Muffin Day

I don't know if there's really a Muffin Day.  (Maybe?)  But Saturday it was Muffin Day for us.  We tried out five new recipes, and had muffins for every meal. 

I already have good recipes for oatmeal and bran muffins, which are my muffin staples, so we were trying to branch out a little with our choices here.

By the way, do you know why you should only stir muffins until "just combined"?  It's because you don't want to develop the gluten in the flour.  (This is the opposite of yeast bread, where you want to develop the gluten so that it provides a strong, pliable dough and strong bread structure for the yeast to work in.)  If you overstir, the muffins will be rubbery.  You can spot an over-stirred muffin because they get weird-looking, too-tall domes on top, and tunnels inside instead of a nice even crumb.  So, that's why when mixing muffins, you beat the egg separately with the milk, and stir the dry ingredients together first, so that when you combine the wet and dry ingredients you can do as little stirring as possible.  (Just a little informative tidbit from my days in 4-H cooking clubs.)

Okay.  Here they are.

Kiwi-Coconut-Lime Muffins

Kiwi and Coconut Muffins

Notes: These were Abe's favorite ones. Sam liked butter on them and I thought they were better plain.  They were the most unique of the muffins we tried.  The kiwi makes them almost sour, so it took me by surprise at first, but I really started liking them as they cooled off. (I think they are better cool.)  Next time, I'll add another kiwi or two (those tiny crunchy kiwi bites are the best part!) and maybe another 1/2 c. of coconut as well. 

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 t. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 tbs finely grated lime rind
Juice of one lime (2 T.?)
1/4 c. plus 2 T. canola oil
1 cup buttermilk (or soured milk)
1 egg
2 kiwifruit, peeled and diced

Combine sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, coconut, and lime rind in large bowl.  Whisk oil, buttermilk, and egg in measuring cup, then pour all at once into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Spoon into greased muffin pans and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Cheese Muffins

Cheese Muffins

Notes:  I wanted this recipe to succeed because it would go well with a dinner of soup or stew, which is when I most often make muffins.  (The dessert-like ones are good, but if I'm going to make a dessert I don't usually think of muffins.)  We loved the texture, but the taste was slightly bland, even though we used sharp cheese.  I think maybe I'll try doubling the salt next time---or perhaps adding crumbled bacon or diced ham?  That might help make the flavor a little bolder.  Or I also thought I might try adding some fresh chives or oregano.  Mmm. 

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups shredded cheese
1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 c. oil

Whisk together dry ingredients, then stir in cheese. In a separate bowl, whisk egg, milk, and butter together. Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and stir with a spoon to combine.  Bake in greased muffin tins at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Raspberry White-Chocolate Muffins

Raspberry White-Chocolate Muffins

Notes: Yum!  These were my favorite muffins of the day.  I love the way the raspberries kind of melt into the bread, and how the white chocolate goes so well with that berry flavor.  They were good warm and cool, too.

2 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cups sugar
2/3 cup white chocolate chips or chunks
1 1/4 cups fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 375.  Line a muffin pan with paper cups or lightly grease.  Whisk lemon juice, milk, oil and egg in a medium bowl until well combined.  Mix together flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and white chocolate in a large bowl. Add the berries to the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. Then gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stop stirring once the ingredients are combined.  Pour the mixture into the baking cups, so that each is about 2/3 full. Bake for about 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

Chocolate Yogurt Muffins

Notes:  They were fine, but I don't think I'd make them again.  It's kind of a half-hearted chocolate taste, in my opinion---you might as well just go ahead and make chocolate cake.  Speaking of which, are these actually cupcakes, do you suppose?  You could probably find better chocolate cupcake recipes.

2 cups flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cocoa powder (I often use carob for half of the cocoa in recipes)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1 c. milk

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 egg

1 c. dark chocolate chips

Combine dry ingredients in bowl; set aside.  Combine wet ingredients in another bowl, then stir together with dry ingredients.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Scoop batter into greased muffin pan and bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes.

Sugar Donut Muffins

Sugar Donut Muffins
Notes: Yummy.  Sam didn't think they quite tasted like cake donuts, but I thought they were pretty close.  I liked the slight taste of nutmeg in them.  And the crunchy sugar on the outside is the best part.  You can dip the whole muffin in butter before rolling it in the sugar, but I didn't---the sugar sticks fine without it (as long as the muffins are warm).

1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
3 c. flour
4 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 c. oil
1 1/2 c. milk
1 t. vanilla

1/2 c. sugar (for rolling)
2 T. melted butter (for brushing tops with)

Bake at 350 for 15-18 min.  When muffins are done, remove from pan while still warm.  Brush tops with melted butter and then roll whole muffins in sugar.  Place on wire rack so that sugar can set.