Basic Muffin Recipe ~ Sweet

INGREDIENTS:

Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg About 1/3 cup milk  or buttermilk 1 cup of additions fruit, nuts, etc.

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup brown or white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2.	Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in fruit, nuts or whatever. Fill muffin cups with a 4 tablespoon ice cream scoop, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3.	To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar or brown sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Challenges

I spend a lot of time watching food shows on television and one of my favorites is a show called "Chopped." Contestants, who are from a variety of culinary backgrounds, are given a basket of ingredients and are challenged to come up with a better dish than the rest of the contestants. There three rounds ~ Appetizers, Entree, & Dessert ~ one contestant is eliminated in each round.

I like this show because when the ingredients in the baskets are announced I run through ideas in my head and it gets me thinking about what flavors combinations I would add to come up with a winning dish.

Building on the Chopped theme I give myself a monthly technique challenge and this month's is to nail the Southern style biscuit. Today, I am patiently wait for my delivery from King Arthur's Flour Company because in order to make a light fluffy biscuit instead of one like a hockey puck I'll need certain flour milled from Winter Wheat grown in the south.

This is the recipe I'll use for my first batch ~ Bakewell Cream Biscuits

My Inner Cook...

My inner cook has escaped again. I virtually abandoned this little blog project of mine back last September. Do to a series of unfortunate economic events beyond my families control we had to downsize our lives and move to a new city. 


The downsizing part stunted my cooking aspiration because I was now working with a kitchen 1/4 the size of my old one and less than half the kitchen equipment and tools. I have to admit it was the best, most freeing move we have ever made ~ we have just what we need, are living well under our current means, and avoided having to file bankruptcy by centimeters.


Last month my cooking and baking desires once again became over whelming and I gave in and baked a few dozen cookies. Then, inspired by the following picture I dug out my cupcake pan and now I have fired my bread machine back up. My inner cook has come back out and I am well on my way back to cooking and baking everything from scratch. Even in a kitchen the size of most walk in closets.


I look forward to post here once again.