I have been wanting to infuse tea in a baked good for sometime now. The muffin is not real sweet by itself, so the lemon glaze is a perfect topper. However, you may opt to add fruit to the batter, which would also be very complimentary. Since it is already lemony, adding blueberries or blackberries is a great choice. Also, these could be served with fruit coulis. Since the muffin is made of oats, that ingredient does impact the texture of the muffin. They are fluffy with a chewiness from the oats.
If you like lemons and enjoy lemon verbena tea, than I think you will like these. Also, they may help someone who has trouble sleeping. A word of caution, do not make big plans for the few hours after eating, except maybe plan on a nap!
Oatey Naptime Muffins
by flourtrader
Ingredients/ Muffin
1 tbs plus 2 tsp lemon verbena tea leaves
1/3 cup butter
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tbs lemon zest
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of oats
1 cup of flour
1/2 cup sugar
Ingredients/Glaze (optional)
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 to 3/4 cup of powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease top of 12 muffin cavities and line with cupcake papers or butter and flour the inside of the cavities.
Sift together the baking powder, soda, salt and flour. Then stir in the oats and 2 tsp of the tea leaves. Set bowl aside. Beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Add the egg, mixing until completely blended.Then beat the zest, vanilla extract and vegetable oil into the batter.
Pour the milk into the saucepan and place over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of tea leaves. Let come to a simmer and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool until it comes to room temperature. Then pour milk through a sieve, straining out all the tea leaves.
After this process, stir in 1/3 of the sifted dry ingredients into the batter. Mix in half of the milk tea. Continue with this process, ending with the final 1/3 of the sifted ingredients.
Using a spoon or an ice cream scoop, fill 12 muffin cavities evenly with the batter. Place in oven and bake 18-23 minutes or until tester comes out clean. After 2 minutes of cooling, transfer muffins to a rack. Let cool completely.
To make glaze, fill bowl with the juice from one lemon only and then sift in the powdered sugar. Stir until no dry streaks remain and all is blended. Take a skewer and poke a 1/2 inch deep hole in the tops of the muffins. Divide the glaze into two bowls. Stir in the juice of the second lemon to one of the bowls of glaze.
With the thinner glaze (one with juice from 2nd lemon), brush over the tops of all the muffins. Let soak into the muffins for about 30 minutes. Then drizzle the thicker glaze over the top and let set for another 30 minutes. Then they are ready to enjoy!
