Category Archives: Muffins

Hard-cook eggs and bake muffins at the same time with Egg in a Nest muffins

Eggs in a Nest Muffins - the eggs hard-cook as the muffins bake!

Egg in a Nest Muffins (image from Egg Farmers of Ontario, circa 1990)

This “recipe” for Egg in a Nest Muffins has been around for awhile. Perhaps you can tell by the dated look of the picture. I scanned it from a photograph found in the archives of the Egg Farmers of Ontario; it was probably taken about 20 years ago. But the idea is still a good one and a fun festive way to say “Happy Easter” at breakfast tomorrow.

With this easy multi-tasking recipe, you hard-cook eggs and bake muffins at the same time. If you want to make things super-easy, use a muffin mix instead of your favourite muffin recipe.

Fruit, yogurt and juice would complement these protein-packed muffins nicely and make for a simple but delicious breakfast that will allow plenty of time to hunt for treats left by the Easter Bunny.

Egg in a Nest Muffins

Ingredients for your favourite muffins
Medium or large eggs, in their shells (1 per muffin)

Prepare muffin batter. Rub eggs lightly with vegetable oil. Fill lightly greased or paper-lined muffin cups with batter. Gently place one uncooked egg, in its shell, partially into each “muffin”.

Bake in a preheated 400F (200C) oven for 18 to 20 minutes.

Let cool 15 to 20 minutes before serving as eggs will be hot.

To eat, remove the egg from the muffin, peel off the shell and enjoy with the muffin.

Tips:
* For a pretty Easter look, use paper liners with an Easter design and coloured eggs. A little of the color may bleed into the muffins, but it won’t affect the taste.
* Serve warm or cold but refrigerate if not eaten within a couple hours.

Muffins pack a triple apricot flavour punch

Dried apricot, apricot nectar and apricot jam make these apricot muffins flavour-full!

These muffins are full of apricot flavour and a surprise centre!

It may not be the season for fresh apricots in wintry southern Ontario, but you can make muffins that are ripe with the sunny flavour of apricots by using dried apricots and apricot nectar in the muffin batter, and apricot jam as the sweet surprise centre!

Enjoy!

Apricot Flavour-Full Muffins

(Makes 12)

1 cup (250 mL) boiling water
3/4 cup (175 mL) finely chopped dried apricots
2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped walnuts or pecans
1 tablespoon (15 mL) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt
1/4 teaspoon (1 mL) baking soda
1/4 cup (60 mL) butter or hard margarine, softened
2/3 cup (150 mL) sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup (125 mL) apricot nectar
1/4 cup (60 mL) milk
1 teaspoon (5 mL) lemon juice
1/2 cup (125 mL) apricot jam

Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray or lightly grease with cooking oil.

Pour boiling water over apricots in small heatproof bowl. Let stand 10 minutes until softened.

Meanwhile, measure flour, nuts, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a large bowl; stir. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients.

With electric mixer, beat butter and sugar in a medium bowl until well blended. Add egg; beat well. Add apricot nectar, milk and lemon juice; stir to combine. Pour mixture into well in dry ingredients.

Drain apricots; add to well. Stir just until all ingredients are moistened.

Fill muffin cups half full with batter. Make a small dent in the batter in each cup with the back of a spoon. Spoon 2 teaspoons (10 mL) jam into each dent. Spoon remaining batter over top.

Bake in a preheated 375F (190C) oven until muffins are firm to the touch, about 18 to 20 minutes. Let stand in pan for 5 minutes before removing muffins to cool on a wire rack.

Tip
* Use peach or raspberry jam, or marmalade instead of apricot jam.

Recipe Source: Mostly Muffins by Jean Pare, Company’s Coming Publishing Limited, 2006

No Peeling Required

Need some muffins for a holiday brunch? These Orange and Date Muffins not only taste good, but they can be made pretty quickly because all the wet ingredients get blended together in the food processor. And, if you tell your guests a whole orange, peel included, was used to make them, you may start an interesting discussion of odd ways foods have been used in cooking and baking over the years.

Over the years, cakes have been made with a variety of foods one might not think of as typical baking ingredients. Sauerkraut, condensed tomato soup, mayonnaise and beets come to mind. I’m dating myself but I also recall Ritz crackers being used to make apple pie, shredded zucchini masquerading as crushed pineapple in jello, and 7-Up used to marinate and glaze meat. In most cases, only the cook knew what had gone into the recipe.

You’re welcome to share the secret in this muffin recipe!

Orange and Date Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins)

1 large orange, washed and unpeeled
1/2 cup (125 mL) orange juice
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dates
1 egg
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter or margarine, cut up
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 mL) baking powder
3/4 cup (175 mL) sugar
1/2 teaspoon (2 mL) salt

Cut orange into chunks and remove seeds. Place chunks in a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add juice, dates, egg and butter; process until blended.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt. Pour orange mixture over flour mixture; stir just until blended. Divide batter between 12 lightly greased or paper-lined muffin cups.

Bake in a preheated 400F (200C) oven until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Let muffins cool on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.