Midterm Crunch and the Baking Extravaganza

Hello from the library computers! I'm taking a break from inventing a research topic and it feels pretty good. I'm a little dizzy from looking at the screen so long, and it's been 8 hours since I finished my coffee (need. another. coffee.).

This seems like the right moment to update you on the wonders of my oven. My oven is a naughty oven, it has no heating element on top, which means that broiling, one of my favorite ways to finish off dishes, is impossible. It also makes baking a bit of a crapshoot.

For the past two weekends, though, I've had some success with baking! The Saturday before the superbowl I made an enormous batch of cookie dough (beware recepies from parenting magazines!) which turned in to dozens and dozens of chocolate chip cookies.

The highlight of the baking was by far this past Sunday's apple spice muffins. I started out by poking around on Epicurious and allrecipes for something to do with this bag of apples I'd had in the drawer of our fridge for a while. Muffins seemed like a fine thing to try, but the recipes weren't very satisfying. I decided to improvise on an apple muffin recipe that seemed standard-ish, although the comments were awful. The results were amaaaazing, if I do say so myself. The tops were a little gooey, but otherwise the texture was great. They should probably be called "cakes" but "muffins" sounds less indulgent. I made it a very healthy recipe, and it uses "the muffin method" of baking, so let's call them "muffins."

The Dry Ingredients (mix these together first!):
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (we don't have all-purpose flour in our house)
1/2 c. ground flaxseed (natural Omega-3 and fiber infusion!)
1 c. granulated (white) sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda (for a lighter texture)
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper (have no fear!)
a pinch of salt

The Wet Ingredients (eyeball these all in one big glass measure cup for minimal mess):
1 egg (beat it now, before adding the other ingredients)
1/4 c. canola oil (I didn't want to melt butter... and it's expensive!)
1/3 c. applesauce (for extra moisture and appley goodness)
1 c. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract (Flavor Booster!)

All the wet ingredients should end up being about 2 cups. I definitely didn't have exactly this or that amount of each thing, and then I also had to add a splash of milk later on.

So mix all the wet ingredients well (mixing them as you go along in the measure cup helps) and then pour them into the dry ingredient bowl and mix until everything in moist.

Peel and dice three or more apples and then put them into the mixture which will have gained some volume during the apple surgery. Spoon the batter into baking cups and back at about 375 F for about 15 minutes. Your oven probably works right, so I said 15 minutes. I did mine for 20.

Tell me how yours turn out!

Suffering Internet!

Our internet has been cut off, taking with it my blogging dreams. When it gets back, I'll be back! Mark my words!!!