Santa Fe Blue Corn Muffins

So in light of ordering a rather large amount of blue corn online I decided to make all the blue corn recipes I could find in The Bread Bible!
These muffins were very satisfying, we had them with Sunday dinner with a beef roast, potatoes and carrots. I think they would go really well with soups, especially taco soup!
They do have sugar in them, but taste more like a savory muffin, which was new to me. Most of my repertoire consists of sweet muffins.
-Makes 12 muffins-

In a medium bowl mix until fluffy: 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, 1/2 cup sugar.
Then add 5 large eggs, 1/2 a cup of milk, 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies. Beat until well blended.

In another bowl: 1 cup blanched fresh or thawed frozen white corn kernels (I used yellow, it was fine), 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, 1 cup shredded Jack cheese, 1 cup all purpose flour, 1 1/4 cups fine blue corn meal or harina para atole, 2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mixing well until it falls off your spoon in clumps.  If needed you can add an additional 1/4 cup flour if it's too runny.

Spoon into muffin tins, filling all the way to the top.  Bake in preheated oven at 375 F for 20-25 minutes.

Serve warm.

Fresh Berry Muffins

So I usually try to make something for the first time following the recipe exactly, but I didn't this time. Instead of fresh berries I used frozen and instead of half and half I just used 1% milk and they still turned out delicious....

First of all, preheat your oven to 375 F.

1 cup of fresh boysenberries, blackberries, raspberries or currants (Or in my case some frozen mixed berries (unthawed enough to chop). I chopped them up since they were rather large) Then sprinkle about 2-4 tablespoons of sugar over the top and let them sit for about 15 minutes. (I just used 2 tablespoons and it was more then enough. You could also use stevia or another type of sweetener if you have blood sugar concerns)

In a large bowl add 6 Tablespoons unsalted butter at room temp (or 5-10 seconds in the microwave...hehe) and 1/4 a cup of brown sugar. Beat until fluffy.

Now according to my 5 year old all eggs need a nest to sit in before you use them, so here is the nest she usually makes for me whenever I am baking!

Add two eggs to the sugar and butter and beat well. (Sorry, I took the picture before it was beaten well...)

My 3 year old LOVES to line the pan. But unfortunately I have learned that with real muffins (with less then 3/4 a cup of sugar) they tend to stick to the paper pretty bad and you don't get to enjoy the entire muffin. So it looks like she will just be enjoying this activity for cupcakes!

In a medium bowl mix together 2 cups of unbleached all purpose flour, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. Measure out 1 cup of half and half (or milk in my case) and  add to the flour mixture alternately with the butter mixture and remember to mix just until moistened. I usually like to let it sit for a few minutes, and then take a couple of final stirs to get out any of the pockets of flour that still remain.

Put a spoonful of batter in the pan, then a spoonful of berries, followed by another spoon of batter. The recipe actually says to make 9, but I had enough to make 12.

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Sprinkle the tops with a combination of 1/4 a cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Bake for 20-25 minutes on 375 F and serve warm! YUM!

Old Fashioned Prune Muffins

Very tasty 5 star muffins. I highly recommend that you let them sit for a day before eating. Don't eat to many at once though, or your stomach won't be so forgiving!



Directions:
Dry:
In a large bowl using a whisk combine 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup packed brown sugar, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 a teaspoon salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1/2 a teaspoon ground mace (substitutions for mace are Allspice; cinnamon; ginger; or nutmeg)

Wet:
In a medium bowl using a whisk or electric mixer, combine 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup buttermilk, 1/2 a cup prune juice, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir just until moistened.

Fold in 12 ounces moist pitted prunes.

Spoon into muffin cups until level with the top of the pan. Top each with a walnut or pecan half. Bake for 20 minutes at 375 F.

Spiced Applesauce Muffins

These muffins are definately a winner. 5 stars. Very tasty, and low sugar/low salt.


In a large bowl using whisk: 1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 tablespoons vegetable oil



In another bowl: 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon Postum, 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg


Combine wet and dry ingredients just until moistened, about 10 strokes. Fold in 3/4 a cup raisins/nuts. I used half raisins, half pecans and chopped them both well.


Bake in a preheated oven in a greased muffin tin at 375 F for 20-25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing.

Fresh Lemon Muffins

These are super easy and soo good for breakfast!! They definately get 5 stars.


In a large bowl with whisk combine: 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, zest from 2 lemons.
In a second bowl mix together: 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of melted unsalted butter, 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional) and 2 large eggs.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients just until moistened. Probably around a 10 second whisk. Spoon into greased muffin tins. The recipe is supposed to just make 8 muffins and tells you to fill the other 4 empty spots with water, however I got 12 muffins so it depends on how big you like yours.


Bake in a preheated 400 F oven for 20-25 minutes.
I actually skipped the following step, but thought I would include it anyway.

To make the lemon glaze: 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. Heat in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved, but do not boil. Pierce the baked muffins several times and pour glaze over them. Cool for 5 minutes to absorb before transferring to a cooling rack.

Variation: substitute an equal amount of orange zest and orange juice for the lemon zest and juice. Omit the lemon extract.

Sour Cream Apple Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

I made these muffins several weeks ago, but completely spaced taking pictures, and so I used it as an excuse to make them again. They are delicious, and definately get 5 stars.

Streusel Topping


1/2 cup packed light brown sugar, 1/3 cup unbleached flour, 3-4 tablespoons of butter

I used a food processor, you can also use two knives, or possibly a blender, or the dough hook on a hand or bowl mixer.

Mix the flour and sugar, then add the butter in chunks.

The mixture should resemble course crumbs, You can see that I over stirred, I think this would have been better if I had used 3 tablespoons of butter instead of 4.

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Muffins


In a large bowl combine 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground allspice (can substitute with pepper), 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped, 2 tablespoons dried currants.


Peel two large tart apples (I used granny smith)


Chop (you could probably even grate them as well, depends on if you want chunky). Set aside.

In another bowl melt 4 tablespoons of butter, then add 2 large eggs and 1 1/2 cups sour cream (16 oz container).


Mix apples and sour cream mixture into the dry ingredients. Only stir until evenly moistened, 15-20 strokes.


Spoon into greased muffin pan until even with the top (I actually added a little more then that) then sprinkle streusel on top.


Bake on 375 for 20-25 minutes. Let sit in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a turner or spatula. They came out really easy after 10 minutes. I used a butter knive to get them out, but be gentle otherwise it will scratch your pan. If you have a small spatula that will work as well.


mmmm, so good. I can tell you these muffins didn't even last a day!

A little experiment



I had a little left over batter and didn't want to break out another pan for two muffins so I cooked it in the microwave (with streusel on top) in a cereal bowl for 1 1/2 minutes. I was impressed with how well it turned out!