Sugar-Crusted Citrus Muffins

These lemon and lime muffins have a tangy topping that separates into a sticky syrup and a crunchy sugary crust.

Makes 10

1-3/4 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup superfine sugar

1 cup milk

Finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon

Finely grated zest of 1/2 lime

1 egg, lightly beaten

6 Tbs. butter, melted

For the crunchy topping:

1/2 cup sugar

juice of 1 small lemon

Thinly pared strips of rind of 1/2 lemon

Thinly pared strips of rind of 1/2 lime

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 10 cups of a 12-cup muffin pan or line 10 cups with paper muffin cups.
• For the muffins, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Pour the milk into a bowl. Stir in the lemon and lime zest, egg and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix briefly until just combined.
• Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it evenly. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until risen and golden. Remove from the oven and leave the baked muffins in the pan.
• While the muffins are baking, make the crunchy topping. Mix the sugar and lemon juice in a bowl until blended. Stir in the thinly pared strips of lemon and lime rind. When the muffins come out of the oven, spoon the citrus mixture over the hot muffins. Leave to cool in the pan, then turn out and serve.

White Chocolate, Lemon & Raspberry Muffins

I was craving some warm delicious muffins and I love the combination of raspberries and lemons.

Makes 12
2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 fresh or frozen raspberries (don't thaw)
Scant 1 cup white chocolate, coarsely chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 Lemon
2 eggs. lightly beaten
1 cup milk

• Preheat the oven to 400 degree F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line the cups with paper muffin cups.
• Mix the flour and baking powder in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, raspberries, white chocolate and lemon zest.
• In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and milk, then pour the egg mixture all at once into the dry ingredients and mix briefly until just combined. (Careful do not over mix)
• Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it evenly. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, or until well risen, golden and firm to the touch. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack. Serve warm or cold.

Adapted from Muffins Galore by Catherine Atkinson.

Corn Muffins

I forgot to set the timer as you can see...I caught these just in time! I served these corn muffins with Dirty Rice for dinner tonight.

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tbsp. granulated sugar

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 can (14.75oz.) cream-style corn

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 tbsp. butter, melted

1 can (4oz.) diced green chilies

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray and set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together corn, buttermilk, egg, melted butter, and diced green chilies. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir just until dry ingredients are moistened.
• Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake (oops). Remove muffins from tin and cool slightly on a wire rack. Best if served warm!

(This recipe was adapted from taste of home magazine. I used plain cornmeal instead of yellow because I wanted to use what I had and I did not add the chilies because I didn't have any. I don't normally use buttermilk so this was the perfect recipe to use that up and I had one lonely can of cream of corn that I bought over the holidays I wanted to use )