About a year ago, I posted a recipe for Spiced Doughnut Muffins. Super yummy. Very popular among you readers. Then about a month ago I saw an orange variation on the same basic recipe on this site. Now I like a good orange roll from time to time (though I've never made one...) so we tried them. Very good. But I love lemon more than orange. So I tried it in a lemon version. Mmmmm. So good. I passed the idea on to my friend, Rachel. She got even more creative and made a strawberry lemon variation. Oh my goodness--equally yum. So here you go....lemon, orange, and strawberry lemon doughnut muffins. Please, please try one of these recipes soon. You will be glad you did! Oh and just so you know, I'm thinking of calling this the Summer of the Lemon. I have lots of recipes to share that involve lemon. I'm seriously addicted.
Lemon Doughnut Muffins
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
~2 Tbs lemon zest (~4 medium lemons for muffins and glaze)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk, soured with 1 Tbs lemon juice
Zest lemons. Split zest for muffins and glaze (I put about 2/3 of it in muffin batter and 1/3 of it in glaze). Set aside. Juice one of the lemons and put 1 tablespoon of the juice into a 1 cup measure and fill the rest with milk. Allow to sit and curdle a bit. Meanwhile, line muffin tins with paper liners or lightly grease. Should make 12-15.
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, oil, sugar, brown sugar and lemon zest until creamed. Add in eggs and beat well. Mix in baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Alternate adding flour and milk and mixing well after each addition. Its important to start with flour and end with flour--when you add the milk the batter tends to break up a bit and the flour then helps smooth it out again. When I do it, I add flour-milk-flour-milk-flour. Your batter will be thick and fluffy. Fill your muffin cups near to the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 425F (220C) for 15-20 minutes. Muffins will have a great domed top and be slightly browned on top. Test for doneness with a toothpick or by lightly tapping the top to see if it springs back.
Glaze
2 Tbs melted butter (opt)
1 cup powdered sugar
lemon zest (remaining 1/3, about 1 Tbs)
1 Tbs milk
1 Tbs lemon juice
While muffins are baking, mix together the glaze. Start with melted butter, if using, and add powdered sugar. Mix in milk and lemon juice a teaspoon or two at a time until it reaches desired consistency. May not need full tablespoon of each. If its too runny, add just a little powdered sugar. If its to thick, add a little milk or lemon juice. After the muffins are finished and you can handle them, take each muffin and dip the top in the glaze or just put a dollop on the top of the muffin and allow it to ease down over the top of the warm muffin.
*If you're worried about the lemon zest being too "textured" in the glaze, just go over it with a knife real quick and chop it a little finer. That's what I did because Brian can be weird about zest sometimes. The melted butter adds a thicker consistency to the icing, but its not absolutely necessary. A basic powdered sugar glaze works fine as well.
Orange Doughnut Muffins
Omit lemon zest. Replace with zest of 2 large oranges--half in the muffins and half in the glaze. Sour your milk with orange juice instead of lemon juice. Use orange juice in the glaze instead of lemon.
Strawberry Lemon Doughnut Muffins
Add 1/4 cup strawberry puree to the muffin batter. (I just took about 4-5 strawberries and chopped them with my hand chopper really quick until they were juicy and finely diced). Add 1-2 Tablespoons of the strawberry puree (or finely diced) to the glaze and adjust powdered sugar or milk/juice as needed for right consistency.
Lemon Doughnut Muffins
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
~2 Tbs lemon zest (~4 medium lemons for muffins and glaze)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 cup milk, soured with 1 Tbs lemon juice
Zest lemons. Split zest for muffins and glaze (I put about 2/3 of it in muffin batter and 1/3 of it in glaze). Set aside. Juice one of the lemons and put 1 tablespoon of the juice into a 1 cup measure and fill the rest with milk. Allow to sit and curdle a bit. Meanwhile, line muffin tins with paper liners or lightly grease. Should make 12-15.
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, oil, sugar, brown sugar and lemon zest until creamed. Add in eggs and beat well. Mix in baking powder, baking soda, salt and vanilla. Alternate adding flour and milk and mixing well after each addition. Its important to start with flour and end with flour--when you add the milk the batter tends to break up a bit and the flour then helps smooth it out again. When I do it, I add flour-milk-flour-milk-flour. Your batter will be thick and fluffy. Fill your muffin cups near to the top. Bake in a preheated oven at 425F (220C) for 15-20 minutes. Muffins will have a great domed top and be slightly browned on top. Test for doneness with a toothpick or by lightly tapping the top to see if it springs back.
Glaze
2 Tbs melted butter (opt)
1 cup powdered sugar
lemon zest (remaining 1/3, about 1 Tbs)
1 Tbs milk
1 Tbs lemon juice
While muffins are baking, mix together the glaze. Start with melted butter, if using, and add powdered sugar. Mix in milk and lemon juice a teaspoon or two at a time until it reaches desired consistency. May not need full tablespoon of each. If its too runny, add just a little powdered sugar. If its to thick, add a little milk or lemon juice. After the muffins are finished and you can handle them, take each muffin and dip the top in the glaze or just put a dollop on the top of the muffin and allow it to ease down over the top of the warm muffin.
*If you're worried about the lemon zest being too "textured" in the glaze, just go over it with a knife real quick and chop it a little finer. That's what I did because Brian can be weird about zest sometimes. The melted butter adds a thicker consistency to the icing, but its not absolutely necessary. A basic powdered sugar glaze works fine as well.
Orange Doughnut Muffins
Omit lemon zest. Replace with zest of 2 large oranges--half in the muffins and half in the glaze. Sour your milk with orange juice instead of lemon juice. Use orange juice in the glaze instead of lemon.
Strawberry Lemon Doughnut Muffins
Add 1/4 cup strawberry puree to the muffin batter. (I just took about 4-5 strawberries and chopped them with my hand chopper really quick until they were juicy and finely diced). Add 1-2 Tablespoons of the strawberry puree (or finely diced) to the glaze and adjust powdered sugar or milk/juice as needed for right consistency.
your admonition is so correct -- make these soon! Thanks again for passing along this great recipe - it has made my life better. =)
ReplyDeleteCan you make these as a small loaf instead of a muffin?
ReplyDeleteI have not tried these baked like that. My fear is the longer bake time might dry them out but you could totally try it! Small loaf like 7x3 or even smaller? I have a lemon bread/loaf recipe coming soon. :)
ReplyDeleteFamily totally loved these- made the orange flavor. Yum! Thanks SB!
ReplyDelete