You guys! Who can believe it’s already back-to-school time?! Well, here we go - bring on the madness!
We’ve been busy looking at schedules, organizing school supplies, and trying to get back into the routine of showering regularly (hello, 13 year-old boy mom here), appropriate bedtimes, and early mornings. Mostly, I’m hearing a lot of “do I have to”, “but moooom”, and “just 5 more minutes”. So far, it’s going great.
It’s also time to think back-to-school breakfasts, and you know I love to plan ahead! I’m thinking a batch or two of muffins are the way to go. And if you have mornings (like me) where all of your “plenty of time” suddenly turns into “how is it 7:30?!”, having a ready made, grab-and-go option is perfect.
Maybe I just have muffins on the brain because every other food story seems to be about the famous chocolate muffins at the Olympics right now, and every other recipe that comes in my email is a variation of said chocolate muffins. And isn’t a chocolate muffin more like just eating a cupcake? Does no frosting all of a sudden turn it into a muffin? All I know is that I sure felt like I was breaking the rules when I bought an Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate-chocolate chip muffin from the middle school cafeteria every day. But I digress…
Whether nutty and hearty, or fruity, or yes, even chocolate chip, I do love a muffin. What’s not to love about a portable, make ahead breakfast that comes in practically every flavor under the sun? And at our house, when a certain Kiddo might have the morning jitters about heading back to school, I can usually get him excited about a muffin. Plus they also make a great after school snack!
This week’s recipes are for a couple of my muffin favorites - lemon poppyseed and applesauce oatmeal.
My Lemon Poppyseed Muffins are kept light and moist with the addition of sour cream. They aren’t overly lemon (or that fake lemon flavor) like you find in so many versions of lemon poppyseed. And they have a crunchy, bakery style streudel piled on the top. (If you want to go all-in on bakery style, get those fancy tulip liners. Bonus - they hold in all that yummy struedel topping! I got these from Amazon.)
The Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins have been in my recipe book for years. These are hearty muffins, full of fiber from the oats to help hold you until lunch, and made healthier by using applesauce to keep them moist. The finishing touch is the sprinkling of crispy, brown-sugared oats toasted up on top. I like to warm mine slightly each morning, then give it a swipe of butter that melts into each half. In fact, that’s what I’ve been doing all week…
MONDAY - Big Salads
Back to school night tonight where we get to meet the teachers! We’ll have to eat earlier than usual and I want something easy and light, so we’ll do big salads with some of the extra grilled chicken I did late last week.
TUESDAY - Sheet Pan Bratwursts with Onions, Peppers, and Potatoes
Brats and sliced onions/peppers on one side of the sheet pan, diced yukon gold potatoes on the other end. Simply seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper, and some dried herbs, everything can roast together at 400 for 30-40 minutes (just stir the veggies and flip the brats halfway through).
WEDNESDAY - Creamy Pasta with Chicken and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Chicken cutlets cook up quickly, then I can use the same skillet to make an easy garlic cream sauce. Throw in sun-dried tomatoes, fresh herbs, and bowtie pasta, and dinner is done!
THURSDAY - Pork Chops and Cheesy Broccoli Rice Casserole
It’s the first full day of school, and who knows how the day will shake out, so I’ll probably make the broccoli rice casserole earlier in the week, and then I can just pop it in the oven to heat up. Pork chops can be grilled or baked depending on what we feel like.
FRIDAY - Friday Night Pick-up
SATURDAY - Dinner at YaYa’s (the in-laws!)
Welcome back-to-school picnic at the Kiddo’s school! They put out lots of fun things for the kids and have food trucks set up for dinner. We’ll go and hang out with all of our school friends and have the “how are they in 8th grade?!?” conversation as we marvel at how much they’ve grown over the summer.
SUNDAY - Dinner at Dad’s!
Ok, last weekend’s schnitzel was amazing - my dad really knows how to do it right! I’ll have to get him to do a guest spot on the newsletter to share his tips! But for this week, we’ll take the rest of the pork loin he used to make the cutlets and just simply roast it alongside some vegetables for a nice (but easy) Sunday supper.
LUNCHES for this week -
Baked eggplant parmesan this week! I’ll take my (homegrown!) eggplant and roast slices in the oven, then add a spoonful or two of a simple marinara and fresh mozzarella to the top of each slice. I can have it with a salad on the side or use the extra rolls from Tuesday’s brats to make eggplant parm sandwiches!
EXTRAS for this week
Going with classic Rice Krispie Treats this week to have some extras in the dessert dish. Plus they pack great in those back-to-school lunches!
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Makes 10-12 muffins
· ½ cup Butter (1 stick)
· ¾ cup White Sugar
· 2 large Eggs, room temperature
· 1 cup Sour Cream
· 1 teaspoon Vanilla
· Zest of 1 Lemon (3/4 of the zest in the muffins, ¼ of the zest in the topping)
· 2 cups all-purpose Flour
· ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda
· ½ teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or store brand)
· 2 tablespoons Poppyseeds
Streusel Topping
· ¼ cup White Sugar
· 6 tablespoons Flour
· Zest from ¼ of the Lemon
· 3 tablespoons Butter, melted
Preheat oven to 375 and arrange a rack in the middle position. Prepare a muffin pan with non-stick spray or paper liners. (I like the tall “tulip” style bakery liners; you can order them on Amazon.)
Make the streusel topping first – In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour, and lemon zest from one quarter of the lemon. Stir together with a fork. Drizzle in the melted butter and stir until a “crumble” forms. Put the streusel in the refrigerator while you stir together the muffin batter.
For the muffins - In a large microwavable bowl, heat butter until mostly melted but not hot, about 1 minute. Cool slightly if needed.
In smaller separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and poppyseeds. Set aside.
To the butter bowl, stir in sugar and whisk vigorously until well combined. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest and mix well.
Gently fold in flour mixture until no dry flour remains – some lumps are okay, do not over mix.
Divide batter evenly among 10-12 muffin cups. (If you are using the tall bakery style liners, you can fill them fuller for 10 muffins. If using regular paper liners, fill 12.) Top each with about 1 tablespoon of the streusel topping.
Bake on middle rack for 20-24 minutes until golden brown. Cool in pan for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
· 1 ½ cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats (not quick cook)
· 1 ¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
· ¾ teaspoon ground Cinnamon
· 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
· ¾ teaspoon Baking Soda
· ½ teaspoon kosher Salt (Morton or other store brand)
· 1 large Egg
· ½ cup Brown Sugar
· 3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
· 1 cup unsweetened or (no sugar added) Applesauce
· ½ cup Milk
Oat Topping
· ½ cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
· 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
· ¼ teaspoon ground Cinnamon
· 2 tablespoons Butter, melted
Preheat oven to 400 and arrange a rack in the middle position. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with non-stick spray or use paper liners.
In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
In a large bowl, whisk egg and brown sugar until thick and lighter in color. Whisk in oil, applesauce, and milk until smooth.
With a rubber spatula, mix dry ingredients into large bowl with wet ingredients until just combined and no dry patches remain. Let batter rest for five minutes.
While batter is resting, combine the ingredients for the oat topping – oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter – in a small bowl and set aside.
Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups and top each with about 1 tablespoon of the oat topping. Use a finger to very gently press the oat topping into the muffin batter.
Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden brown on top. Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan to cool completely.
That’s all for now, thanks for reading! See you back here next week!
(Don’t forget you can see all of the past newsletters and recipes at the archive link below!)
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