Shown below is what happened to the "runt" muffin my wife always makes specifically for me, so I will leave the others alone when I can't resist a taste. This one had barely stopped steaming before I busted into it. See the inside with lots of rum-soaked prunes.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup rum (original recipe calls for brandy)
20 soft prunes chopped up
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
4 tbs. finely ground coffee* (might recommend an extra tbs would further add to the coffee flavor in the final muffin)
2 sticks (8 0z.) butting cut into cubes and frozen
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs
1 tbs. vanilla extract
*This happened to be home roasted coffee beans to FullCity plus for our espresso.
Directions:
Put the prunes and rum in a measuring cup and heat gently in the microwave until just warm. Cover and leave them to soak overnight. Drain the prunes and cut into pieces. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and coffee. Pulse to incorporate the mixture. Slowly add the frozen butter pulsing until the mixture has the consistency of fine meal. Put the flour mixture in a bowl and add the prunes so they are coated with flour (this will help keep them from sinking to bottom of the resulting dough or clumping together) (#1). Mix the yogurt, eggs and vanilla. Add the yogurt mixture to the flour mixture (#2). Using a medium sized scoop put the dough into a heavily greased muffin tin (#3 & #4). Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes until they are firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean. When they come out of the oven let them rest a few minutes (#5) then move them to a cooling rack (#6).
These are truly remarkable muffins. The coffee flavor comes through and is pleasantly surprising. As a result my wife said next time she might add a bit more coffee. The combination of rum, prunes and coffee is a perfect harmony. Even though the original recipe called for brandy we think the rum is excellent. (My wife said she doesn't know why she substituted the rum, maybe because the recipes usually call for rum when soaking dried fruit in liquor?) The texture is very moist. We will be making these again.
