This may seem like an odd blog for a bed and breakfast. And certainly an odd time, during the Coronavirus lock down, to write this. But my reasoning is this: We are currently all at home doing more cooking and baking. And with regards to baking for one, while it is true bed and breakfasts often serve many people, there are also many times during the winter, or national emergencies that there are few guests and we need bake for only one or two people. So baking for one or two at a B&B is not uncommon.
In my opinion, providing excellent baked goods is not only finding a good recipe but more important, serving freshly baked goods. Nobody likes a week old muffin. So always bake your muffins the day you are going to eat them. This recipe will go into detail how to do that. The recipe that follows is certainly a good one, but know that there are many good muffin recipes. And the success of this recipe is more in the steps for storing and baking for one than the actual recipe itself. With that said let’s get started.
Blueberry Streusel muffins (makes 24 muffins)
4 cups flour
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk & 3/4 cup half & half
1 cup butter(2 sticks), melted
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1.5 cups chopped pecans(optional)
Streusel topping
4 tbls white and 4 tbls brown sugars
3/4 cup flour
¼ cup cold butter
a little cinnamon if you like
To begin we are going to make a full recipe like we would any other. The trick for baking for one comes towards the end during the storage. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a separate bowl combine sugar, eggs, butter milk, half & half and melted butter; beat well.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, just until combined.
Fold in blueberries and pecans(if desired). I prefer to use the wild blueberries. These are smaller and I feel, are much better for baking particularly since we make smaller muffins. You will not end up with a bite that is all blueberries and no muffin.
Spread into 24 paper lined muffin tins. I use smaller liners and popover pans as they fit my liners better. But you can use traditional liners and muffin tins. If using regular muffin tins you may want to reduce the quantity to around 18.
For streusel topping combine sugars, and flour. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over batter.
Now instead of baking, freeze the unbaked batter in the pans overnight. After frozen, remove from pans and store in a large airtight container up to 3 months. The muffins may stick to the pans. If so, let batter sit at room temperature for a few minutes to loosen up.
You are now ready to bake as many muffins fresh each day as you need. Bake in the same pans you originally used to freeze, at 375F for 31 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. For greater accuracy use a food thermometer. most baked goods should have an internal temperature about 200-210F when done. Cool on wire rack and enjoy.
