Ginger Peach Muffins

Crystallized ginger is a beautiful thing to add to your baked goods. Sweet and spicy, biting into it offers a subtle heat that will make any ordinary treat extra special.

That’s why I knew these ginger peach muffins, adapted from my Food & Wine cookbook, would be a fun summer-meets-fall confection. The peaches are sauteed to caramelize their juices, then placed atop the whole-wheat ginger batter and baked. The slices ooze with sweetness and keep the whole muffin tender.

When I first baked these, I found them a bit too dry. Perhaps it was the whole-wheat flour, I thought. So I packaged them up and took them to the office, where my colleagues quickly dug in. And to my amazement, they had softened nicely overnight. The recipe recommends eating them within 2 days and I can see why – the peaches will quickly over-soften and possibly mold if left longer.

A fun and healthy treat for tea time or breakfast time…

Ginger Peach Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 T plus 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 2 small peaches, ripe but firm, cored, peeled and sliced
• 1 T unsalted butter
• 1 T honey
• 1 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 c. AP flour
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 3/4 c. whole milk
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 egg
• 3 T finely chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tins.

In medium skillet, add butter, honey and 1 tsp grated ginger. Heat over medium to melt, stirring to combine until bubbling, 2 min. Add peaches, toss to coat, set aside.

Sift dry ingredients into large bowl. Set aside. Combine wet ingredients in large bowl, along with remaining fresh ginger and whisk to combine. Mix wet into dry ingredients until just combined.

Scoop batter into muffin cups.

Toss pan of peaches to coat them with the pan juices.

Lay two slices of peaches on each muffin, tucking in the top slice into the batter a little. Spoon pan juices over the peaches.

Bake 24-28 min., rotating pans halfway through. The peaches will start to caramelize and muffins with be light golden. Out of the oven, place each muffin on its side to cool – this will keep them from getting soggy.

Eat.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo

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Apple Muffins

My friends and I love to hate Martha Stewart and her team of annoyingly crafty people. Every month as I wait for my subscription, I think, “What new thing will she print that I MUST make? Homemade Peeps?”

A friend sent me this recipe a while ago and I baked it despite the fact that I try to save apple-cinnamon treats for fall and winter. But why deny bliss?

Chunks of tart apples dot the soft, moist muffins and cinnamon keeps it interesting. Next time, I might try to jazz these up with some nutmeg or chopped candied ginger. They don’t need much, but apples are fun to cook with interesting spices. I omitted the walnuts, but add if you like them.

Martha’s Chunky Apple Muffins

Ingredients:

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 medium Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and quartered
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon plus 2 pinches salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 12-cup standard muffin tin with cooking spray; set aside. Cut 3 apple quarters into 1/4-inch dice; cut remaining apple quarter into 12 thin slices for garnish.
2. Whisk together sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add diced apple and walnuts, if using; toss to coat.Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and butter in a small bowl. Gently fold buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full.Top each with an apple slice. Bake until muffins are brown around edges and spring back when touched, 16 to 18 minutes. Let muffins cool slightly, about 5 minutes, before turning out of tin onto a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Enjoy these for breakfast or a snack – they go perfectly with a cup of coffee or a spicy tea. xoxo

“Don’t be blue” berry and sour-cream muffins

These muffins deserve an attention-grabbing name like “Blueberry breakup muffins” or “Don’t be blueberry muffins.” Because they can make the rainiest of days (like the entire South is experiencing this week)  a little bit sweeter.

My aunt and uncle own a blueberry farm in Arkansas. Growing up, I spent many summers in the sticky sun, picking buckets of blueberries for 50 cents an hour. Child labor! Perhaps that’s why I never liked blueberries – I don’t like blueberry pie, cobbler or pancakes.

But, for some reason, I love these blueberry muffins.

I got the recipe from Ina Garten as I looked for a way to use up 2 pints of old farmers’ market bluberries that Jesse’s brother bought a week ago. We happened to have some eggs, milk and sour cream in the fridge, too, so I had everything I needed to make them.

And that sour cream – whoa. As they baked, the muffins smelled like my mom’s cream-cheese sugar cookies that she makes at Christmas. The muffins come out light and fluffy, sticky with sugar and containing that extra bite from the sour cream. The tart blueberries are a nice burst of juice, of course.

I always thought you had to mix the blueberries in flour for muffins – so they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffins. But these didn’t include a flour dusting and the blueberries were suspended throughout the muffins. Maybe that was from the leavening agents?

Ingredients:

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 c. sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

8 oz. sour cream (about 1 cup – I had less than a cup but it turned out fine)

1/4 c. milk

2 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. kosher salt

2 half pints of blueberries (or more!), picked through for stems

Heat oven to 350. Line two muffin pans with paper liners.

Cream together the sugar and butter for five minutes, until light and airy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla, sour cream and milk.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add this to the egg mixture and blend. Fold in the blueberries.

Scoop the mixture evenly into the prepared pans. You should have enough for 2 dozen. Bake for 25-30 min. (mine took 28 minutes), turning the pan half-way through. They should be lightly browned and a cake tester will come out clean (toothpick inserted in center). Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy these with coffee for breakfast, or with a glass of milk after dinner. There is simply  no bad time to eat a great blueberry muffin.

Enjoy, friends! xoxo