I preface them as “mostly apple” because the only thing holding these chunky pieces of apples is muffin batter.  I’ve posted about these before but I made a couple of changes myself this time around. It was also my third time making them so hopefully the third time is clearly a charm. They’re just that good!  I followed Christy’s recipe on The Girl Who Ate Everything blog.

Here is her recipe below:

Yields 18 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar (I cut back to 1 cup)
• 2 eggs (leave at room temperature)
• 1 cup of oil
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla
• 3 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 2-3 cups of peeled, cored, and diced apples (2 large or 3 medium sized apples should be enough)
• Brown sugar for topping

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin tin with paper liners
2. Cream sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla; mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Sift if desired.
4. Add whole portion of dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Do not overmix!
5. Fold diced apples into batter with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
6. Using an ice cream scoop or large spoons, fill paper liners 3/4 full.  I was pretty generous with the scoops and the muffins came out beautifully.
7. Sprinkle with brown sugar.
8. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Do not check muffins halfway to turn the pans around or to check how much they’ve risen! They will definitely sink.  Be patient and let it bake for at least 20 minutes, then add on another minute or two if you want them to be more golden brown.

So for my changes in Christy’s recipe…

Treat the batter delicately! Over mixing the batter will yield a tougher muffin.  Too much air is not a good thing.  Keeping the apple chunks slightly larger might prevent the muffin from being soggy.  It might depend on the apple too.  I used Red Delicious and Gala apples.  Other food bloggers might suggest Granny Smiths for a more tart muffin.

And of course, use less sugar!  This recipe called for a whopping 2 cups of sugar and more to sprinkle on.  Apples are naturally sweet if you’ve picked ripe ones.  I cut the sugar by half in the batter and barely added any on top of the muffins and they came out fine.

I think if I were to make these again, I’d substitute for half wheat and half all purpose flour or incorporate some rolled oats for a healthier muffin.  All in all, these muffins came out great!  Not too sweet and great with a cup of coffee or tea in the morning.  Or a mid-afternoon snack. Your call!  

Every time I read the word “super” I instantly think of Superman or rather something that’s really fantastic.  I have to say Super Duper does live up to its name for its burgers and classic diner like feel with their menu items.  

Once you enter, you’re going to find yourself cramped in a jumbled line for two registers.  They are super busy!  Lots of seating areas available but they get filled up quick.  We should have opted for outdoor seating or at least upstairs.  The good thing about long lines is that you get plenty of time to decide what you want.  

Their menu is pretty straight forward: get a mini burger with a 4 oz. patty or a super burger with an 8 oz. patty (2- 4 oz. patties stacked on top of each other).  Make it a regular combo with fries and drink for $8 with the 4 oz. burger or $10 for the 8 oz.  The regular condiments that come with a burger are free, if you want bacon, extra cheese, a fried egg, avocado, or portebello mushrooms.  The possibilities are endless.  Their pickles are homemade and you’d be silly if you were only grabbing one or two slices to eat with your burger.  Eat at least 4, please.  They’re just that addicting.

I can definitely go on…you’re going to also find vegetarian options, lots of dessert, salads, and their organic shakes.  Oh how I wish I ordered a shake!  For an additional $0.50 they add malt for you and for $1.50, they’ll spike your drink for that more grown up milkshake.  They had a chocolate with fresh strawberries shake that sounded so appetizing.

I couldn’t handle another bite.  Don’t be fooled if the burger can only fit in one hand or palm (if you have large man hands).  The burger definitely comes with a lot of flavor and is super rich.  You can just taste how fresh the patties are without an overbearing aid of salt and seasoning.  It’s just right.

Service here is a little unorganized though.  Our orders got mixed up.  Lewis ended up with a 4 oz. burger even though he ordered an 8 oz. and I ordered a burger without cheese but they gave me a cheeseburger anyway.  Lots of people were confused between the take out and sit-in orders.  I hope they fix this because we did enjoy their food quite a bit.  

Other than the mixed up service, I would definitely consider coming back, possibly on a less busy day.  We did come here on a Saturday afternoon.  I want to build my own burger next time and have a shake as well.  This may mean I need to fast a couple of hours before I commit to my future meal here.

Super Duper

721 Market St
(between Ofarrell St & Kearny St) 
San Francisco, CA 94103

(415) 538-3437, http://www.superdupersf.com

Gordo Taqueria

Their chicken tacos are too difficult to pass up!  After a late night event with Yelp (details later), my friends and I were still getting hungry.  We wandered around College Ave. in Berkeley and found that only a handful of places were open late.  Luckily we were in the mood for Mexican.  The tacos are $3 a taco and if you’re planning to eat them with one hand, you’re sadly mistaken.  They definitely require two hands.  I could barely hold it too.  It was just over flowing with chicken, beans, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa.  Oh I’m just drooling again. Do me a favor and go for it!

Gordo Tacqueria

2989 College Ave
(between Ashby Ave & Webster St)
Berkeley, CA 94705

(510) 204-9027
http://www.gordotaqueria.com

Squat & Gobble

Every time I make a trip out to San Francisco, I try to eat somewhere new.  So far it seems like finding the best brunch place is a trending topic on my list of places to eat. For an early Valentine’s Day outing, Lewis and I decided to try out Squat & Gobble on Chestnut Street.  They have 4 other locations in SF so you can’t miss it if you decide to visit.

There was a huge line at the register.  You get to order your food first, pay, then pick where you want to eat.  We chose to eat in their patio.  Gorgeous hole in the wall if you decide to have a nice brunch outside.  We ordered an pomegranate iced tea and pale ale.  Lewis had their charbroiled angus chuck burger while I had their chicken pesto crepe.  

Service was a little slow— we may have waited up to 30 for our drinks to arrive, another 20 for food.  I didn’t mind it too much considering how nice it was outside.  We were starving by the time our food came.  I loved the crepe!  Very rich and filling.  It came with sun dried tomatoes and that’s always a guilty pleasure of mine.  Lewis’s burger was quite good too, but we both agreed that they could have made it less sweet.  

If you have a long morning/afternoon to spare, come here for brunch! I’d come back just to try their other items, but only if I intend to be there for at least 2 hrs. I do enjoy brunch though.  I’m a sap for waffles, pancakes, and eggs made at least 20 different ways.  

Squat & Gobble

2263 Chestnut St
(between Avila St & Scott St)
San Francisco, CA 94123

(415) 441-2200, http://www.squatandgobble.com