Fresh Fig Muffins and why!
As I have mentioned several times, we have a sort of mini fig farm in our back yard. It all started with a twig that was brought over from Sicily many years ago and planted in a backyard on E. 48th Street in NYC where my husband was born. The twig grew into a tree and several sprouts were distributed by my father-in-law to family members to plant in their back yards. We received ours when we moved to Massachusetts, and we uprooted it and took it with us when we moved to Georgia. The weather is perfect here for growing figs and thus my husband’s hobby of cultivating fig trees began. The amazing news is that we were able to cultivate a cutting from the tree and bring it back home to Sicily when we journeyed there several years ago……life goes on, even for figs!
However, the figs are now coming in fast and furiously and we need to pick and use them before the birds, chipmunks and squirrels get them which is not easy to do as they are conniving creatures. Here is a muffin recipe our family enjoys that makes good use of the figs.
INGREDIENTS:
- 2-3 fresh figs – chopped-more if needed
- ⅓ cup sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- 1 egg – lightly beaten
- Cinnamon-sugar- for sprinkling, optional
- 2 cups + 2 tbs. flour –divided
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tb. baking powder
- 1 cup milk – whole
- ¼ cup butter – melted
METHOD:
- Preheat Oven to 375º.
- Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
- Dredge figs in 2 tablespoons of flour. Toss them lightly so that they coat well but try not to mash. Set aside.
- Combine the remaining flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and sift together until well combined. Stir together, milk, eggs, vanilla extract (alternately you can use almond extract) and butter and add to dry ingredients. Stir only until all combined but make sure to not over stir.
- Carefully fold in the chopped figs and spoon batter into the greased muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Let cool in pan for a few minutes and then remove and serve. They are delicious as is or you can sprinkle the tops of the hot muffins with a cinnamon-sugar mixture.
BUON MANGIATA!
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