Tag: Muffins

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Mermaid-Style Lemon Poppyseed “Muffins”

This is a great copycat recipe for the Lemon Poppyseed Muffins at the world’s most prolific coffee chain. (You know the one I’m talking about; it starts with an “S”, and rhymes with “tarbucks”.) But, let’s face it: This is not really a muffin — it’s a freakin’ cupcake. Nevertheless, they are quite tasty with a shot or two of espresso!

Ingredients*

  • 3/4 cup White Sugar
  • 1/2 cup Butter or Margarine, softened
  • 2 Large Eggs
  • 2 tsp. Lemon Extract
  • 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1/4 tsp. Salt
  • 1-1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 2/3 cup Whole Milk
  • 6 drops Yellow Food Coloring
  • 2 tbsp. Poppyseeds

*If you’re in a hurry, or don’t bake very much, you can get away with using any commercially available lemon cake mix and just add the poppyseeds. It’ll be our little secret.

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line a cupcake tin with 12 paper liners (or more if you’re using cake mix instead of this recipe.)
  3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat sugar, butter or margarine, eggs, and lemon extract together until smooth and creamy.
  4. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt.
  5. Add flour mixture to batter, alternating with cold milk, and beat until well combined.
  6. Add yellow food coloring and poppyseeds, and beat at medium speed for two minutes.
  7. Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups until about 3/4 full (about 1/3 cup.)
  8. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 15 to 20 minutes.
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REAL Blueberry Muffins

These aren’t cupcakes masquerading as muffins like you might get at the coffee drive-thru.  These are stick-to-your-ribs, real mother-f*cking muffins! The batter stands up strong to hold a LOT of delicious blueberries, and it works great with raspberries or blackberries, too. These muffins are lovely served with a little smear of butter or margarine.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups Frozen Blueberries (or even more if you’re feeling brave!)
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Large Egg
  • 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp. White Sugar
  • 1 tbsp.  Baking Powder
  • 1/2 tsp. Salt

Directions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Line a cupcake tin with paper cupcake liners. (This should make about 16 in a standard-sized cupcake tin.)
  3. Put frozen blueberries in a colander and run warm water over them for about thirty seconds, just enough to soften them a bit.  Shake the colander to keep them from sticking together and set aside, allowing to drain.
  4. Combine milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and egg in a large bowl and combine well.
  5. Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
  6. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix very gently until just combined. (Do NOT use a stand mixer or electric hand mixer for this step.) Your batter should be very lumpy.
  7. Shake blueberries one more time to make sure they’re not sticking together and add to batter.  Mix until JUST distributed throughout batter, but no more. The secret to a great textured muffin is a light hand while mixing!
  8. Spoon batter into prepared cupcake tin until each is about 2/3 full.
  9. Wipe any drips from around the edges of the tin with a damp paper towel. (You will thank me when it’s time to wash the tin!)
  10. Bake in pre-heated oven for 20-22 minutes until they begin to brown on the top. (If you’re using fresh berries, reduce the cooking time by about two minutes.)
  11. Remove from tin immediately and transfer to a cooling rack.
  12. Serve while still warm… or hot if you can’t wait!
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