Plain Tasty Blueberry Muffins

Don't bother with the box mixes. Their tiny canned blueberries have nothing on the flavor of fat fresh or frozen ones. The rest of these ingredients, minus the lemon zest, are probably in your pantry anyway (well, I hope you store the milk, butter, and eggs in the fridge, but you know what I mean).

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 teaspoon powdered lemon zest* (or 1 teaspoon fresh)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup butter (half a stick), melted and cooled.
• 2 cups frozen blueberries (or fresh, if they're in season). No need to thaw.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. You could also grease them, but I find that the blueberries frequently stick anyway (or maybe its my pan?)
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk  the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Toss the blueberries in the flour.
4. In a medium mixing bowl (I usually use a quart-sized liquid measuring cup to make pouring neater), whisk the milk, egg, and melted butter.
5. Pour liquid ingredients into the dry and stir with a silicone spatula just until combined (that means no more visible patches of flour).
6. Divide evenly into muffin cups.
7. Bake 18-22 minutes until the tops are lightly golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

*I buy the powdered lemon zest from Penzeys, and store it in the fridge to keep it fresh. No affiliation, just a happy customer.

Pumpkin Muffins

For this twist on one of our favorite fall breakfasts, I changed up a regular pumpkin bread recipe to use coconut oil for the fat. Coconut oil is a naturally occurring, completely vegetarian saturated fat (made from coconuts, duh). It is solid at most room temperatures, and melts at about 76 degrees. (It's also good for making homemade Magic Shell...and homemade cosmetics, but that's a post I haven't gotten around to writing)

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup coconut oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin cups with cooking spray (I ended up with 17 muffins, so a 12-cup and a 6-cup muffin pan).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk 1 cup of the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and ginger. 
3. Add the pumpkin, milk, eggs, and coconut oil.
4. Beat on low speed until combined. Beat on medium for 2 minutes.
5. Stop the mixer, add the remaining cup of flour, and beat on low-to-medium until combined.
6. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cook 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 2 teaspoons shredded lemon peel (I used Penzey's dried lemon peel)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the glaze

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds and set aside.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg, milk, oil, lemon peel, and 1 Tbsp lemon juice.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once and stir with a spatula just until blended.
6. Divide into 12 muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes.
7. Stir the remaining lemon juice and sugar. While the muffins are still hot in the pan, brush each one with the lemon glaze with a pastry brush.
8. Remove from the muffin pans and cool.

Caramel Apple Muffins

The grocery stores are full of apples and cider and tempting candy. These muffins are hearty, moist, and plenty sweet. Perfect for a crisp fall morning with a cup of steaming apple cider or espresso.  

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup (half of a stick) butter, melted and cooled
• 1 apple, peeled, cored, and diced into 1/4" pieces (about 1 cup)
• 6 caramels, chopped into 1/8" pieces
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper baking cups.
2. Set aside about 1/4 of the chopped apple, 1/2 of the chopped caramels, and 1/2 of the chopped pecans for topping.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices.   Toss in the remaining apple pieces.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg, milk, and cooled, melted butter.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir with a spatula just until combined. Stir in the un-reserved caramels and pecans.
6. Distribute the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Top the muffins with the remaining bits of caramel, apple, and pecan.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

.@FoodNetwork 's Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins

The kids wanted muffins this morning, but we are preparing to move houses and I have packed my cookbooks. And muffin pans. Luckily for the kids, we have the internet and a set of silicone muffin cups.

This recipe is from FoodNetwork and their copy (with the ability to print nicely) can be found here.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Set the silicone muffin cups on a cookie sheet and spray the inside of each with cooking spray.
3. Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. In another medium bowl, lightly whisk the eggs, then whisk in the butter, brown sugar, milk, oil and vanilla.
4. Quickly fold the wet ingredients into the dry with a rubber spatula. Just before the batter comes together, fold in the chocolate chips—don’t mix the batter too much or the muffins will be tough. Divide the batter among the muffin cups (1/4 cup of batter per muffin). Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Turn the muffins out of the tins, cool on a rack. Serve slightly warm with jam.

Buttermilk Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Summertime in many families is a laid back, vacation and swimming-filled, relaxed time. Not here. The last few summers for us have been filled with overtime and honey-do's, and chauffeuring the kids to swimming and soccer and the pool and summercamps. Life in the YOTP house has been chaotic lately, and we are at the beginning of even bigger chaos. Maybe. More to come on that cryptic announcement.

Crazy days call for simple comfort flavors, and this is blueberry season. Blueberry muffins are one of our favorites, and this recipe combines sweet fresh blueberries with the homey tang of buttermilk with a little moisture and texture from oatmeal.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 7/8 cup buttermilk
• 1/13 cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 beaten egg
• 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), melted and cooled
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Stir the oats into the buttermilk and set them aside to soak.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda together in a large mixing bowl.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg, melted butter, and orange zest. Stir in the oatmeal-buttermilk mixture.
5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry with a rubber spatula, just until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.
6. Distribute the batter between the muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. 
7. Bake about 20 minutes until golden brown on the top.

Texas Sized Cinnamon Struesel Muffins

If you want bakery-style super-gigantic muffins, you need a Texas-Sized muffin pan. Depending on the brand, they also come in jumbo, king-Size, and a version with straight-sides.) Mine is just like picture (Amazon Link) below, with six oversized cups for filling with yummy batter. Our local grocery stores even carry paper muffin cups in Texas-size. The cups hold about twice the normal batter, so a traditional 12-cup muffin recipe usually makes about 6 of the bigger muffins. If you are adapting your own recipe (or a box), just increase the time by a few minutes and make sure to check for doneness (usually by using a toothpick).

I love cinnamon-y coffee cake for breakfast, and when made into Texas-sized muffins, it cooks up just a tad faster. This version uses a buttermilk batter.
Ingredients

• Struesel
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 tablespoon melted butter (See directions)
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• Cake
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 7/8 cup buttermilk (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg plus one 1 egg white
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons melted, cooled butter (See directions

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 6-cup Texas size muffin cup pan with paper liners.
2. Melt all 4 tablespoons of butter at once.
3. For the topping, mix the sugars, cinnamon, walnuts together in a small bowl. Spoon 1/2 tablespoon of the melted butter out for the topping and set the rest of the butter aside to cool.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together.
5. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the buttermilk, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and cooled melted butter.
6. Gently stir the liquid ingredients into the dry and blend just until mixed. The batter may be a bit lumpy.
7. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Sprinkle each with struesel topping.
8. Bake about 25-28 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Note that some of the topping may sink into the muffins as it bakes. Blame the melted butter and enjoy the filling :)

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

This recipe was adapted from an old edition of the The Joy of Cooking. This is one of my favorite cookbooks, despite its utter lack of photographs. Every section is prefaced with a lesson, and the recipe collection is vast and thorough.

These muffins are light and puffy, almost like a popover rather than a muffin. The insides are not very sweet all by themselves, so I don't suggest skipping the roll in cinnamon-sugar at the end.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, divided
• 1 cup cooked oatmeal*
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup chopped apple (abut 1 small)
• 3 tablespoons melted butter (for dipping baked muffins)
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (for dipping)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray 18 muffin cups with non-stick spray. (I usually skip the paper liners with a heavier, wetter muffin like these. The paper sticks).
2. Stir egg yolks, milk, butter, and oatmeal in a small bowl. (Note becareful that both the oatmeal and butter are cooled or you will make scrambled-egg apple oatmeal muffins).
3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. With an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until they are at stiff peaks (still shiny white, not dry).
5. Stir the egg/milk/oatmeal mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped apple. Gently fold in the egg whites.
6. Bake 22-25 minutes until they are golden brown on top and cooked through.
7. Dip the tops of each cooked muffin in the melted butter and then into cinnamon sugar.

Notes: To make 1 cup cooked oatmeal, microwave 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats with about 1/4-1/3 cup water on high about 1 minute. If you use packets, I think you'd need about two.

I've made muffins with oatmeal before, but the technique of pre-cooking the oats was new to me (usually I soak the uncooked oats in the liquids). This would be a good way to use up leftover oatmeal.

Separating the eggs and whippping the whites was also a different twist. I think these would turn out well (but denser) if you just whisk the whole eggs into the milk in step 2 above.