"These are the best muffins you've ever made."

I made these muffins a while ago, using apricot jam that I had leftover from making thumbprint cookies. I had a whole second jar of jam, so I brought it to my friend's house to use up more and to leave it with them.

I made the muffins while they were working on dinner, which was a delicious fish of swordfish steaks, crab cakes, and green beans with garlic and onion. The meal was fantastic, but I won't go into details about it because I did nothing to help prepare it, and it seems unfair to take their credit.

Around 4:30, I decided I was too hungry to wait for dinner. So was Kendo Bird. So I decided to make the muffins I had promised Darth Bird, while they worked on making the crab cakes and the swordfish.

They came out of the oven around 4:40.



Except for the second one that I spent a while resisting, they were all gone by 4:46.



Everyone ate two muffins, while they were still steaming from the oven. I had almost burned my hands getting them out as quickly as I could. And they were instantly destroyed.

They're also delicious in the mornings, microwaved to the point where the jam is once again hot and bubbly. They're light and, dare I say it, fluffy, with a slight hint of cinnamon in the dough. We've used six different jams now: apricot, black cherry, red plum, peaches, raspberry, and blackberry. I've only eaten the apricot and red plum. We played muffin roulette. Made two dozen muffin, with four of each, put them all on a giant plate, and spun it around. I got red plum, but my diet stopped me from taking two or three more, like I really wanted to.

These are certainly a new favorite. I can see making these for parties, although I'd love to find a way to make them look prettier...



I dunno, they look pretty good on their own.

Cinnamon Jam Roulette Muffins
(Makes 12 muffins, with 126 calories and $0.21 per muffins)

1.5 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2.5 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup vanilla yogurt

1/4 cup butter

3 tablespoons milk

1 large egg

1/4 cup jam

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 375.
   
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.
   
3. Combine yogurt, butter, milk, and egg in separate bowl.
   
4. Add wet ingredients to dry, just combining.
   
5. Spoon one tablespoon batter into each liner.
   
6. Top each with 1 teaspoon jam, and then top with remaining batter.
   
7. Combine extra tablespoon sugar with extra cinnamon, and sprinkle over batter.
   
8. Bake for 15 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• My friends really, really like muffins.
  
• Six varieties of jam, and no one can decide which was best....
  

Muffins for... Dessert

When I took the first bite of these muffins, I was sort of concerned. They were... sweet. Not sugary, but definitely sweet. I got worried. I had been doing such a great job at staying away from sweets (let's pretend Easter candy doesn't exist for a moment, please.), and surely these would tempt me back over to the Sweet Side.

Let's also pretend that I haven't been wanting to make homemade Pop-Tarts for a long time.

But I was over-reacting. These are cornbread muffins; even sweet cornbread isn't sugary. So I happily munched on them for a few weeks, until I made an amazing discovery.



These muffins are delicious with jam on top. Strawberry is the best, trust me. Sadly, I discovered this information too late, as there were only two muffins left. So while these may not be the greatest for breakfast, they make amazing snacks. Heck, I'd eat this as a dessert. Just warm up the jam before you put it on. Or if you're me, get up in the middle of the game you were playing with your friends, go into the other room, and pretend they don't think you're crazy for taking pictures of a muffin.

Or you could just eat them for breakfast. Whatever you want, really.

Recipe from Cooking on the Side
(Makes 18 muffins, with 142 calories and $0.14 per muffin)

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup corn meal

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1.25 cups milk

2 large eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 tablespoons melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Combine flour, sugar, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt.
   
3. Combine milk, eggs, vegetable oil, and butter in separate bowl and mix well.
   
4. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until well blended.
   
5. Pour into muffin cups.
   
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• Muffins can be eaten for dessert. Just like their cousin the cupcake.