Lookie at my Cookies: Raspberry Walnut Muffins and LOST cake

I recently realized that I have not made muffins for the blog. In 4 months and 87 posts I haven't made any muffins! Nor any other breakfast pastry for that matter. Hm I just remembered I completely forgot about August's DB Challenge, wonder what it is! Any who, times are a changin', the recession might be over, I might get over the sinus yuck cold I've had all summer, Ariel and I are being kicked out of our beautiful room that we've had for the summer to a less than desirable room in Chinatown, and most importantly, I made muffins! Raspberry Walnut Muffins to be exact.

I saw these muffins on Baked Perfection like the day she posted them and have had them bookmarked since. Last night seemed the perfect time to make them. I don't have much to say about the muffins, not because they weren't good! Because they were. But if you check out the recipe you'll see that they are healthier because they're made with Greek yogurt, a mix of whole wheat and white flour, and not much sugar. They were good for healthy muffins. If you are in the mood for a sugary, buttery, melt in your mouth moist, muffin that is pretty much just a cupcake without icing then these aren't for you. If you want a wholesome make a head, grab and go breakfast then try these out. I will say that the raspberries pretty much saved these muffins. I don't really like the texture that Greek Yogurt and wheat flour give baked goods...I mean if you are really trying to be healthy and still want sweets then it's a good option, but I prefer butter. As a result I wasn't a huge fan of the texture of the muffins but they tasted pretty good. The raspberries added a much needed sugar boost and just the right amount of tang. I almost left out the walnuts and I'm so glad I didn't because they were great in this muffin, they added crunch and a delicious rich nutty flavor.

Raspberry Walnut Muffins
From Baked Perfection

Cooking Spray or Paper Liners
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup uncooked old fashioned oats
dash of cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp table salt
1 cup fat-free vanilla Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fat-free skim milk
1 egg
1 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 400ºF. Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or fill pan with paper liners.

Combine flours, oats, 1/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and chopped walnuts in a large bowl. Mix well, make a well in the center and set aside.

Whisk yogurt, milk, egg, butter, vanilla and almond extract together in a small bowl. Fold mixture into dry ingredients until blended; fold in raspberries. Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling each cup about 2/3 full.

Bake for 20 minutes; sprinkle tops of muffins with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, about 5 minutes more. Allow to cool in pan for at least 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely.

Okay in other completely random but monumental news: I finished catching up on LOST!!!!!!!!! This is a task I started in January with the very first episode of the best TV show ever. Yes, I watched every. single. episode. Some asked me, "Why start from the beginning? LOST makes summary episodes you know", to which I will say now: because, the island told me to. HA just kidding, sorry I just couldn't resist. Wow I have got to find something else to do. I watched all 5 seasons from start to finish because if I was gonna go back and get into this show, I was gonna do it right. To celebrate my finishing all of the episodes I made a LOST cake! I realize that this post is completely shaming me beyond belief, but I don't care. If you don't watch LOST you are really missing out on a part of life, it's indescribably good. I only thought it fitting to do a cake of the island...I hadn't used my bundt pan in a while so I used that as the mold for a chocolate cake (Ariel's request). Then I iced it with green and blue buttercream frosting (again here is where I marvel at the fact that I have finally tamed the buttercream beast, kind of like the smoke monster in LOST) and put some dharma thingys on. I used a boxed cake (I wish it came in a Dharma Initiative box) and the buttercream frosting recipe that is on the side of Domino's confectioner's sugar. It was a no hassle cake which we ate while watching the season five finale. I kinda wish I had prolonged watching the episodes because now I have nothing to do. Except sit around and wonder wtf is going on with the island/jacob/locke, but not really locke/juliette. Well I should really stop rambling because I think it's further shaming me, as Desmond would say "See ya in another life brotha"!

Enjoy!

Bon Eating,
Whitney