Name: Best-Ever Muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1 3/4 cup (218g) all purpose plain flour, unsifted; 2 1/2 tsp baking powder; 2 TBS sugar; 3/4 tsp salt; 1 well-beaten egg; 3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk; 1/3 cup (80ml) light olive oil

One thing that I really, really love to bake (and eat for that matter) is muffins. There is something very comforting about having a muffin for breakfast or break time along with your favorite hot drink!

Simple, one bowl recipes, that go together in a flash and bake in a flash. You you really cannot beat a good reliable muffin recipe!

But just what is a good muffin and what qualified it to be called the Best-Ever Muffin recipe? Let me explain.

A good muffin is not meant to be a cake, or a cupcake. It is not meant to be overly large or overly sweet. I am afraid that modern waters have been muddied by a misconception of what a muffin really is or should be!

Muffins are or should be one of the easiest quick breads to bake. Quick breads is a term used to describe any un-yeasted bread, muffin or biscuit/scone. They are not meant to be complicated, but have always been something that a home cook can throw together quickly and easily with no muss and no fuss.

The recipe I am sharing with you today is a vintage muffin recipe taken from the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book, which was published in 1953. It is a classic cookbook.

Many of our mothers, if they were lucky enough to own one, baked from this same book. It is filled with lots of lovely basic, classic recipes. All the staples of my childhood.

Every recipe that I have ever made from it has turned out beautifully. But then again, I would expect nothing less from Better Homes and Gardens. They have held a high standard in homemaking and cookery for many, many years.

This recipe for muffins was not only very easy and quick to throw together, but also included no less than five different variations. There is a bit of something for everyone and every taste there.

I chose to make the Jelly Muffin variation. It was very simple, just the original recipe with a teaspoon of jelly added to the top.

I used my homemade crabapple jelly. They turned out really lovely. I could not help but wonder what they would have been like with a bit of grated cheddar cheese added to the batter. I am thinking super delicious! I may try that next time!

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BEST-EVER MUFFINS

Very simple store cupboard ingredients, depending on whether you make the plain ones of a variation of the plain ones. (See notes.)

1 3/4 cup (218g) all purpose plain flour, unsifted
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 TBS sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 well-beaten egg
3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (80ml) light olive oil

If you are measuring your flour by the cup it is best to spoon the batter into your cup measure, without packing it down and then level it off with the straight edge of a dinner knife. This will give you are more accurate measurement. Of course weighing your ingredients is the most accurate way of measuring of all.

Use the best and freshest ingredients that you have. I use LARGE free range eggs. Also, you can use melted shortening instead of the oil, or regular vegetable oil. I cannot vouch for butter. I used light olive oil because I thought it would at least be healthier than vegetable shortening or canola oil.

HOW TO MAKE BEST-EVER MUFFINS

If you follow my instructions, you cannot help but bake a pretty decent muffin! (See variations in the notes.)

Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a 12 cup medium muffin pan with paper liners if desired, or butter really well.

Whisk together the egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Stir in the sugar. Make a well in the center. Add the wet ingredients all at once to the well in the center, and quickly stir together just to combine.

Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Leave to sit in the pan for 5 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack.

Serve warm with butter for spreading. (Or not, as you desire.)

Notes

VARIATIONS -

BLUEBERRY - Reduce the milk to 1/2 cup (120ml), and add 3/4 cup (142g) fresh blueberries to the sifted dry ingredients.

JELLY - Top batter in each muffin tin with 1 tsp of jelly prior to baking.

RAISIN, NUT OR DATE - Add 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup (75g - 100g) seedless raisins, or 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup (60 - 90g) broken nuts, or 75g - 100g) coarsely chopped dates. Stir quickly into batter.

SOUR-MILK - Substitute 3/4 cup (180ml) of sour milk or buttermilk for the sweet milk; add 1/4 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate) and reduce baking powder to 1 tsp. Both to be sifted into the dry ingredients.

HOLIDAY MUFFINS - Add 1 cup (120g) diced citron and 1/4 cup (35g) broken nuts. Sprinkle muffins with a bit of coarse sugar prior to baking.

HINTS AND TIPS FOR THE BEST MUFFINS

Here are my hints and tips for making sure that your muffins turn out beautifully every time:

1. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, carefully pour in the wet ingredients, then stir the mix a couple of times to roughly combine.

2. Don't over mix your muffins. The most important rule of muffin making is to not over stir the mix. What you really want is to just moisten the ingredients. Do not stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump free. You want the final mix to be lumpy, and thick with a few floury streaks.

3. Add your flavors last. While spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, additions like fruit and nuts should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you've added them in just to combine.

4. Line the pans. You can choose to either grease the muffin tin or line it with paper liners. If you choose to forgo the liners, make sure you grease the base and sides of the cups with oil spray or a little melted butter. If you're not going to eat the muffins for a while, do use paper liners as these will keep the muffins fresher for longer.

5. Don't overfill your pans. Aim to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups. Often if your tins are over filled the muffins will rise to the top and then collapse on themselves.

6. For extra interest, add a flavorful sprinkle on top. Once the muffin cups are all filled, you can choose to sprinkle the tops with more fruit, nuts or a crumble topping, even sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar, for even more taste and or crunch. As the muffins rise these toppings will cook into the tops of the muffin.

7. Protect your baking pan. If there isn't enough batter to fill all the cups, half fill the empty ones with water. This will help the muffins bake evenly and will help to protect your pan from buckling.

8. Cooling them down. Once you remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in their pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. This is especially important for muffins that aren't in a paper liner, as it will help them from falling apart. However, remove them after five minutes otherwise you risk them going soggy as they cool in the pan.

9. Freeze extras for later. Muffins freeze beautifully, so if you can't enjoy them all on the day they're baked, wrap them in plastic wrap tightly, and put them in the freezer for later. They will keep for about 3 months and reheat wonderfully in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high from frozen.

These were the perfect muffin. Not too sweet or too large in size. Tender and fluffy and moist. You can see from the photograph just what a beautiful texture they had. Crisp and golden brown on the outside and melt in the mouth on the inside.

I think next time I will bake one of the variations. I am thinking I would really love date and nut muffins!

Some other muffin recipes which I have baked that you might also enjoy are:

CINNAMON ROLL MUFFINS - Prepare yourself to fall in love with this small batch muffin recipe with makes six gorgeously delicious muffins. They embody all the flavours of your favourite cinnamon rolls, except they are muffins, not a yeast bread. I am of the school that cinnamon flavoured anything is good. It doesn't really matter too much what it is and these are OMG good!

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS - This is a small batch of one of my favorite muffin recipes. These re moist and filled with the goodness of carrot, apple, coconut, pineapple, toasted nuts and whole and regular wheat flours. The recipe makes 6 largish muffins.

Best-Ever Muffins

Yield: 10

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min

This is what muffins are supposed to be. Small breads, light and tender and not too sweet. Variations are in the notes section. I did the Jelly variation using some of my crabapple jelly.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup (218g) all purpose plain flour, unsifted
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 TBS sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 well-beaten egg
3/4 cup (180ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (80ml) light olive oil