What you should know is that last winter, before Sierra lived with us, Celia and I baked muffins every day for over a month. This phenomenon has become known as the Month of Muffins, and basically corresponded with the 36 straight days of rain we got here at the same time. We used a wonderful and adaptable recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant New Classics cookbook:
wet ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
1/2 to 3/4 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. plus 2 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla
2 c. chopped fruit, and/or nuts, and/or chocolate chips (or other combinations, see below)
dry ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 12-cup muffin tin. Cream together the butter and sugar in a medium bowl, then mix in the other wet ingredients. In a separate large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and fold together with a rubber spatula. Divide into the muffin tins and bake 30 minutes.
For this recipe, I think Celia put in a cup of pumpkin and a cup of chopped apples. Our favorite from the Month of Muffins was 1 c. frozen raspberries and 1 c. chocolate chips. We kept a log of all the muffins we tried, and here are a few that turned out well:
* blackberry almond
* strawberry chocolate almond
* banana walnut
* strawberry granola (1 c. strawberries, 1 c. granola)
* zucchini strawberry (grate the zucchini)
Zucchini as a muffin ingredient is really amazing. Replacing half the flour with cornmeal also makes good corn muffins. These muffins are also really good when made vegan, just use vegetable oil instead of butter, egg replacer, and soy milk. You won't be able to tell the difference.
Oh, and that's a box of satsumas behind the muffins in the picture. Satsumas are my favorite fruit, and it's the time of year they have them in stores - go get some.
2 comments:
You have definitely surpassed my abilities in the world of muffin baking. I am suitably impressed and stroke my beard thoughtfully.
When I'm short on ideas in the kitchen, I ALWAYS turn to Collegemartha, my one-stop-shop for useful information and kitchen lore.
Brian
Daaahlings-
What a surprise to see the recipe for pumpkin apple muffins. I can only say that great domestic minds think alike. I had been planning to tell you about a fabulous pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe that I made the other night for a brunch birthday party for a friend at work. Since I am too lazy to enter the entire recipe here, I will tell you that it can be found in the indispensible book "Muffins, Sixty Sweet and Savory Recipes..." by Elizabeth Alston. The substitution of bittersweet chocolate chips made the difference between ordinary and Marthalicious muffins.
Now that you can make a fabulous pair of fingerless gloves-with cable knit, no less, it is high time to take on sweater making at which I have no doubt you will succeed admirably.
As a parental aside, I'm glad that you are finding ways to entertain yourselves during the stressful midterm time at school.!?!
Love from your biggest fan. YO MOMMa
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