Of Muffins and Hurricanes . . . Morning-Glory Muffins (with Carrots, Raisins, & Sunflower Seeds)

I made these muffins yesterday morning while listening to NPR's coverage of Hurricane Sandy's damage. Every time I hear about that kind of storm, or of an earthquake or a massive flood, I thank my lucky stars that we live in Michigan. Here, natural disasters of that magnitude are virtually unheard of. We have the odd tornado now and then, and occasionally a big wild fire in the woodsy Upper Peninsula makes the news. Somehow, though, the Great Lakes have a way of shielding us, and that's comforting to know.

But, that reality doesn't stop us from worrying about family or friends who live elsewhere when these catastrophes occur. My only sister, for example, lives just a couple of miles from Long Island Sound in southern Connecticut. Despite her calm reassurance when we spoke by phone on Monday morning, as she was preparing to shelter-in-place, I was feeling pretty fretful. She's a tough cookie, and has always been the brave one. I don't think I could have been as calm in her shoes.

When I talked to her after the storm had passed and heard that she's just fine, I was relieved and grateful. Most of her small town, except for some houses on the beach, escaped the worst effects of the storm. She said everything there is eerily quiet now, and that people are still being asked to just stay inside. And, amazingly, the power is not out in the part of town where she lives.

Yes, I eventually ceased fretting. But as we know, when the going gets fretful the fretful get baking and it was my fretfulness that prompted the impromptu creation of these satisfying and tasty muffins. Maybe, now, I should call them Grateful Muffins.

About this recipe . . .

This is one heck of a muffin. Featuring dark-brown sugar and sour cream, it also contains a modest portion of shredded carrots, raisins, and roasted sunflower seeds, along with a little vanilla and cinnamon. It's sort of a morning-glory muffin, but without the entire kitchen-sink profusion of ingredients. Hearty without being hefty. This is an original Jane's Sweets recipe, unadapted from any other source.

Oh, before I forget . . . what do you think of those white "tulip" muffin papers? I used them for the first time and I really like them. Made of a relatively heavy grease-proof paper, they form a perfect square when unfolded. I like the way the tulip-shaped cup contains the muffin, as if it's in it's own little bag. These muffins all browned remarkably evenly, even on their bottoms--no burning. I've heard that you can bake in these papers without using a muffin pan, that they are that sturdy. I was hesitant to try that, but maybe next time I'll give it a whirl. I ordered some in brown and red as well, all from a company called Bakers Stock. Decent prices via this source, and the shipped items were securely packaged. I'd order from them again. (I keep wondering, though, if I could make wrappers like these myself at home, but I really think the paper they're made out of is not typical. It doesn't exactly feel to me like plain parchment or even silicone-coated parchment. I will have to do more investigating on that front.)

Brown Sugar & Sour Cream Morning-Glory Muffins, Simplified

Yield: About 16 standard size muffins, or about 10-12 larger muffins

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (I whisked the flour a bit in its container before measuring.)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt (I used fine sea salt.)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed (I think dark brown makes a noticeable flavor difference, but use light brown if that's all you have around.)
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (I used paste.)
1/2 cup well-shredded carrots (lightly packed into the measuring cup)
1/3 cup dark raisins
1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds (salted or unsalted, as you prefer)
2 tablespoons of coarse sugar (turbinado or sanding) to sprinkle atop unbaked muffins

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line your muffin pan(s) with paper liners or spray liberally with baking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, stir together the dark brown sugar, canola oil, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla until very well combined. Stir in the carrots, raisins, and sunflower seeds.

Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients. Pour all of the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until no large streaks of flour remain; a few small streaks are okay.  (Avoid over-mixing in order to avoid producing tough muffins.) Portion the batter evenly into the muffin papers/cups. Sprinkle a pinch of coarse sugar atop each unbaked muffin to add sparkle and crunch. (I used turbinado sugar--coarse, natural brown sugar--but you could use white sanding sugar or regular granulated sugar if you like.)

If you're making larger muffins, bake them for 15 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 and keep baking until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, perhaps 10 minutes longer. If you're baking smaller muffins, turn the oven temperature down after no more than ten minutes. If your muffins appear to be browning too quickly on top, lightly cover them with a sheet of foil. Let the baked muffins cool for just a minute in their pan on a rack, then remove them from the pan to cool longer on the rack. (Or eat them warm, with butter!)

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In Praise of Muffins and Ukuleles . . . (Brown Sugar Buttermilk Muffins with Marcona Almonds, Dried Sweet Cherries, and Apricots)

My younger son, Nathan, has a ukulele. He procured it with his own money just after Christmas, and he's been teaching himself to play. The instrument's maker is a company called Lanikai, and their slogan is, "Lanikai . . . Makes Me Happy!" (Click that if you want to hear their perky little ditty.) That motto sums up how I feel about homemade muffins--they make me happy. From their simplicity to their diminutive size, I like them. They're so approachable, and unpretentious in the extreme. In the same way that anyone can learn to play the ukulele, anyone can produce a fine muffin.

I'm developing a similar fondness for that ukulele. It's not loud or showy, and I'll bet it weighs in at a whopping 12 ounces, if that. It's subdued tinkling reminds me of wind chimes. Maybe my affection stems, in part, from the fact that my kid seems so enamored with it. He'll pick it up in a quiet room and gently pluck away, quite unselfconsciously, in a manner that's not typical for him. The ukulele's peaceful appeal is completely unlike that of any electronic device that competes for his teenage attention. I find it reassuring that Nathan appreciates that. Lanikai picked a very appropriate slogan, it seems to me, and I can just imagine how happy I'd be if I nibbled a nice muffin while listening to Nathan pluck away on that thing. Pretty darn happy, probably.    :)

About this recipe . . . 

This recipe adaptation brings together ingredients I am perennially crazy about--brown sugar, buttermilk, Marcona almonds (softer and sweeter than regular almonds), dried cherries, and plump, dried apricots. It's an adaptation, I suppose, of several muffin recipes that have wandered into my life over the past year or two, but I think it harkens back most directly to this recipe that I adapted from a Peter Reinhart muffin last summer.

This new muffin's differences include a focus on almonds (including the nuts themselves, along with almond extract, and a small amount of almond meal in place of some of the flour); the addition of sweet, dried, Michigan cherries, and dried apricots; and, some whole wheat flour standing in for a portion of the white flour. These bake up nicely and, when broken open, reveal a tender crumb that's soft without being cakey. The moisture from the buttermilk and brown sugar really give these a longevity that most muffins can't boast. Not too bland, nor too sweet, they're just right. I love them.

Brown Sugar Buttermilk Muffins with Marcona Almonds, Dried Cherries, and Dried Apricots

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here!)

Yield: 18 regular size muffins (or, at least 9 jumbos or 36 minis)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Use baking spray liberally on 18 regular size muffin cups, or use paper liners. (Actually, if I were you, I'd use some baking spray even if I were using liners at the same time. Overkill? Maybe. But why take the chance? I spray the stuff on the top of the pan too, before filling the cups with batter, so any overflowing batter doesn't have a chance to glue the muffins to the pan's surface. Let's just say I've learned my muffin lesson in the past.)

2 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1/2 whole wheat flour
1/2 almond meal (This means finely ground almonds. I buy this stuff, inexpensively, at Trader Joe's or make it myself in the food processor from whole or blanched almonds. Just don't over grind the almonds accidentally into paste!)
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt (I used coarse kosher salt; if you use regular salt, you might want to decrease this measurement slightly.) 
1 small pinch of ground nutmeg (I like to use fresh and grate it myself. Much nicer smell and fuller flavor. I buy whole nutmeg from Penzey's, and I use a tiny little hand-grater that I found at Bed Bath and Beyond.)

1 and 1/4 cup buttermilk (I'd suggest you keep a couple of extra tablespoons on hand to mix in just case the batter seems unusually thick to you.)
2/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs, large
1 and 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract 

1/2 to 3/4 cup dried cherries, roughly chopped 
1/2 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped (I buy these at Trader Joe's, too. They come in small plastic containers, salted and roasted, and packed in a small amount of oil. They're extremely tasty, but not cheap.)
1/4 moist, plump, dried apricots, roughly chopped (The softer and moister the better. Super leathery apricots are not so good in a muffin.)


In a large bowl, evenly combine all of the nine dry ingredients (not including the fruit and nuts) with a whisk. 

In a small bowl, mix together all of the chopped fruits and nuts. Remove about 1/4 cup of this mixture and set it aside; you'll use this to sprinkle on the top of the unbaked muffins. 

In a medium size bowl, whisk the eggs lightly, then add in the buttermilk, oil, and extracts. Whisk until well combined.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour all of the liquid into it. Stir just until no big streaks of dry ingredients are evident. Use care not to over mix. 

Sprinkle in the fruit and nuts and stir gently just to distribute them fairly evenly. 


Using a portion scoop, if possible, put the batter into the muffin cups. My regular size cups were pretty full, as the photos show. Sprinkle a pinch of the fruit and nut mix that you set aside onto the top of each one. 

Bake the muffins in the center of the oven for about 15 -20 minutes, or until nicely golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (If you tend to have trouble with your muffin bottoms burning, set the muffin pan on top of a cookie sheet when you put it in the oven.) Let the muffins cool in their pan, on a rack, for no more than a few minutes, then carefully remove them from the pan to cool the rest of the way on the rack. 

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