Thursday, October 27, 2011

Maple & Chai Tea Muffins

The other day I was marveling that here a month before Thanksgiving, the fall decor is already marked down everywhere I go. I was admiring a pan that bakes muffins in the shape of maple leaves when I suddenly remembered, "Hey! I have that pan!" I got it on clearance at Walmart for something like $3 late last fall. So, maple muffins I would have!

As you can see here, the bottoms are what actually look like maple leaves, and the tops (at left) look like regular muffins. I looked online for muffin recipes made with maple syrup, tweaked and added a few things, and here's my resulting muffin recipe. I really love the flavor of maple syrup, and you can definitely taste it in these muffins. Feel free to use "fall spices" if you don't have any chai teabags on hand, but chai tea is my new lazy substitute for them!

Maple & Chai Tea Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teabags of chai tea (about two teaspoons)
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds (or other nuts)
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray muffin tins with cooking spray. Mix all ingredients just until blended. Pour into muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake for 17-20 minutes. Yield: About 14 muffins from this pan, which has slightly smaller cavities than a regular muffin pan.

I highly recommend this Nordic Ware pan, by the way, and my only regret is that I didn't think to buy two!

11 comments:

  1. I also forgot I bought that Nordic
    Ware leaf pan last Fall ! Now where did I put it ?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your Maple & Chai muffins look yummy. I'll have to look for those pans - they'd be nice for cornbread to serve with fall soups and stews too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Angela,

    Your muffins sound delicious! I use to have a similar cast iron pan, but haven't a clue where it is. Time to go on a kitchen cabinet hunt. LOL!

    ParTea Lady thanks for the cornbread tip. This would be great with a pot of chili.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Blessings, Darlene

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh wow, those look amazing! What a great idea. I'm definitely going to try this recipe! Thanks for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll have to look for this pan. I think this would work for scones as well as muffins and cornbread???

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love these muffins in the shape of maple leaves. How clever to use chai tea for seasoning.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Cute muffin pan and I'd love muffins with maple syrup baked in.
    Judith

    ReplyDelete
  8. Those are absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I've seen a similar pan recently, maybe in the King Arthur catalog. Your muffins sound delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh Angela, these muffins look so yummy! I like your recipe and using them for cornbread is a good idea too. Joanie

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for taking time to leave a comment! It makes my day to hear from readers!