Inaugural Muffins

Sorry, I didn’t bake with the other TWD bakers this week. I did make the Coffee Break Muffins from Baking From My Home to Yours. I don’t know if President Obama likes coffee or muffins, but Mr. President, these muffins are for you. Thank you for giving us hope.

Inaugural Muffins

Sorry, I didn’t bake with the other TWD bakers this week. I did make the Coffee Break Muffins from Baking From My Home to Yours. I don’t know if President Obama likes coffee or muffins, but Mr. President, these muffins are for you. Thank you for giving us hope.

TWD – Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bakers who are baking through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. The bakers take turns picking the recipe for the week and we all post on Tuesdays (hence the name).

Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake (one of my faves!) chose this week’s recipe, Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. I was looking forward to this one, not just because we’ve been craving a savory break from all of the sweets, but because I love corn muffins. I used a stone ground corn meal, thinking it would make the muffins rustic. Since I was sharing these with visitors who may or may not like spicy food, I omitted the jalapeno. I used a ground Ancho chile powder, and added about a half teaspoon of cumin to round out the flavor. I increased the corn (I used frozen) to about 3/4 cup. I also subbed fat free yogurt for the buttermilk. I popped them in the oven and waited eagerly for them to come out. They baked for about 19 minutes. I tasted one right after I took them out of the oven (ouch!) Hmm…

They were kind of disappointing. The flavor was…muddled. The jalapeno would have helped, and adding cheddar would have helped a lot. The worst part was the stone ground corn meal was gritty and didn’t add a great texture. The corn meal was less gritty the following day, but the extra day dried out the corn so that it was almost desiccated. Maybe fresh corn would hold up better.

Check out the other TWD bakers here. They had better results than I did, and they reported that the muffins were fantastic with chili. I would try these again, stick with the recipe, using buttermilk, jalapenos and less corn, plus skipping the cumin. It’s possible I made too many changes and it blanded out the flavors.

TWD – Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins

Tuesdays with Dorie is a group of bakers who are baking through Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours. The bakers take turns picking the recipe for the week and we all post on Tuesdays (hence the name).

Rebecca of Ezra Pound Cake (one of my faves!) chose this week’s recipe, Savory Corn and Pepper Muffins. I was looking forward to this one, not just because we’ve been craving a savory break from all of the sweets, but because I love corn muffins. I used a stone ground corn meal, thinking it would make the muffins rustic. Since I was sharing these with visitors who may or may not like spicy food, I omitted the jalapeno. I used a ground Ancho chile powder, and added about a half teaspoon of cumin to round out the flavor. I increased the corn (I used frozen) to about 3/4 cup. I also subbed fat free yogurt for the buttermilk. I popped them in the oven and waited eagerly for them to come out. They baked for about 19 minutes. I tasted one right after I took them out of the oven (ouch!) Hmm…

They were kind of disappointing. The flavor was…muddled. The jalapeno would have helped, and adding cheddar would have helped a lot. The worst part was the stone ground corn meal was gritty and didn’t add a great texture. The corn meal was less gritty the following day, but the extra day dried out the corn so that it was almost desiccated. Maybe fresh corn would hold up better.

Check out the other TWD bakers here. They had better results than I did, and they reported that the muffins were fantastic with chili. I would try these again, stick with the recipe, using buttermilk, jalapenos and less corn, plus skipping the cumin. It’s possible I made too many changes and it blanded out the flavors.

TWD – Pumpkin Muffins

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was Pumpkin Muffins, chosen by Kelly of Sounding My Barbaric Gulp! My kitchen remodel started last week, so I baked these before the kitchen was demoed. It was kind of funny because the whole time I was supposed to be packing the kitchen, I was obsessing about how many weeks of TWD I’d have to miss. I’m so happy I fit these in before the excitement began.

The recipe “looks” like it will be one of those good-for-you ones that can’t taste yummy because it’s too healthy. Not this one. Even though it does have pumpkin, nuts and sunflower seeds, it still tastes like an indulgent treat you can enjoy while feeling smug about consuming something that is healthier than most muffins. I chose to bake the recipe as written, but I loved reading about all of the possible variations (check out the blogroll for what the other TWD bakers dreamed up).  

I baked a double batch so I wouldn’t have leftover pumpkin (check out the pumpkin gnocchi Kristen made here). I was tempted not to fill up the muffin cups in case they rose a lot, but they didn’t. I was rewarded with big muffins that were subtly flavored and delicious with a cup of coffee. I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin or raisins, but I LOVED these. For a decadent treat, try them with Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter. They were very popular at work, even with people who don’t gravitate to sweets. They were done before the recipe indicated I should check them, but they weren’t overly dry. 

These will become a staple in my baking rotation. They’re easy to make, delicious, quasi-healthy and offer lots of room for variation. Some variations I’m toying with include adding chocolate chips (big thumbs up from the other bakers), topping with granola instead of sunflower seeds, grated apple in place of the raisins, toasted pecans for the walnuts I used, and subbing crystalized ginger or Craisins for the raisins (Craisins were another hit with the TWD bakers).

If you’re interested in the recipe, you’ll find it here. Better yet, check out the book that inspired Tuesdays with Dorie, Baking: From My Home to Yours. If you want to join this great group of bakers from around the world, now is the time.  After October 31st, the group won’t be open to new members. Here’s how to join the fun.