Recipe #67: Hawaiian Muffins

Hawaiian Muffins

Hawaiian Muffins are so named because of the macadamia nuts, pineapple, and brown sugar in the ingredients. The recipe I chose for this week came from the Pillsbury.com website, "Pineapple Macadamia Muffins." They turned out very well--nicely high-fiber and sweet. The recipe called for whole wheat flour, canned pineapple, brown sugar and macadamia nuts. They also had a nice crunch top.

Macadamias are wonderfully flavorful--I don't understand why anyone would want to flavor them with garlic or some other such coating as you find in snack mixes. These were delicious muffins, mostly due to the macadamias. They were also fairly healthy--not only white whole wheat flour, but some of the fat was substituted by applesauce, adding that nice apple flavor as well. The pineapple also added fiber and flavor, as well as sweetness.

I would definitely make these again. My tasters mostly enjoyed them--one stated he thought the combination was a little odd, though he ate them anyway😉.

Rating: 5/5

Next up:     Herbal Muffins                                                         

Recipe #66: Heirloom Muffins

Heirloom Muffins

Heirloom Muffins, as it turned out, are a particular kind of muffin with raisins being the principal ingredient. Yet they are not just any raisin, but raisins soaked or simmered in liquid to make them plump up prior to being incorporated into the batter. In the recipes I consulted, the liquid is most often water, but in the recipe included in the book, 201 Muffins, the liquid was brandy. I ended up using a couple of recipes: an Heirloom Muffins recipe and a Rum Raisin Recipe to come up with the approximation of the book's recipe.

I decided to soak the raisins in a mixture of triple sec and Drambuie over night. They did plump up nicely and gave the muffins texture and a nice flavor. I used a mixture of whole wheat and all-purpose flour which gave them a heartier heft. Otherwise they were a rather plain muffin, but good tasting. My tasters enjoyed them, as did I.

I rate these 5 out of 5.

Next up: Hawaiian Muffins

Recipe #65: Grape Muffins

Grape Muffin

For these muffins, I used a recipe from a private blog, Delishar, authored by a woman who lives in Singapore. The recipe in 201 Muffins did not include grapes; it used grape jelly and grape yogurt. I decided there was no reason not to use grapes in the recipe, so having found "Grape Muffins" and one other recipe at Genius Kitchen with the same name, I decided to slightly modify the Delishar muffin by adding regular sugar instead of caster sugar, upping the quantity to 1 cup instead of the 1/2 cup called for in the Delishar recipe.

The muffins came out well, I think. The grapes were chopped and had an interesting, rather delicate texture and flavor--different from the usual fruit added to muffins. They were sweet, but not terribly so. And they seemed to be moist enough, though I'm still struggling with that.

I rate these muffins 5 out of 5. My tasters all enjoyed them.

Next: Heirloom Muffins

Recipe #64: Granola Muffins

Granola Muffins

The recipe in 201 Muffins was pretty standard, so I had no trouble locating several Granola Muffins recipes on the internet. I started with one from King Arthur Flour, "Buttermilk Granola Muffins," that looked really nice but produced muffins that were not as good as I expected. I think that the lack of eggs made the muffins not hold together well, causing them to fall apart, even before I got them out of the pan. They were also chewier than I would have liked.

So, since I still had granola left, I decided to try a second batch with a different recipe, one with more conventional ingredients (including eggs), "Crunchy Granola Muffins," from Betty Crocker. I added raisins since the recipe called for raisin granola, and my granola didn't have raisins. Those came out much better; though they weren't as sweet, they held together nicely and had a better texture and a good flavor.

My tasters enjoyed them, one saying they were "delicious." I rated them 5 out of 5.

Next: Grape Muffins

Recipe #63: Garlic Corn Muffins

Garlic Cheddar Cornbread Muffins

For these muffins, I chose a recipe from a private web site, Alida's Kitchen, called Garlic Cheddar Cornbread Muffins. They had quite a bit more cheese than the original recipe in 201 Muffins, but they were good tasting and I think really benefited from the addition of cheese as the garlic would have otherwise been too overpowering. It was strong enough as it was.

I thought the muffins tasted good, though they were a bit dry. (I'm starting to think over-mixing is probably the problem.) I like the addition of buttermilk or yogurt and I've read it causes the muffins to be moister. So I may go with that from now on. We'll see. I also like the less dark muffin that means I will be trying a lower temperature (375°F) even when the recipe calls for a high temperature.

I made these for a pot luck dinner; no feedback from the other diners (so far, anyway). But I thought they were adequate--garlicky and spicy, but good.

I rate these 4 out of 5, just because of the dryness.

Next: Granola Muffins

Recipe #62: Gingerbread Muffins

Gingerbread Muffins

For this recipe, which was quite similar to Ginger and Molasses Muffins, I chose a Betty Crocker recipe, Gingerbread Muffins. This recipe had the added bonus of chocolate drizzle on the top. They used white chocolate, but since I didn't have any of that, I chose to use dark chocolate. It tasted fine, anyway, though my tasters thought it was a bit unusual. I don't think it was, since spiced chocolate is a fairly common treat. I also added pecans, which was a waste of pecans, as it turned out, since I barely noticed they were there.

They came out a bit dry, I think, which may be due to my oven's being too hot. I may try to use a lower heat or bake them less time if I ever bake them again. I've read, too, that over-mixing can cause dryness, so I'm going to watch out for that.

They were good tasting and hearty, however, so I rate them 4.5 out of 5.

Next: Garlic and Corn Muffins