Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins with Streusel

I stumbled upon this muffin recipe because I did not want a traditional banana muffin. These are now my go-to banana muffins. They are so good with the streusel in the middle and on top. Yum. Everyone who has tried them has loved them as well. You can find the original recipe HERE from Sally's Baking. You should really try them! 

Streusel

• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (135g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• optional: 1/2 cup (60g) chopped walnuts

Muffins

• 1 and 2/3 cups (208g) all-purpose flour (spooned & levelled)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 and 1/2 cups (345g) mashed bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large bananas)
• 1/4 cup (60g) plain yogurt or sour cream (I use nonfat Greek yogurt)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with cupcake liners. Set aside. 

2. Make the streusel: Mix all the streusel ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside.

Make the muffins: Whisk the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

3. Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed in a large bowl until creamed, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.  Add the egg and beat until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Add the mashed bananas and yogurt, and then beat on high speed until combined; mixture will look curdled and that’s ok.

2. Add the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The batter is thick. Do not overmix.

3. Layer a large spoonful (I use a small cookie scoop) of batter into each muffin cup. Sprinkle with 1 scant Tablespoon of streusel. Layer another large spoonful of batter over each, using up the remaining batter, then finish by sprinkling the remaining streusel on top of each muffin. With a toothpick or knife, gently swirl the streusel topping with the batter.

4. Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F, then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 15–16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 20–21 minutes. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling, or enjoy warm.

**Muffins stay fresh covered at room temperature for a few days, then transfer to the refrigerator for up to 1 week.

Croissant Breakfast Casserole

 I had some croissants leftover that we got from Costco that were getting a bit dry so I thought I would see if I could use them in a breakfast casserole of some kind. I came across this recipe and thought it looks very yummy.....and it was! My initial reaction was that it was a bit sweet but my family loved it. You could probably cut down on the sugar if you wanted. You can get the original recipe from the Chunky Chef the link is HERE

INGREDIENTS

• 5 large croissants cubed
• 1 1/2-2 cups mixed fresh or frozen berries of choice ( I used strawberries, raspberries, blueberries &blackberries)
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 cup milk (whole or 2%)
• 1/2  cups granulated sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon

Vanilla Glaze: 

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2-3 Tbsp heavy cream
• 1 tsp vanilla

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat over to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 baking dish and set aside. 

2. Cut up croissants and to a large bowl along with the berries. 

3. Add cream cheese to a mixing bowl or stand mixer and beat with beaters until smooth. Add milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla and lemon zest and beat until combined. 

4. Pour mixture over croissants and berries and toss until covered and coated completely. (The original recipe has you put in the fridge overnight but I did not do that and it came out great)

5. Bake covered with foil for 40-45 mins then uncovered for about 15 mins or until set and knife comes out clean and slightly brown on top. (it will be a tiny bit wet still just because of the moistness of it but you don't want it soggy.)

6. Combined Glaze ingredients and pour over the casserole once it is finished baking. 

Bisquick Breakfast Casserole

I wanted to use some of the Bisquick I had on hand and came across these breakfast casseroles. I also have ThriveLife dehydrated products so I wanted to use some of those I had on hand.  I modified the original recipe a bit but you can get the recipe HERE. The picture is from THIS site as it was more like what I came up with from my changes. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of ThriveLife sausage (or 1 pound of breakfast sausage)
• 1/4 cup ThriveLife diced onion (or fresh diced onion)
• 1 heaping Tbsp ThriveLife green onion (or 2 green onions, chopped)
• water needed to rehydrate Thrive Life products according to directions
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder, add to sausage while rehydrating. 
• 1 1/2 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
• 4 Large Eggs
• 2 Cups Milk
• 1 1/2 Cups Shredded Cheese of choice (I used Tex Mex Mix from Costco)
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
• 1/2 tsp Hot Sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven 10 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with non-stick spray and set aside. 

2. Cook and drain sausage or add dehydrated sausage and veggies to a bowl and add water. Pour into the baking dish. 

3. In a large bowl mix together the Bisquick mix with the eggs and milk until well combined. Fold in the cheese. Stir in the maple syrup and hot sauce if using. 

4. Pour the Bisquick mixture evenly over the cooked sausage. Bake the casserole for about 35 mins or until set and golden brown.  

Note: You can add 2 cups of shredded hashbrowns to the Bisquick mix before baking if desired. 

Blueberry Buckle

 I doubled this recipe and made it to take to work for a morning staff meeting and people really liked it. It's so yummy with a hint of lemon with the blueberries and then that crumble on top...oh yeah! It's something yummy to have as part of a brunch or on it's own. A nice change up from the ordinary. This recipe comes from Spend With Pennies. You can find the original recipe HERE.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup white sugar
• ▢¼ cup butter
• ▢1 egg
• ▢2 teaspoons lemon zest
• ▢1 ½ cups flour
• ▢2 teaspoons baking powder
• ▢½ teaspoon salt
• ▢½ cup milk
• ▢1 tablespoon flour
• ▢1 ½ cups fresh blueberries

• ¼ cup butter + 1 tablespoon
• ▢¼ cup brown sugar
• ▢¼ cup white sugar
• ▢⅓ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 pan.
• In a large bowl, cream sugar, butter, egg & lemon zest until fluffy.
• In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to sugar mixture, alternating with milk mixing just until combined.
• Toss blueberries with 1 tablespoon flour. Fold into batter and spread in prepared pan.
• Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter and bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Banana Bread

 This recipe comes from a family cookbook and my cousins the Solis family submitted it. I'm not sure where it originally came from but I've added a bit of my tweak to it as well. There are a lot of banana bread recipes out there but I love the added sour cream or greek yogurt to help the texture.

This is not my picture but comes from Cooking Classy.

INGREDIENTS

3 ripe bananas mashed

1 cup sugar (can do 1/2 brown 1/2 white)

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

1/2 sour cream or plain greek yogurt

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. and grease a loaf pan. 

2. Mash bananas and add sugar, oil, sour cream, and eggs. Mix well. 

3. In a separate bowl add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. 

4. Add to bananas.

5. Bake approx 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Blueberry Lemon Loaf with Lemon glaze

 I love everything lemon and when it is teamed with blueberries that is a win win in my books. I had some blueberries that were starting to go bad so I looked at Pinterest and this recipe came up. It is from Juliasalbum.com and you can find the original recipe HERE

It is so full of lemon and blueberry flavor and is so moist (yes I said the word) but seriously, it is! 

This one you really need to try. Hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

• 1/3 cup butter melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons lemon zest grated (heaping - love lemon)
• 1 cup blueberries fresh or frozen (heaping)
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Lemon Glaze

• Lemon juice from one lemon (I get about 2 or more tbsps using my lemon juicer)
• I also had lemon zest left over so I added that to the glaze. 
• one tbsp of soft butter 
• Enough powdered sugar to make a nice consistency. Around 1/2 cup. I like it thicker. 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F 
2. Butter a loaf pan, line the bottom and two sides of the pan with the parchment paper.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, 1 cup sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk.
5. In the same bowl where you combined flour, add blueberries and toss them in 2 tablespoons of flour. This will help prevent blueberries from sinking.

6. Fold in lemon zest, and blueberries into the batter. Do it carefully and fast. Pour the lemon bread batter into prepared pan.

7. Bake in preheated oven for about 50-60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pan for a few minutes then take out to cool longer on a wire rack. 

Lemon glaze:

1. Combine freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest and some of the powdered sugar in a small bowl using a whisk to combine. Add softened butter and whisk to get lumps out. Add more powdered sugar if needed for the desired consistency. 

2. When the Loaf is cool add the glaze on top to cover. 

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

I use a lot of recipes from the Six Sisters Stuff website and this is one that I just found that is so good and a change-up from the regular weekend breakfast morning. I love blueberries and this is loaded with them. That and the cream cheese with the blueberry syrup. Soooo yummy. 

You can find the original recipe HERE

Blueberries are on sale right now at Costco...go grab some and try this yummy breakfast!

Ingredients

French Toast:

12 slices Texas toast bread (cut into cubes)

1 (8oz) package cream cheese (cut into little cubes)

1 cup fresh blueberries

12 large eggs

1/3 cup maple syrup

2 cups whole milk

Syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Spray a 9x13 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. 

2. Arrange 1/2 of the bread cubes in the bottom of the pan. 

3. Drop little cubes of cream cheese and the fresh blueberries all over the bread cubes. (I didn't use all of the brick but most of it)

4. Top with remaining bread cubes. 

5. Mix together eggs, syrup, and milk. Pour over bread cubes and cover the pan with foil. Let chill in refrigerator overnight. 

6. Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 30 mins. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 mins or until fluffy and golden. (I used a glass dish and it took a bit longer to cook the middle)

7. For the syrup, mix together sugar, water and cornstarch in a saucepan over medium heat until slightly thickened. 

8. Stir in blueberries and simmer for a couple of mins. I mashed some of the blueberries with my whisk for more of the blueberry flavour. 

9. Serve over french toast. 

Peach Cobbler Muffins

Three words...OH, MY HECK...these are so good! I love peach cobbler and was looking for a recipe to use up some fresh peaches I had. I came across this one doubled the batch and took some to work. Even the co-worker that doesn't like fruit cooked in baked goods loved them. (Hi Lexie) I gave her some to take to her family. My favorite part is when they get that crunchy top ..which did disappear when I put them in Ziplock bags to take to work the next day, unfortunately, but they still loved them. Next time I won't put them in Ziplocks. You can find the original recipe on The Busy Baker.com which I linked HERE. 

The picture is also from their website. 

Makes 8-10 muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup white sugar

2 cups chopped fresh (or canned well-drained) peaches

1/2 cup whole milk

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

For the streusel topping: 

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup white sugar

1 pinch of cinnamon

3 tbsp cold unsalted butter

Instructions

For the muffins: 

    1. Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare a muffin tin with 8-10 muffin cups. 

    2. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar to a large bowl and whisk together to combine. 

    3. Reserve about 3/4 cup of chopped peaches and add the rest to the bowl and stir gently to coat. 

    4. In a small bowl add the milk, egg, and oil and whisk to combine. Add with a rubber spatula to the flour just until combined - don't mix too much. 

    5. Portion the batter out into the muffin cups about 1/2-3/4 full. 

For the topping: 

    1. Combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl and stir. 

    2. Add the cold butter in chunks and break it up with your fingers or a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. 

    3. Top the muffins with the remaining chunks of peaches and a spoonful of the streusel topping. 

    4. Bake at 350F for about 20 mins or until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. 

*Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. 

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Loaf

I love rhubarb season there are so many ways you can use it and I find new recipes each year it seams. I'm very grateful for a wonderful co-worker that shares her abundant crop each year with me since I don't grow any myself-thanks Debbie! I found this loaf recipe and I took it to work. There were many rave reviews. It is so moist and has just enough of the rhubarb flavour that it's not too overpowering for those who don't like too much rhubarb flavour. I will definitely make this recipe over and over again. I loved it!  You can find the original recipe on Noshing with the Nolands.com which you can find HERE.

The picture is also from their website. 

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp each baking powder, baking soda, and salt
1/2 cup light sour cream or I used plain greek yogurt.
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, diced very small.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x5x3 loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
3. In the bowl of a standup mixer (if you have one-if not use reg mixer) cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each then add the vanilla.
4. Combined the milk and sour cream together and add to batter alternately with the flour - starting and ending with the flour. Mix well. Fold in the rhubarb.
5. Pour into the prepared loaf pan, smooth top and bake for 60-70 mins until a tester comes out clean. Let cool 10 mins then remove from pan and cool further on a wire rack. Can be stored in an airtight container for a few days  - but I bet it won't last that long!

Rhubarb Muffins

My sister gave me a bunch of rhubarb and asked me to make some rhubarb muffins for our mother. I had made rhubarb cake and crumble but not muffins so I was in search of a muffin recipe. 

I came across this one and after changing a couple of things I thought they came out pretty good. I mean it was hard not to just eat one after the other. I love rhubarb and I know this recipe will be used many times. You could keep the nuts out if you prefer...I'm a nut gal and I loved them in this. You could add raspberries or strawberries to this as well. 

makes 24 muffins

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk including 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice

(I used 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt and whisked in enough milk to make a cup)

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chopped fresh rhubarb

1 cup copped pecans or walnuts

For the Topping

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup copped pecans or walnuts

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. (whisking is important)

- In another smaller bowl, beat together the eggs, buttermilk (or the substitute) oil and the vanilla extract. 

- Gently stir the egg mixture into the four mixture, just until combined. Do not over mix. 

- Gently fold in the chopped rhubarb and the chopped nuts.

- Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups about three quarters full. The batter will seem thick but it will be great.

- Sprinkle the tops with the topping mixture.

- Bake at 375 for about 18-20 mins, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

- Cool for about 10 mins before removing the muffins from the pans. 

- Allow to continue to cool on a wire rack (if you can wait that long before you eat them)

Frosted Orange Rolls

These are so seriously good. Serve warm with the frosting on top for ultimate deliciousness! I brought these to work and got rave reviews. So..on the blog it goes!  You can get the original recipe HERE at Stephie Cooks. 

Ingredients

1 pkg active dry yeast (2- 1/4 tsp)

3/4 cup warm water

1 1/2 cups warm milk

1/2 cup sugar, divided

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 1/2 cups flour, divided

1/4 cup butter, melted

For the orange frosting:

(I doubled this)

4 1/2 tbsp butter, softened

2 tbsp orange zest (or to liking)

3 tbsp orange juice (or to preferred consistency) 

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, 1/4 cup of the sugar and salt. Stir in 3 cups of flour. Mixture will be runny. Let rise a a warm place for about 1/2 hour. 

2. Stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and shortening. Add remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour. Dough will be wet and sticky-this is ok, don't be tempted to add any more flour! Let rise until double, about an hour. 

3. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, cream butter for frosting. Add orange zest, juice and powdered sugar and beat until well incorporated. 

4. After second rise, dump dough onto a well-floured surface and divide in half. With a floured rolling pin, roll each half into a large rectangle, about 18 inches long. Spread each rectangle with 1/3 of the icing. Roll up into a log from the long side. Cut each roll into 9 sections (about 2 inches each). Place cut rolls into a greased 9x13 pan (my roll was only 16 inches long so I did 8 sections) It might be a little squishes but that's ok, you could use a larger pan or two small ones. Let rise until doubled. 

5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

6. After final rise, bake rolls for 25-30 mins or until golden brown (the more squished they are in the pan the more time will be needed for baking). Allow to cool slightly before frosting with remaining icing. 

These freeze well. 

Cinnamon Buns

So I've never really been a big cinnamon bun person, mostly I think because a lot of them are dry or heavy. But lately I've been craving them and wanting to make a batch.  I've made different ones before...I have one for sticky rolls that are so very yummy....but couldn't remember which I had made of this kind, so I found some new recipes and did my own thing. These turned out so soft and yummy. Like Cinnabon quality if you like those. I like my cinnamon buns so soft they are almost gooey in the middle and with the warm icing on top....oh my word! The key to good cinnamon buns is warm ingredients not straight out of the fridge. You can make these and put them in the fridge over night as well to bake up in the morning. 

Yes these are worth a try. Recipe adapted from Lovely Little Kitchen. 

Ingredients

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast (1 packet)

2 Tbsp warm water

1 cup warm milk (warm up in the microwave but don't let it get too hot)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg beaten

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp butter or margarine melted (but not too hot)

Approx. 1 1/2 cups flour (in addition to previous)

For Filling: 

1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2-3 Tbsp cinnamon

For Frosting: 

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup or 4 oz (half a brick) or cream cheese softened

Approx 3 cups of powdered sugar 

add enough milk or half and half to make it a creamy spreadable consistency. 

(this does make lots so you might have left over frosting if you don't like a lot)

Directions

1. Pour the yeast into a large bowl, (I used my kitchen aid with the bread hook attachment). Pour warm water over the yeast and stir to dissolve with a hand whisk. 

2. Pour warm milk over the yeast. You want all your liquid ingredients to feel warm but not hot. 

3. Stir in the sugar and beaten egg. 

4. Add 2 cups of flour and salt, and then mix well but not too much. 

5. Pour melted butter in, and mix. 

6. Add another cup of flour in and see how the dough is. You don't want it too dry and stiff, It should be a little bit sticky and just pulling off the sides of the bowl. Add flour a little at a time until it is like this. 

7. Cover the bowl and allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 hours. (I put my dough in the over with the proof setting. If you don't have this just turn the oven on for a little bit while mixing the dough then turn it off cooling a bit and putting bowl inside -make sure the oven is not too hot though or simply cover and put somewhere warm in your home. 

8. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Be careful not to use too much flour but enough to keep from sticking to surface. 

9. You can use a rolling pin and roll the dough out if you wish making sure to use flour as needed. Or I just use my hands flattening and grabbing the edges and pulling carefully into a rectangle so dough is about a 1/4 inch thick. 

10. Smear your softened butter all over the dough getting right to the edges. Mix the sugars and cinnamon together in a small bowl and sprinkle onto of buttered dough. 

11. Starting with the long edge of the rectangle, roll the dough up. 

12. Holding the ends of a piece of sewing thread in each hand carefully scoot it  under the rolled up dough placing it in the centre. Then coming up and around the dough cross your hands and cut the dough. I like using this method better than using a knife which is tricky when you have soft dough. You'll want to make 12 pieces so cut each half in half and then 3 pieces on each half of that. (hope that all makes sense..haha) 

13. Place each piece into a greased 9x13 baking dish. 

14. At this point you can cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge overnight or raise for another hour in your warm place again. If you do the overnight thing, when you take them out in the morning you'll need to place them somewhere warm and raise for about an hour. They will raise a bit overnight as well. 

15. Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Place the baking dish on the center rack and bake for about 24-27 mins. The tops will be golden brown. 

For Frosting: Put softened butter and cream cheese in a bowl and mix with beaters well. Add powdered sugar half cup at a time mixing well in between, scrapping the sides when needed. Once you get most of the sugar in add some half and half to get a creamy spreadable consistency. You can add sugar or half and half to your liking of sweetness. You can add a tsp of vanilla as well if you would like. 

Spread over warm (not hot) rolls. Enjoy! 

Mini Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

This is a recipe I have used for years that I got from my sister Karen. I started doing mini muffins when my kids were younger for their lunches and we just just kept doing them that way even though they are older.. because ..well.. I guess they are just more fun that way. 

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 choc chips (you can use mini or reg size)

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup milk

1 cup mashed banana (about 3)

In a medium sized bowl add all of the dry ingredients and mix together. In another medium bowl add all wet ingredients and blend together. Add wet ingredients to dry ingreds and just stir until all moistened. 

Use cooking spray to grease muffin tins. I use a cookie scoop to measure out each mini muffin but it's approx. 1 tbsp. You can use muffin liners and make the bigger muffins if you wish. 

Makes approx 44 mini muffins.