Morning is for Muffins

Blueberry and Currant Muffins

Waking up early to whip up these muffins for our guests
makes 12 to 16 medium muffins

3 cups flour
3/4 cup cane sugar
1 1/2 T baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 cup honey
4 eggs
1 T vanilla extract
1 t orange zest
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter*, melted
1 pint fresh or frozen blueberries
1 pint fresh currants

Start by removing the current berries from their stems.

Preheat the oven to 375F. If not using silicone, use a bit of butter to grease the sides of the muffin tin.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together into a bowl and set aside.

In another bowl (if you are using a mixer, use that bowl), combine the eggs, vanilla, honey, orange zest and milk, and whisk for about a minute. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low for about 2 minutes or until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Don’t over mix.

Start slowly drizzling in the butter, continuing to slowly mix. When all the butter is well incorporated (no visible butter streaks), fold in the berries with a spatula. Try not crush them.

Fill each cup of the muffin tin to the top, carefully wiping off any spillage from the top of the pan. Place in the middle rack of the oven, and bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of the middle muffin comes out clean.

Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and then gently loosen the sides with a knife or fork, and turn the whole pan over to remove the muffins. Allow them to cool a few more minutes on a wire rack.

Yes, we have more bananas.

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Brunch. What a fabulously promising word, evocative of lazy Sunday mornings, which is what breakfast here at the Fish Creek House ends up being.  Guests realxing and deliciously carefree, to share the kind of simple and comforting food that makes you feel like a kid again. Runny eggs on toast. Bacon and potatoes. Blueberry pancakes. Puffy French toast.

We add banana pecan muffins to the menu and  round that out with freshly squeezed orange juice, your choice of tea or coffee (free refills!) . Needless to say, we usually have leftover stuff to eat for about a week afterwards, but that's a clear benefit

I like them best fresh out of the oven (after the necessary cooling down), but of course can be reheated in the oven the next day as well.

Banana Pecan Muffins

- 1 C  sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 C  salted butter
- 2 ripe bananas
- 1/4 C milk
- 2 C  all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 C pecans, toasted and chopped

(Yields 18 small muffins.)

Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F), and grease medium muffin tins (1.5'' or 4 cm in diameter) or line them with paper.

In a large mixing-bowl or in a food processor, cream together the sugar, the egg and the butter. In a separate bowl, mash together the bananas and milk. In another separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three parts, alternating with banana-milk mixture in two parts, stirring by hand until just combined (don't overmix or your muffins will be a little dense). Stir in the pecans.

Pour the batter into the muffin tins and bake for 40 minutes, or until the muffins are nice and golden. Allow to cool for a few minutes then turn out on a rack to cool.


Ever since i left New  York, i've been searching for the perfect "NY corn muffin".  These come close
f you're not watching the calories, you'll get a moister muffin if you use 1/4 cup oil instead of the 1/4 cup yogurt + 1 tbsp oil called for below.

Healthy Cornbread Muffins

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup ap flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup yogurt
1 tbsp olive oil
Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.
Whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, yogurt and oil. Pour buttermilk mixture into cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full with batter.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, until tester just comes out clean. Do not overbake!
Turn out to cool on a wire rack.

So I'm on a muffin jag here ...  Guests love these in the bread basket and we let them take the extras (if there are any!) on the road

Pumpkin Muffins

2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
6 T butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 1/2 cups Flour
2 T baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 400. Beat the eggs, milk, brown sugar, butter and pumpkin. In another bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt and spices. From the recipe: "Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and stir just enough to moisten and combine. The less you stir the muffins, the lighter and more tender they are. Lumps are okay! Pour the batter into greased muffin pans about 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean." Makes 18 muffins.