Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

The last week or so, it seems like the temperature keeps dropping...and dropping...and dropping.. Today is 7 degrees outside (feels like -12) and last night I couldn't help but crave a big pot of fresh chili and some cornbread muffins.  These cornbread muffins are cheesy, and spicy and have the perfect sweetness when paired with homemade chili.  Here's how to make them.

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread Muffin

1 cup of flour

1/3 cup of yellow cornmeal

3 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1 large egg

3/4 milk

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 jalapeno peppers, 1 chopped and 1 sliced

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Place cupcake liners in muffin pan and set aside.  

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt.  

In a large bowl, combine melted butter, milk and eggs.  Slowly mix in dry mixture.

Gently stir in cheese and chopped peppers. 

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full and top each muffin with a sliced pepper.  

Bake 15-17 minutes.  

Serve with butter and honey along side a big bowl of warm chili!

Molten Lava Cakes aka Chocolaty Deliciousness :)

We enjoyed a nice pork tenderloin for our Valentines dinner and for dessert I made chocolate molten lava cakes.  Ryan's mom Jackie always made these for us for special occasions and I guess we were starting to miss them so I found my own recipe and created them for us :)  This is super easy and probably looks a whole lot more complicated than they really are.  They are so worth it and if you aren't serving multiple people, you can save the batter for later and make individual servings or is perfect just for two.  

Ingredients (6 individual cakes):

4 ounces dark chocolate

2/3 cup unsalted butter

4 eggs

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter over double broiler until melted.  Let sit for about 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, whip eggs and sugar until fluffy and ribbon like.  Add flour and mix again.  Slowly add chocolate to the egg/sugar mix and beat until all ingredients combined.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  

Grease ramekins with butter and fill with batter. Chill in the fridge until ready to bake. Bake for 15 minutes or until cake top is set.  Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.  Score around each cake with a knife for easy removal and invert onto serving plates.  Serve with vanilla ice cream!

Homemade Granola

I've spent so many mornings crushing up Nature Valley granola bars on top of my fruit and yogurt and I finally ran out of those so I needed another option rather than running to the store and buying more.  I wanted something fresh and natural.  The greatest thing about this granola is that you know exactly what you put into it.  I'm not sure about cost, whether this is a cheaper option than buying granola or granola bars, but i'm not sure i'll go back to the old kind this is so yummy.  I found this via Pinterest and added cinnamon and pecans to the recipe.  Here's how to make it:
Ingredients

• 5 cups oatmeal
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans 

Instructions

1. Mix ingredients in a large bowl and stir until combined. Spread mixture onto a greased pan.   Bake at 300 for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and stir. Put back in the oven for 7 more minutes. Remove from oven, stir and let cool. Store in a air tight container and serve with yogurt or ice cream.