Featured Friday – The Messy Baker

Hey everyone!! Yay!!! It’s Friday again!! Boy do I have a treat for you……….I have TWO treats for you!! First let me introduce you to today’s Co-Host. Jennie is the creator, baker and Chef behind The Messy Baker. I asked Jennie to be a Co-Host with me today for a few reasons. One, because I want to venture out in the “baking world” so why not ask someone who is a pro like this girl is! I also asked her because I met Jennie through a few groups I belong to on FB and I’ve gotten to read a lot of her blog posts, and she is just the sweetest thing you’ll ever meet.

Jennie got her love for baking and being in the kitchen from watching her father and great grandmother in action. She has since had an addiction, a down right love affair with food! I’m telling your hubby Jennie!! 🙂 Like a lot of foodies I’ve met through this blogging world she feels the happiest in her kitchen whether it’s whipping up a sweet treat, preparing dinner or sipping on her favorite tea while glancing through cook books. Hmmm I seem to have A LOT in common with these foodie friends of mine!!

Jennie currently lives in Baltimore with her husband, slightly crazy golden retriever, Maddox and her fur baby kitty, Watson where she is finishing up her degree in English. Also, this past July she also started a section on her blog called “Run With Me“. So go check it out and share her journey as she trains for her very first 5K run! Good Luck Jennie!

Go check out where The Messy Baker gets creative with her food and her writing skills!! TRUST me you want to check them out seeing as I HAD to make two of her recipes!! Yup Two treats for you today!!

First let me share with you a recipe I changed a little, not on purpose but simply because it’s what I had in my house and I was dying to bake! Madison and I had gone Raspberry picking the day before so I traded out banana’s for Raspberries and Chocolate Chips for White Chocolate Chips. Here we go!

Double Chocolate Banana Raspberry Muffins 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 large banana
1/2 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips.

 I measured everything out so it’s easier for Maddie       to help me out. She loves feeling like she is part of whatever I’m doing! Here is how me and Miss Madison made these awesome muffins:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a muffin tin. I used a jumbo muffin tin. This recipe will make 12 regular-size muffins or 6 jumbo muffins.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. This is Maddie’s favorite part, well except for sampling the finished project of course!

In a bowl of a mixer, whisk banana and sour cream together until combined. Add egg, brown sugar, oil, and vanilla extract, and whisk to combine. Fold in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill each muffin tin a 1/3 of the way full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops of the muffins spring back, or a tooth pick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean. I decided to take the rest of the white chocolate chips I had and melted them with a little milk.

I poured them on top of the cooled cupcake and this is what I ended up with!

I have to admit, I don’t really eat sweets that much, I just would rather eat the calories in something else like an appetizer or another glass of wine perhaps! But these, yes I ate one of these. I admit it.

Now the most important part of the recipe………..what Madison thought:

Coffee Cake Pound Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a tube pan. (oops I forgot to flour….you can tell I’m not much of a baker!)

In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately to butter mixture, beating until just combined after each addition. (Sorry I didn’t take many pics but it’s hard when you know your almost 2 year old has her hands in the flour mixture!)

Spread half of the mixture into your prepared pan. Stir together remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar mixture over batter. Top with remaining batter and sprinkle the top with remaining cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

End of Story. OK not really, I have to admit something. Getting Madison to nap the day I made this was quite the effort. She NEVER EVER cries and she was crying so though my heart was breaking, I knew she needed a nap (as did mommy) I sat down at my dining room table with a cup of coffee and I had a whole piece of this goodness right here.

A very special thank you to Jennie because she has really helped me with my “baking” side. I haven’t baked that many things but I can honestly say these two things were two of my favorite, I am just starting to get Maddie in the kitchen helping me and I enjoyed every second of it. I’ve also shown that just because you may not have exactly the same ingredients you can make due, I wanted to make the chocolate ones but didn’t have the Banana or the chocolate chips, so I’m glad I gave it a shot! Thank you again Jennie you are welcome in my kitchen anyday (if Maddie let’s you! :)) Don’t forget to go check out Jennie’s goodies over at The Messy Baker and if you do tell her that this Momma sent you!