Eat: Muffins Galore!

 

Courtesy of Britannica ImageQuest

A few weeks ago, I shared a basic scone recipe that can be modified a number of ways depending on your mood and on-hand ingredients. Well, I've come to love that concept so much that I sought out something similar for muffins and quick breads. The possibilities are as limitless as your imagination–or your online searching skills. This recipe is much quicker than my scones, since you don't have to cut-in butter (I task I strongly dislike and often leaves me with sore wrists). When I'm feeling particularly lazy, I opt for the loaf version of this recipe instead of muffins. The differing instructions and baking times are included below.


Base Muffin Recipe (Betty Crocker Cookbook, 2005 edition)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 18 minutes
Yield: 12 muffins or 1 (9”) loaf 

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 to 1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil
Extras (see below for ideas) 

1. Preheat oven to 375° F if making muffins OR 350° F if making a loaf. Grease your pan. 

2. In a medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In another bowl combine the egg, milk and oil. Add the egg mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir just until moistened and lumpy. Incorporate any extras (see list below). 

3. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups or loaf pan, (muffin cups should be two-thirds full). 

4. For muffins, bake 18 to 20 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean.

For a loaf, bake 50 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. 

6. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and transfer to wire racks to cool a bit more.


Easy Muffin/Bread Variations

Apple Cinnamon: Stir in one chopped apple (with or without the skin depending on your preference) and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Substitute packed brown sugar for the granulated sugar.

Bacon: Add 2-4 strips of bacon, fried crisp and crumbled, to the batter.

Banana-Nut: Decrease the milk to 1/3 cup, stir in 2-3 mashed bananas (around 1 cup) and 1/3 cup chopped nuts with the milk. Substitute packed brown sugar for the sugar.

Blueberry: Gently stir 1 cup fresh or frozen berries and, if desired, 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon zest into the batter.

Raisin Bran: Pour the milk on 1-1/2 cups whole bran cereal and let stand for 10 minutes. Add this to the egg and oil. Decrease the flour to 1-1/4 cups and add 1/2 cup raisins. Optional: add 1/4 cup of molasses.

Cheesy: Stir 1/2 cup shredded cheese. into the flour mixture. Great options include Cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Feta.

Double Chocolate: Stir in 2-3 T cocoa powder and 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips. You can also add a splash of vanilla or almond extract.

Cornbread: (Do not use whole wheat flour.) Decrease flour to 1 cup and stir in 1 cup cornmeal with the flour.

Cranberry: Combine 1 cup coarsely chopped cranberries (fresh or dried) and 2 tablespoons additional sugar. Gently stir this into the batter. You can also add 1 T finely grated orange peel.

Date Nut: Stir in 1/2 cup chopped pitted dates (or raisins) and 1/3 cup chopped nuts.

"Donuts": Stir in 1/2 cup ground nutmeg with the flour. Once baked, immediately dip the hot muffins in about 1/2 cup butter, melted, then in a mixture of 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Oatmeal: Decrease flour to 1 cup and stir in 1 cup quick-cooking oats, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon with the flour.

Pecan: Use 1/4 cup sugar. Add 1/2 cup chopped pecans to the batter. After filling the cups, sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon and more chopped nuts. 

Poppy Seed: Increase sugar to 1/2 cup and add 1 tablespoon poppy seeds to the flour mixture.

Pumpkin: (Don’t use whole wheat flour.) Stir in 1/2 cup pumpkin puree and 1/2 cup raisins with the milk and 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice with the flour. Sprinkle the tops with sugar before baking if desired.

Spiced: Stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger and a pinch of ground cloves and ground nutmeg with the flour.

Zucchini: Stir in 1 cup grated zucchini (squeezed dry to remove excess moisture) and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts with the milk.

Many of these ideas can be combined, like Spiced Pecan, Blueberry Poppyseed, or Chocolate Oatmeal. So far, I've only tried the Double Chocolate (with a handful of oats thrown in), but I'm planning to make a batch of Spiced Pecan this week!

Eat: Fancified Oatmeal

Today, I stand up for bowls of neglected oatmeal everywhere! For too long, they have endured countless rejections among the breakfast tables of America. No more! Prior to a few years ago, I never even touched oatmeal. This was thanks largely in part to vague childhood memories of it being “ucky”. Then, I learned that one does not need to eat it plain, in fact, one can flavor it with a multitude of things. Brown sugar, cinnamon, or maple syrup, just to name a few. This week’s recipe for Fancified Oatmeal is a testament to how delicious the grain can be. The oatmeal is baked with a mixture of chocolate, brown sugar, pecans, strawberries, and bananas. It can be made for a larger breakfast crowd, but is also suitable for a smaller audience since the oatmeal is perfectly good reheated. Although I should warn you that the bananas will turn brown after a day or two.

The fantastic thing about this dish is that you can modify it in so many different ways. I substituted ground cinnamon in place of the orange zest and Chinese spices the original recipe suggested (quite frankly, because that sounds weird and gross). You can leave out the chocolate for a healthier option, or double it if you have a signicantly sweet tooth. Pecans can be replaced with whatever you happen to have in your pantry: walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, and the like. If bananas aren’t your thing, just double the strawberries...or add cherries...or forget the fruit altogether! See what I mean?!? You could make this baked oatmeal every weekend for the rest of your life and it never be exactly the same.

TIME: 40 minutes
YIELDS: 6-8 servings
MY SOUNDTRACK: Weekend Edition (NPR)

2 cups of old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1-2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of pecans, chopped
1 cup of sliced strawberries
1/3 cup of chocolate chips
2 cups of milk (I used skim)
1 large egg
3 tablespoons of butter, melted
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced

1. Preheat your oven to 375°F and grease a medium size baking dish. Mine was 8x8 inches, so anything around that should be fine.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and half of the pecans, strawberries, and chocolate. You will use the rest of the pecans, strawberries, and chocolate later.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, melted butter and vanilla extract.

4. Transfer the dry oat mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining pecans, strawberries, and chocolate on top as well as the banana slices. Lastly pour the milk blend over everything. Gently shake the baking dish (don’t go crazy here, just jostle it in slow motion) to help the liquid spread throughout the oats.

5. Bake for approximately 30 minutes and get ready for some heaven.

Tip: You can do steps 1-4 the night before, store in the refrigerator, and pop into the oven first thing in the morning!