I can’t take credit for these recipes. But I can take photos…lots and lots of make-your-mouth-water-photos.
First up, a recipe with such an irresistible title that I couldn’t not make them: Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chunk Muffins. Mmm, just saying that makes my mouth water. Peanut Butter…Chocolate Chunk…Muffins.
What I like about these muffins is that they’re not pretending to be anything they’re not. They don’t have fruit or fiber or shredded vegetables in them. They are un-frosted cupcakes, and we all know it. I found the recipe at a wonderful blog 17 and Baking. And she apparently found the recipe at Baking Bites. Do you see? These muffins have spread like a virus.
And now, because you can look at either of the above link for the recipe, here are my photos and the beautiful, tasty end products.
Like any classic muffin, you first separate the wet and dry ingredients, then mix them all together into a nice, thick batter.
Now does this ever happen to you? Muffin recipes always say they’re going to make 12 and then they have more than enough for 13? I think its because I’m not eating enough of the raw batter.
And then, after 20 long minutes, they’re done. And gorgeous. Do you like my industrious use of Halloween cupcake wrappers?
You know what I actually like best about these muffins (besides the peanut butter! and chocolate chips!) is that they aren’t too sweet. In all seriousness, they really aren’t like cupcakes. Their flavor is subtle, yet delicious.
My second baking undertaking from the internets is this No-Knead Dutch Oven White Bread from Baking Bites. I was interested in trying this recipe because I own what I have been told is a perfect dutch oven for bread making. My sister-in-law and her husband gave us our beautiful green Le Creuset dutch oven as a wedding present last year. They told us that they frequently use it to make bread. I filed that little fact away in my brain until I came upon an appropriate recipe.
Unbaked Bread Stages
I followed the recipe on Baking Bites very faithfully, messing with bread is way to adventurous for me. However, I did have to make a small substitution. I only had Active Dry Yeast on hand and not the Instant Dry Yeast called for in the recipe. I searched the all-knowing internets for the answer to my dilemma. The answer is to substitute 1.25X Active Dry Yeast for the amount of Instant Dry Yeast called for in a recipe.
For this recipe, 3/4 tsp Instant Dry Yeast is indicated. Multiplying 0.75 X 1.25 = 0.935. So I used a scant 1 tsp Active Dry Yeast.
I’m so glad that PhD has come in so handy for my cooking.
In the above photo, the stages are (from upper left clockwise around): (1) mixed dough brushed with oil (2) dough after 14 hour rise (3) dough after butter is stirred in (4) dough after final rise, before baking.
After the final rise, pour the dough into a piping hot dutch oven, as the recipe indicates. The heat of the pan keeps it from sticking. No sticking is a wonderful thing.
Baked Bread
Well HELLO GORGEOUS!! And the smell? Beyond. Fabulous recipe and quite easy to boot!
Your muffins look super! That’s everything I love about the recipe – they always look perfect, tall and domed, and the sweetness is right on for me. I also like the texture, which isn’t too heavy.
The crust on your bread is just beautiful too. That’s one I’ll try when I finally overcome my fear of yeast.
I almost wish I had waited to post until I got a photo of the inside of the bread. The perfect texture! The hubby and I just attacked it with a bread knife and a stick of butter. The carnage tasted amazing.
Elissa- You’re an amazing baker, just dive in and try yeast! What’s the worst that can happen, you have to throw away 20 cents worth of flour? As long as you follow the recipe to the T and allow proper times for rising, it almost usually works perfectly and easily.
(I am totally jinxing myself by saying all that by the way!)