Banana Muffins

These Banana Muffins are seriously good. After eating lots of rich food over the Christmas season, we felt like a lighter (+ healthier) treat. We are having a heat wave here in Perth, with temperatures soaring between 38 - 41 degrees C (100+deg F). Almost overnight our bananas went from fresh to over ripe. So they were put to good use making banana muffins, which are a favourite of Mr 18.

Over the years I have used many recipes for banana muffins - often they turn out dry or rubbery. However this recipe for Banana and White Chocolate Chip Muffins works perfectly every time. The muffins are moist,  light and full of flavour. Best of all it is a quick mix recipe so from start to finish it only takes around 30 minutes. They taste wonderful warm from the oven with a strong cup of tea.

Banana and White Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

125 g ( 1 stick + 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter

200 g (1 cup) caster (superfine) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ripe bananas

60 ml (3 tablespoons) sour cream

2 eggs

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

300 g (2 cups) plain (all purpose) flour

100 g (1/2 cup) white chocolate chips

Makes 20 cupcake sized muffins.

Preheat oven to 180 deg C (355 deg F).

Melt butter in a saucepan, Take off the heat and add the sugar, vanilla, and soft bananas, mashing them with a fork. Stir in the sour cream and eggs, and beat with a wooden spoon until well mixed. Add the bicarb soda and baking powder, mixing in well. Stir in the flour and choc chips and stir until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the baking cups. Cook for 15- 18 minutes until golden and springy on top. 

(Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson, How to Be a Domestic Goddess).

These muffins also freeze well so you can have some on hand for unexpected visitors - if they last that long.

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Thank You, Merci, Arigato, Obrigada, Danke ....

Butterfly Quilt

We wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who has visited us here at A Spoonful of Sugar during 2012. We really appreciate all the lovely comments you have left, when you have linked to our projects, and the photos you have emailed us. We appreciate when you buy a pattern from our store. We really have the nicest readers and you inspire us to keep creating.

Almond Praline Ice-Cream

A huge thank you to the fantastic blogs who were our top 15 blog referrers for 2012. We would be thrilled if you dropped over to visit them - they all amazing sites and will provide you with loads of inspiration. They are amongst our favourite blog reads, so if they are new to you, please check them out - you won't be disappointed! 

• Elefantz
• Pink Penguin
• The Organised Housewife
• Spun Sugar Quilts
• Susan Tuttle Photography
• Nifty Thrifty Things
• A Little Sweetness
• Cactus-Needle
• Cha de Baunilha
• Ric Rac
• One Shabby Chick
• Sew Take a Hike
• Bee in My Bonnet
• Retro Mummy
• Lovely Little Handmades

We really appreciate everyone who links to us on their blogs.

We have been featured on some great websites during 2012. We would especially like to thank All Free Sewing, Craft Gawker, Food Gawker, Freeneedle, Everything Etsy, Sew Can She, Craft Gossip, All Free Christmas Crafts, All Free Crochet, One Good Thing by Jillee, and Totally Tutorials for featuring our tutorials.

Flower Tape Measure

Thanks also to the fantastic brands/companies who have sponsored us in 2012, provided us with products to review, and provided giveaway prizes - Target, Cold Rock, Sunbeam, Yellow Pages, Cricut, Kitchenware Direct, Chux, Penguin, Pan Macmillan, Capricorn Link, Nuffnang, and Dremel. We really enjoyed working with you.

House Sachets

We also wanted to thank the wonderful crafty businesses who have chosen to advertise with us and sponsored our giveaways during the year. We really value their support which helps to cover some of the costs associated with our blog and provides us with materials for our projects. Here is a list of our awesome sponsors for 2012. We would appreciate if you clicked on their advertising buttons in our side bar and checked out their stores. You will be amazed at the wonderful range of products they stock.

Ribbons Galore
Janellybelly Bags and Things

Mimmis

Kimono Reincarnate

Violette Field Threads

The Haby Goddess

Stitching Cow

Yarn Glorious Yarn

Antipodean Love

Lucky Lantern

XO Gigi Fabrics

Just Sugar Coat It

Handmade HQ

The Passing Collective

Ladybug Quilts

Bright Star Kids

Suzy Hausfrau Yarn Store

Handmade Heaven

Ethos Design

Crafty Colleen

Tulipworks

Vintage Nostalgia

Mosey

Plushka

Blueberry Ash

Zakkia

Teapot Cosy

If you would like to advertise in January, now is the time to reserve your spot! We have a few spaces still available. Rates are really affordable starting at $40 per month/$100 for three months. Our readership has rapidly grown over the past few months - we had 199,025 page views in November 2012 and have 6600+ subscribers with google feedburner, 8300+ Pinterest followers, and 4700+ facebook followers. You can find out more details about our advertising here or you can email us at aspoonfullofsugargirls@gmail.com.

Thanks again lovely readers - you really inspire us to keep creating and baking. Best wishes for a fantastic and creative 2013!

Lisa and Sarah x

White Chocolate Caramel Slice

New Years Eve Decorations

For our New Years Eve dinner, we have made Confetti Baubles to put at each place setting. They are easily made by filling a plain glass bauble with confetti. We added a vinyl 2013 to the outside of the glass. To stop the baubles rolling around the table, we have positioned them on Chinese soup spoons.

You will need:
DIY Glass Baubles (usually available from craft stores - should be on sale at this time fo the year).
coloured paper/card
hole punch
ribbon
Optional: Cricut Digital Cutting Machine and white vinyl.

We went crazy punching out coloured circles with the hole punch, until we had a big pile of confetti. We then carefully filled each bauble with a couple of tablespoons on confetti. We cut the numbers for 2013 in white vinyl using our Cricut machine and positioned them in the middle of the bauble. We tied a small piece of ribbon around the hanging loop.

The Confetti Baubles look so colourful, fun and festive - perfect for New Years!

When I have decided on my One Little Word for 2013, I will write it on a slip of paper and place it in my bauble, which I will hang above my desk as a reminder of what I hope to achieve in 2013. My word for 2012 was update which proved to be a very powerful word and a good focus for some change.

For another project using DIY Glass Baubles, check out our Christmas Feather Baubles.

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Best of 2012

We have really enjoyed sharing our tutorials, projects and recipes with you in 2012. It is hard to believe that another year is nearly over. 2012 has been a great year for A Spoonful of Sugar - we have shared a lot of free tutorials, have opened at Etsy store, have grown our readership, started a newsletter, and worked more with brands/sponsors. 

In case you missed any of our popular posts through the year, here is a round-up of our 10 Most Popular Craft Projects/Tutorials and our 10 Most Popular Recipes for 2012 in order of popularity. It is always fun to check out google analytics to identify the most popular posts in terms of traffic. There are always a few surprises, and it is great to reflect on all the work we have done over the year.

1. Patchwork Pencil Case  2. Crocheted Scarf  3.Emergency Zippered Pouch
4.Pretty Drawstring Pouch  5. Paper Christmas Tree  6. Eiffel Tower Smartphone Cover
7. Chocolate Box  8. Dust Cover  9. Gingham Stars
10. Travel Neck Pillow Cover

1. Coconut Custard Bars   2. Mud Hen Bars  3. Cinnamon Muffins
4. Vanilla Macarons  5. Chocolate Tart   6. Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Tart
7. Hot Chocolate Mix  8. Vanilla Cupcakes  9. Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Cookies
10. Apple Crumble Slice

Hope you will join with us in 2013 as we continue to share our creative adventures. 

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Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année

1. Candy Cane Milkshake 2. Our Christmas Table 3. Snowflake Bottle 4. Joyeux Noel Gift Tags. 5. Candy Cane Cupcakes
6. Gingham Stars 7. Brown Sugar Cookies 8. Christmas Place Cards 9.Chocolate Spoons 10. Cookie Cutter Ornaments
11.Christmas Mantle 12. Our Christmas Table 13.Paper Christmas Trees 14. Snowflake Cookies 15. Tea Towel Cushions
16.Feather Baubles 17. French Vignette 18. Christmas Mantle 19. Our Christmas Table 20. Doiley Gift Tags
21. Christmas Cake Frill 22. Stitched Gift Cards 23.Christmas Lanterns 24. Raspberry Ice 25. Christmas Gift Pouch



We would love to wish you all Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année from both of us here at A Spoonful of Sugar. We hope your Christmas is Merry and Bright and you have a lovely celebration with your family and friends. 

We have the nicest readers here at A Spoonful of Sugar. We really appreciate you dropping by to see what we have been up to in our craft room and kitchen. We enjoy reading all of the sweet comments you leave us, and are grateful for you sharing our links and images on Pinterest and facebook. 

We have really enjoyed sharing our Christmas projects for our French inspired, red and white gingham Christmas. It was fun putting together this collage of our Christmas projects for 2012. 

We are taking a week off from our blog as we spend time together as a family over the festive season. Have a happy and safe Christmas and we will be back on New Years Eve.

Shortbread Stars

Do you have special family Christmas recipes? Those treats that you only make once a year? One of our family's favourites, is Shortbread Stars. They are little bite sized shortbreads that look so festive and are great to share. I had a spare hour yesterday and made up a big batch - now it feels like Christmas:)

These Shortbread Stars are very easy to make.

Christmas Shortbread

Ingredients:

250 g (2.2 sticks) butter
1/2 cup caster (superfine) sugar
2 1/4 cups plain (all purpose)  flour
3/4 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually work in flours . Knead on a floured surface until mixture is smooth.
2. Divide mixture in half. Roll our one half until mixture is approx 5 mm thick (1/4 inch). Cut our shapes with cookie cutters and place on lined baking sheets. Sprinkle with extra sugar.
3. Prick the surface of the shortbread with a fork. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 160 deg C (320 deg F).

Makes approx 100 small stars.

We have a big collection of Bonne Maman Jam Jars (40+). We love their jam and the jars are so useful for so many different purposes. We love their red gingham lids.  Would you believe we even have a Bonne Maman Pinterest page?

Bonne Maman jars are perfect for packaging up shortbread stars to gift. We popped 10 little stars into a jar, tied it with red striped ribbon, and attached a small shopping tag with a stamped Eiffel Tower. Voilà!

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Christmas Lolly Buffet

One of my favourite childhood memories of Christmas, is having bowls of lollies (candy) on the dinning table for our Christmas lunch. Lollies and chocolates were a big treat when I was growing up, so it was extra special to have them on our table at Christmas. This is one tradition that we love to follow. More recently we have set up a separate candy buffet, rather than just putting lollies on the table.

This year we have set up the lolly buffet using primarily lollies that are white, red, and pink to coordinate with our Christmas theme. We have cool mints, raspberries, musk sticks, marshmallows, strawberries and cream, and chocolates.

We have placed them in apothecary jars on our hall table. We covered the hall table in a gingham cloth and lace doiley. We added our Joyeux Noel Eiffel Tower display, and a silver candelabra that we had at our wedding reception dinner 22 year ago. We also added some candy canes and chocolate spoons.

We made some gingham bunting from white card and gingham wrapping paper.

Now the trick will be to make sure that the levels in the jars don't drop too much before Christmas!

Here is what our Candy Buffet looked like last year -

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Candy Cane Cupcakes

Candy Cane recipes are always so festive at this time of year.  This week Sarah backed up a batch of chocolate cupcakes that she decorated with a peppermint buttercream frosting, and shards of crushed candy cane on the top. She tried a new technique of brushing the inside of the piping bag with three stripes of Christmas Red Wilton Icing colour. Love how the piped buttercream looks like a candy cane.

• One Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes 

• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Bicarb soda (baking soda)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3/4 cup buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F). Line standard muffin tins with paper liners; set aside. Sift together cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla, and mix until smooth, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl to assure batter is well mixed.
2. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full. Bake until tops spring back when touched, about 20 minutes, rotating pan once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Makes 18 cupcakes.

(Recipe from Martha Stewart)

Peppermint Buttercream

Ingredients:

125 g butter (1 stick), softened

3 cups icing (confectioners sugar)

2 - 4 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

red food colouring

1 candy cane, crushed

drop peppermint flavouring

Method:

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl and on medium speed of an electric mixer beat until smooth. Add the sugar, 2 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth and creamy, about 5-7 minutes. Gradually add the remaining milk or until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. 

Paint the inside of a piping bag with three stripes of red food colouring. Place icing in piping bag with 2D Tip. Pipe swirls onto cupcakes and add candy cane sprinkles as desired.

Some of our other Candy Cane recipes include:

Chocolate Spoons

Candy Cane Milkshake

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Winner of Just Sugar Coat It! Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered our recent giveaway to win a $75 gift voucher to Just Sugar Coat It! The winner is Uta F. We have sent you an email regarding your prize.

Important Just Sugar Coat It Links:

Online Store

Facebook

Pinterest

Blog

Blog of the Month

Sarah and I are so thrilled to be featured as Blog of the Month in the latest issue of Sew Magazine (UK).

Homemade Christmas - 10 Christmas Crafts

It is hard to believe that Christmas is nearly here again. Although time is running low, there is still time to make a few special touches for Christmas. Nothing gets you in the Christmas spirit quite like some Christmas crafting with the carols playing in the background. So gather your craft supplies and/or your  kids and get your Craft on for Christmas!

Here is a round-up of some of our favourite handmade Christmas ornaments and decorations that we have shared over the past few years. (Click on the title under the photo to be taken to the original post with all the details).

Charming Ornaments

Mushroom Ornaments

Felt Flower

Washi Tape Wrapping Paper

Clay Ornaments

Felt Baubles

Gingham Stars

Easy Felt Garland

Paper Christmas Tree

Christmas Photo Place Cards

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Brown Sugar Cookies

Sarah has baked a big batch of Brown Sugar Cookies and they are packaged up ready for Christmas gift giving. We were allowed to have a sample (for quality control purposes of course!) and they are delicious. They are my favourite type of cookie - crisp on the outside and chewy in the middle.

Brown Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

·         200 g (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter

·         1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

·         2 1/4 cups plain (all purpose) flour

·         1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)

·         1/4 teaspoon baking powder

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

·         1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

·         1/8 cup sugar

·         1/8 cup dark brown sugar

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 175° C (350°F) and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

2.  Heat butter in medium frypan over medium heat until melted. While butter melts, slowly swirl the pan and continue to cook the butter until it becomes a nice, brown-caramel colour. Let cool for 15 minutes.

3.  Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl and set aside.

4.  When butter is cooled mix 1 3/4 cup light brown sugar and browned butter with electric mixer until no lumps remain, about 30 seconds.

5.  Add egg, yolk and vanilla and mix for another 30 seconds, until smooth.

6.  Slowly add in your flour mixture and mix on medium-low until incorporated.

7.  Combine remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl.

8.  Roll cookie dough into balls and then roll in sugar mixture.

9.  Place on lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart.

10.Bake approx 10-12 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

(Recipe adapted from Cookies and Cups - Chewy Brown Sugar Cookies with Brown Sugar Frosting.)

We packaged the Brown Sugar Cookies in white tin tie bakery bags which have a coated lining. This keeps the cookies fresh and prevents any oils discolouring the bag.  Using our dymo embossing labelmaker we made a label that was adhered to a small shipping tag, and attached to the bag with a peg. We enclosed a piece of striped ribbon in the bag, and added a reindeer silhouette die cut (using Cricut December 25th Cartridge).

 If you liked this, you may wish to check out 15 Christmas Cookies and Snowflake Cookies.

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