Summer is a crazy time of year. Fun, but crazy. I love quick and easy recipes that make life a little simpler during these times, and this is one of them.
My favorite time to make muffins in the summer is early in the morning before it heats up too much to want to have the oven on. They cook faster than a whole loaf of quick bread (banana bread, zucchini bread, whatever...) so the oven can be cooling before the kitchen is roasting.
I personally love to have some fresh, hot muffins all by myself before the family gets out of bed. The kids don't eat them hot anyway, and an added bonus for me is that breakfast is ready before they come begging! Then the leftovers double as a snack later in the day, so nobody goes hungry.
This recipe is simple and versatile. I will offer some suggested variations, but my personal favorite is blueberry, so that's what you'll see pictured here. If you choose to go the blueberry route, I highly recommend a tall glass of cold orange juice to go with it!
Start by mixing the dry ingredients. If you decide to add spices, (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves) this is the time. Then for berries, (or other chopped fruits) add them into the dry ingredients. This prevents bleeding of fruit juices into the batter. If your fruit is frozen, I recommend defrosting it at least a little. Sometimes the batter stays raw next to the frozen fruit. You can also get a little crazy and throw in some chocolate chips!
Next, mix the wet ingredients before pouring into the dry ingredients. If you use veggies (zucchini, carrots, pumpkin) or fruit (banana, pear, apple, peach) in shredded or pureed form, this is the time to add them. You can also add some moisture with sour cream or yogurt, but know that it will make for a more dense muffin. Feel free to substitute fruit juices (lemon, orange, apple, pineapple) for the milk to give it a little sparkle!
Very gently mix the batter until just combined. There will be a few dry spots. That's okay. Limit yourself to about a dozen turns with the spoon, and then check carefully for any big piles of flour. You don't want that.
Divide into greased muffin tins (or lined with muffin papers--your choice) and bake until muffins begin to become golden and a knife inserted comes out clean.
Remove from oven and turn out immediately onto wire racks to cool. Doing so immediately prevents soggy bottoms.
3 cups flour (can use whole wheat)
1/2 to 1 1/2 cups sugar (your choice)
1/2 tsp salt
1 T baking powder
2/3 cup oil (or melted butter)
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk (or water, or juice)
*variations
Combine dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl and mix together. Combine wet ingredients in separate container and mix thoroughly. Pour into dry ingredients. Stir gently until just combined--about a dozen strokes with a spoon. Scoop 1/4 cupfuls into greased (or paper-lined) muffin tins. Bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly golden and knife inserted comes out clean. Makes 18-24 muffins.
*variations:
Food storage: Add equivalent milk powder to dry ingredients and use water in place of regular milk.
Berry: Add 2 cups berries to dry ingredients and continue with recipe as directed.
Citrus: Replace liquid milk with any flavor citrus juice. To use entire citrus, follow directions in this post to segment fruit and fold gently into batter. For a richer muffin, add milk powder to dry ingredients.
Pina colada: Replace milk with coconut milk and gently fold in diced or crushed pineapple. Alternatively, replace oil with coconut oil (melted) and use pineapple juice instead of milk.
Chocolate: Substitute 1/2 cup flour with cocoa powder. Add 1 tsp vanilla to wet ingredients and gently fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips before baking.
Pumpkin: Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp allspice to dry ingredients. Add 2 cups (one small can) pumpkin to wet ingredients. 1/2 cup nuts optional.
Zucchini: Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves and 1/4 tsp nutmeg to dry ingredients. Gently fold in 2 cups grated zucchini before baking. 1/2 cup nuts optional.
Banana: Add 3 to 4 mashed bananas to liquid ingredients. Gently fold in 1/2 cup chocolate chips for a treat. 1/2 cup nuts optional.
Carrot: Add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg to dry ingredients. Add 2 cups carrot puree (about 6 large carrots cooked and mashed) OR 1 cup grated carrot to liquid ingredients. 1/2 cup nuts optional.
Pear or peach: Add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp cloves to dry ingredients. Gently fold in 2 cups diced pears or peaches before baking.
Apple: Add 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg to dry ingredients. Add 1 cup applesauce to liquid ingredients OR gently fold in 2 cups grated apple OR 2 cups diced apples before baking. 1/2 cup nuts optional.
Blueberry Cream Cheese: In a separate small mixing bowl, combine 4 oz softened cream cheese, 1 egg, 2 T sugar and 1/4 tsp vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Follow recipe as directed for blueberry muffins. When filling muffin tins, place 2 T batter in bottom, followed by 1 T cream cheese mixture, and top with 1 T blueberry batter. Bake as directed, but no longer than 18 minutes. Look for golden tops--knife inserted will not come out clean.
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