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August 22, 2007

Almond Raisin Muffins



Breakfast. The meal that I consider the most important of them all. I can skip any other meal and not feel the pangs as long as I've had a hearty start to my day.



Breakfast usually consists of a cup of coffee, a glass of juice or milk and poha, upma, eggs, dosa, bread. On occasion, I make pancakes and we have them with maple syrup. But elaborate breakfasts are meant for special occasions like weekends or birthdays.



What was special this time around? Well, several things. We completed 11 months of being married on Saturday. But we weren't together on that day as I was out camping in the Himalayas, jumping off a cliff, climbing a rock and doing a lot of other rather strenuous things. And I was cut off from the rest of the world. Even from S. And I had no idea that he was running a temperature. When I got back, I was really in no condition to cook anything elaborate. But the next day, I thought I had to make something really special to make up for everything and help S feel good.





It was just then that I saw Strawberry Muffins on Sharmi’s blog and I knew I just had to make them for breakfast. But I didn't have strawberries at home. I thought I'd use my strawberry crush. But then I remembered the stuff I used to have for breakfast at Barista when I was working in Gurgaon: Almond Raisin Muffins and a Latte. We'd just bought a packet of raisins and I had a packet of almond slivers which I received from Canada. I modified the recipe I found on Sharmi's blog to make these fluffy, absolutely out of this world muffins.





Ingredients



3/4 cup Milk

1/2 cup Vegetable oil

1 cup Raisins

2 cups Flour

1 cup Sugar

1 tbsp Baking Powder

1 Egg

1/4 tsp Salt



Topping


Almond Slivers


Place all the ingredients except the raisins and almonds in a food processor jar fitted with the dough blade. Run the food processor for 2 minutes until the ingredients form a batter.


Grease 12-muffin pan.


Blend the raisins into the batter and pour spoonfuls of the batter into the muffin moulds. Sprinkle the almond slivers on top and bake in a hot oven (400 F) for 20 minutes.

Enjoy these with a cup of coffee and get set for a great day.



Muffins form part of an American breakfast and this goes to Glenna of A fridge full of food who is hosting this month's Weekend Breakfast Blogging # 14, the theme of which is Ethnic Breakfast. WBB is the brainchild of Nandita of Saffron Trail.

57 comments:

Suganya said...

They are crumbly and crunchy. Those roasted almond slices look gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

dint realize you were holidaying alone!!! must have had fun camping though :D

lovely muffins - at this rate il go mad if i dont get a convection asap

Viji said...

They are perfect Raaga. Looks fluffy too. Viji

Raaga said...

@Suganya: Thanks. We finished the last one this morning :-)

Raaga said...

@Lakshmi: It was an office outbound... so I had no choice but to leave DH behind :-)

Get one soon... what are you waiting for?

Raaga said...

@Viji: Thanks... we enjoyed eating them. Now I will start trying your recipes out :-)

Unknown said...

Hey dearie,
those muffins look so gorgeous, and the perfectly sliced almonds do look out of the world (and I read that they are from Canada LOL) Hope you have many many happy years together, you are such a caring wifey and S is lucky!
I wanna make these too ..but with my S having banned eggs too from his diet, i'll have to use flaxeed or yogurt as a substitute...Im sure glenna must have recd these...so what more is coming up in your line-up huh??

Unknown said...

BTW how does a 12 muffin pan fit into your oven (it is a microwave cum convection na?) the max that fits into my Bajaj convection is a 9 seater ;) so i gotta adjust recipes accordingly

Raaga said...

@Nandita: Thanks sweetheart. On all counts. I do hope Glenna gets my entry :-)

And this recipe makes 12 muffins :-) I have only a 9 muffin pan (as seen in the picture) and I made them in 2 batches :-) so if you make 3/4th the recipe, it should work fine :-) me thinks :-)

Coffee said...

Those muffins have the perfect crumbly texture! And I love the tons of almonds on it!! :)

Raaga said...

@Coffee: Thanks... my office folks who ate it told me that it came out just like the ones they ate at Barista :-) I am soooooooooo happy.

Raaga said...

I got this mail from Nirmala:

Hi Arundhati,

Was looking out for baking posts everyday in u’re blog and u sweet girl is holidaying in Himalayas :) Great lady! You wud have had a gala time for sure. Nice that u treated u’re hubby dear with these wonderful muffins. Congrats on u’re 11 months sweet marreid life! Wish you 100 more sweet years~

Regards,

Nirmala

P.S:Have trouble in posting the comment. Hence this mail!

Raaga said...

@Nirmala: Thanks for the wonderful wishes.

Anonymous said...

The muffins look so perfect.. with so many almonds... yummm
ANd wishing you many more happy years together!!!

Arts said...

Hey Raaga,
First time to ur blog and am glad that i bumped into it.. U have a nice collection of recipes.. have to go thru everything though and willdo it soon.. for the time, these muffins are making me droool! :)
Also peeked into ur random thoughts and loved to read it!

Happy Blogging!

Raaga said...

@Cinnamon: Thanks :-) on all counts :-) Do try it out. Its as simple as it sounds :-)

Raaga said...

@Arts: Welcome to both, The Singing Chef and Random Thoughts. Most of my recipes are simple and very easy to make.

Do let me know if you try anything out :-)

david santos said...

Raaga, hum! Good recipes and good food, Thank you

Raaga said...

@David: Welcome to the Singing Chef. I am glad you like the recipes.

Aruna said...

Raaga, its breafast time here & I need one of those beautiful muffins with my tea..the look divine.

themistressofspices.wordpress.com

Padma said...

Those look crunchy and inviting...can I have a piece or two?

Raaga said...

@Aruna: Where shall I send them? Thanks :-)

Raaga said...

@Padma: Sure. Anything for you dear.

Laavanya said...

What scrumptious looking muffins Raaga - super yummy.

FH said...

Hello sis,you are a great baker too. I love the texture of that muffin.Looks yum!:))
You went and climbed, jumped, hiked in Himalayas!!You are a brave girl.Hope S is okay now, after all the muffins makes him better of course!:)
Great entry and looking forward 1st wedding anniversary feast soon!;D

Richa said...

become quite the baker, have'nt we :)
those toasted almond slivers look awesome, will try it soon. And now a Q for the master baker, what is the best substitute for egg here?

Sharmi said...

hey the pics are divine. Now I have to try out your version :)). and I too could send it for these two entries right? thanks for the tip.

bee said...

they look wonderful. they must have had great texture.

Sreelu said...

Raaga,

what are you doing jumping up the cliffs in Himalaya's ,that was a true teaser ,post some pics.
I always admire your ability to bake wow almond muffins looks so delish

Anonymous said...

Raaga!
u r muffins are looking great! I too make these often in my house and they come out well. Now,I started trying eggless ones and they are also coming out good. Btw,thanks for the description about lichyee fruit in your last post(your reply to my comment). I got to know that it has a thick red outer layer and white smooth,tender flesh like coconut or more like palm fruit(popularly known as tati munjalu in telugu).
Thanks for describing so clearly dear!

Sreelu said...

Oh ya almost forgot Happy 11th months anniversary

Jyothi said...

Hi Raaga! muffins looks so yummy and might be very delicious. Great entry dear. Thanks for sharing.

Cynthia said...

I've just finished lunch and am craving something sweet, would love to have one of these with some of the ice-cold ginger beer I have in my fridge. You are such a good baker, Raaga.

Eduardo Waghorn said...

Wow, you made me feel hungry!!:)
A hug and greetings from Chile!!
Visit me if you want...

Neelam said...

The muffins look beautiful! I just had my breakfast and am feeling hungry again!

TBC said...

Hey Raaga,
What a coincidence! I too saw Sharmi's post & made my version (Strawberry-choco chip-almond muffins ) of her muffins 2 days back. Same pinch;-)
Yours look really beautiful.

Bong Mom said...

You sure bake a lot. Those muffins look so warm and inviting, a very nice colour

Anonymous said...

Wow lovely and they are so tempting...I am sure you must have relished them.

Raaga said...

@Laavanya: Will you be trying them? Thanks :-)

Raaga said...

@Asha: Thanks. Yes, I did all those things. :-) And had a great time. Of course I had a body that hurt for one whole day after I got back.

S is much better and yes, I will have something lavish for the 18th of September. :-)

Raaga said...

@Richa: Thanks :-) I haven't the faintest idea. Nandita mentioned yogurt... maybe you could try that. Or the egg replacers that you get in the US :-) Here if I were to use egg replacers, I'd have to use up half a month's salary for making one batch of muffins :-)

Raaga said...

@Sharmi: Of course you can send in yours too. I am sure muffins are a part of breakfast :-)

Thanks and do let me know if you try my version.

Raaga said...

@Bee: Thanks :-) They did have a great texture and I will be making these again. :)

Raaga said...

@Sreelu: No teaser. Believe me. I will post the picture soon. There's only one at the moment :-) Thanks for the wishes.

Raaga said...

@Madhavi: I as exposed to lychees only about 15-20 years ago. Until then, even I had no clue :-)

And if you have an eggless version for muffins, do post the recipe. Richa was asking about it. So was Nandita :-)

Raaga said...

@Jyothi: Thanks. They did turn out well and I made them in no time.

Raaga said...

@Cynthia: Thanks :-) I once won a prize for my apple pie at a baking contest, but I am now going to make your pastry :-) Shall I send a couple over for this afternoon?

Raaga said...

@Eduardo: I've only just started learning Spanish, but I did visit your page. I'll visit often to keep my language skills from rusting and get to know your thoughts and views :-)

Thanks so much for visiting and welcome to The Singing Chef.

Raaga said...

@Neelam: That happens to us all the time I think. Even after a nice meal, when I blog surf, I feel hungry all over.

Thanks :-)

Raaga said...

@TBC: Did you say no back pinch?? :-) This is fun. We in fact had frozen parathas and egg bhurji last night and S was saying that since I started blogging, our dependence on those has come down so much :-)

Raaga said...

@Sandeepa: Thanks. I used to bake a lot more when I was a kid... started at 10. But somehow stopped in the middle. With the encouragement of DH and all of you, I think I'll bake more often :-)

Raaga said...

@Lakshmi: To the last crumb :-) Am still waiting for your trip to Delhi :-)

Sig said...

hey sweetie, hope you had fun in the Himalayas... You are soooooo cute, celebrating 11 month anniversary :D
The muffins look lovely!

Raaga said...

@Sig: Hey... yes I had loads of fun :-) I am told all this cuteness of celebrating months only happens in the first year :-) So, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Shall I send some over? They're not lychee though.

Thanks :-)

Glenna said...

Congratulations on all in your life and thank you so much for participating in breakfast blogging. Your muffins are lovely!

Raaga said...

Thanks Glenna. Thanks for a lovely round up too

Shella said...

Gorgeous muffins Raaga

Once again, am ever-ready to drop by anytime you ask me to. At least I've finally found a blogger who lives in the vicinity of Delhi!!