.mini muffins, many ways.

one of my favorite things to do is to start with a basic batter and then get crazy with it. i've done it before with waffles and cookies and it is oh so fun.

when some dear friends of ours had their second child, my eye guy and i took them dinner and i couldn't resist baking something. i didn't want to take them something overly sugary and full of confection. so, i thought mini muffins would go further and even their little guy, the new big brother, could grab a mini muffin without frosting or chocolate getting all over the place.

wait, i did add chocolate, but not frosting.

this recipe i found for a basic muffin was made for normal sized muffins, but i don't like following rules. instead, i changed them to smaller versions, little mini muffins. if they are little and mini does that make them extremely small?

i made the entire batch of batter and then separated heaping spoonfuls into a separate bowl to create a new flavor each time. maybe a little white chocolate chips with walnuts? sure!

how about some pumpkin filling? it is fall after all.

want some basic milk chocolate chips? i do.

nutella? now you're talking!

what i'm getting at here is that you can add the most delicious ingredients you have in your pantry to this basic batter and create a variety of yummy flavors.

i'd be remiss if i didn't let you know that both nutella and pumpkin puree made the muffins extra moisturized which yields blobs when they come out of the pan. basically, it is too much liquid. now, the blobs tasted good, but didn't hold their form well at all.

so, when it is your turn, you may want to add just a wee bit of extra ingredients that have liquid and mostly dry ingredients like chips and nuts.

or sacrifice form over taste and add all the nutella you want!

mini muffins, many ways
adapted from danilo alfaro
ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 stick butter

(shortcake + shoes note- grab all the extra ingredients you'd like to add into your mix)

directions
Preheat oven to 400° F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

Unwrap the butter and heat it in the microwave, in a microwave-safe bowl, for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs.

Thoroughly grease and flour a muffin pan (or use paper muffin liners).

Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than ten seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. That's OK! It's extremely important not to overmix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.

(shortcake + shoes note- separate your plain batter into a separate bowl, one heaping spoonful at a time. this way, you can add your extra yummies and have a variety of flavors!)

Gently pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake immediately.

Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.