I graduated from college one term early and got engaged to be married a few weeks later. Since grad school didn’t start until the following fall and I didn’t want to move back to my hometown for the few months until the wedding, I got a job in a Santa Barbara bakery.
At Brigitte’s we sold espressos and fresh brewed coffee as well as an abundance of freshly baked goodies. It was 1994, the era of the muffin, and the days before widespread Starbucks. A local bakery with fresh coffee was a beautiful thing.
Muffins were super big back then. They’ve held a special place in my heart, even now 20 years later. I know some people say they are cupcakes in disguise, but I think that really just depends on how you mix it.
Getting back in the muffin game.
I used to make muffins all the time, but it’s fallen out of our habits for some reason. Time to get back into it, especially as summer approaches, and lighter fare is on the menu. Muffins are a great summer breakfast, especially with so much variety in terms of summer fruits.
Here are some ways that I make muffin-making easier:
I prefer to bake with parchment muffin liners, but we were out of them when it was time to take pics. Just ordered this mondo supply on subscribe and save, so we’ll be good for five million years. I hope I like this kind!
I ordered this small pack that’s a bit more expensive to arrive later this week. This way I can make sure I want five million years’ worth of this kind. Hopefully, it will all work out. (What a lot of work for muffin papers!)
I am desperately in search of another Wearever muffin pan like the one I’ve had for 20 years. It’s insulated, as was the trend back when I made my wedding registry twenty years ago, and bakes things perfectly. I cannot find one anywhere.
Let me know if you know where to get one or if you have a brand of pan that you love. I have a cheapo pan that burns every time. There isn’t even a name brand on it; that should tell me something, shouldn’t it?
I used to store my homemade baking mixes in ziploc bags, but about a year ago, I switched to using quart-sized canning jars. I have a big collection of jars and plastic caps. I love the canning funnel for helping me reduce the mess.
I invested in canning equipment about fifteen years ago when I taught myself to make jam. The investment has been well worth it, especially since I’ve found uses for this stuff beyond canning. FishPapa uses the funnel to load ice into hockey water bottles. As canning season approaches, check your local stores for sales. This is when supplies will be at their peak.
Muffins, welcome back!
My Mix-and-Match Muffin Recipe is one of my favorites. Make up several jars or bags of mix and you can have fresh baked muffins in about half an hour. You can customize it with whatever fruits and goodies you have on hand which makes it super versatile. Happy-go-lucky if you will.
These Lemon Raspberry Muffins are a riff on that. They are tart and sweet and juicy, a perfect use for fresh raspberries. I’ve made them several times, leaning on unbleached, all-purpose flour. I’m itching to try a whole wheat version, but I cannot find a great price on whole wheat pastry flour. Stay tuned for a new adaptation once I do.
The batter makes 12 very full muffins. If you like, you can make more, smaller muffins, just adjust the cooking time. I use demerara sugar because it’s the least processed of cane sugars. It has a little caramel flavor that I love. You can use regular sugar if you prefer.
Recipe: Lemon Raspberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 1/2 cup sunflower oil
- 2 eggs, beaten
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 cup demerara sugar, plus more for sprinkling
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Line muffin tin with paper liners or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and zest.
- In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Add the raspberries and gently fold them in.
- Divide the batter into the cups of the pan, cups will be very full. Sprinkle the tops lightly with more demerara sugar.
- Bake until golden brown and a tester inserted comes out with a few crumbs attached, about 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.
- To freeze: cooled muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
My rating
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I love making all kinds of muffins; everything from blueberry, to surprise, chocolate chip, banana nut, corn, bran, sugar/cinnamon coated, and for a savory change – cheddar bacon. I love them all; it just depends on what I have in the house and what I’m in the mood for. Your raspberry/lemon muffins look awesome and I definitely am going to try them. I can’t think of any muffin that I won’t eat. There is nothing nicer than the smell of home made muffins in the oven and the sight of them growing bigger as they bake. 🙂 I have to admit though, I don’t care at all for the bakery style muffins; they are too huge and too cake like. Muffins, to me, have a different sort of a texture than cake and if it’s a muffin I’m after, I don’t want it to resemble cake. Now I am hungry for a muffin so I’ll have to bake some this weekend and this gives me a chance to try your recipe!
The savory ones sound yummy!
I have a love/hate relationship with muffins, however my new discovery of filling the cups has made things easier. I use my cookie scoop. I think it holds 2 tablespoons. 2 scoops of batter = one muffin. I love how they are all uniform and there are hardly any drips on the pan. (Better baking and easier clean up.)
Hope you are having an easier week with all your deadlines and commitments.
xo to you.
Sheila
After reading your comment, I tried that last night. Great tip!
I just bought two new muffin pans from the Oneida website. They were on sale. I bought the professional line. Not the regular. I made muffins the other day with a little spray, no liners. They came out beautiful.
Were they 12 or 6-cups?
I bought 2-12 cup pans.
Oh, Jessica, I feel your plight! You are going to LOVE LOVE the If You Care muffin lining cups. I switched to them a year ago and bought a case of the Large and a case of the Mini on Amazon. My local Target also carries them. I keep them in my food storage and grab a new box when needed. I had a horrible time with all other liners sticking to my muffins, cupcakes and corn muffins. I was so frustrated. Then I was referred to these by Heavenly Homemaker and was so very happy. Nothing I have tried baking in these babies has ever stuck, ever! And I generally cook subbing out all oils or butter for applesauce or yogurt, making the no-fat versions stick like crazy to other methods. These are very well worth the money, and I can not recommend them highly enough!
I do have a great recommendation for you on a new muffin pan as well. Also about a year ago, I switched all of my baking sheets over to USA Pans brand. I bought some on Amazon, but others I was able to find in my local Bed, Bath and Beyond with 20% coupons. These pans are simply amazing! I always use my liners or foil to line them with, but that is because I am anal about keeping my pans clean and don’t want to waste time cleaning them each time. But, these pans need no liners if you are so inclined. They are specially coated to NOT stick! And they are very well made, these things are made to last forever. I am so pleased I found them. I have (2) of the full sheets, (2) of the half sheets, standard muffin pan, mini muffin pan, a brownie bites pan. They work beautifully!
Glad to hear that these muffin cups are good ones! Thanks for the rec on pans, too. I’ll start looking for that brand.
I second the USA Pans. I love my muffin tins and loaf pan. I don’t use liners with them and love the crispy edges it gives the muffins.
We love all types of muffins. They are a great pre-race snack for my team of cyclists (husband and two sons).
I will third the recommendation for USA pans. I started with the muffin pan and loved it so much I bought a large sheet pan and round cake pan. Super pans and easy to clean. I like that they are silicone and not Teflon.
I am thrilled. Just bought one and it’s great!
I ordered one and used it last night. Love it!
Thanks to this comment thread, I bought one of those USA pans. It’s amazing! Beautiful!
So, so glad you loved the pan! I seriously am a collector of these pans now, I love them! In my opinion, they are a bit more expensive then say a cheaper brand at Target, but they hold up so much better. They clean and look brand new every time, they cook very evenly, and do not warp like other pans have a tendency to do. Plus, the silicon coating is way better than the artificial teflon ones.
Jessica,
Are you going to venture into chocolate muffins? Also, where do you buy the demerara sugar? And just fyi my Trader Joe’s sells White Whole Wheat flour for $3 for a 5lb bag. It seems to behave a lot like whole wheat pastry flour to me. Love the jars btw, great idea!
I buy demerara sugar at Walmart and Ralphs. Thanks for the reminder on the www. I have that, I just haven’t been using it for that purpose. Kinda fell out of habit, I think.
Here’s one of my chocolate muffins: http://lifeasmom.com/2012/01/chocolate-cheesecake-muffins-ultimate-recipe-swap-chocolate.html Superyum!
I have never tried canning so do not have those supplies. However, I save all my glass food jars such as those from jelly or salsa. I remove the labels and sanitize the jar and lid in boiling water. These work well for storing homemade baking mixes, bean soup mixes, etc.
Corn muffins and blueberry muffins are our family favorites.
Great way to reuse what you already have!
I second USA pan. I buy them many places but you can get 20% off (with coupon) at Bed bath and beyond. I have quite a few speciality pans of theirs too. I love them all. One of my favorite is the small round cake pan (6 or 8 wells all in one pan)! I use it for perfectly round hamburger buns. Hope you find a pan to replace yours.
Sarah
That hamburger pan sounds interesting!
I have a lifetime supply of those liners – you’ll love them I agree! And so nice not to run out!
Your muffin mix is the reason I buy plain greek yogurt LOL – it’s taped to the inside of my cabinet and I need to make another batch 🙂
Muffins rule at breakfast for sure – especially for folks on the go!
Fun! I love hearing about recipes of mine that have become regulars in people’s homes.
Your recipe is my absolute favorite!
Do you do anything special to preserve the dry ingredients in the jars?
Or just seal tightly?
I just close the jar and store it in the pantry or in the freezer for longer storage. They won’t last forever, but are good for many months, just like the dry ingredients would be separately.
If you have a Food Saver, you can buy an attachment that will suck the air out of a mason jar and seal it for you. That will help it to last longer.
I have a food saver, but I don’t know that I have that attachment. Do you need special lids?
Mine did not come with the attachment, but fortunately, my Mom’s did and she never used it. There are different ones depending on if you’re using the large mouth jars or a regular mason jar. They use the regular canning lids. On Amazon, just do a search for food saver jar sealer to see what they are. I think they also sell them at Target and Wal Mart.
THanks for the tip!
I use your muffin recipe all the time! I freeze individual muffins and they are my kids snacks at school every day. I do have a question. I find that your Mix recipe creates some pretty thick batter. Should muffin batter be thick? I usually add more milk to make it thinner, but I’m not sure that’s the best thing to do.
I think they can really vary. Mine is supposed to be thick, but if you want to thin it, that’s totally fine.
I started to order these muffin cups, but decided to check my local grocery store. A box of 60 was only $1.48. Cheaper than most other brands my store carries. Looking forward to trying them.
Hi Jessica
Love the idea of baking mix in jars. What kind of marker did you use to write on the jars with?
I use a sharpie. It will wash off eventually, or you can take it off with rubbing alcohol, but it’s good while you want it to be. Sharpies are one of my kitchen must-haves.
Can you use canola oil in place of the sunflower oil in this recipe?
Thanks!
Yes, any vegetable oil will be fine.
Wowza! These are fantastic! I subbed in canola oil and raw cane sugar because that was what I had and they are keepers! I also used an ice cream scoop to fill up the muffin liners and got 22 muffins…lots to eat and a few to freeze for later. Thank you!
I would love to make the yogurt pancakes that are in the photo above, but I can’t find it on your site. Do you call them something else perhaps? Thank you!!
That recipe is in my new cookbook: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1558328432/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1558328432&linkCode=as2&tag=oflwtf-20&linkId=Z3QGUKIRKICU46S4
Excellent! I just placed my order on Amazon. Thank you!