Raspberry Muffins

The secret to making great raspberry muffins is lemon zest!

Ingredients:

1/2 c. canola oil

1/2 c. milk

zest of one lemon

1/2 c. sugar

1/2 c. applesauce

Mix together until well combined.

Then add:

1 large egg (at room temperature)

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix until combined. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine:

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

Whisk the dry ingredients (I whisk instead of sifting the flour)

Add wet ingredients to dry and fold gently until almost combined.

Then add:

1 1/2 c. frozen raspberries

(if using fresh berries, rinse them and let them dry, then toss with

1 Tb. of flour to soak up any liquid. then add raspberries to the mixture...) When adding raspberries, fold only a few times & as gently as possible. This will prevent the color from leaking into batter & will also prevent your batter from being overworked.

The lighter & fluffier the muffin, the better...

Spray a muffin tin or line with baking cups. Fill with batter almost to the very top. This recipe will make a baker's dozen muffins.

Bake @ 350* for 20-24 minutes, turning halfway through baking time. They are done if you gently press a finger on top and the muffin springs back up. If indentation stays or you see muffin fall a little bit when pressed, then bake a few more minutes. I spritzed the top of muffins with water & sprinkled sparkling sugar on top.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Bread

Today I created a brand new healthy Zucchini Bread or Muffin Recipe. It turned out great!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. grated zucchini (1 medium zucchini)

1/4 c. grated apple (1 small apple)

3 eggs

1/4 c. plain yogurt

1/2 c. applesauce

1/2 c. canola oil

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

1 can crushed pineapple (8 oz, undrained)

Mix above ingredients until well combined. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk dry ingredients together:

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

3/4 tsp. salt

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and fold until just combined.

This will make 1 large loaf of bread or about 20 muffins. Spray pan with cooking spray or use muffin cups. I filled muffin tins with batter almost to the very top. Bake at 350* for 20 minutes, turning 1/2 way through baking time. When they are done, Muffins will pop back up when pressed with a fingertip. or you could insert toothpick and if it comes out clean, it's done. Baking a bread loaf will take much longer. About 35-40 minutes.

Also turn loaf 1/2 way through baking time.

This is not a very sweet bread, so if you'd like, for some extra sweetness & crunch, you could top with sparkling sugar after baking: once cooled, spritz muffin or bread with water & top with the sparkling sugar.

Enjoy!

Key Lime Cheesecake

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs

8 Tb. butter, melted

Melt butter & add to crumbs. Mix until completely combined. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan. (I lined the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent edges of cake from browning. Just wrap foil underneath the

entire pan & form to outside edge of pan.)

Place crust in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 300*

In mixer, combine just until smooth:

24 oz. cream cheese, chilled, but soft.

1 c. sugar

1 Tb. cornstarch

zest of 1 lime

Then add:

3 eggs

Add one egg at a time, only mixing until barely combined after each addition.

Then add:

1/2 c. key lime juice

Mix only until just combined. Do not over mix.

Pour key lime filling into spring form pan over the

graham cracker crust.

Place a cake pan 1/2 full of hot water on the bottom shelf of your oven. (this will keep moisture in the oven & prevent cracking) Bake key lime cheesecake @ 300* for 55-60 minutes. Do not open oven at all during the bake time. Once the 55-60 minutes have passed, open oven door slowly & check to see if the cake has set... i.e. it jiggles, but does not shift around. When done, turn oven off & open oven door 4-5 inches. let cake sit in oven for 30 more minutes. Then let cake cool on countertop, then cool in refrigerator at least 3 hours.

Cake should be slightly pulling away from edges of the pan. perfect! release the outer edge of the pan & cover with whip cream:

1 c. whipping cream & 2 Tb. sugar whipped for about 10 minutes

Delicious!!!

**I have made some additions & subtractions to it, but I found the original recipe for this cheesecake on one of my favorite sites

www.allrecipes.com (Key Lime Cheesecake I)