Fail-proof muffins and their adult variation

I've made a decision. It wasn't easy but who am I to deny you a recipe for perfect cupcakes or muffins (whatever you call them). 

I got the recipe from a friend and it never failed me. 

I'm making adult cupcakes now. By 'adult' I mean 'with lots of alcohol in it'.

November 11th is the Independence Day in Poland. We don't celebrate it like Americans do - with fireworks and such, but it's we don't work on that day, so... 

This year we get to have an extended weekend as 11th is on Friday. I try to bake something special on any weekend, hence the cupcake thing.

And, I will test the recipe and if it come out alright I'm  making a batch for friends.

Fail-proof muffins/cupcakes

Some facts:

My rating: 10/10

Prep time:  15 minutes
Cook time:  12-15 minutes
Total time:  30 minutes
Yield: 12-15 cupcakes/muffins (depends on the add-ons)


Ingredients

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar (I use even less)
• 100g melted butter/shortening
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• whatever you like to add :)

Cooking Directions

As in any muffin recipe, you mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl and wet ingredients in another.

Then you gently stir together dry and wet mixes. 

With this recipe you leave out butter/oil from the wet mixture and add it at the end.

Additional ingredients:

If you have some dry ingredients (like cocoa or walnuts), you add them to dry mix.

If you want some more wet ingredients (extracts, alcohol etc.), you add them to wet mix.

As easy as that.

Don't stir the final muffin dough too much - it will be delicious even if you leave some lumps in it.

Fill the muffin tin with the dough and bake in 180*C for about 12 minutes.

It's good to check by inserting a toothpick in the cake. 

If it comes out clean, muffins are ready.

Adult muffins:

Dry:

•  1cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups rye flour (I run out of AP flour, stupid)
• 2 heaped tsp baking powder
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa
• 3tbsp instant cocoa
• 16g (3 tsp) vanilla sugar
• 2 tsp candied orange zest
• 5-6 tbsp finely chopped walnuts

Wet:

• 150ml milk
  
• 50ml brandy 
• 2 eggs
• 50ml vegetable oil

Cooking directions:

With this recipe you'll get to stir quite a lot - especially to incorporate the oil at the end. 

Hence, I recommend to add oil to the wet ingredients and not at the very end.

The dough reeks of alcohol - don't worry. :) This should almost completely disappear during baking.

Also, I sprinkled some halvah on top of every muffin. 

My spellcheck just told me to change halvah to Valhalla :)

It is pretty heavenly :)

Bake for 20 minutes in 180*C

Notes:

I originally added only 1/2 cups of sugar and though I like it that way, my husband complained that they're not sweet at all. As you can see, I changed the recipe and it now asks for 1 cup of brown sugar.

As I said the smell of brandy almost completely vanished.  Be careful, though. I opened the oven door and stuck my head right in the alcohol vapour. That is not what you want, trust me. My eyes keep watering for a couple of minutes after that.

Also, from this recipe you get 15 muffins. They come out pretty high, so you may use less dough per one muffin, than I did.

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