Tabula Rasa (blank Slate) Muffins

Total Time: 55 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 6 tablespoons butter (*see note) or 6 tablespoons margarine (*see note)
• 1/2-3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg (**see note) (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk or 1/2 cup soymilk, plus
• 2 tablespoons milk or 2 tablespoons soymilk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure extract (i.e. vanilla, almond, rum, etc.)
• 2 cups chopped fruit (***see suggested combinations) or 2 cups nuts (***see suggested combinations) or 2 cups chocolate chips, etc (***see suggested combinations)
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f.
• 2 prepare 12 standard or 6 jumbo mufffin cups by lightly greasing or with paper liners.
• 3 in a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon or other spice if using; mix well.
• 4 in a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. beat in egg, then milk, then extract; mixture will be slightly lumpy.
• 5 fold in 2 cups of the fruit/nut/chip combination of your choice with a rubber spatula.
• 6 stir the wet ingredients into the dry, being careful not to overmix.
• 7 spoon batter into muffin cups and bake 30-35 minute, turning pan after about 15 minutes to ensure even cooking.
• 8 cool muffins in tins for about 15 minutes before removing to cool completely (they fall apart if you try to remove them while they're still hot!).
• 9 eat warm or cool completely then store in an airtight container. they can also be frozen up to 3 months -- but i can't imagine why they'd last that long:)!
• 10 *note: i have subbed up to 3t applesauce or mashed bananas successfully.
• 11 **note: i have gotten better results using vegan egg replacer than ommitting egg entirely, but really both are fine.
• 12 ***suggested combinations(equaling 2 cups): peach blueberry; mango and banana with rum extract; raspberry ginger; strawberry banana; blackberry nectarine; cherry, -chocolate chips and almonds with almond extract; pear, ginger and semi-sweet chocolate chips -- the possibilities are endless, these are just the combos i've tried.