There's a Surprise Inside - Lets Make Vanilla & Yogurt Muffins

 

These Vanilla and Yogurt Surprise Muffins are soft, tender, and full of flavor — the perfect small-batch bake for breakfast, brunch, or afternoon tea. Made with creamy yogurt and a hint of vanilla, each muffin hides a sweet surprise inside: a spoonful of your favorite jam or preserve, or maybe some chocolate, chips or raisins, etc.  You get to choose for yourself what you will fill them with!

Quick to mix and easy to love, this recipe uses simple pantry ingredients and delivers bakery-style results in under 30 minutes. Whether you're baking for one or sharing with a friend, these muffins are a delightful way to begin and to brighten your day.

 

I can't really say where I got the recipe from. I found it typed into the notes on my iPad. I have no idea when I wrote the note or where it came from but the measures were all in metric, so I suspect that it came from a recipe I discovered in the U.K. while I was living there. Perhaps from a magazine at the Doctor's office or some such.

I must have thought that they looked tasty, or I would not have made note of them!

I was right. They are delicious muffins. They are everything a good muffin should be.  Not a cupcake. Not overly sweet. Not overly large. Just right.  There is no sugar in these save the optional bit of demerara sugar you can sprinkle on top. Any sweetness comes from the yogurt used and what you choose to fill them with.  Yes, they hug a sweet surprise in the center. I chose strawberry jam.  What will you choose?

 

INGREDIENTS REQUIRED TO MAKE

VANILLA AND YOGURT SPURPRISE MUFFINS

There is nothing extraordinary here. 

For the muffins:

• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup (60ml) flavorless oil
• 1/2 cup + 1 tsp (125g) vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 1/4 cups (150g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• demerara sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

To fill: (choose one)

• your favorite jam or spread
• chocolate chips
• raisins
• dried cranberries
• dried cherries
• nutella
• Biscoff spread

 

You can freeze the excess egg white. I freeze mine in an ice cube tray. When frozen I pop it out and into a container to be kept with other frozen egg whites. They come in very handy (thawed) for making angel food cakes, meringues, macaroons, marshmallows, pavlova, etc.

I used a good brand of vanilla yogurt with a strong vanilla flavor. You can see the seeds in the yogurt. It took about 1 1/2 individual pots.

You can use vanilla extract instead of the vanilla paste, but I find the vanilla paste has a greater depth of flavor.

Demerara sugar is also known as coffee sugar, or Turbinado sugar.

 

HOW TO MAKE AND BAKE

VANILLA & YOGURT SURPRISE MUFFINS 

These go together quickly and easily in the same manner that most muffins go together. Combine dry ingredients, combine wet ingredients, finally combine the two together, spoon and bake. Do check out my hints and tips for muffin success.

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a six-cup muffin tin really well. Set aside. (I used a ceramic six cup muffin pan. I sprayed it with some non-stick baking spray.)
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a bowl. Set aside. (I use a small wire whisk for this.)
3. Whisk the egg and egg yolk, the oil, the yogurt and the vanilla together in another bowl. (Again, I used a small wire whisk for this.)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir only to combine. It should have no dry streaks, but lumps are okay. (I swapped the whisk for a spoon here so as not to overmix the muffin batter.)
5. Spoon half of the batter into the muffin tin, dividing equally. (Fill each cup no more than half full.)
6. Top each with your desired filling. (Remember less is more. I would not add more than 1/2 tsp of jam, Nutella or Biscoff.) (I used strawberry jam.)
7. Spoon the remaining batter on top to cover. Sprinkle with a bit of demerara sugar. (You don't need to add the demerara sugar, but it does add a lovely little crunch when done.)
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. They should be golden brown, and the tops should spring back when lightly touched. 
9. Serve warm with your favorite hot drink.

  

HINTS & TIPS FOR THE BEST MUFFINS

Here are my hints and tips for making sure that your muffins turn out beautifully every time:

1. Mix wet and dry ingredients separately. To prevent the mix from being overworked, first mix the wet ingredients together in one bowl and mix the dry ingredients in another. Make a well in the dry ingredients, carefully pour in the wet ingredients, then stir the mix a couple of times to roughly combine. 

 2. Don't over mix your muffins. The most important rule of muffin making is to not over stir the mix. What you really want is to just moisten the ingredients. Do not stir or beat the batter until it is smooth and lump free. You want the final mix to be lumpy, and thick with a few floury streaks.

 3. Add your flavors last.  While spices should be added with all the other dry ingredients, additions like fruit and nuts should be added last. Give the batter one more light-handed stir once you've added them in just to combine. 

 

4. Line the pans. You can choose to either grease the muffin tin or line it with paper liners. If you choose to forgo the liners, make sure you grease the base and sides of the cups with oil spray or a little melted butter. If you're not going to eat the muffins for a while, do use paper liners as these will keep the muffins fresher for longer. 

 5. Don't overfill your pans. Aim to fill the cups ¾ full to get muffins with nice round tops and to prevent them from spilling out over the top of the cups.  Often if your tins are over filled the muffins will rise to the top and then collapse on themselves.

 6. For extra interest, add a flavorful sprinkle on top.  Once the muffin cups are all filled, you can choose to sprinkle the tops with more fruit, nuts or a crumble topping, even sanding sugar or cinnamon sugar, for even more taste and or crunch. As the muffins rise these toppings will cook into the tops of the muffin.  

7. Protect your baking pan.  If there isn't enough batter to fill all the cups, half fill the empty ones with water. This will help the muffins bake evenly and will help to protect your pan from buckling. 

8. Cooling them down. Once you remove the muffins from the oven, let them sit in their pan for a few minutes before removing to a wire rack. This is especially important for muffins that aren't in a paper liner, as it will help them from falling apart. However, remove them after five minutes otherwise you risk them going soggy as they cool in the pan. 

9. Freeze extras for later. Muffins freeze beautifully, so if you can't enjoy them all on the day they're baked, wrap them in plastic, and put them in the freezer for later. They will keep for about 3 months and reheat wonderfully in the microwave for about 30 seconds on high from frozen. 

 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CAN THIS RECIPE BE DOUBLED?

Absolutely. The original recipe was for 12 muffins. I cut it in half to make only 6. Simply double everything, using 3 large eggs. 

CAN I USE SELF-RISING FLOUR?

I have never tried it with self-rising flour, but I can't see why not. Simply add 1/4 tsp of soda to the recipe to help work with the yogurt.

CAN I USE PLAIN OR ANOTHER FLAVOR OF YOGURT?

I can't see why not. If using plain yogurt however, I would add a TBS of granulated sugar to the recipe as they would be quite bland otherwise.

CAN THESE BE FROZEN?

These muffins would freeze beautifully. Simply package in an airtight container, label and date. They will keep for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat them, remove from the freezer. You can reheat in the microwave for about 30 seconds from frozen. 15 seconds from thawed.

HOW LONG WILL THESE KEEP?

They will keep for four to five days in an airtight container. Obviously, they will taste better on the day that they are baked. For longer storage I recommend freezing.

  

A FEW OTHER MUFFIN RECIPES FOR YOU TO ENJOY

If you love muffins as much as I do, you might also enjoy the following delicious recipes!

 

SPECIAL K BREAKFAST MUFFINS - These are the PERFECT breakfast muffins. Quick and easy to make. Delicious. I highly recommend.  Simple and filled with fiber. You can use ordinary Special K cereal, or you can be a bit more extravagant and use one of the varieties which contain fruit.  This recipe makes half a dozen fabulous muffins. 

SIX WEEK REFRIGERATOR BRAN MUFFINS - There is nothing like having a great muffin batter in the refrigerator,  mixed and ready to bake. This is an adaptation of a very old recipe and has been pleasing women and their families for many years. This was the muffin recipe that I had to bake for my female employer every day that I worked at the Manor. She liked them baked in mini muffin tins and would eat three of them every single morning.  They are delicious.  

 

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Yield: Makes six

Author: Marie Rayner

Print

Vanilla Yoghurt Surprise Muffins (small batch)

Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min

Delightfully moist muffins with a surprise (you choose) tucked into the middle.

Ingredients

For the muffins:

• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup (60ml) flavorless oil
• 1/2 cup + 1 tsp (125g) vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 1 1/4 cups (150g) plain all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• demerara sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

To fill: (choose one)

• your favorite jam or spread
• chocolate chips
• raisins
• dried cranberries
• dried cherries
• nutella
• Biscoff spread

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a six-cup muffin tin really well. Set aside.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, soda and salt together in a bowl. Set aside.
3. Whisk the egg and egg yolk, the oil, the yogurt and the vanilla together in another bowl.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir only to combine. It should have no dry streaks, but lumps are okay.
5. Spoon half of the batter into the muffin tin, dividing equally.
6. Top each with your desired filling. (Remember less is more. I would not add more than 1/2 tsp of jam, Nutella or Biscoff.)
7. Spoon the remaining batter on top to cover. Sprinkle with a bit of demerara sugar.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes. They should be golden brown and the tops should spring back when lightly touched.
9. Serve warm with your favorite hot drink.

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