RHUBARB MUFFINS

This is ONE of my sister's rhubarb patches. She always says "it loves me!" My niece

made some very good rhubarb bread the other day from it and shared with us but I 

was just hired for a catering job at the end of the month that requires lots of muffins

for people on a tour boat. So I started looking for a good muffin recipe, hopefully

one that uses rhubarb!

My catering friend here in town recommended the book Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

to me for great breakfast items so that's where I started. The book features Bed and Breakfast

places in the Northwest and a few items from their menus. I found this recipe for Rhubarb 

Muffins in that book and were they ever delicious! Just sweet enough, very moist and the tart

of the rhubarb in every bite makes them just about perfect with a cup of coffee or tea.

They contain a couple of items that I don't usually keep on hand--buttermilk and wheat 

germ. The buttermilk I know I can substitute with milk and lemon juice or vinegar, but the 

wheat germ I wasn't so sure about. I did an online search and found out I can use ground 

flax seed, which I did have thanks to my mother in law bringing lots of it with her from

Poland.

If you can get your hands on some rhubarb, try these. Maybe make them a nice weekend 

surprise for someone special to wake up to with fresh coffee brewing....

RHUBARB MUFFINS

1 1/4 cups brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups rhubarb, diced
2 cups flour
1/2 cup wheat germ (or ground flax seed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix brown sugar and vegetable oil. Add egg, vanilla and buttermilk. Stir in rhubarb.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, wheat germ, soda, baking powder and salt together with
a whisk.

Combine the dry ingredients with the rhubarb mixture just until moistened--it is very
important with muffins that you don't overmix or they will turn out tough.

Spoon into greased or paper lined muffin tins 2/3 full. Now this recipe says it makes
12 muffins, but I got 16 from it filling them 2/3 full. So if you are using paper liners
make sure you have enough.

Bake in pre heated oven for approx. 20-25 minutes.

***For a sweeter muffin you can sprinkle a topping made with 1/3 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon
cinnamon and 1 Tablespoon melted butter mixed together over the muffins before putting
them in the oven.

Delicious!

BRAN MUFFINS

This recipe comes from my Uncle John (I will be writing about him in a future post). The muffins are moist, tasty, and filled to the brim with fiber! My kids are crazy about them, so you know they must be better than your everyday bran muffin. Plus these measurements are designed to make a huge batch that is kept in the refrigerator up to 6 weeks so you can just scoop some out and have freshly baked bran muffins in 20 minutes. Trust me--you will be very popular with the family members rushing to work or school and drop in visitors when they get a whiff of these fresh muffins baking!

2 Cups 100% Bran Buds
2 Cups Boiling Water
1 1/2 Cups Butter
4 Eggs
3 Cups sugar
1 Quart Buttermilk
3 Cups all purpose flour
2 Cups whole wheat flour
1 Tablespoon Salt
5 Teaspoons Baking Soda
4 Cups Uncooked Bran Buds
2 Cups Raisins (optional)

1) Mix 2 cups of Bran Buds and 2 cups of boiling water, let stand
a few minutes while creaming the next ingredients.

2) Cream together butter, eggs, sugar and buttermilk.

3) Add bran mixture to the above.

4) Sift together flours, salt, and baking soda--add to creamed mixture along
with uncooked Bran Buds and raisins until all of the ingredients are moistened.

5) Fill greased standard sized muffin tins approx. 2/3 full.

6) Bake - 400 degrees for approx. 20 minutes. I like to turn the muffin tins halfway
through the baking time since most ovens have hot spots in the back and this ensures
even baking. Muffins are done when top feels firm when gently touched in oven. Don't
overbake or they may come out drier than you like them.

7) NEVER stir after batter is mixed--just dip out what you want to bake and cover
it back up. Batter will keep 6 weeks in the refrigerator.

**Recipe makes approx. 48 standard sized bran muffins

PECAN PIE MINI MUFFINS

If you like Pecan Pie you will love these easy to make mini muffins! They have a wonderful, buttery sweet taste--perfect with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Don't make them in paper holders though like my photos, I found out the hard way that they really stick to the paper. The best method is to lightly grease and flour the tin before pouring the batter in. You may want to double or even triple the batch so you can share--they are that good!

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
2/3 cup butter, melted & cooled to lukewarm
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Dash salt

In a bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and pecans, set aside.

Combine butter and eggs, mix well. Stir into flour mixture until just moistened.

Fill greased and floured miniature muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes until muffins test done. Tops will be slightly firm if you lightly touch them in the oven. Remove immediately and cool on wire racks. Makes 24 mini muffins. Once cooled store in an airtight container.