Recipe #30: Cinnamon-and-Raisin Muffins

Cinnamon-and-Raisin Muffins

For these muffins, I found a nice alternative recipe on the internet at the following address: Erren's Kitchen. These muffins had no sugar added, but with the raisins and the sugar-cinnamon topping, they were sweet enough. I thought the end result tasted much like cinnamon coffee cake. They would have been enhanced by added walnuts or pecans, but I wanted to stay as close as possible to the recipe in the 201 Muffins book--at least with the basic ingredients, anyway.

Though the recipe called for six large muffins, I decided to make a dozen small muffins. (The photo shows only 11 because I ate one before I took the picture--baker's privilege.😉) I also used margarine in place of the butter, but if I make these again, I will probably use unsalted butter instead because the margarine added too much salt, in my opinion.

I thought they were very good and my tasters also enjoyed them and said they would definitely want to have them again. I rate these muffins 5 out of 5.

This was the first recipe I made to substitute for the 201 Muffins recipe. I think it was a success, so I will continue making muffins that are suggested by the recipes in the book using alternative recipes I find on the internet.

Next up: Citrus Muffins

Recipe #29: Chorizo-and-Corn Muffins

After reading the label on the chorizo I bought for these muffins (something I should've done earlier, needless to say), I learned that the sausage is made from the lymph nodes and salivary glands of pigs. When I looked that up, I further learned that such pork by-products are only used in cheap chorizo (the kind I bought) and in fact many people find them quite disgusting. That information was enough to turn me off cheap chorizo for the foreseeable future. So, I will not be making these muffins and I threw the chorizo away.

Recipe #28: Chocolate-Raspberry Muffins

Chocolate-Raspberry Muffins

I'm not sure what was the problem with these muffins. They came out very gummy, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth gummy, which is not what you want in a muffin. I'm guessing the problem was with the cup of raspberry preserves called for in the recipe. Since there was only 2 cups of flour, a cup of preserves seemed excessive and I think that's why the muffins came out gummy. I'm not sure about the science, but I wonder if the jelly got cooked to the point of turning to gum. The top of the muffins even looked as if they had been boiled (see photo). It's the only reason I can think of. There is also a possibility that I cooked them too long; but if so, it was because they were not done in the 20 minutes called for in the recipe.

At any rate, though the chocolate and raspberry flavors were nice, the muffins were inedible.

Since this is the fifth recipe in a row that turned out bad, I've decided this recipe book is not worth continuing with. The recipes are simply too unreliable. If they were kitchen tested, then I can only conclude that the editing is so poor that the recipes have not been printed as they had intended to be made. If they weren't kitchen tested, then the publishers should be ashamed.

I may, however, continue to make muffins from the ideas presented in the book, just using different, and presumably kitchen-tested, recipes. After all, that is what attracted me to the recipes in the first place. If I do continue in that way, the next muffins will be Chorizo Corn Muffins. Stay tuned for more in the near future.

Recipe #27: Chocolate Fudge Muffins

Chocolate Fudge Muffins

This recipe was different than what I'm used to with muffin recipes. For starters, it didn't have any leavening, just extra eggs. And it had a lot of butter as well. It seemed like a pound cake recipe, in fact. But pound cake, as most people know, has to be baked for a long time. This recipe called for a 300-degree oven temperature, which seemed a little cool, and the baking time was given as the usual 15 to 20 minutes. I was skeptical that the muffins would be done in that amount of time, and sure enough, they weren't. When I tested them after 20 minutes, they were still gooey inside. I baked them for a total of about 35 minutes, and they didn't rise very high, either, as you can see from the picture. Another odd feature of the recipe was the yield given: 23 to 24 muffins. That I immediately ignored since the recipe called for the usual 2 cups of flour.

The muffins tasted good (mostly due to the chocolate), but had a texture more like brownies than muffins. So, I guess it wasn't a total failure, but it was once again a recipe that had to be modified.

I have to give them 4 out of 5, just because of the recipe errors.

Next up:  Chocolate-Raspberry Muffins

Recipe #26: Chocolate Chip-and-Orange Muffins

Chocolate Chip-and-Orange Muffins

I had high hopes for this recipe. The ingredients sounded great: mini-chocolate chips, orange zest, heavy cream, triple sec liqueur. But the muffins did not turn out well, although I'm not sure why. The batter was too thick to begin with--not enough liquid, once again, I'm guessing. But the inclusion of 1/2 cup of oil plus 3/4 cup heavy cream made the muffins quite fatty. I decided not to add liquid, even though the batter was the consistency of cookie or biscuit dough. For once I was going to find out what happens when I go with the original recipe.

Well, I won't be doing that again. The recipe as-is produced muffins that were--no surprise--more like biscuits or cookies. When I first took them out of the oven at the prescribed time, they were quite gooey. Since I didn't want gooey muffins, I baked them for about ten minutes more. They came out less gooey, but then they were dry and crumbly. *Sigh!*

The flavor was good, however, so we will eat them, but they were a disappointment. My tasters agreed that the chocolate chips were good but otherwise, the muffins were not that great.

I rate these muffins 3 out of 5.

Alas! I'm starting to wonder about this book. I hope I start to have some good luck with future recipes or I may have to give up this project!

Recipe #25: Chive Dinner Muffins

Once again, a recipe failed to include enough liquid. This one was a little tricky to repair because the liquid being used was buttermilk, and I had only as much as was called for. So instead of buttermilk, I added plain yogurt, which made the muffins a little "hole-ly" (puffed up with large holes instead of small), but otherwise okay.

They were essentially plain muffins with some chives added, meaning they truly were for dinner rather than any other meal, although they went well with eggs, I thought, and would have gone well with other main dishes. My tasters gave them a mediocre rating--"They were okay." I thought they were good but would probably not make them again.

I wouldn't recommend the recipe since it was flawed. I rate them 3.5 out of 5.

I did not get a photo of these muffins.