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I've been experimenting lately with lemon ginger muffins, looking for just the right recipe. Unfortunately, with all the heat we've been having around here lately, my experiments took a hiatus for a couple of weeks. Who wants to turn on the oven when the AC is struggling to keep the house below 80?F? In California we've finally had a break in the hot weather (my apologies to those of you on the East Coast who are getting it now) and I got up early this morning to bake these muffins. They are based on the blueberry muffins recipe, but use lemon zest and ginger in place of the berries, and have a lemon sugar glaze. http://www.cake-recipe.org

3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt http://www.cake-recipe.org

1/2 cup 1/2-inch cubes of peeled, fresh ginger
1 large lemon
1 cup sugar -divided into 1/4 cup and 3/4 cup http://www.cake-recipe.org

10 Tbsp unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt

Glaze
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar) http://www.cake-recipe.org

1 Adjust the oven rack to the middle-lower part of the oven. Preheat oven to 375?F.

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2 Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. http://www.cake-recipe.org

3 Using a vegetable peeler, peel off the lemon zest from one large lemon (avoid the white pith). Coarsely chop the zest. You should have approximately 1/4 cup of chopped lemon zest. Add this zest, the cubed fresh ginger, and 1/4 cup of sugar to a food processor. Pulse until a paste forms.

4 In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar together, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated after each one. Beat in the lemon zest and ginger paste. http://www.cake-recipe.org

5 Beat in one half of the dry ingredients until just incorporated. Beat in one third of the yogurt. Beat in half of the remaining dry ingredients. Beat in a second third of the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients and then the remaining yogurt. Again be careful to beat until just incorporated. Do not over beat. http://www.cake-recipe.org

6 Use a standard 12-muffin muffin pan. Coat each muffin cup lightly with olive oil, grapeseed oil, or a little melted butter using a pastry brush. Distribute the muffin dough equally among the cups. Bake until muffins are golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Test with a long toothpick (we use a thin bamboo skewer) to make sure the center of the muffins are done. Set on wire rack to cool. http://www.cake-recipe.org

7 While the muffins are cooling, in a bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice for the glaze. Add more lemon juice if necessary. While the muffins are still a bit warm, use a pastry brush to brush the glaze over each muffin. The muffins will absorb some of the glaze, so you add more glaze to each muffin if you like. http://www.cake-recipe.org

Makes 12 muffins.

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