Muffins

This is one of the first recipes that I posted and I still make them several times a month. This recipe has several variations and I make them all - plain, banana, pumpkin, blueberry, and apple. Today for the first day of school we had pumpkin muffins, perfect for the very fall-like morning that we had today.

the last pumpkin muffin

Muffins
makes 10-12

1 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 beaten egg
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. oil

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.  Make a well in the center.  combine egg, milk, and oil; add all at once to the flour mixture.  Stir just till moistened.  Lightly grease muffin cups or line with paper cups; fill 2/3 full.  Bake in a 400* oven about 20 minutes or till golden.

I have a large enough liquid measuring cup that I can mix the milk, oil, and egg in and not dirty another bowl.  You can also make these in a mini-muffin pan, great when you have toddlers or little kids since they make a great snack and are easily portable.

Variations:

Blueberry - add 3/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries and 1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel (optional) to batter.
Banana - reduce milk to 1/2 c. Add 3/4 c. mashed banana (I use 2 bananas) and 1/2 c. chopped nuts to flour mixture with egg mixture.  Do not use paper cups.
Pumpkin - add 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp. ground cloves to flour mixture. Add 1/2 c. canned pumpkin to egg mixture.  stir 1/2 c. chopped nuts into batter.  Do not use paper bake cups.
Oatmeal - reduce flour to 1 1/3 c. and add 3/4 c. rolled oats to flour mixture.  Rolled oats seem to "melt" more into the muffins.  I usually used Old Fashioned Oats since it's what I have and the oats keep a crunchier texture, which I like. 
Apple - add 1 tsp. cinnamon to the flour mixture. Add one apple, cored, sliced, and diced with the wet ingredients.