Assortment of Muffins
By Cat, Jun 2008 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
- See also: 1. Breads & Muffins Menu; 2. Grains, Flours & Starches (About) Menu; 3. Crumb or Nut-Crumble Topping for Muffins; 4. Sugar and Other Sweeteners Menu; 5. Spelt vs Wheat in Baked Goods & Pasta
This recipe is about as basic as it gets. It uses whole wheat pastry flour, but without any added fruit or nuts. You could use part whole wheat and part unbleached white flour, but the natural sweetness of the whole grain and honey really makes them special. And you could certainly jazz them up a bit by adding fruit or nuts (see suggestions below).
I don’t include a pre-soak version for this recipe; if you want to do a presoak version, follow instructions for Pre-Soak Spelt Muffins.
Variations & Additions for Plain Muffins: The following can be added to any plain muffin recipe to add flavor and interest:
- ½ cup chopped dates
- mix of dried fruits to total 1/2 cup
- ½ cup shopped fresh apple (with peel)
- mix of apple and walnuts or pecans to total 1/2 cup
— If making whole-grain muffins, dredge the fruit/nuts in 1 -2 Tbsp of the flour. Then mix into the liquids along with the flour (or stir into the sifted flour, before adding liquids).
— For presoaked spelt muffins, dredge the fruit/nuts in 1 – 2 Tbsp of the next-day flour, then add to remaining dry ingredients.
— If you like a more moist muffin, add a bit of apple sauce or pureed apple with the other liquids (if using a presoak method, you can add this to the presoak mixture).
Whole Wheat Muffins
This recipe is adapted from a 1940’s cookbook: Home Baking Made Easy, by Virginia Roberts, Director Occident Home Baking Institute (See Beloved Cookbooks for more about this book). The original calls for 1/4 cup sugar; I prefer to use honey or malted barley sweetener, with stevia. Makes 12 muffins.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- Dry ingredients:
- 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- ¼ cup unbleached white flour
- 1 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
- ½ tsp unrefined sea salt (or less)
- Stevia (if using, see amount below)
- Moist ingredients:
- ¼ cup Rapadura or other cane sugar, local honey or Grade-B maple syrup (or 2 Tbsp honey/maple syrup plus ¼ tsp stevia extract powder)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- ¼ cup butter or coconut oil (softened)
- As needed: unbleached white flour, as needed after mixing with wet ingredients
- Optional: Crumb or Nut-Crumble Topping for Muffins
- Equipment:
- medium bowl
- large bowl
- muffin tins for 12 muffins
- muffin papers (optional)
Method
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Butter and flour 12 muffin cups (or fill cups with muffin papers).
- Sift dry ingredients (if using stevia, add it too) into a large bowl, making a well in the center. If adding fruit or nuts, dredge in 1 -2 Tbsp of the flour; then stir into sifted flour.
- Beat together the moist ingredients in a smaller bowl; pour into the well of flour.
- Stir just until moistened. If batter is too runny, add unbleached white flour, 1 Tbsp at a time until desired texture is reached.
- Fill muffin cups half-full (fill any empty cups with water). Sprinkle crumb or nut-crumble topping over muffins, if desired.
- Bake for 20 – 25 minutes, or until light brown in color.
References:
- Home Baking Made Easy, by Virginia Roberts, Director Occident Home Baking Institute (See Beloved Cookbooks for more about this book)
