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Pat Greenfield
Wednesday, June 14, 2000 Page: 1D
Muffins are a mainstay of our Kingston location. Every morning we make
several different flavors and over the years have developed quite a repertoire
so that every customer has his or her favorite. The muffins come out of the
oven with crusty exterior, a tender center and a glorious top that rises to a
peak and is crunchy with sugar. Some people eat just the tops!
These are not sweet confections – do not mistake them for cupcakes – but
rather hearty, firm-textured quick breads. For breakfast, I like mine hot out
of the oven or cut in half and grilled, then slathered with butter and jam.
Put a muffin on a salad platter, and you have a complete lunch.
All recipes for muffins are almost identical so I’m not giving away the
store. Mix flour, sugar, milk, egg and some oil – the amounts of each may vary
slightly from recipe to recipe, but they are basically the same. The truly
glorious muffin requires a baker with heart and imagination.
A bit melodramatic you say! Maybe. But throughout the years I’ve seen
bakers come and go. Some are technicians and turn out a perfectly acceptable
product, and others have a knack, a certain je ne sais quoi, and create a
masterpiece every time.
This phenomenon applies to all baking, but is more apparent with muffins
because they are so simple. If you follow the few simple rules I note below,
you can make beautiful muffins. Whether you have the true baker’s soul or not
will be manifest after the first few batches.
Muffins are quick to make, quick to bake and quick to be gone! The
variations are limitless, but let’s start with the basics.
1. Before you do anything, turn your oven on and up to the highest
temperature possible and let it heat at least 15 minutes. Muffins require an
initial blast of heat when they are placed in the oven. This is what starts
the top rising. As soon as you place the pan in the oven, turn it down to 400
degrees.
2. Prepare your pan. A muffin pan is a cupcake pan with 12 cups. A
regular-size cup holds about 4 ounces and a giant muffin cup holds about 8
ounces. The recipe that follows will make 12 regular-size muffins. You can
double or triple it to make giant ones, or make just six or four giant muffins
out of one batch. Whatever size pan you use, grease it generously, even the
top of the pan. You can use paper cups if you like.
3. Prepare the dry and wet ingredients separately. Measure flour, sugar,
powder and salt into one bowl and egg, milk and oil in another. Combine the
two bowls and immediately use the batter. You cannot let it sit. If you are
planning muffins for breakfast, you can prepare your pan and separately
prepare all ingredients in advance the night before. In the morning, it will
take no time at all to get the muffins in the oven.
4. Mix the ingredients together lightly and briefly, only until everything
is just combined. It is OK if there is a bit of flour that is not mixed in.
Speed is key!
5. When the muffins come out of the oven, let them sit about five minutes.
Then POP each out of its compartment and let them rest on their sides to cool.
This keeps the outside firm and the heavy top from collapsing.
6. Variations. Here’s where the true art comes to play. You can very simply
modify the basic recipe by modifying the sugar and the liquid. For example,
use brown sugar instead of granulated, replace all or part of the milk with
juice or coffee. However, do not substitute flours, such as whole wheat, as
that may require an adjustment in the leavening agent. You can also add
ingredients without varying the other ingredients: chocolate chips, nuts,
whole berries (mixed with 1 tablespoon flour first). Mix these in when the
batter is half way mixed, then finish combining. Some additions such as
chopped fresh fruit – peaches, oranges, apples, pears – or an extract –
vanilla, almond, anise – can be added to the wet ingredients before combining
with the dry. Some ingredients can also be added to the dry – cinnamon,
nutmeg, cloves, citrus zest.
A note about fat: Since 12 of these muffins share only one egg and 1/4 cup
of oil, they have very little fat, by our calculations approximately 3 grams.
If you wish, you can reduce the fat content by using all or part no-fat yogurt
(plain or vanilla work best) or skim milk, substitute canola oil for regular
vegetable oil, and Eggbeaters for the egg.
A final variation – the topping. First of all, you can eliminate it. Or you
can use any kind of sugar or combination of sugars, spice, and ground nuts or
grated zest or whatever (cocoa, instant coffee powder – go crazy!) Or you can
make a streusel topping, or paint the tops with butter, honey or maple syrup
when the muffins first come out of the oven.
Muffins do not keep well, so you should eat them immediately, which is
generally not a problem.
MIGHTY MUFFINS
2 cups unbleached flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Granulated sugar for tops of muffins
Variations:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (toss with 1 tablespoon flour first)
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
Grated zest of 1 orange or lemon or both
12 tablespoons of your favorite flavor fruit preserves – 1 tablespoon to
swirl through each muffin.
Note: The above recipe makes 12 regular-size muffins. You can double it, or
triple it, if you use large-size tins; or you can make six or four large size
muffins from this batch.
1. Preheat oven to highest possible setting – 500 or 550 degrees.
2. Grease well a regular-size muffin/cupcake pan containing 12 cups or fit
each metal cup with a paper baking cup.
3. In a large bowl, measure all the dry ingredients and stir briefly to
combine. Set aside.
4. In a smaller bowl, lightly beat the egg and then add the oil and milk.
Stir to combine. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix only until
just combined. Do not over mix. If you are adding any of the above variation
ingredients, do so about half way through mixing wet and dry by sprinkling on
top of the mixture and then giving the batter a few more stirs.
5. Immediately spoon the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top of
each muffin with sugar and place the pan in the oven. Turn the temperature
down to 400 degrees, and bake until the tops rise dramatically, the edges are
slightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean,
about 25-30 minutes for regular size.
6. Remove from the oven and let sit about 5 minutes and serve. If not
serving immediately, pop each muffin out of its slot and let rest on its side
in the pan until completely cool.
