Muffins and Mozart

Two groups of people really irritate me to no end…those who can cook without a recipe and those who can play piano by ear.

As for myself, I obviously can’t do either…and can hardly do either even with a recipe or sheet music.

But there are certain recipes that can be used over and over again…tweaking them to for the occasion…such as this one…

And this is another one of those recipes that contains ingredients that most of us keep on hand all the time….or at least the ingredients to make the base.

The base ingredients of this bread are the foundation for many other types of breads also…apple, banana, cranberry, date, (you get the point)…

In fact, to make the base you can follow a simple basic formula…..

• 2 parts flour
• 2 parts liquid 
• 1 part egg 
• 1 part butter or oil

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The Ingredients

Let’s look at each of the ingredients required tr make a quick bread…

1.Dry Ingredients

• Flour...Flour acts as the foundation of quick bread….building a sturdy structure through the formation of gluten strands after being combined with a liquid….and azding height to your bread.
• Baking poweder and baking soda…These both allow you to make your batterready to use  in a few minutes….instead of waiting for the yeast to make your bread rise.
• Sugar…Sugar obviously sweetens the bread…bit it also absorbs and holds moisture…making your bread more moist.
• Salt…Salt adds flavor to the bread and strengthen the gluten structure.
• Spices…You can use whichever spices you’d like or none at all.

2.  Liquid Ingredients...There are several options here as far as what liquids you use for your quick bread—such as  buttermilk, fruit or vegetable pureé, milk, sour cream, and water.

• Eggs…Eggs bind the structure together and help make the bread.
• Fat…Melted butter and .or oil….This adfds richness and moisture to the bread.
• Milk or Buttermilk…1C