Muffin redemption has arrived.
I haven’t blogged my last two experiments because I just wasn’t happy with them. It started on Saturday, when I was very excited to make Rocky Road Muffins. And don’t they look good?
Sadly, they were not so good. I thought they were too dense, too hard, the chocolate was too dark, and there weren’t enough marshmallows or white chocolate chips. (Nathaniel, however, loved them, which was nice.) But I didn’t feel good about them. I also had picked up some fun muffin cups but they were heavy, thicker than traditional paper or even foil ones, and I think that may have affected the texture. If I do make them again, I’ll reduce the amount of cocoa powder, add a little more sugar or some honey, plus more marshmallows, and maybe just put the white chocolate chips on top.
Then on Sunday, after whipping some up delicious Banana Yogurt Muffins (with cinnamon chips on top) to get me through the next few days of breakfasts, I tackled a recipe for Corn Muffins that looked good, but it wasn’t.
Still too dense, flavor okay but too salty. (That’s easy enough to fix.)
So basically, I made two different kinds of substandard muffins. Disappointing all around.
But worth it, I think, if that’s what led me to these delicious Vanilla Chai Muffins. Nathaniel and Dave and I are all in agreement. Perfect.
They were easy enough to make. I used whole wheat white flour instead of mixing different kinds, then added brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The recipe said to add the tea from two teabags, so I used three.
It smelled nice. I whisked it all together and made a well in the center.
In another bowl I combined buttermilk, melted butter, vanilla, and egg.
And once that was all mixed — and it looked a little unsavory at that point, since the buttermilk and melted butter didn’t completely agree with each other — I poured it into the well I’d made in the dry ingredients.
Once I stirred those together, the scary lumps went away and it came out looking like proper muffin batter.
I scooped it into muffin cups, and sprinkled a little demerara sugar on top. It said to use turbinado, which I was mysteriously out of. I’m sure it’ll turn up in the next few days, just like the unsweetened coconut and my Ghiradelli cocoa powder.
I baked for about 15 minutes, cooled for 2 in the pan, and got them onto a cooling rack. I then start whipping together some Banana, Peanut Butter, and Honey Muffins as I had a lot of baking atonement to take care of. But look at how nicely they came out!
And they’re delicious. Soft and fluffy, smooth vanilla undertone with a little bit of spice and some crunch on top from the sugar. Delightful. Nathaniel and I shared one and he had one for breakfast this morning. Dave loved them. Nathaniel says they’re best when warm so definitely heat them if they’re not fresh out of the oven. Awesome discovery, a desserty muffin that I can eat without feeling guilty but still enjoy as if it’s decadent. A hopeful, positive, jazzy kind of muffin.
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