Patriotic Muffins

Fourth of July weekend means paying tribute to the good ole US of A with lots of red, white and blue ...and don't forget barbeque and fireworks!

I don't know if you're aware, but muffins are very proud to be American's and as a means to show their patriotism they wanted to take this opportunity to display their red and white (something blue will be debuting tomorrow so stay tuned).

I used my go-to muffin recipe as a base and then split the batch in half to create two different variations- Strawberry and White Chocolate Macadamia. The recipe for the base is to follow, but the direction you go after that is totally up to you. The great thing about this muffin recipe is that it really leaves the creativity up to you... any thoughts on other add-ins to make these even more patriotic??


Go-to Muffin Base
Oven: 375 Bake time: 25 min
Makes 1 dozen muffins

1 cup white whole wheat flour (you can also just use 2 cups AP flour)
1 cup AP flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375.
Spray muffin pan with cooking spray and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
In a small bowl, lightly beat egg, oil, buttermilk and vanilla.
Pour wet mixture into dry and with a wooden spoon mix until incorporated.
(This is where you would fold in your add-ins if you so choose)
Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling each 2/3 the way full.
Sprinkle with streusel topping.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Streusel Topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 TBS AP flour
2 TBS cold butter, cubed

In a small bowl combine sugar and flour. Using a fork mash butter into mixture, until chunky consistency is reached. Place in the freezer for a few minutes before using to top muffins.

Strawberry Muffins
1 recipe muffin base
1 cup chopped strawberries
1 recipe streusel topping

Prepare batter, and fold chopped strawberries until distributed.
Sprinkle streusel topping over muffins.
Transfer to oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack for about 15-30 minutes before removing from pan.

White Chocolate Macadamia Muffins
1 recipe muffin base
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 recipe streusel topping

Prepare batter, and mix in white chocolate chips and chopped macadamia nuts until distributed.
Spoon batter into muffin pan, filling each about 2/3 way full.
Sprinkle with streusel topping.
Transfer to oven and bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack for about 15-30 minutes before removing from pan.

These muffins are just the thing to start us off for a weekend of good food, good friends and fireworks. This afternoon we're driving about an hour with some friends to try out a famous BBQ place...can you tell we like our food? Anyone out there have some fun plans this weekend?? 

Happy Baking!