#COOKING WITH CLORIS--CHERRY ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Yes, another zucchini recipe—this time for cherry muffins—because the little zucchini plant that could kept going strong all summer and my freezer is brimming with zucchini baked goods that will last through the winter. The addition of applesauce and sour cream make these muffins extremely light and moist.

Cherry Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:

1 large egg

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups all purpose flour 

1/2  teaspoon baking powder

1/2  teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup coarsely grated zucchini, laid loosely in cup and not packed (don’t wring out)

1 cup fresh or frozen pitted dark cherries, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-muffin tin with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.

To a large bowl, add the first six ingredients, whisking to combine.

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Reserving about 2 T., add dry mixture to bowl with wet mixture, stirring to combine. 

Add cherries, applesauce, and zucchini to the bowl with reserved dry mixture. Stir to combine with other ingredients.

Divide batter evenly into muffin tin cups. Back 20-25 minutes or until top spring back and toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.

Allow to cool 15 minutes before removing from tin and placing on wire rack to continue to cool.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--APPLE CRANBERRY MUFFINS

Apples and cranberries—perfect together! If your house will be filled with out-of-town guests for Thanksgiving, besides the feast on Thursday, you’re going to need to provide breakfast the next day. And even if there are plenty of leftovers, no one wants turkey and stuffing for breakfast. So why not whip up a batch of these Apple Cranberry Muffins? Set them out on the counter with a pot of coffee and let guests help themselves whenever they wake up Friday morning.

Apple Cranberry Muffins

Yield: 18

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

2-1/2 teas. baking powder

1/2 teas. salt

1/4 teas. baking soda

1-1/4 teas. ground cinnamon

1/4 teas. nutmeg

1/8 teas. allspice

1/8 teas. cloves

2 lg. eggs

6 oz. plain Greek yogurt

6 oz. sour cream

1 teas. vanilla extract

6 T. unsalted butter, melted

1-1/2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped

1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In large bowl, combine dry ingredients.

In second bowl, whisk together eggs, yogurt, sour cream, vanilla, and butter.

Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients, mixing together just until all ingredients are combined. Fold in apples and cranberries.

Spray muffin pans with nonstick baking spray. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of muffins comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes on wire rack before removing muffins from pans.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--SWEET & SAVORY ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Sweet & Savory Zucchini Muffins

The sweet comes from the dried apricots and semi-sweet chocolate chunks. The savory comes from the salted pistachios and, of course, the zucchini!

Recipe yields 2 dozen muffins.

Ingredients:

4-1/2 cups grated zucchini (one of those gargantuan ones that was hidden in the garden)

1 cup melted unsalted butter

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 teaspoons baking soda

scant 1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

1 cup shelled salted pistachio meats

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in melted butter, then the grated zucchini.

In separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir into wet mixture. Fold in apricots, pistachios, and chocolate chunks.

Spray muffin tins with non-stick baking spray. Distribute batter evenly into muffin tins, filling cups completely.

Bake 25-30 minutes until muffins spring back when pressed in center and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in muffin pans, then remove muffins from pans and cool an additional 20 minutes. 

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--LEMON POPPY SEED MUFFINS

Nothing says Sunday brunch like freshly baked muffins. These lemon poppy seed muffins will create an explosion of flavor in your mouth and put a smile on your face.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 T. poppy seeds

1-1/2 cups plain yogurt (whole milk or low fat)

8 T. unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 T. fresh lemon zest

1 T. fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake papers.

Whisk together dry ingredients.

In a separate bowl whisk yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, and eggs until smooth.

Gently fold wet ingredients into flour mixture to combine. Fold in melted butter taking care not to overmix.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Muffins are done when golden brown and a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--APPLE CRANBERRY MUFFINS WITH PECAN STREUSEL

I made these apple cranberry muffins topped with a pecan streusel for a Christmas brunch, but you you don't need a holiday to enjoy them.

Apple Cranberry Muffins with Pecan Streusel

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 lg. Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup pecans

2 T. unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 12-ct. muffin tin.

Soak cranberries in water to rehydrate.

In small bowl mix together applesauce, oil, and egg.

Reserve 1 teaspoon granulated sugar. In large bowl whisk together remaining granulated sugar, brown sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Fold wet mixture into dry mixture. Drain cranberries. Fold cranberries and diced apples into batter. Divide evenly between muffin cups.

In food processor pulse together remaining sugar, pecans, and butter until crumbly. Spoon evenly over batter.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing.

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--APRICOT PISTACHIO MUFFINS

In the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Anastasia rarely has time for breakfast before she leaves the house for work each morning. Luckily, her BFF, food editor Cloris McWerther, has her back, providing sugar and carb-laden confections on a regular basis.

In Scrapbook of Murder, the latest book in the series, Cloris and her husband are confronted with a mystery that could result in their financial ruin. We all deal with stress in different ways. Anastasia has been known to roll up the windows in her car and scream. Cloris resorts to marathon all-night stress baking. Here’s one of her confections.

Apricot Pistachio Muffins

Yield: 1 dozen muffins

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons melted butter, cooled

1 cup dried apricots

1/2 cup pistachio pieces (unsalted)

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Dice apricots and place in warm water to rehydrate for half an hour.

Grease muffin tins or use cupcake papers.

Place liquid ingredients and egg in blender and mix together at low speed. Fold in apricots and pistachios. 

In a separate bowl sift together dry ingredients. 

Fold the wet mixture into the dry ingredients until evenly blended. 

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.

Bake approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5-10 minutes before removing muffins from pan.

Scrapbook of Murder

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 6

Crafts and murder don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but normal deserted craft editor Anastasia Pollack’s world nearly a year ago. Now, tripping over dead bodies seems to be the “new normal” for this reluctant amateur sleuth.

When the daughter of a murdered neighbor asks Anastasia to create a family scrapbook from old photographs and memorabilia discovered in a battered suitcase, she agrees—not only out of friendship but also from a sense of guilt over the older woman’s death. However, as Anastasia begins sorting through the contents of the suitcase, she discovers a letter revealing a fifty-year-old secret, one that unearths a long-buried scandal and unleashes a killer. Suddenly Anastasia is back in sleuthing mode as she races to prevent a suitcase full of trouble from leading to more deaths.

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR BETHANY BLAKE BAKES MUDCAKES

Bethany Blake lives in a small, quaint town in Pennsylvania with her husband and three daughters. When she's not writing or riding horses, she's wrangling a menagerie of furry family members that includes a nervous pit bull, a fearsome feline, a blind goldfish, and an attack cardinal named Robert. Like Daphne Templeton, the heroine of her Lucky Paws Mysteries, Bethany holds a Ph.D. and operates a pet sitting business called Barkley's Premium Pet Care. Learn more about Bethany and her books at her website. 

Daphne Templeton, the amateur sleuth in my Lucky Paws Pet Sitting Mystery series, has a soft spot for misfits and mongrels. In the first book, Death by Chocolate Lab, Daphne’s fostering a one-ear Chihuahua with a severe overbite and a dubious pedigree, and she’s totally smitten.

Today, in that same spirit, I present you with “mupcakes.”

“What’s that?” you ask – perhaps also thinking, “That does NOT sound tasty!”

But trust me, once you’ve had a mupcake – a hybrid cupcake/muffin – you will rush to adopt this recipe as your own.

I found the base recipe, for blueberry muffins, ages ago on the Internet. The origins are long lost, although I often make the blueberry version. However, a few months ago I had a craving for chocolate and strawberries. Since strawberries aren’t exactly in season in Pennsylvania, I dug into my freezer and tried to come up with a creative way to use last year’s leftovers. My solution: add chocolate and strawberries to the muffin recipe. The result was something sweeter than a regular muffin, but not exactly a cupcake. A new name was needed. Not that there was much time for naming. My kids ate the whole batch in about an hour!

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry “Mupcakes”

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 cups AP flour

1/2 cup milk

2 cups strawberries

1 (heaping) cup chocolate chips.

Heat your oven to 375 degrees and grease 18 regular-sized muffin cups - or 36 mini-muffin cups. (These make super cute minis!) You can also use cupcake liners.

Using a hand mixer, mix the butter until it's creamy. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Beat in the vanilla, baking powder and salt. Then get a spoon and fold in half the milk and half the flour. Repeat.

Chop the berries and drain if they're soggy. Add about a tablespoon of flour and toss to coat. This will keep them from sinking when they bake.

Carefully fold in the berries and chocolate chips, being as gentle as possible.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes, until they're golden, then try to resist the temptation to eat them before they cool. The strawberry flavor intensifies when they reach room temperature. The perfect moment is when the chips are still gooey, but the berries aren't hot.

Death by Chocolate Lab

Pet sitter Daphne Templeton has a soft spot for every stray and misfit who wanders into the quaint, lakeside village of Sylvan Creek. But even Daphne doesn’t like arrogant, womanizing Steve Beamus, the controversial owner of Blue Ribbon K-9 Academy. When Steve turns up dead during a dog agility trial, Daphne can think of a long list of people with motives for homicide, and so can the police. Unfortunately, at the top of the list is Daphne’s sister, Piper—Steve’s latest wronged girlfriend.
Certain that Piper is innocent, in spite of mounting evidence to the contrary, Daphne sets out to clear her sister’s name—and find Axis, Steve’s prize-winning chocolate Labrador, who went missing the night of Steve’s death.

Aided by Socrates, her taciturn basset hound, and a hyperactive one-eared Chihuahua named Artie, Daphne quickly runs afoul of Detective Jonathan Black, a handsome and enigmatic newcomer to town, who has no appreciation for Daphne’s unorthodox sleuthing.
Can a free-spirited pet sitter, armed only with a Ph.D. in Philosophy and her two incompatible dogs, find the real killer before she becomes the next victim?

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#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST WRITER DEBRA SENNEFELDER

Aspiring author Debra Sennefelder has two constant writing companions, her Shih-Tzus, Susie and Billy. She's been an avid reader since childhood and found writing came naturally for her. When she's not writing, she loves to cook, exercise (yes, really) and read. Learn more about Debra at her website.

Every new writer hears at least a bizillion times to "write what you know" when they begin their writing journey. Most of the time these new writers take the advice literally. They write about their own lives and just change the names to protect the innocent, or they stop writing because what they know isn't interesting enough to carry a three hundred-page novel. The truth is, there is a lot of bad advice out there for writers and one of the most important skills a writer can develop is the ability to identify the good advice from the bad advice.

I'm not saying "write what you know" is bad advice, it's a great place to start. I interpreted the advice as to write authentically, which comes from working the experiences in my day-to-day life into my stories.

I write cozy mysteries, but I’ve never been involved in a murder investigation. However, I can draw on past experiences where maybe I was a bit too curious or when I found myself living in a town that was swarmed by the media because of a tragic event. Now, my characters aren’t me and they aren’t living through every event/experience I’ve lived through. An example is my amateur sleuth in my series. She isn’t me. She’s divorced, she’s had fifteen minutes of fame, and she bought an old farmhouse with a wraparound porch (so jealous). But we share a lot of common interests and that helps me write her in a way I hope readers will find relatable.

One of the things we have in common is baking. It’s one of my greatest pleasures. Baking also helps me with my writing. When I’m stuck in my story, I go into the kitchen and bake something—cookies or muffins or my go-to snack of raisin-oatmeal bars—and just as I’m cleaning up, I find I’ve worked through my story problem. Plus, I have something yummy to eat. Win-win.

Over the summer I was stuck in edits. My agent had sent my manuscript back to me to make some tweaks here and there, but I came across one scene that I wasn’t happy with. I knew that it could be better. Staring at the page on my computer wasn’t yielding any results. Frustrating, to say the least. I pushed my chair back from my desk and headed into the kitchen.

I remember that Sunday well because it was one of the least hot, humid days of this summer. I could breath and didn’t feel like I needed to be wrung out. Which meant I could turn on the oven for a little bit. I needed to bake something. It had to be quick, easy and satisfying. My decision was made. Corn muffins. I love corn muffins with a light spread of soft butter.

I pulled out a mixing bowl and the muffin tins and started baking. As I followed my recipe, I let my mind wander and do its own thing. When my husband woke, he found a treat waiting for him, and I had an idea of how to fix the scene I was unhappy with.

  

And that leads me to share with you my recipe for corn muffins that I now affectionately call, Fix the Story Corn Muffins.

Fix the Story Corn Muffins

Makes 12

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup low-fat milk

1/2 cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted

Nonstick cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the eggs and milk and mix. Pour the melted butter and mixture into the dry ingredients at the same time and mix just until blended.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and evenly divide between the muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Serve warm with fresh butter or fruit preserves. 

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--CHERRY MUFFINS

Cherry Muffins

(makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

3 T. butter

2 T. cream cheese, softened

1 cup all fruit cherry spread

1 T. lemon curd

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Melt butter in microwave. Allow to cool.  Whisk together cherry spread, lemon curd, and melted butter. Mix in cream cheese.

Mix together sugar, baking soda, and salt. Whisk into cherry mixture.

Whisk together egg and almond extract. Mix into batter. Mix in flour.

Scoop into paper-lined muffin tin. Back 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Allow to cool on wire rack. 

#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GOOD STUFF ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

Zucchini Muffins with Lots of Good Stuff Inside

We’ve featured lots of zucchini muffin recipes over the years. Without a doubt, these are the absolute best.

Recipe yields 18 muffins.

Ingredients:

4-1/2 cups grated zucchini (one of those gargantuan ones that was hidden in the garden)

1 cup melted unsalted butter

1-3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs, beaten

3 teaspoons vanilla

3 teaspoons baking soda

scant 1/8 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg

3 teaspoons cinnamon

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup walnuts

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In large bowl combine sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in melted butter, then the grated zucchini.

In separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Stir into wet mixture. Fold in cherries, walnuts, and chocolate chips.

Line muffin tins with cupcake paper. Distribute batter evenly into muffin tins, filling cups completely.

Bake 25-30 minutes until muffins spring back when pressed in center and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool 5 minutes in muffin pans, then remove muffins from pans and cool an additional 20 minutes.

COOKING WITH CLORIS - GUEST AUTHOR LESLEY A. DIEHL AND STOUT MUFFINS

A retired professor of psychology, mystery author Lesley Diehl divides her time between the Butternut River Valley in upstate New York and the part of Florida that’s home to cowboys, scrub palmetto, and open fields of grazing cattle, a place where spurs still jingle in the post office, and gators make golf a contact sport. She’s author of both short stories and several mystery series. Learn more about Lesley and her books at her website and blog. -- AP

Sweet and Savory Characters, Sweet and Savory Food, Part 1

In a culinary sense most of my characters have to be considered savory.  My protagonists are country gals with attitude.  They are sassy, bold and even hot.  Hera Knightsbridge, the owner of the microbrewery in upstate New York, is a stubborn woman who doesn’t let the community, the bank, the college or people with important connections  stop her from taking control and tracking down killers in both  A Deadly Draught and Poisoned Pairings.  When her lover, the assistant deputy sheriff warns her to back off, she ignores his good advice.

I decided to create Hera when I visited a microbrewery some years ago.  I wanted a protagonist who engaged in work atypical of a woman.  I knew little about making beer, but I was certain I didn’t like it.  Until I toured microbreweries and tasted craft-brewed beer, my opinion was that beer was blue collar and it was consumed primarily by men.  How wrong I was.  I now know more about microbrews.  They are complex, carefully brewed by master brewers with art and skill.  There is as much written about pairing beer and food as there is wine and food. Lagers and ales won’t replace wine as my favorite drink with food, but I find they go well with many foods including barbeque, boiled shrimp or burgers.  They can be successfully drunk with more gourmet items by those who know how to accomplish the best culinary pairings, but as Hera points out in Poisoned Pairings, there are no rules, so experiment to see what you like.

I knew it was possible to cook with beer, but I thought only of savory dishes not sweet ones.  It’s true my microbrewing series features a savory gal as protagonist, but there’s also Hera’s best friend, sweet little Sally who operates a bakery and tea room.  Sally is the kind of best friend we all want to have.  She’s generous, kind and fun to be around.  Her only fault seems to be how taken in she is by some men.  One of them is the same man Hera has loved since she was a teen.  Instead of competing for his favors, the two women consider their friendship more important.  When Sally’s relationship with him takes an unusual turn, Hera is there to support her.  Sassy protags can be sweet, too.

Good friends who accept and love us despite our cantankerous ways.  Sweet and savory.  I like to have both types of women in my writing and my life.  Do you?

Here’s one of my favorite beer recipes.  It will surprise you because it’s not savory, but sweet.  These muffins are perfect for the cold, snowy weather some of us have been experiencing lately.

Warm Your Honey’s Toes Ginger Stout Cake or Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1 tablespoon candied ginger (finely chopped) or 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar
3 large eggs
12 ounces stout (Use your favorite stout from a local microbrewery.  I do!

½ cup molasses

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pans or 13X9 baking pan. Combine flour, ground ginger, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and cloves; set aside.

Beat butter and candied ginger with electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add sugars; beat to combine. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

Mix stout and molasses to combine and add to wet ingredients. Alternately add dry ingredients in 3 additions, with the beer mixture; beating until combined and scraping down side of bowl as needed.  Batter will be runny.

Pour into the muffin pans. Bake 12-15 minutes. Makes over 24 muffins.  If using cake pan, bake 45 minutes.  In both cases, muffins or cake is done when toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Note: You may also make this as mini-muffins.  Reduce heat to 300 degrees F and bake for 10 minutes.  Test with toothpick.  Make about 80 minis.

Cake and muffins do not round up when baked.

Try with a dollop of ginger spiced whipped cream or top with a slice of crystallized ginger.

Poisoned Pairings

In this sequel to A Deadly Draft, the threat of hydraulic fracturing, an environmentally controversial technique to extract gas from shale, invades Butternut Valley. Hera Knightsbridge and her fellow microbrewers fear it will pollute the water, their most precious ingredient, as well as destroy the beauty of the valley. Then murder visits Hera's brewery. When investigator and love interest Jake is called away, Hera is on her own and must confront a murderer as well as ghosts from her past.

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