The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (263 page)

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute ³⁄
₄
cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with ¹⁄
₄
cup milk.

LEMON-SUGAR TOPPING

MUFFINS

1. FOR THE TOPPING:
Stir together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined and set aside.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS:
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray. Bring 1 cup blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¹⁄
₄
cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

3.
Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. Whisk remaining 1¹⁄
₈
cups sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining 1 cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

4.
Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon 1 teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle lemon sugar evenly over muffins.

5.
Bake until muffins are golden brown and toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with few crumbs attached, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let muffins cool in tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Substitute 8 ounces frozen blueberries for fresh blueberries. Cook 1 cup blueberries as directed in step 2. Rinse remaining berries under cold water and dry well. Proceed with recipe from step 3 as directed.

Omit Lemon-Sugar Topping. Instead combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar, pinch salt, and ¹⁄
₂
cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour in small bowl. Drizzle with 5 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-size pieces throughout. Proceed with recipe as directed, sprinkling streusel topping over muffins before baking.

Turbinado sugar is often sold as Sugar in the Raw.

Omit Lemon-Sugar Topping. Add 2 teaspoons grated orange zest to egg mixture. Proceed with recipe as directed, sprinkling 4 teaspoons turbinado sugar over muffins before baking. While muffins cool, whisk together 1 cup confectioners’ sugar and 1¹⁄
₂
tablespoons orange juice until smooth. Drizzle each cooled muffin with 2 teaspoons glaze before serving.

Turbinado sugar is often sold as Sugar in the Raw.

Omit Lemon-Sugar Topping. Instead combine ¹⁄
₃
cup finely ground almonds and 4 teaspoons turbinado sugar in step 1 for topping and set aside. Add ¹⁄
₃
cup finely ground almonds to flour mixture. Proceed with recipe as directed, adding 1 teaspoon almond extract to batter with vanilla extract and sprinkling almond topping over muffins before baking.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

To tame the harsh bite of the cranberries found in most cranberry-nut muffins, we chopped the cranberries in a food processor and tossed them with confectioners’ sugar and a little salt (which we often use to tame the bitterness in eggplant). As for the nuts, we took a cue from cakes made with nut flour and augmented some of the all-purpose flour with pecan flour (made by grinding pecans in a food processor). These muffins boasted a rich, hearty crumb. But because we were working with less flour, our muffins spread rather than baking up tall and self-contained. We fixed the problem by letting the batter rest for 30 minutes. This allowed what flour there was to become more hydrated, resulting in a properly thickened batter that baked up perfectly domed. To replace the missing crunch of the nuts, we simply topped the muffins with a pecan streusel.

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

If fresh cranberries aren’t available, substitute frozen cranberries and microwave on high power until they are partially thawed, 30 to 45 seconds.

STREUSEL TOPPING

MUFFINS

1.
Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.

2. FOR THE TOPPING:
Process flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter in food processor until mixture resembles coarse sand, 4 to 5 pulses. Add pecans and process until mixture forms small clumps, 4 to 5 pulses. Transfer to small bowl; set aside.

3. FOR THE MUFFINS:
Whisk flour, baking powder, ³⁄
₄
teaspoon salt together in bowl; set aside.

4.
Process toasted pecans and granulated sugar until mixture resembles coarse sand, 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer to large bowl and whisk in eggs, butter, and milk until combined. Whisk flour mixture into egg mixture until just moistened and no streaks of flour remain. Set batter aside for 30 minutes to thicken.

5.
Pulse cranberries, remaining ¹⁄
₄
teaspoon salt, and confectioners’ sugar in food processor until very coarsely chopped, 4 to 5 pulses. Using rubber spatula, fold cranberries into batter. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Evenly sprinkle streusel topping over muffins, gently pressing into batter to adhere.

6.
Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 18 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let muffins cool in tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Classic bran muffins rely on unprocessed wheat bran, but our supermarket survey showed that few stores carry this specialized ingredient. We wanted to make a moist, hearty muffin redolent of bran’s rich, earthy flavor without tracking down unprocessed bran.

To start, we tested bran cereal from the supermarket and found that twig-style cereal worked better than flakes, but soaking the twigs in milk, as most recipes recommend, left our muffins dense and heavy. Instead, we stirred together the wet ingredients first and then added the cereal. Grinding half of the twigs in the food processor and leaving the rest whole gave us the rustic texture we wanted. Whole-milk yogurt, along with butter, added needed moisture to the batter. Molasses and brown sugar reinforced the earthy bran flavor. To address the texture of the muffins, we switched to baking soda instead of baking powder and used one egg plus a yolk—two eggs made the muffins too springy. To ensure that they would soften fully, we plumped the raisins in water in the microwave before adding them to the batter.

MAKES 12 MUFFINS

We prefer Kellogg’s All-Bran Original cereal in this recipe. Dried cranberries or dried cherries may be substituted for the raisins.

1.
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray. Line plate with paper towel. Combine raisins and water in small bowl, cover, and microwave for 30 seconds. Let stand, covered, until raisins are softened and plump, about 5 minutes. Transfer raisins to prepared plate to cool.

2.
Process 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cereal in food processor until finely ground, about 1 minute. Whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking soda, and salt in large bowl until combined and set aside. Whisk egg and egg yolk together in medium bowl until well combined and light-colored, about 20 seconds. Add sugar, molasses, and vanilla to bowl with eggs and whisk until mixture is thick, about 30 seconds. Add melted butter and whisk to combine. Add yogurt and whisk to combine. Stir in processed cereal and remaining 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unprocessed cereal. Let mixture sit until cereal is evenly moistened (there will still be some small lumps), about 5 minutes.

3.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix gently with rubber spatula until batter is just combined and evenly moistened (do not overmix.) Gently fold raisins into batter. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups, dropping batter to form mounds (do not level or flatten batter).

4.
Bake until muffins are dark golden and toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out with few crumbs attached, 16 to 20 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking. Let muffins cool in tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before serving.