Lawsuit Buttermilk Muffin Food

LAWSUIT BUTTERMILK MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees C ^ or 400 degrees F and line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.
• Mix together flour, salt, baking powder and bicarb soda in a bowl then set aside.
• In another bowl, combine the oil, brown sugar, citrus zest/lemon juice and egg; stir in the vanilla extract and buttermilk.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix till combined but do NOT overmix.
• Gently add the fruit and mix.
• Leave to sit for about 5 minutes and check the batter consistency - if it is still quite watery then add a little more flour as the batter should be quite stiff and hold it's shape. And if you used lemon juice instead of zest it will have more liquid.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and fill pretty much to the top. Don't do anything silly like smooth the tops over as muffins look tastier when their tops are messily puffed!
• Sprinkle whichever streusel topping (see Step 13 OR Step 14) you're using evenly on top of each muffin and make sure they are well covered as when they cook they expand a lot and suddenly there isn't as much streusel as you thought there was!
• Bake for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 160 degrees C^ and bake for another 10 minutes. (When the muffins are done they will spring back when lightly touched.).
• Let the muffins cool in the tray for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Enjoy! (especially if you have a nice cup of tea or hot chocolate!).
• You can use either of these streusel toppings, the walnut one is the original for this recipe, but if you find yourself without any walnuts, you might give the other one a try :).
• For the Nut Streusel Topping: Combine1 tablespoon unsalted butter, chilled, 1/3 cup brown sugar (firmly packed), 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped, (you may sub pecans) in a bowl till you have a crumbly mixture. Set aside if using immediately, or store in the fridge till you want to use it.
• OR for the Butter Streusel Topping: Combine 60g caster sugar, 90g all-purpose flour, 1/2 scant teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 scant teaspoon of bicarb soda, 80g chilled butter, cut into cubes--mixing with your fingertips till it resembles coarse breadcrumbs and has a sandy texture. Use a fork to combine 1 tablespoon demerara sugar (coffee sugar will suffice if you don't have any demerara) with the dough, then set aside or store in the fridge till you need it if not using immediately.

FRUIT BUTTERMILK MUFFINS

Steps:

• 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper liners. If using regular muffin tins, about 24. If using jumbo muffin tins, about 7. * Hint: the pretty papers are cute, but I found with muffins, regular old white paper liners work best. The pretty ones tend to stick to the muffins.
• 2. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Mix this very well by hand. At least 20 seconds, more is better. You want this to be mixed very well.
• 3. In another bowl, mix oil,brown sugar, cinnamon,lemon zest and egg. Mix well. Once this is combined, mix in the butter milk and vanilla.
• 4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, folding ever so gentle and only until just combined. DO NOT OVER MIX! Small lumps are ok. Over mixing is the biggest downfall to muffins. When gently combined, fold in the fruit very carefully. The batter will be fairly stiff.
• 5. Spoon the batter into the muffin tins filling to the top of the papers.
• 6. Sprinkle generously with sugar in the raw all over the unbaked tops of each muffin.
• 7. For regular sized muffins: Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. When time is up, reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking an additional 12 minutes. * Note: if using jumbo muffin tins, bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, and then down to 350 degrees for an additional 20-25 minutes. Check with toothpick inserted in middle of muffin. It should come out clean.
• 8. Let muffins cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Remove them from pan and continue cooling on racks.
• 9. These muffins freeze well.
• 10. Any fruit can be used. You can play around with the brown sugar. I made a batch with 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 regular sugar with great results. You can add a streusel topping before baking. This is by far the best muffin recipe I have ever used.