Have you Hurd... When you overfill your muffin cups, one may come out looking like Jabba the Hut?

Most people who know me well understand my penchant for modestly enhancing true stories to improve their entertainment value for listeners.  My dedicated readership deserves no less when it comes to the tales of my kitchen exploits.  The recipes will all be totally accurate, it's just the tales that accompany the preparation the may not fit into the non-fiction section of the local library. Rather than say it is based on a true story, I would say it vaguely resembles some story that someone told that may or may not have been true at the time they told it, but was nonetheless quite entertaining and perhaps even somewhat believable.  Names, locations, and other details may have been changed to protect the innocent or just to make it a more interesting story for you.  Can you follow that?  No...  Good...  -wink,wink-

I was searching for something to do in the kitchen and I also needed to use up some crushed sweetened strawberries leftover from an ice cream sundae party at the office... I dug deep into the recipe archives and managed to locate something suitably alliterative for my purposes...  I could bake a large (double batch) of strawberry cream cheese muffins and could take them to work to share with the rest of the gang...  I would dub them MONDAY MUFFINS! (cue triumphant music) I thought originally MAGNIFICENT MONDAY MUFFINS (cue insanely triumphant music), but that seemed just a bit over the top.

Recipe Link:  http://www.food.com/recipe/cream-cheese-blueberry-muffins-26030

Given the quantity of strawberries I had on hand and the number of folks in the office a double batch (24 muffins, per the recipe) would be just about right.  It had been awhile since I prepared this recipe, so I forgot two important things.  First and foremost... My food processor isn't quite large enough for a double batch of these muffins.  Of course, it is close.  Sooooo...  I didn't realize it until very near the end when I could make a really serious mess transferring it into a larger bowl and finishing with a stirring spoon, but it was all in good fun.. Thankfully, I was able to clean up my mess before my wife came upstairs to see the kitchen disaster.  GOOD SAVE!  

The second thing I had forgotten is when the recipe says fill the muffin cups 3/4 full.. They really, really mean it, because any more than that results in muffins that escape the confines of the muffin cups like a high school science experiment gone wrong. And one turns out looking just a little like, well... Jabba the Hut...  Although I am curious if anyone else sees someone or something else in it besides that.  Feedback may be interesting.  In my defense, the recipe projected 12 muffins per batch and I doubled it.  If I was doing the math right, that would mean I should use 1/2 the batter for the first pan of muffins.  After filling the recommended 3/4 full, I realized I had way more than 1/2 the batter left and I went back and topped them off.  Oops.  Guess that warning about not topping off your tank at the gas station may also apply to topping off your muffins when baking.  I am still learning.  I recovered with the second and third pans of muffins and had 3 dozen at the end, so I think the dozen servings was off by half.  I suppose it is better that it makes extra than comes up short though.

The only modifications I made to the recipe was to use strawberries instead of blueberries and I  slightly reduced the sugar. This was to accommodate the strawberries being pre-sweetened.  I reduced by 1/4 cup for the double batch.  This recipe is listed with blueberries and is also good with raspberries too when they are in season.  If your food processor is a regular size model intended for home use, probably make one batch at a time and avoid the mess.

Look carefully at these muffins and tell me
what you see.  

Ever had a muffin Rorshach test?

They were a big hit at my office.  I am sure they will be at yours too.  Cheers to your own Monday Muffin party.  -smile-


Your Dining Scout and Shade Tree Chef,
Michael Hurd, aka Big Mike