Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Lemon Ginger Muffins



I found this recipe the other night on Simply Recipes., and I just knew that I had to try it. I'm a huge fan of ginger, but I'd never actually used fresh ginger before. I was very excited to try this out. As I cannot seem to ever follow a recipe strictly (whether by accident or by design), I did make some changes. They were minor. I'll include them here in green.

(Mini) Lemon Ginger Muffins Recipe


Ingredients

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup 1/2-inch cubes of peeled, fresh ginger
1 large lemon (I ended up needing about 1.5 lemons to get enough zest)
1 cup sugar -divided into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup

10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used half plain yogurt and half vanilla yogurt. I'd like to tell you that this was an inspiration that came to me, but the truth is, I just accidentally didn't buy enough of the plain and happened to have the vanilla already in my fridge. I liked the way it turned out though!)

Glaze
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)
(I added a little cinnamon to the mixture. I will also say that I don't think this glaze is fabulous or really worthy of the muffins. It tasted a little too powdered sugary for my taste. I kind of think I like the muffins best plain.)

Method,

1 Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.

2 Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

3 Using a vegetable peeler, peel off the lemon zest from one large lemon (avoid the white pith). Coarsely chop the zest. You should have approximately 1/4 cup of chopped lemon zest. Add this zest, the cubed fresh ginger, and 1/4 cup of sugar to a food processor. Pulse until a paste forms.

4 In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the lemon zest and ginger paste.

5 Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat.

6 Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan. (I used mini muffin tins. 1 3/4" x 3/4" size) Coat each muffin cup lightly with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or a little melted butter using a pastry brush. (Used cooking spray...worked fine) Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes (My mini muffins came out perfectly at 12 minutes). Test with a long toothpick (we use a thin bamboo skewer) (<-not my note. I used a toothpick) to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool.

7 While the muffins are cooling, in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze. Add more lemon juice if necessary. While the muffins are still a bit warm, use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each muffin. The muffins will absorb some of the glaze, so you add more glaze to each muffin if you like. (Since I wasn't crazy about the glaze, I didn't add it to the muffins. I left it in a separate container for people to spoon on as they wished).

Makes 12 muffins. (I got 69 mini muffins out of this recipe)


I found these muffins to be delicious, light, and almost creamy in texture. I will certainly be making them again!

ETA: No, I do not own enough muffin tins to make 69 muffins. I own enough to make 24 mini muffins at a time. I just made them in shifts.

1 comment:

Jenn said...

Do you seriously have enough muffin tins to make 69 muffins?! I have four big ones, one huge one, and two mini ones, but that does not add up to 69 in any way, shape or form. (And in my defense, I did not buy most of them. People apparently think that when you get married, you bake a lot of muffins.)

Anyway, these look fabulous. You're such a creative cook, my dear Chaddy! I wonder if they'd last in the mail? ;)

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