Day 15: muffins for a monday
You may well think muffins are hardly something I should be including in a cookalong challenge - if the sole brief of said challenge were to be adventurous and challenge the taste buds - but, I have in fact never (successfully) made muffins. I did try a few years ago, and although very nice (I think), they were more like small cupcakes. I am notoriously impatient, and a common side effect of this to manifest itself in the kitchen is the apparent inability to read a recipe thoroughly. I can therefore only naturally conclude that I used the wrong measurements, or - more likely - greedily tried to make too many muffins out of the mix, resulting in small, rather bijou, looking muffins.
I also thought this particular cookalong a good opportunity to practice cooking in a meditative state, as I can often get quite flustered when it comes to baking in general - another reason perhaps why I tend not to dabble too often.
There was something very refreshing about making muffins for breakfast on a Sunday morning, instead of the chaotic fluttering about the kitchen preparing a fried breakfast, though - of course - I am very fond of black pudding, sausage, tinned pasta hoops in tomato sauce, white toast and a great many hash browns as a breakfast du jour.
It was a recent repeat of Simply Nigella on the BBC that inspired me to channel my inner baker and opt for a more wholesome approach to breakfast this Sunday with Nigella’s Chai Muffins. I have also never cooked with spelt flour, so there is another reason for it to qualify for 365 Days of Nigella, in case there was speculation.
Nigella’s Chai Muffins
As I mentioned before; I am prone to a touch of the nerves when it comes to baking. So, I got Alexa on the case to play some chilled Christmas jazz and I took even further comfort in knowing that, for the next hour or so anyway, I was under the safe guidance of Nigella via one of her eloquently written recipes.
On reflection, I was rather fond of this time spent calmly pottering about the kitchen - which was now filled with beautifully festive aromas from the chai-steeped almond milk. Everything else was as simple as the step-by-step instructions and all went to plan, perfectly stress free. The reward; enjoying several muffins, a hot cup of coffee and a flick through my favourite magazines.
May I also just add that there is something gratifyingly satisfying about tearing open tea bags and using their fragranced contents to make something that isn’t a cup of tea. Wonders never cease!
Flavour musings
The spelt I think brings a sweet nuttiness to the muffin formula, without the bitterness of whole wheat flour. The nuttiness is further amplified by the almond crunch; suspended softly within the crumb itself and atop too, toastily crisp. I like my muffins sweet, but these were perfectly balanced for breakfast and even though household feedback was to add more sugar - I think this contradicts the purpose of a healthier breakfast muffin.
Sunday muffing baking will become the new norm in this house. If your Mondays are as chaotic as mine then you will be very grateful to have a batch of these ready to warm through quickly in the oven, without the need to think of much else (something I often struggle with first thing on a Monday morning).
