When I make muffins I am usually fueled by grandiose visions of myself as an amazing muffin baker. As I pull out bowls and begin measuring flour I picture guests biting into my muffins shouting "OMG - these are amazing!!" I crack eggs and daydream about how I will style my booth (Muffin Magic) at the local farmer's market. I fold in the fruit and imagine what outfit I will wear on Steven and Chris when I'm asked on the show as their resident muffin expert.....
You know that really delicious muffin you MUST eat every time you frequent that particular coffee-shop, even though you already ate breakfast that morning? Yeah that's the level of muffin I am striving for. I have had these muffins on exactly two occasions created by the average lay-person: once my 85 year-old neighbor Janice(who rides her lawn-mower like a rodeo-queen but thats a whole other story) and once when my Mother- in-Law made them. Farm girls make the best muffins.
I have tried on many occasions to recreate these muffins without success. After being vague on the numerous occasions I harassed her about it, my Mother-in-Law finally wrote down her recipe for me. And wouldn't you know it as she passed on the recipe she casually mentioned in passing that its a cake recipe. Oh, muffins made out of cake? Duh! Obviously thats the secret to ultra-delicious muffins.
Whats the main difference between muffins and cake you ask?
Sugar, lots an lots of sugar.
When I finally made these muffins, they were magically delicious - definetely that bakery quality I was striving for. However they still weren't quite as good as when my Mother-in-Law makes them. I'm fairly certain this is because she didn't admit to the real amount of sugar she puts in. And I don't blame her because I'm pretty sure in this day and age making these muffins would be considered politically incorrect...
If you browse the internet 3/4 cup of sugar seems to be the norm for most muffin recipes or at least its the amount people admit to. So I find it interesting that every time Donna serves these muffins she calls them her "healthy muffins made with honey." I'm pretty sure she's overcompensating because last time I checked no recipe with 2 cups of sugar in it (even if one cup is honey) is ever healthy for you.
I like how our parents generation think pasteurized honey is somehow classified as health food. It goes hand in hand with an earlier time of innocence in human history before we were all concerned about saturated fat, diabetes, obesity and a general state of health and well-being in general. It hearkens back to a time before we exercised or couldn't sleep at night because we worried about endangered species and using up all of our resources.
And speaking of honey, aren't bees now endangered? Which is why farm girls make the best muffins. They had free reign with ingredients because baking wasn't a politically charged act back in the day. That being said these days when I make my politically incorrect muffins, I reserve them for special occasions like company or celebrations.
After all a girl can't be too careful. I'm told the camera adds ten pounds....
Donna's Politically Incorrect Rhubarb Muffins
2 cups white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup honey
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
2-3 cups chopped rhubarb (mixed with 2 TBSP of sugar)
Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grease muffin tray well
3. Mix 2 cups white flour with baking powder and salt
4. Mix sugar with softened butter. Add eggs and milk
5. Add to flour mixture and stir until well mixed.
6. Fold in rhubarb
7. Spoon into muffin cups, sprinkle with topping and bake aprroximately 35 minutes (until well browned)
Freezing actually enhances the flavour of these muffins.
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