Category Archives: Cupcakes and Muffins

Cornbread Muffins {recipe}

Cupcakes and Muffins,

Cornbread MuffinsThese cornbread muffins are the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table. They are slightly sweeteened so they can work perfectly as a side dish, but they can also be enjoyed as a breakfast muffin or as a dessert. The yellow cornmeal gives these a great slight crunchy texture. These muffins come together so quickly and can be made in advance. You can easily double the recipe. One can of coconut milk has less than 2 cups of coconut milk so when I double the recipe I just add enough water to the coconut milk until there is 2 cups of liquid. No need to open a second can. Here’s my dairy free recipe:

Save Print
Cornbread Muffins {recipe}
Author: 
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup yellow cornmeal
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ⅓ cup vegetable oil
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup coconut milk
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line one muffin tin with paper liners, set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment add the flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Stir to combine.
  3. Add in the oil, egg, and coconut milk.
  4. Mix on low until combined.
  5. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups.
  6. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and spring back to the touch.

 

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins {Recipe}

Cupcakes and Muffins

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins | Lil Miss Cakes

I am not sure why it’s taken me this long to share this recipe with you. My Passover version is always so popular with my family and friends, and the recipe spikes on my blog every April.  I always make this recipe into mini muffins, but you could bake them into regular sized muffins or even a banana bread loaf. I just love the mini muffin size because they are easy to snack. It’s just a bite or two, perfect for kids and they freeze so well. Overripe bananas work better in baking and I often have those lying around. If your bananas are getting kind of old but you aren’t ready to bake, just unpeel them and freeze in a zip top bag. When you are ready to bake, just pull them out of the freezer and let them defrost before mixing into the batter. Have way too many bananas? Try my other banana recipes:
Peanut butter banana chocolate chip cookies
Banana oatmeal muffin tops
Strawberry banana ice pops
Strawberry banana crumb cake
Here is my dairy-free, margarine-free recipe for chocolate chip banana muffins. The chocolate chips are optional, so if they aren’t your thing just leave them out. Enjoy!

Save Print
Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins {Recipe}
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2-4 dozen
 
Ingredients
  • ½ cup oil
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • ½ tsp. vanilla
  • 1¾ cups flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¾ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 24 regular muffin cups or 48 mini muffin cups with paper liners.
  2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer, beat oil with the sugar and eggs until pale yellow in color.
  3. Add the bananas and mix until broken down and mashed.
  4. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.
  5. Add the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine.
  6. Add in the chocolate chips and stir by hand so the chips don't break up.
  7. Fill each muffin cup ¾ of the way and bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes until light brown and the tops springs back to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean (avoiding the chocolate chips, they will be melted).

A tip about cupcake liners. There are so many cute cupcake patterns out there and I’m often tempted to buy them. But beware, not all cupcake liners bake well. Unless the liners are “greaseproof”, they will bake up all oily and look kind of translucent. You will lose the design printed on them and they will look greasy. I buy large packages of white and brown cupcake liners so I always have them on hand. My favorite place to order from is Bakers Stock.  They have a nice selection and are very well priced!

Apple Cider Muffins {Recipe}

Cupcakes and Muffins

Apple Cider Muffins | Lil Miss CakesI’m really excited about this recipe. It’s perfect for this time of year, and really any time of year actually. But these definitely do remind me of fall, when the leaves are changing and the sweaters and boots come out.

Apple Cider Muffins | Lil Miss Cakes

I got a frantic call from a devoted mom trying to pull off the perfect autumn themed bake sale. She was planning to have warm cider and spiced apple cider donuts, but couldn’t source the perfect donuts anywhere. She had 2 days until the event when she called me. I told her there was no way I could pull off making 100 fresh donuts, but how about muffins? Perfect-muffins will be great! The only problem was I had never made apple cider muffins. I scoured the internet for a recipe and came across this one from New England Today’s Food section. It sounded like a winner. With a few tweaks I adapted the recipe to be dairy-free, perfect for my needs. These muffins promised to be better the next day and they sure do deliver!

Save Print
Apple Cider Muffins {Recipe}
Author: 
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12-18 Regular Sized Muffins
 
Ingredients
Muffins
  • 2 cups sweet apple cider, reduced to 1 cup
  • ¼ cup oil
  • ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
Topping
  • ½ cup margarine (I like Earth Balance)
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 Tbs. cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Measure the apple cider and pour into small saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook until the cider is reduced to 1 cup. Allow to cool. This can be done in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to use.
  2. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
  3. Spray regular or mini muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
  4. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the oil, apple sauce, and sugar until blended.
  5. Add in the eggs one at a time and mix until blended.
  6. Add in the vanilla.
  7. In a separate bowl combine the flour, fresh nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir the dry ingredients to combine.
  8. With the mixer running on low add the dry ingredients to the mixer alternating with the reduced and cooled apple cider, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
  9. Once the batter comes together, spoon the batter into prepared muffin pan. I like to fill mine half way (for 18 regular muffins) but you can go ¾ of the way up for a larger muffin (12 regular muffins). You can also make minis, just reduce the baking time.
  10. Bake for about 15 minutes until the muffins spring back to the touch. Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before adding the topping.
  11. In small bowl melt the margarine. In a second bowl combine the sugar, cinnamon, and salt.
  12. Once the muffins are cool enough to handle, brush the muffins with the melted margarine on all sides, then roll in the cinnamon-sugar.
  13. Store in an airtight container. They are perfect right away but are even better the next day.