Sour Dough English Muffins Are Easy

I’ve wanted to make English muffins for the longest time since I always loved the store-bought kind. However, I thought they’d be more complicated than breads. I was wrong there for sure.

OK, they do take time. I think that was the thing that I found off-putting because the older I get, the less patience I have. But the other day, I said to myself, “Let’s do this,” and I did.

Guess what? Even though you have to plan ahead and the process could take from several hours to several days–due to making your own starter and rising time–it’s was pretty easy and not intimidating at all.

A Word About Starters

This was my very first time working with a starter. A lot of recipes for English muffins tell you that you can start the process after the starter has sat for an hour, just as long as it’s bubbly and foamy.

Before I began making the muffins proper, I did a little research about dough starters. The most important thing I came away with was the longer you let a starter sit, the more it ferments so the better your muffins will taste. Making the starter for these muffins is a one-trip deal since you use the entire amount. There’s no “feeding” or “replenishing” as there is when you use it as a regular (and constant) ingredient in your breads.

I let mine sit for two days and the taste it produced was spectacular. Of course, if you are in a hurry, then just let it sit for the minimum time of one hour. Your English muffins will still taste great, but they won’t have that sourdough quality.

The Rising

Here’s another part that gives you a wide berth. You can let the dough rise at room temperature right after you mix it until it’s double in bulk, or you can let it rise in the fridge for up to three days. This is the thing I love about this recipe because you can make fresh each day for three days!

Who wouldn’t love a fresh English muffin with their breakfast; they’re a real treat!

The Recipe

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Sour Dough English Muffins

A real breakfast treat that's easy to make

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time12 minutes mins

Minimum Starter & Rise Time3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Main/Side

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy english muffin recipe, easy sour dough starters, homemade english muffins

Servings: 12

Calories: 255kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Starter:

• 3/4 cup bread strong flour
• 1/2 cup lukewarm water
• 1/2 tsp yeast the dry kind not fresh

Muffin Dough:

• 1 cup lukewarm milk NOT skim milk
• 1 tsp yeast instant or active dry
• 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs unsalted butter melted
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 3-3 1/4 cups bread strong flour
• Cornmeal
• 1 tsp butter for the griddle

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Mix the starter ingredients in a medium bowl (because it bubbles up). Cover and keep at room temperature for 12-36 hours. The longer it sits, the better the muffins will taste.
• Using a stand mixer, combine the milk, yeast and the starter. Beat well so the starter is well incorporated into the milk.
• Add the sugar, butter and salt. Add the flour, beginning with the lowest amount called for. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 8 minutes, adding additional flour so that the dough is soft yet not sticky. It should feel slightly tacky but not stick to your fingers nor the bowl.
• Place dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, cover and let rise in the fridge overnight or up to 3 days.
• Place dough on a lightly floured surface and shape into a round disk. With a large knife, cut 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into a smooth round ball.
• Sprinkle some of the cornmeal on a large baking sheet. Place the balls about 2-inches/5 cm apart. Sprinkle the tops of the balls with cornmeal as well. Let rise until puffy--for cool dough this will take about 1 1/2-2 hours.
• Heat a large skillet or griddle over medium heat. Grease the skillet or griddle with the butter (I use a tissue to distribute the butter then use the buttery tissue to grease the griddle for the next batches).
• Working in batches (probably about 3-4 muffins depending on the size of your pan/griddle. Don't crowd the pan) cook the muffins for 5-6 minutes on one side until they're golden brown.
• Flip the muffins and cook for 5-6 minutes on the other side, gently pressing the muffins down with a wide spatula to flatten slightly.
• For extra insurance that the muffins are fully cooked, you can put them in a pre-heated 350F/180C oven for 5-8 minutes.

Notes

See minimum times in the post. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 615mg | Potassium: 174mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 102IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 3mg

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The Ultimate Muffin

What happens when you’re torn between muffin choices of banana and chocolate chip? Since it might look a bit greedy and indulgent to actually eat the two of them, why not combine the two and have the best of both?

Well, that’s what you have right here along with the addition of rich pecans.

If your family loves banana nut bread with chocolate chips, then they’ll flip over these delicious muffins so whip up some–they’re easy–and surprise everyone.

You can make them super-sized or regular sized. Choice is yours.

Nuts

When it comes to the nuts in this recipe you have some choices.

First, if you have an allergy or can’t stand them, omit them. The nuts play no part in the chemical formula here, so it won’t affect the cake part.

Secondly, if you don’t have pecans but have walnuts, use the walnuts. It’ll taste just as good. I used pecans because for some odd reason, I had a ton of them. Plus I prefer them to walnuts because the skin is not as bitter. However, walnuts are significantly cheaper so they’re easier on the pocketbook.

Don’t hesitate to buy in bulk either if you catch a good sale on either variety. Nuts freeze well with no loss in flavor. I found a bag buried in my freezer not too long ago that I bought maybe five years ago. They were still as good as the day I bought them.

Mini Chips Are Better

You heard that one right. Mini chocolate chips are much better for baking than the regular size.

They disperse better in any batter which means that it’s likely that each mouthful of a cake, cookie or muffin will contain chips.

And another–and to me the best thing–is that you can use half the amount called for in a recipe that uses the regular size. So buying a packet of minis is like getting two packages of the standard. If you’re watching calories, then you get the feel of the same amount of chocolate with half the fat and calories.

The Recipe

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Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins

The ultimate banana muffin

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: banana chocolate chip muffins, dressing up banana muffins, muffins that are like cake

Servings: 6

Calories: 548kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 1 egg slightly beaten
• 3 large ripe bananas mashed
• 1/2 cup butter melted

Topping:

• Sanding or coarse sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl, mixing well. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a Texas muffin pan (pan has 6 large muffins) with large muffin papers or grease the pan. Fill each cup 3/4 full; top with crumbs. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool completely.
• Makes 6 large muffins.

For Regular Sized Muffins

• Follow the above instructions, except use a regular-sized muffin pan and bake for 18-20 minutes. This will make 12 regular-sized muffins.

Notes

Nutritional info is for the large Texas-sized muffin. Regular muffin would be approximately 1/2 those values.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 548kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 561mg | Potassium: 376mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 42g | Vitamin A: 584IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 2mg

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Take Advantage Of Sales

It seems that mostly every week I’m seeing sales on all berries, including blueberries. I have been stocking up too!

Blueberries, unlike many other varieties, freeze exceptionally well. Another good feature is that you can use them right out of the freezer without defrosting. In fact, a lot of recipes advise you not to defrost them and use them frozen.

I’ve done that and it works very well. You don’t have to do any prep work for freezing blueberries either. Simply bag them–don’t use a vacuum sealer here as they will crush–and pop them in your freezer.

Bring Out The Blueberry Flavor

Blueberries are very mildly flavored so you have to coax more flavor out of them.

One trick to doing that is to add lemon zest. In these blueberry muffins, a little goes a long way. I used roughly one tablespoon of lemon zest. I think any more would impart a stronger lemon flavor rather than blueberry flavor. Of course, that’s not really a bad thing and if you want a more lemony tang, then use more.

I felt what I used was just enough to bring out a stronger blueberry taste, which was what I was aiming for.

Big Or Small

When it comes to muffins, I like big. That’s what I made here and used “Texas” muffin pans to do it.

There’s just something about a jumbo muffin that makes it a lot more appealing. This is probably why bakery muffins are so huge! Made in the Texas pan, the recipe will make 6 muffins.

These can also be made in a standard muffin tin; in this pan the yield will be 12. I have included baking times for the standard version in the recipe card.

The Recipe

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Bakery Style Blueberry Muffin Recipe

These huge and delicious blueberry muffins are so good, they won’t last long! To make this blueberry muffin recipe, you will need a jumbo (Texas-sized) muffin pan.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: blueberry muffin recipe, blueberry muffins

Servings: 6 muffins

Calories: 537kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter softened to room temperature
• 1 ¼ cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ cup milk
• 2 cups blueberries washed, drained and picked over
• 1 tbs fresh lemon zest
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 tbs coarse sugar (also known as sanding sugar)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 375F/190C degrees F.
• Cream the butter and 1 1/4 cups sugar until light.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and lemon zest.
• Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk.
• Crush 1/2 cup blueberries with a fork, and mix into the batter. Fold in the remaining whole berries.
• Line a jumbo (Texas) muffin tin with cupcake liners (I use lotus-shaped parchment ones), and fill with batter. Sprinkle the 3 tablespoons sugar over the tops of the muffins, and bake at 375 degrees for about 40-45 minutes.
• Remove muffins from tin and cool at least 30 minutes. Store, uncovered, or the muffins will be too moist the second day.
• May be made in a standard-size muffin tin, but bake for 30-35 minutes. It will make 12 standard-sized muffins.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 537kcal | Carbohydrates: 89g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 362mg | Potassium: 298mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 54g | Vitamin A: 610IU | Vitamin C: 6.1mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 2.5mg

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Not only will your family love these chocolate chip and orange muffins, but they’ll flip at the cheesecake filling.

Who Doesn’t Love Chocolate Chip Muffins?

Big bakery style chocolate chip muffins are a perennial favorite. They’re wonderful just plain, but can they be made even better?  You betcha!

All you do is add a bit of cheesecake filling.

Make ‘Em Big

I always make Texas-sized muffins just because I like huge muffins!

Obviously, there’s more to eat, but bigger muffins make a better presentation. Therefore, the advice I give anyone is always have a regular-size pan on hand because it’s useful for more than muffins, but buy the big pans too. Once you’ve gone “big” you probably won’t go back to regular.

In fact now when I look at muffins made in a standard pan, they look sad and skimpy. As far as “portion control,” if you’re concerned then eat half and store the other half for later. Problem solved!

Orange And Chocolate

Orange and dark chocolate are a very tasty combination. If you’ve ever had a Terry’s Chocolate Orange at Christmastime, you know what I mean.

If you’ve never tried this combination, I encourage you to do so because I’m sure you’ll love it. But these muffins are equally as good if you don’t add the orange accents.

Do make sure to use the dark semi-sweet morsels. Milk chocolate will give you less flavor impact. You may use regular-sized chips, but you will have to double the amount. I use mini morsels almost exclusively for baking, and there’s a couple of reasons for this. First, minis seem to disperse much better in a batter so you can use half the amount of regular morsels called for in a recipe. Also since it’s half the amount, it’s also half the fat–and that’s in any recipe where you replace regular morsels with mini. Because they do disperse better, you won’t feel shortchanged on chocolate flavor. When I fist heard this tip about 25 years ago, I was skeptical, but it’s true and I’ve done it ever since.

The Recipe

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Orange Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins

Not only will your family love these chocolate chip and orange muffins, but they’ll flip at the cheesecake filling.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecake muffins, chocolate chips, oranges

Servings: 6 (12)

Calories: 721kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

MUFFINS

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted & cooled slightly
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup sour milk or buttermilk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp grated orange zest
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

FILLING

• 8 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp flour

SANDING coarse sugar for garnish (optional)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Spray or line (with paper or parchment cups) a 6-cup Texas/Supersize muffin tin or a 12-cup regular muffin tin.
• In a small bowl, beat together the filling ingredients; set aside.
• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and chocolate chips to a large bowl and stir to combine.
• In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, sugar, eggs. milk, vanilla and orange zest.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
• Place about 1-2 tbs (use the lesser amount if making regular-size muffins) of the batter in each cup. Divide the filling equally between all the cups.
• Divide remaining batter between all the cups. Sprinkle with about 1 tsp sanding sugar if desired.
• Bake for 5 minutes at 425 then reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and continue baking for 12-15 minutes for REGULAR muffins and 15-20 minutes for TEXAS muffins.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 721kcal | Carbohydrates: 90g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 143mg | Sodium: 579mg | Potassium: 384mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 1159IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 208mg | Iron: 3mg

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These lemon poppy muffins get their incredible texture from sour cream.

Lemon Poppy Muffins A Better Way

I love lemon poppy muffins, especially ones I get from the bakery.

However, any recipes I’ve ever made came up very short, either on flavor or texture. Many lacked a depth of lemon flavor, but worse yet, most were dry even on the first day and inedible on the second.

I was searching for yet another recipe to try when I came across one I found on Google. I thought this one had possibilities because it included sour cream as an ingredient. Any cakes I’d made with sour cream had incredible texture, so this was worth a try.

Improvements But Made Even Better

The first batch of muffins I made from this recipe were an improvement over all the others, but it was still not quite right. Again, it was the texture.

These had a slightly less dry texture, yet they were dense and I could tell that the next day, they’d be dry. Then it dawned on me why every single recipe had the dryish texture–it was the butter.

Now, you’d think butter would make them soft, but it doesn’t. Then I remembered one of the nicest textured muffins I make is made with oil, and quite a bit of it too. Those are my Pumpkin Oat Muffins.

What I did was replace the melted butter with oil and also replace the vanilla with real lemon extract. I got the results I was after for years. Light, soft and very lemony!

Why Next Day Is Important

My reason for wanting these to be just as good texture-wise the next day is because lemon needs time to infuse for full flavor. Anything with lemon zest should sit a while to “mellow.”

And if you use the glaze instead of the sanding sugar, you’ll have a more intense lemon flavor, and especially after they’ve sat overnight.

I’ve made them with both toppings since and both are very good. The sanding sugar gives you a crunchy top. The glaze gives you another burst of bright lemon offset by sweetness. Try them both!

The Recipe

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Sour Cream Lemon Poppy Muffins

These lemon poppy muffins get their incredible texture from sour cream.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: breads, Breakfast, Brunch, desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: lemons, muffins, poppy seeds

Servings: 6

Calories: 590kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup sugar
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 tbs[ poppy seeds

GLAZE

• 1 cup confectioner’s star
• 2-3 tbsp lemon juice

OPTIONAL

• Sanding sugar if you don’t want the glaze

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray or line a Texas-sized (jumbo) muffin tin.
• Place sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl. Rub the zest in the sugar until you can smell a strong lemony scent.
• Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the bowl with the sugar mixture. Blend well.
• In a separate bowl, beat together the sour cream eggs, lemon extract and oil.
• Pour the liquid mixture over the dry mixture and mix until just moistened. Do not overtax! Stir in the poppy sees.
• Divide batter evenly in prepared pan. If you are NOT using the glaze, top each muffin with about 1 tsp of sanding sugar (they can be left plain too).
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove to a rack to cool completely.
• IF USING GLAZE:
• Mix the confectioner’s sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle over cooled muffins.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 590kcal | Carbohydrates: 78g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 146mg | Potassium: 327mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 43g | Vitamin A: 258IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 225mg | Iron: 3mg

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These moist and tender pumpkin oat muffins are the taste of fall. The crunchy oat topping is to die for!

Pumpkin Oat Muffins; The Taste Of Fall

When fall arrives, thoughts go to all things pumpkin.

Pumpkin is something I tend to use year round, but somehow it just tastes better when you eat it during autumn! This is also the time of year that you find it fresh, and most stores feature the canned variety at lower prices too. I tend to stock up when the canned pumpkin goes on sale. Since pumpkin puree freezes well, don’t fret if you don’t use the whole can.

The taste of these muffins is superb. They are flavored with warming aromatic spices. You use nutmeg and cinnamon in addition to pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice. The texture is smooth and velvety because they’re actually more like cake than traditional muffins.

Great Topping

The crumb topping is to die for!

Rather than the usual streusel crumbs, these muffins have oats mixed in with the crumbs. I add no other flavorings to them because as the muffins bake, the oats toast and that gives them a deeper flavor.

I load my muffin tops up with crumbs, but I still had some crumb mixture left over. It will keep, refrigerated, for about a week, so if you plan to make these pumpkin muffins again or any other muffins, they can be used for that. However, if you don’t plan on making more muffins and don’t have the fridge space to share, just place the leftovers on a baking sheet and bake them at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. It makes a delicious snack!

Bakery Style Or Regular

All the muffins I make are made in a “Texas” or jumbo muffin pan. If you want to make them the traditional size, you will get double the yield. The jumbo pan makes six muffins, so if you are using traditional-sized pans, you’ll get twelve. You will also have to reduce the bake time. About 18-25 minutes should do, but always test them with a toothpick or cake tester.

As far as paper liners go, you can buy jumbo liners. I tend to use parchment liners, either lotus or tulip shaped. I believe those shapes are made for regular muffin pans, but I have found they work very well in the larger pans as well.

The Recipe

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Pumpkin Oat Muffins

These moist and tender pumpkin oat muffins are the taste of fall. The crunchy oat topping is to die for!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

Course: breads, cakes, desserts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: muffin recipe, oats, pumpkin cake

Servings: 6

Calories: 590kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp each baking soda salt, nutmeg, cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

WET INGREDIENTS

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 of a 15 oz can about 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbs vegetable oil

OAT CRUMBS

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup quick or old-fashioned oats

Instructions

• Mix together all ingredients of crumb mixture. You may need to use slightly more flour to get a proper crumb consistency. This is due to atmospheric conditions.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients. Beat the wet ingredients until well blended. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just moistened. DO NOT OVERMIX.
• Line or grease muffin tins. Fill each cup 3/4 full. I use an old-fashioned ice cream scoop to do this. Sprinkle top of each muffin with crumb mixture.
• Bake at 350 degrees 20-25 min for regular sized muffins. Bake 35-40 min for Texas sized muffins (check for doneness at minimum time).
• Remove from oven and cool on racks.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 590kcal | Carbohydrates: 81g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 20g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 181mg | Potassium: 73mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 50g | Vitamin A: 329IU | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 2mg

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These muffins combine refreshing fresh strawberries with warm cinnamon spice. Perfect combination!

These muffins are the result of having a veritable TON of strawberries and the mad scientist I harbor within me.

For several years now, I’ve toyed with the idea of making my own cake and muffin recipes, but I could never find any literature on the most important parts–the leavenings.  So you play, and sometimes play for years.  After some disasters–mind you the disasters tasted good, but unfortunately did not look good–I found a good and workable combination.  These muffins are it.  

Fresh strawberries, warm spice

A basic rule of thumb is using soda when you have something acidic like these strawberries.  In my readings I was also surprised to find that baking soda aids in browning–that I never knew.  OK enough about the scientific part because I realize that some folks aren’t nerdy about this stuff like I am. On to these muffins–

The flavor is very delicate.  There’s no “sock-it-to-me” punch of intense strawberry taste.  That’s because there’s no artificial flavoring in these that would intensify flavor like what’s in a strawberry cake mix.  Instead, it’s a light, refreshing berry taste that combines with a warm hint of spice. I do recommend using very ripe strawberries for the best flavor.

Loaded with fresh strawberries

If you really like cinnamon, add more–maybe up to a tablespoon if you’re really a cinnamon lover.  I wouldn’t recommend adding more nutmeg since that spice is so intense, that’s all the muffins will taste like.  You can even leave that out if you are “iffy” about the flavor.

Strawberry Spice Muffins

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup diced fresh strawberries
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• Topping:
• 1/4 cup quick oats
• 2 tbs flour
• 3 tbs sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbs butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a 6-muffin “Texas” muffin pan (the large muffins) or line with paper cups.  This recipe will also make 12 regular sized muffins.


Mix all topping ingredients.  Set aside.


In a large bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients.  Mix well.  Add the diced strawberries to the dry ingredients, tossing to coat them well.  This will prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin.  Make a well in the center.


In a small bowl, beat the eggs, milk and oil.  Add the milk mixture in the well of the dry ingredients.  Mix ONLY until the dry ingredients are wet.  Resist the urge to beat–it’s ok if there are lumps.


Pour into prepared pan, filling cups 3/4’s full.  Sprinkle topping on top of muffins.


Bake 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center of muffins comes out clean.


Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes.  Remove to rack to cool completely.


Makes 6 “Texas” muffins or 12 regular.

Strawberry Spice Muffins

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Bacon and Egg Muffins – Breakfast in a Cup

Bacon, egg, toast and veggies all in one muffin cup!  Very nice weekend breakfast or brunch.

Great Brunch

I thought this concept was a terrific idea when I saw it on Stumble Upon.

A little fussy but well worth it

It’s not often that I’ll make anything fussy–and yes, these are a bit fussy–but in this case it’s worth it (at least I thought so).

This can’t be repeated enough times, but DO spray or grease your muffin tin VERY well. I had a trial run with these a couple of days before I made what you see in the photos, and I used butter to grease because I tend to avoid cooking sprays as much as I can.  I also used thick-cut bacon because I had a few slices left.  That was not the best choice since it didn’t crisp very well. I also had moderate sticking problems, but my regular-sized muffin pans are not non stick.  They are those galvanized cheapies from the dollar store LOL.  I managed to get them out but I tore the bread base a bit.  Here’s my test subjects–

Test run made with large eggs and thick-cut bacon–which is NOT the best choice

So when I did them “for reals,” I broke down and used spray and I sprayed each cup until it was white!!!  Had no problem getting them out.  I also used medium eggs because large (and anything over) overflowed the cup.  I also used a different brand of bacon and regular, not thick cut. You can of course do this in a Texas–large size– muffin pan, then larger eggs will not present a problem.

I will caution that you watch these very closely after about 10 minutes since the bacon will start to get over-crisp quickly. You want it crisp so the cup holds it’s shape but not burned.

Nice for a brunch or weekend breakfast

Watch The Video

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Bacon and Egg Muffins aka Breakfast in a Cup

Bacon, egg, toast and veggies all in one muffin cup!  Very nice weekend breakfast or brunch.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bacon, bacon and eggs, eggs

Servings: 3

Calories: 572kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 12 slices bacon
• 6 medium eggs
• 3 slices bread any kind
• 1/2 cup sauteed mushrooms -OR- 6 slices tomato thin slices
• salt & pepper
• thyme oregano or parsley (optional)

Instructions

• Spray or grease REALLY well a 6-count muffin pan. Really grease that sucka up or the bread or any errant egg white will stick like glue. I’d actually advise using non-stick here.
• Partially cook bacon–it should NOT be cooked to crisp. This will just render a lot of the fat out of it. The bacon should be pliable. Drain on paper towels and cool slightly.
• Using a cookie cutter or a glass, cut circles roughly the size of the base of the muffin cup.
• If you choose to use mushrooms, drain all but 1 tbs of the bacon fat out of the frying pan. Saute mushrooms for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Place a bread circle at the bottom of each muffin cup. Now fit 2 slices of bacon loosely around the sides in each cup, overlapping as necessary, lining the sides of the muffin cup, forming a bacon “cup”.
• Place about 1 tbs of the mushrooms on top of the bread circle -OR- place sliced tomato on top of the bread circle.
• Finally, break egg and add to the bacon-lined cup on top of the mushrooms/tomato. Sprinkle top of each egg with salt, pepper, and a pinch of any of the herbs (or a combo of all of them) on top of each egg.
• Bake at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until bacon is cooked to crisp–don’t overcook or the bacon will burn!

Nutrition

Serving: 1person | Calories: 572kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 385mg | Sodium: 854mg | Potassium: 398mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 508IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 3mg

Bacon and Egg Muffins

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Just like the bakery.  Loaded with chocolate chips!

I felt chocolate chip muffins today so went looking for something that was more like cake than a muffin so it’d last longer.

Didn’t have to look far.  Found a great recipe over on King Arthur’s site.  Only thing I changed was to reduce the chocolate and didn’t add additional flavoring, as was suggested.  Oh, and I used regular flour instead of the fancy one in the original.  You can check out the original recipe HERE.

What is important with this recipe is how you measure your flour.  DO NOT  “dip and sweep” otherwise they will be too dry.  Lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level off.

These are terrific but I think next time I use mini morsels or cut the chocolate down even more.  Made like my version, it’s loaded with chocolate, and I know that’s not a problem to some LOL!!!  But I’d like a higher percentage of the cake part personally. I’d also reduce the sugar a bit too as they are pretty sweet (made like this) but not overpoweringly so.

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Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate chip muffins are perfect for breakfast or brunch, but they make a fantastic dessert, too.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chips, muffin recipe

Servings: 12

Calories: 302kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter softened
• 1 cup sugar *
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup chocolate chips or 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or line with paper cups either a 12-count regular muffin pan or a 6-count Texas muffin pan.
• In a large bowl add the butter, sugar, baking powder and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla and eggs, beating well. Add the milk and beat until incorporated.
• Stir in the flour and chocolate chips until well mixed. Distribute batter evenly between either 12 regular sized muffins or 6 Texas sized muffins.
• Bake smaller muffins 25-30 minutes. Bake large Texas-style muffins 30-40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool on wire racks.
• Makes 12 regular or 6 Texas-sized muffins.

Notes

*You can reduce the sugar to 3/4 cup if you don't like them overly sweet.

You can also use 1/2 cup MINI chocolate chips if you want them smaller and more evenly dispersed AND to save fat and calories.

Nutrition

Serving: 1muffin | Calories: 302kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 191mg | Potassium: 113mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 326IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 67mg | Iron: 1mg

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Chocolate Chip Muffins

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Coffee Pecan Muffins

• 300 g flour
• 150 g light brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 85 g pecans coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 50 g butter, melted
• 225 ml milk
• 4 tbs very strong coffee or espresso
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs Demerara sugar (for topping)
• extra coarsely chopped pecans for topping

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