Friday Favorites

Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Muffins

Cook's Notes: When does a muffin become a cupcake? Some say cupcakes are frosted and muffins are not so that's the biggest difference. Read on...

One similarity between cupcakes and muffins is the ingredients. Both usually contain flour, eggs, butter, sugar and milk. However, muffins sometimes replace all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour, oat flour or even various nut flours. Muffins can also be filled with a variety of tasty mix-ins, such as dried fruits, nuts or chocolate chips. In addition, muffins may replace butter with a liquid form of fat, such as vegetable oil. The amount of butter and sugar is higher in cupcakes than in muffins.

The mixing process and the consistency of the batter differentiates cupcakes and muffins. Cupcakes are made by creaming the butter and sugar together to create a smooth, fluffy batter. Cupcake batter is beaten significantly longer than muffin batter; this creates a uniformness of air bubbles throughout the cupcake. Muffin batter, on the other hand, is beaten briefly and remains relatively lumpy. This makes for a more dense baked good.

Being from the Midwest and it's February I just can't get over all these fruit trees here that are brimming with lemons just begging to be picked.  I remember two years ago on an afternoon walk I came across this pail and sign 

So recently having been gifted with several lemons, I decided they'd be perfect for making Lemon Poppy Seed Bread. But that did pose a problem since I did not have a bread pan. So I shifted gears and turned the recipe into muffins as I had brought that pan with me. I added some leftover blueberries and yogurt for a healthy addition. A drizzle of lemon icing with toasted coconut and almonds and voila!

Now you have Lemon Poppy Seed Blueberry Muffins with Lemon Icing

Recipe adapted from jocooks.com and makes 12-14.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

2 TB. poppy seeds

1 TB. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3 large eggs slightly beaten

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup Greek yogurt-plain

1/4 cup milk( I used 2 %) 

1 tsp, vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract 

1 TB. lemon zest

4 TB. lemon juice

1 cup blueberries

1/3 cup each toasted coconut and almonds

Lemon Icing

1/4 cup lemon juice freshly squeezed
1-2 tsp. grated lemon zest
2 cups powdered sugar
Milk as needed

Muffin Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and place paper liners in muffin tin.

In a bowl whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt together.

In another bowl whisk together eggs, sugar. oil, yogurt, milk, extracts, zest and lemon juice. Mix well. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir only until fully incorporated.  Avoid over mixing. Fold in blueberries.

Bake 15-18 minutes. Cool completely before icing.

Icing Directions:

Combine ingredients and mix well. Drizzle over muffins and sprinkle with toasted coconut and almonds. 

Two interesting recipes to add to your file

Layered Greek Dip

http://www.thecookingmom.com/recipe-box/appetizers/layered-greek-dip/http://www.thecookingmom.com/recipe-box/appetizers/layered-greek-dip/

Spicy Italian Slab Pie

https://all-thats-jas.com/spicy-italian-slab-pie.html