Studly muffins

Well, so cutting down on processed foods has been a big “yes”. Part of the reason is that it has been cool enough to bake, so I’m not starving. Yesterday, I didn’t have time for a yeast bread to rise, so I made muffins. They were to go with chicken soup, so I wanted a less sweet, dinner roll type bread. I think my tweaks worked pretty well. The original recipe is from Mark Bittman (my kitchen hero at the moment – his “How to Cook Everything” is my new sacred tome) on his New York Times blog for “Whole Wheat Muffins”. Quick, yummy, and, if you use the muffin tin liners, very little clean up. And nothing really screwball in the ingredients. I’m beginning to hate people who toss off things like squid ink or taro flour like I have that in the pantry. Um, no. Actually. I have blue food coloring and flour flour in the pantry. How ‘bout them apples, fancy pants?

Anyway. On to the muffins . . .

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Muffins
Time: 35 to 45 minutes
Yield: 12 to 15 muffins

• 1/2 cup melted unsalted butter, more for greasing tins
• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, preferably pastry flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup mashed or puréed sweet potato
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease two 6-cup muffin tins or fill with liners. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, banana, egg and buttermilk. Fold wet mixture into dry mixture and stir until just combined.

2. Fill muffin tins or liners; bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until muffins are puffed and turning golden brown on top. Serve warm if possible.