Yes, I have been slacking. No, it’s not because I don’t love you. Or the goodies. Or posting.
It’s just been hectic. I keep telling myself tomorrow, tomorrow. But tomorrow never comes. Isn’t that a song?
Anyways… I’ll be a woman of as few words as possible so I can type up another blog and put it on the back-burner.
Peanut Butter Truffles
For the recipe, head on over to Mara’s blog Love Your Mother.
These were gooooooood. Sinful, even. They are easy to throw together and yield such wonderful, creamy deliciousness. My only complaint is that the peanut butter wasn’t as pronounced. I halved the recipe so that may be the culprit. I melted some bittersweet chocolate and dipped half. I also didn’t have peanuts so I chopped up some salted cashews and rolled the other half in that. Still good!! š
Orange Blueberry Muffins with Pecan Crumble
For the recipe, head on over to Chaya’s blog Sweet & Savory.
The muffin base for this recipe has given me trouble time and time again. I’ve tried nipping and tucking it until it was barely recognizable and quite honestly, it isn’t worth the effort anymore. They are borderline dry, really heavy and quite dense. The blueberry flavor didn’t stand out (my fault because I used frozen) but the orange flavor was bright and sunny. I would try this combo again with a different muffin base.
Up next week: Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel-Rum Raisin Sauce. That’s aaaaall going to my mom. The lover of all things bread pudding š
The Whimsical Cupcake 
I used semi sweet chocolate in the truffles. It helped in bringing out the peanut butter flavor.
I added more cream and a little sour cream in the muffins. Seemed to help their texture.
Your’s both look delicious.
A two-fer! Impressive!
Both your truffles and muffins look great! I agree this muffin base is a little dense, but liked it much better this time. I used fresh blueberries and I think that helped add some moisture.
Great-looking muffins. Mine weren’t dry or heavy this time; I guess it’s just a crap-shoot!
Nice job on both recipes! I think everyone agreed last week the peanut butter flavor was lacking in the truffles so you definitely weren’t alone. Bummer about the muffins. I now use less flour and slightly more liquid in this muffin base and it seems to turn out pretty well. That said, I do wish the recipe just worked without lots of modifications!
I had to make big adjustments to the amount of liquid I added because the batter was much too thick originally. I agree with you on using a different base, in fact I thought sometime I would make Dorie Greenspan’s orange blueberry muffin (which I have made before and liked) and just add the pecan crumble topping. Anyway your muffins look great, even if they weren’t very user friendly.
Looking great! I also wished that the muffin worked better, but just less dry, more liquid and less time in the oven!
No worries on the posting š We all understand that life gets busy!
Your muffins look wonderful even if they were a little dry. Keep us posted if you find a modification to the base recipe that seems to work!
Hi Jeannette!
First off, let me apologize that it’s been SO long since I’ve been in touch… unfortunately, I sort of dropped off the blogosphere for a while because my health deteriorated rapidly, and I just wasn’t up for baking/blogging. But I’m slowly gaining my strength back and doing my best to return to SMS! I’ve really missed talking with you each week… I always looked forward to your posts in particular because you have a special way of bringing a smile to my face! I hope you’ve been doing well and having lots of fun with your many kitchen adventures š
Your truffles and muffins both look fantastic… I totally hear you on the muffins though. I actually gave up hope on Melissa’s recipe a while ago- I think it’s beyond the point of rescuing. This week I kinda bent the rules and used a different blueberry muffin base, but kept the orange flavor combo and still topped them with the pecan crumble. I was so happy with the results, so next time you feel like making muffins, I have a yummy recipe for you!
By the way, I think your “Name That KitchenAid” poll is HILARIOUS! Mazel tov on the new addition- I seriously couldn’t live without mine, and I bet your new mixer will soon become your best (inanimate) friend. Trying to get creative with names, I was brainstorming choices that reflect the gorgeous red color you got- I did some research for you (haha) and came up with a few ideas. You could go with something more obvious like Ruby, Scarlett, or Auburn (all names & shades of red) or names with the meaning red: I found Suri- “red rose” (if you don’t mind being like Katie and Tom), Rowan- “red berry tree,” Phoenix- “Dark red,” and Colorado- “Deep Red.” I know I’m crazy, but I have a thing about names… hope you don’t mind my excessive enthusiasm š
Well, if you have a chance, I’d love you to stop by and say hello- hearing from you would be a true pleasure, as always! Hope we can stay in touch as I get back into the swing of things!
<3,
Joy
http://hotovenwarmheart.wordpress.com/
Both your recipes look fantastic! What pretty photos you take, too. I’m looking forward to more of your sweet Melissa recipes!!
Both look super delish. I especially love the rustic look of the muffin. Wish I had one right now.