Spice muffins from a Zen placeToday I decided to make spice muffins from "The Tassajara Bread Book" (25th anniversary edition) by Edward Espe Brown. This guy is incredible, he's a Zen priest for the last 30 years in the San Francisco area and he wrote his landmark book in 1970. If you don't have it, well, get it! Check this out: "Recipes do not belong to anyone - given to me, I give them to you. Recipes are only a guide, a skeletal framework, to be fleshed out according to your nature and desire."
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, then start with the dry ingredients: 2 cups whole wheat flour, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. mace, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. ginger all in one bowl. In another bowl add 1 1/2 cups milk, 1/3 cup honey, 1/4 cup oil, 1 egg beaten. Add the wet to the dry and mix.
Spray a muffin tin (6 large or 12 medium size) with oil and spoon the batter in. After 15 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Then go and meditate to the aroma of the festive spices liberated from your pantry. Top with confectioners sugar after you awaken from your slumber and make some tea. Call a friend invite them to enjoy this moment of bliss. All together now, Oooommmmmm, Oooommmmm, Oooommmm..... zen place for meditative bakers
For a variation on this theme, add 1/2 cup of chopped dried fruit and/or chopped nuts. A simple frosting might make them more attractive to kids, if yours, like mine, have a sweet tooth. spice muffins and buttercream frosting
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