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Blueberry Muffins Two Ways - Beginner and Expert

YumSugar — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 03:30:50 -0700

Lately, as part of an effort to increase our budget for Summer travel, my sweetheart and I have been forgoing restaurant breakfast and brunch on weekends in favor of making our own. Last Sunday, we made his favorite breakfast tart, but this week, I'll be taking advantage of the heaps of blueberries at the farmers market with home-baked berry muffins. I'll either make a traditional muffin recipe or mash blueberries up and include them in the batter for enhanced color and flavor. Get your mornings off to the right start when you read more

My Plan for a Simple, Last Minute Brunch

partysugar — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 05:30:34 -0700

A couple of weeks ago, I hosted a last minute brunch. All of the food was made either the evening before or the morning of the brunch. The easy menu featured something for everyone, with dishes that were both vegetarian and meat friendly. To find out what I made and check out my tips for recreating this exact brunch in your backyard, click the "Start" button.

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52 Weeks of Baking: Versatile Muffins

YumSugar — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 16:05:18 -0800

Resolutions are hard to keep, but I'm trying really hard to stick to my "bake something new every week" one. It almost didn't happen this week, but somehow I mustered up the energy (okay actually, I sobered up, we had a work happy hour and let's just say I drank a bit more than I should have...) and whipped up some muffins last night. Why muffins? Well a few weeks ago reader Phasekitty asked me if I knew of a good versatile muffin recipe and I wanted to help her out. I had a few that I'd tried before, but since this resolution is about baking new things, I went out on a muffin hunt.

A few years ago, while at some weird discount store, I picked up a copy of The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book for a bargain $3.99. It's not an amazing book, but it does have some rather quick and super easy to make meals. So I figured, why not give their basic muffin recipe a try? It looked straightforward, versatile (perfect for berries, chocolate chips, etc.), and more importantly, easy enough to make at 9:45pm while slightly buzzed...

To see how my muffins turned out (pictures and recipe), read more

Like I said, the recipe was ridiculously easy to follow. However when it came time to "spoon" the batter into the cups, it seemed way too thick. I thought about adding more milk, but decided to just wait and see what would happen. The end result was not what I was expecting, it was somewhere between a cake and a biscuit (although, I suppose that's really what a muffin is) and reminded me of my college Bisquick baking obsession. I thought perhaps I did something wrong, but they tasted fine (not amazing, but good and definitely worth the 10 minutes it took to put together) and when I examined the book, I found a picture that looked very similar to mine. So I guess this is what was supposed to happen.

Will I make them again? Probably, but only if I need something quick and speedy. Also, I won't use blueberries this big again (they end up being rather large bites of sour pulp) and would probably do something like chocolate chip instead (a bunch of variations are listed below).

Basic Muffins
From The All New Good Housekeeping Cook Book

*Note: variations listed below the gallery

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter melted (1 stick)
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease twelve 2 1/2" x 1 1/4" muffin-pan cups.
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In medium bowl, with fork, beat milk, melted butter, egg, and vanilla until blended. Add to flour mixture; stir just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy).
Spoon batter into prepared muffin-pan cups.
Bake until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean (20-25 minutes).
Immediately remove muffins from pan. Serve warm, or cool on wire rack to serve later.

Makes 12 muffins (and then some).

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Smallberry Muffins: add 1 cup of desired berry (blueberry, raspberry, etc.)

Nut Muffins: add 1/2 cup chopped and toasted nuts, sprinkle muffins with sugar

Jam Filled Muffins: Fill cups 1/3, then drop a spoonful of favorite jam/jelly. Top with rest of batter.

Chocolate Chip Muffins: add 3/4 cup of chocolate chips

Orange Muffins: Add 1 tsp freshly grated orange peel to dry mixture

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Yummy Links: From Waiters to Laptop Bags

YumSugar — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:58:35 -0700

Be sure not to miss this exposé into the world of waitering by The Amateur Gourmet. It's a great read. - Serious Eats
Ever get a bottle of wine and discover it's been "corked"? A lot of people would just throw it out, but just a little Saran Wrap will help uncork corked wine. - Cheap Fun Wines

Not everyone seems to eat Peeps, but I think everyone can appreciate these Peep S'mores. - Baking Bites
Warning: I'm about to make a seriously bad pun. These edible cigars with garlic-yogurt dipping sauce are smoking! I can't wait to try these. - Hooked on Heat
Think you hate tofu? Oh but think again. How could you hate something that is dredged in flour, browned in butter and then slathered in maple syrup? - Gastrokid
The bf has been trying to get me to bake a tomato pie for the last two years. Maybe he'll settle for this drool-worthy tomato and olive tart. - What's For Lunch, Honey
These vegan blueberry muffins look so tasty you probably won't notice that they're missing the butter. - Have Cake Will Travel
Once again, Elise manages to make even simple things like creamy asparagus soup look amazingly elegant. - Simply Recipes
And this is not food related in any way, but geeksugar's giving away a pink laptop carrier that is probably too fancy for the market, but if you win it, you could always try. - geeksugar