Plum Muffins

Beginner Cook - Medium Cooking Time - Baked Good - Vegetarian

While this recipe isn't particularly Greek, I wanted to share it after telling the tale of our plums in my latest garden post. Muffins and breads are a perfect way to enjoy fruit that is damaged or overly ripe. Another reason this recipe is so great, is its margin for error. While I can hold my own with savory dishes, I am a lousy baker. Mostly, because I tend to over bake things. Thankfully, this type of muffin/bread usually turns out well even for those like me who are baking-challenged. This recipe's flexibility is another plus. There are endless variations for preparing it; in fact, in the spirit of using ingredients associated with traditional Greek cooking (and possibly making the recipe even healthier), I opted to use olive oil instead of canola oil and honey in place of sugar. Want to add nuts? Prefer to use blueberries, carrots, or apples instead of plums? One might call this recipe the sweet version of the "kitchen sink", where you throw in whatever you have on hand. And so, this is how what looked like unappetizing fruit in our yard turned into a tasty baked treat.

Ingredients (yields 12 muffins)

• 1.5 cups pitted simmered plums
• 1 cup  whole wheat flour
• 3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose white flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Time - 48 minutes

• Preparation - 30 minutes
  
• Baking - 18 minutes
  

Preparation

• In the case of the plums used for this recipe, because the fruit weren't fully ripe, they had to be stewed for a few minutes to soften the fruit
• While the pit can be easily removed from the fruit once it has been stewed, I chose to cut out the pit prior to stewing
• Place the fruit in a small pot with two tablespoons of water and bring to a boil on medium heat

• Boil the fruit for 3-5 minutes until broken down

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
• In a medium size bowl, combine the honey and eggs and whisk until frothy
• In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt and stir together
• Add the honey and egg to the dry ingredients and mix together
• Add the olive oil and vanilla and mix again
• Add the stewed plums and fold into the batter
• Grease a non-stick muffin tin and evenly spoon the batter into the tin

• Place the muffins in the oven on the center rack and bake for 18 minutes at 350 degrees. To help the muffins remain moist, place a small bowl of water on the bottom rack
  
• After 18 minutes, insert a toothpick in the center of one of the muffins. The toothpick should come out clean. If any batter sticks to the toothpick, bake for an additional 2 minutes and check again. Baking time will depend on the size of the muffins, the larger they are the longer they will take to bake. If baking this recipe as a bread, plan to bake for 35 minutes

• Once baked, remove the muffins from the oven and let cool in the tin for 5 minutes
  
• Gently remove the muffins from the tin, taking care to not split the muffin and place on a cooling rack
• The muffins will taste best once fully cooled and may even taste better on the second day as the cinnamon continues to develop
• You can store the muffins in a tupperware to be eaten over several days or freeze them in a zip lock and eat them over the next two to three months