muffins...& more muffins...

*banana spice muffins*

3 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 cup milk

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup dried banana chips

Lightly grease 12 muffin cups. Stir together flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In a different bowl, cream together sugar and shortening, then add eggs and mix. Add flour mixture and milk alternately to creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, top with broken banana chips. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Alright, so this muffin batter is really just a vehicle for whatever kind of muffin additions you are attracted to...blueberry, cranberry (dried), spice, chocolate chip (yum!!), etc. You can play around with the spices: removing, adding to, adding vanilla or orange zest (again, yum!!)...whatever! This muffin batter really is a winner in my book. They look like professional muffins when they come out of the oven. They freeze really well, too. I actually got about 18 muffins after adding the bananas.

next...

*cinnamon bran muffins*

3 cups All-Bran cereal (original)

1 cup boiling water

2 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Combine dry ingredients, set aside. In large mixing bowl pour boiling water over cereal and mix until cereal has absorbed water and is a little mushy. Add remaining wet ingredients and mix well. Add dry ingredients a little at a time until combined. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 min. or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

OK, the coolest part about these muffins is that the batter can be stored in the fridge and the muffins can be microwaved, yes, microwaved a few at a time. The first pic (of the 1/2 eaten muffin is a microwaved one). I know it sounds weird, but it totally works. Here's how:

double up two muffin papers and fill 1/2 full with batter. Microwave for about 35 sec. for one muffin, and 45-50 seconds for 2-3 miffins. Take note...microwaves vary, so test this out a couple of times. If it doesn't work the first 2-3 times, don't swear, just try again. The tops of the muffins will be bubbling slightly, and may even be a little doughy in spots, but they will set up if you leave them alone for a minute. If the microwave thing doesn't work for you...just bake them. These will freeze well, also. ( Thanks to my sister-in-law for the recipe!)

In case you were wondering how I justify all of this baking...

...I have very lucky friends and neighbors!!