I used to live in Philadelphia, on the same freaking block as the Reading Terminal Market. If you know this market, you know that it's heaven on earth and that living right next to it, you'd probably feel compelled to visit every single day.
I did visit every single day; sometimes, multiple times a day. One of my favorite AM spots was Metropolitan Bakery, and one of my favorite treats offered was the millet muffin.
Now, you might be tempted to think that a millet muffin is health food, but it's not.
These morsels are packed with an incredible amount of butter, an assertive amount of sugar, and the nutty little millet balls throughout them add a flavor and texture that makes them completely irresistible.
I found myself craving one of them this week, and was able to locate the recipe online, when Metropolitan Bakery contributed it to a Mother's Day recipe roundup. I whipped them up (they are fast and easy to make) and I need to tell you, they completely satisfied my nostalgia.
According to the recipe headnote, "This is a great recipe to make the night before (up to adding the flour mixture) so that you can have fresh muffins ready in a jiffy the next morning."
You're guaranteed to love this muffin recipe. Since the butter is creamed, they have a distinctly cookie-like finish, with crispy, buttery edges. In spite of all the butter in the recipe I found that when topped with a little ghee, they were even BETTER.
Try this recipe! You will love it.
Makes 12 muffins
Millet muffins
(Via Metropolitan Bakery)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup millet
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs, slightly beaten
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cups) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Generously butter twelve 1/2 cup (standard size) muffin cups.
- On a baking sheet toast millet in one layer in the oven until lightly golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Cool millet completely.
- Into a medium bowl sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the millet. In another small bowl stir together the eggs, milk and vanilla. Set aside. Cream well the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Alternately beat in the flour and milk mixtures, beginning and ending with the flour. Do not over beat. Spoon batter into prepared cups and bake until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15-20 minutes (original recipe called for 20 to 25 minutes, but mine were done at 17 minutes). Cool muffins 5 minutes before turning out. Serve warm or room temperature with fruit preserves.