Pear and Rice Nougat White Chocolate Muffins

Are you looking for delicious and soft muffins? This is the recipe for you! :)

Yesterday morning , I found a new brand of vegan chocolate and I as soon as I saw it I thought “White chocolate pear muffins! Finally, I can use my recipe!”

I kept this recipe in my notebook for so long that unfortunately I don't remember who gave it to me and I can't thank this person personally. :( I hope this nice lady will read my post, so that my thanks can be delivered through it.:)

Anyway, as you probably have already noticed, the original recipe lists white chocolate chips and not rice white chocolate, and you can absolutely feel free to use any kind of chocolate you want. I found the combination of rice white nougat chocolate and pear very nice, but, for example, it tasted too sweet for my husband....Mmmm...maybe you should try it, too, and give me your opinion. :)

For this muffins I also substituted cow buttermilk with goat buttermilk, but I imagine that not everyone uses goat dairy products since their taste can be quite strong and many might not be thrilled at the idea to use goat buttermilk. Therefore, feel free to use low fat cow buttermilk if you are not intolerant to it, or low fat lactose-free buttermilk, or, as I always suggest, just experiment using the ingredients you can use and let me know how it will go by leaving a comment. I'd be more than welcome to read your opinion and hints. :) So....Have fun and enjoy your muffins! :)

INGREDIENTS:

2 1/2 cups (320g) spelt flour or all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (100g) granulated brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 large egg, lightly beaten

3/4 cup low fat goat butter milk (180ml) or mix 90ml plain goat yogurt with 90ml goat milk

1/3 cup (85ml) vegetable oil

1 tsp pure vanilla extract or pure vanilla powder or vanilla sugar

1 cup fresh pear cut into small pieces

1/2 cup (60g) rice white nougat crisp chocolate in pieces (or white chocolate chips as the original recipe says)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheated oven: 350ºF/180ºC

Baking time: 20-25 Minutes

Quantity: about 12 Muffins

In a medium bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract. Then, fold in the fresh pear and white chocolate..

In a separate large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

With a rubber spatula, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. 15-20 turns of the spatula should be enough. If you over mix the muffins will come out very dry.

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups (remember to grease the muffin tray if you don't use paper cups . Place the muffin tray on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely before removing them from the tray. If you used paper cups you can remove them right away and let them cool on the rack. 

Building a Bird House

Building a bird house can be a nice diversion during a day in which you don't really know what to do and you are too lazy to go outside, or the weather is so bad that it forces you to stay home. I don't know you, but it's also impossible for me to stay quiet when I'm home; I always have to keep my hands busy and find something to do.

Don't worry, there's a little trick that can help all the people who don't have good woodworking skills – and I'm in this group - I'm here to reveal this little secret. :)

Have you ever heard about “The little Experience” ? (Unfortunately, their official link is not working right now, but I'm sure that you can find their products either on Amazon or in a very furbished toy store). I bought this kit in “In De Olifant” in Antwerp, a wonderful store in a wonderful city! Please, take some time to visit this store if you happen to visit Antwerp, it is worth it, trust me! :) I simply lost count of all the presents I bought there for all my little cousins.

The little Experience is an English company that produces craft kits for children (and adults who are simply interested in everything that deals with crafting..like me..for example). They have quite a various and wide range of products for children from 2 to 16 that go from knitting, sewing, painting, to building. Every kit comes with the right amount of accessories and tools the kid needs in order to craft the object contained in the kit.

The thought behind it is to promote the children's skills and the interaction with their parents and I find this incredibly nice.

I tried many kits and I really have to admit that the quality of the products is very high, the instructions very clear, and the fun guaranteed!

I'm sure that many of you can even think of creating their own bird house from scratch designing it and cutting the wood with the appropriated tools, but for those who are just like me and would like to have a personalized bird cafe' in their garden but don't even know how to hold a jig saw, here you have the solution.

 As you can see from the picture all the pieces needed for the bird house are already cut and ready to be assembled. I personally had a little problem with the assembling because some holes weren't in the right position, but hey....I might not know how to use a jig saw, but aligning a few little holes isn't such a problem. :)

The assembling part went on quite easily, but just at the end I thought that maybe it would have been better to paint the parts before assembling them, even if my husband said that it was better to assemble the parts first and then paint it. I don't know, maybe it is not so important to paint the inside part of the bird house, but I surely suggest you paint at least all the sides of the base.

Anyway, after the assembling you just have to wait for the glue to dry and then simply set your

creativity free and paint the little house the way you prefer. In my case, I followed the example on the box adding a different name and Ratatouille's logo – there couldn't be a more perfect logo for it and I was obviously watching that movie while building the house.

Once the house is ready you can use some of your time to build a “bird mobile” following the instruction and patterns printed on the inside of the kit box; another nice idea I really like about this company that can help to reduce the waste of paper and keep your kids children busy for another half an hour. :)

The only thing you need to do now is either to buy a Built-It Bird-Cafe' Kit, or get a jig saw in your hands and start cutting your bird house.

Have fun and please, post the pictures of your bird houses if you found this post helpful and “inspiring.” :)

Red Currant, Peach, and Rocket Salad

A very good meal that can come in handy when the stove and oven are on strike. :)

I don't know if this happens to you, too, but sometimes my oven talks to me, sometimes in a very nice and polite way it whispers in my ears that it'd like to take a rest, and other times it's less polite and just refuses to open its door or threatens to bite me if I even think of using it. :/

Anyway, I suggest you to try this recipe even if you don't have the Sword of Damocles hanging over your head. :) I really like the combination of the bitter taste of the rocket salad and the sweet watery texture of the peaches, and the red currants, with their slightly sour notes, add the final perfect touch. Hope you'll like it, too.

INGRDIENTS:

300 g rocket salad

2 peaches

100 g red currants

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt

Pepper freshly ground

DIRECTIONS:

Wash the rocket salad, peaches, and red currants. Cut the peaches in slices or cubes and mix them with the rest of the ingredients. In a little glass mix well the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and pour the mixture on the salad.

If necessary, adjust in oil, salt, and pepper according to your taste.

Hummus

You have no idea how many recipes I tried and changes I made to the hummus recipes I had before finally finding the combination that is the closest to the hummus I had in a Greek restaurant many years ago.

The hummus I ate there was so good that I still remember its taste. You can't imagine how disappointed I was after tasting all my experiments. :( It seemed like every time an ingredient was missing! >_< But now, I think I finally found the right ingredients and amount! Yuppi!!!

Some people add garlic, too, but I think garlic is too strong for this recipe and I prefer to leave it out.

INGREDIENTS:

215 g / 7.5 oz chickpeas (in the can or freshly cooked by you)

100 ml water

2 Tbsp Tahini (paste made from ground sesame seeds)

1 Tbsp olive oil

Juice of ½ lemon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

salt (if you use chickpeas in the can which contain salt, don't add any salt)

fresh parsley

DIRECTIONS:

If you use chickpeas in the can, remove the water inside the can, rinse them off, and then put them in a food processor or a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients omitting the salt if you already used some salt while cooking the chickpeas, or the chickpeas in the can contain salt.

Blend on high speed ˗ stopping occasionally to scratch the sides ˗ until smooth.

Adjust in salt (if necessary).

Spoon it in a little bowl, pour some olive oil on top, and add fresh parsley.

You can use hummus as a dip sauce and serve it with fresh vegetables and warm slices of pita bread.

Pita bread and hummus rolls are also very good and easy to make; take some warm pita bread, spread some hummus on it, add some lettuce leaves, some tomato slices, some carrot slices, some pieces of cucumber, roll it up and enjoy. Obviously, you can add other fresh vegetables and create your own pita roll.

Hope you'll enjoy my recipe.

Btw, I painted the white bowl you see in the picture . :) If you like the little orange porcupine you can find a similar one on Etsy together with other nice little creatures that can't wait to travel the world and bring some happiness and a touch of originality on someone's table. :) Take a look at my Etsy store if you have time. Thanks. :)

  

Strawberry and Goat Brie Cheese Salad

Fresh and easy!

Perfect to pack for a picnic or to serve as main course or side dish on a hot summer day, when the last thought one has is to turn the oven or the stove on to bake/cook something warm. :)

INGREDIENTS:

A small head of Romaine lettuce

150 g goat brie cheese

200 g strawberries

3-4 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Salt

DIRECTIONS:

Wash the lettuce and strawberries. Cut the lettuce leaves into small pieces and slice the strawberries in 4 parts.

Cut the brie in small cubes and mix it with the salad and sliced strawberries.

In a little bowl prepare the dressing by mixing the oil, honey, lemon juice, and salt.

Pour the dressing on the salad, brie, and strawberries, and mix well.

Adjust the dressing in oil, honey, or even salt according to your taste and the quantity of salad you prepared.

Obviously, if you are not big on goat cheese, it can be substituted with normal brie or any kind of soft cheese.  

Peach Cobbler

A very quick and simple recipe with an extraordinary taste!

I always use this recipe when I want to prepare a delicious dessert and I don't have much time to bake.

It's absolutely simple, and I'm sure you'll also get a great result. If you'd like to give your cobbler a more buttery and sweet taste, you can bring the butter up to ½ cup (113g) and the sugar up to 1 1/2 or to 2 cups (150g or 200g). Or if you want to reduce the sugar even more, you can simply lay the sliced peaches on the batter without boiling them with the remaining sugar. I did it a couple of times (actually, I always do it) and the cobbler still tasted very good.

Since my husband is lactose intolerant, I normally use goat milk or lactose-free milk instead of cow milk. I've never tried to use soy or rice milk; therefore, I can't tell you how it tastes if you use that kind of vegetable milk. But hey! Experimenting while baking is so much fun that I think it's worth trying to use different ingredients. :)

I also always substitute the butter either with goat milk butter or with butter reduced in fat and mixed with canola oil (which doesn't seem to bother my husband :) ). This makes the cobbler a bit lighter in fat and everyone in the family can enjoy it without thinking too much about the calories or food intolerance. :)

Have fun and enjoy your peach cobbler.

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tablespoons (30g) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup ( 125g) spelt flour or all-purpose flour

1 cup brown sugar or white sugar for the batter
1/2 cup (50g) or 1 cup (100g) sugar for the peaches (optional)

1 teaspoon baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 cup skimmed milk (240g)

4 cups (3 peaches, sliced)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Ground cinnamon or nutmeg (or both :) ...if it fits your taste)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheated oven: 350ºF/180ºC

Baking time: 40-45 Minutes

Spread the butter (softened at room temperature)all over the bottom and sides of a 30x22 cm (13x9 inches) or a 23 Ø cm (9 Ø inches) baking dish using either your fingers or a spoon.

Combine the flour, 1 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk and stir until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour the batter in the baking dish without stirring.

If you want to add some sugar to the peaches, put the sliced peaches and 1/2 cup (50g) or 1 cup (100g) sugar in a sauce pan, add the lemon juice, and bring it to a boil stirring constantly. Let the ingredients boil a couple of minutes and then pour the mixture into the baking dish trying to spread it on the batter evenly. Don't stir this mix with the batter, but rather leave it as it is.

If you don't want to add any sugar to the peaches, slice and boil the peaches with the lemon juice, and then spread the mixture on the batter.

If you don't want to boil the peaches, just slice them, squeeze the lemon on them, and pour the mixture on the batter.  

Sprinkle with some cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Bake at 350ºF/180ºC for about 40-45 minutes or until gold brown.

Serve warm or cold, and if you have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer, add a spoon of it on the cobbler and it will taste even better. :)