Cupcakes and muffins are the city-country cousins of the bakery case. Cupcakes are the vain and sexy beauties; the humbler muffin know that inner beauty counts most. Cupcakes are party animals, muffins are homebodies. Cupcakes seduce, muffins beguile.
I love a warm, reasonably-sized muffin (you may have noticed how robust they’ve gotten over the years.) Originally they were a small, hot bread to serve with meals, not very sweet at all. Muffins are great for everyday meals: they’re quick to mix, quick to bake, and open to interpretation: you’ll see everything from banana nut to corn to pumpkin-millet on our table.
And now a confession: I often use a mix. Yeah, that’s right: I resort to the box, and I’m proud of it! Sue me! Everyone’s busy these days and, while we’d all like to eschew the prepared stuff, sometimes we cave into the demands of the day. Experimentation with gluten-free baking mixes led to my discover of Hodgson Mills muffin mixes. I’ve never looked back. They are whole grain, no additives, no preservatives, and best of all for my small family, one box makes 6 muffins. I bake them in the toaster oven with my little six-well muffin pan.
I don’t usually endorse specific products but when I do find something that’s pretty wholesome and not outrageously expensive, I think to spread the wealth. These little guys are great to have in the pantry for busy days. And you can easily jazz them up with dried or fresh fruit, nuts, even grated veggies like zucchini or carrot.
On this rainy evening, I whipped up a batch of them after a little doctoring. I used some chopped pitted prunes, a little cinnamon, and served them up, hot, with a big bowl of fresh vegetable soup pistou. My husband calls them “regularity muffins”. They’re much tastier than a glass of Metamucil!
Regularity Muffins
(6 muffins)
1 box Hodsgon Mills Bran Muffin Mix
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon canola oil
½ Cup milk (I used 2%)
1 large egg
½ Cup finely chopped pitted prunes
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a 6-well muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a bowl, toss the muffin mix and cinnamon with the oil until crumbly. Fold in the milk, egg and prunes just until the dough is wet (overmixing results in tough muffins!).
Bake for 15 minutes. Cool about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
And now a confession: I often use a mix. Yeah, that’s right: I resort to the box, and I’m proud of it! Sue me! Everyone’s busy these days and, while we’d all like to eschew the prepared stuff, sometimes we cave into the demands of the day. Experimentation with gluten-free baking mixes led to my discover of Hodgson Mills muffin mixes. I’ve never looked back. They are whole grain, no additives, no preservatives, and best of all for my small family, one box makes 6 muffins. I bake them in the toaster oven with my little six-well muffin pan.
I don’t usually endorse specific products but when I do find something that’s pretty wholesome and not outrageously expensive, I think to spread the wealth. These little guys are great to have in the pantry for busy days. And you can easily jazz them up with dried or fresh fruit, nuts, even grated veggies like zucchini or carrot.
On this rainy evening, I whipped up a batch of them after a little doctoring. I used some chopped pitted prunes, a little cinnamon, and served them up, hot, with a big bowl of fresh vegetable soup pistou. My husband calls them “regularity muffins”. They’re much tastier than a glass of Metamucil!
Regularity Muffins
(6 muffins)
1 box Hodsgon Mills Bran Muffin Mix
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 Tablespoon canola oil
½ Cup milk (I used 2%)
1 large egg
½ Cup finely chopped pitted prunes
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spray a 6-well muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a bowl, toss the muffin mix and cinnamon with the oil until crumbly. Fold in the milk, egg and prunes just until the dough is wet (overmixing results in tough muffins!).
Bake for 15 minutes. Cool about 5 minutes before removing from the pan.
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