Warm and tender muffins, fresh from the oven are something which is welcome in my home any time of day. Generally speaking I will usually have one for breakfast if I am going to have one, but, in all truth, I would never turn a fresh muffin down!
Especially when they are as delicious as these Honey Buttermilk Muffins! Dense with a moist crumb from the buttermilk and sweetly flavored with honey, nutmeg and vanilla, they are a real treat without tasting like dessert! I adapted the recipe for use from another Canadian food blogger, The Kitchen Magpie.
Mine turned out a lot darker than hers. I am not sure why that is. Perhaps it is because I use organic unbleached sugar, which isn't totally white? I also used raw honey. Its hard to say as I am not that knowledgeable about such things.
What I can tell you for sure is that they are delicious. Perfect as perfect is as far as muffins go. Not too sweet, with a nice crumb and a bit of a tang from the buttermilk. Prepare to fall in love.
One thing I really love about muffins is that they are fairly quick and easy to prepare. You can mix up the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients (separately) the night before you want to bake them, leaving the dry ingredients lightly covered on the counter top and the wet in the refrigerator.
Just ready to quicky stir together and quickly bake when you get up in the morning. I speak with great authority on how much help the smell of baking muffins is when it comes to getting sleepy heads out of bed!
If my kids smelled something baking in the morning, they were always quick to rise and come down stairs. Muffins where like a magic wand for me in getting them up, at 'em and out the door on school mornings!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HONEY BUTTERMILK MUFFINS
Simple every day store cupboard and baking drawer ingredients! You will need either a 12 cup muffin tin to bake these or two six cup tins. I used tins with medium sized holes.
- 2 cups (264g) all purpose plain flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (75.6g) of butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (85g) liquid honey
- 1 large free range egg, beaten lightly
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
If you don't have buttermilk you can make a great substitute in one of two ways. You can stir together equal parts of whole yogurt and whole milk to combine, or you can add a TBS of lemon juice or white vinegar to a cup and then fill it up with whole milk to the measure.
In both cases leave the mixture for five minutes prior to using so that it clabbers properly. (ie. curdles or clots.)
You are going to get the best nutmeg flavor if you grate your own. I always do. I keep whole nutmegs in my spice cupboard and then just grate it fresh whenever I need some. You will not believe the difference in flavor!
If all you have is solid honey, you can heat it up gently in the microwave to liquify it. Today I used half and half because I ran out of liquid honey. It worked perfectly.
HOW TO MAKE HONEY BUTTERMILK MUFFINS
Simple, simple, simple. They follow the rule of most quick breads. Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients together. Combine thoroughly but lightly without overmixing. Easy Peazy.
Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5. Butter a 12 cup medium muffin tin really well, or line with paper liners.
Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and sugar together in a large bowl.
Whisk the melted butter, honey, egg, buttermilk and vanilla together in a large beaker.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients all at once. Stir together just to combine. Do not overmix. All of the dry ingredients should be moistened without any dry streaks. There will and should be lumps.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, dividing it equally amongst the muffin cups. They should be about 3/4 filled.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Do check them at 10 minutes to be sure. (Mine needed a bit longer. I would say about 18 minutes.) A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
HINTS AND TIPS FOR PERFECT MUFFINS
Muffins are not all that hard to make. The secret to a perfect muffins is proper mixing. Most muffins are prepared by first stirring the dry ingredients together in a bowl, and then the wet in another. A well is made in the center of the dry and the wet are added all at once.
Although sifting isn't necessary, do give the dry ingredients a good whisk to make sure all of the leavenings (soda and baking powder) are evenly distributed! There is nothing worse than catching a mouth full of soda or baking powder!
The most important thing to remember is NOT to OVERMIX the batter. Just stir everything together until the mixture is moistened without having any dry streaks. The batter will appear lumpy and this is perfectly okay! In fact it is desirable.
If overmixed, the muffins will have undesirable characteristics, such as being touch and having too many tunnels. What you are looking for is a rounded muffin with a uniformly shaped top that is free from peaks.
The crust should be golden brown, tender, shiny, and pebbled or slightly rough. That is the perfect muffin.
This was a nice muffin, plain and simple. The nutmeg was not overwhelming. You could taste the honey which went very well with the tang of the buttermilk!
They were light and came out with a perfect texture. They are delicious split open and spread with butter, or . . . dare I suggest it? A bit of jam or marmalade? There, I said it. I don't apologize. If you are going to have a bit of a treat for your breakfast, why not go all the way!
Some other delicious muffin recipes which I have baked in here that you might enjoy are:
SPECIAL K BREAKFAST MUFFINS -These are the PERFECT breakfast muffins. Quick and easy to make. Delicious. I highly recommend. Simple and filled with fiber. You can use ordinary Special K cereal, or you can be a bit more extravagant and use one of the varieties which contain fruit. This recipe makes half a dozen fabulous muffins.
ULTIMATE BUTTERMILK BRAN MUFFINS - I think one of my favorite types of muffin of all the types of muffins you can get today are plain old fashioned Bran Muffins. There is nothing pretentious about them. They are simple and they are delicious. This recipe for Buttermilk Bran Muffins is especially delicious, yielding a muffin that is super moist and delicious, with a well rounded top. You cannot go wrong with one of these!
Yield: 12
Honey Buttermilk Muffins
Prep time: 14 MinCook time: 18 MinTotal time: 32 Min
Densely crumbed and moist from the use of buttermilk. These lovely muffins are lightly flavored with honey, nutmeg and vanilla for a really tasty morning muffin!
Ingredients
- 2 cups (264g) all purpose plain flour
- 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup (75.6g) of butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (85g) liquid honey
- 1 large free range egg, beaten lightly
- 1 cup (240ml) buttermilk
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/190*C/gas mark 5. Butter a 12 cup medium muffin tin really well, or line with paper liners.
- Whisk the flour, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and sugar together in a large bowl.
- Whisk the melted butter, honey, egg, buttermilk and vanilla together in a large beaker.
- Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients all at once. Stir together just to combine. Do not overmix. All of the dry ingredients should be moistened without any dry streaks. There will and should be lumps.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, dividing it equally amongst the muffin cups. They should be about 3/4 filled.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes. Do check them at 10 minutes to be sure. (Mine needed a bit longer. I would say about 18 minutes.) A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
There is no doubt about it, my Mom's Best Apple Pie is a real favorite pie for us to enjoy at this time of year. We live in the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia and this is a prime apple growing region. Mom made the best apple pies, having learned how to make them from her mother and her mother before her.
We loved her pies. I love this time of year when the apple crops are coming in fast and furious. Walking into the local farm markets the smell is gorgeous. They smell of fresh apples and pumpkins, squashes etc. Its quite heady.
The smell when it is baking is unreal and that taste, well, it is totally unbelievably delicious! You have the option of adding some toasted walnuts to the filling if you wish. You can also opt for a streusel topping if you would rather that than an actual top crust.
We also have a cranberry bog not too far down the Valley from us and they are coming into the farm markets now as well. It seems to be only a natural thing that we would be baking Cranberry & Apple Pies this time of year.
Here in Canada, next weekend is Thanksgiving and this would be a beautiful pie to serve for that occasion. How much more thankful can we get than to have one of these tasty pies on our table!
I say, Pumpkin Pie move over! There's a new pie in town!
With its tender and flaky buttery and lard pastry and its sweet/tart fruity filling, this is a real family pleaser of a pie. The filling itself is flavored with maple syrup, orange zest and some warm baking spices. Cinnamon and cloves.
Between that buttery flaky crust and moreish fruity filling, this is a pie you can really be proud to serve. How much more Canadian can you get! Apples. Cranberries. Maple!!
My family? We always leave out the nuts and go for the top crust! We are crazy for crust!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CRANBERRY & APPLE PIE
Simple store cupboard and fresh ingredients. This pie spells AUTUMN in a very big way!
For the pastry:
- 2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup butter (76g)
- 1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
- 5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
For the filling:
- 5 - 5 1/2 cups (625g - 680g) peeled, cored and sliced apples
- 2 cups (212g) of fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 cup (57g) chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1/3 cup plus 2 TBS (79g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) maple syrup
- 1 1/2 TBS lemon juice
- the finely grated zest of one orange
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 TBS cornstarch (corn flour)
- milk and sugar to glaze (optional)
Butter and lard make the best pastry. There is just no comparison. The two fats create a pastry that melts in the mouth.
Apples and cranberries are perfect partners. They have a beautiful balance of tartness and sweetness. I used Gravensteins. They are a great cooking apple with a lovely flavor.
You can, of course use frozen cranberries if you need to. You don't need to thaw them out first. They tint the whole filling a lovely ruby color.
HOW TO MAKE CRANBERRY & APPLE PIE
I usually make my pastry the night before I make this pie. That makes for a much quicker, smoother process when it comes to actually making the pie. That is just my opinion of course!
To make the pastry:
- To make the pastry, mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas. (Use a pastry blender or two round bladed knives.)
- Add ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry comes together. Shape into a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each piece into a round flat disc. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Or overnight.)
- If you chill the pie crust overnight, take it out of the refrigerator about 1 hour prior to baking.
To make the filling and the pie:
- Mix the apples, cranberries, walnuts (if using) and 1/3 cup (67g) of the sugar together in a large bowl. Leave to macerate for 10 minutes.
- Stir the maple syrup, lemon juice, grated zest, cinnamon and cloves into the apples. Mix the remaining sugar together with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir this into the fruit.
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with some baking paper.
- Roll half of the pastry out on a lightly floured countertop to a round that will fit into a 9 1/2 inch deep pie dish. (about 13 inches in diameter) Place the pastry carefully into a 9 1/2 inch deep pie dish, knocking gently with your knuckles so that it fits into the sides with a bit of an overhang. Place onto the baking sheet.
- Turn the fruit filling into the pie, and smooth it out a bit. Lightly moisten the rim of the bottom crust.
- Roll the remaining half of the pastry into a round large enough to cover the pie. Carefully place it on top of the filling to cover it completely, pressing around the edges to seal. Trim any over hang to 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Flute or crimp the edge as desired.
- Cut some vents in the top crust. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Rotate the pie 180 degrees. Bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and the juices are bubbling up through the vents.
- Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for at least an hour prior to serving. Cut into wedges to serve. A scoop of vanilla ice cream goes very well on top of this!
If you can, you can leave off the top crust and top it with a Oatmeal crumb topping. For that you will need:
(Makes enough for 1 large pie with some leftover)
1 cup (140g) all purpose plain flour
1/2 cup (40g) large flake oats
2/3 cup (147g) soft light brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (115g) cold butter, cut into pieces
To make the streusel combine the oats, flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse once or twice to combine. Drop in the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
This can be sprinkled over the top. (You will probably have some leftover) Press the crumbs down gently on top of the pie and bake as per the recipe below.
If you think the crumbs are getting too dark, cover lightly with a piece of aluminum foil.
This is quite simply a beautiful pic. Prepare to fall in love with how the tart cranberries balance out the sweetness of everything else, and that orange zest. Oh my my . . . combined with the cinnamon and cloves, a purely unbeatable combination!
This is a pie to write home about. There is no two ways about it. I really hope you will want to bake it at least one during these autumn months! And do remember, it is the PERFECT pie for the holidays!
I have a lot of pie recipes here in The English Kitchen. Here are a few other ones that you might enjoy!
QUEBECOISE SUGAR CREAM PIE - A sweet and delicious pie which hails from the French speaking region of Quebec. This is one of my father's favorite pies. The filling is thick and rich and sweet. It is meant to be eaten in thin slices. A piece of this pie is a little taste of heaven!
CREAM AND CRUMB SCHNITZ PIE - An old Mennonite recipe for a single crust pie that uses a rich streusel crumb in several elements of the filling. Half are mixed with cream and poured over top of the apples in the base of the pie. The remaining crumbs are sprinkled over top like a streusel. The end result is a piece that is so delicious that words cannot explain it! This is one of our family's favorite pies!
Yield: 8 - 10 servings
Cranberry & Apple Pie
Prep time: 1 H & 25 MCook time: 1 H & 10 MInactive time: 1 HourTotal time: 3 H & 35 M
Tis the season for this delicious pie, made with local Annapolis valley cranberries and apples! If you make the pastry the night before it comes together fairly quickly.
Ingredients
For the pastry:
- 2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup butter (76g)
- 1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
- 5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
For the filling:
- 5 - 5 1/2 cups (625g - 680g) peeled, cored and sliced apples
- 2 cups (212g) of fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1/2 cup (57g) chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1/3 cup plus 2 TBS (79g) sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) maple syrup
- 1 1/2 TBS lemon juice
- the finely grated zest of one orange
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground cloves
- 2 TBS cornstarch (corn flour)
- milk and sugar to glaze (optional)
Instructions
To make the pastry:
- To make the pastry, mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas. (Use a pastry blender or two round bladed knives.)
- Add ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry comes together. Shape into a ball and cut in two pieces. Form each piece into a round flat disc. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (Or overnight.)
- If you chill the pie crust overnight, take it out of the refrigerator about 1 hour prior to baking.
To make the filling and the pie:
- Mix the apples, cranberries, walnuts (if using) and 1/3 cup (67g) of the sugar together in a large bowl. Leave to macerate for 10 minutes.
- Stir the maple syrup, lemon juice, grated zest, cinnamon and cloves into the apples. Mix the remaining sugar together with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir this into the fruit.
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with some baking paper.
- Roll half of the pastry out on a lightly floured countertop to a round that will fit into a 9 1/2 inch deep pie dish. (about 13 inches in diameter) Place the pastry carefully into a 9 1/2 inch deep pie dish, knocking gently with your knuckles so that it fits into the sides with a bit of an overhang. Place onto the baking sheet.
- Turn the fruit filling into the pie, and smooth it out a bit. Lightly moisten the rim of the bottom crust.
- Roll the remaining half of the pastry into a round large enough to cover the pie. Carefully place it on top of the filling to cover it completely, pressing around the edges to seal. Trim any over hang to 1/2 to 3/4 inch. Flute or crimp the edge as desired.
- Cut some vents in the top crust. Brush the top with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375*F/190*C/ gas mark 5. Rotate the pie 180 degrees. Bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and the juices are bubbling up through the vents.
- Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool for at least an hour prior to serving. Cut into wedges to serve. A scoop of vanilla ice cream goes very well on top of this!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
This Impossibly Easy Pecan Pie recipe is one that I have wanted to try for a long time now. I adore pecan pie and anything that might make it possible for me to enjoy one quicker or easier is something I am keenly interested in!
Impossible Pecan Pie is actually one of the easiest pecan pies I have ever made! Yay!!
Pecan pie is not something we ever had when I was growing up. Mother was very thrifty and I suspect that pecans were not in her budget. I remember buying frozen Mrs. Smith's Pecan Pies after I got married and falling in love with them.
I remember when I was pregnant for my oldest daughter I had a serious craving for a Pecan Pie, so I picked up a Mrs. Smith's pie. I could hardly wait for it to thaw out.
When it finally did, I sat down and ate one gorgeously delicious piece of it. I was in heaven. Then I threw the rest of it into the garbage, dumping something nasty on top so I would not be tempted to fish it back out. I was so afraid of eating the whole thing all by myself and gaining too much weight.
What a waste, but nothing on earth will ever taste as good as that one piece of pie did. I had never thought of making my own pecan pie at that point in my life and it's probably a good think I hadn't! That's when a little knowledge can become a very dangerous thing! haha
It is still not something I bake very often of course, and not just because of the calories and sweetness involved. Mostly because of the faffing about with making pastry, rolling it out, etc. This tasty recipe gets rid of every necessity for that!
This is one of those impossible pie recipes. The kind that supposedly make their own crust. I don't think they quite manage to do that, but they are very close and I am not going to complain about that. Every one I have ever baked has been delicious!
Simple to make and delicious? Count me in! This would be a fabulous pie for any holiday gathering you might be planning in the near future. It is Thanksgiving in Canada in just two weeks time and the American one will not be too far behind. What is Thanksgiving without a tasty pie or two in the pie safe!
This recipe has been adapted from the book Bisquick Impossibly Easy Pies. Pies that magically bake their own crust.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE IMPOSSIBLY EASY PECAN PIE
Pretty simple ingredients, except for the baking mix. You can either buy a ready made one, or make your own from scratch. You can find my recipe for how to do just that here.
- 1 1/2 cups (181g) chopped toasted pecans
- 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (56g) baking mix (such as Bisquick or my homemade version)
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
- 3/4 cup (280ml) heavy or whipping cream
- 3/4 cup (263g) light or dark corn syrup (can use golden syrup)
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 large free range eggs
- sweetened whipped cream to serve
I always toast my nuts before I use them in any recipe. It just makes for a tastier finish. Toasting your nuts really brings out their flavors. This is very easily done. I have left a link in the recipe to a place that can show you how to perfectly do this in several different ways.
I tend to toast mine a whole bag at a time and then store them in the freezer, ready to use as and when I need them.
The recipe calls for corn syrup, light or dark. Corn syrup is a vital ingredient in pies such as this. It helps to sweeten and set them up properly. If you are in the UK you can use golden syrup. It works beautifully and adds an even nicer depth of flavor.
I cannot say if Maple syrup or other kinds of syrup will work as I have never used those kinds. I would not want to ever give anyone a bum steer and recommend anything I had not used already myself.
HOW TO MAKE IMPOSSIBLY EASY PECAN PIE
These kinds of pies really are a doddle to make!
Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a 9 X 1 1/4 inch pie dish really well. Set aside.
Whisk the brown sugar, baking mix, melted butter, whipping cream, corn syrup, vanilla and eggs together until well combined in a large beaker. Pour over the pecans in the pie dish.
Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a metal knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
Leave to cool for five minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.
Serve with sweetened whipped cream on top. Any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.
This was really delicious. Nice and nutty, and whilst there was no actually crust on the bottom, it really wasn't missed all that much.
A nice dollop of squirty cream went well on top. I would imagine a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream would also go very well! I believe that this pie would make a great, simple and easy addition to any holiday table!
Are you a big fan of nuts? We are all crazy about nuts in my family. They are quite simply one of our favorite food groups. Here are some recipes that I have made that use nuts beautifully!
PERFECT GRANOLA - I love a granola that is filled with lots of nuts. I try to get in as many different kinds as I can. All toasty and roasted along with plenty of toasted oats and maple syrup. I also like to add some large flake coconut for even more texture and flavor! This is the perfect recipe in my books and the one I make all the time. Beats the heck out of any store brand!
BANANA, COCONUT AND MACADAMIA NUT MUFFINS - These muffins are nice and moist, low in fat and filled with the additional flavours and textures of shredded coconut and macadamia nuts! This is one very tasty muffin! One of my favorites, which is saying a lot.
Yield: 8 servings
Impossibly Easy Pecan Pie
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 55 MinInactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 1 H & 10 M
Fabulously nutty. Quick and easy to make as well. No fuss, no muss, no rolling out of a crust. Delicious served warm with some whipped cream on top.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (181g) chopped toasted pecans
- 3/4 cup (150g) soft light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (56g) baking mix (such as Bisquick or my homemade version)
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, melted
- 3/4 cup (280ml) heavy or whipping cream
- 3/4 cup (263g) light or dark corn syrup (can use golden syrup)
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 4 large free range eggs
- sweetened whipped cream to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/gas mark 4. Butter a 9 X 1 1/4 inch pie dish really well. Set aside.
- Toast and chop your nuts. Sprinkle them into the bottom of your buttered pie dish.
- Whisk the brown sugar, baking mix, melted butter, whipping cream, corn syrup, vanilla and eggs together until well combined in a large beaker. Pour over the pecans in the pie dish.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a metal knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
- Leave to cool for five minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.
- Serve with sweetened whipped cream on top. Any leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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