Whole-Grain Honey Muffins

Muffins, muffins, where to start with muffins? Well, this post is part of my special "every third week" lineup. I personally think that muffins are underrated and definitely not made enough. The proof of this is that there are barely any muffin books when compared to cookie and cupcake books. What I like about muffins is that they can be sweet or salty, as well as eaten at any time of day. They fit into a daily diet perfectly.

The muffin book that I'll first be trying out is 100 Magnificent Muffins & Scones by Felicity Barnum-Bobb. My mom found this book for me at Barnes & Noble for only $7.98, so I think it was a good steal.

The first recipe in this book was Whole-Grain Honey Muffins. After looking at the main ingredient (malt or multi-grain flour), I was kind of iffy about it, but I just decided to make my own flour since I wasn't able to find neither of the two.

In this bowl, I mixed the "Stephanie" multi-grain flour, baking powder, and brown sugar (but the picture is before the mixing).

In this other bowl, I mixed honey, sunflower oil, egg, lemon zest, and milk (but again, the picture is before the mixing).

Here are all the ingredients poured in together...

...and here they are after mixing everything until well combined.

Only 9 lucky muffins made it to the oven. =)

Some of them came out oddly shaped at the top, and I can't figure out why.

Maybe it was because they were still hot that some were cone-y?

These were different. By no means does that mean that they sucked, but they do take some getting used to if you're not a whole-grain eater. I'm not used to feeling all the grains from the flour in foods, because I usually eat white flour things (don't kill me!!). After getting used to it, the flavor came out. The honey mixes in really well and really doesn't let these muffins be too sweet. The lemon zest brings a hint of citrus, which is welcomed.

Whole-Grain Honey Muffins
*makes 9 muffins*

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups malt or multi-grain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/8 cup dark brown sugar
3 tbsp honey
scant 1/2 cup sunflower oil
1 egg
finely grated zest of 1 small lemon
2/3 cup skim milk

Directions:
1) Heat the oven to 400F. Line a muffin pan with 9 muffin liners.
2) Tip the flour into a large bowl. Add the baking powder and sugar.
3) Mix together the honey, oil, egg, lemon zest, and milk and pour into the dry ingredients in the bowl. Use a large spoon to fold everything together.
4) Spoon equally into the paper muffin liners and bake for 15 minutes, or until the muffins are well risen, firm, and springy to the touch. Serve warm.



Recipe from 100 Magnificent Muffins & Scones by Felicity Barnum-Bobb