Plain Muffins

The simplest form of muffin is the plain, or one-egg, muffin. To this plain-muffin recipe, however, any kind of fruit, nuts, or some other ingredients may be added to give variety of flavour. It may be made richer and sweeter and then steamed or baked to be served with a sauce for dessert.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons melted butter


Preparation:

  • Mix and sift the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder, and set aside.
  • Slightly grease nonstick muffin pan (or place paper muffin cups in muffin tin) and set aside.
  • Preheat owen to hot (400º F or about 205º C).
  • In a separate bowl mix egg and milk.
  • Combine dry and moist mixture, then stir in the melted butter. 
  • Fill prepared muffin pan about two-thirds full of the mixture and bake in a hot oven for about 20 minutes.
  • Cool on wire rack and serve warm or cold.

Makes 6 large muffins.

TIP: Any given muffin recipe in which regular milk is used may be made with sour milk or yogurt. If you are using sour milk or yogurt, just keep in mind that you have to use baking soda instead of baking powder.


Real Cooking
Did You Know?
A somewhat odd combination of circumstances in the 1970s and 1980s led to significant changes in what had been a rather simple, if not prosaic, food. The decline in home-baking, the health food movement, the rise of the specialty food shop, and the gourmet coffee trend all contributed to the creation of a new standard of muffin.

Preservatives in muffin mixes led to the expectation that muffins did not have to go stale within hours of baking, but the resulting muffins were not a taste improvement over homemade[citation needed]. On the other hand, the baked muffin, even if from a mix, seemed almost healthy compared to the fat-laden alternatives of doughnuts and Danish pastry. "Healthy" muffin recipes using whole grains and such "natural" things as yogurt and various vegetables evolved rapidly. But for "healthy" muffins to have any shelf-life without artificial preservatives, the sugar and fat content needed to be increased, to the point where the "muffins" are almost indistinguishable from cupcakes. The rising market for gourmet snacks to accompany gourmet coffees resulted in fancier concoctions in greater bulk than the original, modestly sized corn muffin.