Muffin or Donut...

I've made muffins, and I’ve made doughnuts; and now I have made muffin doughnuts – or to put it more clearly, muffins that taste like doughnuts. Whether you spell ‘doughnut’ as such or ‘donut,’ it is a culinary testament to the glory of deep-frying. Throw anything edible in a pot of hot oil and its deliciousness factor spikes up several notches.

But deep-frying is a lot of work, and sometimes I’m not in the mood to knead dough, wait for it to rise, then shape, let rise again, fiddle with the temperature of oil, and finally cook the darn things. My appetite is as impatient as I am and when it’s feeding time, it’s feeding time. As you well know, frying is an art form that comes about only through practice and untold gallons of cooking oil.

Wanting to bake something for breakfast this morning, but not wanting to make yet another batch of scones; I dug out a recipe that’s as intriguing as it is tempting ~ muffin doughnuts: muffins that taste like doughnuts. It didn’t take me long to get in the kitchen and soon, the flour is flying.

Remarkably easier to make than regular doughnuts, these doughnut muffins are made like a cake: butter and sugar beaten together, eggs mixed in one at a time, and then the wet and dry ingredients are added alternately in five additions. This method, also known as the creaming method, produces a crumb that’s soft and cake-like with a pleasingly crunchy top.

In my baking, I discover that nutmeg is the “secret ingredient” in making anything taste old-fashioned, especially doughnuts. It’s responsible for that great flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on.

Using a large ice cream scoop, I place the batter in a regular muffin pan, filling it until the batter is even with the rim of the cup. If you like muffins with a domed top just like the commercial ones, then mound most of the batter in the middle.

These muffins don’t really give off any heady aromas while baking, no hint of the lip-smacking goodness that awaits. They’re done when they’re firm to the touch. I’m supposed to wait until the muffins are “cool enough to handle,” but because I possess what I’ve been told are “asbestos hands,” I pick the muffins up as soon as they come out of the oven and dip them into a waiting bowl of melted butter. I try brushing on the butter with a pastry brush but the butter doesn’t adhere as well as just dunking the muffin into the butter. It’s this lustrous glaze that satisfyingly mimics the “just fried” taste of a regular doughnut. A quick smooch with the cinnamon-sugar mixture and these delectable babies are ready to go.

Pairing it with my double beaker of fresh brewed coffee and browsing my favorite blogs, I am in doughnut muffin paradise. I think it's the buttery crumb merging with the steam that escapes from its divine depths, that creates this glorious place with every bite. Obviously, I can’t mistake this for a real doughnut, not even cake doughnuts, but it surely tasted incredible satisfying.



Muffin Doughnuts
Adapted from a recipe in Southern Living, 2008

Ingredients:
1½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¾ cups sugar
4 large eggs
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1¾ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1⅔ cups milk
¼ cup buttermilk

For dipping:
1 cup unsalted butter; more as needed
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Put a rack in the middle of the oven and heat the oven to 350 degree F.

In a stand mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until just mixed in. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Combine the milk and buttermilk. With a wooden spoon, mix a quarter of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Then mix in a third of the milk mixture. Continue mixing in the remaining dry and wet ingredients alternately, ending with the dry. Mix until well combined and smooth, but don't over mix. Grease and flour a standard-size muffin tin. Scoop enough batter into each tin so that the top of the batter is even with the rim of the cup, about ½ cup. A large ice-cream scoop gives you the perfect amount. Bake the muffins until firm to the touch, about 30 to 35 minutes.

Melt the butter for the dipping mixture. Combine the sugar and cinnamon. When the muffins are just cool enough to handle, remove them from the tin, dip them into or brush them all over with the melted butter, and then roll them in the cinnamon sugar.

You don't have to bake all the muffins right away; the batter will keep, covered and chilled, for up to three days in the refrigerator.

Makes 24

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George’s notes:

• Doughnuts have been around for centuries. Archaeologists turned up several petrified fried cakes with holes in the center in prehistoric ruins in the Southwestern United States. How these early Native Americans prepared their doughnuts is unclear.
• There is a very popular half-truth in doughnut lore centered on a very real sea captain and his mother. In 1847, Elizabeth Gregory was known in her New England circle to make a very fine olykoek. Her secret was to add a hint of nutmeg and fill the center with hazelnuts or walnuts. She even had a special name for her creation -- dough-nuts.
• Olykoek, also known as Oily Cakes, are sweet dough balls fried in pork fat. Made by the Dutch in the mid-19th century, olykoeks were predecessors of the modern donut.
• Muffins are generally, but not always, quick breads - meaning that a leavening agent other than yeast is used to make the bread rise. Muffins are made with a variety of flours, fruits and nuts and are baked in a muffin pan. Traditionally, muffins are sweet to a degree, but savory muffins are not completely uncommon.

Cheddar Olives...

When planning a cocktail party, I always make sure to have one "straight-from-freezer-to-oven" recipe, and I usually make an extra batch. You can keep refilling the tray as long as you need to, and any leftovers stay in the freezer for the next party. There's only one problem ~ with this favorite hors d'oeuvres, there are never any leftovers. Ever! No matter how many I make.

Even when I've quintupled this recipe for a cocktail party, they were all gone before the party was over. People just can't get enough of the warm, cheddary, slightly crumbly pastry enclosing a juicy olive.

It comes together in a snap - a single recipe probably takes about 20 minutes or less to get in the oven. Obviously, the more you make, the longer it will take, but once you've got the dough made, rolling the olives is pretty mindless. This is an old southern recipe - you'll find versions of it in many cookbooks.

Cheddar Olives

Ingredients:
8 to 10 ounce jar of pitted green olives, either pimento stuffed or plain.
1 cup sharp Cheddar, shredded
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon cayenne*

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Drain the olives well, and dry them completely with paper towels. Set aside.
Combine the other ingredients in a bowl and mix well until a dough forms. You can kneed it with your hands, if necessary, until it has the consistency of play-dough.



Pinch off a small amount of dough, flatten it, and wrap it around a dry olive. Being careful not to squeeze the olive, pinch off any excess, then roll it in your hands until smooth. Continue until all the olives are covered.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. OR freeze, wrapped tightly, and they will last for months. Bake straight from the freezer for 20 minutes.

* I prefer the cayenne, but in a pinch I've made it with paprika and it was just as good! You just want a little something in there to cut the richness.

Serve immediately.

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George’s notes:

• Cocktails are the centerpiece of many celebrations. Throwing a cocktail party is an easy way to commemorate any occasion or milestone. Best of all, you never need an excuse to host a cocktail party. It's the perfect "just because" gathering to catch up with friends.
• Stock your bar with these staples so you never have to worry about not having the cocktail your guest might want.

Liquor
Vodka ~ 2 bottles, including flavored ones. Vodka is always a safe bet because you can serve it on the rocks and it mixes well with any kind of juice, soda, or tonic.

Gin ~ 1 bottle for old-school martini lovers and tonic drinkers will do the trick.

Tequila ~ It’s the prime ingredient of margarita and 1 bottle will do the trick.

Rum ~ 1 bottle to make delicious drinks with sodas or fruity flavored mixers.

Whiskey ~ consider this a broader category that includes bourbons and scotches and an at home bar is complete with 1 bottle.

Beer, red and white wine ~ Have all three on hand is best, but not a must. I usually have two types of beers and one type of each wine, thus introducing a new vineyard tasting and encouraging conversation among my guest.

Mixers
Soda ~ Tonic, Coke and diet versions, club soda, and fancy flavors, like cream vanilla flavored soda.

Juices ~ Orange, cranberry and grapefruit juices as well as vegetable juices like cucumber or tomato. Also remember lemon and lime juice.

Flavored Mixes ~ Liquor is always enjoyable when you had a tasty flavor to it and store brought mixes like pina colada, daquiri, margarita are a relatively inexpensive and easy thing to keep on hand.

Garnishes
Garnishes can be pretty much anything, but always keep the basics like olives, cherries, lemon and lime wedges, and sliced fruit on hand.

Banana Oatmeal Cookies...

I made some banana oatmeal cookies with dried blueberries yesterday morning. They are lower fat cookies with only 2 tablespoons of butter, 2 egg whites (instead of 1 egg) and ¾ cup sugar, because the blueberries are sweet themselves and one mashed ripe banana. With a tender crumb due to its soft, flaky oats, this treat was not super sweet, unlike regular oatmeal cookies or breakfast banana muffins. Give these a try, I know you will enjoy!



Banana Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, softened
¼ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 medium ripe banana, mashed
2 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups oats
1 cup dried blueberries


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and the sugars with a mixer. Beat in the egg whites and banana, then the vanilla extract. Gradually add in the flour mixture on low speed.
Stir in the oats and dried blueberries.

Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. You can flatten the tops a bit with moistened fingers or leave them domed shaped (which are more moist and muffin like - I did both, but the ones pictured are the non-flattened version).

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degree F, until set and lightly browned about 10-13 minutes, if you flatten the cookies. Let cookies cool for about 5 minutes on the pan before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

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George’s notes:

• After reading THIS, you'll NEVER look at a banana in the same way again!
• Bananas contain three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Scones...

With their warm baked aroma and soft texture, scones are my all-time favorite. They turn basic, inexpensive ingredients into something truly special. They're so easy to make, even little hands will be able to get in on the action and they'll be well rewarded for their efforts.

Traditionally, scones were part of an elegant tea-time spread served with jam and whipped or clotted cream and quite possibly, Earl Grey tea, too. But you really don’t need to get the best linen tablecloth out to enjoy these. They take just half an hour to make, so you can eat them fresh, plain or buttered, with coffee for breakfast, or as a mid-morning snack.

My scones are a lot like biscuits, but the dough is lightly sweetened. This recipe can accommodate any sort of dried fruit or fresh fruit in season.



Raisin Scones

Ingredients:
1 cup self-raising flour plus extra for dusting
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
⅓ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter plus extra for greasing
⅓ cup raisins
½ cup milk
2–3 tablespoons cream or milk to glaze

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet or line it with baking parchment.

Sift together into a medium-sized bowl the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the sugar.

Cut up the butter and rub it into the dry mixture until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the raisins.

Add three-quarters of the milk and mix it in quickly with a knife. Add the remaining milk, only if it is needed, to mix to a soft dough. Do not overmix as this will make the scones tough.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll out to ¾ -inch thick.

Cut out the scones with a 2 inch floured cutter. Gather up any trimmings, roll into a ball, and cut more scones.

Place the scones on the baking sheet and brush the tops with the cream or milk.

Bake near the top of the oven for 10–12 minutes or until the scones have risen, are lightly browned on top, and the bases sound hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 dozen

Zucchini Bread

I still remember the first time I encountered zucchini bread as a teenager. I had a hard time getting my mind around the concept. At the time, zucchini was something my mom made me eat, and not anything you would bake into something sweet. Fortunately, the pathway into my naturally resistant-to-new-foods teenage mind had already been cut with carrot cake. Heck, if you could get something that good out of carrots, why not zucchini? After one bite, I was sold forever. Grated zucchini, mixed into the batter, brings moisture and tender texture to what is essentially a spice cake.

Zucchini Bread
Do you have some fresh garden zucchini and don’t know what to do… make a sweet and spicy bread. You can stir it up and have it in the oven in minutes.

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
1 tablespoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1¼ teaspoons baking powder
¾ cup nuts, chopped



In a large bowl, beat eggs and then add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla until blended. Stir all dry ingredients together and add to egg mixture. Fold in the nuts.

Spoon mixture into greased and floured loaf pans (⅔ full).

In a 350 degrees F preheated oven, bake for one hour or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Yields: 2 large loaves