3 Ingredient Pumpkin Swirl Muffins

Okay, these don't look the greatest, but they taste pretty good! You only need three ingredients, DATS IT. The recipe was found on Pinterest :) The thing is that the cake part is hard to tell when it's done, because the cake batter was light and airy so it almost seems cooked already! I think I baked mine for about 10-15 minutes. 

Ingredients: 
1 box Yellow Cake Mix
1 15 oz. can Pumpkin 
2 cups any kind of spread (Nutella, Cookie Butter, Biscoff, etc.) I used the Speculoos and Cocoa spread from Trader Joe's 

Just mix the cake mix with the pumpkin really well. Scoop into a muffin tin. Then put a teaspoon of your spread into the batter and swirl it in. Bake at 350 F for about 10-15 minutes for the mini muffins. If you bake it in a cake pan then it will probably be 35-40 minutes.

If you have faith as a mustard seed..nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20

We have the idea that God rewards us for our faith, and it may be so in the initial stages. But we do not earn anything through faith— faith brings us into the right relationship with God and gives Him His opportunity to work. Yet God frequently has to knock the bottom out of your experience as His saint to get you in direct contact with Himself. God wants you to understand that it is a life of faith, not a life of emotional enjoyment of His blessings. The beginning of your life of faith was very narrow and intense, centered around a small amount of experience that had as much emotion as faith in it, and it was full of light and sweetness. Then God withdrew His conscious blessings to teach you to “walk by faith” (2 Corinthians 5:7). And you are worth much more to Him now than you were in your days of conscious delight with your thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tested and tried. And the real trial of faith is not that we find it difficult to trust God, but that God’s character must be proven as trustworthy in our own minds. Faith being worked out into reality must experience times of unbroken isolation. Never confuse the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, because a great deal of what we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive. Faith, as the Bible teaches it, is faith in God coming against everything that contradicts Him— a faith that says, “I will remain true to God’s character whatever He may do.” The highest and the greatest expression of faith in the whole Bible is— “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15).   [Utmost.org]

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins- skinnier version

The only thing tip I have for this recipe is to make sure you start out at 425F for the first 5 minutes. It gives the muffins the first boost to give them a nice rounded top. Then lower it down to 350F for the rest of the baking time. These are a little bit "skinnier" than my other recipes because there's no butter! Woohoo and not much sugar. But they are plenty sweet. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

MUFFINS

• 3 ripe medium bananas, mashed with no chunks
• 1/4 cup honey 
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk 
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 1 and 3/4 cups all purpose flour (to be healthier you can use wheat)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

OPTIONAL

• 1/3 cup chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Line a 12 muffin pan with baking cups.

In a medium bowl, use a hand-mixer to beat bananas. Make sure there are no lumps! Add the honey, brown sugar, greek yogurt, egg and beat. Then add milk and peanut butter. Finally mix in the vanilla. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Without overbeating, add in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then fold in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups practically all the way to the top. You want to make it so that it's practically full. Bake for 5 minutes at 425F degrees. Keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350F and continue to bake for 12 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Top with a drizzle of peanut butter if you'd like :)

Recipe and all credit goes to: Sallys Baking Addiction

Mini Zucchini Bread Muffins- 3 flavors!

Happy Thursday!

Zucchini bread is one of those things that you can enjoy, while being "healthy". Or...at least a lot more healthy than other baked goods. Who would have thought putting a squash into bread would have tasted good, but it's all the extra cinnamon and chocolate and nuts and SUGAR that gives it that yumminess. Today was my day off from class, but of course I will be in lab for a couple of hours to catch up on work. On days that I get bored or just need a break, I have this urge to bake! The weird thing about me is that I love to bake, and I like sweets, but I love giving out my baked goods to people to eat. Mostly because it makes people happy! But also because I can't afford so much fat and sugar -.-

 Here's a great recipe that uses greek yogurt...i will almost add greek yogurt to anything, because it just makes everything light and moist :) It's the best secret ingredient. The 3 flavors i made are: Peanut butter, Chocolate Chip, & Classic Walnut. Enjoy!

The lineup

Wet + Dry Ingredients

How to easily peel a zucchini!

Walnut batter =P

Chocolate chips yummm

Everyone loves PB...like come on!

The three batters

Peanut buttery goodness...

DISSECTION!

These are fun little muffin liners I found at Daiso!

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chip (semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Oil and flour 24 cup mini muffin tin. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, oil, greek yogurt, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Don't overmix!
Split batter into 3 bowls. Stir in zucchini and chocolate chips, peanut butter, or nuts into each separate bowl until well combined. Pour batter into prepared muffin pan.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Banana Red Velvet Muffins

We always seem to have almost spoiled bananas floating around the kitchen. This is the reason why I'm constantly making banana recipes! Anyways, here's a super simple red velvet recipe that'll make you feel a little better because there's fruit in it.... :)

Ingredients!

Melted chocolate! It's harder than it seems...it's important to not get the chocolate too hot when you are microwaving it, or else it will burn!

The wet ingredients

I need a kitchenaid...

Smooth & creamy is what we are looking for!

Be messy!

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Semi-sweet Chocolate baking bar
• 2 oz. Unsweetened Chcolate baking bar
• 1 1/4 cup All Purpose flour
• 2 tsp. Baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 3 whole very ripe Chiquita Bananas (peel should have brown flecks), roughly mashed
• 3/4 cup Granulated sugar
• 2 large Eggs
• 1/2 cup Canola oil
• 2 Tbsp. Red food coloring
• 3/4 cup low-fat Buttermilk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins with paper or foil cups.

For the Muffins:
In a small, microwave-safe bowl, break chocolate into small pieces and melt in the microwave on high power for 45 seconds. Stir. If un-melted pieces remain, continue microwaving and stirring the chocolate in ten-second intervals until it is all melted and smooth; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, combine 2 whole bananas, granulated sugar, eggs and canola oil. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes. Carefully beat in melted chocolate and red food coloring. Gradually blend in flour mixture alternating with buttermilk. Divide batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 5 minutes. This gives the cupcakes an initial boost to make the tops more round. After 5 minutes, switch the oven to 350 F for another 10 minutes. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into one of the center muffins comes out clean. Cool cupcakes to room temperature.

Recipe adapted from: Chiquita Bananas

These muffins turned out to be super moist! It must be the buttermilk... And there's only a slight banana flavor so it's not too healthy tasting :) 

Crunchy Almond Granola Banana Muffins & the start of a new chapter

Let me just start off by saying that God is good. Like REALLY good. He never fails, he has the most perfect timing and anything that I ever worry about is always taken care of. It's pretty ridiculous how much I doubt God and how blinded I am by His working and presence in my life. But before I get to all of that, I tried out a new banana bread recipe..I call it Crunchy Almond Granola Banana Muffins. 
** Sorry for the terrible photos...lighting in my apt is not so great :(((**

Mix up all the dry ingredients: Sugar, flour, baking soda, salt!

Get an arm workout from mashing bananas..

Try and find plain or vanilla greek yogurt! I used peach because they didn't have vanilla or plain :(

mixing in progress

scoop em up!

Start sprinkling granola on top!

these are way addicting...

*Makes 48 mini muffins* 

Adapted from Shopgirl Blog

YOU WILL NEED:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used peach because they didn't have plain)

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 large bananas)

about 2 cups of Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Granola

DIRECTIONS:

1. Begin by preheating your oven to 350 deg F, and spray your mini muffin pan with PAM. In your electric mixer bowl, combine the eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla until you get a smooth mixture. 

2. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients into the wet, and mix until they are well combined. Add in the mashed bananas and Greek yogurt and mix. DON'T MIX TOO MUCH!!! IT'LL MAKE THE BATTER TOUGH! JUST MIX UNTIL WELL COMBINED. Sprinkle the granola on top of each muffin. Pour the batter into your prepared tin, and bake for about 10 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for a couple of minutes before eating.

Orientation week has been crazy and long. The beginning started out to be fun and exciting, but pretty soon I started getting all of these doubts in my head from Satan that I was too young to be here, that maybe I should have taken a year off, or gone to a different school. After praying for awhile about it, God clearly answered me by providing me with friends that I think will be with in all of this with me for the next four years. Also, in my morning devotions, he reminded me that He doesn't tell us to go through radical situations on our own. In Genesis, Abram was told to pack his bags and leave to some foreign land. 

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s householdto the land I will show you.2 “I will make you into a great nation,    and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,    and you will be a blessing.[a]3 I will bless those who bless you,    and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth    will be blessed through you.”

I don't know about you, but if I were Abram, I would be a stress-ball. Kind of like I was about starting dental school. God promised Abram, and the same promise is for us too. He called Abram into relationship with Him and calls us as well. His promise assures us that when He gives us a radical command, we are journeying forth NOT alone but WITH God, who is leading us. The blessing includes what we still seek: a place to live and thrive, the security of community, prosperity & prominence. These things aren't acquired on our own but are gifts from God: a divine grace, a divine blessing. Reading this passage just reminded me that I'm here at 'SC with a lot of challenges to come my way. It's crazy that I'm here right now, but God has me here for a purpose, and He is journeying with me. I have nothing to worry about!  I have no doubt that I am at the right place at the right time, and when God calls me elsewhere I am ready.
When people ask me why I want to be a dentist, I have an answer for them. Finally.... I used to hate it because I knew people would just assume that I wanted to be a dentist because both my parents are dentists. And I can't lie and say that they didn't influence me in some way. In fact, they probably are the ones that swayed me into this field. But now that I'm here, I've gained a much greater appreciation for this field, and I've been able to take it as my own. The only reason why I want to go into the health field is to travel overseas and use these skills that God has given me to bless His people. I can't express how awesome it is to see the work that God is doing in other countries. But that doesn't mean I have to be a dentist to do it. The health field is all I know, I've been around it my whole life. I don't need the Dr. title or anything else, but I think God has me in dentistry for a reason, and not medical or nursing or pharmacy. Hopefully, I will discover the reason why later. As for now, I wouldn't care if I was in any of these fields because I KNOW that God could use me...in fact, he could use me in any field, as long as I surrendered to Him. I hope that I can instill this mindset into my classmates as I go through these next 4 years. To minister to my classmates, to pray for my patients, to learn people's stories and tell my testimony to them, to be humble and glorify only GOD with my achievements. THings are going to get rough pretty soon..but I know God is always faithful, even when I am not.