Mint Muffins

I was browsing through the Granny's Muffin House cookbook for something special to bake for Easter and was surprised to find a recipe for Mint Muffins. It had never occurred to me to bake mint into muffins. We had some fresh mint leftover from a meal we made the week before so I decided to use some to make this treat. As with most muffin recipes this was was pretty simple.

First I sifted together:

 2 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 c sugar

Next, I stirred in one egg, 1/3 c. melted butter, and 3/4 c. milk

In a separate bowl I mixed 1/4 c. vinegar with 1 c. chopped mint leaves and then added the mixture to the rest of the ingredients.

After the muffin tin was filled I baked at 400 for 20 minutes.

These are reminiscent of the butter mints that you sometimes find on your way out of restaurants.

Applesauce Raisin Muffins : a belated Christmas post

 We didn't do much to celebrate Christmas this year. There were few gifts given or received, and decorations were sparse. I did, however, make a pumpkin pie to have for dessert (it was, after all, National Pumpkin Pie Day). It seemed like a good day for doing baking so I also made some muffins using a recipe from Granny's Muffin House. I selected this recipe because I already had everything I needed. These were simple enough otherwise. I sifted 2 c. flour, 1 T baking powder, 1/2 t salt, 3/4 t cinnamon, and 2/3 c sugar. Next I added an egg, 1/3 c melted butter, 3/4 c milk, and 1/2 c applesauce and mixed before folding in 1/2 c of raisins. I baked at 400 for 20 minutes.

This makes a dozen muffins and since there were only two of us I froze about half of them to enjoy later. It was when I took them out of the freezer that I remembered that I'd never written a blog post about them. 

Easy and delicious.

Irish Coffee Muffins

In her 2011 Eggnog Muffins post, Pam tells the story of how we came to acquire the fun little Granny's Muffin House cookbook, and of her first use of it. From this we learned that author Susan Ashby is a big fan of baking powder, and that she knows her way around a muffin!

When I asked Pam what she would like for her birthday breakfast, she remembered the book and a recent gift of Trader Joe's coffee flour. Yes, coffee flour! It was given to us by our friends Courtney and Warren, two geography alumni who had traveled to Nicaragua coffeelands with me.

Image: Red Rooster Coffee

As the label indicates, this flour is made from some of the outer parts of the coffee fruit, which readers should note has a higher caffeine concentration than do the seeds we know as coffee beans. These parts are removed as part of the pre-export processing of coffee, and rarely seen or used outside the industry itself. The processed version resembles cocoa and does have a bit of a mocha aroma.

The coffee flour includes some recipes on the label, but also suggests improvising with other recipes. So we decided to modify Granny's recipe for Irish muffins, and we are glad we did. I began by setting the oven to 400F and then sifting together:

1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup coffee flour
1 tablespoon (!) baking powder
1//2 cup sugar

After sifting, I used a whisk to blend the dry ingredients more fully. I then used a spatula to mix in -- gently:

1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup melted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup coffee liqueur (we could have used Kahlua, but had espresso liqueur on hand)
1/4 cup Irish whiskey (we substituted Canadian, since someone seems to have finished off our Bushmills!)

This was a bit sticky, but I managed to spoon it evenly into 12 muffin cups. I think this is the first time I ever got the quantity right on a muffin recipe! I baked this for 20 minutes while making the rest of breakfast, and served it with Amish butter.

Verdict: delish!

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

Well, we're finally back in the game for 2017. We had a rough start to the new year and mostly were trying to keep our heads above water in January, so scouring recipe books/sites fell to the back burner (so to speak). This weekend we finally had some breathing room and took the time to get back to cooking and blogging. The recipe for Jordan Marsh's Blueberry Muffins showed up on my Facebook feed on Saturday morning. As luck would have it, James had recently bought some blueberries and they were just waiting to be used. I've made blueberry muffins many times before, so I checked the recipe to see what was special about these. The magic comes from crushing some of the berries and adding the juice to the batter, which gives them a moister texture. They really are good. Also, importantly, I discovered the New York Times Cooking app for my iPad. It is superior to using my browser and going to the New York Times cooking page online because it does not constantly close while I am cooking. 

The Right Muffins

Our much-anticipated-annual-Christmas-Eve-lobster dinner with friends was made even better this year by the discovery of this savory recipe from the Granny's Muffin House cookbook.

Dinner was scheduled at 4:00, but we arrived at noon to help with cookie baking, and to pick up the crustaceans at the local fish monger. The recipe specifically says to "serve these hot, while the cheese is still meltin'" so I brought all the ingredients in individual containers, and mixed them up at around 3:30 to put in the oven. These are more like biscuits than muffins, and turned out to be a most excellent complement to the lobster. Head nodding and smiling commenced all around the table as first bites of these were taken. 

Just as surely as we will now always listen to George Michael sing "Last Christmas" on Christmas day, Cheddar Onion Muffins will now and forever be a part of our Christmas Eve celebration.

Sweet Potato Almond Butter Muffins

I got out my jar of Almond Butter again to try another recipe from the 19 New Recipes to Make with a Jar of Almond Butter list I found a few months ago from which I made the Almond Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothie. I'd been intrigued by the muffins, and with the weather getting a bit cooler I was prepared to do some baking. I also had a lot of time for baking over the past weekend, as we rented a beach house and since James didn't return from a trip to Brazil until Sunday I had Friday evening and all day Saturday for baking. I made a few changes to the recipe, so mine was not vegan. For starters I used a  real egg, rather than a flax seed substitute. I have tried flax seed as an alternative when baking, and it worked out well, but I just took what was easiest when I packed up food for the weekend, and I was already bringing eggs. I also used regular milk instead of almond milk. The recipe calls for oat flour and whole wheat pastry flour, but since I noticed some unused almond flour in our cupboard when I was packing I decided to just try baking with that instead. I used allspice in place of cinnamon. The recipe was easy to follow, even given that I was in an unfamiliar kitchen, and I was working with some substitutions. The muffins were really tasty. The only sweetener, was 1/3 c. of brown sugar, so all the other flavors were evident, and the almond butter gave it a wonderful creamy texture, though they didn't rise as much they might have with a grain-based flour.

Flavors from summer's bounty

On Maryland day this year I made basil-corn muffins from a recipe in the cookbook Dishing Up Maryland, explaining at the time that I did not have the fresh corn kernels that the recipe called for, and I would try them again in late summer when such would be available. Since our farm box this week included four ears of corn on the cob, and we still had some fresh basil from the previous week, it seemed the time was right for a do over. The corn was exceptionally sweet and made for some delightfully moist and tasty muffins. Also in this week's farm box were some of those most ubiquitous of summer veggies - zucchini, and it so happened that on the opposite page of the cookbook from the corn muffins I noticed a recipe for zucchini fritters. This was a simple recipe that complemented the muffins well for a wonderful dinner. I started by shredding and draining 2 medium zucchini. While that drained I mixed 3/4 c. flour with 1 t. baking powder. To this I added 2 beaten eggs and 1/4 c. milk. The recipe called for fresh thyme, but I used parsley, basil, and cilantro instead, since that was what was in my herb bundle from the farm. Once the herbs were added, also threw in 1 t. of pepper flakes. Once this was ready I added the zucchini and mixed well. I heated our indispensable cast-iron griddle and poured some vegetable oil onto it. The batter was dropped onto the griddle and then cooked on each side for 4-5 minutes. The hot peppers gave these an unexpected kick.

Eggnog Muffins

Today's recipe is in honor of my friends Anna and Rachel. Anna died earlier this year due to complications from breast cancer. The cookbook, Granny's Muffin House came from her kitchen. She gave it to me about two years ago, insisting that I loaned it to her, and she was just returning it. I told her I had never seen the cookbook before, but in her usual stubborn way would not let me leave without it. This is the first time I've used it. Rachel is a co-worker who just returned from a very long sick leave. We always have coffee together on work days. I told her when she returned I would have exceptional coffee for her, and make some muffins. I am so happy she is back. She gives this recipe two thumbs up.

Granny's Muffin House is conveniently divided into seasons, so that bakers can find recipes with ingredients that are seasonal. I opened right to the Winter section, and found the recipe for eggnog muffins. We had a bit of eggnog (3/4 c.) left from our recent Crescent Ridge Dairy Farm delivery, which turned out to be just enough for this recipe which also calls for 2 c. flour; 1 T. baking powder; 1/2 t. salt; 2/3 c. sugar; 1 egg; 1/3 c. melted butter; 1/4 c. rum and some nutmeg for sprinkling on top. Baking was at 400 degrees in the convection oven for 16 minutes. I don't think I've ever made a batch of muffins that called for a tablespoon of baking powder, and these turned out to have tall peaks.