Sunday, July 15, 2007

Cinnamon Basil Muffins

I am growing some cinnamon basil this year, but frankly, when it started thriving I wasn't sure what to do with it. Well, here's a recipe I found online. These muffins rock.

Cinnamon Basil Muffins

1/4 cup fresh cinnamon basil leaves
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Puree cinnamon basil leaves with oil in blender. Combine with sugar and egg. Sift together flour and baking powder and add to oil mixture, then fold in remaining ingredients.

Bake at 400°F for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 12 regular sized muffins or six large muffins.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yum! They sound delicious :)

Tamara said...

If anyone else tries these muffins, let me know what you thought of them. My hubby wasn't much for the basil flavor, but I loved it!

Anonymous said...

I'm growing cinnamon basil too, and I was kind of disappointed when I discovered it smells more like licorice... either I got the wrong thing in my packet or it's mis-named lol.

I haven't cooked with mine yet. Did your muffins have a cinnamon flavor?

Unknown said...

I'm going to try them for sure! One question, though: Does the cinnamon basil taste more... well, more cinnamon-y when you bake it, or would it be better to add a little bit of powdered cinnamon to the mix, too? Or maybe a cinnamon/brown sugar topping sprinkled over them? Hmm.

(Yes, my lack of being able to leave well enough alone extends from the garden into the kitchen.)

Tamara said...

After making these, I thought it would be a good idea to add a little additional cinnamon next time...but your topping idea sounds like a winner too...yum!

Unknown said...

Maybe I should try both, then?! :) I'll let you know how they turn out--I'll be cooking this weekend.

Tamara said...

Marvie, you may have actually gotten the wrong seed. It happens! :)
Mine was very distinctly cinnamon-smelling, although the flavor didn't show up much once cooked in the muffins. Next time, I'm going to try Blackswamp Girl's suggestion of adding a little more cinnamon to the batter.

Anonymous said...

Cooking or baking anything with basil is yummy to me.....

Chris and his Cinnamon Basil said...

Hello there! I noticed that there wasn't any cinnamon in this recipe. Does that mean that the cinnamon basil will provide that flavor? I haven't actually tasted the leaf yet so I don't know.

Anonymous said...

I love this recipe! I didn't have all the ingredients though, so I did some subbing - instead of canola oil, I used part olive oil, part coconut oil; instead of sour cream, I used plain yogurt. Next time, I think I'll try adding ground cinnamon to the mix as well. THANK YOU for giving me something to do with our abundance of cinnamon basil!

Elaine Lowthorp said...

After reading all the comments about the lack of cinnamon flavor and folks wanting to add cinnamon to the recipe, I decided to experiment. I am not a fan of adding the same flavoring to recipes when the main ingredient is fresh garden herbs, or what is the use of growing them to begin with. I used 1/2cup cinnamon basil, leaves, stems and even some of the dried seeds. I did not puree them, I cut them up very tiny with scissors, added a dash of fruit fresh to keep the color then just a little hot water to get the juices out of the product. I followed the rest of the recipe as posted. They are wonderful, and not pureeing the basil gives a much nicer presentation. My husband too, thinks everything has to be full of sugar and strong flavor, and I will add sugar and cinnamon to his muffins when I serve them to him.

Elaine Devine Texas