Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Sorrel Cardamom Muffins

Sometimes, I get a culinary idea in my head and I just can't shake it.  I am driven, like an insane artist, to create whatever it is that takes hold of me.  Sometimes it's genius, sometimes a disaster.


Meet sorrel.  Sorrel is a leafy herb.  It's tangy and tart, and very refreshing.  It's fun to mix in salads, soups, and even drinks.  I got some on a whim and planted it last year, not realizing that it was a perennial.  Until it was the first thing to pop up in my garden this year, that is.



There's a growing addiction here at my place.  My middle child in particular loves to sneak bites of it out of the garden when she can.  She shares it with friends that come over to play, and surprisingly enough, most of them give it rave reviews.  Part of it might be in the sales pitch, but it is seriously delicious stuff.

So, back to the idea that sprouted in my brain.  I'm really excited about the prospect of abundant sorrel, so I started brainstorming all the fun ways I could use it, and looking up recipes on das internet for inspiration.  Sorrel has almost a lemony tartness to it, so I got it in my head that it might make a good muffin.  But when I searched for sorrel muffins, all the recipes that came up were for savory muffins, and dense, grainy muffins.  Which are both good, don't get me wrong, but I was thinking of more of a sweet muffin, like a lemon poppyseed vibe.  It started to look like I was the only one on that wavelength.  Which could mean that I'm a visionary, or it could mean that sorrel muffins were a horrible idea.


I was going to find out which one it was.  Crossing my fingers for the former.  And it turned out that sorrel makes pretty spectacular sweet muffins too!  I matched the tartness of the sorrel with the citrusy tones of cardamom to bring out that zing.  Knowing that sorrel can turn a swampy color when cooked, I was a little concerned with how the end product would look, but it looked just fine.  My kids didn't even pause at the green bits in their muffins.  The only small look of disgust I got was when my youngest misheard me and thought that the muffins were made from SOIL from the garden instead of SORREL from the garden.  That kid is always good for a laugh.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prep a muffin pan, either by oiling it or with liners.

Grab a bunch of sorrel.  Rinse it off.  Chop it into small, thin pieces.



In a large mixing bowl, measure out 2 cups of flour, a tablespoon of baking powder, a half teaspooon of salt, 3/4 cup of sugar, and a teaspoon of cardamom.  Give it a quick mix.


In a 2-cup measure, measure out a cup of milk and a quarter cup of oil (I used coconut...which stinks because it hardens in the cold milk, so maybe either have your milk at room temp, or use a different oil.  Maybe melted butter.).  Add in an egg and stir to combine.


Pour the wet into the dry and mix until just combined.


Fold in the chopped sorrel.


Fill your muffin cups about three quarters of the way.


Bake for 18-20 minutes.


Let cool slightly, then enjoy plain, or with butter or cream cheese.


You'd think that this would have quenched that drive that pushed me to try making sorrel muffins in the first place, but instead, it gave me a whole list of new muffins to try to create.  I'm thinking that sorrel blueberry muffins would be amazing!  Or maybe even go more herbal, like sorrel thyme, or sorrel lavender.  I'll keep you posted.



TWS Featured Blogger @ MSP

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for stopping by The Weekend Social over at Kitchen Dreaming. We have pinned your post to http://www.pinterest.com/rjeagle12/theweekendsocial-link-parties/ . We hope to see you again next week.

    Dina@KitchenDreaming.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the opportunity to share! :)

      Delete