Power-Packed Muffins

Hello there, and welcome to The Sweetest Years' first official baking post!

This evening's recipe comes in modified form from"The High-Energy Cookbook" by Rachael Anne Hill. After an eventful Thursday night in Atlantic City, my husband and I left the land of five-dollar black-jack tables, stretchy pants and very big hair, and spent a relaxing Friday evening in to make some of my favorite power-packed muffins. They are good for week-day mornings when breakfast is a "grab and go" event, or even healthy enough to snack on during the day.

Here are the ingredients you will need for 12 muffins:

1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 cup unsweetened muesli
1 cup all-purpose white flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 pinch of salt
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/3 cup of honey
1 large egg

 When I first came across this recipe, I thought to myself: This looks delicious! What is muesli?

So, I went to the source any savvy law school student frequents when confused...Wikipedia, of course. Here, I learned that muesli has quite an interesting history. It is a popular breakfast dish made from uncooked oats, cornflakes and dried fruits, and was first introduced by a Swiss physician in the early 1900's who served it to his patients for its healthy qualities. It's the star ingredient of this evening's muffins.

Preparation time: The cookbook states that the preparation time is 12 minutes, but for the domestically challenged, give yourself at least 20.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Gather the dry ingredients, including the dried fruit, muesli, flour,  baking powder and salt, and combine them in a large mixing bowl.

 3. Combine the wet ingredients, including the unsweetened apple juice, vegetable oil, honey and egg  and combine them in a medium sized mixing bowl.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and be sure not to overmix.
5. Scoop the mixture into a lined muffin pan and, pop into the oven & bake for 20 minutes, until   golden brown and risen.

6. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

 

7. Cut in half and share with your baker's helper!

The Sweetest Year Begins

Hello, all!

Firstly, thank you for visiting. Blogging is a new endeavor for me, an experiment in sharing my experiences with all of you through pictures, recipes and musings on how to wear your leather jacket outside and your favorite color block apron inside.

After days of rumination, I decided to call this blog "The Sweetest Years". I married my best friend just a month and half ago and know that I am in the midst of the sweetest years of my life thus far. The title is also a play on words as I have been teaching myself how to bake savory, scrumptious and sweet treats for family and friends. Be forewarned that until quite recently, I was lacking in any sort of traditional domestic ability. My husband still tells the story of the first time he watched me make spaghetti. I was the only person he had ever seen actually burn pasta, literally igniting the straw like strands on the rickety gas stove of my old Greenpoint, Brooklyn apartment. I have since learned how to keep the pasta in the pot and have committed myself to becoming a well-adored baker of all things delicious.

Follow my trials and tribulations here, and join me on a journey in which I lean to use all of the things I so optimistically placed on my registry...and received. Here goes!

Cheers,

A.