Grain Free Blueberry and Lime Muffins

Paleo and me, we’ve been flirting lately.

I’ll go home with some cookies, and then wake up to grain-free muffins.

It’s not such a healthy relationship, but we’re trying to work it out.

I always measure by the standards of my first food marriage, which was not grain free. So if the muffins I make taste as good as the real deal muffins, then they’re worth my time. Don’t waste your time on anything else. You’re far too valuable for hockey puck muffins, and who cares if they promise fancy things like macronutrients.

These are real deal muffins. The kind that will raise your children. Amaya ate three after breakfast.

 

Blueberry and Lime Muffins

makes 9 muffins-- Prep time: 25 min

• 1/2 C Coconut Sugar (you can substitute with regular sugar, if you like)
• 1 C almond flour
• 1/4 C coconut flour
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 C almond milk
• lime zest from one small lime (about 1 1/2 tsp)
• 3/4 C blueberries

1. Prepare a muffin tin by greasing the cups or lining with paper cups. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, mix the coconut sugar, flours, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, almond milk, and lime zest. Mix with a whisk. It will be very thick.
3. Fold in the blueberries with a spatula. Divide the batter into 9 muffin tins. I used an ice cream scoop for this.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes. You’ll see that the muffins have firmed up and have just slight browning around the edges and tops. Serve while hot

Sunshine Paleo Muffins

  Happy New Year to you!

I suppose this means we have to eat healthy again, don’t we?

Sigh.

Gulp.

Slumped shoulders.

I’ve been living up my Christmas Break baking extravaganza (I won’t even tell you how many Lilikoi pies I’ve made and how many cinnamon rolls I’ve eaten) and maybe I’m just trying to make myself so sick that I’ll be happy as a clam to give up all good food  really not good for you food for… a month. At least.

But I can’t just give up baking completely.

These are normally called “Morning Glory” muffins. There are a million versions on the internet. I kind of like mine the best because I’m not super into chunky nuts, but I like raisins in the right proportions.

They don’t taste like normal muffins. I won’t lie to you. They’ll do in a pinch, and especially if you are the kind of person who normally eats nine muffins in a sitting and are trying to be the kind of person that only eats one.

Ok, two.

FINNNNNNNE, I’ll have another one, but only if you stop looking at me like that.

Bake a bunch, save a few. They’re great for snacks when you need something to grab.

Sunshine Paleo Muffins

makes 11 muffins

• 1 Cup sweet potato, cooked and mashed
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 C honey
• 1/4 Cup applesauce
• 2/3 Cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
• 2/3 Cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 Cup raisins or cranberries or dried cherries or none at all, if you prefer
• 1 1/2 Cups almond flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of nutmeg
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• coconut oil, for greasing the muffin cups only

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Wipe the inside of a 12 muffin tin with coconut oil.
2. Whisk together the sweet potato, eggs, and honey in a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir together until combined.
3. Scoop the batter into the muffin tin cups with a standard sized ice cream scoop (about 1/4 C per muffin).
4. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from tin and serve.    

Open Faced Breakfast Sandwich

I only had eyes for Christina at the Hawaii Food and Wine Festival in September. 

Oh, yes, we’re totally on a first name basis. And I told her she was my rock star.

She is as gracious in person as she is in her book.

I lurked around her table. I barged in on people at a nearby table and pretended to look around. I was the most obvious stalker possible. She was a total professional. A few of the slow poached eggs broke before they could be served and she sent them back to be redone. I haven’t figured out how to make these eggs—I’ve tried twice—but this is the second time I’ve gotten to eat them and they are even lovelier than I remember.

I’m a girl that’s squeamish about uncooked egg white but slow poached eggs, done in the shell and then broken and slid out right before consuming, are creamy, even though they appear underdone. The yolk is the perfect temperature and bursts like a little sun. I’ve said before that she’s a genius with salt in her recipes. I watched that genius in action. She’s not afraid of salt; she pinched it up and made it rain.

My heart sang, “Let me wash dishes for free in your kitchen. You don’t have to share your secrets, I just want to eat your crumbs. I will never leave if you teach me how to sprinkle salt.” It’s a miracle I came home that afternoon.

I accidentally took a swig of her coffee milk. I thought it was chocolate, but it wasn’t.

(oopsitwastasty)

Did I say there was onion pineapple marmalade and bacon? There was. Sorry to torture you like this.

Too bad I can’t kidnap her and make her be my personal chef. I’m sure if I did that she would still be super nice to me, as she was to everyone. I can’t say the same for all the famous people that were there.

Not to mention that I would be the fattest person alive, at which point she could escape.

I went with the 59th best thing and made myself a breakfast sandwich, with one half of a multigrain English muffin.

It’s about 300 calories. Was completely compliant with my diet. You could probably even put some turkey bacon on it.

Nowhere near as good as Christina’s, but I still have a memory.

A dream.

An inspiration.

Paleo Banana Pancakes

Tip #4: Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.

I think this is going to be a hard one to swallow for most people. I am not someone who likes routine, but let’s face it, dieting is all about routine, because the more choices you get to make the more likely you’ll make some bad ones (I’m talking about eating, nothing else), and being tired is not going to help one bit.

I never go to sleep at the same time or even wake up at the same time. But I’ve been doing this more now, and I have to admit I’m kind of liking it. I know for sure I’m going to get 8 hours of sleep every night (occasionally this doesn’t work out) and I naturally wake up in the morning and I feel way less tired than if I have to wake up to an alarm. I hate alarms way more than I hate diets or not sleeping enough.

This is advice given by everyone who knows anything about sleep and energy, and most of us still totally ignore it. I often want to stay up later, and I really miss being able to do more after the kids are in bed, but if you try it for a week and don’t like it, then no harm done. It’s one of the best changes I’ve made since starting this whole thing.    

I’m still really tired. Dieting and exercising like a maniac every day is going to make you tired. But at least you’re body tired and not brain tired, if you know what I mean.

I feel a little better about waking up at the crack of dawn to do my ridiculously tiresome exercise when I look forward to eating some of these. I don’t make them every day, so I pretend that they are a cheat breakfast. But they’re not. Even better.

I miss breakfasts (and lunches and dinners and desserts) so much. I love some french toast, cinnamon rolls, a bagel with cream cheese (! Oh! Do I dare dream?). At least I still get to eat bacon.

My sis and bro in law posted a paleo banana pancake and I’ve been playing around with it ever since. I thought, if there’s a way I can eat a pancake every once in a while, I’ll be able to keep doing this, right?

Paleo Banana Pancakes

• Coconut oil
• 1 banana, mashed with a fork
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/4 C almond flour (* or coconut flour works here—just add 1/2 C almond milk)
• 2 Tbsp almond milk
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• cinnamon (to taste)
• 1 tsp vanilla

1. Heat a skillet or large frying pan on medium. Sprinkle some coconut oil into the pan (about 1 tsp) and move the pan so that the oil coats the surface.
2. Mix all of the ingredients together.
3. Use a 1/4 Cup measuring cup to pour batter into the pan. I can fit 3 in a pan at once. Flip the pancake when the edge looks dry and the bottom can be easily lifted off of the pan.
4. Serve immediately. These taste better when hot. Can be served with a smidgen of maple syrup.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles

I have a confession to make.

I eat breakfast in the car.

Sometimes I drink a smoothie, but often enough I’m holding a bowl of something and trying to drive at the same time.

This is all while I’m racing to get Amaya to school on time (we’re on time at least twice a week) because getting ready in the morning is like the movie Groundhog Day. We start the same way every day and I can’t figure out how to do it right.

Now, if I have to eat breakfast in the car, wouldn’t it be nice to have something that didn’t require two hands? And included all my favorite breakfast foods?

Granola, yogurt, honey.

Now we’re talking.

I really only love plain yogurt, and I love Greek yogurt, except for that yoplait one because that stuff is made thick with GELATIN instead. What’s up with that?

Chobani has tons of protein and active cultures. The plain yogurt has a tartness that I can’t deny and when I taste flavored yogurts I find myself wondering if it’s really yogurt. I like it when I open up a package of Greek yogurt and I can see that thick cream. Yum.

I’d love to eat this in the car on the way to work. Popsicles for breakfast are awesome.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles (makes 3 Zoku popsicles)

• 1/3 Cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
• 2/3 Cup milk
• 1/2 Cup granola
• 2 tsp honey or to taste
• extra honey for drizzling—optional

1. Stir together the yogurt, milk and honey. Pour a teaspoon of granola into the bottom of each popsicle mold. Place the popsicle stick in the mold.
2. Pour some of the liquid over the granola and when it reaches half way up the mold, add more granola (1-2 Tbsp per mold) and then fill it up with the liquid. Sprinkle the rest of the granola on top.
3. Freeze according to manufacturer’s directions. Remove and drizzle with honey if desired. Serve.

For fun I also tried some non-Zoku ones, and the granola of course got soggy, but it was nice, like oatmeal. (I know, you’re thinking, Frozen Oatmeal? but it was chewy and good. I like the berries as well. This one was a better serving size for breakfast.

Let’s face it, I eat a big breakfast.

Chobani Greek Yogurt and Granola Popsicles, Non-Zoku version (serves one)

• 1/4 cup Chobani plain Greek yogurt
• 5 Tablespoons milk
• 1-2 tsp honey
• 1/4 Cup granola
• 2 Tbsp mixed berries (can be frozen)

1. Combine the yogurt, milk and honey in a small bowl. In a pint glass jar, layer the granola, liquid and berries. Place the popsicle stick and freeze for a few hours until firm.
2. To serve, run the outside of the jar under warm water for 10 seconds. Pull out the popsicle and eat.

 

Chobani yogurt is perfect for cooking and baking and freezing. I like greek yogurt much better than sour cream, even! I looked over the recipes for Chobani kitchen and found a Thai curry I want to try (which would be a REALLY great way to save some fat on coconut curry). You should check it out.

Do you use yogurt in your cooking? How?

This post is sponsored by Chobani. All opinions and content (except links) are my own.

Crepes are Especially for You

Last week Amaya woke up in the middle of the night, drooling and crying. When she opened her mouth, we saw that she had a white, swollen tongue.

The next three days were awful. Awful. Awful.

We took her to the hour-away doctor on day one, where she was diagnosed as having some sort of mouth fungus (unusual in kids her age) and we were supposed to pick up a prescription that afternoon at our local pharmacy.

Oops. It wasn’t there. I called, the office was already closed. I called 4 times the next day about it, then again the next. In the mean time, Amaya was completely miserable.

Every time she put a bite of food in her mouth, she would immediately spit it out.

“It doesn’t taste goooood,” she cried.

She didn’t like water, ice cream, popsicles, nachos (her favorite food) or anything at all. She sobbed in despair, hungry and feeling punished.

This was so hard to watch for us. We tried buying her anything she liked, and even demanded her to eat because we worried she would dehydrate. She took a few, miserable bites.

On the third day I tried to give her oatmeal. She was so happy about oatmeal. She ate three huge bowls of it. Later the next day it seemed she was getting better.

First thing we did was buy fruity cheerios, which are basically fruit loops for guilt-ridden parents.

We immediately started giving her treats of all kinds. We took her out to eat, she got to choose, and she was so happy about eating. She has been saying for a week now: “I’m so glad I can eat again!”

I made her crepes for breakfast. With chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and raspberries. Basically, dessert.

I’ve never seen crepes make anyone so happy.

There are a million crepe recipes out there, and they’re pretty similar. My dad has one that’s really thick, which may be like the secret crepe recipe.

But I’ll tell you a couple of things to take your crepe to the next level.

Grate some lime or lemon zest in to the sugar for the batter and rub it around in there with your fingers. It is fantastic. The cooked crepe has just a hint of that sweet zest.

If you have a 12 inch saute pan, Use just under a 1/3 cup of batter for each crepe. The batter should swirl around once and that’s about it. I tilt the pan as I’m pouring in the batter.

Your heat should be at medium. I really recommend this cook’s illustrated recommended pan for your non-stick cooking: The T-fal professional total non-stick 12.5” pan. It’s inexpensive and I’ve had it for a year now and it’s still going strong. Pretty much everyone agrees though that non-stick pans don’t last very long, unfortunately.

Flip the crepe when the edges are just barely turning brown. It will be dry enough for you to flip it over with a little help from a chopstick or spatula. If you have to slide the spatula underneath the crepe to lift it up, either you pan isn’t non-stick enough, or it’s not finished cooking enough. Food should lift easily away if it is finished cooking. I’ve used my cast iron skillet for this too, and it works. It’s just too heavy to swirl around.

Chocolate Sauce for Crepes

When I was growing up this is the only way we ate crepes. With chocolate sauce. I never questioned it. I also have to recommend eating your crepes with your hands. My parents always got mad at me for it, but you know what? It tastes so much better without a fork in the way.

• 1 1/2 Cups Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips
• 1/4 Cup milk

1. Put the chocolate and milk into a microwave safe bowl. Heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat for another 30 seconds, stir. If the chocolate is not completely melted at this point, heat for another 10-seconds and stir again.
2. If the sauce is not loose enough for you, you can add a tablespoon more of milk and stir, but wait until the milk isn’t so cold and the chocolate isn’t so hot. Otherwise it will seize up and get grainy.

Serve with crepes (pour chocolate down the center and roll it up), bananas, strawberries… Anything. After an afternoon in the fridge the leftover sauce has a fudge-like texture that you can’t help dipping into with a spoon. Straight.

A Little Perspective

This is not a post about good food photography. In fact, it’s pretty much the opposite.

Between work and family, life can get hectic.

I’m not a quick and productive person. Some people can handle it all. But not me. I get stressed pretty easily. I get upset thinking about all the things I have to do. I have to breathe and refocus.

These are not very pretty. But they are tasty, and I like having them around for a quick breakfast. If I make a dozen at the beginning of the week, I have enough for the rest of the week. I like to eat them cold, even, and after school, even.

Perspective can change everything for me. I try to remember that.

Sometimes focusing in is good.

Rather than the big picture.

Because even if you step back you can find a lot of things you might need to deal with, and there’s just too much to deal with right now.

 

But sometimes it’s better to step back and take it all in.

(Amaya’s class self portraits)

Rather than focusing too much on the detail.

At least she’s proud of her teeth.

Egg Cups (makes 12)

(aka One of the few things I like on the South Beach Diet, but I’m really sick of eggs.)

• 1 1/2 Cups chopped veggies (like, cooked broccoli, uncooked bell pepper, un/cooked onion, raw mushrooms, tomatoes….)
• 2/3 Cup shredded cheese (more if you’re lucky and not on a diet)
• 1 carton 16 oz egg beaters product (alternatively, 8 eggs)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 C milk
• 1 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• 12 strips turkey bacon (I had bad luck with regular bacon)

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 12 part muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray. Stir together in a medium bowl 1/4” cubed chopped veggies with cheese, eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
2. Line the inside of each muffin space with a strip of turkey bacon. It will kind of loop around like a circle and should stand up fine. It will overlap on the ends.
3. Spoon in the eggs trying to evenly space out the liquid and the veggies. Don’t fill too full because the eggs will rise a little, although it’s ok if the veggies stick up out of the egg mixture. If there’s any left you can discard.
4. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the eggs are set.

The Dawn of a New Era

Apparently, when someone gets old enough to be in Kindergarten, they suddenly know how to model.

I swear I didn’t ask her to pose at all.

She started school this week, and time feels like I’m trying to pick out the scenery when I’m sitting in a convertible with the top down at 80 mph.

Oh well, I guess I can enjoy the wind in my hair.

Amaya asked me to make her pancakes, after I was on that wretched diet.

I dropped in some freeze dried strawberry pieces (especially the little powdery pieces at the bottom of the bag that aren’t good for snacking) and chocolate chips.

She said, “Oh! It’s like we can have a real breakfast again! We haven’t had a real breakfast in a LOoooooooNG time!”

Three weeks is eternity to a 5 year old. 5 years is a blink of the eye to a 30 year old. Now that is a cosmic joke.

No one ever says, “It’s easy as biscuits.”

Next week will be the last week we cook in the kitchen for culinary class.

Next week will be the last week I have to haul my Kitchen Aid, 4 bags of groceries, a 50lb bag of flour, and my regular humongous bag of work to school, then the perishables up three flights of stairs to the fridge, and then everything back down and over to the kitchen.

Next week will be the last week that I’ll be yelling to kids to turn off their burners when no pots are even on the stove top or to hold knives down when they walk around. After that I won’t have to remind students to look at the recipe instead of just randomly assigning measurements or mixing steps. I won’t have to demonstrate cooking techniques and explanations which immediately become mocked by students as some kind of sexual innuendo (see butter recipe, below). I won’t be cleaning the kitchen for an hour after the students “cleaned up”.

Next week will be the last week that I’ll try to convince whining kids to taste kale salad, that macaroni and cheese from scratch is better than Kraft, and little teeny bits of garlic are not going to kill you when they’ve been simmered for almost an hour in a Moroccan tagine.

Next week will be the last week that these kids will have to convince me that they’ve learned something this year.

I can’t wait until next week so I can miss all of this.

We made biscuits, homemade butter, and jam. I gave out two different recipes to six groups and came out with six completely different products. Biscuits are most importantly about texture. If you’re like us about every third batch will turn out like crackery hockey pucks instead of fluffy flaky puffs. Here are the two Biscuit Commandments:

Thou Shalt Not Knead the Dough Too Much.

Thou Shalt Roll the Dough 1” Thick.

If you follow these two important details, you will do well. After observing my students’ work, I’d have to add a few more pieces of advice:

wet dough is better (and never add more flour than is called for)

do not grease the cookie sheet

pay close attention to teaspoon vs. tablespoon markings

the butter and milk should be cold, cold, cold and work quickly, quickly, quickly

biscuit cutters, if you remember to bring them to class, would be good. cut down, don’t twist.

The recipes we used:

Cream Biscuits by Deb at Smitten Kitchen

Biscuit Recipe

Homemade Blackberry Jam by Savory Sweet Life

Homemade Butter

• 1 Cup cream
• 1/2 tsp salt

1. In a lidded jar, shake the cream and salt about one revolution per second. You’ll have butter pretty soon. If you are doing this in a high school class, use the two handed back and forth method with the jar held horizontally instead of the “shake weight” method. Trust me.

Brunch for the Haters

Some people, so I’m told, don’t like brunch.

I’m not sure how this happens.

Here are my theories:

1) Tragic family death occurring in IHOP

2) Deathly allergy to maple syrup

3) General disdain for anything everyone else likes.

Poor, poor souls.

I suspect these people have never eaten a liege waffle, either.

Well, here’s my stick-it answer to those brunch haters. We’ll turn you yet. Eggs Benedict is the best excuse for messy pictures there is.

Maybe brunch was invented by parents. The easiest meal to make, and it satisfies the requirements for two meals at once, which is necessary when anything other than cereal in a bowl is a production. Luckily, my daughter could eat breakfast for every meal. So she’s definitely mine. She’s even a fan of runny poached egg, which I previously thought was only for adults.

Island Eggs Benedict (serves 4) Click Here to Print

Sweet bread with a sauteed butter crisp, lemony hollandaise, perfectly poached local egg that just oozes yolk, with a savory/sweet combo of hash. A tomato, optional, I think makes it. Saucy, sweet, and savory.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, this is a sponsored post. King’s Hawaiian teamed up with Foodbuzz as part of a brunch series that will be featured in April’s Flavor of the Month. As you can see, I couldn’t keep myself from just tearing it off and eating it, which is the way we usually eat it here.

• 2 1” slices of round King’s Hawaiian Bread
• 3 Tbsp salted butter, at room temperature, divided
• 1 lb sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled (see note below)
• 1 Cup kalua pork (see note below)
• 4 local eggs
• 2 tsp white or rice vinegar
• 4 slices local tomato
• 1 Cup blender hollandaise sauce
• salt to taste

1. Begin heating 4 Cups of water in a small saucepan over high heat to poach the eggs.
2. In a bowl, mash the sweet potatoes and pork together with 1 Tbsp butter. Add salt to taste. Form about 4 patties by hand.
3. In a large fry pan (I use a metal skillet pan), melt 1 Tbsp butter over medium heat. Add the patties and just brown on both sides, pressing with the spatula on both sides to keep it formed together. Remove to a plate and set aside.
4. Butter the slices of bread with the last tablespoon of butter and brown in the same fry pan on both sides—this will only take about 20 seconds on each side because the bread is sweet and soft. Set aside.
5. When the pot of water is simmering, turn down the heat to medium high. The water should not be boiling. Turn it down more and adjust as necessary. When it returns to a simmer, add 2 tsp vinegar to the pot. Crack an egg into a small measuring cup or ramekin. Add the egg to the simmering water by pouring the egg out as close to the water as possible. Repeat with the 2nd egg. Let simmer for about 3-4 minutes. The whites should be set. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and set aside. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if you like. Repeat with the remaining two eggs when the water comes back to a simmer.
6. Assemble your eggs benedict: half a slice of the sauteed bread as the base, potato/pork hash over that, tomato next, egg, and then 1/4 Cup hollandaise sauce over the whole thing.

Notes: My favorite sweet potatoes are Okinawan purple sweet potatoes. You can use any sweet potato you like, but yams may be more watery. I usually just scrub my potatoes clean, prick them with a fork, and then microwave them for quick results.

Kalua pork, if you don’t have an imu, is very easy to make. Take a pork butt and sprinkle and rub it all over, with a pretty liberal hand, with kosher or slightly flaky larger-grained sea salt. Then sprinkle the whole thing with liquid smoke (2-3 teaspoons? I never measure) and rub that in too. Put it in a dutch oven with the lid on and cook at 350 degrees for 2-3 hours (depends on the size of the pork butt). Take it out when it falls apart easily. Let it rest and then shred it. There will be plenty. Eat the rest with rice or take it a step further for sandwiches.

Pumpkin Three: Savory Pumpkin Muffins

In a former life I really thought I was headed for a career in science.

I wanted to be a marine biologist; I learned I could be on a boat for 5 minutes before being barfing.

I wanted to be a psychologist; I learned that psychologists are crazy.

I wanted to be a doctor; I learned that I wanted to be home by 3pm every day.

I wanted to be the next Jane Goodall; I learned that carrying all your food into the wilderness makes for some light meals.
So instead I became a high school English teacher and a sometimes fanatic food blogger.

(I also learned that wearing My little pony tails in my hair was not actually very fancy.)

But I do love the science of food. Not necessarily weird food invention (although it is something I am interested in looking at, tasting, but not making), just plain ol' "How the heck does flour work anyway?" kind of science.

Enter Harold McGee. I've read quite a bit on food technique and basic food science in cookbooks and cooking handbooks and food encyclopedias, but Harold McGee tops it all (even, dare I say, Cook's Illustrated, which I consider to be the authority on recipe development-- and hopefully Christopher Kimball never reads these words because I hope to one day become one of his minions). He's easy to read, throws in history when you want it, and is the most reliable I've found regarding the science of the kitchen.

Da was nice enough to get me an autographed copy (I am insanely jealous that she met him) of his newest book, Keys to Good Cooking, and I have been reading this book like a thrilling mystery novel. It is his words on muffins that have led me to this recipe, and although I want to tweak this recipe a little more, the fact that I could make up a muffin recipe and come out with such beautiful domed tops and good textures, I owe this success to Harold McGee.

I'm putting away all this kitchen knowledge so that when I pass it on to Amaya, she'll think I'm the kitchen goddess and owe all future muffin perfection, to me.

(Isn't that why we have kids, anyway?)

Savory Pumpkin Muffins
I'll hand you a little McGee knowledge. You don't want to overmix the flour in the batter, because otherwise, you get a tougher gluten. Sugar and fat can go together first. Also you don't want the leavening ingredient (baking powder/soda) to hit the wet stuff too early because it will die quickly. So wet ingredients/sugar first, then dry stuff together, then combine quickly without overmixing. Also, cook muffins at a high temp. They'll rise up more quickly and make a nice top.
I'm thinking that these principles probably work pretty well with cupcakes, too.

One thing I'm still trying to figure out, though, is why sometimes my muffins or cupcakes stick to the cupcake liners, despite all my tricks with cooling, enough fat, etc. I'm not sure what it is exactly.
These didn't stick at all, but I was using these ultra cool silicone baking cups.

These have a subtle flavor and remind me of biscuits. I want to eat these with pumpkin chili. Double the cheese for more savory stand-alone flavor. Or cube the cheese so you can taste it in chunks.

• 1/2 Cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 Cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 C oil 
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 C milk
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Cups flour
• 1/2 C shredded hard cheese like Sheep's milk cheese or gruyere
• optional: black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 380 degrees. Mix pumpkin, sour cream, eggs, oil, honey and milk in a large bowl.
2. Sift together (or whisk together) baking powder, soda, salt, flour and black pepper if using. Stir in cheese to dry ingredients.
3. Quickly mix together until all ingredients are wet. Do not over mix. May be a little lumpy.
4. Fill muffin cups-- I used silicone baking cups (fit in a muffin pan) and I used 11 of them. If you use a muffin tin then the space is slightly shorter, so it will probably fit 12 muffins.
5. Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins are set, dry on top and properly domed.

Serve as a side to soup or chili-- it is perfectly moist and has good balance to something slightly more savory. Good topped with cream cheese or butter, warm.