Muffin Madness: America Muffins

If you don’t like these muffins you don’t like America.

My husband and I recently moved into a new house in East Nashville from the suburbs and we want to have people over to see the new digs. So we had a small party themed: America! (the idea was not mine, but my friend Monica’s). It was like Independence Day in March. But with more cold, rain, and staying inside. But we still managed to grill out, have a fire, and eat lots of food.

Of course for an America party we needed America muffins. Andy wanted to dye the muffins red or blue. When I worked at a bagel shop one summer they dyed the plain bagels red and blue, and unfortunately the colors blended and the end result was odd-looking purple bagels. So I wasn’t into dying the muffins. But I remembered making blueberry muffins once with frozen blueberries and the batter turned blue from the squished berries, so I thought that might work well. It didn’t.

Even without blue muffins, I could achieve the red, white and blue with blueberries, strawberries and a cream cheese center. And that worked just great! The official muffin tatser, Andy declared that the muffins were fluffy, though they had too much fruit to stay together well. Additionally, these were the healthiest tasting muffins he’s had in Muffin Madness. I made a strawberry cream cheese topping that even my cat Buster enjoyed while the rest of us were out around the fire.

All balled up and ready to roll.

Some recipe notes: I used up the rest of my buttermilk and then topped it off with regular (soy) milk. Either would work well for this recipe. One thing that I learned from Cookwise by Shirley Corriher is that heavy ingredients, such as blueberries and strawberries, stay up not because you dredged them in flour, but due to the thickness of the batter. As a result this is a thick batter that can hold up the berries and the cream cheese, and I stir the berries in at the end. Since the official tester thought there were too many berries, I cut the amount of each from a heaping half cup, to simply a half cup. Last, if you want to make a cream cheese topping reserve some cream cheese (I bought an 8 oz. package and used the leftovers for the topping), chop up a few strawberries, a little powdered sugar and stir together vigorously. It helps to refrigerate this and let your muffins cool completely before applying.

The Good Stuff
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt

1 cup milk/buttermilk (you may need just a tad over 1 cup, stir the batter together to get a feel for if you need more)
¼ cup melted butter
Zest of 1 lemon
1 egg

½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
½ cup strawberries, chopped
3 oz cream cheese (or more if you’d like a topping)

The Elbow Grease

1. Whisk together your flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center.
2. In another bowl, beat your egg. Add milk, lemon zest, and melted butter. Stir until combined. Add chopped strawberries and blueberries.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir carefully until fully combined. Portion out ½ of the batter for each muffin into the tin.
4. Cut up cream cheese enough for 12 muffins. Roll into little balls, if you care about esthetics. Add a ball to each ½ fill muffin cup. Top with remaining batter.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Turning once. Poke with a toothpick to ensure done. Let cool completely before topping. U.S.A.!!

Muffin Madness: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Any challenge is going to have its ups and downs. I was down last week because I was up in Minnesota and laying down due to a back problem. Not down as in sad, no no no, I was quite happy. Just busy, and hurt, and unable to make my second batch of muffins for the week. I tried though! My plan was to impose on my hostess, make muffins and use her Internet to post a blog. I even brought vital gluten up with me in a zipper bag so I wouldn’t have find more, and because bringing a fine powder along with you in a carry on isn’t suspicious at all. At any rate, I apologize to the diligent followers of my blog (hi Mom!) and I’m back in action.

Action indeed! My my, these little beauties are delicious. I believe that without my break to Minnesota I wouldn’t have let this recipe marinate in my mind for as long and I probably wouldn’t have made them as delicious. I’ve learned my lesson by now and played things safe by basing my recipe directly from 500 Best Muffin Recipes. Except I noticed there wasn’t enough flour, and I switched it to wheat flour, added some vital gluten, chocolate chips, swapped the vanilla extract for almond and added a peanut butter topping. So maybe it’s not so directly from the book anymore. This recipe made me the happiest because I’d used what I learned, followed my instincts and things turned out delicious. And to be honest, I don’t really like peanut butter.

One thing I did this time that I haven’t done for awhile is use muffin cups. It’s silly for me to be against muffin cups, but I find them pointless and wasteful. With the frequency of my baking and use of sticky ingredients, muffin cups have become a better and better idea. Much to my delight the muffin cup section at the grocery has expanded! You can get pastel cups, heart cups, tin cups, Norwegian cups, and in honor of recent air strikes in Libya... fighter plane cups!! Also, they were on sale.

Who doesn't want their baked goods to be in fighter mode?

Are you ready for the recipe yet?

Locked and loaded.

A couple of notes first. I used all whole wheat flour (instead of half whole wheat and half white) because I had vital gluten which creates elasticity and softens the muffin crumb. Don’t be afraid of vital gluten (unless you have a gluten allergy, then be very afraid)! I found it in the bulk section of Whole Foods, but Bob’s Red Mill also sells it. If you’re serious about making things with whole wheat I whole-heartedly recommend using vital gluten. If you are afraid of vital gluten, you can make a combination of white (unbleached) and wheat flour. I used a natural peanut butter with only one ingredient: peanuts. I can’t guarantee the taste, texture or deliciousness of your muffins if you use something with added sugar or odd preservatives. If you don’t want random crap in your muffins, don’t buy a product with random crap in it. Last, don’t skimp on the buttermilk. I think it gives the wheat muffin a little kick that regular milk would not. We made our own buttermilk (and butter) but that’s for another post.

The Goods:

2 cups whole wheat flour
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 tsp vital gluten
1 ¼ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ¼ cup buttermilk
½ cup peanut butter
1 egg
½ tsp almond extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Topping
4 tbs peanut butter
2 ½ tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp unbleached flour
½ tsp almond extract
¼ tsp salt
Enough warm water to make the topping the consistency you desire
Extra chocolate chips to press into the topping

Go for it!

1. Whisk together the wheat flour, brown sugar, vital gluten, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat the egg, then add the peanut butter, buttermilk, and almond extract.
2. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry and add the chocolate chips. Stir carefully until well combined. Divide into 12 (lined!) muffin cups.
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Stick a toothpick in the to make sure they’re good and done.
4. To make the topping stir together all ingredients (except water and chocolate chips). Add the water a little at a time until you get to the consistency you like. It may take awhile. It wasn’t easy to spread so I piped mine on using a plastic bag with the corner cut. Press chocolate chips into the top and admire your greatness!

Look at the power in that wrist! You may want to do some wrist warm ups prior to performing this culinary technique.