Easy Basic Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour, or 2¼ cups pastry flour, sifted
½ cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg (or 2 medium)
4 oz butter (½ stick) or shortening

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt.

Unwrap the butter and heat it in the microwave, in a microwave-safe bowl, for about a minute, until it's thoroughly melted. Set it aside at room temperature to cool, but don't let it solidify again.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl and then add the sugar, milk and vanilla to the eggs.

Thoroughly grease and flour a muffin pan.

Pour a tiny bit of the melted butter into the egg-vanilla-milk mixture and stir it in. Repeat 3-4 more times, adding a slightly larger amount of the liquid butter each time until it is all incorporated.

Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ones and mix no more than ten seconds. The batter should be visibly lumpy, and you may see pockets of dry flour. That's OK! It's extremely important not to over mix the batter, or the resulting muffins will be too hard.

Gently pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and bake immediately.

Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.