Rum Glazed Piña Colada Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with sweet cream of coconut and canned pineapple chunks, then topped with boozy glaze, these rum glazed piña colada muffins are perfect for a nippy days when you need a tropical holiday from inclement weather.

Our climate in Houston is weird. Cold one day, warm the next. You are just as likely to spend Christmas in shorts as bundled up in an overcoat. And then the reverse on Boxing Day. And don’t even get me started about the rain.

Sometimes we need to add a little sunshine and a vacation vibe to our wet winter days. May I suggest you bake some muffins?

For the last several years, I have been baking muffins regularly, at first every week, then once a month, with a marvelous group of bakers. They live in various places so it’s always fun to see the creative recipes they share, often including special local ingredients. One thing we all have in common is a love of the ease of muffin baking.

No creaming of sugar, no whisking of eggs, the muffin method requires dirtying only two bowls and produces wonderful baked beauties in under 30 minutes. Best of all, they are so portable, unlike big cakes.

Rum Glazed Piña Colada Muffins

About six years ago, I shared piña colada muffins made with coconut oil. They were tender and delicious with a subtle coconut flavor. This time I decided to go bigger on the coconut element, using the sweetened cream of coconut generally called for in piña colada cocktail recipes and finishing the muffins off with a rum glaze. Because, what was I thinking? Piña coladas need rum!

Ingredients
For the muffin batter:
3/4 cup or 140g (drained weight) pineapple, canned in juice
2 cups or 250g all purpose flour
1/2 cup or 100g dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml cream of coconut
1/4 cup or 63g canola or other light oil
1/4 cup or 60ml pineapple juice (from canned pineapple)
2 eggs

For the rum glaze:
1/2 cup or 63g powdered sugar
3-4 teaspoons dark rum

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 12-cup muffin pan by greasing it or lining with paper muffin cups.

Drain your small can of pineapple and reserve the juice.  Chop the pineapple up with a sharp knife. Set aside a small pile of pineapple for adding to the muffin tops before baking.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together.  Add the larger pile of pineapple bits to the flour and stir to coat.

In another bowl, whisk together cream of coconut, canola, pineapple juice and eggs. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture.

Gently fold just until dry ingredients are moistened. Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Top each cup of batter with a piece or two of the reserved pineapple.

Bake 20-25 minutes in your preheated oven or until muffins are golden.

Remove the muffins from oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing them from the pan.

To make the glaze, sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl. Add the rum by teaspoonful and stir well with each addition, until the glaze is a good drizzling consistency. You may not need it all.

Cool the muffins completely, then drizzle on the rum glaze. I like to use a piping bag or a Ziplock baggies with a corner cut off because that’s less messy but you do you.

Enjoy!

Happy New Year to you all! Check out all the other lovely muffins my Muffin Monday friends are sharing today! 

• Blueberry Banana Oat Breakfast Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Lemon Crumb Muffins from Making Miracles
• Mandarin Orange Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Rosemary Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Rum Glazed Colada Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Potato Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all of our lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday can be found on our home page.

Pin these Rum Glazed Piña Colada Muffins! 

 .

Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake #FishFridayFoodies

This artichoke crab dip pasta bake starts with the main ingredients of everyone’s favorite baked artichoke dip, then adds crab, mushrooms and pasta for a delicious casserole the whole family will love.

One of our favorite things to have for a Sunday lunch is the chancre crabs found offshore the Channel Islands. They are huge, like Dungeness crabs, with wonderful flavor. We buy one per person so there are often leftovers enough to make another meal.

This pasta bake is one such. We like it so much that I’ve since made versions with shrimp and fish, so feel free to substitute your own favorite cooked seafood.

Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake

If you do want to use crabmeat and don’t have leftovers from steamed crabs, by all means use the fresh picked stuff you can buy at the store. Ive used it in many recipes including Aunt Neen's Stuffed Crab.

Ingredients
1 lb or 450g shell (or your favorite shape) pasta
4 oz or 113g fresh button mushrooms
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup or 60ml butter
1 large clove garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups or 200g picked cooked crabmeat
1 1/2 cups or about 190g finely grated Parmesan, divided
1 cup or 240g mayonnaise (NOT Miracle Whip or salad cream – they are too sweet.)
1 can (14oz or 400g) artichoke hearts, drained weight 8 1/2oz or 240g
1 small hot red chili, minced, optional but highly recommended

Method
Cook the pasta according to package instructions, leaving it decidedly al dente. This leaves room for it to continue cooking as it bakes and to absorb the flavors of the artichoke crap dip mixture.

While the pasta is cooking, slice the mushrooms and pan fry them over a high heat in the olive oil until they turn golden, about 5-7 minutes.

Warm the butter in a small pot and add in the minced garlic. Set aside to cool. When the pasta is cooked, reserve a cup of the cooking water and drain the pasta. Set aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C. Chop the well-drained artichokes roughly.

Mix all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl, reserving 1/2 cup or 63g of the Parmesan for topping. If it seems a bit dry, stir in some of the reserved pasta water.

Spoon the mixture into a greased baking pan. Top with the reserved cheese.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 30-35 minutes or until the pasta is heated through and golden brown.

Enjoy!

This month my Fish Friday Foodie friends are celebrating Christmas Eve in a special way, as Italian Americans do, with the feast of the seven fishes. There are no hard rules, but here is how Bon Appetit outlines it.
1st course: Appetizer or a snack
2nd course: Seafood salad
3rd course: Meaty fish, grilled or broiled
4th course: Fish in pasta
5th course: Seafood Stew
6th course: palate cleanser like gelato
7th course: light dessert such as Italian cookies

Mine, of course. is for the fourth course. Our host today is Karen from Karen's Kitchen Stories, a fellow blogger I’ve had the privilege to meet. Check out all of the lovely seafood recipes we are sharing below.

• Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake from Food Lust People Love
• Baked Mussels from Caroline's Cooking
• Crab Bites from Making Miracles
• Creamy Clam Dip from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Creamy Mackerel Salad for Two from Sneha's Recipes
• Italian Seafood Salad (Insalata di Mare) from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• La Vigilia di Natale from Culinary Adventures with Camilla, who made new dishes for all of the courses for this Italian Christmas Eve dinner! Fun fact: She once spent a year in Rome and learned the food traditions of Italy. You need to check out her menu!

Would you like to join Fish Friday Foodies? We post and share new seafood/fish recipes on the third Friday of the month. To join our group please email Wendy at wendyklik1517 (at) gmail.com. Visit our Facebook page and Pinterest page for more wonderful fish and seafood recipe ideas.

Pin this Artichoke Crab Dip Pasta Bake! 

 .

Gram's Famous Fruit Cake #BundtBakers

The only fruit cake I’d eat as a child, this recipe was my grandmother’s special treat at Christmas time. It’s chock full of pecans, walnuts, crystalized fruit, dates, cherries, raisins and pineapple.

I was not a fan of fruit cake when I was a child, at least not the store-bought sort. I made an exception for Gram’s famous fruit cake. (Famous in our family circle anyway.) It was not dry at all and it had lots of pecans, my favorite nut of all time. My grandmother made many of different sizes, wrapped them up in foil with ribbons to share and more for keeping safe under her bed.

I finally knew I was considered an adult one Christmas when I was given my very own little loaf.

If you’ve been reading here for a while, you know that both of my grandmothers were wonderful cooks and sometimes bakers and candy makers. I’ve inherited so many good recipes from them. Gram’s fig preserves and her Cajun rice dressing, Mo's chicken and sausage gumbo and her shrimp stew and crawfish étouffée, just to name a few. This fruit cake is one of my favorites.

Gram’s Famous Fruit Cake

Amongst my grandmother’s things I found several copies of the original recipe, copied out in her distinctive old-fashioned hand. I have no idea where she came by it or if it was a mixture of her own devise. I've downscaled her ingredient amounts to make one 12-cup Bundt cake.

Ingredients
8 oz or 227g pecans
8 oz or 227g walnuts
15 small bottled cherries (weight 48g)
1 cup or 125g flour
1 1/4 lbs or 367g crystallized fruit mix
12 oz or 340g seedless dates, roughly chopped
3 oz or 85g raisins
2 oz or 57g sliced pineapple, cut in chunks
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons each allspice, cloves and cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups or 132g sugar
1/2 cup or 113g butter (plus extra to butter pan)
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml red (dark) Karo
1/8 cup or 30ml fruit juice from canned pineapple and bottled cherries

Method
Separate out your prettiest pecans and walnuts to line the bottom of your classic Bundt pan and set them aside. I use a Nordic Ware anniversary Bundt so I set aside 8 of each. Cut the cherries in half and set aside an equal amount of cherry halves.

Check your nuts thoroughly for any errant bits of shell that might have been missed before they were packaged up. You do not want to break a tooth while eating the fruit cake! Roughly chop the rest of the pecans and walnuts, then mix all of the fruit and nuts with 1/4 cup or 31g flour.

Whisk or sift the baking powder, spices and salt into the rest of the flour. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 250°F or 121°C. Liberally butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan, then arrange the reserved pecans, walnuts and cherries as decoration for when the fruit cake is turned out of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter. Separate your egg whites and yolks, adding the whites to a clean, grease free bowl.

Add the egg yolks, Karo, flour mix and fruit juice to the creamed sugar and butter. Mix well.

Beat the egg whites until foamy.

Fold them gently into the fruit cake and then do the same with the fruit and nuts.

Spoon the mixture into your prepared Bundt pan.

Bake the mixture for 3 1/2  hours in your preheated oven.

Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, then invert the fruit cake on a serving plate. If any of the bits stick to your pan, just pry them off and poke them back in the cake.

My grandmother never added alcohol to her fruit cake, but feel free to brush yours with some good dark rum or brandy if you so desire.

Leftovers should be tightly wrapped in cling film and foil and stored in a cool place.

Enjoy!

This month my Bundt Baker friends are all sharing fruit cake recipes. Check them out!

• Applejack Bundt Cake from Palatable Pastime
• Cake aux Fruit Bundt from Patyco Candybar
• Cranberry and Apricot Fruit Bundt Cake from Making Miracles
• Dried Fruit and Pecan Bundt Cake from I Love Bundts
• Dried Fruit Bundt Cake from Living the Gourmet
• Gram's Famous Fruit Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Macadamia and Tropical Fruit Bundt Cake from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Sorrel/Hibiscus Fruit Cake from Sneha's Recipe
• Spiced Rum Cake from A Day in the Life on the Farm

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

Pin Gram's Famous Fruit Cake! 

 .

Pecan Snowball Cookies #CreativeCookieExchange

These little bite-sized pecan snowball cookies are buttery, tender and just the right amount of sweet. They practically melt in your mouth.

I’m calling these pecan snowball cookies because they are chock full of pecans and do look like little snowballs, but all across the interwebs, similar recipes are known as Mexican wedding cookies, biscochitos, polvorones, Russian tea cakes, Italian wedding cookies, Kourabiedes or Greek wedding cookies or butterballs.

Whatever you decide to call them, I hope you do give them a try. This recipe is a fun one to make with children. They love forming the little balls and then rolling the cookies in the icing sugar (twice!) after they’re baked.

Pecan Snowball Cookies

As you can tell from the recipe, the cookie dough isn’t very sweet because sugar is added outside with the double rolling, making these perfect, just as they are. If you are feeling adventurous, you might also want to try my Mexican chocolate (with cinnamon) wedding cookies too.

Ingredients – makes 6 dozen cookies
For the cookie dough:
2 cups, finely chopped, or 210g pecans
2/3 cup or 83g icing sugar
1 cup or 226g butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups or 250g all-purpose flour

For coating cookies:
1 cup or 125g powdered sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C and prepare a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper or silicone liners.

Place the pecans and powdered sugar in a food processor. Pulse the pecans and icing sugar, until the nuts are fairly finely ground with just a few bigger bits.

In the bowl of your mixer, add the pecan mixture, the butter, vanilla and salt. Beat until everything is well combined.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula then add half of the flour mixture to the mixer bowl.

Mix on low speed until everything is well incorporated. Repeat with the second half of the flour, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula before and after the addition.

Scoop up spoonfuls of the dough and roll the dough between the palms of your hands into balls about 1 in or 2.5cm big. Place the balls on the prepared cookie sheet spaced about 2 inches or 5cm apart.

Keep any balls that don’t fit in the first batch on parchment paper in the refrigerator if your kitchen is warm.

Bake the cookies for about 18 to 20 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack and let them cool for five minutes.

While they bake, sift a cup of powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. When the cookies have cooled for about five minutes, roll them one or two at a time in the icing sugar to coat completely.

Leave to cool completely then roll them in the sugar again.

Enjoy!

After a hiatus of several months, I am delighted that my Cookie Exchange friends are baking together again. Many thanks to our leader, Laura of The Spiced Life, for organizing us this month. Check out all the other great seasonal cookies we are sharing today!

• Pecan Snowball Cookies from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Spritz Christmas Tree Cookies from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Espresso Sable Sandwiches with Blonde Chocolate Filling from The Spiced Life
• Gevulde Speculaas - Dutch Spiced Cookies from Spiceroots

Creative Cookie Exchange is a great resource for cookie recipes. Be sure to check out our Pinterest Board!

Pin these Pecan Snowball Cookies! 

 .

Sausage Jalapeño Cheese Kolaches #BreadBakers

These sausage jalapeño cheese kolaches are best made with quality beef franks, sliced fresh jalapeños and sharp cheese. They are the perfect filling for the soft, slightly sweet dough that surrounds them.

Kolaches, as you might remember from my Bread Bakers post three and a half years ago, are breakfast treats that can be either savory or sweet. If you’d like to know more about how such a traditional Czechoslovakia baked good made its way to Texas, check out my apricot kolaches recipe.

I also mention in that post that my personal favorite kolac (<that’s the singular) is one filled with sausage, jalapeños and cheese. This month, at my instigation, my fellow Bread Bakers and I are sharing breakfast breads that are made the night before, so you can have freshly baked breakfast in the morning. True confessions: This theme was completely driven by my desire to make my favorite savory kolaches, since they rise overnight in the refrigerator.

Sausage Jalapeño Cheese Kolaches

This dough is a bit different from the one I made to fill with sweet apricots. It’s a little less enriched – no sour cream, for one – with a little less sugar per kolache. I adapted this recipe from one on The Brewer and the Baker.

Ingredients – to make 10 kolaches
For the dough:
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 large egg
1/4 cup or 50g sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
 3 1/8 cups or 400g bread flour

For the filling:
1/2 cup or about 40g finely grated cheese
2-3 fresh jalapeños
5 good quality bun-length beef franks

For brushing the kolaches before baking:
2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

Method
Sprinkle the yeast over warm water in the bowl of your stand mixer along with 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 1 tablespoon of the flour. Let prove for 5 minutes. It should start to foam up and get bubbly. If it doesn’t, start over with new yeast.

Meanwhile, warm the milk and butter until the butter just melts. Set aside.

Turn the mixer to low and add the milk and butter mixture, egg, sugar, and salt. Beat until they are mixed thoroughly.

Add the flour gradually until you have a soft but kneadable dough.

Knead for 5 minutes by machine or 8-10 minutes by hand, until the dough isn’t quite as sticky as when you started. Add additional flour as necessary, but try not to over do it.  We want a soft dough. You may not use all the flour.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about an hour in a warm place, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Cut the beef franks in two equal pieces. Slice the jalapeños into thin rounds.

When the dough has doubled, punch it down and divide it into 10 equal pieces and tuck them into balls. Mine were about 70+g each.

Using your clean hands, press each ball out into a rectangle. Add some grated cheese and a few jalapeño slices to the middle of each one. Place the half frank on top then use a spatula or dough scraper to fold each long side in.

Crimp and tuck to close the ends. Place the kolache in your lined pan, seam side down. Continue until all the kolaches are filled and formed.

Cover them with cling film and pop them in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, remove them from the refrigerator and then set your oven to preheat to 375°F or 190°C. Fill your kitchen sink about an inch deep with warm water and set the pan in it, being careful not to get any water in the pan.

When the oven has preheated, brush the kolaches with the melted butter and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the kolaches are golden brown.

Let the kolaches cool for 15-20 minutes then pull apart gently to serve. I love mine with some yellow mustard but you can eat them plain as well, as my husband did. To each his own.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other overnight breakfast breads my fellow Bread Bakers are sharing today!

• Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Morning Buns from A Messy Kitchen 
• Overnight Apple Gingerbread Cinnamon Rolls from All That's Left Are The Crumbs
• Overnight Breakfast Rolls from Anybody Can Bake
• Overnight Sourdough Boule from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Sausage Jalapeño Cheese Kolaches from Food Lust People Love

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

Pin these Sausage Jalapeño Cheese Kolaches!

 .