The Ultimate Muffin Book: More Than 600 Recipes for Sweet and Savory Muffins [Paperback]

This is the eighth `Ultimate' cookbook title for authors Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. Others have been on chocolate cookies, potatoes, brownies, shrimp, candy, ice cream, and party drinks. This is the first of this series I have reviewed and I sense the format works much better for a subject like muffins, brownies, and chocolate cookies, where all recipes have a lot in common than it does for potatoes or candy, where there is a large variation in cooking techniques.

The cover announces that the book contains over 600 recipes for sweet and savory muffins. This blurb may be misleading in two ways. First, there are only 100 full-page recipes, with each recipe expanded by up to eight (8) variations, and each variation is treated as a recipe. The potential number of preparations may go well beyond the 600 if you combine the 100 basic recipes with the ten (10) toppings (icings) recipes, giving a thousand variations. For sure, some toppings will simply not go with some muffins, but you get the idea.

By `muffin', the authors mean the classic American muffin that is a chemically leavened quickbread baked in a muffin tin, developing a domelike cap, and typically not iced. Unlike a cupcake, muffin recipes are meant to stand on their own, so they typically have more moisture and more flavor than the cupcake, since the icing is what usually carries the water for a cupcake. The authors specifically exclude the `English' muffin that is an entirely different animal.

The very best part of this book is the first chapter, `Making Muffins' which includes just about every tip you could possibly imagine regarding muffins, plus important notes on equipment and ingredients. The authors get double points from me for including the simple recipe for making your own baking powder and for the suggestion to use powdered buttermilk. I had already discovered this product, but this is a boon to everyone who buys a quart of buttermilk to make a batch of biscuits or muffins and has ¾ of the quart go bad in two weeks. The authors are probably a little conservative with their estimates of the shelf life of baking soda and baking powder, although I will take proper note of their warning about measuring the life of baking powder from the date you open the can. Personally, I have successfully used an open can of baking powder for 6 months after opening. I also suspect the shelf life of baking powder is a lot longer than their 3 months. Unlike the mixture baking powder, baking soda is a simple inorganic chemical, almost as inert as salt unless it is added to an acidic liquid. The warning against using baking soda that has been used as a refrigerator deodorizer is not based on its loss of efficacy but is based on the noxious odors it may bring to the party.

The 100 primary recipes are arranged alphabetically, which, in this type of book, is a really good idea until you get to recipes which are not named according to their distinguishing ingredient, as in `Basic Muffin' and `Mexican Muffin'. Otherwise, this is excellent for a book you will go to a few times a year for holiday recipes, bake sales, and special brunches. This organization is supplemented by a cross-reference of recipes by most important characteristic other than the dominant flavoring. This groups, for example, all bran, cornmeal, chocolate, gluten-free, and low fat recipes together.

Considering the amount of detail given in the introduction cited above, the individual recipes are still quite detailed, with a prudent repetition of some of the more important warnings, such as the caution to use room temperature eggs and melted, but not too hot butter in the preparation.

Any fault found with this book would never rise above the level of nit picking, as the book is so successful at being a guide to baking good muffins. One nit I must pick with the copy editor is the use of the term `silicon' baking tins where the authors surely meant `silicone'. What is meant was a flexible, stick-resistant plastic. What was said was glass. The authors did a great service in warning us about the fact that the volumes of muffin tins often vary and different sizes can mean different baking times. I think they could have improved this point and some others by a few simple pictures. In the `room for improvement' category, a cross-reference of recipes to holidays and seasons would have been keen, especially as there are some recipes for less well known Jewish holiday occasions (See Haroseth muffins, p. 98). The writing is not quite as entertaining as Jim Villas' quips in his book `Biscuit Bliss', but then, these authors are not Jim Villas. Get both books. There is no overlap, as both authors stay on message very well.

This is an excellent treatment of a subject that works well with this approach. This gives us a great reference, saving us the journey through half a dozen other books for just the right muffin recipe.

I purchased this book about a year ago and have used it so often, the pages are adorned with flour and sugar stains, splashes of milk and vanilla!

My three year old son and I embark on bi-weekly "cupcake" adventures, and so far, we've made the chocolate chip muffins, low-fat chocolate chip muffins, applesauce muffins, beer muffins, blueberry muffins, cheddar muffins, graham cracker muffins, cocoa muffins, corn muffins, and peanut butter muffins. They have all been delicious, depending on one's preferences. In fact, they've been so good that we frequently re-make the recipes we've already tried instead of moving on to attempt new ones (usually my son's vote).

Additionally, there are so many recipes listed, one can sit down with the book prior to a special event and select many recipes to complement that day (for Christmas this year, I made batches of the peanut butter, chocolate chip, graham cracker, and blueberry muffins--we had three guests and the muffins were gone in TWO days). Additionally, there are a number of recipes that could accompany dinners (we made the corn muffins one evening when we had chili and the beer muffins on Thanksgiving). I am eager to try the Quiche Lorraine muffins for breakfast the next time we have weekend visitors and am considering making the cheesecake muffins for an upcoming picnic.

One of my favorite things about this book is the way that nutritious ingredients are often incorporated into the recipes. The carrot muffins are a nice way of getting a child to eat carrots, and many of the recipes are made with applesauce (my son does not touch fruit, so even though the amount of applesauce is negligible, I count this! He also will not blueberries by themselves but will inhale a blueberry "cupcake!") There are also several variations listed for each recipe (i.e. the graham cracker muffins can be made with a layer of jam spread inside or with chocolate chips), and there are many recipes for "toppings" at the end of the book; we haven't tried any of those, yet, but would like to make the cinnamon streusel topping in the future.

I highly recommend this book. Between it and "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman, I feel like I'm running a gourment kitchen and bakery all in one.

Apple Muffin recipe - great. Black Forest muffin recipe - in the TRASH(after buying almond extract, eggs, milk, sour cherries, chocolate). Baked beautifully - smelled great - tasted - too horrible to describe. Like one of those Little Rascal episodes where someone pours the wrong ingredient into a cake batter. When I contacted one of the authors, Bruce, he (or someone answering his email) replied: "Yes - there's 3/4 cup of sugar missing...you might enjoy ... our other books...."

Aside from the ingredients and TIME and energy wasted - this recipe was obviously not tested after publication. How much more should we waste on other recipes in the book? Here's the reply:

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First off, I am truly sorry that you had a bad experience baking one our recipes. I am sorry that you had to spend money on ingredients for that recipe. Yes, there is a mistake. There is no sugar listed and there should be. There should be 3/4 cup sugar added to the egg yolk, milk, and sour cream mixture. This error will be fixed in future printings.

I am glad that you enjoyed th apple muffins. They are a variation on an apple cake that my grandmother used to make me. I am sure she'd be delighted that people are enjoying it. I hope you have also tried some of our other books. You might really enjoy the ultimate ice cream book or the ultimate brownie book.

Take Care

--Bruce Weinstein

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