It saves me time, and gives us variety. I do 3 dozen muffins at a time, so I can have them in the freezer for snacks, breakfasts, and to go with a bowl of soup or stew. (You wouldn't believe how fast the 5 of us can plow through 36 muffins.)
This "recipe" can be easily scaled down to 2 or 1 dozen muffins, and you'll still have the variety you want.
To make:
I pick 3 flavors, or sets of add-ins. This time I chose pumpkin-chocolate chip, apples and cinnamon, and cranberry-orange.
I decide how many muffins I want in total. For every dozen muffins, I use a total of about 1 cup of add-ins. So, as I made 3 dozen muffins, I used a) 2/3 cup of chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin, b) 1 cup of apple dices plus a teaspoon of cinnamon, and c) 1 cup of chopped cranberries plus about 1 teaspoon of orange zest. 1 cup of add-ins for each dozen muffins.
I prepare my add-ins and put each into it's own medium-size bowl (I use round casserole dishes for these bowls).
I find a basic muffin recipe, that will make 12 plain muffins. It's the usual 2 cups flour, 1 egg, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/3 cup oil, 3/4 to 1 cup milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract -- a basic muffin recipe.
In a large mixing bowl, I prepare the batter multiplying out for the number of muffins I want. I very gently incorporate the dry and the wet (it's okay to have some dry ingredients here and there, just not a lot).
I set baking cups into my muffins tins. (I have 3 1-dozen muffin tins. If I didn't have this many tins, I'd fill what I have and either refrigerate any extra batter for when the tins were empty in 20 minutes, or make muffin squares -- the batter baked in a large rectangular baking dish, then cut into squares.)
I eyeball the batter, dividing as equally as possible into the medium-size bowls with the add-ins. Gently fold the add-ins with the batter. Fill muffin cups and bake. (I have 2 ovens, so the baking goes quickly. When I had 1 oven, I'd fill the muffin tins and refrigerate until the oven was free to bake more.)
So, let's say that you just want 1 dozen muffins, but want 2 kinds. (Then they're Two-way muffins.) Choose add-ins for the 2 varieties, and mix up batter for 1 dozen muffins. Divide batter between two add-in bowls, fill muffin tin and bake.
Some ideas for add-ins:
- pumpkin-chocolate chip (when adding pureed fruit/vegetable, keep it to 1/4 to 1/3 cup per dozen muffins)
- apple chunk-cinnamon
- nuts
- grated carrot and spice
- cranberries (dried or fresh)
- banana chunks and nuts
- grated zucchini and spice
- blueberry (fresh or frozen)
- coconut-pineapple chunk
I find this to be a great way to use up odds and ends. The cranberries and orange zest in the cranberry-orange muffins were leftovers in the freezer, from last winter. The pumpkin, in the pumpkin-chocolate chip, was a smidge leftover from making scones a week ago. And the apples, well, we just have a lot of apples to go through. I later found a small amount of chopped almonds that would have been good in one of the varieties. Oh well, next time.
So there you have it, Three-way muffins. In case you're wondering, why the muffin-frenzy? October is soups, stews, and chili month around here. When the cold weather sets in, I like a steaming bowl of something, along with a muffin or dinner roll.
What's your favorite muffin flavor?
