after bucket of blueberries.  We eat lots of them when we get home, but we freeze pounds of them – and then we can make these muffins all year long.

You can make your own better-than-the-bakery muffins at home:

Print
Better-than-the-Bakery Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

  • 2 cups fresh blueberries
  • 1 c. + 1 t. sugar
  • 1 T. water
  • 2 1/2 c. white-wheat flour
  • 2 1/2 t. baking powder
  • 1 t. salt
  • 2 eggs
  • Streusel:
  • 3 T. sugar
  • 3 T. brown sugar
  • 1/3 c. flour
  • 5 T. melted butter
  • 5 T butter
  • 1 c. buttermilk
  • 2 t. vanilla

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan, bring 1 c. berries, 1 t. sugar, and water to a simmer. Cook and mash with a potato masher until reduced by half. Cool while you mix batter.
  2. Melt butter for batter and allow to cool a bit.
  3. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl.
  4. Stir together eggs and sugar in a medium bowl. Slowly stir in butter.
  5. To the wet ingredients, add buttermilk and vanilla.
  6. Fold wet ingredients and blueberries into dry ingredients.
  7. Place a heaping spoonful of batter into prepared muffin tins (I used paper liners). Batter should completely fill muffin cups.
  8. Place a small spoonful of cooked blueberries into the center of the batter in each cup and swirl slightly.
  9. Preheat oven to 350.
  10. To make streusel topping, mix all ingredients together. (I needed to add extra flour and brown sugar to get a good crumbly consistency.)
  11. Sprinkle streusel over the top of each muffin.
  12. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until firm.
  13. Serve warm. Enjoy!
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What’s your favorite muffin flavor?

Applesauce Muffins

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I mixed up these muffins during the morning rush one day, and everyone stopped as they came through the kitchen.

“What’s that smell?”  they all asked, stopping and sniffing some more.  “It that our breakfast?”

With cinnamon and apples wafting on the air, they hurried to the table, eager to sample these muffins.  My Big Helper didn’t have time to add one to her already-full breakfast plate, and upon the promise of one after school, marched off.

When she returned, she walked in the door, immediately asking for her muffin.  Apparently it was on her mind all day.

When the mere smell of something sticks with you throughout seven hours of classes and crazy testing, it must be good.

Ingredients:

  • 1 c. sugar
  • 1/2 c. softened butter
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 c. white-wheat flour
  • 1 t. baking powder
  • 1 t. cinnamon
  • 1/2 t. baking soda
  • 1/4 t. salt
  • 1 c. applesauce
To make your muffins, just:
  1. Cream the sugar and the butter.
  2. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
  3. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add alternately with the applesauce. 
  4. Mix until just combined.
  5. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. 
  6. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.
Makes 1 – 1 1/2 dozen muffins.
 
What are you serving for breakfast today?
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