A Brew to a Kill (49 page)

Step 3—Bake:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Line muffin cups with paper liners and lightly coat the papers and top of your muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. (This dough is low in fat and may stick to your paper liners if you don’t lightly coat them with nonstick spray.) Drop dough into muffin cups, filling to
top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until top of muffin is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove pan from oven. Remove muffins promptly to prevent bottoms from steaming and becoming tough. Finish cooling on a rack.

Note on Oats:
You can use “steel-cut” oats for this recipe, such as McCann’s Irish Oatmeal. Steel-cut oats will give your muffin a chewier, nuttier texture, as if you’ve added chopped walnuts to the muffin. The rolled oats (like Quaker Old-Fashioned) will give your muffins a softer, cake-like texture. Look for steel-cut oats wherever cereal and oatmeal are sold.

Note on Flour:
To add even more nutrition and fiber, replace the all-purpose white flour with white whole wheat flour. A lighter whole wheat flour will give you the benefits of whole grain but with a taste and texture closer to white flour. You can also substitute white whole wheat flour for all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio. While this won’t work for cake or puff pastry, you can get good results using it in cookies, muffins, brownies, quick breads, and yeast breads. (If you have trouble finding this product, try the King Arthur flour website.)

AN OAT BY ANY OTHER NAME

Do you know the difference between (1) steel-cut oats, (2) rolled oats, and (3) quick-cooking oats? Is one “healthier” than the other? Can you substitute one for another in a recipe? And what is the actual health benefit of eating whole grains like oats?

Here are a few answers: (1) Steel-cut oats are whole oats that have been chopped up a bit. (2) Rolled oats are whole oats that have been steamed and rolled flat, which allows them to cook faster than steel-cut oats. (3) Quick-cooking oats are rolled oats that have been chopped up even further so they’ll cook even faster. All three of these oats carry nearly the same amount of fiber and nutrition. The primary difference among them is in how they’re cut.

As for recipes, do not substitute. Any recipe that specifies a certain kind of oats is attempting to create a specific texture in the product, so substituting one type for another will produce less than optimum results.

On the subject of health benefits, there are many. In addition to vitamins and minerals, fiber-rich whole grains like oats take longer to break down in your body, which means your glucose levels will remain constant instead of shooting up and crashing down, so you won’t be craving another snack an hour later. With a warm cup of joe, one of these muffins is deliciously filling, easily curbing the appetite between meals.

(Low-Fat) Strawberry Shortcake Muffins

A favorite of Esther’s Muffin Muse customers, these babies offer the taste of a strawberry shortcake but with far less fat. The canola oil and low-fat milk make this a guilt-free breakfast or coffee break snack. If you’d like to make it richer, simply replace the low-fat milk with whole milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream. However you decide to bake them, Esther and Clare hope you’ll eat them with joy!

Makes 6 standard muffins

4–5 ounces ripe strawberries (This equals about 4 medium, 3 large, or 8 small berries. When chopped, they should measure about ²⁄³ cup.)
1 tablespoon + ¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola (or vegetable) oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
¹⁄³ cup low-fat milk (2% milk gives great results; for richer-tasting muffins, use whole milk, half-and-half, or cream)
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Step 1—Prep oven, pan, and berries:
Preheat oven to 350º F. Line six muffin cups with paper holders and lightly coat the papers with nonstick spray. (This is a low-fat recipe, so if you don’t coat the papers, the muffins may stick.) Wash your strawberries and gently pat them dry with a paper towel. (It’s okay if they’re still damp.) Hull them (see how in note following recipe) and chop them into small, uniform pieces. You’ll retain more of the juices if you slice them over a bowl. Once chopped, the strawberries should fill
²
⁄
₃
cup and no more. Sprinkle berries with 1 tablespoon sugar, mix, and set bowl aside.

Step 2—Make batter with one-bowl mixing method:
Crack egg into a mixing bowl and gently beat with a whisk or fork. Add ¼ cup sugar, oil, vanilla, and salt, and whisk until well blended. Add milk and chopped strawberries from Step 1. Be sure to include any strawberry juices that may have accumulated at the bottom of the strawberry bowl. Stir to blend.

Step 3—Add dry ingredients:
Measure flour and pour into the bowl with your wet ingredients. Sprinkle baking powder and baking soda evenly over the flour. With a spoon or spatula, mix the dry and wet ingredients to form a lumpy batter. Do not overmix at this stage or your muffins will be tough instead of tender. Just be sure to blend the flour completely into the batter.

Step 4—Bake:
This batter will make 6 standard muffins, so divide it up evenly among your paper-lined cups. (Be sure to coat those papers with nonstick spray). Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The muffins are not done baking until the tops have turned golden brown.

Step 5—Cooling and storing:
Allow the muffins to cool for five minutes in the pan. Remove and finish cooling on a wire rack. Once they’re completely cool, you can wrap them in plastic and store them in the refrigerator. A little butter, a cuppa joe, and you’re set for breakfast, a coffee break, or late-night snack.

Note:
To hull strawberries, pinch off the green stem. Using a small, sharp knife, cut around the berry’s crown (or move the berry in a circular motion against the blade). Remove the fibrous, white conical-shaped core, leaving as much fruit intact as possible.

Nutella-Swirled Banana Muffins

Another Muffin Muse favorite, these warm banana muffins are swirled with Nutella, a delicious spread made of chocolate and hazelnuts. Nutella originated in Italy, where the hazelnut is king. Now available all over the world, jars of Nutella are usually shelved where your grocer sells peanut butter. If it’s not available to you, or you’d simply like to make your own natural version, try Clare’s recipe for homemade Nutella, which follows.

Makes 12 standard muffins

1¼ cups sugar
¹⁄³ cup vegetable or canola oil
3 bananas (well ripened)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped hazelnuts, toasted (optional, see
note on toasting
)
½ cup of Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

Step 1—Prep pan:
First preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly coat top of muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. This prevents the muffin tops from sticking. Next, line muffin cups with paper liners.

Step 2—Make batter:
In a large bowl, measure out the sugar, oil, two of the ripe bananas (just slice into bowl), eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. With an electric mixer, beat the assembled ingredients until smooth, about one minute. Now add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda to the batter. Beat again with an electric mixer until batter is smooth. Be sure not to overmix at this stage or you’ll develop the gluten in the flour and your muffins will be tough instead of tender.

Step 3—Final fold-ins:
If including optional hazelnuts, fold in now, using a spoon or spatula. With a fork, roughly mash up the final ripe banana and fold in the mashed banana, as well. (This final banana addition really boosts the flavor in the muffin.)

Step 4—Swirl and bake:
To finish follow these steps: (a) Fill each muffin cup about one third of the way with batter. (b) Drop a dollop of Nutella in and swirl to marble the batter with a knife or toothpick. (c) Finish filling each cup nearly to the top with more batter. (d) Add a final dollop of Nutella on top and marble it into the batter by swirling in a circular motion. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. To test doneness, insert a toothpick into the middle of a muffin. If it comes out with no wet batter clinging to it, the muffins are done. Remove muffins promptly from the hot pans to prevent the bottoms from steaming and making the muffins tough.

Note:
To toast nuts, simply spread them on a baking sheet and warm them in a 350° F oven for 8 to 10 minutes. Stir a few times to prevent scorching.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN NUTELLA

Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread that originated in Italy. It’s delicious spread on baguettes, toast, graham crackers, and shortbread cookies. You can swirl it into muffins and quick breads. For a fast, five-minute microwave fudge recipe, which uses Nutella, drop by Cleo
Coyle’s online coffeehouse: www.CoffeehouseMystery.com. To make your own version of Nutella, follow these directions.

Makes about 1 cup

8 ounces (about 2 cups) hazelnuts, shelled and skins removed
4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons canola oil
(hazelnut oil is even better, if you can find it)
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
¹
⁄
₈
teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Toast hazelnuts about ten minutes in a 350° F oven, stirring once or twice to prevent burning. They’re not finished until you smell the aroma of toasting nuts. Grind toasted nuts in a small food processor until they reach the consistency of thick peanut butter (about 5 minutes of processing). If you’re having trouble getting the nuts to change over from sandy to viscous (like peanut butter), then cheat and add 1 to 2 teaspoons of oil and continue grinding. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cocoa, sugar, and salt. Add these to the food processor with the nuts. Measure in the vanilla and 4 tablespoons of the oil. Process everything until it’s well blended (one to two minutes). If it seems too thick, then add a little more oil and process again until the mixture reaches a smooth, peanut butter–like consistency that’s easy to stir and spread. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed glass jar or covered container.

(Healthified) Blueberry Pie Bars

These little squares taste just like bites of blueberry pie. They’re so delicious and nutritious, the Muffin Muse couldn’t keep them in stock. Fruit crumb bars have been around for years, of course, but this recipe adds dietary fiber via oats. The addition of applesauce to the
ingredient list even cuts down on the amount of fat (butter) in this type of recipe. Just brew up a fresh pot of coffee while they’re baking, and… eat with blueberry joy!

Makes a 9-inch square pan

For blueberry filling:

3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons white granulated sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon

For crust and topping:

5 tablespoons butter, softened
³
⁄
₄
cup light brown sugar, packed
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (see
note
)
1½ cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda

Note:
Be sure to use quick-cooking oats and not old-fashioned, steel-cut, or instant. To learn the differences among these oats, read An Oat By Any Other Name on
page 339
.

Step 1—Prep pan and make filling:
Preheat your oven to 350° F and prep 9-inch square pan by lining bottom with parchment paper that hangs over the edge of two sides, creating handles. Toss blueberries in a bowl with flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon and set aside.

Step 2—Mix dough:
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add applesauce, egg, vanilla, and salt. Mix until blended. Finally add oats, all-purpose flour, and baking powder and baking soda. When the dough comes together (it will be soft and sticky), stop the mixer. Do not overmix.

Step 3—Assemble:
Press a little more than half of the dough into the prepared square pan with your fingertips, until it completely covers the pan bottom. Spread the blueberry filling over the crust and break the remaining dough into small pieces over the top. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is slightly brown.

Bars are easier to cut (and they will keep their shape better) if you allow them to cool. So let the pastry cool in the pan, then run a butter knife around the sides to free up any sticky bits. Lift by those parchment paper handles, transferring the entire pastry square to a flat surface for further cooling. Cut into rectangular bars or bite-sized squares. Store in the refrigerator.

Clare Cosi’s Classic Coffee Cake Muffins with Streusel Topping and Vanilla Glaze

These truly are classic muffins, and they’re especially delicious paired with coffee. Clare was only too happy to share a fresh-baked batch of them with Madame at the story’s end, right before she hopped on train to Washington, D.C.