Plain Muffins

This is another one of the nice little foods we had at our cooking club tea party recently. One of the members shared her family's old recipe that she remembers being served at her aunt's home many times when she was young. This is a simple muffin (I was struck by the idea of a plain muffin when she shared them with us at first!) but is wonderful with jam or lemon curd as we had them at the tea party. They are not very sweet- just a hint of sweetness. Since they are easy to make, they are great to make for something different for a snack or tea-time.

Makes 1 dozen regular sized or 36-48 mini muffins (depending on amount used)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp melted butter, shortening or oil
• optional: 1 tsp vanilla 
• optional: confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• In a medium bowl, beat egg slightly and add milk and fat, as well as vanilla if using.
• Sift together dry ingredients and then add into the liquids.
• Beat about 1/2 minute just until all the flour is mixed throughout the batter.
• Prepare greased muffin tins and fill half full. Bake at 375 degrees about 15-20 minutes for regular sized muffins or 8-12 minutes for mini muffins (start checking about 3-5 minutes before time ends in case your oven temperature varies.) They should be light golden brown. 
• Cool in pan for about 5 minutes and then remove to wire racks to cool longer.
• May be served warm or cool with jam or other toppings. Dust the tops with confectioner's sugar, if desired.