Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I love lemon poppyseed muffins. When I was growing up, my mom had 3 standard muffin recipes: banana mini-muffins, lemon poppyseed normal-sized muffins, and blueberry jumbo-muffins. I love them all, and eating those kinds of muffins is always very nostalgic for me.

This isn't the recipe my mom makes, but I thought I'd try it out. It's a very soft muffin--almost like cake, but a little less sweet. Next time I might try sprinkling the top with sugar (as the original recipe suggests), but the overall crunch and lemony-ness was pretty good.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins
Recipe by Dine & Dish

1/2 cup sweet creamy butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 lemons, zest of, grated
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk or 1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.

Add the egg yolks, one at a time. Beat well after each.

In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients, poppy seeds, and lemon zest.

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternating two times with the buttermilk, then lemon juice, and then vanilla. Beat just until smooth.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

Gently fold them into the muffin batter until blended.


Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, 3/4-full. Bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely.

Madeleines

For my birthday this year, my friend Marrisa sent me two Madeleine pans. I've ALWAYS wanted Madeleine pans, but for some reason never got around to getting any. Finally, FINALLY I could make some! A few weekends ago I made these alongside our breakfast coffee. SO good. I was starting off following one Allrecipes recipe, but while using their app, somehow my finger swiped too strong and the recipe changed without me noticing. I was suddenly following another recipe and was slightly confused by the change from what I'd remembered were the portions of each ingredient, but thought that maybe I'd misread the recipe the first time around.

By the time I noticed I'd switched recipes, it was too late, and I decided to just wing it. They turned out deliciously light and buttery. SO good. Love the zesty lemon flavor. I'd make these again in a heartbeat.

Madeleine's
Recipe adapted from Madeleines II and French Butter Cakes

2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp lemon zest
1/4 cup butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Butter and flour 24 (3 inch) madeleine molds; set aside.

Melt butter and let cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl beat eggs, vanilla and lemon zest with an electric mixer on high speed for 5 minutes. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Beat for 5 to 7 minutes or until thick and satiny.

Sift together the flour and baking powder. Sift one-fourth of the flour mixture over the egg mixture, gently fold in. Fold in the remaining flour by fourths. Then fold in the melted and cooled butter. Spoon batter into the prepared molds, filling 3/4 full.

Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges are golden and the top s spring back. Cool in molds on a rack for 1 minute. Loosen cookies with a knife. Invert cookies onto a rack and cool. Sift confectioners' sugar over the tops. Store in an airtight container.

Lemon Chicken

In trying to find a really good lemon chicken recipe for my boyfriend who loved it growing up, I decided to try out this one. It was a little less crispy than ideal--so far the Chinese-style lemon chicken that my mom gave me the recipe for and that I grew up loving has been my favorite. I served this with broccoli and rice.

Lemon Chicken
Recipe from Passports and Pancakes

3 chicken breasts (a little less than a pound, can easily adjust other ingredients based on amount of chicken)
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 /2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
zest of 1 lemon
2 lemons (1 can be the previously zested lemon :) , halved
Rice and vegetables for serving

Stir together the flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl. Coat each chicken breast completely with the flour mixture. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt oil and butter together. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the chicken breasts to the skillet.


Cook for 5-7 minutes and turn the chicken. Add the zest, the juice of both lemons, and all 4 of the lemon halves. Cover the skillet with a lid, turn heat down to medium, and cook until chicken is completely done. This will take another 6-10 minutes, depending on how thick your chicken breasts are. Slice the chicken breasts in the pan, stir to coat with the sauce, and serve over rice with a side of your favorite vegetables.

Lemon Chicken with Parmesan Potatoes

Lemon Chicken
Recipe adapted from Southern Living
Recipe found on Tracey's Culinary Adventures

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 8 oz each)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
8 lemon slices
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Place the chicken on a cutting board. Working with one breast at a time, place your hand on top and use a sharp knife to cut the breast in half horizontally, to make two thinner chicken cutlets. (Don't worry if they're not perfectly even, mine never are!) Place each cutlet between two sheets of plastic wrap and use a meat mallet or skillet to pound to 1/4-inch thickness.

Season the chicken on both sides with the salt and pepper. Lightly dredge each cutlet in flour, shaking off the excess.

Set a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the butter and the olive oil to the pan. Once the butter is melted and the pan is hot, add the chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes per side, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

Reduce the heat to medium, and add the chicken broth and lemon juice to the pan. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly, scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen any brown bits. Add the lemon slices to the sauce and let sit undisturbed for about 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the parsley and remaining tablespoon of butter. Stir until the butter is melted and the sauce is smooth. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve (you can garnish with the lemon slices if desired).

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

Recipe by For the Love of Cooking

9-10 small baby Dutch yellow potatoes

3-4 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp olive oil

Garlic powder, to taste

Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Fresh chopped parsley, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil a large pot of water and boil the potatoes for 4-5 minutes. Remove from water and let cool. Once cooled, slice into quarters and combine with olive oil, garlic powder, sea salt and black pepper as well as the Parmesan. Mix thoroughly and place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with olive oil cooking spray.

Place into the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and taste, re season with sea salt, cracked pepper, or garlic powder if needed. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley. Enjoy.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

This recipe was delicious and really easy! I've been wanting to make lemon poppy seed muffins for a while and finally got a hold of some poppy seeds so I made these about a week ago. They were really delicious both warm and after a few days! I'll definitely make these muffins again.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Recipe From Connor's Cooking
Found On Katherine's Martinelli

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar, plus 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a standard 12 muffin pan or a jumbo 6 well muffin pan (or use cupcake tins). Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and lemon juice.

Make a well in center of the flour mixture and pour the buttermilk mixture into the well. Add the melted butter and use a rubber spatula to blend with quick strokes, being careful not to overmix the batter; it should still be slightly lumpy. Gently stir in the poppy seeds and lemon zest. Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling each 3/4 full. Bake until slightly puffed and golden, 20-22 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and cool slightly on a wire rack.

Lemon Coconut Bars

I was really scared when making this recipe because I wasn't sure what it was supposed to look like. The color seemed a little uneven when it came out and some of them tasted a little too much like flour, but I don't know if that was all in my head, because these were a hit! I feel like I'd want to change them around a little bit but people really liked them. Very lemony--I'd like a little more coconut flavor, which seemed more prominent when they were just baked other than after being refrigerated, but overall they were good and super easy to make!

Lemon Coconut Bars
Recipe From My Baking Addiction

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan with foil or parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners’ sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly (I used my food processor and pulsed the ingredients until thoroughly combined).

Press into the bottom of a lightly greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and baking powder until well mixed. Pour over crust; sprinkle coconut evenly over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies

So I decided that the reason why baking in this kitchen has come up with such different baking times than the recipes call for, is because my oven just really sucks. I think it might just be that the top heats up a lot faster than the bottom, or something, because I have an oven thermometer that says it's not even hot enough and the top of everything tends to burn really fast and then it's left unbaked beneath (I tried making congo bars...didn't really work well).

Cookies don't seem to have too much of a problem, though. They bake really fast, but at least they aren't unbaked. Last weekend, I baked these cookies and some Snickerdoodles all day and then spent all night delivering them to friends...which was fun :) but yeah anyway, I really liked these. They had the perfect amount of lemony flavor!

Lemon Cloud Tea Cookies
Recipe by The Modern Baker
Found on Joy the Baker

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon or orange extract
1 teaspoons finely grated lemon or orange zest

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Combine the butter and confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low speed with the paddle until well mixed. Increase the speed to medium and continue beating until light, about 2 minutes.

Beat in the eggs one at a time. Batter may look broken and curdled. Beat in the extracts and zest.

Decrease the speed to low and beat in the flour. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give the dough a few good turns with your spatula to bring it all together.

Arrange rounded teaspoons of the dough on a pan lined with parchment paper. Space the balls about 2-inches apart. After all the cookies have been placed on the pan, flour a fork and press a crisscross design into the top of each mound of dough. Bake the cookies until they spread and become golden, about 20 minutes. Slide the parchment paper off the pan to cool completely.

Lemon Cake with Chocolate Buttercream

So my mom had her bookgroup retreat, and she asked me to make a cake. She loved the lemon cake from Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake from her book Baking: From My Home to Yours, and wanted something like that for dessert at her retreat. The book she and her friends read for the retreat, to boot, was The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (which, by the way, is a pretty good read). So of course I wanted to try and make a cake that looked like the cake on the cover! It was a three layer yellow lemon cake with what looked like milk chocolate buttercream. I ended up making mine a little different, but it still suited the occasion.

I used Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake recipe for the lemon cake, but instead of cutting two layers in half, I wanted a three layer cake, so I split the batter into three pans and baked them for about 25 minutes.

For the frosting, I used Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake lemon buttercream recipe and substituted a fourth a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder for the fourth a cup of lemon juice. I was surprised that it turned out so well: it tasted like chocolate meringue frosting, not chocolate buttercream, and was a good match for the light crumb of the cake.

I took a bit of dark chocolate and made chocolate shavings to put on the sides to make the cake look a little nicer. So my recipe for decorating the cake was to frost between the layers and all over, then press the shavings into the side: perfectly easy and perfectly delicious.

Apricot-Lemon Chicken and Lemon Orzo

So I've cooked before. I've made fried rice for a crowd, prepared spaghetti pie with herb biscuits for my family, heated up some frozen food on the side. But because my mom was gone last week and she's normally the one to do all the cooking, I decided that I'd make a REAL meal for me, my dad, and my brother to take her place.

Well, real-er than what I've done before, I guess. The recipe I used called for chicken breasts but all I could find in our freezer were tenders made of breasts? Or something like that, anyway, I didn't feel like going out to buy more, so I just stuck with those and it was fine. Unfortunately I burned them a little and there didn't seem to be enough sauce, but now I know! I've actually cooked chicken on my own! Woohoo!

Apricot-Lemon Chicken
Recipe from Cooking Light

1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
1/3 cup apricot spread (such as Polaner All Fruit)
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
2 tsp grated lemon rind

Combine first 3 ingredients in a small bowl; rub mixture over chicken.

Place a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Cook chicken 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan, and keep warm.

Add apricot spread, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water to pan, stirring until smooth. Cook over medium heat 1 minute. Spoon sauce over chicken; sprinkle with lemon rind.


Lemon Orzo
Recipe from Cooking Light

Cooking spray
1/2 cup prechopped onion
1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used water)
1/4 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp chopped fresh chives
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in pasta, broth, wine, and thyme; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and pasta is al dente. Stir in chopped chives and lemon juice. Keep warm.

Dorie Greenspan's Perfect Party Cake

I'm baking so often that I'm going to switch my schedule to Monday/Wednesday/Friday for a bit!

My older brother, CJ, just graduated from college a few weeks ago. I couldn't attend because it was during finals week for me, but I watched it online (which, when I told him later, is apparently "creepy"). In honor of his graduation, I baked him this cake on Friday.

It took me about 4 hours to make this cake, and I am extremely proud of it. It fell together very nicely. This is Dorie Greenspan's "Perfect Party Cake", a deliciously light and fluffy lemon cake with raspberry preserves and a very light, delicate lemon buttercream. I decorated it with the suggested coconut and used about a cup instead of the cup and a half of coconut, and only decorated the sides, putting fresh raspberries on top. What made this cake even easier compared to recipes I've made at college, was that I had both a hand-mixer for the frosting, a long serated knife to cut the layers in half, and a cake frosting knife!! Oh my god that made it so much easier! I really really enjoyed this cake, both the making and the eating. It was such a light lemony flavor and a delicate texture. I didn't really like the store-bought raspberry preserves that I used, because it was a little sweet, but my family still liked it.

Unfortunately my brother was very displeased that I did something for him...so he refused to accept this cake as any form of gift or celebration for his graduation...but at least he ate a piece!

Perfect Party Cake
Recipe from Dorie Greenspan's
Baking: From My Home to Yours
For the Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups whole milk or buttermilk (I prefer buttermilk with the lemon)
4 large egg whites
1 ½ cups sugar
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 stick (8 tablespoons or 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ teaspoon pure lemon extract

For the Buttercream
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For Finishing2/3 cup seedless raspberry preserves stirred vigorously or warmed gently until spreadable
About 1 ½ cups sweetened shredded coconut

Getting ReadyCentre a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter two 9 x 2 inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with a round of buttered parchment or wax paper. Put the pans on a baking sheet.

To Make the Cake
Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Whisk together the milk and egg whites in a medium bowl.

Put the sugar and lemon zest in a mixer bowl or another large bowl and rub them together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

Add the butter and working with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat at medium speed for a full 3 minutes, until the butter and sugar are very light.

Beat in the extract, then add one third of the flour mixture, still beating on medium speed.

Beat in half of the milk-egg mixture, then beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients until incorporated.

Add the rest of the milk and eggs beating until the batter is homogeneous, then add the last of the dry ingredients.

Finally, give the batter a good 2- minute beating to ensure that it is thoroughly mixed and well aerated.

Divide the batter between the two pans and smooth the tops with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and springy to the touch – a thin knife inserted into the centers should come out clean.

Transfer the cakes to cooling racks and cool for about 5 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the cakes, unfold them and peel off the paper liners.

Invert and cool to room temperature, right side up (the cooled cake layers can be wrapped airtight and stored at room temperature overnight or frozen for up to two months).

To Make the Buttercream
Put the sugar and egg whites in a mixer bowl or another large heatproof bowl, fit the bowl over a plan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes.

The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like shiny marshmallow cream.

Remove the bowl from the heat.

Working with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the meringue on medium speed until it is cool, about 5 minutes.

Switch to the paddle attachment if you have one, and add the butter a stick at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes.

During this time the buttercream may curdle or separate – just keep beating and it will come together again.

On medium speed, gradually beat in the lemon juice, waiting until each addition is absorbed before adding more, and then the vanilla.

You should have a shiny smooth, velvety, pristine white buttercream. Press a piece of plastic against the surface of the buttercream and set aside briefly.

To Assemble the Cake
Using a sharp serrated knife and a gentle sawing motion, slice each layer horizontally in half.

Put one layer cut side up on a cardboard cake round or a cake plate protected by strips of wax or parchment paper.

Spread it with one third of the preserves.

Cover the jam evenly with about one quarter of the buttercream.

Top with another layer, spread with preserves and buttercream and then do the same with a third layer (you’ll have used all the jam and have buttercream leftover).

Place the last layer cut side down on top of the cake and use the remaining buttercream to frost the sides and top.

Press the coconut into the frosting, patting it gently all over the sides and top.

I followed the exact directions for frosting the first layer: I put down the preserves and then tried to put the frosting on top of the jam. But it's MUCH easier to spread the preserves, and then on the side of the next layer of cake that you're going to put on top, frost that with frosting before.

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