Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oat Muffins (Guest Post-Chocolate, Chocolate and More)

Today, I'm excited to have Joan Hayes from Chocolate, Chocolate and More back here at Carrie's Experimental Kitchen as a Guest Blogger. I've known Joan for quite some time now through our foodie world and she is such an amazing person, besides being one of the most talented bakers I have had the pleasure to get to know. Last July, she sparked a ton of interest with her recipe for Cinnamon Swirl Bread (which my family LOVES!) and today she is going to share her recipe for these Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oat Muffins.  Do you see the drool running down my face???!!!

Take it away Joan!

Hi all, I'm Joan and I blog over at Chocolate Chocolate and more. I live in small town Georgia and love being able to stay at home, volunteer at my children's schools and have dinner on the table most nights for us to all sit down and review our days together. It's getting a little harder each year as the kids get older and have more activities dragging them in different directions but dinner is still a special time in our house and for that I'm thankful.

I'm so happy to be guest posting for Carrie. She was one of my very first bloggy friends and has always been so supportive of everyone she comes in contact with. I love all her recipes and her cookbook is amazing. I was thrilled when Carrie sent me my copy and I've got so many pages dog-eared with recipes I want to try.

I'm mainly a sweets maker, although I also love making breads. There's just something about kneading dough by hand that I find therapeutic.  As you can tell by the name of my blog, I do have a special affection for chocolate. If I could live off of chocolate alone, I think I would. Sadly I can't and there are so many other wonderful treats out there to bake up. Variety is the spice of life right?

Muffins are one of our favorite breakfast foods. Since I'm not a morning person, I love that I can make muffins, pop them in the freezer and then the kids can grab one or two before school. Just put them in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds and it's just like they came out of the oven.

Chocolate Chip Cranberry Oat Muffins

1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup quick oatmeal
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup oil (I used vegetable)
3/4 cup dried cranberries
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1. Combine flour, oatmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, beat egg and add buttermilk and oil, beat again to combine. Stir in buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients until completely moist.
3. Fold in chocolate and cranberries.
4. Spoon into 12 paper lined muffin tins and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes, just until tops begin to golden.
5. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve warm or store in airtight container once completely cooled.

*Nutritional Information per Muffin: Calories 302, Carbs 43.7g, Fat 13.9g, Protein 3.1g, Fiber 2.4g, Sugar 27.6g

*Calculations based on ingredients entered into CalorieCount and may not be 100% accurate.

You can find me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Google +

Thank you for another incredible recipe Joan! My kids are literally looking over my shoulder begging me to get up from this computer and make them...NOW! :)

If you like what you saw here today, she has plenty more where that came from! Please visit her website or head over to VoiceBoks, where Joan was nominated for one of the Top 10 Food Blogs and cast your vote!

Enjoy!

Guest Blogger-Cinnamon Swirl Bread from Chocolate, Chocolate and More

Good morning! I hope you have enjoyed all of the Guest Bloggers I've had here for you over the last several weeks. They really outdid themselves, didn't they! Today's post is the last one until I return so please join me in welcoming Joan from Chocolate, Chocolate and More to the blog today, I'm so glad she's here and wait until you see what she has for you! 

Let me introduce myself, I'm Joan, wife of Derick, mama to CJ, Cassie and Grace. We live in a small Georgia town where everyone knows everyone. We have 4 traffic lights, I did say it was small, didn't I? I love it, strangers still watch out for your kids in the neighborhood or at school events. Kids, I think, are better behaved ( if they do something wrong, I'll know about it before they get home). Yes ma'am and no sir are words that come naturally to everyone. And the food, everyone cooks, a lot of the ladies cook from "scratch."

My favorite job however is baker of all yummy things! I firmly believe that chocolate makes everything better.  The smell of something baking in the kitchen can completely change an attitude. Knowing that some sinfully delicious dessert is at the end of dinner will make a boring, same old thing, I don't want to eat this dinner (guess what, I really didn't feel like cooking and that's why you have to eat this), worth it. I bake from a box, I bake from scratch, I love to try new recipes, and I love recipes that came from someone else!  I believe strong family values are built around food. It doesn't really matter the value we are talking about, what matters is that you have them, nurture them, respect them. 

Food is the binding element. In my house, we have dinner, every night, together, around a table (usually ours) with the television off. (We even ignore the phone if it rings.) We eat and we ....TALK. About whatever. No one can get by with silence, I want to know what's going on in my children's lives, at school, around the neighborhood, with their friends, good or bad, we talk. Growing up, I didn't have this but I wanted it, so...we have it. To be fair, my oldest has just started high school so school events haven't been a big interference in our dinner schedule but we will deal with it when it happens. 

Joan Hayes

http://chocolatechocolatemorechocolate.blogspot.com/

I so thrilled to be here at Carrie's. Carrie was one of my first "foodie friends" when I started blogging and I fell in love with her and her "healthy recipes." Healthy food doesn't have to be boring and tasteless, or require   odd ingredients. Sometimes it takes just the right combination of simple ingredients brings out the natural flavors. Carrie is an expert at finding these combinations. You really should try Carrie's Basil Lime Pecan Pesto Stuffed Pork Chops or the Flank Steak stuffed with Brie and Zucchini. Thankfully, Carrie also has a sweet tooth, just like the rest of us so she's got a Vanilla Almond Pound Cake that would be perfect with any fresh fruit you have, for any season or even with a cup of coffee for a perfect afternoon snack. 

Carrie also shares my love of bread making. Baking bread is a great way to get kids into the kitchen and with the right recipe, they can get hooked on fresh from the oven bread. That's why I decided to share with you a simple Cinnamon Swirl bread that not only tastes incredible but is fun to make. The base for this bread is the same as my Simple White Bread. I switched out some of the all-purpose flour for some wheat flour to make it a bit healthier (really what happened was I ran out of all purpose.) I think the wheat flour actually enhanced the cinnamon. 

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

3/4 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon shortening

1/2 cup milk

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup wheat flour

1 tablespoon butter, melted

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

In your Mixing bowl, combine warm water and yeast. stir until yeast is dissolved.  Add salt, sugar, shortening and milk, stir just till combined. The shortening will still be lumpy.

Add first 2 cups of flour, combine well, then slowly add enough of the 3rd cup until the dough starts to chase the beater, pulling away from the sides of the bowl.

Remove dough from bowl onto floured surface. Knead dough until no longer sticky, 5-10 minutes. (you can let the mixer do the kneading but I think by hand is more fun.) 

Place in a greased bowl and turn dough over to completely coat dough. Cover with a light dish towel and allow to rise until doubled, about an hour. Punch down dough with fist, then remove from bowl onto a floured surface, knead again for 3-5 minutes. Shape dough into a long log then roll out so you have approximately a 8 x 18 rectangle. 

Brush dough with melted butter, making sure to get to edges. Combine 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon then sprinkle evenly over dough. Starting from short end of dough, closest to you, start rolling the dough up. You want to keep the roll as tight as possible, using your fingers to tuck the dough in as you go. Once rolled, place loaf in a greased loaf pan, seam side down. Cover with cloth and let rise for 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Just prior to baking, using a sharp knife cut 2 slits in the top of your loaf.  Bake for 25-35 minutes depending on your oven. You are looking for a dark caramel color but not burnt looking.

I usually double my recipe so we can eat one loaf fresh out of the oven then enjoy the second one for breakfast the next morning.