Basic Muffins

This is my basic muffin recipe.  The important tips with muffins are that you beat the wet ingredients very well, don't add too much flour and don't over-mix the batter.  You just fold in the liquid until almost everything is moistened.  You want the batter to be wet but not runny.  The amount of flour can vary depending on the humidity the day you are baking.  It is suppose to be lumpy!  That's what helps give it the light texture.  All professional recipes, when listing flour as an ingredient, mean sifted flour.  Most flour is presifted but settles in the packages.  So you need to stir your flour well or sift again before measuring so that you don't get too much flour and make all your recipes turn out dry.  This is especially true with muffins.

Recipe:

1 egg
1 C plain regular yogurt (you can use sour cream, buttermilk or milk)
1/2 C oil or butter
9-11 oz cake, AP or soft whole wheat flour (if using whole wheat, increase the yogurt)

1 C sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 400°F. Oil or butter the bottoms of regular sized muffin pans. This recipe makes about 15-18 muffins.  Sift 9 oz flour, baking soda and baking powder into a large bowl and make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, beat egg well with an electric beater or blender, then beat in yogurt, oil, sugar and salt.  You want to incorporate as much air as possible to make them light and fluffy so beat the wet ingredients very well. Pour wet ingredients all at once (VERY IMPORTANT) into the well and fold together just until flour is almost all moistened (batter will be lumpy and have a little dry flour). You want the batter to be wet but not runny so you may need to sift a little more flour in and complete the folding process.  Fill muffin cups almost full.  Bake until lightly brown, about 15-18 minutes. Wait 30-60 seconds and then remove from pan.

Almond Poppyseed Muffins:
Add 2 Tbs poppy seeds and 1 Tbs almond extract to the wet ingredients  Add some sliced almonds on top of each muffin before baking.

Chocolate Muffins:
Sift 1/2 C of cocoa powder with the flour to make a total of about 9 oz, so start this one with 8 oz of flour.  Decrease salt to 1/2 tsp.  Fold in 1 C chocolate chips just before you finishing folding it all together.  Add a few extra chocolate chips on top of each muffin before baking.

Apple-Nut Muffins:
Stir in 1 medium apple, pared and chopped, with the milk and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon with the flour. Substitute packed brown sugar for the granulated sugar. Sprinkle tops with mixture of 1/3 C brown sugar, 1/3 C chopped nuts and 3/4 tsp cinnamon before baking.

Banana Muffins:
Increase salt to 1 tsp and add 1 tsp cinnamon.  Decrease yogurt to 1/2 C and stir in 10 oz mashed bananas (2 to 3) to the wet ingredients after they have been beaten. Substitute sucanut or packed brown sugar for the sugar. Add topping for apple-nut muffins to the top.

Blueberry Muffins:
Decrease salt to 1/2 tsp and sift 1/2 tsp nutmeg with dry ingredients.  Stir in 1 C fresh or 3/4 C frozen blueberries (thawed and well drained) with wet ingredients.  Top each muffin with more blueberries just before baking.

Cranberry-Orange Muffins:

Stir in 1 C cranberry halves and 1 Tbs grated orange peel with the yogurt. Sprinkle tops with sucanut or sugar before baking.

French Puffs

French Puffs:
Immediately roll hot muffins in about 1/2 C melted butter, then in mixture of 1/2 C sucanut or sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon.

Honey Muffins:
Substitute honey for the sugar; stir in the honey and 2 Tbs grated orange peel with the yogurt. Spoon 1 tsp orange marmalade onto batter in each cup before baking.