Basic Muffin Recipe: Blueberry Lemon and Carrot Raisin

I'm always searching for good muffin recipes. It's so nice to have a delicious muffin ready and waiting to grab for a breakfast-on-the-go. I got this basic recipe from Pam Anderson's The Perfect Recipe, a great little cookbook that gives simple instructions and lots of variations for each recipe. As the former editor of Cook's Illustrated, Anderson really is a wonderful resource.

These muffins are good! I love the slight tang that the yogurt gives to them and the moistness. The carrot-raisin muffins are really good but plain--not carrot-cake like, as they only have a little cinnamon in them and not other spices. I think the raspberry-almond or the cranberry-orange would be great too. Continue for the recipe.


Basic Muffins
from The Perfect Recipe by Pam Anderson

3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
10 T butter, at room temp.
1 cup minus 1 T sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat to 375.
Line 18 muffin tins or coat with cooking spray.
Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Beat butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 min.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
Beat in 1/2 dry ingredients.
Beat in 1/3 of yogurt.
Beat in half of remaining dry ingredients, alternating with 1/3 of remaining yogurt, and repeat into fully incorporated.
Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.
Bake until golden brown, 20-25 minutes.
Cool slightly on wire rack, about 5 min. then remove and serve.

Cinnamon-Sugar Topping (optional):

1/2 cup sugar
2 t cinnamon
4 T melted butter

Mix sugar and cinn in small bowl. Dip each warm muffin in melted butter, then in cinnamon sugar and serve.

Variations:

Lemon Blueberry: Add 1 t lemon zest to sugar and rub between fingers until fragrant. Combine 1 T flour with 1 1/2 cups blueberries and fold into finished batter.

Carrot-Cinnamon Raisin: Add 1 t cinnamon to dry ingredients and fold in 1 1/2 cups grated carrots and 3/4 cups raisins into the finished batter.

Cranberry-Walnut-Orange: Add 1 t orange zest to sugar. Fold in 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped cranberries (or 3/4 cup dried) and 3/4 cup walnuts into finished batter.

Lemon Poppy Seed: Add 3 T poppy seeds to dry ingredients and 1 t lemon zest to sugar.

Raspberry Almond: Cream 1oz almond paste with the butter and sugar. When batter is finished, spoon half portion of batter into each muffin cup. Spoon 1 1/2 t raspberry jam into each cup and fill with remaining batter.

Mocha chip: Dissolve 3 T instant coffee granules in yogurt and fold 1 cup chocolate chips (or miniatures) into finished batter. Yum!!