Mayonnaise Muffins

Since I talk about them all the time and they’ve even been a part of a Monday Q&A, I thought it was high time I shared my recipe with you.  It really is so incredibly simple that it’s ridiculous.

I want to give you a little back story about this recipe and it’s evolution before I share the recipe.  One of my most beloved worldly possessions is a hand-written book of recipes that belonged to my Moma.  There are so many treasures in that book!  If my house caught fire, after making sure the Tall Skinny Man and the Ankle Biters were out of the house safely, this is the one item I’d go back in the burning house for. 

The “original” recipe for Mayonnaise Muffins is written in my Moma’s beautiful handwriting in that book.  According to what she wrote, she got the recipe from my Aunt Fredia, wife of my Daddy’s only brother, my Unk.  Almost every recipe in the book has someone’s name out beside it so she would always remember where the recipe came from.

Here’s the “original” recipe:

Mayonnaise Muffins

*  1 cup self-rising flour

*  3-4 Tbsp. mayonnaise

*  3/4 cup milk

Mix.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full.  Makes 6 muffins.

These muffins are so versatile that you can turn them into anything you want them to be.  I made the original a bazillion times before I started tinkering with the recipe.  The first time I altered the recipe was to make the muffins savory.  I added cheese, bacon, garlic and green onions to them.  OH. MY. WORD.  Unbelievable!  Since then, I have tried a large variety of combinations of savory items to change them up.

A few months ago, I decided to add a little sugar to them.  I kept adding more and more sugar to them until I got the taste I wanted to go with the honey butter I kept making to go with them.  Then I branched out from there and started adding citrus zest. 

The Tall Skinny Man hates anything citrus.  HATES citrus.  Do you hear me?  Would-rather-eat-something-Charles -Edward-William-Harry-(Hairy)-Dog-leaves-out-in-the-yard-than-eat-anything-citrus hates citrus.  But even he loved these with the orange zest in them.  It was such a subtle hint of flavor! 

To make them savory, add 1 cup shredded cheese of choice and whatever other savory items crank your tractor such as:  bacon, chives, garlic, rosemary, Italian seasoning, sun-dried tomatoes, green onions, etc. 

To make them sweet, add 1/2 cup sugar to the batter.  From there you can either leave them alone or take it a step further like I did last night.  I added the zest from one orange and they were absolutely phenomenal!  I have also done them with a mixture of lemon and orange zest, but I didn’t actually try those myself.  I made them for someone else, so I can’t comment as to how they were.  But if last night’s muffins with just the orange zest were any indication, I’m betting they were incredible!  They are amazing done with the orange zest and a cup of dried cranberries.  See?

 

A little cinnamon and some pecans or walnuts would also be terrific!  Lemon zest with some poppyseeds would be super!  The possibilities are truly endless!

See what I’m talking about?  You can do absolutely anything with this basic recipe!  You can turn it into anything!

I highly recommend using a good mayo for this recipe.  Some recipes will turn out alright using an economical mayo.  But I just wouldn’t try a cheap store-brand mayonnaise for this particular recipe. 

The thing is, if you make them sweet, you MUST make honey butter to go with them!  You’ll hate yourself if you don’t!  How do I make honey butter, you ask.  Aw, thanks for asking.  Um, honey and butter.  LOL  Seriously, it doesn’t come any simpler than this and your family will think you worked forever making it! 

Honey Butter

*  1 stick salted butter, room temperature

*  1/3 cup honey

DO NOT….DO NOT…….DO NOT use margarine or tub “butter.”  Use real butter for this or don’t bother making it!  Honestly!  It’s just not worth it if it’s not the good stuff in there!  Also, do NOT melt the butter.  Set it out of the fridge way ahead of time so it has time to come to room temperature by itself.  Don’t attempt microwaving it.  You’ll alter the integrity of the butter.  This stuff is beyond incredible!  Go make some NOW and slather on anything that sits still long enough to get slathered!

And there you have Mayonnaise Muffins and Honey Butter, friends and neighbors.  Go make some and report back how you did it for the people you love!  Enjoy!