Summer Muffins

George Hirsch July 1, 2024

Summer and muffins seem to go hand in hand, especially since blueberries are plentiful right now. Muffins bake fairly quickly with little prep.

Tip: Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking.

Blueberry Nut Muffins

Makes 10-12 muffins

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

For the topping:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts, or pecans, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts. Blend butter in with a fork until the mixture is crumb-like.

For the muffin mix:

1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup pure cane granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup milk

Grease a regular-size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour, or use muffin cup liners.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream butter and sugar at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated. Do not overmix.

Toss blueberries in a fine strainer with about one Tablespoon of flour to lightly coat. Using a rubber spatula, fold in 1 1/2 cups of the blueberries. With an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three-quarters full. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of blueberries on top of the muffins and divide the crumb topping over the muffins.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown. Check the muffins halfway through and rotate if the oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; it should come out clean, or when touched lightly, the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.

Sold out

13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

$19.95

Gather 'Round the Grill Cookbook, Vintage (new)

$50.00

George Hirsch Living it UP! cooking & lifestyle book

$24.95

Banana Blueberry

George Hirsch June 3, 2024

Bananas are rich in vitamin B6 and are a good source of vitamin C, dietary fiber, and manganese.

Blueberries are an antioxidant superfood packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids (compounds that protect our bodies from stress). They are also high in potassium and vitamin C, making them a top choice.

My banana blueberry muffin recipe adds some tartness to a sweet banana muffin. It's also a great take-along snack that's better for you than reaching for a candy bar.

Banana Blueberry Nut Muffins

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

makes 10-12 muffins

For the Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons nuts, chopped

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts. Blend butter in with a fork until the mixture is crumb-like.

For the Muffin Mix:

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups, about 3-4 large very ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup pure cane granulated sugar

3 Tablespoons honey

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup sweet butter, melted, or replace with part/ all applesauce

Lightly grease 10 muffin cups or line them with muffin papers.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Recipe Directions are below.

In a large bowl, mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, honey, egg, cinnamon, vanilla, zest, nuts, and melted butter. Fold in the banana mixture by hand with a spatula into the flour mixture until just moistened.

Place batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three-quarters full. Place a few blueberries, about 1 Tablespoon, on top of each muffin. Divide the crumb topping evenly over the top of the muffin batter.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin; when a toothpick comes out clean or touched lightly, the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.

Sold out

13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

$19.95

Gather 'Round the Grill Cookbook, Vintage (new)

$50.00

George Hirsch Living it UP! cooking & lifestyle book

$24.95

Muffin Mondays

George Hirsch January 7, 2024

I look forward to my Muffin Mondays to kick off a chilly winter week. It's a perfect way to take the chill out of the air. It'll inspire you to keep on baking with fresh muffin inspiration. So let's get started—here's my seasonal spin on the average apple muffin - add pumpkin and crumb. My muffins are great to take on the go, too. Enjoy!

Apple Pumpkin Crumb Muffins

recipe by Chef George Hirsch | Makes 18 muffins or one 9 x 13 coffee cake

For the crumb topping:

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oats, not quick cooking

1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

1/2 cup melted butter

Mix all sugars, flour, oats, and nuts. Pour in butter and mix until the topping looks like wet sand. Do not over-mix; the topping should have a lumpy consistency. Reserve crumb topping and prepare the muffin batter.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.

For the muffins:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour; or 50/50 whole wheat flour

2 cups pure cane granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ginger

Pinch allspice & fresh grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup can pumpkin puree

1/2 cup applesauce, or vegetable oil

2 cups Green or baking apples, peeled, core, and chopped into small pieces

In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix eggs, pumpkin, and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until flour is absorbed. Add chopped apples.

Add batter into prepared muffin cups 3/4 filled. Top each muffin with crumb mixture and bake.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Sold out

13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

$19.95

Gather 'Round the Grill Cookbook, Vintage (new)

$50.00

George Hirsch Living it UP! cooking & lifestyle book

$24.95

Eighteen Gallon Muffin

George Hirsch February 6, 2023

By my standards, this is the number one comfort dessert. This recipe is so good that I adapted it from my recipe that called for much larger portions—I used it at a hotel where we served about 25,000 meals daily. The original recipe called for eighteen gallons of milk. It should be no surprise that my original bread pudding recipe serves approximately 1000 people a day.

TIP: I like to use day-old French bread in my bread pudding recipe because it has more flavor than plain white. Cinnamon-raisin bread, croissants, sweet rolls, brioche, challah, and panettone can also be combined for part of the bread. Puree some seasonal berries for a sauce or serve with a vanilla sauce.

Apple-Raisin Bread Pudding Muffins

Makes 10-12 servings

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

2 Granny Smith or baking apples, peel, core, and chop small

3-4 cups dry French Bread, cubed small

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped small

1/2 cup raisins, *plumped

4 Tablespoons butter, melted

4 cups milk, or use half milk and half & half

8 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup pure cane sugar, sugar can be slightly reduced if using sweetbreads

1/2 cup light brown sugar

2 Tablespoons pure vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 Teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons fresh grated orange zest

In a small saute pan, saute apples in 2 Tablespoons butter to soften slightly; remove and cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine the milk, eggs, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, orange zest, and nutmeg, and beat with a whisk until well blended. Slowly pour over the bread mixture. Press down on the bread until it’s completely covered with the milk mixture and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Add raisins and 1/2 of the cooled sautéed apple.

Grease a regular-size 12-cup muffin pan with butter or use muffin cup liners or individual ramekins.

Using an ice cream scoop or large spoon, place bread pudding batter into muffin cups filling each cup to three-quarters full. Add the remaining apples on top of the batter.

Place a pan larger than the muffin pan in the preheated oven for the water bath and place the pan holding the bread pudding on top. Immediately fill the outer pan with enough hot water, so it comes up one inch on the sides of the muffin pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the water bath, reduce the temperature to 325 degrees, and bake for 10-15 additional minutes. Remove the bread-pudding muffins and allow them to sit for 10 minutes before removing them from the pan.

Serve Apple-Raisin Bread Pudding Muffins warm or cold with a warm fruit or vanilla sauce.

*To plump dried raisins add 2 tablespoons of water or orange juice and heat in a microwave for 30 seconds; drain orange juice back into pre-measured 1/3 cup orange juice.

Sold out

13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

$19.95

Gather 'Round the Grill Cookbook, Vintage (new)

$50.00

George Hirsch Living it UP! cooking & lifestyle book

$24.95

The Most Popular Muffin

George Hirsch January 23, 2023

Dedicating today's Muffin Monday's post to the Blueberry Nut Muffin, the most popular muffin! I usually stock up my freezer with summer blueberries for recipes just like this, and a good quality is frozen berry will do just fine. Oh, and blueberry happens to be my favorite muffin too!

Blueberry Nut Muffins

Makes 10-12 muffins

chefgeorgehirsch.com | George Hirsch Lifestyle

For the topping:

1/3 cup lite brown sugar

2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 Tablespoons nuts, walnuts, or pecans, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces

1 Tablespoon sweet butter

Mix brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nuts in a small bowl. Blend butter in with a fork until the mixture is crumb-like.

For the muffin mix:

1/2 cup sweet butter, room temperature

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon flour for coating blueberries, plus greasing muffin cups

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup pure cane granulated sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest

1/2 cup milk

Grease a regular-size 12-cup muffin pan with butter and dust with flour, banging out excess flour; or use muffin cup liners.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla and orange zest to beaten eggs, then add eggs one at a time, mixing until eggs are absorbed.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and milk in three stages, mixing until all are incorporated. Do not over-mix.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes, until muffins are golden brown. Check muffins halfway through and rotate if the oven temperature is uneven. Test with a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin, and it should come out clean, or when touched lightly, the muffin should have a slight resistance to finger pressure.

Remove from oven and allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove muffins from pan.

Tip: Did you know? Tossing blueberries with flour before adding them to the batter will keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin during baking.

Sold out

13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

$19.95