[SWEET] Red Bean Buns

There is nothing – absolutely NOTHING – more delicious to me.. than red bean buns. Well, except maybe mangoes and coconuts, but the fact that red bean buns are on the same level with such fruits really says something in itself. If you have never tried a red bean bun, you’re missing out. I first discovered them several years while visiting a Japanese bakery. I tried one, and not long later, I visited a Chinese market in the area.. and bought many more. And so the addiction began. Now I cannot go to an Asian bakery or supermarket of any sort without stocking up on these glorious buns. Adzuki beans are not only delicious in baked bun form, however. They’re delicious in steamed bun form, in icecream, in bubble tea, in pretty much everything i’ve ever tried them in. A reason why I adore them so much may be because they’re not very sweet.. at all. Of course, bean pastes differ in sweetness from one another, but typically i’ve found that they’re extremely mild compared to most other sweets. I’m so very glad I found this recipe, because now I can feed my addiction at home, as long as I still have cans of sweetened bean paste laying around. They are a good thing to keep stocked up with. Oh, and yes.. I used the bread machine for this one.

Asian pastries in general are a gigantic love of mine. I’m hoping to become more experienced with making them over time.

Red Bean Buns☆

● 1/2 cup white sugar

● 1 cup warm milk (approx. 110°)

● 1 tbsp active dried yeast

● 4 cups unbleached white bread flour

● 3 eggs, 1 beaten and set aside

● 6 tbsp vegetable oil

● 2 tsp salt

● 2 tsp water

● 1 tsp sesame seeds for garnish (Optional)

● 1/2 can sweetened red bean (adzuki) paste (Available in any given Asian market)

1. Place the ingredients (except for the sesame seeds) in the pan of the bread machine as your bread machine instructions specify (liquid ingredients, then dry ingredients, etc. or however). Select the dough / basic dough setting.

2. Select the dough / basic dough setting. Press start. Meanwhile, prepare a lightly floured surface and a lightly oiled cookie sheet. Set the cookie sheet to the side.

3. Beat the egg that was set aside in order to make an egg wash. This will not only coat the buns before they bake, but it’ll help to fold the dough over the filling and keep it secure.

4. Once the dough setting has finished, remove the dough from the bread machine and begin preparing the buns. One by one, take small (slightly smaller than average fist sized) chunks of dough and stretch them until flat and thin on your floured surface, in a square-ish shape.

5. Add about 1 tbsp of your red bean paste in the center of the dough. Smear some of the eggwash on a corner of the raw dough, then fold it forward towards the opposite corner, covering the filling. Likewise, fold that opposite corner over the previous one. Do this for all four corners until the bean paste is covered by the flaps of dough. Smear eggwash on the creases and pinch them together until formed and sealed. Continue this until you have enough buns to your preference. If desired for visual aspects, take a sharp knife and score each side of the buns with one deep incision. This creates a lovely effect with the buns bake. At this point, you can add sesame seeds to the top for garnish, if desired. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°.

6. Cover the completed buns with lightly oiled clear wrap (plastic wrap) and leave in a warm place to raise, for about 30 minutes. Once the 30 minutes are up, remove the plastic wrap and coat the buns liberally with the remaining egg wash. Place the buns on the lightly oiled cookie sheet with the seam down, and bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.

While I am incredibly proud of these buns, I did have one complaint. It was my own fault, though. I underestimated the amount that the dough would expand when being cooked, so I only added a small amount of red bean paste to each bun. Therefore, once they expanded and baked, I was left with a HUGE bun.. and only a small dab of red bean paste inside.

..See what I mean? Not nearly enough, not by far. And i’m someone who loves rolls STUFFED to the gills with this shit. Must be careful of that in the future. Needs moar red bean paste. Much, much moar.

Heed my warning and be very generous with the red bean paste. The next time I use this recipe (because there will definitely be a next time), i’ll be alot more liberal with the red bean paste. Regardless, the bread itself has gotten along of compliments from my red-bean-paste-hating parents. So even if you leave out the red bean filling, the bread itself is still the perfect amount of buttery and sweet that I also personally enjoyed.

[SWEET] Blackberry Spice Muffins

I don’t remember where I came across the original recipe for this, but I made quite a few significant changes to it when I did, and the result ended up being surprisingly delicious. However, like some of my other inventions, this one also faced criticism from my mom for not being sweet enough. She said they were good, but she wanted to dunk them in sugar. No.. No.. NO. That is not delicious, not at all. When making these muffins, I made them with the inventions of tasting the spices and the delicious ripe blackberries. Not with the intentions to taste coma inducing sugary DEATH. That being said, if you want a sweeter muffin than what i’ve made, feel free to add additional sugar. I would advise not to, but hey.. Everyone has different taste buds. And different sugar tolerance. Anyway, this is a sort of Autumn-esc kind of muffin recipe, one I very much enjoyed.

Blackberry Spice Muffins☆

● 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

● 1/2 cup sugar

● 1 tbsp baking powder

● 1 tsp salt

● 2 tsp cinnamon

● 1 tsp clove powder

● 1/2 tsp nutmeg

● 1/8 ground ginger

● 1 6 oz. container / cup of yogurt (vanilla, blackberry, blueberry, mixed berry, etc.)

● 1 cup milk

● 1/3 cup vegetable or canola oil

● 1 tsp vanilla extract

● 1 1/2 cup / small carton ripe blackberries

1. Preheat your oven to 375°. Prepare your muffin pan with paper liners.

2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and ginger. Make a well in in the center and then add the yogurt, milk, vegetable / canola oil,and vanilla extract. Stir until combined and smooth.

See, that is this part right here, yes yes.

3. Drop the blackberries into the batter and with a large spoon, carefully fold them in. Be careful not to smash them or excessively chop them up when adding to the mixture.

4. Fill your paper liners with the batter up to the top (I prefer this method to filling them 2/3 of the way, as other recipes say. Filling them to the top causes them form over the top when baking, creating that “muffin top” effect). Bake for 25 – 32 minutes or until they’re springy and an inserted toothpick comes out clean of batter.

The insides after I rather ungracefully mutilated one of them. Then I ate it.

If you’re not a fan of blackberries, you could always substitute them for blueberries, raspberries, chopped strawberries or any mixture including. Likewise, if you’re not big on the taste of berries and earthy spices together, you can always cut back on the cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and so on. I personally liked the blend of the two contrasting flavors. And, as I said above, if you want more sweetness to the mixture.. feel free to do so. I wouldn’t advocate adding an extra cup or two of sugar, though. Unless you REALLY want a sugar coma, not just figuratively speaking.

[SWEET] Lemon Poppy Bread

While i’m not batshit crazy for lemons, like I am for tropical fruit, I still love the mild taste of them in baked goods. As long as they’re not excessively sweet. I’ve found that most lemony baked goods are packed with most sugar and frosting and shit instead of, you know.. actual lemon. I found this most disturbing. Sugar is not delicious, okay. Sugar will NEVER be delicious. Now poppy seeds, those are delicious. I’ve always adored poppy seeds, ever since becoming obsessed with bagels. They’re fantastic in both savory and sweet things. This is yet another bread machine recipe, my apologies to those who have to live the miserable existence without one. If you ever need help or advice on how to modify a bread machine recipe to work by hand, i’d be happy to assist.

Lemon Poppy Bread☆

●1/2 cup margarine, softened

● 1/2 – 2/3 cup white sugar

● 2 eggs

● 1 large lemon

● 1 tsp lemon extract / flavoring

● 2 tsp poppy seeds

● 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

● 1 tsp baking powder

● 1/8 tsp salt

● 1/2 cup milk

1. In a bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar beforehand.

2. With a lemon grater, grate the entirety of your lemon into the creamed mixture. Cut your lemon in half. Add half of the lemon’s juice (or the entire lemon’s juice if you please) to your liquids.

3. Place the ingredients in the pan of the bread machine as your bread machine instructions specify (liquid ingredients, then dry ingredients, etc. or however). The creamed butter and sugar will be a liquid ingredient.

4. Select the quick bread cycle if your bread machine offers one. If not, follow the instructions for quick bread in bread machines as given in the banana bread recipe here.

5. Once the baking cycle has finished, check the loaf. To test the bread for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center top. Remove the toothpick. If the bread is done, the toothpick will come out clean. Also check the top for spring when touched. Then you devour it, obviously.

Mm mmm good. So very delicious and lemony, without being excessively and ridiculously sweet. If you love lemons, you’ll love this quick bread, without a doubt. It’s easy enough to make, with or without a bread machine. It’s also a very moist bread that will keep for a while.

[SWEET] Simple Banana Bread

Everyone loves banana bread. Well, most people do, except for those who don’t like bananas. But regardless, banana bread has always been a favorite of mine and of my family as well. I’ve always had the assumption that bananas were hard to bake with due to their consistency, so I was surprised at how quick and easy this recipe was prepared in the bread machine. Yes, another bread machine recipe. Again, it could easily be modified to be made by hand, but with alot more work and alot more stress. I suggest you get a bread machine. They are excellent for people who are lazy, like me.

Simple Banana Bread☆

● 2 cups all-purpose flour

● 2 tsp baking powder

● 1/2 tsp baking soda

● 1/2 white sugar (The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of sugar – WAY too much in my opinion.)

● 3 tbsp vegetable oil

● 2 eggs

● 2 bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise

1. Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine. The banana halves will be mashed up during the mixing cycle.

2. Select the “quick bread” setting on your bread machine (if there is one). If not, use the basic dough setting or equivalent for your bread machine. If you only have the dough setting, after the cycle has finished, select the Bake setting, and press Start. The Bake cycle time may vary with machines, but should be about 50 minutes.

3. The bread machine should beep once the quick bread or bake cycles have finished. To test the bread for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center top. Remove the toothpick. If the bread is done, the toothpick will come out clean. Remove the pan from the machine, but allow the bread to remain in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove the bread to cool completely on a wire rack (though as i’ve said before, no one ever does this). Eat it, do it.

Mmmmmm~

I love this bread. It’s so very simple. You could always edit the recipe to include walnuts or some other delicious fruit of your choice, it’s entirely up to you. It proved to be an incredibly moist and delicious bread that i’ll most definitely make again.

[SAVORY] Marbled Pesto Bread

For some reason, I love pesto. It could be because I really love basil, pinenuts, and all of the other delicious things that pesto sauce contains. So once I discovered this recipe in one of my mom’s cookbooks, “The Complete Book of Bread & Bread Machines” by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter, I knew I had to try it. It seems complex on the surface but with the use of a breadmachine (this recipe is made specifically for bread machines, although I imagine it could be modified to be made by hand), it was actually pretty quick and seamless. And it all got eaten, which was awesome. I know I ate a whole ton of this shit. So delicious, a recipe that i’m definitely going to use again.

The top of the loave, showing the score marks

Marbled Pesto Bread☆

● 5/8 cup milk

● 2/3 cup water

● 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

● 4 cups unbleached white bread flour

● 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar

● 1 1/2 tsp salt

● 1 1/2 tsp easy blend (rapid rise) dried yeast

● 7 tbsp (or more!) ready-made pesto sauce

For the topping:

● 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Yields 1 loaf

1. Remove the milk from the fridge 30 minutes before using, to bring to room temperature. Pour the water, milk, and extra virgin olive oil into the bread machine pan. If the instructions for your bread machine specify that the yeast is to be placed in the pan first, then simply reverse the order in which you and the liquid and dry ingredients.

2. Sprinkle the flour, ensuring that it covers the liquid mixture completely. Add the sugar and salt, placing them in separate corners of the bread pan.

3. Make a small indent in the center of the flour (do not go as far as the liquid) and pour the dried yeast into the hollow.

4. Set the bread machine to the dough setting / basic dough setting. Press start. Meanwhile, lightly oil a 10 x 3in loaf tin (pan).

5. When the dough cycle has finished, remove the dough from the machine and place it on a lightly floured surface. Knock it back (punch it down) gently, then roll it out to a rectangle about 3/4in thick and 10in long. Cover with oiled clear film (plastic wrap) and leave to relax for a few minutes, if the dough proves difficult to roll out.

6. Spread the pesto sauce over the rolled out dough evenly. Roll up the dough lengthways, swiss (jelly) roll fashion, and tuck the ends under and place seam down in the prepared tin.

7. Cover with oiled clear film and set aside in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes, or until the dough has more than doubled in size and reaches the top of the loaf tin. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425°.

8. Remove the clear film and brush the olive oil over the top of the loaf. Use a sharp knife to score the top with diagonal cuts. Repeat the cuts in the opposite direction to make a criss-cross pattern.

9. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when tapped. Turn out of tin to cool. Then devour it.

My marbling turned out not as pretty as it could’ve been, but visually appealing never the less, and even more delicious than I anticipated

This was my first time making the recipe, hence the result being a tad bit sloppy, but it was a resounding success never the less. I will definitely try this again and post the results once I do. I absolutely adore pesto and this is a wonderful and inventive application of it.

[SWEET] Tropical Fruit Muffins

Something quite obvious. I love, love, love, LOVE fruit. And I especially love, love, love, LOVE tropical fruit. If I had the choice to live on nothing but mangoes, coconuts, bananas, lychees and pineapples, believe me.. I would. Oh god, I so would. There are nothing more delicious than tropical fruits, they are my gods, and they are the inspiration for this spur of the moment recipe I came up with and have used several times since.

When I made them on one occasion, topped with toasted coconut

When made on a different occasion, without the coconut topping

These muffins, made with canned fruit, have a very, very moist consistency that makes them almost impossible to handle when first baked. But once they sit for a while, they do firm up. I’ve been using a canned “tropic fruit” mix that is sold at our local store, but believe me, you could easily substitute fresh tropical fruits for this as long as you’re careful with the excess juices that might effect the consistency. I’m going to try this recipe some time soon with fresh fruits, most definitely. I might even add some mango, yum.

Tropical Fruit Muffins☆

● 1/2 cup white sugar

● 1/3 cup margarine

● 1 egg

● 1 cup sour cream

● 1 tsp vanilla extract

● 1 tsp lemon flavoring / extract

● 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

● 1 tsp baking powder

● 1/2 tsp baking soda

● 1/2 tsp salt

● 1 can of tropical fruit OR a variety of fresh tropical fruit. Guava, pineapple, papaya, sliced banana, etc. and so on.

● 1/2 flaked coconut

1. Preheat your oven to 375°. Prepare a muffin pan with paper liners.

2. In a bowl, combine the sugar, margarine, egg, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon flavoring until smooth.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then blend this into the liquid mixture and mix until completely wet and smooth.

4. Add your canned or fresh fruits at this point. Use a large spoon to fold the fruits into the batter, being careful not to excessively mush or break any of the whole pieces of fruit. Add 1/4 of flaked coconut into the mixture.

5. Pour into prepared muffin tins until batter nears the top. Top each muffin with a liberal amount of the rest of the flaked coconut. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the top lightly springs back when touched.

Insides of the product. Mmmmmmmm, so pineapple-y.

As stated above, these muffins are insanely moist, and often had to be eaten with a spoon. But I enjoy them that way. They are insanely delicious and I imagine that the basic recipe would work well with any kind of fruit mixture, whether it be tropical fruits, berries, or otherwise.

[SAVORY] Indian Style Chicken

Now, honestly, i’m not much of a meat eater, especially not lately. Infact, I don’t eat red meat at all.. ever. For a multitude of reasons. Although lately i’ve been eating more and more vegetables and grains and things of the sort, I still occasionally have chicken and seafood. And whenever I prepare and good meat, I pretty much prepare and cook it in one way (well, not always one way, but this one way primarily). And that is, “indian style”.

Still raw, obviously

I love, love, LOVE Indian food. The variety of different aromatic and exotic spices, the richness of the ingredients, the general savory deliciousness that has had me addicted from the first time I tried it.. Indian food is just. magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. If you have never tried Indian food, you have yet to properly live. Go out and try it, do it now. And be sure to go to a good Indian restaurant, because I can’t stand people trying a cuisine once at a lackluster establishment and then blaming the entire cuisine for that one restaurant’s fail.

Er, what? Moving on. I’m still learning about Indian food and how to prepare it, so this won’t taste like what you’d get in a typical Indian establishment, but it’s still heavily influenced by it and delicious never the less.

Toasting the methi seeds

Indian Style Chicken☆

● 2 pounds chicken / chicken breasts

● 1 lemon, juiced

● 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

● 1 1/3 cups plain yogurt

● 2 tsp garam masala

● 1 tsp ground ginger

● 1 tsp ground cloves

● 2 tsp garlic powder

● 1 tsp onion powder

● 1 tbsp methi (fenugreek) seeds, toasted

● 1/2 tsp white pepper

● 1/2 tsp cinnamon

● 1/2 red chili flakes

1. Remove chicken from the package and be sure to rinse them thoroughly. Arrange chicken pieces in a long baking dish. If desired, add your choice of vegetables. I chose potatoes and prepared them the same way I prepared the chicken.

2. Whisk together the olive oil, plain yogurt and lemon juice. Toast your methi seeds with olive oil in a small saucepan, over low heat, just until golden brown. Careful not to burn. Mix together the spices in a seperate bowl. Combine the spices and the liquid mixture.

3. Pour the mixture over the chicken and be sure that each piece of chicken (and the vegetables of your preference) is coated thoroughly.  Once finished, cover the chicken in the pan with clear wrap (plastic wrap) and place in the refrigerator to marinate, preferably overnight. The longer, the better.

4. Preheat your oven to 400°. If desired, remove the chicken from the previous pan into a clean / room temperature one. Add additional lemon juice over the top then bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the potatoes are soft. Enjoy with some bread, rice, etc. of your desire.

The resulting Indian style Chicken and Potatoes, served with tomato couscous and plain naan

This was, for the most part, an experimental recipe whose result ended up being surprisingly good. I am a complete sucker for the smell and tastes of Indian spices, which contrary to popular belief, is not always tongue scorchingly hot. Methi seeds and Garam Masala are particular loves of mine. Try this out if you’re up for experimenting with something new.

[SWEET] Banana Pudding Cookies

A variation on the Butterscotch Pudding Cookies recipe that I posted previously. I made these in the same day as I made the others, for I saw that in addition to butterscotch instant pudding mix, we had a package of banana instant pudding mix. I shall warn you in advance, though.. If you don’t like the taste of artificial banana, you will not like these. If you don’t know what artificial banana tastes like, well, it doesn’t taste exactly like real bananas. I liked them regardless and much like the Butterscotch Pudding Cookies, they were quickly devoured. I like bananas in general, though. Can you tell?

Banana Pudding Cookies☆

● 1 cup butter, softened

● 1/4 cup white sugar

● 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

● 2 eggs

● 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

● 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant banana pudding mix

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until it’s smooth. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and instant powder. Stir this into the creamed mixture. If you find something that you wish to add, such as chocolate chips or.. something, fold them in at this point.

4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (or however big you want them) onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet.

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before removing from the cookie sheet.

Finished product. Observe the cakey texture that I mentioned before. And my chipping neon pink nail polish. Again, if you like the taste of artificial banana, you will like these. While I haven’t tried this recipe with any other kinds of pudding, I imagine they’d come out equally as delicious if prepared with chocolate, vanilla, pumpkin, etc. pudding. I’m tempted to get some pistachio pudding next time around and try that out. How very green and delicious it will be.

[SWEET] Butterscotch Pudding Cookies

These cookies were yet another recipe that I made up on a moment’s notice upon observing what we currently had in the pantry. Upon their completion, I was rather surprised at how edible they ended up being, due to the fact that I made up the recipe on a complete whim. I saw that we had a package of butterscotch pudding and a half-full bag of butterscotch chips, and so, this is what I did with them. These cookies are have a very cakey texture, especially if you mix the ingredients by hand. I personally liked the cakeiness.

Butterscotch Pudding Cookies☆

● 1 cup butter, softened

● 1/4 cup white sugar

● 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I don’t recall, but I do believe that I used slightly less sugar. I just don’t like sweet-sweet-sweet. You might.)

● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

● 2 eggs

● 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

● 1 (3.9 ounce) package instant butterscotch pudding mix

● 1 3/4 cups butterscotch chips

1. Preheat your oven to 350°.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar and brown sugar until it’s smooth. Beat in the eggs, then stir in the vanilla.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and instant powder. Stir this into the creamed mixture. Fold in the butterscotch chips.

4. Drop by rounded spoonfuls (or however big you want them) onto a lightly oiled cookie sheet.

5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow cookies to cool before removing from the cookie sheet. Finished. Eat them.

If you like butterscotch, chances are that you’ll be a fan of these cookies. You doesn’t like butterscotch, anyway. And as you will see by my next post, a variation I made on this recipe, the recipe is actually quite flexible. It all depends on the type of pudding you want to use and the type of baking chips / toppings that you like.

[SWEET] Rainbow Cupcakes

Oh god, rainbow cupcakes. I almost feel as if they’re a rite of passage for most bakers. It seems like everyone has, at one point, made rainbow cupcakes or a rainbow cake. It could be because there’s not much work involved in it (especially if you’re using box mix) and there’s high visual appeal. To be honest, cupcakes aren’t really my thing, so I don’t even know if I could brand my version as so. Rather, these are.. rainbow muffins. Rainbow buttercake muffins? Regardless, you get the point. I don’t even know if I need to put directions but I shall anyway. I made these on a whim I suppose, using the only box mix we had in the house that time, of which happened to be buttercake. Because I used buttercake mix, the colors of the food coloring weren’t as vibrant as they typically would have been. Rather, the batter had a yellowish tint thanks to the buttercake, although they still came out looking like someone took some good LSD and was trippin’. As I had intended.

Yep, here they are.

Rainbow Cupcakes / Muffins☆

● Box cake mix (Preferably something light, such as white cake)

You could very much make your own cupcake batter as well, as long as it’s light in color.

● At least 4 different colored of food coloring (I used red, yellow, green and blue)

● Colorful rainbow sprinkles, if desired

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

2. Prepare the box mix as described on the box’s package.

3. Once the batter is prepared, seperate the batter equally into 4 (or however many colors you’re using) different bowls or containers.

4. Add a different color of food color to each of the four (or however many) divided bowls of batter that you have. Start with a few drops at first, mix it up, and see the results. Color the batter to your preference and liking. No matter how blindly colorful the cake will be, it’ll still taste like cake, so be liberal with the food coloring if you please.

5. Now, begin layering the colors one by one into each of the paper liners in the order of your preference. Perhaps start with two tablespoons of the green batter in the bottom. Then add two tablespoons of the red. Then two of the blue and two of the yellow. Repeat this pattern and essentially build the batter up in layers until it reaches the top of the paper liners / muffin tins. If you’re not going to top with frosting, after the tins are full, you can decorate the tops with rainbow sprinkles or sprinkles of your choice.

6. Once finished, put in the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. The muffins / cupcakes are done when the tops spring back to the touch.

7. You can always, if you want, add frosting to these muffins / cupcakes once the cakes cool. It’s easy enough to whip up a buttercream or cream cheese frosting to top them with. Then decorate with sprinkles if you please.

Finished product once cut open. Completely ridiculous.

However visually appealing, i’m not going to lie, I couldn’t eat a whole one of these things. Perhaps it’s because typical box cake mixes are far too sweet (and fattening) for my tastes, but I ate half (or maybe just a quarter) of a muffin and let my family eat the others. If you’re not big fan of box cake mixes, i’d advise you to make up your own batter that is less tooth rottingly sweet. That is also why I didn’t add any frosting and therefore make them cupcakes, because.. just too sweet. I have a feeling children would like these sort of things.. Not that i’d know about that.