Olive Oil Bundt Cake with Beet Swirl

I first saw this cake on Instagram last May. It looked so beautiful that I took a screencap of it, to make sure I’d remember to look up the recipe. It was created by Jerrelle Guy, she of Chocolate for Basil. Her website was down at the time, but I eventually realized that she had created the recipe for New York Times Cooking, so I bookmarked it. And still I waited, because the Engineer had clearly told me that he’d had enough of my chocolate beet confections for a while… But I reasoned that since this isn’t chocolate, it’s not technically infringing upon the moratorium, so I made it this fall.

At first, I followed the instructions for the beets: peel, chop and roast before puréeing. But they just weren’t getting tender! After an hour, I wrapped them in foil to avoid losing too much moisture and left them in the oven another 20 minutes. Nope – they were still too hard to purée; so I chopped them smaller, put them in a bowl with some water, covered it and microwaved them a total of 6 minutes. Nope, nope, nope – I couldn’t save them – they were too dry and hard for anything good to come out of them. So I shelved the project and made something else for dessert that day. I bought more beets and tried it again my way: wrap in foil, roast, then trim and peel, and purée. It worked out perfectly, and I had gorgeous, smooth, tasty roasted beet purée, so I’m writing down my method below. I also reordered the ingredients and some of the steps to make it easier.

This cake was absolutely stunning! I don’t think you should wait for a special occasion, but if you did, it would look beautiful at Christmas. (Just make sure to let it cool all the way before you cut into it, or the colors might smear.) And it was absolutely delicious, not too sweet; you can taste the beet, but it’s not off-putting at all. Make sure you use a great olive oil for this, too. We loved this cake, even the Engineer.

1 ¼ lb./570 g. beets (I had 4 small ones)
3 ½ cups/450 g. all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ cups/300 g. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
1 cup lactose-free whole milk
1 Tbsp. lemon zest plus ½ cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 or 4 lemons)
5 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups quality extra-virgin olive oil (plus a splash more for roasting the beets, optional)
confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 425 °F. Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Wrap each of the beets in foil (you can add a splash of oil if you want), place them on a baking sheet, and roast until fork-tender (this was 1 ½ hours for me). Take them out of the oven and, once they have cooled, trim and peel them (the skin will slip right off). Purée the beets – I like using the food processor for this. Transfer the beet purée to a medium bowl and set aside. Lower the oven temperature to 325 °F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk together the milk, lemon zest, lemon juice, and eggs. Whisk in the olive oil.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients, continuing to whisk, beginning in the middle and moving outward, until just combined. Transfer 2 cups of the batter to the bowl with the beet purée and gently fold it in until combined.

Pour about half of the plain batter into the base of the prepared Bundt pan. Next, pour half of the beet batter on top, followed by half of the remaining plain batter. Top with the rest of the beet batter, then with the last of the plain batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes (my oven runs hot, and this took 1 h 10 min for me).


Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool. (The original recipe had it cool in the pan for only 5 minutes, but I always let it cool completely.) Loosen the cake from the edges of the pan and carefully invert it onto a serving tray – for what it’s worth, the unmolding was textbook-perfect for me and it gave me a thrill to see it! (Let the cake rest for at least a few hours total, otherwise the swirls will blur together when you cut it.) Dust with confectioners’ sugar before serving.

Snickerdoodles

I didn’t grow up with snickerdoodles, in part because they are largely unknown to francophones (or at least, they were when I was little), and in part because my mother hates cinnamon, so these are the last thing she would have made. But then there was an episode of Spilled Milk about them, and they talked about the Serious Eats recipe by Stella Parks. It calls for coconut oil instead of the typical shortening, which certainly tastes better. I don’t have lactose-free butter in the States, so I used Earth Balance butter. And I made them with ground Ceylon cinnamon, because I was a bit too lazy to grate my own cinnamon. But we all loved these cookies! They were absolutely delicious, and very addictive. It turns out the Little Prince is particularly fond of cinnamon, so this was a special treat for him. I’ll be making these again!

I’m leaving all the super precise weight measurements in there because Stella Parks obviously went through a lot of trouble to develop a precise recipe, but I measured some things by volume only (like the baking powder, vanilla, or egg).

For the cookies
4 oz. lactose-free butter or margarine (1 stick; 114 g.), firm but pliable, about 60 °F (16 °C)
3 oz. virgin coconut oil (heaping 1/3 cup; 85 g.)
10 ½ oz. sugar (about 1 ½ cups; 298 g.)
1 ¼ tsp. (6 g.) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (or the same weight of another salt)
1 tsp. (4 g.) baking powder
½ oz. vanilla extract (about 1 Tbsp.; 15 g.)
1 large egg, straight from the fridge (about 1 ¾ oz.; 50 g.)
10 ½ oz. ounces low-protein all-purpose flour, such as Gold Medal (about 2 1/3 cups, spooned; 295 g.)

For the cinnamon sugar
2 oz. sugar (¼ cup; 57 g.)
2 ¾ tsp. (5 g.) ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. (1.25 g.) freshly grated cinnamon

For the cookies
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 400 °F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

Combine butter, coconut oil, sugar, salt, baking powder, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix at low speed to combine, then increase to medium and beat until soft, fluffy, and pale, about 5 minutes, although the exact timing will vary. Halfway through, pausing to scrape the bowl and beater with a flexible spatula, and then resume mixing on medium speed. Add the egg and continue beating until smooth. Reduce speed to low, add flour, and mix to form a stiff dough.

Using a cookie scoop, divide dough into 2-tablespoon portions. If you like, these can be transferred to a zipper-lock bag and refrigerated for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 3 months; soften to about 68 °F (20 °C) before baking.

For the cinnamon sugar
Mix sugar with ground and grated cinnamon in a small bowl, adding more spice if you prefer. (It should taste very intense, to offset the mild dough.) Roll each portion of dough into a smooth and sticky ball, then tumble in cinnamon sugar until fully coated. Arrange on a baking sheet, leaving 2 ½ inches between balls, then flatten into 2-inch disks about ½ inch thick. Generously cover with the remaining cinnamon sugar, creating a thick layer that will crack and crinkle in the oven. (I made a total of 20 cookies, so I baked half at a time and made sure to save half the cinnamon sugar for the second batch.)

Bake until the snickerdoodles begin to spread, about 5 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350 °F. Continue baking until firm around the edges but steamy in the middle, about 6 minutes longer (5 in my case, to get perfectly chewy cookies). Cool directly on half sheet pan until the crumb is set, about 8 minutes. Enjoy warm, or store in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.

Petites boulettes de porc laquées

Je sais, je vous ai déjà parlé de boulettes de porc de Ricardo pas plus tard que la semaine passée, pis là je vous reviens avec… des boulettes de porc… de Ricardo. Bon, mais ce ne sont pas les mêmes! Il s’agit ici d’une recette publiée dans La Presse+ il y a un an ou deux, pour faire des amuse-bouche pour Noël. J’ai transformé la recette un peu (les assaisonnements ci-dessous sont les miens) et je l’ai servie comme souper, avec du pain de maïs. Je vous donne quand même la recette version amuse-bouche, qui était faite pour être enfilée sur de petits bâtonnets (plus gros qu’un cure-dent, mais plus petits qu’une brochette). Pour en faire un repas, j’avais doublé la recette et obtenu 32 boulettes. On a tous adoré!


Pour la laque
¼ de tasse de sauce soya réduite en sodium
2 c. à soupe de cassonade
2 c. à soupe d’eau
2 c. à soupe de mirin

Pour les boulettes
225 g (½ lb) de porc haché maigre
15 g (¼ de tasse) de chapelure panko
1 jaune d’œuf (pour doubler, j’ai pris 1 œuf entier)
2 c. à thé de cassonade
½ c. à thé de sauce de poisson (nuoc-mam)
1 soupçon de sambal oelek ou de sauce tabasco
1 oignon vert, haché finement
10 g (¼ de tasse) de feuilles de basilic ciselées
2 c. à soupe d’huile végétale

Pour la garniture
1 pomme verte, épépinée et coupée en petits triangles de 5 mm (¼ de po) d’épaisseur
petites feuilles de basilic


Pour la laque
Dans une petite casserole, porter à ébullition tous les ingrédients. Laisser mijoter 5 minutes ou jusqu’à ce que la laque soit très sirupeuse. Couvrir et réserver.

Pour les boulettes
Entre-temps, dans un bol, mélanger tous les ingrédients, à l’exception de l’huile. Avec les mains légèrement huilées, former des boulettes avec environ 2 c. à thé du mélange de viande pour chacune.

Dans une poêle antiadhésive à feu moyen, cuire les boulettes dans l’huile de 6 à 8 minutes ou jusqu’à ce qu’elles soient complètement cuites. Éponger sur du papier absorbant. Nettoyer la poêle. Remettre les boulettes dans la poêle. Ajouter la laque et mélanger délicatement pour bien enrober.

Sur des brochettes, enfiler les feuilles de basilic, les boulettes et les morceaux de pomme.

Corn Dog Muffins

I don’t know if you remember the corn dog muffins I told you about late last spring. (I’m tempted to call them pogo muffins, because Pogo was THE brand of corn dogs when I was growing up, but I’m not sure non-Canadians get the reference.) We love the ones I make with Jiffy mix, but they crumble so much that I had to find an alternative. I could have tried more corn bread mixes in the hope of finding one that doesn’t crumble, and maybe I will eventually, but for now I wanted an actual recipe.

On the recommendation of a friend, I first tried Cook’s Illustrated’s all-purpose corn bread, which calls for fresh corn. It was great, but unfortunately the Little Prince didn’t like it (because of the corn kernels!), and since I was looking for a recipe primarily for his lunches, this won’t work. The recipe on Weelicious was for miniature muffins, and I didn’t feel like adapting it unless I really had to, so I set it aside. Then I saw that Deb Perelman had a recipe titled perfect corn muffins on Smitten Kitchen, and you guys, this is it.

These muffins are delicious and exactly the kind of cornbread I like, which is to say sweet Northern cornbread. They call for yellow cornmeal (NOT coarsely ground), and some of the cornmeal is cooked before being mixed in, which I believe is what helps these muffins hold together so well. The Little Prince, the Fox and I loved them! Note that the muffins plump up beautifully, so much so that the sausages were hidden, so you might want to pop them in the muffins halfway through baking. I got a total of 16 muffins, and can tell you that greasing the pan works better than using paper liners. They are also excellent without sausages, FYI.

2 cups (280 g.) yellow cornmeal, divided
1 cup (130 g.) all-purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ tsp. fine sea or table salt
1 ¼ cups lactose-free milk (ideally whole)
1 cup (240 g.) lactose-free sour cream (I used full-fat plain yogurt)
8 Tbsp. (1 stick) lactose-free butter or margarine, melted and cooled slightly
5 Tbsp. (60 g.) sugar
2 large eggs
4-5 cooked hot-dog sausages, cut crosswise into thirds (and lengthwise in half if serving to small children)

Preheat oven to 425 °F. Either grease or line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with disposable liners (again, I recommend greasing, and I got a total of 16 muffins).

Whisk 1 ½ cups cornmeal, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl.

In a medium saucepan, combine milk and remaining ½ cup cornmeal. Cook cornmeal mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens so that the whisk leaves a clear line across the bottom of the pan that slowly fills in. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool a bit.

Whisk butter, then sugar, then sour cream into cooked cornmeal until combined. At this point, the wet mixture should be cool enough that adding the eggs will not scramble them, but if it still seems too hot, let it cool for 5 minutes longer. Whisk in eggs until combined. Fold in flour mixture until thoroughly combined and the batter is very thick. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups; it will mound slightly above the rim. At this point, if you don’t mind the sausages ending up hidden, you can add a piece of sausage to each muffin.

Bake until tops are golden-brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 13 to 17 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking to ensure even cooking (if you haven’t inserted the sausages into the muffins yet, do it at the halfway point). Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 5 minutes, then remove muffins from tin and let cool 5 minutes longer. These are great warm, but at room temperature and even cold, they were appreciated by my kids and husband.

Natural Bridge Caverns

For our October outing, we finally went to Natural Bridge Caverns. I say “finally” because we’d been meaning to go for a while, but it’s not stroller-friendly (the trail is paved, but there are stairs as well as steep inclines and curves, and it’s slippery), so we had to wait until the Fox was older. Even then, the Engineer had to carry him much of the way, but we’re glad we visited!

It’s a registered National Natural Landmark because of all the beautiful examples of geological formations (it’s also on the National Register of Historic Places because of the artifacts that were found there, some dating back 10,000 years). The cave was discovered in 1960 by four local college students (and the one who felt a draft from a crawlway, leading to the huge inner rooms, has the awesome name Orion Knox). The namesake natural bridge is outside the entrance of the cave; it spans roughly 60 feet and was formed about 5,000 years ago.

The temperature is 70 °F year-round, which sounds comfortable, but the humidity level is 99% AND you’re essentially hiking for over an hour, so things got hot and we were certainly glad to feel the breeze again once we got out (I believe it was in the 50s that day). The stalactite and stalagmite formations are very impressive and have names like “Castle of the White Giants” and “Watchtower” and well as the “Hall of the Mountain King”. There are even helictites!

The place also has a massive obstacle course, and it looks really fun, but it wasn’t open yet on our visit – we’ll have to come back someday.



On a separate outing, we went for a long walk on the paved trail in Panther Springs Park, turning back when the Little Prince was tired. It’s a really pleasant area and I hope to explore it more at some point.

Chai Sweet Potato Cupcakes

As you know, fall in Texas doesn’t feel like fall at all, so sometimes the only way to get in the mood, so to speak, is to make food that I associate with fall. These chai sweet potato cupcakes are a perfect example. I don’t have chai tea on hand, so I changed the recipe (the spice mix below is mine). The original recipe was for 24 cupcakes, so I halved (below) it and ended up with 9 cupcakes (note that you might want to increase the frosting recipe by 50% if you like your cupcakes frosted generously; I didn’t have enough to make all 9 look like the one shown here).

These were delicious! We all liked them very much. I used homemade sweet potato purée (my preferred method is roasting in foil at 425 °F for 1 hour, then mashing), though the recipe specifies that you could use canned sweet potato purée, and I see no reason why you couldn’t also use pumpkin or squash.


For the chai syrup
½ cup water
3 Tbsp. sugar
4 cracked cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
½ tsp. ginger
½ tsp. cinnamon

For the cupcakes
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ¼ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground cardamom
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup granulated white sugar
7 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
2 large eggs
1 ½ Tbsp. chai syrup
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup puréed cooked sweet potato

For the frosting (see note above)
½ cup lactose-free butter or margarine, softened
1 ½ to 2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 Tbsp. chai syrup, or to taste
¼ tsp. vanilla extract
ground cinnamon for dusting the tops


For the chai syrup
Combine the water, sugar, and spices in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble and sugar dissolves. Simmer over low heat until mixture has reduced by about half and has become syrupy. Strain and set aside to cool (discard solids).

For the cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 °F and grease or line a muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in a small bowl.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the sugars and grapeseed oil. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed. Turn mixer to low and add in the eggs, chai syrup, and vanilla. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in two batches. Mix until just combined. Fold in the puréed sweet potato.

Divide mixture between the wells in the muffin tins (I got 9); do not fill more than 2/3 full Bake for 20 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked into a cupcake. Cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting
Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix until smooth. With the mixer on low, gradually add in the remaining ingredients. (I like to add the liquids first, then add powdered sugar until I get to the right consistency.) Once combined to your liking, turn the mixer up to medium and mix for a few minutes until smooth and fluffy.

To assemble, transfer the frosting to a piping bag and frost the cooled cupcakes. Alternatively, spread the frosting on the cupcakes with an offset spatula. Dust with a pinch of cinnamon (I forgot).

Big Cereal Cookies

These cookies were originally called mookies, shorthand for muffin-top cookies, but even though that might be descriptive of their appearance, it was misleading. You see, these did not AT ALL have the fluffy consistency of muffins, which is what I had been expecting. I baked the second batch less than the first (15 minutes as opposed to 20), and they were definitely better, so I’m reducing the time in the recipe below. That being said, you should still expect a somewhat hard cookie (would it sound too weird if I called it a tough cookie?).

The reason I wanted to make these is because I had a whole lot of Rice Krispies left over from making these awesome meatballs. Of course, then I had to buy Corn Flakes for the cookies. So I also made corn flake-breaded chicken (I’ve posted recipes for this before, and there’s one right on the back of the box) as well as a custard tart with a corn flake crust, but sadly, the crust was my least favorite part of it. So I recommend buying the smallest format of Corn Flakes you can find for these cookies, maybe something like this, or honestly, you could use the cereal of your choice. I think these big cereal cookies are a bit like kitchen sink cookies and easy to adapt!

I got a total of 17 cookies, using an ice cream scoop to shape them.

1/2 cup lactose-free butter or margarine
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup lactose-free milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
3 cups corn flakes
1/2 cup rice krispies
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add egg and mix well. Add milk and vanilla and mix well.

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Stir in the cereals, nuts, and chocolate chips.

Scoop dough into 2-inch balls on the prepared baking sheet. At this point, I prefer to flatten them just a bit. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown (the original recipe said 20 to 25 minutes, but that was *way* too much in my oven).

Batch of links - Long reads

- The lonely death of George Bell, about what happens in New York City when a body is unclaimed.

- The doctor will see your iguana now, about veterinarians for exotic pets in New York City.

- The Case of Jane Doe Ponytail, a read about the sex trade, specifically what happens when a Chinese immigrant in Flushing is caught by the police selling her services as a “masseuse”.

- An article about the life and death of Stella Walsh, an intersex Olympic champion. This has ramifications about how we classify athletes’ sex today.

- An essay about mental health care in Geel, Belgium, written by Anne Thériault (who is delightful on Twitter).

- When the Culture Wars Come for the Kids is a great, thoughtful essay. In addition to all the questions it raises, it made me so glad I’m not living in New York! Related: it now costs $ 350,000 per year to live a middle-class lifestyle in a big city.

- The secret lives of Democratic women married to MAGA men. I’ll admit I have trouble understanding how you can marry someone without discussing politics first…

- Growing up disabled in China was a hard read. It was written by a translator whose native dialect, interestingly, does not have a word for “love”.

Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

I made several “seasonal” desserts at the end of the summer and in the early fall, but none of them was good enough for me to make a post out of it. A decent berry and buttermilk cobbler, a raspberry buttermilk cake that didn’t look like the photo at all, a blackberry lemon cake with white chocolate and olive oil (in which, sadly, I couldn’t taste the white chocolate), another peach tart with date almond crust similar to these (it was fine, and I seriously considered posting it today with the title “Impeachment Tart” but I got a hold of myself). Then a single crust plum and apple pie that was just meh.


The Little Prince then asked random questions about cheesecake and the various flavors one could use to make it. I realized I had a recipe for crème brûlée pumpkin cheesecake bars, which also have chocolate, so I decided to try those. I don’t have a blow torch (and I refuse to buy such a unitasking tool), so I broiled them a few minutes. I think I got the effect that was intended, but next time, I would prefer them un-brûléed, especially considering that the cheesecake isn’t exactly like a crème brûlée custard in the first place. And that's why I changed the title. I really liked this dessert, as did the kids; the Engineer had to scrape off the top to be able to eat it, as he dislikes caramel.

The original recipe had plain melted chocolate between the crust and the filling, but I knew that once in the fridge, that layer would become way too hard. So I used my peanut butter chocolate pie recipe as inspiration and added some milk to it – my version is below.

For the crust
9 whole graham crackers
5 Tbsp. lactose-free butter or margarine, at room temperature (I think melted would work, too)
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I used a 10-oz. bag)
½ cup lactose-free milk

For the filling
2 (8-oz.) packages lactose-free cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup pumpkin purée
2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. fine sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1//8 tsp. ground ginger

For the brûlée topping (optional, see above)
¼ cup granulated sugar

For the crust
Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line an 8”-square baking dish with foil, leaving an overhang.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until finely ground. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Press into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake until lightly browned and set, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with the milk and mix well (I did this in a double boiler).

Remove the crust from the oven and spread the chocolate mixture on top evenly. Let cool and reduce the oven temperature to 300 °F.

For the filling
Place the cream cheese in a clean food processor bowl and pulse until smooth (you can also use an electric mixer). Add the sugar, pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, vanilla, flour, salt, and spices and pulse until combined and smooth. Do not overmix.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Bake until the cheesecake is set but still slightly jiggly in the center, about 45 minutes (I left it in there an extra 25 minutes). Do not overbake.

Place the cheesecake on a cooling rack to cool completely in the pan. Cover and chill until firm, at least 2 hours. Using the foil overhang, transfer the cheesecake to a work surface and use a big sharp knife to cut into squares (I used the broiler instead of a blowtorch in the next step, so it made more sense to me to leave the whole thing in the pan).

For the brûlée topping
On a heat-safe work surface, sprinkle the top of each square with sugar and torch until it turns a deep amber color. Alternatively, use the broiler to brown the sugar (I used it for 5 minutes). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Mini Baked Pancakes

My friend Jen shared this recipe for mini baked pancakes, which I ended up making for breakfast. I made some with heart sprinkles, and the rest with miniature chocolate chips (I got 35 in all). The kids *loved* them! I could also see this batter being used for savory versions. As these are pancakes and not muffins, I recommend refrigerating leftovers instead of leaving them at room temperature; they also freeze beautifully.

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 ½ cups lactose-free milk
¼ cup (½ stick) lactose-free butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs
toppings of your choice (chocolate chips, sprinkles, sliced bananas, etc.)

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Spray a mini muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray (or just grease it).

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the milk, butter, and eggs. Mix in the dry ingredients. Scoop the batter into each muffin tin hole, filling them about ¾ of the way. Add your toppings of choice.

Bake for 15-20 minutes (though check at 10 minutes), then remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes, then remove from muffin tin.