Lemon Ginger Muffins

The other day I saw these muffins over at Simply Recipe and they looked lovely. I didn't really have a reason to make them until I remember that we were going to a housewarming/brunch at J&TC's place. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they share some of their recipes over at DC Food Blog.

Lemon Ginger Muffins
Yield 12 regular sized muffins (24-30 mini muffins)

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 TB baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup 1/2-inch cubes of peeled, fresh ginger
1 large lemon
1 cup sugar -divided into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup

10 TB unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt

Glaze
2 TB fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar)

Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375°F.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel off the lemon zest from one large lemon (avoid the white pith). Coarsely chop the zest. You should have approximately 1/4 cup of chopped lemon zest. Add this zest, the cubed fresh ginger, and 1/4 cup of sugar to a food processor. Pulse until a paste forms.

In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the lemon zest and ginger paste.

Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat.

Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan. Coat each muffin cup lightly with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or a little melted butter using a pastry brush. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick (we use a thin bamboo skewer) to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool.




While the muffins are cooling, in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze. Add more lemon juice if necessary. While the muffins are still a bit warm, use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each muffin. The muffins will absorb some of the glaze, so you add more glaze to each muffin if you like.


So there you have it. As you can see, I made my muffins in a mini muffin pan. I thought it more appropriate for the brunch setting, without having to double the recipe. A few notes: I followed the actually recipe as it. I had some crystallized ginger and chopped it up and sprinkled it on top of the muffins before baking. With the mini-tin, I only needed about 20 minutes to bake. I was worried about over cooking them, so I took them out when I did, so they were still a little pale. Instead of brushing the icing on the, I drizzled it over the top of the muffins and then sprinkled a little more crystallized ginger on top. These were really tasty. Sweet and tart, but not sugary sweet. Feel free to skip the glaze for a more basic muffin that is terrific on flavor! OH, on more note, I sprayed the the muffin tin with Pam spray, little easier then brushing with butter.