Sunday in the Kitchen - Easy Cinnamon Pecan Muffins

Breakfast is the hardest meal of the day for me since I discovered my body has a definite dislike of dairy - which means that even though I can tolerate baked goods with an egg or two in the recipe, I can no longer eat plain eggs, egg sandwiches, etc.

Imagine breakfast with no eggs and no milk...not something I ever thought I'd need to worry about.

Enter breads and muffins. My saving grace in the morning. I'm finding muffins are the easiest to make and I enjoy them.

Here's what I'll be eating this week for breakfast - Enjoy!

Cinnamon Pecan Breakfast Muffins

1 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour

1/2 Cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

1 egg (slightly beated)

1/2 Cup milk

1/3 Cup butter or margarine (melted)

A handful of pecans (chopped and optional)

Cinnamon & Sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 12 muffin cups or use paper liners (For some reason when I make this recipe I NEVER get 12 muffins - I always end up with only enough to fill 11 cups.)

In a medium bowl mix all the dry ingredients. In a small bowl add the wet ingredients. Add wet to the dry and mix until combined - dough will be stiff. Fold in the nuts.

Spoon the batter into the muffins cups and sprinkle the tops with some cinnamon and sugar. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

Serve warm and enjoy!

And while you're enjoying the muffins, here's my hot links for the week:

Looking for a great motivational story about self-publishing success? Here you go!

On the Writing Coach...6 questions/6 rules

Suffering from writing burnout? Looking to get back some fire? Try this post on Rebecca T. Dickson's blog

And since I'm now pretty much leading a dairy-free lifestyle...I've found the Dairy-Free Diva to be a great blog - go check her out!

Now...go have a great day!

Blueberry Corn Muffins

This time of year I love to make fresh muffins in the morning, they just seem to made for those crisp Fall days. (Okay, I lie...I love a good muffin anytime of the year!) I know I should probably watch all the carbs I love so much, but who can pass up some bready goodness with that first cup of coffee?

Another plus to whipping up a quick batch of muffins at home is that I won't be tempted to stop on the way to work to buy an over-sized, over-priced, calorie buster of a muffin at any of the popular places that otherwise call my name as I drive by. Yes, I am weak-willed when it comes to a good muffin. LOL

With the above in mind, I'm always on the lookout for easy (and semi-healthy) muffin recipes and I found this one in the Weight Watchers Meals in Minutes cookbook that's been sitting on my shelf now for more than 20 years (OMG!)

Blueberry Corn Muffins

1 Cup - less 2 tablespoons - uncooked yellow cornmeal

1 Cup - less 1 tablespoon - all purpose flour

1/4 Cup granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon PLUS 1 teaspoon double acting baking powder

1 Cup skim or non-fat milk

1/4 Cup vegetable oil

1 Egg

1 1/2 Cups fresh or frozen blueberries (no sugar added)

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

1 Tablespoon brown sugar, firmly packed

Preheat oven to 400. In mixing bowl combine cornmeal, flour, sugar and baking powder. In another bowl combine milk, oil and the egg, mix until blended. Add wet ingredients to the dry. Stir until blended (do not use blender or over mix.) Fold in blueberries..
Spray muffins cups with non-stick spray. Fill each cup with equal amount of batter (about 3/4 full) and bake on center rake for 15 minutes. Remove and brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Return to over for another 5 minutes.
Remove from over and cool on wire rack.

Enjoy!