Comments on: Tough times demand tender muffins.

By: Kara

Kara — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:48:20 +0000

Made this for breakfast this morning. I added chopped dates and cinnamon chips, and I thought they were fabulous! Even my boys (who say they hate dates) loved them!

By: Kaycee

Kaycee — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:20:52 +0000

I made these strictly according to the recipe, using dried cranberries. I am sad to say they will not be on my ‘keeper’ list.

They were 1) too dense, and dry, 2) taste bland. Perhaps orange or lemon zest would liven them up, but still, they rise only slightly and are too heavy for my taste.

I have seen King Arthur bakers demonstrations and know about ‘fluffling’ the flour prior to measuring, and all the other basics, so I am not sure how I went wrong on these, if I did. I baked them in an almost-new Wilton muffin pan (but without paper liners). Every other recipe I have used from this site has been just wonderful. But, sorry, not these.

Sorry these didn’t work for you, Kaycee. Sometimes a recipe just doesn’t work out, for whatever reason. But glad you’ve enjoyed our others! - PJH

By: Muffie

Muffie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 07:01:52 +0000

Place non-stick parchment liners into muffin tins.
Add a few slices of almonds and a few fresh blueberries on the bottom of each.
Whisk together 1/2 C canola oil, 2 eggs, and (oops, no cow’s milk in the house) 1 C soy milk.
Blend in the box of “DownEast Blueberry Muffin Mix”.
Add a few more berries if you like.
Use an ice cream disher to portion out into the muffin tin liners.
Top with a bit more of almond slices and some crunchy Demerara sugar.
Bake as per box directions, until golden and toothpick test clean.

I tend to make muffins after dinner. It’s a quick and easy dessert, and a good to go breakfast for the next day.

Hey, Muffie, thanks for sharing- PJH

By: Mares

Mares — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:18:16 +0000

Muffins are the first thing I ever learned to make, my grandfather taught me.

The recipe (all of them I’ve read on the site tonight) looks fantastic. I’ve never visited your site, but followed a link to it, and I just love it. So many nice things I want to get. Thank you for this all encompassing site. Truly a baker’s delight.

By: Missy

Missy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:24:32 +0000

PJH, The icing is more soft and marshmallow-y. It is very subtle, there is a thin to light medium coating on it. It’s not like one of those high thick icings. Missy

By: Missy

Missy — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 01:45:32 +0000

I am not sure if this is the proper place to ask a question, but I’ll test it out. I recently had the most incredible sweet roll. It had a few walnuts in it, and was topped by the most wonderful meringue icing. The Heritage Cafe in Chester VT serves it and they referred to it as a Wiggins coffee roll. I have searched everywhere for a recipe. I scoured your sight, but no luck. The basic roll tastes alot like your sweet roll recipe…so any idea on the topping, or have you ever heard of these Wiggins rolls? Thank you.

Missy, never heard of them, but I’ve been to Chester plenty of times. I’ll have to check out the Heritage Café next time I pass through. Is the icing light and crunchy meringue, or more like soft and marshmallow-y meringue? Thanks for the heads-up. PJH

By: Julie

Julie — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:14:01 +0000

You certainly called it on the CNN election timing! Watching tonight - not all the polls are closed - but they’ve got “a winner” and just told the t.v. audience that any votes not yet cast “don’t matter now”. Votes always count - the last equal to the first.

Thanks for the great instructions. I actually find muffins MUCH harder than cakes or pies - but will give this a try.

Julie: Stir, don’t beat. Easy does it. I predict great success - and I didn’t even need any exit polls… PJH

By: yolo603

yolo603 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 02:12:53 +0000

i was delighted to find this ‘basic’ muffin recipe and couldn’t wait to try it. afterall, who doesn’t love fresh warm muffins. i was really disappointed in them. they were quite bland tasting, and the texture was very dense. my ‘add in’ was chopped pecans. however, i’ll give them another chance as it was an easy recipe and i feel i must have done something wrong. did i over beat? did i over bake? also, i used quaker oats instead of quick oats. maybe next time i’ll use a jazzier ‘add in’.

Yolo, if you used old-fashioned oats, try processing them briefly in a food processor to break them up a bit; that way they’ll resemble quick oats. Quick oats absorb more liquid, which makes for a slightly stiffer batter, and better texture. As for bland - yes, with only pecans, they’d be kind of flat-tasting. These are designed with less sugar in the batter, so you can add up to 1 1/2 cups mostly sweet add-ins - fruit or chips. for all nuts, I’d increase the sugar to 2/3 to 3/4 cups. Hope you try them again- PJH

By: Rico

Rico — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 21:46:53 +0000

Amazing muffins, look very light and full of flavour from the making of your recipe I also get that a lot of thought went into making them as you even grease the cases, photography is good too …well done keep cooking.

http://ricocoffeeshop.blogspot.com

By: The Jillybean

The Jillybean — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 17:42:55 +0000

Mmmm, I am going to have to try these! As well as a lot of the other recipes I am seeing on here! What a great find!