Still have zucchini from your garden? Thinking about Fall? This baked treat is a perfect combination.

I was having thoughts of Fall this weekend. Fair season is starting up and all things pumpkin will be here before we know it! However, I'm still in full on zucchini mode over here, so my search for a combination of the two led me to this recipe.

I added a few spices and cinnamon chips to bring on even more Fall flavor. These muffins are super moist, and are going to be the perfect comforting treat for those long work and school days this week.

Here is what you'll need:

• 3 eggs
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups shredded zucchini
• 1/2 cup cinnamon chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 24 muffin cups with baking spray, or alternately line with cupcake liner, and set aside.

Combine eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until well combined.

Add dry ingredients to bowl of stand mixer. Mix on low until just incorporated.

Add zucchini and cinnamon chips to batter and mix until incorporated.

Pour evenly into muffin cups (approx. 1/3 cup per cup). Reduce oven to 325F degrees and bake for 22 minutes, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean (or with a few crumbs, but no batter). Remove from oven and tilt each muffin in it's muffin cup to cool. Makes 24 muffins.

Alternately, you could bake this in 2 loaf pans for 50-60 minutes.

Source: Adapted from Spend with Pennies

I'll be honest, I was pretty stumped with what to make. Does that mean I don't have a happy place? Can't be so. I think the issue is narrowing down to 1 pick. I decided on these Harvest Muffins.  I'd say one of my most happy places is being outdoors during the harvest season. Whether it's strolling through a country fair, picking apples, taking a drive to see the colorful leaves or sipping something warm by a bonfire, being outdoors during harvest season always makes me happy.

These muffins were fantastic! If you're looking for something fairly healthy and just slightly sweet, here's your match! Additionally, they have little flecks of color and crunchiness, and a warm spicy smell and flavor. These are going to be a great grab-and-go breakfast for this week!

Be sure to check out Newlywed and Newly Cooking for this month's What's Baking round-up.
Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• pinch of ground cloves
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 shredded carrot
• 1 shredded apple
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup Splenda Brown Sugar Blend
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk
• 1/4 cup flax seeds
• 1/8 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine flours, baking soda, baking powder and spices in a large mxing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine shredded zucchini, carrot and apple.

In a small bowl, combine, eggs, brown sugar and milk. Whisk until well combined. Add egg mixture to shredded vegetables and fruit. Stir until well combined.

Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until almost combined (mostly wet, but a few dry spots). Add flax seeds and cranberries, and fold until combined being careful not to overmix.

Evenly distribute among pre-greased muffin cups (~1/4 cup batter in each cup). Bake for 12-14 minutes until browned and toothpick inserted comes out clean. Serves 12.

Source: Adapted from Shrinking Kitchen

It's What's Baking time and this month the host is Lindsay of Peace, Love and French Fries. I'll be honest, when I first saw this month's theme I audibly declared "NO!" It was the feared ingredient of many, and if you haven't guessed yet, the theme was "Baking with Yeast."

"Baking with yeast" is not a response you'd hear from me if you were to ask me what I was doing in the kitchen on any given day. Nope. However, I have used it a few times in the past, notably for pizza dough (which reminds me that I need to get that recipe posted soon).

I suppose there was no better time to stretch myself past pizza dough than this month. Without further adieu, I bring you Wheat English Muffins which I can say I had fun making!

First Rise

Kneaded, Ready to Roll

Cut to Size

Second Rise

First Side on the Griddle

We have English Muffins!

I'm the English Muffin lover in this house, it's my bread of choice for breakfast sandwiches. JR will only eat them if there is no other bread to choose from, and if they say "wheat" he'll opt out of breakfast sandwiches all together. When I asked him if he was going to try these he said of course, and after finishing the first one asked for another with peanut butter and jelly. I guess it's safe to say these are good and there was no need for him to know they were of the wheat variety!

Be sure to check out Peace, Love and French Fries for the round-up, and be sure to check back here next month for another round of What's Baking hosted by ME!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 1/4 cups milk 
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 warm water
• 1 package of dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 Tbsp shortening, melted
• corn meal for dusting

Scald (click here to learn how) milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Add salt and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and allow to cool to lukewarm.

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk mixture to water mixture. Add 1/2 the flour, sifted, 1 cup at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition. Add melted shortening and mix well. Add remaining flour, sifted, 1 cup at at time, mixing well.

Lightly grease a second large mixing bowl. Place dough in greased mixing bowl. Lightly brush with water. Cover with plastic wrap. Allow to rise 2 hours in a warm place until doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Knead a few times to form a dough ball. Roll dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or glass about 3-4 inches in diameter, cut out English muffin rounds.

Sprinkle corn meal on a baking sheet. Place English muffin rounds on baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 45 minutes.

Lightly grease and preheat griddle to 300F. Place English muffin rounds on griddle (corn meal side down) and cook for 10 minutes. Flip and cook second side 10 minutes. Move to wire rack to cool completely.

After they are completely cooled, they can be frozen in ziplock bags. Makes 15+ (depending on diameter).

Source: Adapted from Weekend Cook

JR and I both had a busy Saturday ahead of us so since I woke before the alarm, not unusual, I wanted to prepare something we could eat before we heading out. The truth is, I wanted to prepare something that JR would eat rather than leaving on an empty stomach. We only had 1 egg and we had eaten our share of oatmeal and fruit breakfasts during the week, so I turned to my muffin cookbook (in my quest to actually cook from my cookbooks) and thumbed through for recipes requiring only 1 egg.

The first recipe in the book happens to be a basic muffin recipe. Perfect. I adapted the recipe to include whole wheat flour and decided on a strawberry lemon flavoring. Good strawberries are starting to appear at our grocery store now and I'm able to get 2 lbs for less than 1 lb normally costs. As you can imagine I've been buying them up like crazy.

To finish off the muffins, I topped them with a simple lemon glaze. JR and I both enjoyed these for a weekend morning treat. The addition of the glaze was perfect because the muffin itself is not overly sweet. My mind is already churning with ideas for other flavor combinations.

Here is what you'll need:

For the Muffins:

•  1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 3/4 cup chopped strawberries
• 1 tsp dried lemon peel

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease 12 cup muffin pan and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Make a hole in the center of the ingredients.

In a small bowl, combine egg, milk and oil. Add to dry mixture and mix until just combined, being careful not to overmix.

Add strawberries and lemon peel, and stir into batter.

Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. Bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

For the Glaze:

• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice

During the last few minutes of baking, combine sugar and lemon juice.

After removing the muffins from the oven, drizzle 1 tsp glaze over each muffin top. Allow to cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Makes 12 muffins.

Source: Adapted from The Muffin Book

Have you heard of Wheatena? I hadn't either until last year during one of my Weight Watcher meetings when a fellow member was talking about a different option for breakfast. The following week I looked for it and now I'd like to recommend it to you as a different option for breakfast. I love the nutty flavor, and just like oatmeal, you can mix in whatever you'd like; dried fruit, diced fresh fruit, nuts...

Or you could make muffins, these muffins. While I may have erased some of the benefits of eating this cereal, I still feel better eating these for breakfast rather than these Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (this doesn't mean I still won't eat one for breakfast every now and then!).

This recipe originally called for orange flavors, but I have a lot of grapefruit that I'm looking to use up and I thought the tartness of grapefruit would balance the honey and brown sugar. It sure did. While the grapefruit flavor is just barely present, I wasn't disappointed because the nuttiness released from baking won me over!

Here is what you'll need:

• 1 cup Wheatena
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp grated grapefruit peel (from ~1 grapefruit)
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 dark honey
• 1/2 cup grapefruit juice (from ~1/2 grapefruit)
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

Preheat oven to 400F. Place cupcake papers in a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just moistened.

Evenly divide batter into muffin pan using a 1/4 cup measuring cup (it's actually just a little less than 1/4 cup each muffin).

Bake 15 minutes or until browned on top. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes. Remove and serve warm. Makes 12 muffins.

Source: Adapted from Wheatena

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and set aside.

Using a mixer, blend butter, sugar and eggs until light and fluffy. Add salt, flour and baking soda and mix until just combined. Be careful not to over-mix.

Add bananas, almond and vanilla extracts, and mix until combined.

Add chocolate chips and stir by hand until combined.

Evenly distribute batter among the 12 muffin cups. Place in oven and bake 25-30 minutes.

Source: Slightly adapted from Cooking with Ivy Drive

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, however, it seems that Summer is starting to wind down (at least in my area).  I know that there is still time for it to come back strong, but while it's cooler I'm taking advantage of this opportunity to bake.  I miss baking.  Call me a wimp, but I just cannot handle baking in the heat of Summer.  I hope to make up for it now.  This is the third baked good I made in the past 2 weeks.  Unfortunately my first two won't be posted here, at least not until I can figure out what went wrong.

These muffins came about because I started straying from eating a good breakfast.  This is a problem; I need good fuel for brain power throughout the morning.  So early one morning I searched for a muffin recipe.  After realizing all the recipes I was finding called for milk, which I was out of, I almost lost hope.  However, I thought I must have a can of coconut milk in the pantry.  That would work, right?  The reviews of this basic oatmeal muffin recipe lead me to believe that indeed it should adapt well.

Now I had to think about how to flavor them.  What compliments coconut?  I had fresh strawberries and peaches, frozen blueberries, black raspberries and bananas, but none of these sounded right.  I wanted something a bit more tropical.  Lime would work, but that didn't seem like enough, so I took a chance on adding ginger.

The aroma while these baked was heavenly!  The flavors complimented each other really well.  These were a great breakfast option for me, full of good-for-you ingredients.  I will caution you that these are not sweet, but I hope that doesn't stop you from giving them a try.

I made several changes to the recipe which are included here:

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup agave
• zest of 1 lime
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup dried shredded coconut 
• 1 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

In a large measuring cup, measure coconut milk.  Add oatmeal and allow to soak 15 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, combine egg, oil, agave and lime zest.  Add oatmeal mixture and combine.

In a large mixing bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt.  Add coconut and ginger.  Add wet mixture and stir until just combined.  Do not overmix.

Divide batter evenly among a 12 cup muffin tin.

Bake 20-25 minutes (mine came out at 20 minutes) until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Makes 12 muffins.

Our niece recently came to stay with us for a long weekend.  I wanted to have something for her to snack on after her long train ride, as well as something to grab as a breakfast treat.  I knew I wanted to incorporate jam in some way since I've had an obsession with it lately; there are so many interesting flavors at the stores and farmer's markets!

I remember years ago having what I remember to be jam filled corn muffins so I started searching for a recipe and came up with this one from Cooking Village.  While it's not a corn muffin, I was equally happy with the result!

I made 2 varieties, blackberry and lingonberry.  As you can see, the lingonberry preserves didn't work well.  It was too thin.  Instead of sinking into the muffin, it spread over the top and spilled onto bottom of my oven.  I recommend using a firmer gelled jam, so that you aren't cleaning your oven in the middle of summer...

Let's talk about the blackberry ones since that worked worked well.  I loved the way the jam buried itself in the middle of the muffin.  It was perfectly distributed and allowed for a bit of sweet jam in each bite.  I think our niece like them too because they were gone by the end of the weekend.

A couple pieces of advice: read the instructions all the way through first!  I didn't and missed out on the sugar topping.  Also, I'd put a baking sheet under my muffin time next time, just in case!

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp jam
• 1/4 cup sugar divided 

Preheat oven to 400F.  Grease a 12 cup muffin tin or use cupcake liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and 2 Tbsp sugar, and mix well.

Add egg, oil and milk and mix well until just combined.  Do not overmix.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.  Place 1 tsp jam in the center of each muffin.  Sprinkle the tops with remaining sugar.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins.