Our Lady's Blue Berry Muffins

Ok, so that's not the real title of this recipe, but that's what it is in our house this morning, to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation.   If Daddy wasn't at work, it would have been his blueberry buttermilk pancakes for breakfast, but I can't duplicate those.   This is not the recipe that I learned to use when I was little, but it's one I found in one of Mama's Pillsbury cookbooks.   It's perfectly moist and not too sweet and it's one of my favorite recipes.   There are also lots of variations that can be made.   These freeze beautifully and re-heat easily in the microwave (about 1 minute, wrapped in a paper towel).




MUFFINS
 
2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 egg, beaten

Heat oven to 400 degrees.   Grease bottoms only of 12 muffin cups or line with paper cups.

In medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Push up sides on sides of bowl to form a well in the bottom.

In small bowl, combine milk, oil, and egg; blend well.

Add liquid mixture to dry ingredients all at once; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (batter will be lumpy; don't over mix)   Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

Bake at 400 for 18 - 23 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.   Cool 1 minute before removing from pan.

VARIATIONS:

APPLE muffins: Decrease sugar to 1/4 cup.  Add 1 tsp. cinnamon & 1 cup finely chopped or shredded, peeled apple to dry ingredients.   Substitute apple juice for milk.   Bake at 400 for 18 to 22 min.

BLUEBERRY: Stir 1 cup fresh or frozen (do not thaw) blueberries into dry ingredients.
In small bowl, mix 1/4 cup flour, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar and 1/4 tsp. cinnamon.   Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in 2 Tbsp. firm butter until it forms pea-sized crumbles.   Sprinkle over top of unbaked muffins before baking.

LEMON: Add 1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel to dry ingredients.  In small bowls, mix 1/4 cup flour, 2 Tbsp. white sugar (it's pretty if some of the sugar can be yellow decorating sugar).   Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in 2 Tbsp. fim butter until it forms peas-sized crumbles.   Sprinkle over tops of unbaked muffins before baking.

CHOCOLATE CHIP: Add 3/4 cup mini chocolate chips to dry ingrdients.  Sprinkle tops of muffins before baking with a combination of 3 Tbsp. sugar and 2 Tbsp. brown sugar.

JAM: Place 1/2 tsp. any flavor jam on each muffin before baking; press into batter. 

ORANGE: Add 1 Tbsp. grated orange peel to dry ingredients and substitute orange juice for milk.

SUGAR-COATED: brush tops of hot muffins with 2 Tbsp. of melted margarine or butter; dip in mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (good on Apple muffins)

WHOLE-WHEAT:  Use 1 cup all purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour.

For mini muffins, bake at 400 for 11 to 13 min. or until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.   Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.   

 


Comments

  1. Anonymous25 March 2011 at 10:49

    Blueberry muffins are my favorite! ALways looking for a good recipe.

    ReplyDelete

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