The Perfect Muffin Recipe

Usually, muffins are either too tough, too sweet, or both. Finally, I’ve got the recipe for one that is neither. These muffins are soft and fluffy with a very controllable taste. What I mean by this is that the sweetness of this recipe alone is perfect – pleasantly sweet and not overwhelming. It also allows for a variety of fillings through which you can further adjust the sweetness.

Ingredients:

Muffin

1 ¾ c. flour

1 ½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. cinnamon

1/3 c. canola oil

½ c. + 3 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 egg

¾ c. milk

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar Topping

1 tbsp granulated sugar

1/6 tsp (or heaping 1/8 tsp) cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon)
3. Whisk together wet ingredients (oil, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla) in a separate bowl
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold in until combined, making sure not to over-mix.
5. Line muffin tin with muffin liners
6. Fill each ¼ full with batter and add your fillings*
7. Completely fill each tin so they are ¾ full with batter and top with filling to garnish
8. Bake for 20-24 min.
9. While the muffins are baking, combine your sugar and cinnamon to make the topping.
10. When the muffins are done, immediately dip them into the cinnamon sugar mixture, making sure not to burn yourself. The hotter the muffins are, the better the sugar sticks.

*Fillings I have tried include: Nutella, cherries, blueberries, strawberry jam
You can also try walnuts, peanut butter, chocolate chips, pecans, apple, etc. If you want to flavor them with an extract, you have to experiment. When I had enough batter for two muffins left, I added about 1 tsp lemon extract and it was perfect. However, I do think using lemon zest would be better (different amounts though).  In my experience, these muffins do not lose any softness/fluffiness after sitting out on the kitchen table with no saran wrap for 12 hours. That is what I call impressive. Enjoy!

Food for Thought: Impression vs. Taste

Does your food taste better when you make it yourself or when someone makes it for you?

From experience...

Food usually tastes better when I make it myself (this excludes food made at fancy restaurants that just blow my mind). Why do I think it tastes better when I make it? For one, there is the self accomplishment factor. When you make your own meal, you not only enjoy whatever you made, which is tailored to suit your own taste buds, but you also get to relish the results of your hard work. So when you bite into that sandwich or that cake, what you experience is something that was specifically seasoned to your own liking and the fruits of your labor. In this way, the enjoyment factor is amplified by, what I call, suspense, creating a more satisfying impression.

Scientifically...

When you make your own food, you are constantly exposed to the smell of all the ingredients you are using. When you bake a cake, you are constantly smelling the vanilla extract or chocolate while making the batter. When you finally put the cake in the oven, the smell of the cake fills your entire house, so from the time you begin making it to the time you take the first bite, you have been exposed to the smell of the food. Since much of tasting is the result of smelling, this makes a huge difference. This prolonged olfactory stimulation results in habituation and desensitization. Therefore, when you finally eat the fruits of your labor, you are essentially eating without smelling. According to this, you would enjoy food more when someone makes it for you, in which case you would not be exposed to this constant stimulation.

Does this mean that your own impression of the food contributes more to enjoyment than does the actual taste of it? Perhaps some of you may prefer food made by others and would disagree.
What do you think?