I have to start out by saying I know.
I know muffins from franchise coffee houses (and, let’s face it, some mom-and-pop hipster-licious places as well) will never be as good as ones I make at home. I know this.
Even as I sit in a Starbucks, eating a muffin, I recognize that I bake ’em better. But I’m eating this muffin anyway. It’s decent, with a paradoxical dryness and a greasy slick to it. Why did I buy this?
The one thing these muffins always had over my home-baked ones are size. I can’t help it, sometimes I just want a big muffin. Not a snack; a muffin meal. I’ve attempted ways to bake up a filling breakfast muffin before, but ultimately, their small stature was their biggest downfall.
Time to get creative. Time to break out some unconventional equipment.
Ramekins, coffee mugs, or anything that’s wide and deep. Anything that will put your muffin tin to shame. That’s what we’re going for.
Achieved.
– Semolina muffins – adapted from a recipe on Joy the Baker for cornmeal quick bread
Yields 6 giant muffins
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup semolina
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup honey
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (or your preferred substitute)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 pint of blueberries, rinsed and dried
– Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare baking dishes. (note: I didn’t need to grease the ramekins, but I did cut out a circle of parchment paper for the bottom, just in case)
– Mix flour, semolina, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk butter (melted and cooled), honey, buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla extract.
– Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir for a bit, but not completely; leave some lumps and dry spots. Add in pecans and blueberries fold until everything is incorporated.
– Fill baking dishes (or muffin tin) 3/4 full and bake for 40-50 minutes (20-25 for muffin tins) until tops are lightly browned and a toothpick comes out clean.
And in other news, I’m getting married this weekend! Family starts arriving today and I’ll be completely swamped with budding marital bliss (or the stress of having so many relatives in the same room with each other…who knows), so posting may be a bit sparse for the next week. I’ll be back on Monday or Tuesday with some big news though.