Surprising fact about me:
I love chocolate.
Oh wait, that’s not surprising at all, is it? Here’s something that is surprising: Every once in a while, I crave something other than chocolate. Yesterday afternoon, for example, I was craving… lemon poppy seed?
Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Katie?
The problem is, there are no poppy seed recipes in my archives.
This was a job for my good friends over at the Candle Cafe. I’ve owned their cookbook for years, and you know how many recipes I’ve made from it? Zero.
I used to be so bad about buying cookbooks. I’d flip through the recipes, bookmark pages, and then never make any. Therefore, I’ve forced myself to completely stop buying cookbooks in the first place. Before I purchase new ones, I ought to show some love to those I already own!
So yesterday, I dug out the Candle Cafe Cookbook and assembled ingredients for their lemon poppy seed muffins. However, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am incapable of following a recipe. True to form, I abandoned CC’s recipe halfway through and did my own thing.
Where’s the 12th mini muffin? In mah belly!
Lil Lemon Poppies
(Adapted from the Candle Cafe Cookbook)
- very scant 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 1 tsp grated lemon zest
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 c milk of choice
- 1 c spelt flour (or white, ww pastry, or even try gluten-free mix!)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 c butter-type spread (full-fat), applesauce, oil, or a combo (if using oil or applesauce, add 1/16 tsp salt)
- 2 tbsp sugar (I used less than 2tbsp because I used stevia)
- 1/2 tsp powdered ginger (You can omit this.)
Preheat oven to 355 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix liquid ingredients (and poppy seeds), then combine and stir until just mixed. Don’t overmix. Pour into mini liners or spray a mini muffin tin with oil, and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 cute lil mini muffins.
If desired, you can top them with my Easiest-Ever Icing.
But they really don’t even need a glaze; these babies are perfect on their own.
The bake sale is over!
For the incredible results: Bake-Sale Results.
I know a lot of you want to know more details about the sale, and those of you who bid are chomping (literally!) at the bit to know exactly when you’ll get your delicious yummies. Please be patient with me; I have a terrifying amount of emails in my inbox at the moment, and there’s no way I can get to them all today. Please remember that I have other obligations; running the bake sale is not my job.
I’ll publish a big “bake sale wrap up” post tomorrow, listing the amount we raised and giving instructions on what to do next. (I’ll also be sending emails to the winners in the next few days; as I said, please be patient!)
Question of the Day:
Do you bookmark recipes from cookbooks or blogs, then never make any?
Or are you the kind of person who sees a recipe (either in a cookbook or a blog) and immediately goes out and makes it that night? And can you follow a recipe to a tee, or do you improvise as you go along?
haha im terrible at following recipes too but i do use them for inspiration 🙂 muffins look fab soo perfect for spring!
Yum yum yum! I was on a HUGE lemon kick when pregnant last year and it has stuck with me. I love lemon goods. These look fabulous!
Adding my “bookmark but have a hard time making them all” vote… 😀
I’m finally getting to the point where I’m comfortable improvising the first time through on a recipe. I think it stems back to biochem grad school, where I’d run through a protocol (basically, a recipe!) perfectly, so I thought, and it didn’t give me the results I wanted–so I had to be so, so picky. (and I couldn’t even eat the results–waaahhh!) Finally, almost 13 years after grad school, I’ve learned to move on. 🙂
The beautiful thing about this being a blog, and not a real-life auction, is you can address everyone’s questions in a simple blog post and they’re all bound to read it!! 🙂 Lol I can’t imagine what a pain in the butt it must be to work a real-life auction with everyone’s questions and questions, pressing on you urgently and all waiting until they begin to get angry!! 🙂 I work at a restaurant and it’s hard enough. People have to remember that it’s just this: we are all people. But many times the worst ones forget–how hypocritical!
I so want to make these muffins for my mom 🙂 Lemon is her favorite. Actually, I think I just want to make mini-muffins or mini-cupcakes in general and give them away everywhere. So cute!!
I’m glad the bake sale was a huge success! Good luck with the wrap-up and all that, I’m sure it is a ton of work!
I love lemon poppyseed — bread, muffins, cake, anything!
There are plenty of recipes that I have stashed away that I have never and may never make!
OMG! Lemon poppy seed is my absolute favorite muffin flavor ever! You have no idea how long I have been looking for a healthy LP muffin recipe! This just made my day! I am rushing home (after school of course) to make these…..first I have to find some poppy seeds though 🙂
Congrats on the bake sale being such a great success! I will get to making my granola right away for the lucky bidder!
I have a ton of cookbooks (including the Candle Cafe book that I meant to make a dozen things from when I bought it) that I regularly flip through, intending to make something, then never do. I read so many blogs, have so many recipes saved from blogs, and I have a huge list of my own recipe ideas. You know what I end up eating most nights after a long day at work? A bowl of steamed broccoli or kale, and some baked tofu/tempeh/frozen vegan burger thing. It’s sad, really.
I’m forcing myself to cook at least three times a week from some other source, or to try something on my own list of ideas. I’m not perfect, but I’m eating way better, and the husband is enjoying it, too!
The worst part is that I actually have a recipe program, so I could just plug in ingredients I have and pick something! Instead of eating chickpeas out of the can as I stand over the sink!
I hear you! I just don’t usually get around to making recipes; I’ll pull something from the freezer or make a quick stir fry. When I DO make a recipe, though, I make sure to cook in bulk so it’ll last a long time :).
Lemon poppyseed muffins!!! My mom used to make these all the time!! Ahhh I love, I love, I lovee!
Yummy! Those muffins look awesome! What a creative recipe…they look like they came straight from a bakery (I mean that in a good way, hehe).
a) your lemon pop muffins are gorgeous
b) i think you are so creative and generous (with time, patience, fudge babies!) for running a very big online bakesale for japan!
c) don’t feel rushed by the impatient kiddos! remember ur amazing!!
d) I made a chocolate single lady muffin w/ cacao nibs mixed in last night & it was so fantastic it made me gasp
e) I’ve been making delish balls with a combo of pb/molasses/flax seed/oats/cacao nibs/cinnamon, best snacky dessert ever, you’re so on point!!
thanks!
Awww this comment made me smile so much!