About Muffins

THE MUFFIN METHOD is one of the four basic methods of mixing every beginner learns, the other three being the Pastry Method, the Butter Cake Method, and the Sponge or Angel Cake Method. The Muffin Method’s the simplest, in fact it’s as easy as one, two, three.

1 COMBINE all dry ingredients (flour and/or cornmeal or other grain; sugar, baking powder and/or soda; salt, and any dry seasonings) in a large bowl, add any chopped nuts or dried fruits or grated cheese, toss to mix, and then make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients.

2 WHISK all liquids (milk or other liquid; melted butter, oil, or other shortening; and egg plus any liquid flavorings) together in a small bowl until frothy.

3 POUR the combined liquids into the well in the dry ingredients and stir only enough to combine—the batter should be lumpy with flecks of flour clearly visible.

That’s all there is to it and yet step three is the most critical, the most difficult to master. We tend to think that all batters must be satin-smooth, that every speck of flour must be incorporated. Dead wrong if you’re making muffins.

My mother stood over me as I mixed my first batch of muffins and scientist that she was, had me divide the batter in half, leaving one half lumpy and flecked with flour and the second half beaten until smooth.

We baked the two batches in separate pans so that I could see the difference between properly and improperly mixed muffins. It could not have been more dramatic. The “good” muffins were delicately rounded on top, lightly browned, and when broken open, fine and feathery throughout.

But the batter I’d beaten to death? Those muffins had Alpine peaks, felt tough when I eased them from the pan, and even worse, were cratered inside, pocked with tunnels that angled up from the bottom into those lofty peaks. And yes, these muffins were rubbery, not worth eating. We fed them to the birds.

From that day forward, I’ve always slightly under-mixed my muffin batters, the lesson every successful muffin maker learns. I can still hear my mother saying, “Don’t worry about the lumps in the batter, Jean. Don’t worry about those specks of flour. They will magically disappear as the muffins bake.”

And so they do.

About Reheating Muffins

Because I’ve trimmed the sugar in many of the muffin recipes that follow as well as the amount of fat, leftovers may dry somewhat on standing (sugar, few people realize, absorbs atmospheric moisture). The best plan is to freeze any leftover muffins, then reheat as needed. First of all, forget about reheating frozen muffins by microwave; they will be tough. And do not reheat more than four standard-size muffins at a time because they’ll heat unevenly.

Arrange still-frozen muffin(s) on a sheet of heavy-duty foil, side by side if two, in a triangle if three with muffins equidistant from one another, and in a circle if four, again with the muffins equidistant.

Bring ends of foil up, then roll down and seal bundle hobo-style.

Slide onto the middle shelf of a preheated 350˚F oven and leave until an instant-read thermometer, inserted into the middle of a muffin, registers at least 125˚F.

So how long does this take? Here’s an approximate timetable:

1 standard-size muffin: 10 minutes

2 standard-size muffins: 15 minutes

3 standard-size muffins: 18 minutes

4 standard-size muffins: 20 minutes

Note: Two jumbo-size muffins (the most you should reheat at a time) take 25 minutes. And “minis”? We arranged six in two rows of three and they were ready to eat in 10 minutes.

Recipe Basics (Getting Started, Etc.)

Note: Before beginning any muffin recipe, please review this section carefully. It discusses muffin pans, ingredients, techniques, and other helpful basics.

Read each recipe carefully—several times or until you know exactly what you’re to do as well as what implements and ingredients you’ll need.

To save time, measure all recipe ingredients at the outset and do as much advance prep as possible (peeling, coring, slicing, etc.) so there’s no need to pause and search mid-recipe. Also have all pans and implements at the ready.

Do not substitute one ingredient for another unless substitutions are suggested.

The best muffin pans are top-quality aluminum because they conduct heat more effectively than stainless steel pans. I don’t like nonstick pans and avoid darkly coated ones because muffins baked in them tend to overbrown and may even burn on the bottom.

Allow 20 minutes for an oven to preheat to the temperature you’ve set.

Keep a reliable oven thermometer in your oven, placing it where the manufacturer recommends, and check it often to determine whether your oven is accurate. Most home ovens run high or low—often by as much as fifty degrees, which of course can ruin a recipe. In some areas, utility companies will calibrate your oven for you or can recommend someone who will.

Note that all muffin baking times given in this book are for standard ovens—not convection ovens, which bake faster because of fans circulating the hot air. If you have a convection oven, consult the owner’s manual. Many will suggest baking time adjustments. If not, try reducing muffin baking times by 10 minutes, then if muffins are not done (a toothpick inserted in the center of one should come out clean), continue baking and testing in 3- or 4-minute intervals. Once you’ve determined the difference in baking times, make a note of it and keep that note handy.

Ingredients

Bacon: Crumbled, crisply cooked bacon makes a fine addition to muffins (see Bacon ’n’ Eggs Breakfast Muffins, also Easy Add-Ons for Chili-Cheddar Two-Corn Muffins. Fortunately, many artisanal bacons—slab (one piece) and sliced thick or thin—are now available in specialty groceries as well as online. I only use the nitrite-free and suggest that you do the same. See Sources.

Bacon Drippings: Being a frugal cook, my mother kept a half-pint preserving jar of bacon drippings in her refrigerator not only for seasoning leafy green vegetables but also as the fat in a variety of muffins. I, myself, like drippings best in corn breads. If you’re concerned about the calories and cholesterol in bacon drippings, let me just say that pork fat is less saturated than butter or vegetable shortening.

Benne (Sesame) Seeds: Considered good luck by the slaves who brought pockets full of these little African seeds into the South during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, benne remain popular to this day in and around Charleston, South Carolina, where they’re baked into biscuits, cookies, and cocktail snacks. If lightly toasted, they’re equally delicious in muffins (see Toasted Benne Seed Muffins). Tip: Being oily, sesame seeds quickly stale and go rancid, so buy only a small jar at a time and once open, store on the refrigerator door shelf.

How to Toast Sesame Seeds

Spread in a 9-inch aluminum pie pan (not a darkly coated one, which will hasten the browning), slide onto the middle shelf of a preheated 275˚F oven, and leave until pale golden and intensely aromatic—4 to 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature before using.

Black Pepper: Believe it or not, a pinch or two of black pepper improves the flavor of almost any muffin. Freshly ground black pepper, that is, so keep your peppermill loaded. Tip: 10 energetic grinds of the peppermill = about ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, 20 grinds approximately ½ teaspoon.

Black Walnuts: An American original, this cousin of the hickory nut encased in a rock-hard shell is the very devil to extract. Fortunately, black walnut meats can be ordered online; see Sources. Their flavor is unique, a bit sweet, a bit meaty, even—dare I say a bit musky?—utterly unlike the more familiar English walnuts.

Bran: The nutrient- and fiber-rich husk or outer layer of oats, rye, wheat, and other grains. Whole-grain flours contain bran, refined ones do not. A stroll down the cereal aisle of any supermarket is to see dozens of bran cereals, the majority of them wheat bran cereals—bran flakes, buds, or All-Bran, in my opinion the best choice for Classic Bran Muffins and any variations.

Butter: All recipes in this book were developed and tested with old-fashioned stick butter (mainly unsalted), so do not use soft butter, whipped butter, faux butter, margarine, or vegetable shortening. The majority also call for melted butter, so I slice what I need from a stick of butter, drop into a spouted 1-quart oven-proof glass measuring cup, and microwave uncovered on Defrost. In my 650-watt oven, it takes about 5 minutes on Defrost to melt ¼ cup (½ stick) butter. Of course, times vary according to the microwave’s wattage as well as the amount of butter being melted. Try 5 minutes on Defrost, then continue microwaving in 1- or 2-minute increments until your butter is liquid gold. You’ll soon learn what works best in your particular microwave oven.

Buttermilk: Many of my muffins—especially the corn muffins—are made with buttermilk. Use regular buttermilk, not fat-free, unless recipes direct otherwise.

Cheddar, Jack & Other Semi-Hard Cheeses: The cheeses I use in muffins are freshly grated—always—because the packaged, pregrated seems drier, doesn’t melt smoothly, and isn’t very flavorful. Several of my recipes call for Vermont Cheddar, which can be ordered online (see Sources). For grating small amounts of cheese, a coarse-toothed Microplane is perfect; for larger ones, the food processor shredding disk. To save time, I keep these ballpark equivalents handy:

2 ounces cheese = 1⁄2 cup grated

4 ounces cheese (1⁄4 pound) = 1 cup grated

8 ounces cheese (1⁄2 pound) = 2 cups grated

12 ounces cheese (3⁄4 pound) = 3 cups grated

16 ounces (1 pound) = 4 cups grated

Also see Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread: Oh, my, what delicious stuff. In the beginning there was Nutella, now other brands are out there as well and this spread is challenging peanut butter as this nation’s favorite sandwich spread. And like peanut butter, it can become an ingredient in all manner of baked goods. See Toasted Hazelnut Muffins.

Citrus Juices: Whenever a muffin calls for orange, lemon, or other citrus juice, squeeze the amounts you need. In a pinch, reconstituted frozen juice may be okay but it doesn’t have the flavor of freshly squeezed juice.

Citrus Zest: The best way to boost the fresh orange or lemon flavor of a muffin (or any recipe, for that matter) is to add a little finely grated zest (colored part of the rind). With a moderately fine-toothed Microplane, the job’s done zip-quick because you’ll rarely need more than a teaspoon or two.

Cocoa Powder: Cocoa is a better choice for muffins than chocolate because it can be mixed with the dry ingredients. Not so chocolate, which must be melted, then combined with the liquids, and only then stirred into the drys. Any good brand of cocoa will do as long as it’s unsweetened.

Coconut: If I’m going to make coconut cakes, cookies, or pies, I’ll go to all the trouble of wrestling with a fresh coconut, cracking the shell, draining off the liquid, breaking up the chunks inside, peeling off the brown skin, then grating the snowy flesh on a four-sided grater. Talk about labor intensive. But for the small amount of coconut I might use in a muffin recipe, I admit to using packaged, preshredded or flaked coconut though I do try to use the unsweetened.

Coconut Milk: Thanks to the proliferation of Thai restaurants in this country, coconut milk has come to the supermarket. So in developing new recipes for this book, I decided to see if coconut milk could be substituted for regular milk in certain muffin recipes. Indeed, it can (see Not Your Mama’s Carrot Muffins). You can buy pure coconut milk (unsweetened)—organic or otherwise. You can buy regular (my preference), “lite,” or reduced-fat coconut milk. Look for them in the international section of your supermarket or specialty grocery in handy 13.5- to 14-ounce cans.

Coffee, Espresso: Mocha (chocolate + coffee) is a particular flavor favorite of mine and when making muffins, the most effective way to combine the two is by using unsweetened cocoa powder and instant espresso powder or crystals.

Cornmeal: Basically, there are two types of cornmeal: stone-ground cornmeal  (either white, the Southerner’s choice, or yellow) and the big brand granular yellow cornmeal most supermarkets carry. Stone-ground meal is floury, more flavorful, and nutritionally superior because it usually contains both husk and germ. The downside is that its shelf life is short, so it should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. Like whole-wheat flour, stone-ground cornmeal is usually not sifted before it’s measured—my recipes all specify. If your supermarket does not sell stone-ground cornmeal, you can order it online (see Sources).

Corn Powder, Freeze-Dried: I recently discovered this new corn product and decided to give it a try. It’s said to boost the corn flavor in whatever it’s used in, indeed to inject something approaching dried corn flavor. (See Full-of-Flavor Corn Muffins. Also see Sources.)

Country Ham & Smithfield Ham: Unlike the popular pink packing-house hams every supermarket sells, country hams are firmer (no injected water), saltier, deeply flavorful, and the color of mahogany. Three of this country’s finest are the Edwards Hams of Virginia, Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams of Tennessee, and Col. Newsom’s Aged Kentucky Country Hams; all are available online (see Sources). Some country hams are sold by the ounce as well as fully cooked and ready to use and that’s what you want. Most muffin recipes call for only a few ounces, so no leftovers. If you must buy a larger amount of country ham, simply freeze the excess and use later in any recipes calling for ham. Tip: If country ham is unavailable, prosciutto and Serrano ham, either imported or  domestic, make good substitutes.

Cracklin’s: The crispy bits left after lard is rendered. Prizing both their texture and meaty flavor, Southerners stir them into corn bread. See Corn Muffins with Cracklin’s.

Dried Fruits: When I was growing up, the only dried fruits local groceries sold were apricots, dates, and raisins. Today the supermarket inventory of dried fruits is vast: apples, apricots, blueberries, cranberries, currants (actually Zante raisins), dates (now pitted, diced, and ready to use), figs, peaches, pears, dark seedless raisins, and sultanas (golden raisins). Dried apples, apricots, pears, and peaches may have been sulfured to minimize browning, but I prefer the unsulfured. Dried fruits mean that you can enjoy blueberry muffins right around the calendar, ditto cranberry muffins and peach muffins. Even if peaches, apples, or pears are in season, adding some of the dried, coarsely chopped, boosts the fruit flavor.

Eggs: Unless recipes in this book specify otherwise, use large eggs. Believe it or not, some of my muffins contain chopped hard-cooked eggs and I’d like to share here my foolproof way of hard-cooking them:

How To Hard-Cook Eggs

Bring eggs to a boil over moderate heat in a medium-size saucepan with enough cold water to cover them by a couple of inches. As soon as the water boils, set pan off-heat, cover, and let eggs stand 15 minutes exactly. Drain the eggs and plunge into ice water—this prevents that ugly dark green ring from forming between the yolks and whites. Tip: Eggs near their sell-by date peel much more easily and neatly than fresh ones. I crack the broad end first, roll the egg on the counter to craze the shell, then thumb bits of it off under a slow stream of cold water. I also do one egg at a time because if a cracked and crazed egg is returned to the pan of cold water, it will be difficult to shell without tearing or gouging the white.

Evaporated Milk: I’ve always liked the slightly caramel flavor of evaporated milk and for that reason, call for it in several muffin recipes. Note: I’m talking evaporated milk here, not sweetened condensed, and the one I prefer is regular, not low-fat or fat-free.

Flour: Throughout this book, I call for sifted all-purpose flour meaning that you should sift the flour before you measure it even if the package says “presifted.” Flour compacts when shipped or stored, so if you merely spoon it from bag to measuring cup, your 1 cup flour may actually be 1⅓ cups or—horrors—1½ cups. Enough to ruin any muffin. So sift, then measure.

Hazelnuts: Often overlooked, these brown-skinned chickpea-size nuts are becoming more widely available and, as I discovered while developing recipes for this book, are perfectly delicious in muffins and can be substituted for pecans or  walnuts. But they must be toasted.

How To Toast Hazelnuts

Spread shelled hazelnuts on an ungreased rimmed baking sheet, slide onto middle shelf of a preheated 350˚F oven, and leave until skins begin to blister and the nuts smell irresistible—10 to 12 minutes. Bundle hot nuts in a clean, dry dish towel and rub energetically to slake off skins. Don’t worry about any recalcitrant bits clinging to the nuts. They’ll add color and texture.

Herbs: With fresh herbs as near as the nearest supermarket or farmer’s market, I urge you to use them in muffins because their flavor is superior to that of dried herbs—dried leaf herbs, not ground. The herbs I like best in muffins? Parsley, of course, but also chives, dill, thyme, marjoram, oregano, and occasionally stronger herbs like sage and rosemary. But wherever I call for fresh herbs, I also give the dried herb equivalent. As a rule, 1 tablespoon freshly chopped herb = 1 teaspoon crumbled dried herb, though for unusually pungent herbs—rosemary and sage, to name two—I substitute ½ to ¾ teaspoon crumbled dried herb for each tablespoon of freshly chopped.

Hickory Nuts: Though first cousins to pecans, wild hickory nuts are hard shelled and their meat takes hours to extract. I remember my father spending an entire evening shelling a bowl of nuts that the tall hickory in front of our house rained down upon us like hailstones each fall. He considered that time well spent because wild hickory nuts are so flavorful and rich. Fortunately, you can order shelled, ready-to-use wild hickory nuts online. See Sources.

Honey: When a recipe calls for honey—and a few of my muffin recipes do—use a light golden honey the consistency of corn syrup. Never substitute honey for sugar in any muffin recipe because you are courting disaster, a lesson I learned the hard way. The properties and chemical compositions of these two sweeteners are entirely different and honey, always unpredictable when used in baked goods, works only in recipes developed specifically for it.

Maple Extract: Only use pure maple extract, never artificial, which tastes, well, artificial. Moreover, only pure maple extract has the assertiveness to impart maple flavor to muffins, or to any baked good, for that matter. Some high-end groceries carry pure maple extract but few supermarkets do. Fortunately, pure maple extract can be ordered online (see Sources).

Maple Sugar, Granulated: Most of us know maple sugar as little candies shaped like maple leaves, but when it comes to baking, you need granulated maple sugar. It looks a little like raw sugar but tastes purely of maple. A few high-end groceries carry it, but it’s more widely available online in amounts as small as 4 ounces and as whopping as 40 pounds (see Sources).

Maple Syrup: As a rule, it takes 40 to 50 gallons of maple sap to make 1 gallon of maple syrup. In Canada, maple syrup must be at least 66 percent sugar and in the U.S., it cannot be labeled “maple syrup” unless made exclusively from maple sap. There are several grades of maple syrup (from Fancy through A to B). But, make a note, grade has nothing to do with quality. It has to do with color and flavor. Grade A syrup is golden and delicately flavored, perfect for pancakes and waffles. But for baking, Grade B is what you want because its flavor is intense. Some high-end groceries sell Grade B maple syrup and it’s widely available online (see Sources). Whatever you use, make sure it’s labeled “pure maple syrup.”

Masa Harina: Every now and then I’ll substitute a little of this “tortilla flour” for cornmeal in corn muffins because it imparts subtle New Mexico (or old Mexico) flavor (see Mexicali Muffins). And what, exactly, is tortilla flour? Finely ground dried hominy. And what exactly is hominy? Fresh corn kernels soaked in a lye bath till they puff and their skins pop off. Called “posole” in Mexico whether dried or soft, it’s integral to many south-of-the-border classics. Soft hominy is also popular in the American South where it’s known as “big hominy.” But only when the hominy is dried and ground does it become masa harina. Today many supermarkets carry it and every Latino grocery definitely does. Still, if you can’t find small bags of masa harina, try ordering it online (see Sources).

Molasses: Several of my recipes call for molasses that’s not too dark, meaning unsulfured molasses the consistency of corn syrup. Under no circumstances use blackstrap molasses.

Nutmeg: Once you’ve tasted the spicy-lemony flavor of freshly grated nutmeg, you’re not likely to settle for preground nutmeg. Thanks to today’s Microplanes, whole nutmegs can be grated zip-quick. Moreover, they don’t lose flavor the way preground nutmeg does.

Oatmeal: Called “rolled oats” in recipes. Sometimes I call for quick-cooking rolled oats but if I’m after a bit more crunch, I’ll specify old-fashioned rolled oats. To be honest, however, the two can be used interchangeably, so suit yourself.

Oil: Whenever one of my muffin recipes calls for oil, use the one I specify—maybe vegetable oil (just a pale golden blend), peanut oil, corn oil, even extra-virgin olive oil (see Polenta Muffins with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Rosemary, and Butternut–Pine Nut Muffins).

Parmigiano-Reggiano: This famous cheese from the north of Italy is blessed with the perfect balance of flavors—sweet/salty/nutty. To inject cheese flavor in a muffin, a little freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano does the trick. I won’t pretend that this imported cheese is as cheap as Cheddar. It isn’t. But you can save money if you buy it by the chunk and grate it in your food processor—30 seconds is all it takes. Stored in the refrigerator in a tightly capped 1-pint preserving jar, it will remain fresh for as long as a month.

Peanut Butter: For muffins, I prefer chunky peanut butter to creamy not only because it adds texture but also because its flavor is more pronounced (see PB & J Muffins).

Peanuts: Highly nutritious legumes that mature underground, peanuts are good sources of protein, niacin and folate (two B vitamins), vitamin E, and three major minerals (magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus). Yet peanuts contain no cholesterol, no sodium, and no trans-fats, their oils being largely unsaturated. Adding peanuts to muffins, especially unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, is a good way to boost their food value (see Not Your Mama’s Carrot Muffins).

Pecans: A valuable food source among Native Americans long before Columbus, the pecan has become the all-American nut. We bake pecans into cookies, cakes, quick loaves, pies, and yes, muffins. Like other nuts, pecans are a nutritious, far better snack food than chips or cookies. Moreover, they contain significant amounts of largely unsaturated oleic acid (thought to lower LDL, or “bad cholesterol”) as well as phytochemicals now believed to reduce the risk of heart disease as well as colon and stomach cancer. Because I insist upon pecans that are sweet and fresh (never true of the canned or prepackaged), I order new-crop pecans directly from the grower (see Sources).

How To Toast Pecans

Spread pecans on an ungreased rimmed baking sheet, slide onto middle shelf of a preheated 350˚F oven, and leave until nuts smell irresistible—7 to 8 minutes. Watch closely—nuts burn fast. Don’t chop the pecans till they’re toasted.

Persimmons: American persimmon trees grow wild across the South and Midwest and between late September and mid-December bear intensely flavored fruits no bigger than Ping-Pong balls. Shriveled windfalls—orange with a haze of mauve—are what gleaners seek. Ditto deer, possums, and raccoons who devour them almost as fast as they drop from the trees.

How To Puree Persimmons

Rinse persimmons three times in cold water, drain on paper toweling, and pat dry. Now push persimmons through a food mill set over a large nonreactive bowl. Discard solids. Yield: 1 quart wild persimmons = about 1 pint (2 cups) puree.

How To Freeze Persimmon Puree

Mix ⅜ teaspoon powdered ascorbic acid (vitamin C) with each 1 quart persimmon puree (this prevents browning). Pack puree in 1-pint freezer containers leaving ½-inch head space at top. Snap on lids, date, label, and set in 0˚F freezer. Use in any recipe that calls for unsweetened persimmon puree or pulp. Storage time: about 1 year.

Frozen wild persimmon puree is also available online but supplies are short, especially in spring and summer (see Sources).

Pignoli (Pine Nuts): The first time I toasted these buttery nuts that taste of pine resin, I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, not Italy. Called piñon nuts in this part of the world, these seeds of the stubby piñon pine have sustained the Pueblo Indians for centuries and for that reason are highly prized. Today pine nuts are baked into all manner of breads, shortbreads, and cookies. Stirred into brittles and fudges, too. I like to snack on them both raw and toasted. And of course, like them in muffins.

How To Toast Pignoli (Pine Nuts)

Because these nuts are ultra-rich, they brown quickly and for that reason I don’t go the skillet route where the inevitable hot spots might burn them. Instead, I spread the whole shelled nuts in a bright aluminum or stainless steel 9-inch pie pan, slide onto the middle shelf of a preheated 350˚F oven, and toast, shaking the pan well a time or two, until the color of pale caramel—3 to 5 minutes. But keep an eye on them—pine nuts burn easily. Cool the toasted nuts until easy to handle, then give them a coarse chop—just enough to halve or quarter them.

Rye Flour: There are many different types of rye flour—light, medium, dark, whole-grain, and pumpernickel. Dark rye flour works best for muffins, I think, because of its color and flavor. Do not sift it before measuring, in fact do not sift it, period. Bits of husk and germ add texture and nutritive value. Rye muffins also need wheat flour because its stronger gluten builds the framework of almost all breads. A fifty-fifty ratio—rye flour to all-purpose flour—makes perfect muffins though my Brown Bread Muffins call for equal parts dark rye flour, all-purpose flour, and cornmeal. To buy rye flour online, see Sources.

Salt: For all-round baking, I prefer uniodized table salt. I personally find kosher or coarse salt too grainy for muffins because it doesn’t always dissolve in the short period of time it takes to bake a muffin.

Sour Cream: For some reason 8-ounce cartons of sour cream are disappearing from supermarket shelves in some parts of the country. Not to worry. Simply pack sour cream into a 1-cup measure—the kind used for measuring flour—and level off the top with the broad side of a small spatula. Note: Unless I suggest “light” or low-fat sour cream for a particular recipe, do not use it.

Soy Flour: This fine powder ground from toasted soybeans is protein- and mineral-rich, and the natural, full-fat soy flour, when combined with all-purpose flour, makes muffins as delicious as they are nutritious (see Soy Flour Muffins with Dried Blueberries and Cranberries). Most upmarket groceries now sell soy flour and it can also be ordered online (see Sources).

Sugar: Unless otherwise specified, the sugar used in my muffin recipes is granulated sugar, but whenever two different sugars are used in a single recipe—granulated and light brown for example—each one is specified. Many of my muffins call for raw sugar (also known as turbinado), a pale brown granulated sugar that tastes more of caramel than of molasses.

Sweet Potatoes: The potatoes Columbus took back to Spain were sweet potatoes, not Irish potatoes. And nowhere are they more popular today than in the American South. North Carolina produces more sweet potatoes than any other state, with Louisiana raising its share. Of all the varieties available, the two I like best are the intensely orange Beauregards and the plumper, rounder, copper-hued Jewels. Neither is difficult to find. Whenever I need mashed sweet potatoes for a recipe, I bake them because baking intensifies the flavor and doesn’t water down the flesh. Moreover, nothing could be easier:

How To bake, measure, and mash sweet potatoes

Prick potatoes with a kitchen fork, place in pie pan, slide onto middle shelf of a preheated 400˚F oven, and bake about 1 hour or until soft enough to pierce easily with a fork or skewer.

Remove potatoes from the oven, cool until easy to handle, then cut an X in the top of each, and pinch to push flesh up.

Scoop flesh into a bowl and using a potato masher, mash until smooth or into a silky puree—whichever the recipe specifies.

To measure, scoop pureed or mashed sweet potato into a dry measure (the kind used for flour and sugar), packing or not as recipes specify, then level off top with broad side of a small spatula. For 1 cup firmly packed pureed or mashed sweet potato you’ll need 1 large potato (about 10 ounces).

Cool pureed or mashed sweet potato before using and do not season unless recipes direct otherwise.

Vanilla and Other Extracts: Always use pure extracts, never imitation, which are disagreeably perfume-y and rarely taste like the real thing. A faux extract can ruin a perfectly good muffin.

Whole-Wheat Flour: Unlike all-purpose flour milled exclusively from the starchy endosperm, whole-wheat flour contains the husk, germ, and endosperm. It’s protein-rich, fiber-rich, and an impressive source of such major B vitamins as thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, B6, folate, and pantothenic acid. In addition, whole-wheat flour contains a mother lode of minerals (iron, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and selenium). But it’s too heavy to make a good muffin unless lightened with all-purpose flour. The usual ratio is 50 percent whole-wheat and 50 percent all-purpose though amounts may vary somewhat from recipe to recipe. Most good supermarkets routinely carry whole-wheat flours and high-end groceries invariably do. There are online sources as well (see Sources).

Measuring Tips

Ice Cream Scoop: The ¼-cup size is just the thing for filling muffin pan cups, especially a spring-loaded one that scrapes every bit of batter from scoop to pan. One scoop is about right for one standard-size muffin pan cup, more scoops, of course, for muffin tops and jumbos. For mini muffins, I use a teaspoon or tablespoon, adding enough batter to two-thirds fill each muffin pan cup—no more.

Measuring Cups: There are two basic types of measuring cups, one for liquids, the second for dry or soft, thick ingredients. Here are the correct ways to use them.

Spouted Measuring Cups

For Liquids: Broths . . . fruit and vegetable juices . . . milk and cream . . . oils and vinegars . . . honey, molasses, and syrups . . . water . . . beers, wines, and spirits.

Technique: Set measuring cup on a flat surface and fill to desired amount (¼ cup, ½ cup, 1 cup, etc.), then bend down and confirm amount at eye level.

“Dry” Measures (¼-, ⅓-, ½-, and 1-Cup Sizes)

Technique: For the following ingredients, spoon ingredient into measuring cup of desired size, packing as you go, and level off the top with the broad side of a small spatula: brown sugar (light or dark) . . . butter, lard, shortening . . . chutneys, relishes . . . cream cheese, cheese spreads . . . fruit and vegetable purees, applesauce, mashed Irish or sweet potatoes . . . jams, jellies, marmalades, and preserves . . . ketchup, chili sauce, tomato paste, bottled pasta sauces . . . lard, soft butter or margarine, vegetable shortening . . . mayonnaise, mustard . . . peanut butter, Nutella, tahini, other nut and seed pastes . . . sour cream, yogurt.

Technique: For these ingredients, simply spoon into measuring cup and level off with the edge of a small spatula: bread and cracker crumbs . . . bran flakes or buds, uncooked oatmeal (rolled oats) and other grains . . . grated or shredded cheeses . . . cornmeal (stone-ground or granular) . . . dried fruits (raisins, currants, chopped dried blueberries, cranberries, dates, etc.) . . . flours (all-purpose, cake, whole-wheat, rice, rye, etc.) . . . fresh fruits (chopped, diced, sliced) . . . fresh herbs (chopped, minced, snipped) . . . chopped or grated fresh ginger . . . nuts (halves, pieces, chopped) . . . sugar (granulated, raw, confectioners’) . . . vegetables (chopped, diced, or sliced).

Some Handy Equivalents

In the old days, muffin pans were more or less the same size. Not so today when in addition to standard-size muffin pans there are minis; jumbos; even broader, shallower muffin top pans for those whose favorite part of a muffin is the crunchy, often caramelized top. So here’s a handy table of equivalents based upon a recipe that makes a dozen standard-size muffins:

12 standard-size muffins = about 3 dozen (36) mini muffins

12 standard-size muffins = 10 to 12 muffin tops

12 standard-size muffins = 5 to 6 jumbo muffins

ALSO BY Jean Anderson