Muffins

Muffins are relatively simple to make, and so delicious to eat. They are generally not too sweet, making them a wonderful treat that goes great with breakfast, coffee, or as a snack. Personally I think one of the best indulgences is to enjoy a muffin right after it comes out of the oven, slightly warm, especially on a cold winter day.

The variety of muffins is almost endless, especially when you add your own creative touch to a recipe. Types of muffins range from the healthy such as bran or carrot muffins, bread like muffins such as corn muffins, cake-like muffins either plain or filled with berries, or fancy muffins that have cream style fillings or streusel toppings. Which ever you choose, the baking method is generally the same.

Muffins are considered a "quick bread", meaning that they do not include yeast and the resulting lengthy preparation time. Instead the leavening agent is either baking soda or baking powder. Since baking soda and baking powder have a short shelf life, I recommend changing out those products with fresh ones every six months. That will ensure proper rising and resulting good texture. Mixing of the ingredients involves stirring all the dry ingredients together in one bowl first, then adding the wet ingredients and mixing for only a short period of time. Don't worry about lumps; they will dissipate out during baking. The adding wet to dry method shortens the time the leavening agent comes in contact with the rest of the ingredients, creating rising bubbles that will do their job without "fizzling out". For some recipes there is an additional technique of "creaming" the butter and sugar together. Creaming involves mixing, either by hand, hand mixer, or stand mixer, room temperature butter (not margarine) and sugar together, creating a velvety smooth texture.

There are cupcake/muffin pans on the market for every size of muffin you desire. The sizes range from mini muffins to giant muffins, to muffin tops. I recommend starting with the average size cups in the muffin pan. The average size has receptacles for 12 muffins. This size will accommodate most of your recipes. Preparation of the muffin cups is quick and simple, making it another reason why muffins are easy to make. Don't bother with buttering and flouring the cups. Instead have a supply of the cupcake/muffin paper liners on hand and simply insert in the the cups. The papers come in different colors and textures, making your baked product pretty in addition to easy to remove from the pans and easy to handle and eat. There is a newer product out that also eliminates the butter/flour preparation of the pans which are called silicone liners. However, while silicone makes that part of the job easy, it does nothing for the attractiveness or ease of eating afterwards that paper liners afford.

When removing your muffins to slightly cool, beware if there are family members around; you just might not get any! Years ago I had made some Blueberry Muffins and left them in the kitchen to cool before enjoying them. In the meantime, I left the house for a quick errand. When I returned the entire batch of 12 muffins were gone. My son sampled one, and then went on to finish the entire batch! As you can see, baking muffins for your family to enjoy can provide memories, including funny ones.

Next week: A couple of Muffin Recipes for you to try