Cooking with my Air Fryer | Mocha Muffins.

Afternoons have become relatively cooler now that we're entering the rainy season. Compared to the past few weeks when afternoons would be extremely hot and humid, today's drizzly weather was just right for baking. 

My son had been requesting for Mocha Muffins since last week, and today, I finally had the chance to whip up a batch for our midday snack. Goes perfectly well with a cup of coffee (or tea) while watching K-dramas or Trese on Netflix. 

Sharing with you the recipe, because I know some of you have been missing my air fryer recipe posts and have been wondering I've been doing with my air fryer lately. Well, my air fryer is now officially a year old - very much used, well-loved, and still one of my best buys during this pandemic. :)

Mocha Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tbsp instant coffee powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 whole eggs (cool, straight from the fridge)

3/4 cup all-purpose cream

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat air fryer to 170° Celsius.

2. In a bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, coffee powder, baking powder, and salt. (You may choose not to add salt if you are using salted butter.)

3. Add the chocolate chips to the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Mix the butter and sugar in another bowl and with a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat in low speed until fluffy. (You can mix by hand, but make sure that the butter is at room temperature.) 

Muffin time once again! :)

5. Add the eggs to the mixture one at a time, and beat until the eggs are no longer visible.

6. Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixture and the all-purpose cream, mix at low speed.

7. Add the remaining half of the dry ingredients and continue to mix until everything is well-combined. 

8. Put your mixer at high speed for 5-10 seconds to make sure the mixture is creamy and has a refined texture.

9. Using an ice cream scoop, fill your paper-lined muffin tin cups with the batter and top with more chocolate chips.

Super moist Mocha Muffins! 

10. Bake at 170° Celsius for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

11. Let cool for five minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Baked Salmon.

Born and raised as a Catholic, I've always followed the "Fish Friday" tradition for as long as I can remember. It's when (most) Catholics abstain from consuming meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday in Lent, and eat only fish and/or vegetables. I reckon I learned this practice from my great grandmother, who would also diligently sing the "pasyon" during the Holy Week, year in and year out. 

Before I got my air fryer, our Fish Friday meals would either be bangus (daing, bistek, sinigang, or tinapa), tuna (stir-fried or eaten straight from the can), or good ol' pan-fried tilapia.  Now that I have an air fryer, I have even more options such as Tuna Rice Casserole, Cheesy Baked Bangus, and even the quarantine-famous Sushi Bake. 

Recently, I've learned how to make Baked Salmon (yes, Conti's style), and it's the recipe I'm sharing with you today - just in time for another Fish Friday. :)

Baked Salmon (ala Conti's)

Ingredients:

500 grams salmon fillet

5 cloves garlic, minced

juice of 1 lemon

salt & pepper

1/2 block cream cheese, softened

3 Tbsps mayonnaise

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup parmesan cheese

For the side dish:

1 pack mixed vegetables 

2 Tbsps butter

Procedure: 

1. Preheat the air fryer at 190° Celsius.

2. In a bowl, marinate salmon with garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Let it sit for 30 minutes.

3. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, minced garlic, and parmesan cheese.

4. Remove the salmon from the bowl and pat dry with a paper towel.

5. Place the salmon in a baking pan and spread the cream cheese mixture on top. Sprinkle more parmesan cheese on top if desired.

6. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 170° C for 30-25 minutes or until the top is golden.

7. While the salmon is baking, prepare the side dish by melting the butter in a non-stick pan.

8. Once melted, add the vegetable mix to the pan. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are tender crisp. Add a dash of salt and pepper to taste. 

9. Serve with the baked salmon.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Cheesy Baked Bangus.

Just like chicken and tofu, bangus (or milkfish) is also a staple in this household. Whether it's sinigang, bistek, daing, or tinapa, there just has to be a bangus dish in our meal plan at least once or twice a week. And why not? Aside from its versatility, bangus is healthy, flavorful, and definitely more affordable than pork or beef.

Today, I tried to be more adventurous with bangus, instead of the usual air fried tinapa or daing. I baked it, and topped it with cream and lots and lots of cheese. It was a hit with my son, who almost finished the entire bangus in one sitting!

Cheesy Baked Bangus

Ingredients:

500 grams boneless bangus

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup all-purpose cream

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 cup melting cheese

For the toppings:

1/2 cup melting cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese

1 to 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

If you're out of mozzarella, you can use cheddar cheese instead.

Procedure:

1. Preheat the air fryer at 190° Celsius.

2. Season bangus with salt, pepper, and paprika.

3. Prepare the cream mixture by mixing the mayonnaise, all-purpose cream, garlic powder, pepper, sugar, and melting cheese in a small bowl. 

4. Place the bangus skin side down in a greased baking tray.

5. Spread the cream mixture on top of the bangus. (Mixture is good for two pieces of bangus.)

6. Top with different cheeses.

7. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 180° C for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden.

Many thanks to Ms. Lhen de Castro, founder of Bake and Cook PH, for this recipe! Watch how she made this Cheesy Baked Bangus on her Youtube channel. :)

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins.

Social media has been abuzz lately with air fryers and their increasing popularity here in the Philippines. I know air fryers have been around for years, but it was only last year when they started to get a lot of hype in my country.

But along with the new-found fame and popularity came the hatred for air fryers and for people who own it, have bought it, and even those who are planning to buy it. Some people would argue that it works the same way as the turbo broiler and/or the convection oven and it would be a waste of money to buy an air fryer if you already have these appliances (I have neither of the two so the air fryer was a very good investment for me), while some say that air fryers are for lazy people or people who don't know how to cook. I strongly disagree with this one, because hey, I know how to cook. My friends who have air fryers know how to cook. And no, we're not lazy people. People who own air fryers (at least the ones I know) are actually busy people who are after the convenience of being able to work on other things while they cook. 

Like what I've said on my Facebook post, people have their own reasons for buying air fryers. If they have the money for it, let them buy it! Let people enjoy things! 

As for me, my seven-month-old relationship with my Hanabishi Air Fryer is still going strong, and I'm proud to say that I whipped up a storm in the kitchen on New Year's Eve (for the traditional Media Noche) with it! My latest creation are these Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins using the oranges from my New Year fruit basket. I had so many fruits and chocolates for the New Year and they all ended up being made into muffins, haha!

Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt or plain yogurt

1/4 cup milk

2 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

zest and juice of 1 large orange (about 1/2 cup juice and 1 tablespoon zest)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)

For Orange Drizzle Topping (optional):

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1-2 tablespoons orange juice

No drizzle, but I added more chocolate chips on top.

Procedure:

1. Preheat air fryer to 170° Celsius.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar and orange zest.

3. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well.

4. In another bowl, whisk the eggs with oil, yogurt, milk, orange juice, and vanilla extract until completely combined.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips.

7. Bake at 170° Celsius for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

8. Switch to Convection Broil for 2-3 minutes if you want the muffin tops to look more brown. (Kindly make adjustments to the temperature settings if you're cooking with a conventional oven.)

9. To make the drizzle, sift the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add the orange juice and stir until the sugar has melted enough and the drizzle can be poured. 

10. When the muffins have cooled down, pour the drizzle on the muffin tops.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Lemon Yogurt Muffins.

After my successful experiment with apples, I decided to try another fruit with my muffins. This time, I used lemons in this recipe because you know what they say... when life gives you lemons, make muffins with it. Haha!

If you've been reading or have tried any of my muffin recipes, you might have noticed that I always use milk for baking. For this recipe, I switched to yogurt instead. Yogurt, as it turns out, makes baked goods taste better. Its tanginess adds an interesting, non-cloying taste to your muffins (or cakes, for that matter), while its creaminess helps make your baked goods soft and moist. In addition, it gives muffins a good rise as its acidity activates baking soda, which I also used in this recipe. Looks like I'll be using yogurt for baking more often from now on. 

Now enough of this chit-chat and let's move on to the recipe. :)

Lemon Yogurt Muffins

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose-flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt)

1/4 cup butter, melted

zest and juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup juice and 1 tablespoon zest)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

For Lemon Drizzle Topping:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Just some muffins cooling down and waiting to be eaten... :)

Procedure:

1.Preheat air fryer to 170° Celsius.

2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Mix in the lemon zest.

3. In another bowl, whisk the eggs together with the butter, yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla extract.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.  

5. Pour the batter into paper-lined muffin cups. (This mixture yields about 12 regular-sized muffins.) 

6. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and at 170°C for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7. Optional: Switch to Convection Broil for 2-3 minutes if you want the muffin tops to look more brown. (Kindly make adjustments to the temperature settings if you're cooking with a conventional oven.)

8. To make the drizzle, sift the powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add the lemon juice and stir until the sugar has melted enough and the drizzle can be poured. 

9. When the muffins have cooled down, pour the drizzle on the muffin tops.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Apple Cinnamon Muffins.

Apples are pretty much a staple in our home. Apples are Yue's most favorite fruit, and he makes sure to eat them everyday because as the saying goes, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." 

Today, I decided to experiment with apples in the kitchen, after seeing that we have way too much of them in the crisper. It seems that the fruit delivery guy handed us a few extra pieces when he delivered apples the other day. Either that, or the price of his apples have decreased, because I usually hand him a hundred peso bill and get six apples in return. I have like, a dozen apples inside the fridge and I don't even know why, haha.

Anyway, this is my first time to add fruit into my muffins, and I'm so happy with the results! The muffins that I made were super moist, and they smelled divine. The kitchen smelled like Christmas as soon as I opened my air fryer to take out the muffins! Even Yue was impressed! :)

And with that, I give you my Apple Cinnamon Muffin recipe.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon white vinegar

2 cups apple pieces, peeled and chopped into small cubes

1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Apples and cinnamon make a great combination!

Procedure:

1. Preheat air fryer to 170° Celsius.

2. In a large bowl, mix the butter and brown sugar until well-combined. 

3. Stir in the egg, milk, and vinegar until incorporated.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon powder, and salt until well-blended.

5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix!

6. Lightly fold in the apples and walnuts to the mixture.

7. Pour the batter into paper-lined muffin cups.

8. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and at 170°C for 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

9. Optional: Switch to Convection Broil for 3 to 5 minutes if you want the muffin tops to look more brown. (Kindly make adjustments to the temperature settings if you're cooking with a conventional oven.) 

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

My son turned 12 yesterday, and for this year's birthday, I took it upon myself to cook everything on my own for his (simple) birthday dinner. No take-outs, no food deliveries, no 'paluto' from other restaurants, including the birthday cake. Yes, even the birthday cake! I think this has got to be one of the highlights of my airfryer experiments - baking a cake from scratch. I feel so accomplished, haha!

I baked the cake on the eve of his birthday (November 11th), while Typhoon Ulysses (international name Vanco) was starting to cause havoc in the country. It was raining heavily that night, with roaring winds and all, and I was awfully worried that the power might go out any minute. Thankfully, I was able to finish the cake without a hitch, despite the power fluctuations here and there.

I was dead tired after baking this cake, and my arms were stiff from all that grating (tip: use a box grater to make your life easier), but I wasn't able to sleep soundly that night because of the strong typhoon. I was afraid that the roof might start leaking, or worse, be blown off by the strong winds. Good thing none of those happened, and we were able to celebrate Yue's birthday at home with a simple dinner of tuna pasta, roast chicken, and this carrot cake. Sharing with you the cake recipe inspired by InspiredTaste, and my own version of the buttercream frosting. :) 

Carrot Cake with Buttercream Frosting

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour 

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1 cup brown sugar 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

4 large eggs 

3 cups grated peeled carrots 

1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts 

For Cream Cheese Frosting:

1/4 cup softened butter

3/4 cup cream cheese

1/4 cup Nestle All-Purpose Cream (chilled)

2 cups powdered sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat the airfryer to 190° Celsius. Grease two round cake pans and line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease the top of the parchment paper. (I used an 8" springform pan and cooked two batches since I only have one pan.)

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until well-blended.

3. In another bowl, whisk the oils, sugar, and vanilla. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until combined.

4. Using a spatula, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three parts, gently stirring until they disappear and the batter is smooth.

5. Fold in the carrots and walnuts.

Carrots and walnuts!

6. Pour the batter into the cake pans.

7. Set the airfryer to Bake mode and bake at 170° Celsius for 35-40 minutes or until the top of the cake is springy when touched and when a toothpick inserted to the center of the cake comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake in the pan for 10-15 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper and cool off completely before frosting.

Buttercream frosting, before chilling. 

9. To make the frosting, whisk the butter, cream cheese, and Nestle All-Purpose Cream. Add the powdered sugar in four batches, whisking the mixture until thick and smooth. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

10. To assemble, spread frosting on one part of the cake and place the other part to sandwich the frosting. Spread frosting on all sides of the cake. Top with extra chopped walnuts. Refrigerate for at least one hour before serving. (I refrigerated mine overnight.)

My first-ever carrot cake! Neighbors loved it! :)

P.S. Many thanks to everyone who greeted Yue on his birthday! He truly appreciated all the greetings and well-wishes! :)

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Cheese Muffins Recipe.

I've been wanting to try to make my own cheese muffins for the longest time. In fact, I've bought most of the ingredients for it on my last grocery run (which was like, three weeks ago). However, I had qualms about baking it without a mixer, thinking that it would be too much of a pain to mix the ingredients with just a spatula and a wire whisk.

Thankfully, I chanced upon a Hanabishi Hand Mixer yesterday, while I was window shopping at the department store. I really had no plans of buying anything inside the department store because the main purpose of my trip to the mall was to pay bills and buy food stuff. I ended up buying clothes for the kids (my son, my niece and nephew), underwear for myself (because they were on sale), some gardening tools, plus the hand mixer. Lol.

Today, I tried making the Cheese Muffins and it was a success! Good thing I decided to buy this hand mixer. My arms would probably be sore from mixing had I used just the spatula and the wire whisk because the mixture is thick! Anyways, here is the recipe. Please use an electric mixer should you wish to try this. :)

Cheese Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsps baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup refined sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs (room temperature)

1 can (300 mL) condensed milk

2 tsps vanilla extract

1 cup Quickmelt cheese, grated

Procedure:

1. Preheat the airfryer to 190° Celsius.

2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Set aside. 

3. In a separate bowl, mix the butter and sugar using an electric mixer.

4. Beat the eggs in the mixture, one at a time.

5. Add the condensed milk and vanilla extract and mix again.

6. Pour half of the dry ingredients in the mixture. Mix at low speed.

7. Add the remaining half of the dry ingredients, again mixing at low speed.

8. Add the cheese and fold in to combine. 

9. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups. Top with more grated cheese if desired. 

10. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 170°C for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

11. Optional: Switch to Convection Broil for 3 to 5 minutes if you want the muffin tops to look more brown. (Kindly make adjustments to the temperature settings if you're cooking with a conventional oven.)

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Cappuccino Muffins Recipe.

A-and we're back to regular programming! I had been in (social media) hiatus for about a week or so and had not been baking much because of my eye problem. Halfway through September, I had been having issues with my left eye - it felt dry, the upper part of the sclera had reddish streaks, and it felt like I had something stuck in my eye most of the time. I finally decided to see my eye doctor as soon as Yue's exams were over, and I was diagnosed with corneal abrasion. I'm still under medication as of this writing, and there's still a miniscule white spot on my cornea, but my eyes feel much, much better and less sensitive to light than it did two weeks ago. 

Anyway, moving on to what this blog post is really about - the recipe. I had been baking my Cappuccino Muffins differently, using just one egg. Until I realized that two eggs are better than one, lol. But seriously, my muffins became lighter, fluffier, and definitely more moist after I started using two (room temperature) eggs. And with that, here's the recipe. Enjoy! :)

Cappuccino Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups flour 

3 tsps baking powder 

2 tsp coffee

1/2 tsp salt 

3/4 cup white sugar 

2 eggs 

1 cup milk 

1/4 cup vegetable oil 

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

2 tsp vanilla extract 

1 cup dark or semisweet chocolate chips 

Procedure: 

1. Preheat the air fryer to 190° Celsius. 

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, coffee, salt, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg) in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. 

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture all at once into the well in the flour mixture.

4. Mix quickly and lightly until moistened. Do not overmix.

5. Lightly fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture.

6. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups. Top with more chocolate chips if desired.

7. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 170°C for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

8. Optional: Switch to Convection Broil for 3 to 5 minutes if you want the muffin tops to look more brown. (Kindly make adjustments to the temperature settings if you're cooking with a conventional oven.)

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Crispy Fried Chicken (ala Max's Restaurant).

This is a recipe that I've been wanting to experiment with ever since I got my hands on my Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven. It took me quite awhile to actually try it, since chicken leg quarters were always out of stock whenever I do the groceries (which is actually like, twice a month at the most).

Luckily, I chanced upon some chicken leg quarters at SM Supermarket's Bounty Fresh section on my last grocery run. Yay! And so finally, here it is - my Crispy Fried Chicken, Max's style.

Crispy Fried Chicken (ala Max's Restaurant)

Ingredients:

4 chicken leg quarters (or 1 whole spring chicken)

4 cloves garlic, chopped (or crushed)

6 slices ginger

4 pieces bay leaf

3 Tbsps fish sauce/patis

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

4 cups water

Procedure:

1. In a large pot, mix the water, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, and bay leaf. Stir, then bring to a boil.

2. Place the chicken in the pot and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Remove the chicken from the broth and drain using a colander. Let it cool for 15 to 20 minutes and rub with salt and pepper on all sides of the skin.

4. Set your air fryer to Air Fry mode and air fry at 190°C for 20 minutes. Flip the chicken at the 5-minute mark. 

5. Flip the chicken again at let it rest for 10 minutes.

6. Air fry the chicken again at 190°C for another 3 to 5 minutes for added crisp. You may adjust the length of time depending on how crispy you want your chicken to be.

7. Serve with fried sweet potato or french fries and tomato ketchup with Worcestershire sauce.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Triple Chocolate Muffins Recipe.

Weekends are for baking, and that's exactly what I did last weekend. Yay! I baked a few batches of muffins, enough for the not-so-little kid to snack on for the next few days. Because you all know it gets pretty crazy around the house during weekdays, with my son's online distance learning classes and all. (Please teachers, stop sending schoolwork after 4 pm!)

Anyways, I was craving for something sweet, a bit more decadent over the weekend because it's that time of the month again when I'd have erratic food cravings. Usually, I would just rush over to the mall to buy cake or doughnuts or the like to satisfy my sweet tooth. But times sure have changed and now I go by the mantra, "Why buy when you can bake", lol. 

And with that, I came up with this Triple Chocolate Muffins recipe using the cocoa powder that I got from All About Baking at SM City San Pablo. They've recently opened store here in my area, and I'm absolutely thrilled to find a place that can cater to all of my baking needs. (Not sponsored, though!)

Triple Chocolate Muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour 

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used Dutch Premium Alkalized Cocoa Powder)

1 Tbsp baking powder

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 large egg, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips for topping

1/4 cup white chocolate chips for topping

Procedure:

1. Preheat the air fryer to 190° Celsius.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients - flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Make a well at the center of the mixture.

3. Mix the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk the milk, egg, oil, and vanilla extract until well-combined.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined. Do not overmix.

5. Lightly fold in the semisweet chocolate chips into the mixture.

6. Pour the batter into paper-lined muffin cups. Sprinkle each cup with semisweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.

7. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 170°C for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Cinnamon Sugar Muffins Recipe.

Two weeks into this Online Distance Learning thing (aka e-Learning) and it's the busiest I have been since the community quarantine started. With all the tasks that need to be done and all the assignments that my son has to turn in, it actually feels like I'm the student and the one enrolled for this school year. 

Miraculously, I somehow managed to make time for baking in between Yue's online classes and offline learning activities. I baked Cinnamon Sugar Muffins the other day and boy, oh boy, my house smelled like Christmas while I was making these babies! The scent was definitely a pick-me-upper and a nice distraction from all these busyness with schoolwork.

I'm also proud to say that I baked these muffins oh-so-perfectly on my first try, hence the early release of my recipe. Enjoy! :)

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Ingredients: 

2 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

For the cinnamon sugar sprinkle:

1 teaspoon cinnamon 

2 tablespoons washed sugar (segunda or light brown sugar)

Procedure:

1. Preheat the air fryer to 170° Celscius.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, white sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Make a well in the center.

Making cinnamon sugar muffins is a breeze! :)

3. In another bowl, beat the eggs and mix the milk and vegetable oil.

4. Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the center of the flour mixture. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix!

5. Pour the batter into paper-lined muffin cups. 

Don't forget to sprinkle the cinnamon sugar on the top!

6. In a small bowl, combine the 1 teaspoon cinnamon with the 2 tablespoons washed sugar. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the tops of the batter-filled cups.

7. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 170° C for 12 to 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the muffin comes out clean.

Cooking with my Air Fryer | Chocolate Chip Muffins Recipe.

I love, love, love muffins. So much that they're the first bread-type dessert that I tried to learn how to make and bake from scratch. I've made muffins quite a few times since I got my Hanabishi Air Fryer and of course, I've also made some rookie mistakes along the way - like overmixing the dough, burning the bottoms of the muffins, even undercooking an entire batch.

But hey, making mistakes is always part of the learning process! I've definitely learned from all these bumps and hiccups that I've encountered along the way, and now I have a lot more confidence in my baking skills. (Wow, skills! Haha!)

And with that, I'm now sharing with you my Chocolate Chip Muffins recipe.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3 tsps baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Procedure:

1. Preheat the air fryer to 190° Celsius.

2. Stir together all the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg) in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Pour this mixture all at once into the well in the flour mixture.

4. Mix quickly and lightly until moistened. Do not overmix.

5. Lightly fold in the chocolate chips into the mixture.

6. Pour the batter into paper lined muffin pan cups.

7. Set your air fryer to Bake mode and bake at 170°C for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

8. Optional: Switch to Convection Broil for 3 to 5 minutes if you want the muffin tops to look more brown.

(Kindly make adjustments to the temperature settings if you're cooking with a conventional oven.)

Spotlight | Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven.

If we're friends on Facebook or if you're following me on Instagram, then you probably have noticed that something other than K-dramas is keeping me busy these days.

Meet my new toy, the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven! I got this as an anniversary gift from my husband, who has become some sort of a health buff and is addicted to air frying himself, haha!

Say hello to my new baby, the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven!

Before I got this air fryer, I had been mulling over for weeks on which brand and model to buy. Should I get the relatively smaller and cheaper basket-type air fryer? Should I buy one of those Korean brand air fryers on Shopee? Or should I give in to the air fryers included in the Flash Sale in Lazada? (By the way, you can save more with Lazada purchases if you visit Saleduck Philippines. They offer exclusive discount codes and exclusive promos daily.) Or should I go all the way to S&R for the Baumann Living Multi Air Fryer? And then I saw this Air Fryer Oven on the Hanabishi website - it was love at first sight.

I immediately got in touch with Hanabishi, asking if they could deliver the unit to Laguna. Unfortunately, they only deliver within Bulacan and the NCR. I then called up The SM Store here in my area, and asked if they have this air fryer in stock. They don't. I asked them if they would have stocks in the future. They don't know. That disheartened me a bit, but did not discourage me from buying the air fryer of my dreams (literally and figuratively, lol).

Eventually, I discovered an online seller who had available stocks of this air fryer, thanks to the recommendations from members of the Air Fryer Philippines group on Facebook. I placed my order on a Tuesday (June 2) and two days later, my air fryer was shipped through a Grab rider who delivered the unit all the way to Laguna, safe and sound!

Thank you, Kuya Arnel Pantoja for driving all the way to Laguna!
Thank you, Sir Erad Salinas for the smooth transaction!

Now let me tell you more about the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven, and why I fell in love with it (aside from the fact that it's a healthier option since you're cooking without oil).

Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven, Php 6315.

First off, this air fryer has a huge 23-liter capacity. That's large enough to air fry 3 lbs of meat, or bake a 4 lb chicken or a 12-inch pizza.

A lot of room for food! :)

Another key feature of this air fryer is its versatility. Aside from air frying, this baby can also bake, broil, roast, and grill a multitude of dishes. This can also be used for reheating leftover food, like what you do with a microwave. I've always wanted a cooking range like the one we have at Mum's house, but never really got around to buying one because of the limited kitchen space. With the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven, I can finally bake my own bread and pastries in my own kitchen. 

Multi-functional, with thermostat up to 230 degrees Celsius. 

This air fryer comes with an air fry basket, an oven rack, and a baking pan. These dividable baskets are very convenient, as it allows you to cook several things at the same time. For instance, you can place french fries on the top basket and cook them together with chicken cut-ups on the baking pan. Or you can just arrange them all together on the air fry basket, which has a 7 liter capacity to begin with.

Accessories include the air fry basket, oven rack, and baking pan.

Frying has also become easier with the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven. Thanks to this handy dandy kitchen appliance, I no longer have to worry about oil splatters or frying fumes. I don't have to worry about making too much noise in the kitchen while Yue is busy with his online class come August because this air fryer operates quietly and doesn't make weird noises in the background.

The timer knob - rings when the timer goes off.

As far as clean-up is concerned, it's relatively easy with the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven. I simply wash the basket, rack, and pan with running water and dishwashing liquid, and clean the inside of the air fryer with a damp sponge or cloth. This air fryer is built with stainless steel so you need not worry about corrosion or rust.

I've had my air fryer for about a month and a half, and my experience so far has been nothing short of enjoyable. I've cooked all sorts of food with it - potato wedges, chicken barbecue, burger steak, tonkatsu, tori karaage, baked macaroni, Dakgangjeong chicken... even hickory smoked ribs, which I have never cooked before! 

Yes, you can actually cook tilapia in your air fryer.

Burger steak and baby potatoes.

Dakgangjeong chicken (Korean-style fried chicken).

Tofu, my all-time favorite.

Tonkatsu and cheese sticks.

Now I'm sure you're all wondering about one thing - is it energy-efficient? To be honest, I really can't tell at this point because we all know Meralco did some sort of magic during the lockdown period and we're all burdened by extremely high electric bills. If it's any consolation, I hardly use the stove these days, so I still have a lot of gas left in my 4-month old LPG tank.

With the COVID-19 scare and all the crazy, unhappy things happening during the pandemic, I now find solace in cooking and the Hanabishi Air Fryer Oven has become my best friend. For a little over Php 6000, this 'toy' (as my son puts it) is definitely worth the money. I'd say it's one of the best anniversary gifts I've received in our 12 years of marriage. :)