Muffins, both sweet and savory
7 years ago
Tomorrow is our annual Township Clean-Up, where Township residents can bring large items that will not fit in their normal trash, and use dumpsters provided by the Township. Because both Elery and I are now on Township Boards/Committees, we volunteered to help. I was also informed that my predecessor "always" brought doughnuts. Yeah....
It's going to be hard to beat those doughnuts, which came from a local bakery and was named one of the "10 best doughnuts in Michigan", so I'm not going to even try. I spent several hours in the garden today and just did not want to drive into town tonight, so instead, I made muffins. First out of the oven were AnnT's Blueberry-Coconut pound cake muffins. I decided to gild the lily with a drizzle of glaze:
I decided we also needed a savory option, so I made corn muffins with onions, bacon and cheddar cheese, but gardenweb will only let me post one picture while opening a thread, so I'll post a followup.
Yeah, I know. It's not doughnuts, but maybe I'll start a new tradition. Or maybe someone else will just drive into town and buy doughnuts, LOL.
Annie
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Comments (20)
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Scones, biscuits, muffins...whats the difference?
Comments (19)1. They are all quick breads which require low-gluten flour/s and little mixing. They all depend on the fat to shorten the gluten strands. 2. Scones vary widely in texture, shape, size, and flavor. They can vary from (soft) cookielike to cakelike in texture and from savory to sweet in flavor. Making them is similar to making biscuits. Scones can be rolled, shaped, or dropped, but the mixing method is about the same. Scones contain eggs as well as milk or cream, which makes them richer than biscuits. They may also contain pieces of dried fruits, unlike biscuits. a. Mix the dry ingredients together. b. Cut the chilled butter into the dry ingredients - this is done to shorten the gluten in the flour. Everywhere the butter coats the flour, the liquid will not be able to be absorbed by the flour, thus making short, or shortening, the strands of gluten. If the fat is cold and the mixture resembles a coarse meal, this will contribute to a flaky texture. c. Mix the liquid ingredients together (beat the egg lightly and add the milk/cream) and any other liquid ingredients, and add all at once to the dry ingredients, then stir to combine. Some recipes call for a little kneading to help develop the gluten, but avoid overkneading the dough because this will produce a tough scone. d. Judge the recipe... A high butter or sugar content in the dough will help inhibit the formation of gluten and produce a more tender product. 3. BISCUITS also rely on the fat for shortening the gluten formation. The method of mixing is similar to scones. There is less liquid in biscuits than most scones and biscuit dough usually requires a little kneading to develop the gluten because of the lack of liquid. a. The dough is then rolled. A thickness of 1/4-inch for plain biscuits, 1/2 inch or less for tea biscuits, and 1 inch or more for shortcake. Then it is cut into rounds or squares. b. Drop biscuits have more liquid than cut biscuits. 4. MUFFINS - The ratio of liquid to flour is higher than either scones or biscuits. The batter needs to be placed in a pan that forms the muffin, unlike scones/biscuits which will hold their shape once free formed or cut to form. a. There are two types of mixing methods for muffins. b. Traditional muffin-making: all the steps are geared to minimize mixing, and therefore gluten formation in the flour. The fat is most often in liquid form, either melted shortening or an oil. It's usually mixed with eggs and the liquids, then added all at once to the dry ingredients. Since fat affects tenderness, muffins with a high fat content not only taste rich, they also have a soft crumb. c. Stir muffin batter only until the dry ingredients are lightly moistened (NO ELECTRIC MIXERS PLEASE, or you'll end up with tunnels inside from overmixing). The batter SHOULD be lumpy as it's spooned into the muffin pans - even to the point some bits of dry ingredients are still remaining in the batter. d. Muffins made by creaming fat and sugar will be more tender, but they are also more cakelike. This is the second mixing method. -Grainlady...See MoreI need a 'savory' dish suggestion for a brunch
Comments (21)OMG, for a year or two I made breakfast for my office buddies (around 20-25). I have a whole slew of great recipes. I tried all different sorts of dishes, many of them savory. Here are a few... Sue Breakfast in a Loaf 1 round loaf bread (8- to 9-inch diameter) 4 ounces sliced ham 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced crosswise 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (2 ounces) 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (2 ounces) 1/2 cup sliced pitted ripe olives 1 medium tomato, thinly sliced 8 ounces mushrooms, sliced and cooked Prepare Scrambled Eggs. Remove from heat; cover to keep warm. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut 2-inch slice from top of loaf; set aside for lid. Remove soft interior of loaf, leaving a 1-inch-thick wall and bottom. Place ham on bottom of loaf. Top with bell pepper rings; sprinkle with half of cheeses. Layer Scrambled Eggs, olives and tomato over cheeses. Top with remaining cheeses and mushrooms. Place lid on loaf. Wrap in foil. Place on baking sheet. Bake about 30 minutes or until heated through. Cut into 8 wedges. =========================================== Don;t forget crustless quiches. Just triple or quadruple your favorite quiche recipe and pour into greased large baking dish. Bake at 325-350 for an hour or so. For a crust, you can pre-bake some hash brown potatoes in the pan for a half hour before adding egg/cheese mixture. ===================================== Sue's Breakfast Lasagna Filling 1 package no boil lasagna, Ronzoni 3 Packages Jimmy Dean breakfast bulk sausage 2 medium onions, chopped 7 garlic cloves, chopped fine 6 Tablespoons Olive oil 2 10 oz packages white mushrooms, sliced 2 Portobello caps, sliced, chopped 3 Tablespoons olive oil 4 garlic cloves, chopped 1 large can Whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed Salt 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan cheese Bechamel 6 ounces butter 6 ounces flour 9 cups milk 4 bay leaves 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg Brown sausage with onions and 7 cloves fine-chopped garlic. Heat oil and saute mushrooms over high heat until all juices are rendered and evapoated, and mushrroms are nicely browned. In a small saucepan, heat olive oil and saute 4 garlic cloves for a minute over medium heat. Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes; Add some salt to taste. Bechamel In large saucepan, melt butter. When melted, add flour and stir to blend. (its a roux at this point) Cook for 2-3 minutes, frequently moving the paste around the pot to cook. Remove roux from pot. Add milk and heat until boiling. Add roux and whisk constantly until very thick (mixture will not reach full thickness until it reaches boiling point). Set aside, but keep warm. Assemble lasagna Lightly coat bottom of 9 x 15 baking dish with cooking oil. Coat bottom of dish with a cup or so of bechamel. Lay 4 pasta pieces over the bechamel, breaking the last one to fit. Cover pasta with a 2 cups bechamel. Layer half of the sausage and mushrooms. Cover with more bechamel. Layer down more pasta. Cover with bechamel. Layer last of the sausage and mushrooms. Cover with 3/4 of the tomato sauce. Cover with last layer of pasta. Cover with remaining bechamel. Dot top layer with tablespoons of remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cook @350° for 1 hour. let sit 15 minutes before cutting. Or, cool, refrigerate, and reheat at 275° for 45 minutes, lightly covered with foil. ===================================== Sue's Breakfast Burritos 8 Egg whites 2 Eggs Non-stick cooking spray 6 Wholewheat flour tortillas 1 Can Fat free refried beans 6 Slices Fat-Free American cheese slice, Kraft is best Reduced fat sour cream Fat free salsa Beat eggs whites and eggs. Coat non-stick skillet with cooking spray. Scramble eggs until set. Let cool. Spread 2-3 Tablespoons of refried beans on the bottom third of each tortilla. Place srambled eggs over refried beans. Tear one slice of American cheese in half, and place over eggs. Fold in the sides of the tortilla, then roll from the bottom. Place seam side down in baking dish. Finish assembling remaining wraps. Bake at 300° for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream and salsa. ==================================== I don't recall where I got this recipe. Ham and Cheese Strudel 1 T Margarine 2 T All-Purpose Flour 1 Cup Skim milk 1/4 teaspoon Fresg ground nutmeg 1/4 Cup Lean Ham, Finely Chopped 4 T Lowfat Swiss Cheese 4 T Parmesan Cheese 1 1/4 Cups Egg Substitute 6 Phyllo Sheets Nonstick Cooking Spray Parmesan Cheese Fresh Cilantro, Chopped For strudel, place one sheet of phyllo dough on a work surface. Coat dough with nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with 2 tsp bread crumbs. Spread egg mixture over bottom third of dough to within 3/4 inch of bottom and sides. Fold in sides. Roll dough up, starting at the end with the egg mixture. Place seam side down on an ungreased baking sheet, coated with nonstick cooking spray. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese and fresh cilantro....See MoreSweet or savory?
Comments (20)Lavon, that looks much like how my dad would butter bread! Breakfast for me is mostly savory. Never sweet only, unless it's a roll & coffee but that's not breakfast to me, that's a snack. Eggs, meat (more than one kind is great too), potatoes (skip the onions & peppers - salad is for lunch - and make sure it's not too greasy), toast (good sourdough or wheat), coffee, water and occasionally some juice or a sugar-free soft drink. Now *that's* a breakfast to get you going on a cold day. Or a warm day. Or a moderate day. A good hearty breakfast lasts me all day too. I've never been one to require 3 meals a day plus snacks. Sometimes a pancake or two goes well with breakfast but I still want toast to go with the eggs. Eggs without toast? Blasphemy! (Dottie my dear, first you stick salad into Jell-O and now even into potatoes! And no toast? Yeowl ain't from around here aire ya?) And I mean I want toast, not a mouthful of flour some call a "biscuit" and an english muffin is for a breakfast sandwich or a burger. I always eat the eggs first before they get cold and finish up with the pancake or roll as sort of a dessert. I like the apricot syrup at Perkin's and Country Kitchen has a butter pecan syrup that's great. I don't like the fake "maple" syrup most places serve though so I seldom put much on there. I do enjoy Denny's "Lumberjack Slam" on occasion. 2 eggs, sausage, bacon and a small slice of ham, hash browns, toast, and 2 medium sized pancakes. Top it off with coffee and you have energy to work that day. I've even gone there at times and had it for lunch or supper. But the Denny's close to me changed hands and really went downhill so I don't go there often. Another diner close by had a good hand-patted hamburger patty with eggs breakfast but (heavy sigh) they now switched to a pre-formed frozen patty. So sad. It was so good. They got their meat from a butcher and it was flavorful, lean and so moist. But I suppose not enough bought it so they try to economize and go the easy route. There's a couple places around here who have a good reputation for omelets but they like to put the potatoes into the omelet. I prefer potatoes on the side. And for some reason I like an extra order of meat to have meat on the side too, and of course meat in the omelet with cheese. And no veggies (see above). What can I say, I'm a carnivore. So when I go to the hog trough I load up with meat, some eggs and go light on potatoes....See MoreMuffins, muffins, muffins... help!
Comments (14)Yes to a lot of the former. Also in common with cakes--cream the butter and sweet to mix well and aerate. Aerate (sift) the flour, too. Summary: Use a light (lower protein) flour. This could be cake flour, or even just a lighter AP like Gold Medal or Pillsbury. King Arthur unbleached all purpose is noticeably heavier. If you want really fluffy and flyaway, go for Swansdown (cake flour) or similar. Measure by weight (but don't convert cups to weight by formula). If using volume, definitely sift rather than spooning or dip and level. Don't overbeat lest you develop gluten and make the muffins tough. Use fresh baking powder Get it in the oven right away after you add the liquid to the dry. The liquid will activate double acting baking powder, or baking soda rising, and if you leave your tin on the counter waiting for the oven to get hot or something the baking powder will half discharge and it won't rise well with only the heat rising (or none if you're using only baking soda)....See More
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annie1992Original Author