It is officially feeling like winter here—the kitchen is forbiddingly chilly, and the pantry doubles as a walk-in refrigerator. My motivation, right on cue, seems to have flown south for the winter. Still, I remind myself, using the kitchen is a good way to warm it up a bit, and I have been craving these muffins. They’re the perfect antidote for the cold.
I made them recently to go with a Christmas ham, but time for documenting was a bit short. They were quite well received though, and I made a mental note to make them again soon. Not only are they a great comfort food, but they’re easy to make, even if your motivation has deserted you for warmer climes.
I use the scale to measure nearly everything (weights are included in the recipe below)—it makes cleanup so much easier!
If you’re wanting to serve these for an occasion where you know you’ll be short on time, you can mix up the dry ingredients ahead. For the batch I made to go with that Christmas ham, I measured the flours, cornmeal, baking soda and salt into an airtight, lidded container the day before, and measured and washed/stemmed the raisins and stored them in the fridge. That way, on the day of, I only needed to whisk together the sugar and liquids, mix and bake.
I use the scale for most of the liquids, too, but you could also mix them right into a quart measuring glass.
The dry, liquids and raisins should be combined only at the last minute before baking (make sure the oven is preheated, and the muffin tins already buttered), and mixed only just enough to incorporate all the dry. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, and over-mixing will make for tough muffins.
Work quickly to fill the tins—I try to get them all about a half to two-thirds filled, then divide any remaining batter to make them as even as possible.
Bake for 15 minutes, or until they pass the toothpick test. Let them cool slightly before removing them from the tins.
But they don’t need to cool for long…
Boston Brown Bread Muffins
(From: Muffins & Quick Breads: Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library)
1/2 cup (2 oz.) whole wheat flour
1/2 cup (2 oz.) rye flour
1/2 cup (3 oz.) yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup (2 oz.) firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup (4 oz.) molasses
1 cup raisins
Preheat oven to 400°F; butter standard (pan of 12) muffin tins.
In a medium bowl, combine flours, cornmeal, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, beat egg; stir in buttermilk, brown sugar, vegetable oil and molasses, whisking until smooth. Add to the dry mixture, stirring until just blended; stir in the raisins.
Spoon into greased muffin tins, filling about two-thirds full. Bake at 400°F for about 15 minutes, until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan briefly, then remove.
Makes about one dozen muffins.
A Month of Sundries 
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