Peanut Muffins

These peanut muffins are about as straightforward as baking gets: a basic quick-bread batter loaded with dry roasted peanuts and baked hot and fast. The generous amount of melted butter in the batter gives each muffin a rich, tender crumb, while the peanuts bring a toasty crunch that holds up through baking.

The “stir just until moistened” direction is the most important line in this recipe. Muffin batter should look lumpy and rough. If you beat it smooth, you develop the gluten in the flour and end up with tough, rubbery muffins instead of light, tender ones.

Filling the cups two-thirds full gives the muffins room to dome nicely without spilling over the edges. The high oven temperature creates a burst of initial rise that sets the structure quickly.

Pro Tips

• Use unsalted dry roasted peanuts as called for. Salted peanuts will throw off the seasoning and can make the muffins taste too salty.
• Melt the butter and let it cool slightly before mixing with the eggs and milk. Hot butter can partially cook the eggs.
• These bake fast at high heat. Check at 13 minutes. Overbaked peanut muffins dry out quickly because of the low sugar content.
• Best served warm with butter or a drizzle of honey.

Variations

• Peanut butter muffins: Add a heaping tablespoon of creamy peanut butter to the wet ingredients for a double-peanut flavor.
• Honey-peanut muffins: Replace the sugar with honey for a more complex sweetness that complements the roasted peanuts.