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Since the boys have been born baking is the main means of keeping some "ME" time and therapeutic and satifying. Now when do I this while having a day job and and take care of 2 boys? Its the wee hours of the morning when all are asleep and while on mommy standby.
So here's my first bake blog..... have been looking for a worthwhile vanilla muffin to bake and found this recipe which I adapted and changed some:
Cranberry and Cream Cheese Muffins
makes: 12 Muffins
time it takes: 1-1.5 hours
(incl. prep and bake time)
~ 50g cream cheese
1 lemon zest
2 tablespoons sugar (for cream cheese)
3 tablespoons sugar (for batter)
50g dried cranberries
200g unbleached pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
75ml sunflower oil
1tsp vanilla powder
Cream Cheese Topping
Mix cream cheese, lemon zest and 2 tablespoons of sugar. The lemon give it a nice zesty taste. I try to use organic stuff where possible so I use Organic Raw Sugar. Keep this aside
Muffin Batter
Mix the dry ingredients sifted flour, sugar, baking powder, vanilla powder. Then add eggs and oil and mix well. The batter will turn out a little bit doughy like but not to worry that's what you are supposed to get. I find it easier to mix with a wooden spoon. Add and mix the cranberries. Then place the batter in muffin containers. Make an indentation in the middle of each muffin and plop the cream cheese on top.
Bake
Preheat the oven about 175 C. And it then it takes about 20-25 minutes to bake the muffins
Outcome
It turned out nice! You can't go wrong making this. The muffin had a nice crust on the outside like a crusty scones but soft in the inside. It tasted good too but it do with either more cream cheese or sweeter.
Verdict
will i make it again? ~ absolutely! nice change from the healthier regular muffins I make. And I like the crust outside the muffins and I like that slight crunch and softness of a muffin.
what will i change? ~ I was afraid it may be too sweet thus lack of sugar. The recipe above is good if you are looking for a tinge of sweetness. But for a sweetooth you will want to add more sweetness to the batter. My next experiment for this recipe is to see how to incorporate healthier ingredients ;) hhhmmmm... maybe some wheatgerm... millet....
