Forgetful muffins

I do not know what is wrong with me, but I have been rather absent-minded lately. This morning, I got to the subway station and couldn't find my wallet. It turns out I had left it in another coat pocket after running errands last night. A couple of days ago, I forgot to wear earrings. Maybe not too unusual but very much so for me--I felt like I was naked. Last week, I had gone to the restroom at work which is outside our office in the hallway so you need a key to get back in the office. I was returning back to the office and I completely forgot which way to turn the key in order to open the door. This is a process I do probably five or six times a day, but I just blanked and stood there, struggling to unlock the door.

Last night, I decided to make muffins, which I had never made before, in order to use up the yogurt I still had from marinating chicken. Usually when I make baked goods, I always have the intention of sharing so that I don't consume all the calories. My cousins are out of town so I thought I'd bring them to the office. I had just put the muffins in the oven to bake and then I remembered... it was the first night of Passover. Oops. I have a few Jewish colleagues, some more observant than others, but still, it seemed very ignorant and tactless to bring in some kind of baked good during Passover.



Which I guess is for the best, as these were my first attempt at muffins. Actually, I'm a little surprised I had never made muffins before. With all the baking I've done in my life, how did I manage to skip over muffins? I had bookmarked recipes in the Joy of Cooking while I was looking for things to make my cousins for their early flight. They were very simple, and the one for reduced fat muffins needed yogurt, which I was looking to use up anyways. The recipe says you can add things like fresh/dried fruit and/or nuts, so I had planned on adding walnuts.


Like many baked goods, you start by mixing the wet and dry ingredients separately, then incorporate. Maybe because this recipe used yogurt, the wet ingredients were very thick, so when I mixed them into the dry, the consistency was very thick and not smooth at all, which the Joy of Cooking warned that it would be (this is why I love Joy, it gives you details like that so when you're making something and it seems a little off, it reassures you that you are still on track).


Because it was so thick, I used an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin. About halfway through I realized I had forgotten to add the walnuts. (Are you keeping track? That is Senior Moment #5.) So I just added a handful of walnuts to the remaining mixture and kept scooping.


The recipe also mentions sprinkling cinammon and sugar on top, as an option. I keep a small bottle of a cinammon-sugar mixture around--very convenient for things like this and for buttered toast. (Note: Next time, I'm going to be much more generous with the cinammon-sugar because it is quite delicious on the finished product.)


This recipe made 12 muffins. Off they went into a preheated 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.


I should probably invest in some toothpicks so that I don't have to use a skewer to check for doneness. I left them in for one minute longer which, in retrospect, might have been unnecessary.


Then let them cool in pan for a couple of minutes...


Before moving them onto a wire rack...


Then devouring one while still warm. Heavenly. It may be because I am used to cupcakes, but the muffin texture was more dense than the cupcakes, but that seems normal since the ingredient proportions are totally different. Next time, I may fill the tins with double the amount, so that I can get a muffin top. On the actual muffin but hopefully not on me.

Basic Reduced Fat Muffins from the Joy of Cooking
This is the order that I prepared everything.

• Set out bag of walnuts and forget about it until almost the very end
• Turn on oven to 400 degrees
• Melt 3-1/2 tablespoons of butter (although recipe says you can use vegetable oil instead but, ew)
• Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners
• Mix together:
  - 2 cups of flour
  - 4 teaspoons baking powder
  - 1/2 teaspoon salt
  - 1/4 teaspoon baking soda (only needed if you are using yogurt)
  - 1/2 cup of sugar (recipe says you can use up to 2/3 cup, which if you like sweeter muffins, I would recommend)
• Mix in another bowl:
  - 1 egg
  - 1 cup of non-fat plain yogurt (or milk)
  - 1 teaspoon vanilla
  - carefully stir in melted butter (so it does not harden)
• Add the yogurt mixture to the dry ingredients and incorporate quickly, trying not to stir too much
• Scoop into muffin tin
• Halfway through, remember the walnuts and toss those into the remaining mixture (just kidding! Try to remember to stir in your additions before scooping)
• Sprinkle cinammon and sugar on top of muffins
• Bake for 12 minutes
• Let cool in pan for a couple of minutes, then cool on a wire rack

The notes in the Joy of Cooking say that since this is a "reduced fat" recipe, they will not stay as moist as the standard recipe. If, like me, you forgot it was Passover and cannot share these with your office and now have to eat the entire batch, you could pop these into the toaster oven to revive them. Also, the ones with walnuts are infinite times better than the ones without. Walnuts make everything taste better.