Sometimes recipes happen due to necessity. The heat we have been having is wrecking havoc on any fruit we forget to put in the fridge! The plums were on the verge and we had some leftover ricotta from pizza night, so boom, muffins it was! We always like baking with plums as the fruit has a complex flavor, both sweet and sour, and here in Los Angeles we have varieties galore. Some plums are more acidic, some more mild, so you can adjust your sugar content after tasting. These were made with some yellow plums with low acidity, and medium sugar content. The combination of spices nudges you towards fall and offer a nice contrast to the fruit. For another delicious plum recipe try out Plum Snack Cake with pecans! 

​Spiced Plum and Ricotta Muffins
Makes 10-12
 
½ cup oats
½ tsp. ground ginger
1 tablespoon honey, warmed
2 cups flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cardamom
¼ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. salt
1 tablespoon of ground chia
1 tablespoon flax seeds
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup ricotta
½ cup olive oil
2 eggs, whisked
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup diced plums
 
Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with non-stick spray
 
In a small bowl mix oats, ginger and warmed honey and set aside for topping
 
Stir together in a large bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, ground chia and flax seeds.
 
In another bowl mix the sugar, ricotta cheese, olive oil, eggs and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. Fold in the diced plums.
 
Fill the muffin tin with the batter and top each muffin with a sprinkle of the oat mixture.
 
Bake about 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool
 
*This muffin can be easily changed up depending on what you have at hand. Whole wheat flour can be a substitute and chia seeds can be used instead of ground chia.
 

We have to admit that we were shocked that these worked and by worked we mean that the kids ate them and thought they were doughnuts! We are always looking for ways to get more fiber and protein in the kids and while you may think buckwheat is just that, wheat, but it isn't! Buckwheat is actually a seed, so for those that are gluten sensitive, it is gluten free, grain free. We didn't replace all the flour with the buckwheat, so this recipe is not gluten-free, but we did cut down quite a bit of it, and the buckwheat imparts a nutty, earthy flavor to these baked doughnuts. The kids preferred the chocolate drizzled ones, and we liked the powdered sugar so make some of each! 


Buckwheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Doughnuts
Makes about 6-8
 
1 c. flour
½ c. buckwheat flour
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. nutmeg
½ tsp. cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter, softened
1/3 c. sugar
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
2 ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup dark chocolate chips
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
 
Preheat oven to 350
 
Grease doughnut pan
 
In a bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together. In a stand mixture beat butter with sugar and honey until light an fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add dry ingredients and mix until resembling sand. Add a little bit of egg at a time, scraping down the side of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix. Fold in the mashed bananas and then the chocolate chips.
 
Carefully fill the doughnut pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, checking at 25 to see if a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes then remove from pan.
 
Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkles. 


Be sure to check out our Etsy store for our BAKED GOODS blank notecards! 

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​We love a good corn muffin and this recipe was help conceived by the 11 year old of the family. She has gotten our baking bug, or really she has had it all her life as if there was a girl who loved sugar and chocolate that was her! She has become quite a proficient baker and these were just sweet enough without being cloying. Serve them with chili or any summer grilled meat, and you have a home run! 

Corn Bread Muffins
Makes about 18 muffins
 
½ cup butter, cut into cubes
3 eggs, beaten until light and foamy
2 cups of milk
1 tsp. lemon juice
14 ¾ oz creamed corn
1 ¾ cups corn meal
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
 
Preheat oven to 425
 
Grease or spray the muffin tins.
 
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In another bowl where you have beaten the eggs until light and foamy, add the wet ingredients and whisk. Then, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until incorporated.
 
Place a small cube of butter into each muffin cup and add one ladle, about a cup, of muffin mixture to each.
 
Bake for about 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
 
Serve with honey and butter!


And, don't forget, we have our wonderful cards for sale on our Etsy site! Get these muffins in out baked goods set, and check out the latest edition, a larger greeting card of your favorite farmers market finds with recipes on the back! And, for the next few days, we are having an end of summer sale where everything is 15% off!

We are always game to trying something new and when Zest Tea, @getzesttea, sent us some apple cinnamon tea to try, we thought "why not bake with it?" The results were by far the best muffins we have made in awhile. Adding the additional layer of flavor the tea imparted to the butter, really made these muffins sing! The apple cinnamon flavor was pronounced, not lost in the baking. We are definitely going to play around with some other flavors of tea and will let you know how they turn out! A friend suggested ear grey and cherries.....yummy!

Apple Cinnamon Tea infused Muffins
Makes 10-12
 
½ cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter
¼ cup loose apple cinnamon tea
​1 ½ cups flour
¾ cups sugar plus 1 tablespoon
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon plus ½ tsp.
½ cup milk
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 egg
1 cup grated apples, about 1 large apple.
 
 
Preheat oven to 375
 
Grease muffin pan with cooking spray or butter and set aside.
 
To make your tea infused butter, melt butter then add the tealeaves.  Let heat over low for about five minutes, it will continue bubbling. Remove from heat and set aside for another few minutes.  Butter will look a little green, but don’t worry! Using a fine meshed strainer or sieve, pour butter through and push on leaves, squeezing out all you can.  Set aside.
 
In a medium bowl, add flour, ¾ cups of sugar, baking powder, salt and 1 tsp. of cinnamon.  In another bowl, add egg and gently whisk. Add to egg, the vanilla, tea infused butter, and milk and mix.  Add to flour, with the apples and stir until all is incorporated.
 
Mix remaining sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and set aside.
 
Scoop batter into muffin cups, filling about ¾ of the way.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.
 
Bake for 20-23 minutes until slightly brown on top and a toothpick comes out clean. 
 
Cool in pan, then remove and serve.

We are always playing around with ways to get more fiber and food into the smallest child in the morning. These oat based muffins are filling and tasty, a great start to the day. And, the chocolate tricks him into eating more then a single raspberry for breakfast! 

Chocolate Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Makes 12
 
1-cup flour
½ cup oat flour
½ cup rolled oats
¼ cup oat bran
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
½ tsp. salt
1-tablespoon baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ cup cacao powder
2 eggs
1-cup sour cream
¼ cup milk
4 tablespoons melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½-1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
 
Preheat oven to 400
 
Line muffin pan with paper liners or grease with butter or spray with non-stick baking spray
 
In a bowl whisk flour, oat flour, rolled oats, oat bran, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, spices and cacao powder.
 
In a smaller bowl whisk eggs, sour cream, milk, melted butter and vanilla.
 
Add liquid to dry ingredients and mix with a few strokes to combine. Mixture will be thick. Fold in chocolate chips.
 
With an ice cream scooper fill muffin tins and bake for 14-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
 
 

The kids love muffins, so we are always playing around with different combos. This is a hearty breakfast muffin or afternoon snack that gets a hit of protein from the almond butter. The littlest is getting adept at cracking eggs and mashing bananas, and the bigger kids like filling up the muffin cups. A trick to making them all even is using an ice cream scoop.


Almond Banana Oat Muffins with Chocolate Chips
Makes 12 muffins
 
2 eggs
1 banana
½ cup Canola Oil
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
¾ cup Almond Butter
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups quick cooking rolled Oats
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons flax seeds
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
 
Preheat oven to 350
 
Line muffin tray with paper muffin cups or oil/spray pan with non stick baking spray.
 
In a Medium bowl add the eggs, banana, oil, vanilla, and almond butter. Whisk/mash all ingredients until incorporated and only small pieces of banana are visible.
 
In another bowl whisk together the baking soda, salt, sugar, oats, flax seeds and flour. Then add this mixture to the wet ingredients. Fold with a spatula until combined, then fold in the chocolate chips.
 
Fill muffin cups to top with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.