Streusel Muffins - total time 40 minutes

Cinnamon sugar!  I love it!  I was seriously in heaven at all of the bakeries in Switzerland... streusel everywhere!  Okay... I was pretty much in heaven at every European bakery we stopped in while on vacation, but streusel is something I can make at home (I still plan on making those Italian Nutella tarts someday).  

These muffins are somewhere between a muffin, a cupcake, and a doughnut.  They are a little too sweet (and maybe a little too much butter) to be considered an ordinary breakfast muffin.  This is definitely a treat.  Pair it with some fresh fruit for breakfast, add it to your brunch buffet lineup, or as a sweet snack to satisfy that annoying sweet tooth.  Since I love cinnamon, there is cinnamon throughout... even in the muffin!

You know, cinnamon has several health benefits including many antioxidants and having anti-inflammatory properties, so it can keep you healthy.  Too bad sugar and butter aren't health foods too!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins - total time 45 minutes

Banana bread muffins used to be something I baked pretty frequently.  I always bought bananas and never seemed to eat all of them before a few turned "extra ripe".  Every time I would tweak the recipe... add cinnamon, mix in some brown sugar, a little lemon zest... I would bring some over to my grandma and she would tell me if it was a good tweak or if something was missing.  Then we would talk for an hour or more about random things.  She always had a good story to tell, even if I had already heard it seven times it was still fascinating.

Over Thanksgiving my dad wondered aloud where I got the cooking and baking gene from.  Definitely not from my parents; they will fully admit to that.  It is completely from my grandma who taught me so much.  Who cooked and baked from scratch nearly every day.  Who showed me how to garden and how much fun it could be.  Who inspired a craft project one hour and timed me in my math tables the next.  Who taught me how to be thrifty and appreciating what I have.  Who had a kind heart, but knew when tough love was needed.

After she passed, I didn't bake banana bread muffins for a while...  I have only made them a few times since then and it brings back those happy memories every time.  It's just one of those things that will always be connected.  I brought out my recipe card, stained with butter grease and smashed banana... and made one tweak. 

As we celebrate the holidays, do you have a tradition that has passed down over generations that reminds you of specific friends or family members?  If you are looking for a banana bread recipe, this one is pretty basic.  Maybe it could become part of your family tradition.  All I know is this recipe is grandma-approved... :)

Stuffing Muffins - total time 45 minutes

So one time in high school, I made a box of Stove Top stuffing and ate the whole thing for dinner!  Ick!  Just think of all the sodium and preservatives in that heaping plate.  I wasn't even a big fan of stuffing... I was just hungry and that was the easiest thing to make.  I avoided stuffing for years afterward...

Fast forward to today and I still can't eat Stove Top... but homemade stuffing, now that is a different story.  Using artisan crusty bread with fresh vegetables and veggie stock makes this side dish stand out.  I wanted to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal this year... turkey with sage and rosemary, buttermilk mashed potatoes, green bean casserole... and of course stuffing.  I also wanted to have a bread basket, whether it be rolls or croissants... but there are already so many carbs involved in Thanksgiving.  So bake the stuffing in a muffin pan and... voila... you get both!  Stuffing in perfect individual serving sizes that can be passed around in a bread basket, no serving utensils required.

Earth Day Muffins - total time 45 minutes

Earth Day is April 22nd.  Do you do anything to celebrate?  Some people plant a tree (well, they might do that on Arbor Day which is April 26), others spend time outside (which is a win-win since you don't have to use electricity to enjoy the outdoors), or maybe commit to reducing, reusing, and recycling more.  I don't really do anything special on Earth Day... really, we should be thinking about the Earth and celebrating it everyday. But this year I made Earth Day muffins!

I actually saw a similar idea for this on Pinterest, although it was a cake with a lot of food coloring.  I thought maybe I could muffins with some natural coloring... but I couldn't get to a true blue or a true green without a little help.  The concept is pretty easy... start with a basic muffin batter, separate, add in your blue and green fruits and dyes, then plop alternating spoonfuls of muffin batter into muffin cups.  They end up looking so cute!  Perfect for Earth Day, but could be made any time!

Cheesy Chard Biscuit Poppers- total time 45 minutes

Weekend mornings are the best!  You get to sleep in and everything is at your pace, so I can make whatever I want for breakfast and not be worried about time.  Pancakes, eggs, bacon, french toast, breakfast sandwiches... mmm, I love breakfast foods.  Lately even weekend mornings seem a bit rushed, so this morning I took full advantage of my laid back schedule and made some cheesy chard biscuit poppers.  The remind me a little of the biscuits you get at Red Lobster (I assume they still have those, I haven't been to Red Lobster in years).  It is really hard to stop popping them in your mouth... yum!

2 cups swiss chard, chopped and steamed
2 eggs, remove one yolk
1 cup creme fraiche
1 cup flour
2 tbsp parm, shredded
2 tbsp butter, melted
2 oz. brie
salt and pepper

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop chard and steam stems for four minutes.  Add chopped chard leaves and steam an additional four minutes.  Lay chard out on kitchen towel to absorb moisture.
2.  Beat eggs together, add creme fraiche, and melted butter combine.  Mix in flour, salt, pepper, and parm.
3.  Fold in chard and brie.  Spray muffin cups with olive oil.  Divide dough among cups.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Muffins - total time 40 minutes

Summer berries are my delicious; raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries.  Yum!  I love them plain, but they are great  in desserts and 

6 oz. cream cheese

.25 cup butter

2 eggs

1.5 cups sugar

2 cups flour

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup raspberries

1 cup chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix together cream cheese and butter.  Add sugar and beat until whipped.   Add eggs and vanilla.  Combine dry ingredients and add to bowl a little at a time.

2.  Gently stir in the raspberries and chocolate chips.  Spoon into muffin cups.  Bake for 22 minutes.

Cinnamon Swirl Banana Muffins - total time 40 minutes

I love bananas and cinnamon sugar, so this combination made sense to try... and it is delicious!  Essentially it is basic banana bread with a cinnamon sugar swirl in the middle,  then topped with cinnamon sugar like the Baked Doughnuts I love to make.  I took them into work and they were gone quick (100% sell thru).

3 ripe bananas

.333 cup butter

.5 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 cup flour

.25 sugar & 2 tbsp cinnamon for cinnamon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mash the bananas in mixer, add butter and sugar and beat together.  Add egg, vanilla, and baking soda.  Slowly add flour while mixing.  In a separate bowl, combine cinnamon and sugar.

2.  Pour batter into muffin cups, about .333 full.  Add a pitch of cinnamon sugar on top of the batter.  Add more batter and another pinch of cinnamon sugar.  Bake for 30 minutes.

3.  Melt two tablespoons of butter in bowl.  Dip top of each muffin in the butter and then the remaining cinnamon sugar.  Enjoy!