Recipe #71: Honey-Currant Muffins

Honey-Currant Muffins

The recipe in the book, 201 Muffins, called for graham flour, honey, currants, and amaretto. I couldn't find any recipes with those specific ingredients, so I opted for ones that had honey and some kind of heftier flour and/or raisins. I found two recipes that would work (with some tinkering), but since I couldn't decide which to make, I made both, ending up with more than two dozen muffins.

For the first recipe, I chose Honey Muffins from the Kellogg's website. It didn't call for whole wheat flour, but it did require 1/2 cup honey and All-Bran cereal, a substitute for the whole wheat flour. For the second recipe, I chose Yogurt Honey Muffins, from Kraft Canada's website. In this recipe, we we were to use whole wheat flour, honey (1/4 cup) and raisins. I decided that combining these two recipes would be too risky, so I made both. To get closer to the book's recipe, to each batch I added currants (rather than raisins for the Yogurt Honey Muffins); then to approximate amaretto (which I didn't have), I used chopped almonds. To replace the milk ingredient in each, I used buttermilk. In the photo, the muffin with the dark paper and a darker color is the Yogurt Honey Muffin; the other, lighter colored muffin is the Honey Muffin.

While the two recipes were similar, the muffins were different in interesting ways. Paradoxically, the extra honey (1/2 cup versus 1/4 cup) in the Honey Muffins made for a less sweet muffin, perhaps because brown sugar is sweeter than honey. (I never would have guessed that.) The Yogurt Honey Muffins were also moister than the Honey Muffins, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps it was because they had more liquid in them, or because the flour was not as dense (half was all-purpose flour; half cereal).

In any case, they were both good tasting and my tasters enjoyed them. I ended up having to give a half dozen away because there were too many for us to eat. I'm sure the recipients were appreciative, though I haven't gotten any feedback on that as yet.

I rate these as 5 out of 5 (with my additions, of course).

Next up: Honey Graham Muffins

Recipe #70: High-Protein Muffins

High-Protein Muffins

The recipe in 201 Muffins called for canola cereal as the principal source of high protein. Since I didn't know what that is or how to get it, I decided to use the Basic Muffins recipe from King Arthur Flour and combine flours that were high protein. I settled on whole wheat, buckwheat, barley and bran, all of which have a greater amount of protein than all purpose flour. I also added some other high-protein ingredients: walnuts and raisins, with a crunch topping that included mini-chocolate chips.

The muffins turned out a little strange, but they were good tasting, hearty and not very sweet. My tasters enjoyed them, too! They get full marks: 5 out of 5.

Next up: Honey Currant Muffins

Recipe #69: High-Fiber Muffins

High-Fiber Muffins

The recipe in the book, 201 Muffins, called for canola cereal as the principal ingredient. While it's probably high in fiber, canola cereal didn't sound like something I wanted in a muffin (or something I could even find), so I chose a different recipe for high fiber, one I found on the Bob's Red Mill website, "Bob's High Fiber Bran Muffins."

The fiber in this recipe came from whole wheat flour, wheat bran, and raisins. To give them even more fiber, I added chopped up pears and walnuts. They came out very tasty and with a lovely texture--woolly, I call them--like a wool sweater with lots of nubs.

My tasters really loved them and they were also good for you--low fat as well as high fiber.

I would definitely make them again. I rate these muffins 5 out of 5. Thanks, Bob!

Next: High Protein Muffins

Recipe #68: Herbal Muffins with Polenta

Herbal Muffins with Polenta

Finding a suitable substitute for this 201 Muffins recipe was a little challenging. I'd never heard of using polenta in baking, so I had to learn about the grain. It's actually corn grits, so not so unusual as I thought. I finally ended up using a recipe from a British website called The Flexitarian, and since these muffins were supposed to be savory rather than sweet, I chose a vegetarian recipe, Olive & Red Pepper Polenta Muffins. Since the book's recipe used onions, I substituted the red pepper in the online recipe with onions, and instead of the cheddar cheese called for in the recipe, I used mozzarella cheese. I kept the olives but substituted green olives. Then I used Italian seasoning mixture in place of the thyme. I sprinkled a few sunflower seeds on top for added texture. I called them Italian Corn Muffins.

They came out rather well, I'd say. In fact, they were delicious, though rather spicy--in a good way. My tasters enjoyed them. I would definitely make these muffins again, perhaps more closely adhering to the online recipe.

I rate these muffins 5 out of 5.

Next: High Fiber Muffins