Savory muffins egg surprise

You can call it a savory muffin, you can call it a vegetarian scotch egg, or even portable breakfast, but these easy to make treats are as delicious as they are pretty. Read on for the recipe on how to make them and what variations I've tried so far.

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One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it comes together quickly, in only one bowl. I grate the zucchini on the coarse side of the box grater so it doesn't turn to mush, then squeeze it thoroughly. The carrot goes on the fine side and doesn't need squeezing out quite as much - I used white carrot in this batch as you can see below:

The recipe makes 12 regular muffins, or 8 egg surprise muffins (portable breakfast). I like it make it half and half, that way everyone can get their favorite version - 4 egg filled and 6 regular muffins.

The nutritional yeast gives the batter a cheesy flavor, you can sub in 1/4 cup of finely grated cheese instead if you prefer. I do love the cheese sprinkled on top for both flavor and texture.

More detail coming soon :) 

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Savory muffins (egg surprise)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup coconut milk
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup finely grated carrots
• 3/4 cup coarsely grated zucchini, squeezed
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• handful of grated cheese
• Optional: 4 or 8 eggs, see notes

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a muffin pan with paper liners or parchment.
2. If you want to make the scotch egg/egg surprise version, boil the eggs until whites are set and middle is very creamy, see notes. Cool completely.
3. In a large mixing bowl, add eggs and whisk for 15 seconds. Add applesauce, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, baking powder, baking soda, salt and whisk well to combine.
4. Add carrots and zucchini and stir a few times.
5. Add oats and whole wheat flour; gently mix until combined. Do not over mix.
6. For plain muffins, distribute batter evenly among 12 cupcake liners. For egg surprise muffins, scoop a spoonful of batter into each of 8 liners. Place egg on top, press slightly, then spoon enough batter on top to just cover the egg on all sides. I like to make half and half (4 egg muffins, 6 plain from one batch.
7. Sprinkle cheese on top, to taste. A sharp cheese like cheddar, fontina or parmesan works well.
8. Bake in the preheated oven 24-26 minutes until golden and set. Add 3-5 min if you prefer your egg yolk to be cooked through
9. Enjoy warm, or cover and store in fridge, then reheat slightly before serving.

Notes

• To cook the eggs for including in the recipe, follow these simple steps: bring water to a boil. Gently lower the eggs in the water, and set a 5'30" timer. When timer is up, immediately cool eggs in either running cold water or a bowl of ice water. Let cool then peel carefully as they're very soft inside.
• I love a runny yolk, but it's best served warm from the oven. To keep a runny yolk, chill the eggs in the fridge before peeling and encasing in the muffin batter to bake. For a semi-set yolk, cool to room temperature after boiling and use directly. For a well cooked egg, leave in the oven a few exta minutes.
• You can use whole milk and/or regular all purpose flour in the recipe.
• Cheese is optional, but adds a delicious flavor and great melty crust on top. It also tends to prevent the muffin batter from splitting over the egg, which causes uneven cooking

Marbled cantaloupe muffins

I love nothing more than returning home from a trip to a clean house, and especially a clean kitchen - which is why when we're gone from home for more than one night I work my way through everything in the fridge through meal planning, then use up or prep for storage all remaining perishables. Many kitchen experiments are born this way, included these scrumptious breakfast or anytime-snack muffins.

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I've never used cantaloupe in baking, but I said to myself, why not? It's like a sweeter, softer zucchini, should work ok, right? I also had some banana left over from another project so I used that up as well (necessity is the mother of invention) and the flavor combination of the two fruit is quite a pleasant surprise. The banana, along with a bit of applesauce, replaced a good portion of the oil/butter normally required in a zucchini bread list of ingredients and helped lighten up this treat.

First step of prep is to grate your cantaloupe on the large side of a box grater - if yours is as juicy ripe as mine, you'll get a lot of juice in addition to the fruit shreds. Drain the juice and reserve for a different application. What I did with mine was freeze it in a wide glass container, then scrape it up with a fork for quick and delicious natural snow cones! If using banana, mash it and have it ready, you can mix it with the applesauce since they get used together a bit later.

Next, mix your dry ingredients - this is important to ensure even distribution of spices and leavening agents as well as eliminating any clumps from your flour. I like weighing out my flour to ensure proper measuring as density can vary greatly based on how long it's been sitting in a container, how it's scooped and so on. I used cinnamon and powdered ginger, but any combination of warm spices you enjoy would work well here. Or leave them out and use a bit of extra vanilla too if you're not a fan of cinnamon. Also, don't forget the salt! A little goes a long way but it's essential in accentuating flavor.

Whisk the eggs, oil and vanilla extract until frothy, this helps incorporate air into your batter already and makes it easier for the baking powder/soda to raise the muffins during baking. Then add mashed banana, applesauce and cantaloupe and stir until incorporated. Fold in dry ingredients until just integrated, don't overstir so you don't develop too much gluten and end up with gummy muffins.

If you want a touch of chocolate flavor/marbled effect, fill your prepared muffin tins halfway with the mix at this stage, reserving 1/6th of the batter in the bowl. Stir a couple of tbsp of cocoa in the remaining batter and divide among all the muffins, swirling with a toothpick to mix slightly into the top. Alternately, you can skip the cocoa and just sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips on top of each one, my kids really dig chocolate chips in just about anything. Or sprinkles, always sprinkles. 

Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked through and springy on top, a toothpick should come out clean. Enjoy slightly cooled or at room temperature. These store well in an airtight container in the fridge for several days.

Apple cake donuts

Baked donuts are an easy prep-ahead breakfast option, I love how easy it is to play around with the recipes for flavor variations and the end result is a portable and customizable breakfast treat. When I got this link to an apple loaf cake recipe I knew I had to make it into a donut, that makes dessert appropriate for breakfast, right? 

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My usual weekday routine used to involve rolling out of bed last minute, hopping on a long bus ride then waking up as we arrived at the office an hour later and only then getting my morning dose of caffeine and whatever breakfast was available at the cafe. As working from home became the new normal, I found a few things that work well for a balanced but quick at home breakfast - quiche, baked donuts and sourdough toast. All the baking can take place ahead of time and in the morning it's as easy as warming up the goodies, putting some yogurt and fruit alongside on the plate and enjoying a filling and satisfying meal.

I adapted the original recipe for a lighter, more balanced version that would not spike my blood sugar early in the morning and give me a steadier energy input to start the day. I reduced the sugar and replaced it with maple syrup - the maple gives a flavor boost as well, which compliments the apples beautifully. I also replaced the oil with applesauce, it works to maintain good moisture in the crumb while keeping it light. Finally, more fruit and more spices, because that's really the best part after all.

The process is your very basic mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, fold together until just incorporated. The wet ingredients are an opportunity to incorporate a bit of extra air into the batter, use a whisk or hand mixer to whip an egg with 1/4 cup of maple syrup until lightened up a bit, and thoroughly mix in 1/4 cup of applesauce and 1 tsp of vanilla. You can add finely diced apples and pears in the wet ingredients at this point, but I find that can cause uneven texture and sticking to the donut form, so I like holding them off and pressing them into the top instead. I've tried doing apples with nectarines, but stone fruit may be too wet for this recipe, so unless you have a firm peach on hand you're better sticking to all apples, all pears or a combination of the two.

Whisk together 1 cup of all purpose flour, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder and warm spices (I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cardamom and 1/4 tsp cloves) in a separate bowl. Make sure the baking powder, salt and spices are well mixed in with the flour so they get evenly distributed with the wet ingredients. Fold into the dry ingredients until just incorporated, don't overmix so you don't get a tough crumb. Distribute batter evenly among 6 greased donut forms (you can use a greased muffin tin instead if you prefer).

Toss the diced fruit with a bit of extra spices (I used cinnamon and cloves) just to coat them with some additional flavor, then press into the top of each donut. Bake in the preheated 350F oven for 30-35 until springy and cooked through. Let the donuts cool for 5-10 minutes in the pan before taking them out and letting them cool completely on a wire rack. Glaze right before serving to prevent sogginess.

One glaze I tried was as tasty as it was simple - sour cream mixed with a dash of maple syrup. While the maple ties in with the flavor of the cake, the sour cream coats the donut nicely while offering a tart counter note. More recently, tempted to try it out by the very very ripe mango on my counter, was an even simpler one - I blended the mango until smooth and light, then passed it through a sieve to remove some of the more stubborn fiber. This was, on its own, the perfect texture and flavor for a glaze. Spoon or drizzle over the apples, or dip the rounded bottom of the donut directly in it for even coverage. Delicious!

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Apple cake donuts

 Ingredients

• 1 eggs  
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cups apple, peeled and diced  
• 1 cup pear, peeled and diced
• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 1/4 tsp cloves

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 6 donut pan (or muffin tin if you only have that on hand).
2. Beat egg, maple syrup, applesauce, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until smooth. Here, you can add some of the apples in, but I like to save them for the top.
3. Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and spices in a separate bowl; add to wet mixture and stir just until evenly combined into a thick batter. 
4. Divide batter evenly in prepared pan (I got ~52g in each form).
5. Toss apples and pears with a touch more cinnamon and cloves, then divide among the 6 donuts and press in to embed in the batter.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes until cooked through and golden on top
7. Cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
8. Drizzle or dip in glaze just before serving.
   
   

Notes

• I've tried two kinds of glaze and I really enjoyed them both: sour cream with a dash of maple syrup is fantastic and offers a great tart contrast to the soft sweet apple. Also, even more simply, blending a mango until smooth makes a great fresh glaze to apply at serving time - kid approved too!
• I truly love the apple+pear combination (shoutout to my friend who suggested using pears!). I've tried apple and nectarine, but the nectarine was too wet and it prevented the donuts from springing properly. You can do all apple or all pear for the diced components.
• While folding fruit in the actual batter creates a creamier texture and can work, I found that it can also stick to the bottom as the fruit caramelizes and can affect the portability of the donut, so I prefer to press them on top.
• For an extra dose of caramelization, you can sprinkle some sugar on top just before baking (demerara would be great for the golden color and larger crystal structure).

Stuffed oatmeal bites

Sometimes creativity involved a long process of iterating on an idea, refining it until it becomes something new. Sometimes, it's as quick as "oh no, my toddler stole that snack right out of my hand, I must recreate it tonight!" 

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This is a story of the latter. I got a care package of single serving snacks from work, which the kids quickly raided for what they saw as the good stuff. I eyed a nice oatmeal cookie that felt soft and light yet creamy and it talked about being apple pie stuffed, yes please! As I finally sat down to enjoy it, the toddler perks up and asks for a bite, then another, then she just takes the rest. Then I thought of these banana oatmeal bars I made recently and they seemed like the perfect candidate to adapt in recreating the oatmeal cookie.

First, I soaked some dried blueberries in hot water - I wanted a fruity filling but didn't want to invest the time to cook down apples for a proper pie-like filling. I'll probably revisit this later and post an update with results. Then I mixed all the ingredients together, it's as easy as that - banana for creaminess, nut flours as both binders and earthy notes, a dash of maple and vanilla for flavor and flax+chia seeds for texture. The cinnamon and cardamon recreated the apple pie aromas throughout, you can add some nutmeg or allspice instead of the cardamom if you prefer. A dash of salt is essential for any baked good, don't leave that out! 

Preheat the oven to 350F and prepare a mini muffin tin - I wasn't sure how sticky these would get so after spraying each cavity thoroughly with cooking spray I also put a strip of parchment like handles to help lift them out after baking, as you can see in the picture. Use a cookie scoop to measure out even amounts of the mix in the muffin tin, then use the back of a spoon to press it down to fill the bottom snugly. Then, use a small spoon or round measuring cup to create a small dimple for the filling, it makes it easier to seal it in the middle later.

Drain and place the rehydrated blueberries in each of the cups. I also used some left over poppyseed filling in a few of mine just to see how it works (it does! it's delightful). You can use any fruit you enjoy for this or even chocolate ganache if that's the way you're inclined to go - I'd refrigerate the the ganache after this step to harden a bit before topping with the remaining mix.

The remaining oatmeal mix turned out to be exactly 12 more cookie dough scoops, perfect for measuring out equal amounts for the top of the mini muffins! Press down with the back of a spoon again to seal all the edges and fill the cup snugly. Blueberries won't leak out, but the results are so much nicer if they're well moulded together.

Bake these in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes until set. After they come out of the oven, let them sit in the pan for a few minutes to cool slightly and firm up enough to handle, then use the parchment handles to pull them gently from the tin. Let cool completely on a rack to prevent condensation. Look how beautiful these turned out! They make great portable snacks, or put a couple together with some yogurt and fresh fruit for a fabulous breakfast option.

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Stuffed Oatmeal Bites

(Makes 12 mini oatmeal cups)

Ingredients:

handful of dry blueberries (or any other dry fruit you prefer)

1 large banana (125g peeled)

1/2 cup hazelnut flour (56g)

1/4 cup sun flour (32g)

1 tbsp maple syrup

2/3 cups (scant) quick or rolled oats

2 Tbsp ground flax seed (10g)

2 tsp chia seeds (8g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cardamom

a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Put dry fruit in boiling water, let sit covered for 10-15 minutes to rehydrate.
2. Preheat oven to 350F and prepare mini muffin pan.
3. Mash banana until smooth, then add in all the other ingredients and mix until uniform.
4. Scoop half the mix in bottom of the pan.
5. Make an indentation in the bottom on each cup, put fruit (you can mash it if you prefer).
6. Add another scoop of mix on top, press evenly.
7. Bake at 350 for 15 min

Notes:

• Use any dry fruit you enjoy best, or grate/cook down half an apple for an apple pie style filling
• Nut/seed flours can be substituted to taste, almond or walnut flour would work well to replace either hazelnut or sunflower seed flours
• Play with spices you enjoy, any warm spices can pair in a lovely way with banana and maple flavors

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

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This one will be short and sweet (posted upon request) - a little recipe I developed on the fly just last night as I was contemplating the best way to use some leftover zucchini. I didn't want something sweet per se, but definitely chocolatey because I'm a fan of everything and anything chocolate. I eyed the mini loaf pan I've used recently because it gives me more flexibility than a muffin format - both in terms of cooking time and in choosing serving size based on the time of day I reach for it.

I topped this beauty with a sprinkling of chia seeds for a crunch on top, and they helped highlight the beautiful rise it achieved in the oven. You can see how light it turned out by those beautiful and even air pockets. The loaf is very rich in chocolate flavor (just want I wanted from it!) but really not very sweet since the only sugar content is from applesauce. A touch of honey or maple syrup can give you a more indulgent result, - I topped it with a spoonful of ricotta and a bit of cherry jam, home made ricotta would be even better on this!

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Without further ado, here's the recipe:

Chocolate Zucchini Loaf

Ingredients:

1/4 cup applesauce
1 large egg
1 tbsp nut butter
1/3 finely shredded zucchini (about half a medium zucchini, squeezed well)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup flour (see notes)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
a pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F, line a mini loaf pan with parchment paper (this will make just about 3 muffins in a regular cupcake pan, if you prefer).
2. Whisk all the wet ingredients together - applesauce, egg, nut butter, zucchini, vanilla.
3. Mix together all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. Fold the dry mix into the wet, careful not to overmix. Stop when all the flour is moistened! The mix will be quite thick.
5. Spoon into the prepared pan, spread uniformly and optionally top with a sprinkle of chia seeds.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until done (toothpick comes out clean).

Notes:

• This recipe is not very sweet, consider including an optional 1tbsp of honey in step 2.
• I used Nuttzo 7 seed and nut butter because I love the texture, but any nut butter you enjoy can be used.
• I chose a 1:1 replacement gluten free flour, but all purpose would work fine.
• For a richer cocoa flavor, I often use brut cocoa in my baking - it's darker and creamier. I generally weigh it's denser than regular cocoa powder, here I used 30g.

Neto Caffe and Bakery

Location: Mountain View, CA
Cuisine type: American breakfast
Atmosphere: Cafe
Meal: breakfast
Overall score: 7.42

Nina

Dreading the high price, low quality food at Candlestick park, it seemed reasonable to eat something before heading to the NFC playoff game between the 49ers and New Orleans Saints. As luck would have it, we found this neat little cafe on Castro St in Mountain View, just across the street from the Caltrain station. The atmosphere was really relaxed, with smooth soft music in the background and small round cafe-style tables both inside and outside (with heating, too, to combat the chilly morning air). The menu was light, classic coffee shop fare, with a slight middle eastern influence in parts (some kebobs, baklavas etc).
I ordered the ricotta and fresh fruit crepe breakfast, since I always find it hard to say no to a light and tasty French treat, especially when sugar is involved :) The crepes were only mildly sweet, and the ricotta was mixed with chopped fresh bananas and strawberries, which struck a perfect balance. The surprise on this dish came with the sides - I actually got not only the crepes, but also roasted potatoes and a spring greens salad with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette. It appears that these sides came with any breakfast dish, but it was nice to get this unexpected, well composed savory component to my meal.

Food 7
Drinks 8
Atmosphere 8
Service 7
Value 7

Ben

A cafe with a European vibe by the train station on Castro in Mountain View.  Lots of outdoor seating, and a good selection of some good looking breakfast omlettes. We got smoked salmon and bacon omlettes with some fried potatoes and spring green salad. It was a great breakfast while on our way to a 49ers game (definitely provided a solid anchor meal to get us through a day of cheering / drinking / running around SF). There was even a TV playing soccer in the background, and the steady stream of people in for coffee and morning is testament to the overall food quality and pleasant, relaxed environment. 

Food 8

Drinks 6

Atmosphere 9

Service 7

Value 7

Hobee's

Location: San Jose, CA
Cuisine type: American breakfast
Atmosphere: family style dining, retro decor
Meal: breakfast/brunch
Overall score: 7

Nina

Lazy Sunday, early brunch, gift card to local cafe - match made in heaven? I'd think so!

We walked over to this friendly looking cafe down the street from where we live, looking forward to a hearty meal to start out the day right. The restaurant looked inviting and bright, with retro decor which appeared recently revamped. Their menu also looked very promising - some creative combinations with a bit of an edge. I picked the sunny-side up eggs (my favorite preparation, always) with salmon hash, spinach and rye toast. In my head, this would be creamy and tender, and possibly just a touch smoky in flavor - now I realize there really wasn't anything to suggest that the salmon would be smoked. The execution, however, disappointed me a bit. The salmon tasted like it was out of a can, the eggs were undercooked and the hash was a bit greasy. I was putting my hopes in their famous blueberry coffee cake, the description was scrumptious and I couldn't wait to pair that with my cold creamy milk. This was also a bit of a disappointment - instead of the flaky, syrupy and rich texture of a coffee cake, we got this large chunk of a somewhat dry and fluffy cake, with a few blueberries baked in and a large dollop of sugar icing. While this restaurant could provide a solid breakfast in the absence of any pantry essentials at home (or in extreme cases of the Sunday lazies), it fell short of my expectations this time.

Food 5
Drinks 7
Atmosphere 9
Service 8
Value 7


Ben

This is right next to our place and we had to give it a shot. It has the look and feel of a neighborhood classic, and it is actually quite popular place for brunch (no wait time, but most tables were full). They had a great looking menu of a lot of different eggs benedict type dishes, which come with a monstrous blueberry muffin. The food came out looking as good as it sounded, but to our surprise the taste of both of our dishes were pretty disappointing. Most of the vegetables appeared unfrozen from bags, the hollandaise sauce was bland, and half of the eggwhites were uncookied on the sunny-side up eggs. The muffin was delicious, though probably not advisable for anyone on any sort of diet. They were also severely understaffed, and it was difficult to wave down our waitress to take our orders / the bill. 

Food 6

Drinks 8

Atmosphere 9

Service 6

Value 8