Tried a new variety:
1.5c flour
1.5 tsp baking soda
0.5 tsp salt

1 lemon zest
1 lemon juice
1 egg
1/3 c honey
1/3 c buttermilk
1/4 c melted butter

Pretty good. I think lemon is critical. Not sure about the honey. Needs more butter flavor & more sugar. They look amazing. 


V1, not recorded here, was the Ritz-Carlton Blueberry Muffin recipe from NYT. Admittedly, I forgot the baking powder, but regardless, their muffin recipe was so bad that I threw it out.  Also, it's a pain to cut in half, with stuff like 5 eggs. 
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/2256-the-ritz-carltons-blueberry-muffins
Do Not Repeat. 

Ok, thus begins the muffin hunt. 
- Didn't have enough flour, so the muffins kinda spread out like cookies.  Need to remedy that, obviously
- Cooked on top rack, which made the muffin tops really brown.  4 min at 450, 15 min at 350, and they're probably overdone.  Need to either reduce time, move to lower rack, or reduce start or finishing temp
- Didnt' have orange zest, and only have mango-orange juice
- Couldn't find fresh cranberries, so i used crasins, which have a lot of added sugar. I soaked them in water to try to get any residual sugar out and to moisturize them a little
- Thin batter makes all the berries and nuts fall to the bottom

Next time: 
- Use the right amount of flour
- Lower the starting temp back to 425
- Needs a little more orange flavor, needs zest
- Brown sugar makes the whole muffin kinda dark,  might go white sugar 100%
- Need to find fresh cranberries
- Might not need OJ, not sure it's doing anything. That or ditch the milk and go full OJ. 

master

Brian

Sally's Baking Addiction

Thus begins the search for the world's greatet muffin recipe

Muffin Experiment (v2)

unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

granulated sugar

packed light or dark brown sugar

large eggs, at room temperature

sour cream

pure vanilla extract

all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)

baking soda

salt

orange juice

milk (any kind)

cranberries

walnuts, coarsely chopped

Oven

Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C). Spray a 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

Do you know

Beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the granulated and brown sugars and beat on high until creamed, about 2 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. 

In another bowl, beat the eggs until bubbly. Add the sour cream, and vanilla extract. Add the milk and orange juice. Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, mixture should be unifrom and frothy. 

Combine the egg mixture with the butter mixture, and beat on high speed until the mixture is combined and uniform in texture. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Then, beat in the orange zest until combined.

In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour the drry ingredients into the wet ingredients and slowly mix with a spoon.

Fold in the cranberries and walnuts with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.

the Muffin Man

Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan, filling them all the way to the top. 

Bake for 5 minutes at 425°F , then keeping the muffins in the oven, lower the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for 18-20 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 