Muffins are great breakfast food or snack with many different possible flavors. Great for breakfasts or midday snacks, Making these muffins with fruit also provides some extra nutrients to help you meet vitamin and mineral needs. Also, this recipe is very easy to make and doesn’t even use an electric mixer! There are pictures and step-by-step explanations below, and a printable version of the recipe at the end.
First, get out your ingredients! I also like to line or grease my muffin tin before I begin baking, and you can also begin preheating your oven.
If you want a moist muffin and a tangier flavor, you can use buttermilk instead of regular milk. To make buttermilk, add about 10 mL (1 tablespoon) of vinegar or lemon juice to the milk and let it sit for 5-10 minutes so the milk curdles. I like to do this step first, before I measure the other ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar (see measurements below!). To get a less dense muffin, you can sift your flour, but this step is not necessary. Also, if you do this step, you will want to use a little less flour since the sifting increases the volume (~240g instead of 260g).
In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk the egg, milk (or buttermilk), vegetable oil, and vanilla extract together.
Next, prepare your mix-ins if you want to add them. I like to add both bananas and chocolate chips, so be creative! The best bananas to use will be completely brown and very soft, and are very easy to mash with a fork. If you do not have chocolate chips, you can chop bars of chocolate into small pieces. Frozen blueberries work better in the batter than fresh ones do, but if you only have fresh you can wash them before tossing them in some flour to help keep them from bursting. Lastly, the best apples for baking are tart, since they do not add extra sweetness to the muffins and provide a better apple flavor.
To mix the ingredients together, first make a hole (also known as a well) in the middle of the dry ingredients. Then, pour in your wet ingredients and mix-ins if you have any. Stir them together just until you can’t see any streaks of flour.
I like to use a ⅓ measuring cup to scoop the batter into the liners, but a large spoon will also work! If you do not add mix-ins, fill each liner about ⅔ of the way full. If you do have mix-ins, the batter will be closer to the top of the liner.
Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes. They will get a little golden brown around the edges when they are done, but the tops do not change much in color. To be sure that they are done, you can take a toothpick and insert it into the muffin- if it comes out clean (or with a few dry crumbs) then they are ready!
Let the muffins cool for a few minutes, and then enjoy!
Vocabulary:
Midday: middle of the day
Moist: a little wet
Tangy: a mild sour flavor
Dense: tightly packed (for the muffins, there is less air in the muffin, making it more solid)
Sift: to strain a substance to remove lumps
Tart: having a sharp, acidic flavor
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sydney Weidler is a sophomore (2nd year) student studying Nutrition and Dietetics at Messiah College, and is one of the virtual interns at America House this year! She loves travelling, reading, and baking, as well as playing the oboe and spending time with friends and family.