Recipe #74: Irish Coffee Muffins

Irish Coffee Muffins

I was surprised to find a number of recipes on line for Irish Coffee Muffins (the recipe in 201 Muffins). Most had Kahlua as well as Irish Whiskey, but since I didn't have Kahlua, I chose a recipe that used plain coffee instead of coffee liqueur. This recipe, Irish Coffee Muffins, came from the website, Upstate Ramblings. It uses coffee instead of coffee liqueur, and Irish Whiskey. The flour called for was not specified, so I decided to use graham flour; and in place of the sour cream, I used buttermilk, and then added 3 T margarine to compensate for the lack of fat in the buttermilk. I also added walnuts, not called for in the recipe.

The muffins came out browner than the ones pictured on the website, and the darker flour made for a heartier muffin. They didn't take nearly as long to bake as the recipe suggested--only 16 minutes as opposed to the 20 given in the recipe--but I'm finding that's the case with most recipes, perhaps due to my oven or possibly the size of my muffin tins.

These were not overly sweet and were quite good. I could barely taste the whisky and coffee, however, perhaps due to the whole wheat pastry flour's strong flavor.

My tasters enjoyed them, and I would make these muffins again, certainly.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Next up: Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins

Recipe #73: Honey-Oatmeal Muffins with Fruit

Honey-Oatmeal Muffins
Taken from Food&Wine

This recipe in 201 Muffins called for honey, of course, but also dried fruit. Bakers could choose their own fruit, it seems, so I chose cranberries and apricots. The recipe I chose, White House Honey-Oat Muffins, from the Food &Wine website, called for honey, oatmeal, and other flours. I added the dried fruit and walnuts. I must say, though, that this recipe did not produce a muffin that was as good as the one I used last time. The muffins were drier and not as flavorful. I'm guessing the apricots had something to do with that, since they tend to have less flavor in the dried version. But I'm really not sure. I won't be making these again, though.

My tasters liked them, but didn't rave. That was the way I felt, too, I must say.

Rating: 4 out of 5, just for lack of flavor.

Next: Irish Coffee Muffins

Recipe #72: Honey-Graham Muffins

Honey-Graham Muffins

This recipe in the 201 Muffins book called for graham flour (as well as corn flour, which I ignored). It turns out that graham flour is the same as whole wheat pastry flour (who knew?), but I did buy some graham flour. The recipe I ended up using was Healthy Whole Wheat & Honey
Applesauce Muffins, from the website Five Heart Home. That recipe included honey and applesauce and whole wheat pastry flour, so I used my graham flour, added walnuts and instead of the streusel topping recommended by the recipe, I used a crunch topping with cinnamon chips. They came out really delicious! Moist, just sweet enough and hearty. The crunch topping with the cinnamon chips made them perfect.

My tasters agreed. I would make these muffins again, definitely!

Rated 5 out of 5. I know, I'm an easy grader.

Next: Honey-Oatmeal Muffins with Fruit.

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