What could be better then a smell of freshly baked muffins in the kitchen?

You can never lose with this recipe!

Classic blueberry muffins

By voloshyna, February 20, 2013

• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
• Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:

• soft unsalted butter (room temperature) - 1/2 cup
• all-purpose flour - 2 cups
• white sugar - 1/2 cup
• brown sugar - 3/4 cup
• eggs - 2
• milk - 1/2 cup
• baking powder - 2 tsp
• salt - 1/2 ts
• fresh blueberries - 1 1/2 cups

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour muffin pan or better use paper cups for muffins. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add milk and flour mixture. Beat until combined, be careful to not overbeat the batter. Stir in blueberries. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Winter it’s a perfect time for this handmade ginger candies. This candies are chewy and spicy. You need only three ingredients to make this delicious treat and it could be a nice small preset for the winter holidays.

Sugar ginger candies

By voloshyna, November 24, 2012

• Total Time: 01h 15min
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 01h 10min

Ingredients:

• fresh ginger - 1/2 pound
• white sugar - 1/2 pound
• water - 2 cups + 1/2 cup

Instructions:

At first you need to prepare ginger. Peel and slice the ginger roots trying to keep the slices approximately 1/8-inch thick and no greater than 1 inch in width. Put the ginger slices into a small saucepan and pour 2 cups of water. Boil for about 40-50 min until ginger becomes soft. It helps to make ginger less spicier. Meanwhile you need to make a sugar syrup. In a small sauce pan mix together 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water. Cook stirring until sugar is completely dissolve. Add soft ginger and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat. Stirring constantly, cook the ginger until the liquid is almost gone and the slices are soft and transparent. Drain ginger slices and  place each piece in a bowl of granulated sugar and toss, finishing each candy slice with a light sugar coating. Place on a sheet of parchment paper until completely cool. Store ginger candy in an airtight container.

Autumn – it is the best time for a pumpkin recipes. Here in US I became a huge fan of pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread. So today I would like to present you my newest discover – maple pumpkin squares.

Moisture pumpkin squares

By voloshyna, October 17, 2012

Ingredients:

• pumpkin pure - 1 cup
• eggs - 2
• vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
• water - 1/4 cup
• white sugar - 1 cup
• brown sugar - 1 cup
• all purpose flour - 3 1/2 cups
• baking powder - 1 tsp
• salt - 1/2 tsp
• dried cranberry - 1/2 cup
• ground cinnamon - 1 tsp
• ground ginger - 1/2 tsp
• ground nutmeg - 1/2 tsp
• hot water - 1/2 cup
• maple syrup - 1/2 cup
• orange zest - 2 strips

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour 9х13 oblong pan. In a large, bowl combine the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended.  Then combine with the dry ingredients and cranberries, do not mix too thoroughly. Pour in the prepared pan. Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Cake are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Turn out of the pan and let your cake cool on a rack. Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan combine water, maple syrup and orange zest, bring to a boil. Cook for a 3-5 min and let to cool. Then pour the syrup on your cake, leave for a 2-3 hours

Such cookies I ate recently at one restaurant in Los Angeles. That was the most delicious cookies I’ve ever tried. Of course I didn’t get a recipe, but by experiment, I found the ideal combination of ingredients. My cookies turned out just the same like in that restaurant. You will need only 30 min to cook it. Best to served this cookies with walnut ice cream or sweet cream dessert.

The best cookies with almond and caramel (in 30 min)

By voloshyna, July 26, 2012

• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 15-18 minutes

Ingredients:

• softened unsalted butter - 3/4 cup
• brown sugar - 2/3 cup
• white sugar - 1/4 cup
• eggs - 1
• all-purpose flour - 2 cups
• almond extract - 1 tsp
• baking powder - 1 tsp.
• sea salt - 1/2 tsp.
• toffee chips - 1/2 cup
• sesame - 2-3 tbs.

Instructions:

Beat softened butter with the sugar, about 1 minute. Add egg and almond extract. Beat until the mixture becomes creamy. Mix flour with baking powder and sift into the creamy mass. With wooden spoon, knead the dough. Add salt and caramel, mix it again. Preheat oven to 180 C. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop out a wooden spoon of the dough and place them on baking sheet 4" apart. Each cookie sprinkle with a pinch of sesame seeds on top. Bake for about 15-18 minutes. Transfer on a wire rack to cool.