EASY PLAIN BASIC MUFFINS

Easy Plain Basic Muffins image

The key to making great muffins is not overmixing the batter. Once the liquid ingredients are added to the dry, mix the batter by hand just until the flour is moistened, for no more than about ten seconds. Too much mixing can cause the muffins to be dry, tough or misshapen. And if you want to spruce your muffins up a little bit, here's a recipe for a cinnamon streusel topping you can mix up in just a few seconds.

Provided by CHEF GRPA

Categories Breads

Time 35m

Yield 12 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 8

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Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour or 1/4 cup pastry flour, sifted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 large egg (or 2 medium)
4 ounces butter (1/2 stick) or 4 ounces shortening

Steps:

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
Unwrap the butter and heat it in the microwave, in a microwave-safe bowl, for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.
Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs.
Thoroughly grease and flour a muffin pan (or use paper muffin liners).
Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it inches Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.
IMPORTANT: Don't add hot melted butter to the egg mixture as the heat from the butter would cook the egg, and that's not what you want to do!
Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than ten seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. That's OK! It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.
Gently pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake immediately.
My TIP's: The dry and wet ingredients, respectively, can be mixed in advance, but as soon as the wet and dry ingredients have been combined with each other, the liquid will activate the baking powder and the batter must be baked right away.
Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Note: The muffin was extremly thick and too sweet for me and my friends (15/16 year olds) The first time I made it it was too sweet and too thick. The second time I made them today, and I added 1/10 less sugar and 1/10 more milk and mixed much less. I also added a little splash more of vanilla. Some added apple chunks and 1 tablespoons cinnamon and they were delicious!
Streusel Topping.
Prep Time:5 minutes Total Time:5 minutes.
Ingredients:.
½ cup all-purpose flour.
¼ cup brown sugar, packed.
½ stick unsalted butter.
½ tsp ground cinnamon.
Preparation:.
Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until crumbly. Alternately, you can mash the ingredients together in a bowl using a fork, or just smoosh everything together with your fingers.
"FABULOUS TOPPER FOR ANY MUFFIN-I love it on banana, apple, lemon -- possiblities are endless. Enjoy!".