Mini-Orange Muffins

I love these tiny little muffins with the frittata recipe posted below. The citrus adds a nice contrast to the heavier flavors. I also love the fact that these only take about 7 minutes to bake!

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon orange zest
3/4 cup orange juice (medium or low pulp is best)
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 large egg

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Grease bottoms only of a 24 miniature muffin tin. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and orange zest.
3. In a small bowl, combine orange juice, oil, and egg. Add to flour mixture and stir until just mixed; the batter will be lumpy.
4. Divide batter evenly into muffin tins, filling to the top. Bake at 400ºF for about 6-7 minutes, but checking at about 5 for doneness, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool 1 minute then remove from pan. 

Makes 24 miniature muffins.

Cornbread Muffins

These freeze and reheat just fine. I usually save a few to make cornbread stuffing within a couple of days. Just wrap them well in plastic wrap and put them in a freezer bag; they will be best if used within a week or so.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk or sour milk *(See note)
1/4 cup cooking oil

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F degrees. Grease a standard twelve-cup muffin tin lightly with butter or shortening.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
3. In another bowl combine wet ingredients.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients all at once and stir gently until dry ingredients are moistened, but do not over mix. The batter will still be slightly lumpy. Let sit for 2 minutes.
5. Pour batter into tins, filling 2/3 the way full.
6. Bake until lightly golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
7. Remove from pan and serve!

Makes 12 muffins.

*Note: Sour milk can be substituted if you have no buttermilk on hand. This is actually how I make them, seeing as how buttermilk's shelf life isn't that long, and I always have lemons and milk on hand. In a one cup measuring cup, squeeze 1/2 lemon (or about two tablespoons) and add enough milk to make 1 cup of liquid. Stir gently and let sit for at least 5 minutes. 

Banana Crunch Muffins

This recipe comes from one of Ina Garten's wonderfully simple cookbooks, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. She notes that it is important to use very ripe bananas for this recipe.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk (although I probably used 2%, as it is what we keep in our house)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 bananas)
1 cup medium diced bananas (about 1 banana)
1 cup small diced walnuts
1 cup granola *(See note)
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
small amounts of dried banana chips, granola, and/or shredded coconut for topping (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees.
2. Line 18 large muffin cups with paper liners. Sift the flour, sugar, baking, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend. Combine the eggs, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas, and add them to the flour and butter mixture. Scrape the bowl and blend well, but do not over-mix (batter should still be a little lumpy and thick)
3. Fold the diced bananas, walnuts, granola, and coconut into the batter. Spoon the batter into the paper cups, filling just almost to the top. Top each muffin (if desired) with any mixture of the dried banana chips, granola, and/or coconut. Bake for 20-30 minutes (depending upon your oven's baking tendencies!) until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, about 5-10 minutes, remove from the pan, and serve. 

Serves: 18 large muffins

*Note: I use crunchy granola bars and I break them into small pieces, but you can use home-made granola or store bought granola that is not in a bar.