Basic Muffins

About ten years ago, I developed a muffin obsession. We were moving from Texas to Maryland for my husband’s job, and the day we flew out, a good friend brought us some bakery muffins. One of them was orange flavored. It was tender and sweet, moist and delicious. I fell in love. After that, I was on a mission to find a good muffin recipe. I experimented with recipes until I found something that was easy and versatile. Since then, I have lowered the sugar in the recipe and substituted white whole wheat flour for the all purpose white flour to make the muffins healthier. Our favorite variation, by far, is what we call Mandarin Muffins made by mixing in one can of drained mandarin oranges.

The muffins pictured above are made with one banana and ¼ cup of mini chocolate chips. Sometimes, when I do not have any fruit on hand, I will stir in a teaspoon or two of cinnamon.

Basic Muffins

¼ cup melted butter

½ cup raw or white sugar

¾ cup milk

1 egg

1 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup of fruit, nuts, or chocolate chips 

In a mixing bowl melt butter in microwave. Add sugar, milk and egg. Stir to combine. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir just until moistened. Add fruit. Bake in greased muffin pan at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Yield: 12 muffins

Blueberries, mandarin oranges, peaches, dried cranberries, mashed bananas, walnuts, pecans, chocolate chips, and cinnamon all taste good in these muffins. Enjoy!

Frugal Tip: When you have bananas that are getting too dark to eat, use one or two in this Muffin Recipe. Or, put them in a plastic bag, with the skin still on, and place them in the freezer for the future. Then, thaw before using in any baked good recipe calling for bananas.