Buttermilk Muffins

I like the above picture.  I know it's not that pretty,  not even all that appetizing, but for whatever reason, I like it.  I think it may be the Willy-Wonka-esque nature of it.  In a field of almost complete white, there are our muffins.  Plain simple muffins in a field of plain simple white.

Which is great and all, because sometimes you need that ideal, when life is never really plain and simple.  Case in point, last weekend Ben and I want on a long hike.  The weather was gorgeous, the sun was out for most of it and Lord knows I needed the 7 miles worth of exercise. It should have been plain and simple, but when we were in the home stretch (seriously, mile marker 6.75) suddenly, I need to use the bathroom.  Not just a little.  Not just soon.  NOW.  Out loud I giggled that we better hurry up cause I needed to use the restroom, but  in the quiet of my brain?  In there, it was seriously considering if that tree over there would be big enough to block me from view.  And drat, why was everything still so dreary and dead looking?  Where are all the leaves to hid my naked backside?  And most importantly, at what age does it become unacceptable to squat and go potty in the woods?  

Thank goodness that Ben, after hearing my nervous giggle and seeing the frantic panicked look on my face, realized that this was not a normal bathroom situation.  He ran the remaining quarter mile ahead to the car as I waited precious yet painstaking minutes till my knight  in shining gym shorts (?) came to save me in his pretty blue Subaru.     

This post did not start out with the intention of me telling the story of how I almost had to throw away my gym shorts.  I could have had a plain simple post about plain simple muffins.  But like I said, it never really is about plain and simple.  And so instead, I took the option of telling an internet full of strangers the story of how I almost pooed my pants at the ripe old age of twenty five.  And that's what life is about, or so I think.  Happy Monday people.

Buttermilk Muffins

Adapted from keyingredient.com

So, the story behind these is simply that I had some leftover buttermilk in my fridge I was determined to use.  And I wanted to bake.  And I also had very strong feelings about not going to the grocery store.  So, after some browsing and searching on Pinterest, these satisfied all 3 criteria.  As sort of mentioned above, these muffins are plain and simple.  Quick to throw together and right into the oven they go.  They're like a less complex version of buttermilk biscuits, if you don't have the time to put into making biscuits.  Plain and simple.

2 c. (250 grams) all purpose flour

⅛ c. (25 grams) granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp kosher salt

¼ c. (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

1-¼ c. buttermilk

Turbinado sugar to dust (Sugar in the Raw)

Makes 12 muffins

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare a muffin tin with paper liners, or grease with cooking spray.

Whisk together all dry ingredients.  In small bowl or measuring cup, combine melted butter, egg and buttermilk.  Mix well.  Create a well in the middle of dry ingredients.  Pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.  The batter will be thick and a little lumpy.

Pour batter into prepared muffin cups, filling to about 2/3rds the way full.  Sprinkle muffins lightly with turbinado sugar.  Bake at 400 for 22-25 minutes, until muffins are set and edges have turned golden brown.  Serve warm with butter and jam.

Peach Mixed Grain Muffins

The honest to God truth is I did my damnedest to break this recipe. And I failed.

I found the recipe this afternoon from a New York Times article full of summer fruit recipes.  The recipe was for Mixed Grain Blueberry muffins and I was excited about it.  It would use the buttermilk I still have floating around in my refrigerator, plus give me an excuse to break into the whole wheat flour I bought the other day.  And I love blueberries and it's summer and they are beautiful.  And that was the only ingredient I had to buy.  It was supposed to be soothe sailing.

Supposed to be.  After work, I made what I wanted to be a lightning quick stop at the grocery store for blueberries.  It lasted a little bit longer when I realized that the tiny, more gray than blue, spheres they were calling blueberries cost $5.  Is blueberry season over already??  I almost called it quits right there, but wander around the produce section awhile debating the $5 purchase.  I wandered past the peaches on sell for 99 cents a pound several times before thinking "what the heck, why not".  $1.36 later and I was back in my car heading home.  Once home, after realizing I forgot my phone charger at work, but that's another story, I also realized that the recipe called for milk.  I don't actually keep milk stocked in my fridge.  I bummed around my living room for awhile before deciding to use all buttermilk in the recipe.  I got the oats soaking in the buttermilk and started assembling the other wet ingredients.  At which point I realized, half of the buttermilk was supposed to be with those wet ingredients.  So I did my best to drain some from the oats into it, as well as splashed a bit extra in.  The last effort to ruin my muffins was when I sifted about half of the dry ingredients onto my cutting board rather than into the bowl in an attempt to save on dishes.  Yet...

Yet, they turned out.  Somehow, and I haven't quite figured out how yet.  And they're tasty.  In that whole wheat, mixed grain, bran muffin-healthy kind of way.  It still kind of amazes me.  But it also makes me really happy, I love recipes you can't break.  Cause, really, if it didn't break after that, what could break it?  Although there are many things I would do different the next time around, on the top of that list is a heaping teaspoon or two of cinnamon and cut the peaches a bit smaller.  To break up that good bran muffin motif it has going on.  I'm so excited for breakfast tomorrow.

Peach Mixed Grain Muffins

Adapted from NYT September 8, 2009 Recipe

Note:  Here is the messed up, yet still delicious recipe that mine ended up being.  I adjusted the baking soda/baking powder quantities to make up for the double buttermilk.  Definitely check out the actual recipe, but obviously don't feel too restricted by it!

2/3 c. rolled oats
1 c. buttermilk, divided
1/4 c. cornmeal
3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large or extra-large eggs
1/4 c. mild honey, like clover
1/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 medium sized, ripe peaches (about 1 1/2 cups, heaping), cut into small bite sized pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the middle. Oil 12 muffin cups. Combine the oats and 1/2 cup buttermilk in a bowl, and let sit for 15 minutes, until the oats have softened.

2. Sift together the cornmeal, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a medium bowl, beat together the eggs, honey, 1/2 cup buttermilk, canola oil and vanilla. Quickly whisk in the flour, then fold in the oats and peaches. Combine well.

4. Spoon into muffin cups, filling each two-thirds full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove and cool on a rack.

Advance preparation: These will be good for a couple of days, and they freeze well. Thaw overnight or in the microwave.

Bacon-Cheddar Corn Muffins

I'm so sorry to already be moving the delicious raspberry buttermilk cake from the top of the page.  It's my favorite recipe on this site.  Well, at least right now it is.  I do remember being quite in love with a certain cornbread with cranberries.  But, as I have been told, all good things must come to an end.  Well, sorta.  There is a buttermilk cake in my oven and the smell is making me quite happy. 

In reality, I really shouldn't be that bummed out.  These muffins are very good in their own right.  They hit all of those things that they promise.  There was a cheesiness, and a little bit of heat from the jalapeno.  There was corn, although in my opinion, if I was craving some cornbread this wouldn't quite do the trick.  And the bacon, well when isn't bacon a delicious addition to anything?  Did you know they make bacon vodka now.  Bacon vodka!  Sigh...  I digress.

Anyways, these will do you proud.  They might not ignite any undying flames of love within your very being, but they are satisfying.  And I imagine even more so when paired with a chili or tomato soup.  And they freeze and reheat well, as I just discovered. 

Use the good cheese and bacon, cause you're going to taste it.  Also, hey look!  You can use the leftover buttermilk you have from making my favorite cake, which I am sure you all have by now.  See, I am looking out for you.

Bacon-Cheddar Corn Muffins
Adapted from May 2011's Cooking Light

1 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. salt
4 thick cut bacon slices, cooked, drained and crumbled
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
1 1/4 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. canola oil
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 375.  Line 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. 

Combine flour, cornmeal, cheese, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cumin and salt in large mixing bowl.  Whisk together.  Whisk in bacon and jalapeno.  Make well in center of dry mixture.

Combine buttermilk, oil and egg in a small bowl.  Mix well.  Dump mixture into well in dry mixture.  Stir until just moist, do not over mix.

Pour batter evenly into 12 muffin tins.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes, in pan on wire rack.

Tuscan Lemon Muffins

Welcome to my Saturday night.  Please try hard not to judge that I am home baking on a Saturday night.  My one defense is that it's been a long rainy South Carolina weekend.  And I just got my May Cooking Light issue yesterday.  And there were muffin recipes.  Does that make me more or less pathetic?

There's not much to report, all went according to recipe.  Mixed the dry ingredients and made a well in the middle.  Whisked together all the wet ones and poured into the well.  Stirred together until just everything gets wet.  Didn't over mix.  Poured into muffin tins with paper cups that have been coated with cooking spray, a step that seemed redundant to me and something I would probably skip if I made it again.  Topped with some Sugar in the Raw (I used 1/2 a tablespoon less than suggested) and popped in the oven. 17 minutes later, out they came. 

Cooking Light promises "tart, rich flavor coming from a favorite Italian combo-olive oil and fresh lemon".  The first warm one I ate out of the oven was good.  Tasty.  Just not as lemony as I expected.  I wanted fresh and zingy and tart and lemon spilling out of the crumbs.  And that just didn't happen, all those flavors were muted.  The aftertaste was pretty good and hinted at lemon, but it just wasn't the lemon muffin I was expecting.  Maybe the lemon I used wasn't fresh enough or lemony enough.  Are lemons even in season right now?  The price at the grocery store seemed to suggest not.  Maybe the freeze down in Florida months ago is to blame.... 

They were easy to make and they still taste good.  They just missed the beat when it came to the lemon I wanted so badly.  I'm hoping it can be chalked up to a not so good lemon; they weren't the prettiest I've ever seen.  I think the recipe deserves at least another chance, although it's only borderline big green cookbook worthy, if the second go round doesn't pick up a hit of lemon.  If you do try them and believe the lemon you used to be a beautiful and worthy specimen, let me know how they taste.  Hopefully you get that fragrant lemony oopmh I was hoping for! 

Tuscan Lemon Muffins

adapted from Cooking Light, May 2010

7.9 ounces all-purpose flour (1 3/4 cups)
3/4 c. granulated sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 c. water
1/4 c. olive oil
1 Tbsp. grated lemon rind
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Cooking Spray
2 Tbsp. turbinado sugar (I used less)

Preheat oven to 375F.  Line 12 muffin cups with muffin-cup liners and coat with cooking spray. 

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt); make a well in the center.  Combine ricotta cheese and next 5 ingredients (through egg).  Add ricotta mixture to well in flour mixture.  Mix until just moist.

Divide batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups.  Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top.  Bake at 375F for 16 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.