Here are recipes for the two things that we make in a muffin tin. When I was very young, I knew that they were different and I even knew sort of how (muffins have eggs, biscuits don't). But I didn't really know why the differences were important or why Mom would make one for some meals and not for others. Since that time, they've diverged into distinctly different characters for me, and yet here I am posting them at the same time. Mom says that she considers biscuits and muffins "culinarily interchangeable." I personally like a biscuit with meats and stews, and muffins with, say, beans, or things closer to being vegetarian. The biscuit recipe is adapted from the 1976 edition of Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook; the muffin recipe is from the 1975 Betty Crocker's Cookbook. Mom got these two cookbooks as wedding presents-- no wonder they hold such an influence in our family's culinary repertoire.
Drop Biscuits
3 c flour
4 1/2 t baking powder
3/4 t salt
1/2 c yellow shortening
1 1/2 c milk
Preheat oven to 450. Mix dry ingredients. Cut in yellow shortening with a pastry cutter. Keep the chunks of fat fairly large-- about the size of peas. Fold in milk, but only mix enough to wet the flour-- no more. Drop into greased muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and serve immediately.
Muffins
1 egg
1 c milk
1/4 c salad oil
2 c flour
1/4 c sugar
3 t baking powder
1 t salt
Preheat oven to 400. Mix cry ingredients, including sugar. Beat egg in a small bowl and add to a liquid measuring cup with oil and milk. Stir the wet ingredients into the dries. Drop into greased muffin tin and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from pan immediately.
2 comments:
oh, good --
I misplaced my little notebook where I had these recipes copied out, and not having them has made me feel very lost
I cry when I mix the baking soda and sugar with the flour, too. Such mournful ingredients those are. Every batch of biscuits is seasoned with my tears.
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