Muffins: My Gateway to Baking

No one in ministry wants to admit that the job (or service work) can become stale at times.  People in that realm should be always excited because they’re serving God by serving people.  But in reality, some things become too routine.  At least this was the case for camping ministry.  While the guests are different, and the summer staff are different, the job, especially the hospitality aspect of it, didn’t change that much.  In many ways, that’s a good thing.  I like to know what to expect, and standards and practices are in place for a reason.  But doing the same thing - cooking the same menu, cleaning the same kitchens, running the same schedule - as I did my first summer wasn’t exciting to me.  However, I did know I wanted to stay on with Sky Ranch Horn Creek full time after my internship, so I was excited (and nervous) about the new role I would be serving my second summer.  I was more of a “right-hand gal” to the new Food Service Director and the Hospitality Director.  

In my new position I helped train the new summer staff and shared some supervisor roles.  As a full-time staff member in food service and hospitality, I didn’t have the same responsibilities as I did my first summer.  The exciting part was that I could be more creative in the kitchen instead of only pulling out trays of frozen Sara Lee donuts and Danishes from the walk-in freezer on Friday night for Saturday breakfast.  Once Sky Ranch took over, Horn Creek had more money at their disposal, so the meals improved a bit.  Saturdays in the summer were (and still are) buffet-style vs. sit-down served family-style meals.  However, since bananas were a newly added item that didn’t always get eaten, and somehow we had an abundance of carrots, I used the ingredients we had to bake new menu items.  I started making muffins to share with the staff, and in the fall I baked for the retreat groups.  I made banana muffins with add-ins like coconut, chocolate chips, walnuts, and even lime zest and juice.  I also made Morning Glory muffins with a bit of everything and carrot muffins with raisins and spices.  Something as simple as a quick bread option for breakfast improved the quality of the food options for guests and gave me more fulfillment than I would get from the occasional sheet pan crumb coffee cake or pre-made pastries.  Staff and guests enjoyed the variety while I was there, and I enjoyed sharing baked goods with others.  But it was around that time that I knew that I plateaued in what I could learn in the culinary world at camp.  I expanded my baking abilities elsewhere.           

Let me set the scene… I woke up at 6:00 a.m.  Getting ready involved throwing on a T-shirt, stretchy black and white checked Chef pants, and unattractive black, no-slip shoes.  After drinking coffee and brushing my teeth, I grabbed my bag and headed out the door.  Once I got to the building, I ducked into the restroom where I put on my coat and black cap that hid my hair, and the finishing touch of the long black apron went on in the classroom.  However, once I started my Advanced Artisan Breads class in the fall of 2017, I had no idea the day's most important meal would be a class staple. 

Our “Breads” instructor, a barely 5-foot man in his late 50s/ early 60s, could be jovial and good-natured, frustrated and short-tempered, or disorganized and unprepared (OK, this was mainly his first year teaching high schoolers in the Pro-Start culinary program, and I was looking at it from the perspective of one with classroom teaching experience).  As great as our instructors were, Chefs are a mixed bag in terms of attitudes and personalities on the day or hour.  One predictable thing was that he liked breakfast.  Our Advanced Artisan Breads course wasn’t a class in how to make breakfast, but once we got a few dough bowls resting on the counter or in the proofer, we had the time and the ingredients.  We would begin our whole-grain dough, laminated dough, enriched dough, and sourdough, set the timers, and then divvy out jobs for who was in charge of what - scrambled eggs, hashbrown or roasted potatoes, gravy, sometimes sausage or bacon (he definitely does not like crispy bacon as I made it once; he’s one of “those” that like it limp…), sometimes we’d have waffles or pancakes with fruit.  When our bread was be done by the time he decided we should eat, we’d cut loaves for toast or enjoy fresh croissants, Danishes, or bagels. 

Impromptu babka/ povitica experiment in my Breads class with leftover biga rolled with chocolate and pistachios

Otherwise, someone would start a quick bread such as biscuits or muffins.  One of my fellow students taught me how he made perfect light and airy biscuits (recipe shared below).  When I had time or didn’t claim the responsibility of scrambling eggs, I enjoyed making muffins.  If I could only bake one thing, I may have to choose muffins.  They’re versatile in their ingredients, fast to throw together, and can be enjoyed at any time of day.  While some take longer than others depending on the ingredients, I’ve never met a muffin I didn’t like.  Whatever the breakfast breads of the day, though, my classmates and I enjoyed sharing a meal together in the middle of the 5-hour class.  Wanting to share food with others was probably a shared reason we all were there to begin with.    

In honor of Mother’s Day, my mom deserves a special shout-out.  While I didn’t grow up baking muffins from scratch, my first muffins, and maybe first baked item, were from the Jiffy box.  Blueberry was probably my favorite, but we also liked the apple cinnamon and Jiffy corn muffins when they went with dinner.  My mom cooked breakfast for our family on Sundays, and I sometimes helped.  She isn’t a fan of pancakes, but she knew we (my dad, brother, and I) like them, so she’d make them for us.  Much like our Artisan Bread breakfasts, we’d have eggs, hashbrowns, bacon or sausage, and fruit.  Once my brother and I left home, my mom continued Sunday breakfasts for my dad.  But, when I visit, I supply the pastries from scratch - brioche, babka, sweet rolls, scones, or muffins.  We grew up sharing breakfast on Sundays and dinner every day of the week.  That standard set by my parents helped me see how important meal times are.  

While I don’t have any kids of my own with whom to share breakfast, and my parents are currently in England, so no baking for mom this year, I am happy to recommend some breakfast options for you.  If you want to make muffins for your mom for Mother’s Day, Ken has a few delicious recipes in The Harvest Baker.  Bacon, Cheddar, and Fresh Corn Muffins go well for breakfast or with a hearty soup.  Glorious Morning Muffins are a healthier option (at least I think so!) with apple, pineapple, carrots, coconut, and walnuts.  Butternut Squash Crumb Muffins are a delicious way to use butternut squash in the fall.  Lastly, my mom’s favorite was the Ricotta, Lemon, and Blackberry Muffins, perfect with summer fruit.  (Recipe shared below.)  If biscuits are more your style, in addition to the Sweet Potato Buttermilk Biscuits (shared about in this post), Ken also has Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits (the first recipe I baked from the book!), Mashed Potato Biscuits, and Everything Biscuits (a personal favorite!).  Whether you’re spending the day with your mom, your kids, or alone, try a muffin recipe!  They can be your gateway to baking, too. 

Bacon, Cheddar, and Fresh Corn Muffins

Glorious Morning Muffins

Butternut Squash Crumb Muffins

Ricotta, Lemon, and Blackberry Muffins

Ricotta, Lemon, and Blackberry Muffins

Yield:  12 muffins

Ingredients:

• Butter for the muffin pan

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon baking soda

• ¾ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• 1 cup ricotta cheese

• 1 cup sugar

• ½ cup sour cream

• ½ cup milk

• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1 large egg

• 2-3 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 - 1¼ cup blackberries, halved if very large

• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon thyme (optional)

• Citrus glaze (optional) 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).  Butter a standard-size 12-cup muffin pan.

2. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a large bowl.  Mix well by hand or with a whisk.

3. Purée the ricotta, sugar, sour cream, milk, melted butter, egg, lemon zest, and vanilla in a blender.  Make a well in the dry mixture and add the liquid mixture.  Stir until everything is dampened and only a few dry streaks remain.  Add the blackberries and lemon thyme, if using, and fold them in with as few strokes as possible.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the cups.  Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, until the muffins are well risen and the tops feel springy to the touch and are light golden brown.  Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack and cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Remove the muffins and continue to cool on the rack, bottoms facing up.  Serve as is, or drizzle a little Citrus Glaze on the muffins before serving. 

The Harvest Baker (c) by Ken Haedrich, recipe excerpted with permission from Storey Publishing.

Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuits

Mashed Potato Biscuits

Everything Biscuits

Robert’s Biscuit Recipe

Yield:  ~ 6 large or 12 small biscuits

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour

• ¼ tsp baking soda

• 1 TBSP baking powder

• 1 ½ tsp salt

• 1 TBSP sugar

• 6 TBSP unsalted butter, diced

• ~ 1 cup buttermilk 

Directions:

1. Thoroughly mix the first five ingredients.

2. Add in the butter with a pastry cutter.  (Or, as Robert suggests, get your hands dirty and rub the butter between your fingers to create small pea-sized pieces that are all coated in the dry ingredients.)

3. Chill for 10-15 minutes to reset the butter.

4. Add about 1 cup of buttermilk (wetter vs. dryer dough is better).

5. With hands or a pastry cutter, fold the outside of the dough to the center all around the bowl until the milk is mixed in.  Once it comes together but is still crumbly, turn it onto a floury surface and pat the dough out about ¾“ to 1” thick.

6. Cut the dough into rounds or squares without twisting (if using a biscuit cutter); just push straight down.  When reshaping the dough, only use three “turns.”  (Don’t press it back together more than that, and definitely don’t knead it again.  They will become flat and dense vs. high and flaky.   

7. The biscuits should be baked or frozen immediately.

8. If baking, place the biscuits on a sheet pan with parchment.  They should be touching to force them up, not out.  You can brush them with 2-3 TBS milk mixed with 1-2 TBSP sugar, or leave out the sugar if you are serving them with gravy or something savory.

9. Small biscuits bake for 9-10 minutes at 450℉, and medium to larger biscuits take 11-13 minutes.