Thursday, March 24, 2005

IMBB 13 - Peanut Butter (or muffin)'s



IMBB 13 almost snuck past me this month - falling on a Thursday for the first time and coming so close on the heels of SHF 6. But luckily I was checking on a few of my favorite blogs last night and saw an early entry. I didn't want to miss this one - Maki of I was just really very hungry is hosting the 13th edition with the theme, My Little Cupcake (or muffin) - so I made myself some (or muffin)'s.

By all rights these shouldn't have turned out at all, and while I think they still need some adjustments, they came out surprising well. My approach was slap-dash at best. While I was eating my dinner this evening I looked at the muffin recipes in two cookbooks to get some general guidelines for amounts of dry ingredients, wet ingredients, eggs, and leavening. Then I took my idea - a savory peanut butter muffin with cornmeal and whole wheat flour - and wrote down amounts that seemed in line with the other recipes.

They are not very sweet at all, with a nice light texture and a little crunch from the cornmeal. On the down side, they were a little dry and the flavor was a little more subtle than I'd hoped for. I had originally planned to use a quarter teaspoon of cayenne, but chickened out and used only an eighth. I would increase the cayenne next time. I think I might also try increasing the peanut butter slightly - perhaps to half a cup. I had originally planned to use peanut oil, but I didn't have any. Once long ago I had some roasted peanut oil and I think that might be very nice in this recipe.

Peanut Butter (or muffin)'s

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup natural peanut butter (salted)
2 tbs canola oil
1 cup milk
sesame seeds and fleur del sel for sprinkling on top

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the brown sugar, then the peanut butter, then the oil, and finally the milk. Using a spatula, stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups and sprinkle with sesame seeds and fleur de sel. Bake at 375 F for 25 minutes.

6 comments:

santos. said...

hi cathy! these are extremely attractive. i would never think of doing a savoury peanut butter muffin, but these look so good!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I really like the idea of peanut butter and cornmeal together in a muffin! I really love the texture that cornmeal adds and peanut butter is always a plus. And, sesame seeds on top! Yum!

Nic said...

That is one good looking muffin, Cathy. I think I'd prefer a sweet to a savory version of this, but the peanut butter/ cornmeal combo was a fantastic idea!

Cerebrum said...

Hi Cathy! I like your (or muffin)'s! The idea of the more healthy muffin appeals to me - I'm thinking a snappy breakfast here...

Jessica "Su Good Sweets" said...

The thing that interests me most is the combo of PB and sesame. I think they'd complement each other nicely.

Cathy said...

Hi Santos - thanks! I started out thinking of savory and then somehow came around to peanut butter (probably because I had just bought some). I think if I had thought of peanut butter first they would have ended up sweet!

Hi Alice - Thanks! I still need to tweak this a little, but I do like the peanut butter and cornmeal together.

Thanks Nic! I might just try this with more sugar to see how it turns out. I like sweet muffins too!

Hi Zarah - Thanks! If you could test the cayenne a little more it would be real snappy!

Jessica - I agree - though the few sprinkled on top aren't enough to test that out. It might be interesting to put some inside as well.

Emily - thanks so much! I had the peanut sauce you eat with chicken sate in mind - that's what made me think to add cayenne.