In The Kitchen: Muffin Tops!

Yes, muffin tops! But not that kind.
Boy came home from the supermarket earlier in the week with this:

Muffin top pan

Yes, indeed. It's the kind of kitsch kitchen gadget which makes you think to yourself, "why didn't I invent that when Seinfeld was still on, not ten years later?" Regrets aside, I used to be an avid muffin maker, so I dug out my old recipe and got going! I have a generic sweet and savoury muffin recipes that you can add any ingredients to and create different variations. Here is the sweet version:

3/4 c. self-raising flour
3/4 c. oat bran
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 c. brown sugar
OR equivalent of sugar substitute
pinch salt
1/2 c. plain yoghurt
1/4 c. milk
2 tbls butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg, beaten lightly

In a bowl stir together the flour, oat bran, sugar, baking powder, salt and any other dry ingredients.
In another bowl whisk together the yoghurt, milk, butter, egg and any other wet ingredients (including fruits).
Stir the yoghurt mixture into the flour mixture and stir the batter briefly until it is just combined.
Place the batter in a greased 6-cup muffin tin, dividing it evenly, and bake the muffins at 180oC for 25 minutes or until browned.

The mixture.

Today I added:

1 banana, mashed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup milk chocolate bits

(I also used 1 cup plain flour and 1/2 cup wholemeal flour as I didn't have any oat bran. You can really faff around a lot with this recipe - it's very forgiving.)

One large tablespoon of mixture in each 'top' seems to do the trick:

Raw mixture in the pan.

As they're half the size of traditional muffins, this recipe makes 2 batches, a total of 12. They don't need as long in the oven as traditional muffins, either. I baked them for 15 minutes. The tops were just browned and the choc bits gooey. Mmmmm!

Cooked muffin tops

I love Muffin Tops! There are almost infinite variations in flavour. (I made up about 12 different flavours in my old baking days.) I can wrap one up and slip it in my handbag without worrying that it's going to get crushed. They're a smaller snack for those who are health conscious. And you can easily turn one upside down and spread butter on it as if it were toast if you're not so health conscious.

I think we may be seeing more Muffin Tops at La Cucina de la Apartmentcat soon!