Marmite Muffins - #MuffinMonday

I opened the jar and stared at the dark coloured contents. I took a deep breath. Oh sure, I was being dramatic. But the contents of the little jar sitting in front of me are polarizing. Love or hate. And most say that those who love it, acquired the taste. I did not have time to acquire a taste. It was this or nothing. I was going to make muffins with Marmite.

I'm not going to lie to you, if you don't like Marmite, these muffins are not for you. I could have added more cheese. I could have used less Marmite. Hidden that very bold Marmots taste. But that wouldn't be in keeping with the theme of my year and the theme of this month's Muffin Monday. Leap of Faith.

I went all in.

I still don't know how I feel about Marmite. At this point, I neither love it or hate it. I was wary when I first bit into a muffin. But I happily took the next few bites. Maybe I'm already acquiring a taste for Marmite? I better. That tiny jar was pricey!

Here's to a year of taking leaps! Be sure to check out all the other muffins today.

Marmite Muffin
Ingredients
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 oz cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
2 tablespoons Marmite
Cayenne pepper
Directions
Whisk together flour and baking powder. Add the grated cheese and toss to evenly distribute.
In a separate bowl, whisk milk, oil, egg and Marmite.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Divide among 10-12 muffin wells. Bake at 425F for 5 minutes, lower heat to 350F for another 13-15 minutes.

Notes
Add more cheese!! Sprinkle tops  with cayenne or paprika and cheese

• Berry Mango Swirl Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Brown Sugar, Pistachio and Garam Masala Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Carrot Muffins from Kelli's Kitchen
• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins with Cardamom Browned Butter from The Spiced Life
• Marmite Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Prawn and Curry Leaf Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Rosewater Banana White Chocolate Muffins from Making Miracles
• Spinach, Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

Lentil Molasses Cookies - Crazy Ingredient Challenge

Some months the winning combination for the Crazy Ingredient Challenge is not only easy, but far from crazy. Other months, I am left scratching my head until the 19th of the month. This month's winning combination is lentils and molasses. It sounds simple enough but I had absolutely no clue what to make. It didn't help that I had a busy few weeks and not much time to research. Finally, on Thursday night, I started brainstorming with a friend. Fortunately and unfortunately, he is a chef. He had amazing drool-worthy ideas. But some were way beyond my skill set. While for others, I just did not think that I would have time to pull it off.

I got cookies stuck in my head and decided to go with that. As is, this is not the complete dish that I had envisioned. But since I literally just pulled these cookies out of the oven, and need to publish this post within the next thirty minutes, the remaining components will have to wait. Hint: There will be ice cream and bourbon. Yes, I know. I'll get around to it tomorrow. I promise. Well, I hope.

So here I go again stuffing beans where they don't belong. I assure you once again, you do not taste the lentils at all. The molasses and spices overpower any subtle taste that the lentils would impart. All you are left with is a cookie that has a bit more fibre and protein than normal. Note that I did not say healthy. There is still a lot of sugar to go around. But if you want to tell yourself that they are healthy, go ahead. I'll eat them for breakfast with you.

I have no idea what the other Crazy Ingredient Challenge bloggers made this month and I am really looking forward to it. I am crossing my fingers that someone made some form of lentil balls in a molasses-barbecue sauce because I need a recipe! Be sure to scroll down to check out those links in the link-up below. Also, we are always looking for members to join us on this crazy journey so please, join us!


Lentil Molasses Cookies (adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod)
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for rolling the cookies
1/2 cup lentil puree (see notes)
1/4 cup molasses
1 egg
2 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Cream together butter and the sugars until smooth. Add the lentil puree, molasses and egg and mix until well combined.
Whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt then add to the wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour. It's a very sticky dough.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Roll tablespoon sized balls into sugar then place at least two inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are set. Allow to cool for a couple minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

Notes

The lentil puree should be the consistency of canned pumpkin puree. A good ratio is to 1 cup of cooked lentils to 4 tablespoons of water. Blend thoroughly but it is OK if there a a few pieces of whole lentil still visible. Add water by the teaspoon if necessary to adjust the consistency.
Since the dough is sticky, it helps to spray your hands with cooking spray or drop the tablespoon into the sugar and use the sugar to prevent it from sticking to your hands.

An InLinkz Link-up

Carrot Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Glaze - #BundtBakers

For this month's Bundt Bakers, Lauren chose cinnamon as the theme. I love cinnamon. LOVE IT. But I just couldn't think of anything to make. Nothing seemed good enough or interesting enough. I've been busy with a project over the last few weeks and it's sapping my creative energy. I barely have enough time to do regular activities of daily living much less scroll through FoodGawker to drool and be inspired. No bueno.

So I'm admitting it. Baking a carrot cake is a cop out. But you know what, I had a million pounds (give or take 999,998 lbs) of carrots that needed to be used so it was the best decision practically. And let's face it, there can never be too much carrot cake. Plus there's that awesome glaze. I already know I'm going to use it as the filling for my celebration cake in April. I have no idea what the other flavours will be though.

My fellow Bundt Bakers gave this theme there all though so definitely visit all the cinnamon bundts. There's a lot to drool over.


Carrot Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

Ingredients
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrot

Glaze
56g cream cheese, softened
14g butter, softened
90g powdered sugar
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
milk as needed

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-12 cup Bundt pan.

Whisk together the sugars, oil and eggs. In a separate container, whisk together the dry ingredients then stir them into the wet ingredients. Fold in the grated carrots.

Pour into Bundt pan.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Cool completely before glazing.

For the glaze, cream together the cream cheese and butter then add the powdered sugar and cinnamon. I put a range for the cinnamon as you may want to taste and adjust it. Add milk by the teaspoon until you reach your preferred consistency.

Note
This isn't my favourite carrot cake. It's delicious and I may have eaten half of it yesterday. But I love Emeril Lagasse's recipe more than this one. It has more fat and more carrots and is more moist. Since you can't have too much carrot cake, I may make Emeril's next Monday. I'll have to see if it can hold up well in a Bundt pan.

• Apple Cinnamon Bundt by Tammy at Living the Gourmet
• Carrot Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Glaze by Kelly at Passion Kneaded
• Cinnamon Apple Bundt Cake by Christiane at Taking on Magazines
• Cinnamon Apple Jelly Donut Cake by Colleen at Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Kathya at Basic N Delicious
• Cinnamon Bundt Coffee Cake by Lauren at From Gate to Plate
• Cinnamon Chocolate and Strawberry Cake by Deepti at Baking Yummies
• Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake by Renee at Magnolia Days
• Cinnamon Crown Cake by Stacy at Food Lust People Love
• Cinnamon Dolce Coffee Bundt Cake by Felice at All That's Left are the Crumbs
• Cinnamon Espresso Bundt with Chocolate Ganache by Amanda at The Cinnamon Scrolls
• Cinnamon Pecan Streusel Bundt Cake by Lara at Tartacadabra
• Cinnamon Roll Bundt by Margaret at Tea and Scones
• Cinnamon Swirl Bundt by Sue at Palatable Pastime
• Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Bundt Cake by Bea and Mara at I Love Bundt Cakes
• Cinnamon Toast Bundt by Jane at Jane's Adventures in Dinner
• Cinnamon Toast Bundts by Olivia at Liv for Cake
• Mexican Chocolate Bundt Cake by Mondo at I Bake He Shoots
• Monkey Bread Bundt by Wendy at A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pumpkin Spice Toffee Bundt Cake by June at How to Philosophize with Cake
• Red Tea and Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Mary at Los Chatos Chefs
• Six Pound Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake by Rebekah at Making Miracles
• Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake by Teri at The Freshman Cook
• Strawberry Cinnamon Rolls Bundt by Priya at I Camp in My Kitchen
• Sweet Cinnamon Spice Tea Bundtlettes by Lauren at Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Tea Chai Bundt Cake by Rocio at kidsandchic
• Tunnel of Cinnamon Bundt Cake by Laura at Baking in Pyjamas
• Walnut Schnecken Bundt Cake by Tux at Brooklyn Homemaker

 You can see all our of lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about #BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Welsh Cakes - #BreadBakers

I have been doing a lot of traveling lately. I've missed two things so far - a specific large supermarket chain and the sun. I never appreciated the brilliant South Florida sunshine until now. Bleak winter mornings may look great in a stylistic picture but they are just not for me.

For this month's Bread Bakers, Anshie challenged us to make griddle breads. I chose to make Welsh Cakes which are like a cross between a biscuit and a scone. They're slightly sweet thanks to the sugar, dried fruit and an optional dusting of powdered sugar. Mine are a bit on the small side since the only make shift cutter I had is two inches in diameter. Make them whatever size you like best.

Look below the recipe for other griddle bread recipes.

Welsh Cakes (adapted from BBC Good Food)

Ingredients
225 grams flour

85 grams sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
100 grams butter, cold
50 grams raisin
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons milk, more or less may be needed


Directions

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, mixed spice and salt. Cut the butter into cubs then cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Stir in the raisins and the beaten egg. Add just enough milk to form a fairly stiff dough.

Roll out the dough approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut out 2-3 inch rounds.
Heat a skillet or griddle over medium-low heat. Lightly grease the pan and cook the Welsh cakes until lightly brown on each side. It helps to cook one first just to see how long it will take. Adjust the heat as needed.

Serve warm with a bit of powdered sugar.

• Amaranth (Rajgira) Paratha from Herbivore Cucina
• Cheese and Potato Gözleme from Cook's Hideout
• Corn Pancakes from Magnolia Days
• Cornmeal Griddle Cakes from Noshing With The Nolands
• English Muffins from La cocina de Aisha
• Fruity Hemp Seed Pancakes from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Griddle Scones from Hostess At Heart
• Homemade Corn Tortillas from Kylee Cooks
• Lachha Paratha - Indian Layered Flatbread from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Masala Poli - Spicy Potato Masala Stuffed Poli from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Masala Roti from Sneha's Recipe
• Paneer Kulchas - Griddle Fried Cottage Cheese Flatbread from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Paruppu Poorana Poli from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Peanut Butter and Apple Griddle Cakes from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Phool Makhana Parathas (Puffed Lotus Seeds Parathas) from Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Saffron Unleavened Bread from Kidsandchic
• Satpadi - Spiced Griddle Bread from Spiceroots
• Scallion Pancakes from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Sourdough English Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spicy Loli - Breakfast Flatbread from Food Lust People Love
• Spinach and Feta Gözleme from Spill the Spices
• Stacked Apple Arepas from The Schizo Chef
• Staffordshire Oatcakes with a Bacon & Cheese Filling from Ruchik Randhap
• Stove-Top Muffins (Diphaphata) from Wholistic Woman
• Swedish Polar Bread from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Vitumbua (Coconut Rice Pancake Balls) from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Welsh Cakes from Passion Kneaded
• Yeast Raised Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Pastry Chef Online

 #BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.