Friday, February 18, 2011

Spinach Cheese Swirls



Spinach Cheese Swirls
recipe from Pepperidge Farm
- makes 20 swirls

1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup shredded Muenster cheese OR Monterey Jack cheese*
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese*
1 green onion, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 package (about 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained*

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk.
3. Stir the Muenster cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion and garlic powder in a medium bowl.
4. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface.
5. Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture.
6. Top with the cheese mixture and spinach.
7. Starting with a short side, roll up like a jelly roll.
8. Cut into 20 (1/2-inch) slices.
9. Place the slices, cut-side down, onto baking sheets.
10. Brush the slices with the egg mixture.
11. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.
12. Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.

*Note:
- Only used shredded cheddar cheese
- MAKE SURE spinach is well drained (Moisture will make the puff pastry soggy!)



Simple, quick, delicious, delightful and delicate snacks! I LOVE puff pastry. I love cheese. I like spinach. Nomnom! Only thing I need to make sure I do next time is thoroughly thaw and drain the spinach. I was a little too spontaneous and impatient. :p But, anyways. They turned out great nonetheless. They could definitely be better though. Hahah. Note to self: THAW AND DRAIN SPINACH! I cant wait to try making different combination next time! Sun- dried tomatoes, mushrooms, more cheese?! (: This recipe is so versatile!

AND.. Once I get the time (most likely in the summer), I should try making my own puff pastry too!

Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Would use a little more flavoring. The ice bits might have dilute the cheese?

Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Definitely a 5 if I thoroughly drained the spinach! It only had 80% of the crunch and flakiness.

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins



Hello CUTIES (mini muffins)! I love my new MINI muffin pan. With the same recipe, you get twice or even triple the quantity! Minis are perfect as snacks and for sharing with others( :

Besides the quantity, mini muffins also taste better in my opinion. The proportion of the fluffy interior and the slightly crunchy exterior is just perfectly balanced. HAHA. Total BS.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours
- makes 24 mini muffins

*For the Muffins:
2/3 cup sugar
Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 cups all purpose flour*
2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 t pure vanilla extract
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 T poppy seeds

*For the Icing:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2-3 T fresh lemon juice

To Make the Muffins:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
2. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan (24 molds in a mini- size muffin pan*) or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.
3. In a large bowl, rub the sugar and the lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and the fragrance of the lemon is prominent and strong.
4. Whisk in the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
5. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the sour cream, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and melted butter together until well blended.
6. Pour the liquid ingredients over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. (Don’t worry about being thorough-a few lumps are better than over- mixing the batter. )
7. Stir in the poppy seeds. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.
8. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean.
9. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.
10. Cool the muffins completely on the rack before icing them.

To Make the Icing:
1. Put the confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl and add about 1 1/2 T of the lemon juice.
2. Stir with a spoon to moisten the sugar, then add enough additional lemon juice, a dribble at a time, to get an icing that is thin enough to drizzle from the tip of the spoon.
3. You can then drizzle lines of icing over the tops of the muffins or coat the tops entirely, the better to get an extra zap of lemon.

*Note:
- Substituted AP flour with whole wheat flour
- Halved the recipe and made 16 mini muffins
- Skipped on the icing



Taste: 4 stars out of 5
Light and refreshing. Sweetness is subtle. Whole wheat flour added a strange taste. (My taste bud no likely whole wheat ):)

Texture: 4 stars out of 5
Slightly moister than the chocolate muffins I previously baked. Possibly due to the sour cream and butter.

On with my search for the best tasting lemon poppy seed muffins! Why is it that none of the recipes I found online reproduce that ONE delicious LPS muffin I ate a while back ): It was so tangy, sweet and SUPER moist! But I guess I am a step closer with each recipe I tried :p
(A link to my first attempt)


^my platter of muffins <3

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Nigella's Mini Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins



MIA! To whoever keeps up with my blog, I sincerely apologize for the lack of updates lately. :P I've been drowned with the never ending midterms and thinking about the future .. in general. (I AM GRADUATING IN A YEAR :O!!)

Honestly, I don't even spend much time on school stuff. Where does all my time go? ):

Blahh. BUTTT it's fortunate that I somehow always managed to squeeze some baking in my life! I am 8- 10 posts behind as of now. Keeping it short, here we go with my post that should've been up since the beginning of LAST month.



Nigella's Mini Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins
recipe from foodnetwork
-makes 24 mini muffins

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour*
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder
3/4 cup superfine sugar
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling*
1 cup milk
1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl.
3. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins.
4. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases.
5. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy.

*Note:
- Substituted AP flour with whole wheat flour
- Substituted semisweet chocolate chip with chunks of Wonka Chocolate Waterfall



Taste: 3 stars out of 5
The whole wheat gave it a strange taste.. A taste that I am not too fond of. I will probably stick with the AP flour next time. The sweeter Wonka chocolate helped to hide the wheat-y flavor a little. The chunks of chocolate I put were also on the bigger size, which I like. With every bite, your teeth would sink into the goodness of these chocolates(:

Texture: 3.5 stars out of 5
The texture was not too dry or too moist. In fact, it was a little crumbly. Sort of typical muffin texture I would say. The best part was the crunchy top/ outer layer when they are fresh from the oven!


Coming up: lemon poppy seed muffins (second attempt)